Psyche (; el, Ψυχή, Psukhḗ ; ) is the Greek goddess of the soul and often represented with butterfly wings. Psyche was commonly referred to as such in

Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans. One of a wide variety of genres of Roman folklore, ''Roman mythology'' may also refer to the modern study of these representa ...

as well, though direct translation is '' Anima'' (

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word for "soul"). She was born a mortal woman, with beauty that rivaled

Aphrodite Aphrodite ( ; grc-gre, Ἀφροδίτη, Aphrodítē; , , ) is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, and procreation. She was syncretized with the Roman goddess . Aphrodite's major symbols inclu ...

. Psyche is known from the novel called ''

The Golden Ass The ''Metamorphoses'' of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as ''The Golden Ass'' (''Asinus aureus''), is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety. The protagonist of the novel is Lucius. At the end of the no ...

'', written by the Roman philosopher and orator

Apuleius Apuleius (; also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis; c. 124 – after 170) was a Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He lived in the Roman province of Numidia, in the Berber city of Madauros, modern- ...

in the

2nd century The 2nd century is the period from 101 ( CI) through 200 ( CC) in accordance with the Julian calendar. It is considered part of the Classical era, epoch, or historical period. Early in the century, the Roman Empire attained its greatest e ...

Mythology

Early life

Psyche was the youngest daughter of a Greek king and queen, with two beautiful elder sisters. Her beauty surpassed that of her sisters and people, including priests, compared her to

(referred to as

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never f ...

in ''The Golden Ass''), the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Many went to the extent of saying that she was even fairer than the goddess. In other iterations, she is not compared to Aphrodite but mistaken for her. When Aphrodite's temples were deserted because people started worshiping Psyche, the goddess was outraged a mortal was being worshiped over her. As a punishment, she sent her son,

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the ear ...

, to make Psyche fall in love with a vile and hideous person. However, Eros fell in love when he saw Psyche and decided to spare her from his mother's wrath. Both of her elder sisters were jealous of her beauty. Her sisters eventually married kings and left to be with their husbands. Nobody asked for Psyche's hand for marriage; men would rather admire her beauty. She was left alone because of how beautiful she was. Desperate, her father decided to consult the

Oracle of Delphi Pythia (; grc, Πυθία ) was the name of the high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi. She specifically served as its oracle and was known as the Oracle of Delphi. Her title was also historically glossed in English as the Pythoness ...

at the Temple of Apollo for answers.

Marriage to Eros

The king consulted the

, seeking a solution.

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label= Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label ...

, speaking through the Oracle, said "Despair, king. Your daughter will marry a beast even the gods fear. Dress her in funeral clothes and take her to the tallest rock spire in the kingdom. There, she shall meet her doom." The king returned heartbroken, but obeyed the god's orders. Émile Signol - The Abduction of Psyche

Psyche was taken to the rock spire and abandoned to her fate. She waited for the beast, but it did not come. In some retellings, Eros is there, only invisible.

Zephyrus In ancient Greek religion and myth, the Anemoi (Greek: , 'Winds') were wind gods who were each ascribed a cardinal direction from which their respective winds came (see Classical compass winds), and were each associated with various seasons an ...

, the Greek lord of west wind, carried her away from the rock and took her to

' palace that was filled with riches. When Eros returned, he said to Psyche in utter darkness that she must not try to see him and he can't tell her his name or it would ruin everything. Psyche's first weeks within the palace are filled with pleasures, but Eros, her husband, informs her that her sisters are coming to the mountain as they believed that she was dead. Since she had been gone, her family had assumed her death and had been in mourning. She obeyed his command to not go out and see them, but began thinking of the palace as a prison because of her newfound loneliness. She wept for days because she was not allowed to see her sisters, which troubled Eros. In order to appease her, he allowed her to see her sisters but warned her of things they might say to her to try to break them apart. Psyche promised she could not be swayed and was thankful for the chance to see and talk to them. Her two sisters convinced her to see her husband's true form, in case he was tricking her. In other versions, her sisters are jealous of the good fortune Psyche has had of not only being more beautiful than they are but getting to live such a lavish life. In anger and jealousy, they convince her that her husband is a monster and that she must see for herself whom exactly she is married to. Psyche eventually listened to what they told her and decided to look at Eros while he was sleeping. She sneaked into his room with an oil lamp and a knife. Psyche shone the light on her husband's face, and a small drop of hot oil fell onto his shoulder, awakening and burning him. Betrayed by his wife's actions, Eros ran off to his mother, Aphrodite. After learning what she had done, Psyche was miserable. Hermes-Psyche-Palais-Garnier

Aphrodite found Psyche and made her face four trials. The first trial was to sort a huge mount of seeds. With the help of an empathetic ant colony, Psyche completed this task. Her next task was to gather wool from a notoriously dangerous sheep. Psyche was saddened but was helped by a river god, who taught her to collect pieces of wool from bushes. Her next task was to collect water from the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...

. Psyche was now assisted by the eagle of Zeus, who collected the water for her. Psyche's last task was the most difficult; she had to bring back some of

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

's beauty for Aphrodite. Persephone willingly gave Psyche some of her beauty. When she was near Olympus, Psyche opened the box of Persephone's beauty, but the only thing inside was the essence of death. Psyche died, but her husband, Eros, who had forgiven her, saved Psyche's life and took her to Olympus. Psyche was made the goddess of the soul. Psyche and Eros had a daughter,

Hedone Hedone ( grc, ἡδονή, ''hēdonē'') is the Greek word meaning "pleasure." It was an important concept in Ancient Greek philosophy, especially in the Epicurean school. It is also the root of the English word "hedonism". In Greek mythology, ...

, goddess of physical joy.

Retellings

Books

* "Soul in Darkness" by Wendy Higgins is set in ancient times and remains relatively close to the original myth. * "Love in Color" by Bolu Babalola is a collection of works that features a story about Psyche and Eros. * " Till We Have Faces" by C.S. Lewis is not focused on Psyche but instead her sister Orual, giving a different view point of Psyche in myth. * "Cupid and Psyche" b
M. Charlotte Craft
is a faithful retelling featuring 40 illustrations to go along with the story. * "Electric Idol" b
Katee Robert
is a modern retelling set in her Dark Olympus series where Eros is sent off by his mother, Aphrodite, to kill Psyche. * "Cupid: A Tale of Love and Desire" by

Julius Lester Julius Bernard Lester (January 27, 1939 – January 18, 2018) was an American writer of books for children and adults and an academic who taught for 32 years (1971–2003) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Lester was also a civil right ...

is centered around Cupid in this romantic, light retelling. * "Destined" by Jessie Harrell focuses on Aphrodite in a retelling that makes Aphrodite someone who is proud of Psyche for her beauty. Aphrodite becomes angered when Psyche refuses to marry her son. Eros cannot carry out her demands and he protects Psyche where romance begins between the two. * "Painted Blind" by Michelle A. Hansen is a modern retelling set in Montana featuring a model who angers Venus by modeling photos of ''The Birth of Venus.''

Notes

References

* Lucius Apuleius, ''The Golden Ass'', translated from original Latin by Thomas Taylor, London, 1822
Read online at Internet Archive