Week 12 lab: Storybook research
For this week's story lab, I decided to research the story of Cupid and Psyche ahead of my second story in my storybook. My main source was Ancient Origins, using Wikipedia to supplement some additional details. One thing to note: I decided to use everyone's Greek name throughout the story, except for Cupid, as his Roman name is more well-known. (His Greek name is Eros.)
The story starts with a king and queen who have three daughters — the oldest two were beautiful, but the youngest, Psyche, was so beautiful that people actually began to worship her instead of Aphrodite, called her Aphrodite's second coming, and suggested that she might be Aphrodite's illegitimate child.
All of this offended and angered Aphrodite, so she commanded her son, Cupid, to shoot Psyche with one of his arrows — that caused the target to fall irrevocably in love with the first thing they see — so that Psyche would fall in love with a hideous monster. But Cupid was so struck by her beauty when he saw her that he accidentally scratched himself with his own arrow, causing him to fall in love with Psyche instead of causing Psyche to fall in love with a monster.
Meanwhile, Psyche remained unmarried, even though her less pretty (but still beautiful in their own right) sisters both now had husbands. For this reason, their father worried that the family had incurred the wrath of the gods and went to Apollo for counsel. Apollo tells Psyche's father that she will not marry a man, but rather a dragon-like creature who terrifies even the gods.
On the day that was to be her wedding, Zephyr, the West Wind, carried Psyche to a meadow at the top of a mountain. Psyche, who was dressed in funeral attire, as marriage and death were both seen as a transition to the unknown, fell asleep. When she woke, she saw no monster but a beautiful house where she decided she must be destined to live.
In the house, a being whom Psyche could not see came to her each night. They slept with each other each night, but the being made Psyche promise to never look upon his face, and she faithfully obeyed. She soon became pregnant.
But Psyche began to miss her family, so Zephyr brought them to the mountain to see her. Looking around her beautiful house, Psyche's sisters grew jealous and convinced Psyche to break her vow and catch a glimpse of her lover's face. After all, didn't she want to see what monster had fathered her child?
So Psyche took a dagger into bed with her that night, fully intending to kill the monster when she saw him. But when she lit the candle, there was no monster — just Cupid. And she was so startled by his beauty that she dropped candle wax on him and accidentally scratched herself with one of his arrows, immediately falling in love with him. Cupid, injured, fled to his mother, and though Psyche tried to follow, she could not.
Distraught, she came to Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, for help. But while Demeter wanted to help her, she could not go against the wishes of another goddess, so she suggested Psyche surrender herself to Aphrodite instead.
Aphrodite tortures Psyche with her handmaids, Worry and Sorrow, and then decides to burden her with several tasks in order to win her over.
The first was to separate and sort a large pile of grains, which would have been impossible had a kind ant not taken pity on Psyche and helped her.
Her second task was to cross a river and shear golden wool from sheep that were known to be violent and belonged to Helios, the sun god. Psyche despaired, knowing this task was unfeasible, and planned to drown herself in the river. But she is saved by a divine reed and is able to collect the golden wool from the briars near the river.
The third task was to collect water from the source of the river Styx. She is overcome with anguish until Zeus takes pity on her and sends his eagle to collect the water for her.
Finally, Aphrodite instructs Psyche to take a box to the underworld to collect some of the beauty of Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, and bring it back to her. The thought of this impossible task drove Psyche to throw herself off a tower. But before she could jump, the tower began to speak, and it gave her instructions to enter the underworld. Psyche did as she was told, and Persephone graciously granted some of her beauty for the box.
But after she left the underworld, Psyche couldn't resist opening the box. Instead of beauty inside, there was only deep sleep, and she fell into a deep slumber.
By this time, Cupid was healed, and he snuck out of Aphrodite's home to wake Psyche. Finally, the lovers were reunited and able to be together out in the open.
Zeus gave Psyche ambrosia, a drink of immortality, so that she and Cupid could be equals in marriage. And when she gave birth to their daughter, they named her Hedone — "pleasure."
