Aphrodite,
the Vengeful Mother-In-Law
Aphrodite is
determined to make Psyche suffer, especially if she thinks she is going
to be the bride of her son, Eros. But, can you really keep love
captive?
One night in the darkness, Psyche’s husband spoke of a danger. It
seems as though Psyche’s sisters were going to the mountain top where
Psyche had been lifted to mourn for her. Eros told her that she
must not go to meet them because it would make them both very unhappy.
This saddened Psyche deeply as she missed her sisters deeply and wanted
to visit them if for only to let them know that she was safe and
happy. As Psyche cried, her husband finally agreed to allow her
the one visit with her sisters. Although he was going to allow
this meeting, Eros warned Psyche again of the danger and that she must
never try to see what he looked like, for if she were to see him she
would lose him forever. Psyche promised that she would never try
such a thing, as she could not stand the thought of losing her beloved
husband. Psyche’s sisters’ joy began to turn into jealousy as
they saw the good fortunes that Psyche had come to be a part of.
This jealousy led them to doubt Psyche’s husband and they told her that
Apollo’s oracle said he was a terrible monster and that she should kill
him in his sleep before he had the chance to do the same to her.
Psyche is abandoned by Eros.
Once her sisters had left, Psyche was left with confusion. She
worried and contemplated throughout the day as to whether she should
follow her sisters’ advice. That night she went to bed with a
lantern and a knife. As her husband fell asleep, she held the lit
lantern over his face and found not a monster, but the form of a
handsome man. She was shocked at the splendid sight and during
her excitement accidentally dropped lamp oil on Eros’ shoulder causing
him to wake up.
As Eros woke up he cried out, rose out of the bed, and rushed out into
the night. Psyche called out to him, but was met only by the
voice of Eros saying that he, the god of love, was her husband and that
love could not live where there was no trust. Psyche felt so
foolish as she had driven away her husband who she truly loved.
She decided instead of feeling sorry for herself that she would run
after him and keep on until she found him and could tell him how much
she truly loved him.
Eros had run to his mothers home. Here he got very little
sympathy from his mother Aphrodite who was angry that he had married
such a mere mortal like Psyche, not to mention that he had failed to
complete the task to make her suffer which Aphrodite had originally
sent him on. Eros completely ignored the command that Aphrodite
had given him in regards to Psyche, which infuriated Aphrodite.
Her anger sent her on a search for Psyche herself to make sure that she
was appropriately punished.
Psyche, Eros, and Aphrodite.
Meanwhile, Psyche had searched everywhere for Eros and was headed to
Aphrodite’s palace to beg forgiveness. The two ran into one
another. Aphrodite had no desire to merely accept an apology from
Psyche, she wanted her to suffer for hurting her son and for insulting
her. Psyche claimed to do anything to make up for her insults and
to win back the love of Eros. Cruelly gleeful, Aphrodite agreed
to this and began telling Psyche what she must do in order to have even
a chance to win back Eros’ love.
Aphrodite made heaps of grain appear on the ground and told Psyche to
sort the tiny kernels of barley, oat, and wheat and put them into bags
by nightfall. Psyche had tears flowing down her face, as she knew
that she could not do such a chore by nightfall. Fortunately, the
tiny ants creeping in the grass felt sorry for her and sorted the
piles. When Aphrodite returned, she could not believe her
eyes. She then made Psyche scrub the floors of her temple and
grind up the grain for meal. In the meantime, Aphrodite was
thinking up more difficult tasks for her daughter-in-law. She
believed that enough hard work and little nourishment would make
Psyche’s beauty fade. This would make nobody, not even Eros,
think that Psyche was more beautiful than the goddess of love.
Aphrodite thought of many more grueling tasks for Psyche to do like
gathering golden wool form wild sheep with golden fleece. From an
amiable source, she found that the sheep would leave wool on the thorn
bushes as they passed by towards the river. Psyche gathered the
golden wool off of the thorn bushes and took it to Aphrodite. The
next day she sent Psyche to fetch a bottle of water from the River
Styx, the dark river that guarded the way to the underworld. To
Psyche’s aid came an eagle who swooped down to get the bottle and
filled it for Psyche to return to Aphrodite. Many more life
threatening chores were given to Psyche, but she was blessed to have
help from others in each task, allowing her to successfully complete
them all. It was as though the gods were on her side.
By the time Psyche had completed all of her tasks given to her by
Aphrodite, Eros’ burn from the lamp oil had healed and he had forgiven
his wife. He was determined to go and search for his wife.
Although Aphrodite had locked him in his room, Eros flew out the
window. (It is hard to keep love captive!) Eros found
Psyche asleep in the grass near Aphrodite’s temple, where she had
fallen asleep from exhaustion from all the painstaking chores Aphrodite
had sent her to accomplish. Eros woke Psyche with a kiss.
As she opened her eyes, she was overjoyed to see her husband.
Psyche’s last task had been to gather beauty in a box from Persephone,
the Queen of the Underworld. She had accomplished this task but
had not yet taken it to Aphrodite. Eros gathered the box and told
Psyche to take it to his mother in order to prove her dedication.
With another kiss from her husband, Psyche went off to deliver the box
to Aphrodite. Meanwhile, Eros flew up to Olympus to ask Zeus to
help him set things straight. He agreed to help and Hermes
brought Psyche up to Olympus, where she was given ambrosia to
eat. Eating this food of the gods made her immortal. At
last Aphrodite forgave Psyche and declared that she was a suitable
match for Eros.
Eros and Psyche- whose names mean Love and Soul- lived happily ever
after.
The Marriage of Eros and Psyche.
Bibliography:
Asimov, Isaac. Words from
the Myths. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1961.
Brandenberg, Aliki. The Gods
and Goddesses of Olympus. USA: Harper Collins Publishers,
1994.
Sewell, Helen. A Book
of Myths. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1942.
I chose the information from these sources and simplified them into a
child’s lyric.
Image Bibliography:
Charles-Antoine Coypel 1694-1752: Psyché abandonnée par
l'Amour. Palais des Beaux-arts, Lille.
Websource: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Free/000Psyche/image/psyche4118.jpg
François Boucher 1703-1770: Le Mariage de Psyché et de
l'Amour. Musée des beaux arts, Rouen.
Websource: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Free/000Psyche/image/psyche4431.jpg
Jean-Baptiste Greuze 1725-1805: Psyché couronnant l'Amour, vers
1785-1790. Palais des Beaux-arts, Lille.
Websource: http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/000Free/000Psyche/image/psyche4126.jpg
Other Contents of the Storybook: Home
Zeus
and Hera Hera's
Revenge Peleus
and Thetis Hephaestus
and Aphrodite
Eros
and Psyche
