Cupid and Psyche

That's what she gets for trying to see what her husband looks like.

Greetings, reader! This week, we turn to Ancient Greece and Rome for the story of Cupid and Psyche. Unlike a lot of legends, the two of them actually fall in love before the end of the story!

One thing that always interests me about Ancient Greek and Roman myths is that the gods are just as vain and jealous as humans are. Instead of being happy this human girl has so many people excited about love, the goddess of love gets jealous and makes it so no one loves the girl. I understand that it's overstepping for people to stop worshipping Venus and worship Psyche instead, but it's not Psyche's fault. Even after Venus' son falls in love with Psyche, Venus still hates the mortal girl.

While we're talking about gods, how hot was that oil that Psyche dripped on Cupid's back? He was laid up with some kind of illness for days. Was it a broken heart? I would assume Cupid had never gotten his heart broken before, but that still seems odd. He did get others to help Psyche in the tasks that Venus gave her, but Cupid didn't ask Jupiter to stop Venus until after Psyche had done three tasks. Maybe Cupid wasn't sure she really loved him until then. I prefer to think of him as kind of an angsty teenager who takes awhile to figure out they could actually be happy instead of forever doomed in love.

I have to wonder what Psyche's life was like after this story. She becomes a goddess, so she lives forever with eternal youth, but she has to watch the rest of her family die and end up in Erebus. Hopefully in the happy part. I wonder if she ever regretted looking at Cupid and setting all of the other events in motion. She could have stayed in her mansion with him, being happy and in love, growing old when it was her time to. Eternal life could be a heavy burden.

Alternatively, maybe Psyche had no problem being a goddess. She would get to stay pretty forever, although she would never say she was as pretty as Venus. She would get to stay with Cupid forever and enjoy raising their child, Pleasure, without worrying about how Pleasure would take care of her when Psyche got old. I hope she wore her immortality well.

The moral of this story is that if you're going to listen to your jealous sisters, be prepared for a long quest. Alternatively, if you say you're in love with a woman, get to know her and how likely she is to give into curiosity.

Have a different moral? Annoyed I didn't talk about Psyche's sisters? Have a story you want me to analyze? Comment below!