Phew, what a story! So many twists and turns. All this research will definitely help me write my next story, and it has helped me think about what to focus on when I write it. Some parts will be emphasized, while others will need to be downplayed so my story isn't a million paragraphs. I want to focus more on the parts where Cupid and Psyche are together, and while I will certainly include Psyche's tasks for Aphrodite, I want to dive deeper into the relationship.
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| Psyche Honoured by the People (1692-1702) by Luca Giordano. Source: Wikipedia |
All of this offended and angered Aphrodite, so she commanded her son, Cupid, to shoot Psyche with one of his arrows — that caused the target to fall irrevocably in love with the first thing they see — so that Psyche would fall in love with a hideous monster. But Cupid was so struck by her beauty when he saw her that he accidentally scratched himself with his own arrow, causing him to fall in love with Psyche instead of causing Psyche to fall in love with a monster.
Meanwhile, Psyche remained unmarried, even though her less pretty (but still beautiful in their own right) sisters both now had husbands. For this reason, their father worried that the family had incurred the wrath of the gods and went to Apollo for counsel. Apollo tells Psyche's father that she will not marry a man, but rather a dragon-like creature who terrifies even the gods.
On the day that was to be her wedding, Zephyr, the West Wind, carried Psyche to a meadow at the top of a mountain. Psyche, who was dressed in funeral attire, as marriage and death were both seen as a transition to the unknown, fell asleep. When she woke, she saw no monster but a beautiful house where she decided she must be destined to live.
In the house, a being whom Psyche could not see came to her each night. They slept with each other each night, but the being made Psyche promise to never look upon his face, and she faithfully obeyed. She soon became pregnant.
But Psyche began to miss her family, so Zephyr brought them to the mountain to see her. Looking around her beautiful house, Psyche's sisters grew jealous and convinced Psyche to break her vow and catch a glimpse of her lover's face. After all, didn't she want to see what monster had fathered her child?
 |
| Amore e Psiche (1707-09) by Giuseppe Crespi. Source: Wikipedia |
Distraught, she came to Demeter, the goddess of the harvest, for help. But while Demeter wanted to help her, she could not go against the wishes of another goddess, so she suggested Psyche surrender herself to Aphrodite instead.
Aphrodite tortures Psyche with her handmaids, Worry and Sorrow, and then decides to burden her with several tasks in order to win her over.
The first was to separate and sort a large pile of grains, which would have been impossible had a kind ant not taken pity on Psyche and helped her.
Her second task was to cross a river and shear golden wool from sheep that were known to be violent and belonged to Helios, the sun god. Psyche despaired, knowing this task was unfeasible, and planned to drown herself in the river. But she is saved by a divine reed and is able to collect the golden wool from the briars near the river.
The third task was to collect water from the source of the river Styx. She is overcome with anguish until Zeus takes pity on her and sends his eagle to collect the water for her.
Finally, Aphrodite instructs Psyche to take a box to the underworld to collect some of the beauty of Persephone, the goddess of the underworld, and bring it back to her. The thought of this impossible task drove Psyche to throw herself off a tower. But before she could jump, the tower began to speak, and it gave her instructions to enter the underworld. Psyche did as she was told, and Persephone graciously granted some of her beauty for the box.
But after she left the underworld, Psyche couldn't resist opening the box. Instead of beauty inside, there was only deep sleep, and she fell into a deep slumber.
By this time, Cupid was healed, and he snuck out of Aphrodite's home to wake Psyche. Finally, the lovers were reunited and able to be together out in the open.
Zeus gave Psyche ambrosia, a drink of immortality, so that she and Cupid could be equals in marriage. And when she gave birth to their daughter, they named her Hedone — "pleasure."
 |
| The Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche (1517) by Raphael. Source: Wikipedia |
Phew, what a story! So many twists and turns. All this research will definitely help me write my next story, and it has helped me think about what to focus on when I write it. Some parts will be emphasized, while others will need to be downplayed so my story isn't a million paragraphs. I want to focus more on the parts where Cupid and Psyche are together, and while I will certainly include Psyche's tasks for Aphrodite, I want to dive deeper into the relationship.
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