CUPID AND PSYCHE

1. Greek Mythology
The Tale of
Cupid & Psyche
Prof. Ronuel L. del Rosario

2. Psyche, the beautiful mortal
A stunningly beautiful girl,
Psyche, is born after two older
sisters. People throughout the
land worship her beauty so deeply
that they forget about the goddess
Venus.
The fame of her beauty was
so great that strangers from
neighboring countries came in
crowds to enjoy the sight, and
looked on her with amazement,
paying her that homage which is
due only to Venus herself.

3. Anger of Venus
In fact, Venus found her altars deserted,
while men turned their devotion to this young
virgin. As she passed along, the people sang
her praises, and strewed her way with chaplets
and flowers. Venus becomes angry that her
temples are falling to ruin, so she plots to ruin
Psyche.

4. She instructs her
son, Cupid, to pierce the girl
with an arrow and make her
fall in love with the most vile,
hideous man alive.
"My dear son, punish
that contumacious beauty;
infuse into the bosom of that
haughty girl a passion for
some low, mean, unworthy
being, so that she may reap a
mortification as great as her
present exultation and
triumph."
Venus’s instruction

5. But when Cupid sees Psyche in her radiant
glory, he shoots himself with the arrow instead.
Cupid disobeys his mother

6. Meanwhile, Psyche and her family
became worried that she will never find a
husband, for although men admire her beauty,
they always seem content to marry someone
else. Her two elder sisters of moderate charms
had now long been married to two royal princes.
Psyche's father prays to Apollo for help, and
Apollo instructs her to go to the top of a hill,
where she will marry not a man but a serpent.
Psyche: NBSB much?
(w/special guest appearance of Apollo)

7. Psyche bravely follows the instructions
and falls asleep on the hill. When she wakes up,
she discovers a stunning mansion. Going inside,
she relaxes and enjoys fine food and luxurious
treatment. At night, in the dark, she meets and
falls in love with her husband.
Psyche and the unseen husband

8. She lives happily with him,
never seeing him, until one day he
tells her that her sisters have been
crying for her. She begs to see
them, but her husband replies that
it would not be wise to do so.
Psyche insists that they visit, and
when they do, they become
extremely jealous of Psyche's
beautiful mansion and lush
quarters.
They deduce that Psyche has
never seen her husband, and they
convince her that she must sneak a
look.
Psyche and the unseen husband

9. On the contrary, the husband charged her to
make no attempt to see him, for it was his
pleasure, for the best of reasons, to keep
concealed.
"Why should you wish to behold me?" he
said. "Have you any doubt of my love? Have you
any wish ungratified? If you saw me, perhaps you
would fear me, perhaps adore me, but all I ask of
you is to love me. I would rather you would love me
as an equal than adore me as a god."
The husband’s response

10. But her own curiosity were too strong for her
to resist. So she prepared her lamp and a sharp
knife, and hid them out of sight of her husband.
When he had fallen into his first sleep, she
silently rose and uncovering her lamp beheld not a
hideous monster, but the most beautiful and
charming of the gods, with his golden ringlets
wandering over his snowy neck and crimson
cheek, with two dewy wings on his shoulders,
whiter than snow, and with shining feathers like
the tender blossoms of spring.
Psyche is very very very
very very very curious.

11. As she leaned the lamp over to have a
nearer view of his face a drop of burning oil fell
on the shoulder of the god, startled with which
he opened his eyes and fixed them full upon
her; then, without saying one word, he spread
his white wings and flew out of the window.
Psyche accidentally hurts
her husband

12. Psyche journeys all over the
land to find Cupid. She decides to
go to Venus herself in a plea for
love and forgiveness, and when
she finally sees Venus, the great
goddess laughs aloud.
Venus shows her a heap of
seeds and tells her that she must
sort them all in one night's time if
she wants to see Cupid again.
“Sorry na, pwede ba?” - Psyche

13. This task is impossible for one person
alone, but ants pity Psyche and sort the seeds
for her. Shocked, Venus then orders Psyche to
sleep on the cold ground and eat only a piece of
bread for dinner. But Psyche survives the night
easily.
Psyche is challenged by Venus

14. Finally, Venus commands her to retrieve a
golden fleece from the river. She almost drowns
herself in the river because of her sorrow, but a
reed speaks to her and suggests that she
collect the golden pieces of fleece from the
thorny briar that catches it. Psyche follows
these instructions and returns a sizable quantity
to Venus.
Venus’s challenges

15. The amazed goddess, still at it, now orders
Psyche to fill a flask from the mouth of the
River Styx. When Psyche reaches the head of
the river, she realizes that this task seems
impossible because the rocks are so
dangerous. This time, an eagle helps her and
fills the flask.
Venus: the queen b*tch that
won’t quit

16. Venus still does not
give in. She challenges
Psyche to go into the
underworld and then
have Persephone put
some of her beauty in a
box. Miraculously, Psyche
succeeds.
Psyche goes to hell (for love)

17. On her way toward giving the box to Venus,
she becomes curious.
"What," said she, "shall I, the carrier of
this divine beauty, not take the least bit to put
on my cheeks to appear to more advantage in
the eyes of my beloved husband!"
So she opens the box, and instantly falls
asleep.
SPOILER ALERT:
The box is a trap.

18. Around the same
time, Cupid looks for
Psyche and finds her
sleeping. He awakens her,
puts the sleeping spell
back in the box, and takes
her to Zeus to request her
immortality.
~* Muling ibalik ang
tamis ng pag-ibig*~

19. Zeus grants the request and makes
Psyche an immortal goddess. She and Cupid
are married. Venus now supports the marriage
because her son has married a goddess—and
because Psyche will no longer distract the
men on earth from Venus.
And they lived happily
ever after. . . (?)

20. The end!