Reading Notes: Cupid and Psyche, Part A

Notes: Cupid and Psyche Part A

(Cupid and Psyche: picture by Stanhope)

Characters:

Psyche: Mortal in part A. Goddess of the soul. I think her innocence is used well in this story. She is not confident in herself which makes her doubt Cupid. She acts very young, but is put in mature situations: marriage, heartbreak, lies, possible death, and the pressure to please everyone. I think she would be a great character to use to show character development and growth. MORE INFO

Cupid: God of love. MORE INFO
Venus: Goddess of love. MORE INFO
Zephyr: God of the West wind. MORE INFO

Story Line: 

• Story starts with a young woman who is captured by robbers for a ransom. While she is crying, an old woman comes into the reading and tells her a story about Cupid and Psyche.

• Psyche is introduced as a beautiful mortal, even more beautiful that Venus. Venus is upset that Psyche is taking all the attention away from her and she tells her son Cupid to make her fall in love with someone hideous as revenge. 

• The father of Psyche is told by the oracle of Apollo that he must take is daughter to a mountain crag to have a fatal marriage with a monster.

• Psyche is taken to a rocky crag by her parents. Zephyr takes her to a meadow. Psyche is taken to Cupid's secret house. Cupid does not show himself to Psyche, but comes into the room at night and marries Psyche. Psyche does not know her husband is Cupid. LOVE IS BLIND

• Psyche convinces Cupid to let her sisters visit her. When her sisters arrive they are filled with jealously and once they leave they plot against Psyche. 

• Cupid warns Psyche of the danger she is in from her sisters. He also tells her she is pregnant. 

• Sisters return and remind Psyche of what the oracle of Apollo told her father and instill doubt in Psyche's mind about her husband. They convince Psyche to turn on a lamp during the night and find out who her husband is and then kill him with a knife.

• Psyche finds out who her husband is. Cupid is angry that she broke his trust and he leaves. 

• Psyche returns. Both of her sisters jump from cliffs to their death after hearing Psyche's husband was Cupid. 

Beautiful Sentences:

“I’d rather die a hundred times than be robbed of your sweet caresses. Whoever you are, I love you deeply and adore you as much as life itself. Not even Cupid could compare to you." 

This sentence is filled with emotion and love, but it is also ironic. Psyche says that not even Cupid could compare to her husband; however, her husband is Cupid.

"Yet, as the light shone clear and the bed’s mysteries were revealed, she found her savage beast was the gentlest and sweetest creature of all, that handsome god Cupid, handsome now in sleep. At the sight, even the lamp’s flame quickened in joy, and the razor regretted its sacrilegious stroke."I like the personification used in this sentence and the detail it adds to the story.

Overall:

Overall I love this story so far. Some of the wording and language is difficult to understand, but other than that the reading is easy to follow along with. The theme that I get from the story is that love is blind. With that said there are other messages about trust, family, jealousy, and self doubt too. If I had to change the story I would change the details and interactions of the characters. I would keep the same characters and the same big events (Psyche being taken to Cupid, not knowing who her husband is, her sisters trying to hurt her and lie to her, and Psyche breaking Cupid's trust). 

Bibliography: 

Cupid and Psyche Part A by Apuleius. Website: Mythology and Folklore UN-Textbook