Cupid and Psyche/Eros and Psyche is a Graeco-Roman myth included in the Roman novel The Golden Ass by author Apuleius. It is told as a Nested Story in the context of the novel, contained within Books IV and VI of the work.
The usual story is as follows: Psyche is the third and youngest daughter of an unnamed king and queen. While her sisters are already married, she does not seem to find any potential suitor. Her father consults with an oracle, who prophesizes she is fated by destiny to marry a terrible beast that even the gods fear.
Following the oracle's prediction, her father escorts Psyche to a cliff and abandons her there. Zephyrus, the West Wind, arrives and takes her to the palace of her future husband-to-be: a magnificent house, where she is waited upon by invisible servants.
One day, she begins to miss her family, and her sisters come to visit her. Seeing Psyche's life of luxury, they convince her that her mysterious husband may be, in fact, a literal monster, just waiting to devour her and her unborn child. Poisoned with doubt and fear, princess Psyche decides to disobey her husband's wishes and brings a lamp and a knife to their bedchambers at night. To her surprise, when she turns the lamp to see him more clearly, she recognizes the man sleeping beside her is no one other than Cupid/Eros, the god of Love and son of Venus/Aphrodite.
A drop of wax falls on his body and he flees from their marital home back to his mother's abode, while Psyche is left without a husband. After a pilgrimage to rustic god Pan, and to goddesses Juno (Hera) and Ceres (Demeter), the princess is advised to seek Venus's forgiveness by going under her service. She does as instructed and goes to Venus's temple, where her mother-in-law orders her servants to flail and whip the poor girl.
After a rough beginning, Venus orders Psyche to fulfill some tasks for her: first, to separate a mixed heap of seeds and cereals; then, to collect the golden wool of a flock of sheep on the other side of a river. thirdly, to get some of the water of the River Styx, by going near a inaccessible ravine; and lastly, to descend to the Underworld and get some of Proserpina (Persephone)'s beauty in a box.
During the last task, Psyche's curiosity incites her to take a peek inside the box and a "stygian sleep" falls over her. Then, Cupid, after convalescing under his mother's wings, rushes to her aid. He places the sleep back into the box, and brings her back to life.
Compare with East of the Sun and West of the Moon, Beauty and the Beast, The Feather of Finist the Falcon, Pintosmalto, The Enchanted Quill, Graciosa and Percinet, Personet and Mathilde (German retelling), Yasmin and the Serpent Prince, The Snake-Prince Sleepy-Head and other tales related to the Aarne-Thompson-Uther type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband". See also Soria Moria Castle and The Blue Mountains, for a similar narrative involving a male hero searching for his lost wife.
See here
for an abridged version of the story, based on Thomas Bulfinch's work and here for a list of adaptations.
This work contains examples of:
- Amicable Ants: After she loses her husband and goes to Venus for penance, as her first task, Venus forces the girl to separate a heap of mixed grains and cereals. A colony of ants take pity on her and help her separate the grains.
- Attractiveness Isolation: Still in Book IV, which contains the first part of the story, before the oracle's prophecy, Psyche is described as suffering for people worshipping her as if she were a goddess, and suffers in solitude, hating the beauty she was born with.
- Awful Wedded Life: In Apuleius's text, when Psyche's sisters visit her in her grandiose palace and see all that splendour, they express their resentment towards their respective marital lives.
- Beast and Beauty: The story is considered to be the oldest attestation of the narrative about "woman marries animal husband and disenchants him".
- Bedmate Reveal: Following the advice of her sisters, Psyche takes a lamp to her bedroom to learn the truth about who her husband is. She discovers he is Cupid (or Eros), the God of Love himself.
- Big Bad: Venus, the Goddess of Love and Cupid's mother, is the main obstacle for the couple's happiness.
- Break the Haughty: In their dialogue just after their first visit to Psyche, the elder sisters trash talk their cadette, saying she needs to be taken down a peg.
- Cerberus: In Book VI, Psyche is advised by the inspirited tower to have a barley-cake with a sop ready to give to the ferocious three-headed dog guarding Proserpina's castle (whose name is not given in Apuleius's text).
- Coins for the Dead: The inspirited tower advises Psyche to fetch two coins to pay the ferryman Charon on her way to the Underworld, so she can reach it while still being a living, breathing person.
