In classical mythology, Psyche (;Oxford dictionary ; ) is the immortal wife of Cupid, Roman god of erotic love and desire. She is often represented as a beautiful woman with butterfly wings.
Psyche is known from the ancient Roman proto-novel The Golden Ass (also known as the Metamorphoses), written by philosopher and orator Apuleius in the 2nd century. In the story, Psyche violates the trust of her new husband, Cupid, and must endure multiple trials at the hand of his mother, Venus, to win him back. At the conclusion of her trials, the couple is reconciled and married, and Psyche is made immortal. Though The Golden Ass is the only known version of Psyche's story from antiquity, the cultural influences of the narrative are depicted in art dating back to the 4th century BCE.
Name Psyche (Ψυχή) has Greek origins, and is commonly translated as "soul," "life," and "spirit." Homer's usage of the word is often translated as "ghost" (psukhê) and is used to refer to the departed souls that Odysseus meets in the Odyssey.Homer, Odyssey, 11. "The first ghost [psukhê] that came was that of my comrade Elpenor, for he had not yet been laid beneath the earth." It can also be translated as "butterfly" or "moth" (psukhai). Its relationship with the word psȳ́chein ("to blow," "to breathe," "life-breath") is disputed, and it is unknown if psyche is a derivative.
The Golden Ass The Golden Ass was written in Latin in the 2nd century CE by Apuleius. The story follows its protagonist, Lucius, who is accidentally transformed into a donkey after experimenting with magic. Along his journey, he is told multiple stories, one of which is the Cupid and Psyche episode, spanning Books 4–6. While the exact origin of this story is unclear, it was likely borrowed from a folktale or now-lost work. Scholars have proposed that the story itself may be of Italian, Greek,Megas, G. 1967. Das Märchen von Amor und Psyche in der griechischen Volksüberlieferung (AaTh 425, 428 & 432). Athens North African (specifically Berber),Plantade, Emmanuel and Nedjima. "Libyca Psyche: Apuleius and the Berber Folktales". In: Apuleius and Africa. Editors: Benjamin Todd Lee, Luca Graverini, Ellen Finkelpearl. Routledge, 2014. pp. 174–202. or IranianReitzenstein, Richard. Das märchen von Amor und Psyche bei Apuleius. Leipzig: B.G. Teubner. 1912. origin. Potential sources and inspirations have been named as Lucian, Lucius of Patrae, Aristides, or another unknown author.
Mythology
In an unnamed kingdom, a king and queen had three daughters. While all three were beautiful, the youngest, Psyche, possessed a supernatural beauty. As word of her appearance began to spread, huge numbers of people began to arrive in the city to look upon her; some even began to worship her as the goddess Venus or a new earthly version of her. Worshippers began to neglect Venus' temples, offerings, and rites, opting to visit Psyche instead. The goddess was enraged that a mortal was being worshipped over her, and decided to take revenge upon the girl. Venus called upon her son, Cupid, god of desire. Cupid could make anyone fall in love with the prick of his arrow, and she instructed him to shoot Psyche and make her fall in love with a hideous and impoverished man.
Relationship with Cupid However, Psyche felt miserable and isolated due to her beauty, and was still unmarried even though her less beautiful sisters had already made advantageous marriages. Psyche's father decided to consult the oracle of Apollo at Miletus, and received a prophesy that Psyche would marry a non-mortal and terrible serpentine monster that even Jupiter would fear and that no men nor god can resist, and that she was to be placed on the top of the mountain in funeral attire to carry out the ceremony.Apuleius; Adlington. "22". The Golden Asse. Project Gutenberg. "Let Psyches corps be clad in mourning weed, / And set on rock of yonder hill aloft: / Her husband is no wight of humane seed, / But Serpent dire and fierce as might be thought. / Who flies with wings above in starry skies, / And doth subdue each thing with firie flight. / The gods themselves, and powers that seem so wise, / With mighty Jove, be subject to his might, / The rivers blacke, and deadly flouds of paine / And darkness eke, as thrall to him remaine." Terrified, Psyche's father obeyed, and she was abandoned on the mountaintop. Zephyrus, the western wind, picked her up and brought her to a meadow in the valley below to meet her new spouse. In some retellings, Cupid is there, only invisible.When Psyche explores her surroundings, she finds and enters a beautifully crafted home with bejeweled mosaic floors, carved citron-wood and ivory ceilings supported by gold columns, and silver walls embossed with depictions of animals. A disembodied voice suddenly speaks and informs her that all the treasures in the home are hers, and that she will be cared for by invisible attendants. She is treated to a feast that serves itself and is entertained by an invisible choir and lyre player. That night, when she went to bed, her husband finally arrived. However, he did not greet her. Instead, he took her virginity and left before sunrise without letting her see him. After many weeks of this arrangement, Psyche fell pregnant.
