Psyche And Cupid

Retold by: Chynna, Halle & Heidi

Psyche was the youngest of three girls. She had two older sisters who were jealous of her beauty. Aphrodite, the goddess of love, was jealous because her beauty was being compared to the mortal Psyche. Aphrodite sent her son Cupid, the god of love, to destroy Psyche. Cupid accidently stuck himself with a love arrow.

Cupid instantly fell in love with the young woman. He flew away knowing that he could not destroy her and that he had to disobey his mom. About this same time, Psyche’s parents wondered why she wasn't married and asked an oracle. The oracle said that she would fall in love with a monster and marry it.

Suddenly Psyche was swept up by a gust of wind. Then she ended up in a beautiful palace where she got everything she wished for, but she couldn’t see anyone. One night she heard a voice of a man telling her that he loved her.

This continued for many nights. One night the man asked her to marry him, and Psyche said yes. She begged for her sisters to come for a visit. Psyche wore her husband down so he finally said yes. When her sisters came for a visit, they asked her what her husband looked like and she said she didn’t know.

YES!!

Psyche confessed she doesn’t know what he looked like because she‘d never seen him. The sisters told her that she should sneak into his room at night and see what he looked like.

Sneak into

his room

As the sisters left, night finally fell. Psyche gathered a candle to see her husband and a knife to slay him if he was a monster. She crept like a mouse to her husband’s room. She looked into her husband’s face and saw he was the god of love, Cupid!

But not all is good. She accidently dripped hot wax on his shoulder. He woke up and left because he told her not to look but she did the opposite. He was offended she didn’t trust him.

Suddenly, there was a wind that rocked the castle and it disappeared. Psyche searched the earth for Cupid. It didn’t work. She asked Demeter what to do. She said, “Ask Aphrodite.” Psyche was worried what would happen. She knew she wouldn’t like the news.

She was right. Aphrodite didn’t like it. Aphrodite said, “If you do what I say then you will help my poor, poor Cupid.” Psyche agreed, but she didn’t know what she was getting herself into.

The first task was to sort all the grain in a warehouse before evening. There was barley, wheat, and millet all over the floor. An ant saw it and brought his friends to help. With the help of all the ants, the task was finished in time.

The second task was to bring the gold fleece from a sheep. Demeter sent a sparrow to give Psyche advice. It worked! She completed it. Aphrodite was furious.

The third task was to visit Persephone and Hades and trap some of Persephone’s beauty in a box. Cupid made himself invisible and told Psyche to speak only to Persephone and eat nothing. It worked! Persephone gave Psyche the box. She also became immortal! They lived happily together.