- Crocodile Tears: Before they even visit Psyche's for the first time, the elder sisters do actually cry for their missing sister. However, after their first visit, they omit the fact that Psyche is alive to their parents, and "falsely renewed their lamentations".
- Cupid's Arrow: Pun aside, when Cupid is introduced in the story, the narration makes reference to Cupid being armed with his characteristic bow and arrow. In the next lines, his mother, Venus, asks him to use his arrows to inflame Psyche's passions for a wretched suitor.
- Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: In order to accomplish the fourth task, Psyche is warned not to open it. While bringing the box with Persephone's beauty with her, she opens it and a "Stygian mist" dowses her with an eternal sleep.
- Divine Date: The story focuses on the marriage between Psyche (a human princess) and Cupid (god of love and son of Venus, goddess of beauty and love).
- Dramatic Irony: In the night before the sisters' visit, Psyche talks to her mysterious husband about allowing their visit. Her mysterious husband allows it, and the girl, in gratitude, says that "Not even Cupid could compare to [him]". Mind you, at this point in the story, she is completely unaware of his identity.
- Dressing to Die: In Book IV, after getting the prediction Psyche will marry a monster, her family dresses her to her wedding, and both the narrative and her parents treat the occasion as a funeral, not as a wedding celebration.
- Driven by Envy: After their first visit, the elder sisters begin to despise their younger sister and her luxurious life, then, after the second visit, suspect that, since their brother-in-law's identity is unknown to Psyche herself, they deduce he must be a god, and Psyche's carrying their divine child. Thus, they decide to ruin their marriage.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: And how! First, Psyche fears she is gonna be devoured by a terrible husband, but finds out he is kind, although mysterious, and their marital life is a happy one. Then, her sisters fill her head with doubts, and she herself causes the end of her marriage to Cupid. Next, she goes to subject to Venus's wrath as penance, and is forced on hard tasks, all the while trying to kill herself for losing Cupid. Fortunately for her, her man saves her during the fourth task, everything is forgiven, and they live Happily Ever After as a god couple.
- Equalizing the Interspecies Romance: The involvement between god Cupid and human princess Psyche is questioned by her mother-in-law Venus and even Zeus. The situation is resolved when, after Venus's trials, Psyche is rescued by Cupid, taken to Olympus, and made a goddess to be on equal standing with her divine lover.
- Faux Death: After getting the box with Persephone's beauty, Psyche goes to deliver it to Venus, but opens it and a "Stygian sleep" falls over her. She then lies down as if dead.
- The Ferryman: The ferryman Charon can carry a living Psyche on her way to the Underworld by being paid.
- Forbidden Fruit: Psyche is warned not to open Persephone's box when she returns from the Underworld, but disobeys the prohibition to take a peek inside.
- Four Is Death: Although the trope is more associated with Asian folklore, in Apuleius's account Venus gives four tasks to Psyche, the last being to descend to the Underworld and get some of the beauty of Persephone, Hades's wife and Queen of the Underworld.
- Gender Flip: As Joseph Campbell observed in The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the usual roles you'd find in such a story are reversed here."Here all the principal roles are reversed: instead of the lover trying to win his bride, it is the bride trying to win her lover."
- Green-Eyed Monster:
- On the human side of things, Psyche's sisters fill her head with "dark suspicions", which leads to her betrayal and Cupid's departure. After Psyche tells her sisters her sad tale, both women feign sympathy, but secretly rejoice in her misfortune.
- On the divine side of things, Venus complains that people are flocking to princess Psyche as if she were a goddess, and not Venus, which sets in motion the events of the narrative.
- The Hero's Journey: Cited by Joseph Campbell in The Hero With A Thousand Faces as containing one of the best examples of the "Road of Trials," when Psyche has to complete Venus' Impossible Tasks, complete with the standard trip to the Underworld, in order to earn her lover.
- Hot God: The text in book V of The Golden Ass, in the episode of Psyche lighting a lamp to better see her husband, describes Cupid lovingly, emphasizing such beauty of his face and body that "Venus would not regret having born such a child".
- Impossible Task: Venus gives Psyche's four tasks: 1) to separate a mixed heap of grains; 2) to retrieve tufts of golden wool from a herd of ferocious sheep; 3) to get a jar of water from the River Styx, from an inaccessible place; 4) get a box of beauty from the Queen of the Underworld.