Later, Psyche's sisters learned of what had happened to their sister, they wished to find her and decided to travel to the mountain where the ritual had taken place. Cupid learned of this, and he spoke to Psyche saying: "your sisters, believing you to be dead, are now in their grief following you to the mountain-top and will soon be there. If you should hear their lamentations, do not answer or even look that way, or you will bring about heavy grief for me and for yourself sheer destruction." Psyche promised to follow his orders, but became depressed and inconsolable, refusing to bathe or eat. Cupid was distressed by his wife's condition. Swayed by her pleading, told her that she could see her sisters, but once again warned that their meeting could lead to her ruin, and told her that she could not disclose to her sisters the nature of their relationship, nor be encouraged by them to try and discover his identity. Psyche agreed, and Cupid had Zephyr bring her sisters to the house.Apuleius; Adlington. "22". The Golden Asse. Project Gutenberg. "But he gave her a further charge saying, Beware that ye covet not (being mooved by the pernicious counsell of you sisters) to see the shape of my person, lest by your curiosity you deprive your selfe of so great and worthy estate. Psyches being glad herewith, rendered unto him most entire thankes, and said, 'Sweet husband, I had rather die than to bee separated from you, for whosoever you bee, I love and retaine you within my heart, as if you were myne owne spirit or Cupid himselfe: but I pray you grant this likewise, that you would commaund your servant Zephyrus to bring my sisters downe into the valley as he brought mee.'"
When her sisters arrived, Psyche treated them to the same luxuries she enjoyed when she first arrived. They were amazed by the splendor, and began to envy their sister's position. They asked questions about her husband, and she claimed that he was a young man who spent most of his time hunting and farming. After the sisters left, their envy began to transform to rage; they believed that their sister was undeserving of such a luxurious life, ones that they themselves had been denied in their loveless marriages. They resolved to punish her. However, Cupid was aware of their plots and once again warned Psyche that they would try to persuade her to look upon his face, and told her that if she divulged his secret, their child would be born mortal, but if she did not, he would be born as divine. At their third visit, her sisters reminded Psyche of the oracle's words, and convinced her that Cupid was likely a monster that would eventually destroy her. They instructed her that, while he was sleeping, she should use an oil lamp to look upon his face, then take a blade and cut off his head.
Psyche, although doubtful, was eventually swayed by her sisters' words and looked upon Cupid while he was sleeping. As Psyche shone the light on her husband's face, she realized that he was a god and reprimanded herself for her foolishness. However, as she shifted, a small drop of hot oil fell onto Cupid' shoulder, awakening him. Betrayed by his wife's actions, Cupid took off in flight to take refuge at his mother's house and treat his wound.Apuleius; Adlington. "22". The Golden Asse. Project Gutenberg. "But alas while shee was in this great joy, whether it were for envy for desire to touch this amiable body likewise, there fell out a droppe of burning oyle from the lampe upon the right shoulder of the god." When Venus discovered that her son had taken Psyche as a lover, she was enraged and vowed to take revenge on her once more.
When Cupid left, the palace disappeared and Psyche found herself in a field near to where her sisters lived. Distraught, Psyche told her sisters of what happened, and they pretended to feel sorry for her. Instead, they were plotting to convince Cupid to take one of them to be his wife. The two traveled to the peak and jumped, thinking Zephyrus would catch them and take them to the palace as he did the last time. Zephyrus, however, knowing what was truly in their hearts, ignored them and the two sisters fell to their deaths.
Distraught and lost, Psyche began to wander across the countryside in search of her lover. She first arrived at the temple of Ceres, and deciding that she should not neglect the worship of any god during her search, organized and cleaned the temple, then prayed to the goddess. Ceres took pity upon Psyche. She appeared to her and informed her of Venus' rage, but was unable to help her in fear of angering Venus. Psyche then left and wandered to a temple of Juno, where she received a similar response: Juno could not help her and betray Venus. Psyche then decided that she needed to find a way to repent before Venus herself.Apuleius; Adlington. "22". The Golden Asse. Project Gutenberg. "Thus being in doubt, poore Psyches prepared her selfe to her owne danger, and devised how she might make her orison and prayer unto Venus."
When Psyche arrived at Venus' home, she was met by the goddess' handmaid, Habit, who seized her by the hair and dragged her in front of the goddess. Venus was ecstatic, and called her handmaids Care and Sorrow to beat and torture Psyche, after which Venus began to beat Psyche herself, tearing off her clothes and threatening to kill her unborn child.Apuleius; Adlington. "22". The Golden Asse. Project Gutenberg. "...Behold she thinketh (that by reason of her great belly, which she hath gotten by playing the whore) to move me to pitty... since as the marriage was made betweene unequall persons, in the field without witnesses, and not by the consent of parents, wherefore the marriage is illegitimate, and the childe (that shall be borne) a bastard; if we fortune to suffer thee to live so long till thou be delivered. When Venus had spoken these words she leaped upon the face of poore Psyches, and (tearing her apparell) tooke her by the haire, and dashed her head upon the ground." After this, Venus told Psyche that, if she wanted to earn the trust of her son again, then she would need to become her slave and prove her merit by completing impossible tasks.
Psyche's trials
Sorting grain