- Invisibility: The narration tells us that, while Psyche lives in her husband's palace, tables appear to set by themselves, and there is music played by invisible musicians.
- Love at First Sight: Psyche loves her mysterious husband, who is gentle to her. When she goes to their chambers at night, she lifts an oil lamp to take a peek at her mysterious husband, discovers he is Cupid, and falls in love with him at once.
- Karmic Death: Psyche's sisters incense the girl against her mysterious lover in order to sabotage her marriage. In return, Psyche pays them a visit, telling them Cupid was her husband and Zephyr had driven her away. The sisters then go to the cliff's edge and call out for Zephyr to carry them to Cupid, but they jump to certain death on the rocks below.
- Made a Slave: Psyche, when she finally meets Venus, becomes her slave.
- Multiple-Choice Past: Metawise and out of universe. The narrative appears as an annilis fabula (old wives' tale or old women's tale) in books 4 to 6 of The Golden Ass. Folklorists and scholars have debated for ages the origin of the story, some defending its origin in a genuine folkloric tradition, namely Italian, Greek, or North African (Berber), others believing it to be a mytho-religious story, and a few claiming it is a literary creation either by Apuleius or from a literary predecessor.
- Nameless Narrative: Apart from the main couple and some deities and figures of Classical Mythology, the story never tells the name of Psyche's relatives and kingdom.
- Non-Human Lover Reveal: A memorable passage of the story is when Psyche brings a lamp and a knife to her bed in order to kill whoever it is that is sleeping with her. When she lifts the lamp to get a better view of her husband, she discovers he is "the handsome god Cupid".
- Obnoxious In-Laws: Twofold:
- Venus, Cupid's mother, tries to keep Psyche separated from Cupid by forcing her on dangerous tasks.
- While hiding his identity during their marriage, Cupid warns Psyche again and again not to trust her sisters.
- Only the Knowledgable May Pass: With the "inspirited" tower's advice, Psyche is able to enter the Underworld with the proper tools and the right knowledge to survive its dangers. To wit:
- She is to put two coins in her mouth to pay ferryman Charon;
- She is to bring two cakes of barley and mead to throw to Cerberus, Hades's guardian;
- When she meets Proserpina and Hades, she is to refuse any food they may offer her.
- Pregnant Badass: Considering Psyche is already pregnant when she is forced to perform the tasks for Venus, she is lucky to survive the wrath and attempts of an irate goddess of love.
- Princess Protagonist: The female half of Cupid and Psyche is described as the third daughter of a king and queen; ergo, a princess.
- The Prophecy: In Book IV, before she meets Cupid, Psyche's father consults with "the Miletian oracle", who predicts the girl will marry a serpent-like evil being that even the gods fear.
- Relationship Sabotage: After seeing their cadette's life of luxury, Psyche's sisters plot to ruin her marriage. Cupid's disembodied voice warns the girl of their treachery, but she still asks her mysterious husband to allow them to visit, out of love for them.
- Rule of Three:
- The narrator tells that Psyche is the youngest of three sisters, daughters of a king and queen.
- Psyche's elder sisters visit her three times: the first time, they are told their brother-in-law is a young almost beardless youth that spends his days hunting; the second time, Psyche tells them her husband is a middle-aged merchant. It's on the third visit that the elder sisters advise Psyche to see the identity of her husband.
- Discounting a fortuitous encounter with satyr-like Pan, a pastoral god, Psyche passes by Ceres's temple first, then Juno's, until she arrives at Venus's house - that is, three Olympian goddesses she meets in her search for her lover Cupid.
- Also in regards to Psyche's journey, she passes by deities Pan, Ceres and Juno before she reaches Venus's temple.
- Averted with Psyche's task; one would normally expect three impossible tasks, but Venus gives four.note
- Rule of Seven: Coincidence or not, Venus's first task for Psyche consists in separating a mixed heap of seven types of grains: wheat, barley, millet, poppyseed, chickpeas, lentils and beans.
- Searching for the Lost Relative: The story is considered to be the oldest attestation in literature of tale type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband": a heroine marries a supernatural bridegroom, loses him due to her own actions, and goes after him.
- Secret Test of Character: Invoked and exploited. Before the fourth task, the tower tells Psyche that, during her journey through the underworld, she may see people asking for help (a man trying to carry a load of wood, souls begging for help as Charon ferries her, woman at a loom). Psyche is to pay no attention to them, since they are illusions devised by Venus to distract Psyche.
- Shipper on Deck:
- Inverted with Venus, as she is a Shipping Torpedo for Cupid and Psyche up until their marriage is approved by Jupiter
Venus: Psyche, that witch who steals my form, that pretender to my name! Is she the one who delights him? Does the imp take me for some procuress, who pointed that same girl out so he might know her?- Ceres and Juno are sympathetic towards Psyche and her romance with Cupid. The goddesses try to reason Venus, that there is nothing wrong about their love, albeit unsuccessfully. There are some shades of Shipper with an Agenda, since they fear Cupid's arrows, it doesn't undermine that they still like Psyche as a person who respects gods.
- Jupiter is a Shipper with an Agenda. He helps Psyche to fulfill one of her labors and later approves Psyche's deification and the consequent official mariage with Cupid. In return he asks Cupid to make him fall in love with beautiful women.
- Most of the forces of nature that prevent Psyche from commiting suicide can be seen as a Shipper with an Agenda, as they fear what Cupid might do to them if they let her kill herself and their unborn child.
- Shout-Out: Apuleius's account makes reference to previous mythological events:
- At the third task, getting a jar of water from the River Styx, the narrator references Jupiter's eagle's kidnapping of Pretty Boy Ganymedes for him.
- In the tale, Proserpina is living in the underworld. This means that the story is set after the myth of Proserpina's abduction and marriage to Hades.
- Single-Target Sexuality: Despite being a god of love Cupid never has an attraction towards anyone but Psyche. The same can be said about Psyche herself.
- So Beautiful, It's a Curse: Psyche's troubles start when people begin to venerate her as the goddess of beauty instead of Venus, so beautiful was she.
- Spoiler Title: In Apuleius' text the identity of Psyche's mysterious husbund (although alluded to) was meant to be The Reveal, but the title "Cupid and Psyche" makes the Plot Twist very predictable. It should be considered however, that Apuleius himself never gave any title to this story.
- Talking Animal:
- After Psyche betrays Cupid and he flees to lick his wounds, a seagull flies in to interrupt Venus's bathtime in the sea and reports that Cupid has been cavorting with a mortal girl named Psyche.
- At the first task, a single ant rallies its companions and actually talks, saying they need to help her.
- At the third task, Jupiter's eagle flies in to Psyche and orders her to pass it the jar.
- This Is Something He's Got to Do Himself: In her wanderings, Psyche passes by the temples of Ceres and Juno, but, as much as the goddesses wish they could help the poor princess, they cannot do so, and decide to opt out of meddling in Venus's affairs. However, Juno does advise the girl to go to Venus and face her.
- To Hell and Back: Psyche's fourth task is to go to the Underworld and get a box with Persephone's beauty. She is secretly helped by objects that are "influenced by the gods"; a talking tower advises her to carry two coins on her mouth to pay Charon, the ferryman.
- Unequal Pairing: Discussed. When a pregnant Psyche goes to Venus's court to plead for mercy, the goddess mocks the baby in the former's belly and questions the validity of the mortal/deity union. Ultimately inverted at the end of the story, when Psyche becomes a goddess herself, finally being on equal standing with Cupid.
- Ur-Example: The myth is considered to be the oldest attestation of "The Search for the Lost Husband" tale type: human girl marries supernatural husband, loses him and has to search for him.
- The Voice: For the duration of their marriage, Cupid manifests as a mysterious voice during the day, and comes to her bed at night, whispering sweet nothings to his wife, Psyche.
- "Wanted!" Poster: After losing Cupid, Psyche spends some time as a fugitive on the run from Venus's wrath. Venus finally has Mercury distribute a document demanding the capture of Psyche. The reward for information leading to Psyche's capture is "seven sweet kisses of Venus and one more sweetly honeyed from the touch of her loving tongue." Possibly the Ur-Example of the trope.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: Psyche is a woman, yes, but treated as a young maiden. Her beauty is described as "dazzling", "exceptional", and "peerless", that no verse could properly describe it, and people flock to her as if she is a human incarnation of Venus, while the goddess herself is still alive and kicking.
- Youngest Child Wins: Psyche, being the third and youngest princess, gets to marry the God of Love and eventually becomes a goddess herself.