Psyche and Cupid

Relations and origin Though concerning gods and goddesses, Apuleius' Cupid and Psyche was generally relegated to the status of a â€Å"mere† folktale, or in English a fairy tale or in German Marchen. Though a common oral genre found world wide, it is not generally cons William Adlington's idered classical literature. Only with Charles Perrault's Mother Goose Tales and following popularity of other such collections in 17th century did folk tales become recognized in Europe as a legitimate literary genre. Later adaptations English translation of 1566 is excellent reading and for some is still the definitive English translation. In my research, I found some similarities between the modern day story of Beauty and the Beast and the myth of Cupid and Psyche. These similarities, some of which seem rather obvious, can be quite vague also. The myth, as you know tells the tale of a beautiful woman, Psyche and the prophecy of her life as told be the oracle. The story, although seemingly interesting, brings a dismay in my mind because of the lack of it being completely relevant to the story ofCupid and Psyche. As far as characters go, Belle, or Beauty, is compared to Psyche and the beast, although not a beast himself, is parallel to Cupid. The servants in both stories are somewhat the same in the respect that they offer to serve Psyche, or Belle in any way she wishes†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Long have stories and media been devoted to tales of a beauty ‘taming' a beast, †¦ Psyche and Eros and Beauty and the Beast had similar situations in their †¦ Gender Differences & Similarities are to reconcile the many levels which †¦ he discusses the tension in human consciousness between Eros and Psyche. Both tales take on an animal-husbandry theme of sorts, although in the case of Eros and Psyche, it is the fear of a bestial husband, while in Beauty and the Beast, there is one in actuality. Psyche embraces a husband that she is not allowed to view after having previously been led to believe that she was to be killed and carried off by a demon. When she later tells her sisters of her husban d’s secret identity, out of jealousy they implant ideas in her head that he indeed is this demon that she had been warned about, and encourage her to kill him. She goes on of course to discover that he is not a demon, but the god Eros when she moves to strike him, but at that point her mistrust and curiosity cause him to leave her. Beauty knows of the Beast’s animalistic characteristics and begins fearing him There are many other interesting contrasts. It also leads to Beauty getting her happy ending without all the suffering that Psyche goes on to endure before getting hers. Beauty goes to give her life in exchange for her father's freedom, and Psyche is sent to the mountain that Eros eventually carries her away from after her father is ordered by a god to send her there. Psyche and Beauty are both sent on the road that leads to their â€Å"beasts† in very funeral-like processions. That is, of course, totally different from the cruel suffering that is going to await Psyche. The scene's tone also leads us to anticipate the joy that Beast's transformation will soon bring Beauty, whose happiness will be as great as her momentary depression. Of course, the angst of the scene where Beauty discovers the dying Beast shows us Beauty's true love for him, sharply contrasting Psyche's fearful suspicions. Young, beautiful maidens sent toward their lovers in such a fashion has to be about the theme of lost virginity. Beauty is rewarded with a lavish wedding, the beast taking the form of the prince who resided in her dreams, and a visit from her family for â€Å"having the courage to rescue [the beast] from the terrible enchantment,† (Cole, Page 23); and Psyche was made immortal in reward for fulfilling the horrid tasks that Aphrodite asked of her. In conclusion we see that time and region do not necessarily dictate a change in theme, even if the individual factors within the theme are changed. Psyche and Eros and Beauty and the Beast had similar situations in their stories and dealt with them in quite different ways. Beauty held back her feelings because of appearances, only to discover that the Beast was who she truly wanted all along. Similarly, the beast changing back into a prince does not have the same ring to it as Eros' escape, which he does only after waiting long enough to tell Psyche â€Å"I told you so. Psyche let hers develop too soon by being led by her curiosity, while Beauty delayed accepting the truth (that the man in her dreams was the one before her), until it was almost too late. http://www. megaessays. com/viewpaper/61042. html dop2001 mega essays LLC TITLE:Eros/Psyche vs Beauty/Beast What is the author's purpose for writing Cupid and Psyche? Here is a brief summary of the story.? People started neglecting Venus for the beautiful Psyche so Venus asked her son, Cupid, to make Psyche fall in love with the vilest man on earth, but he would not do it for he had fallen in love with Psyche. The parents of Psyche became worried because their beautiful daughter had not yet been married so they went to ask Apollo for help. He told them to place her on top of a summit alone where someone â€Å"stronger than the gods themselves, would come to her and make her his wife. The parents did so and later when she was asleep she was carried from the summit to a river where she awoke to find a beautiful palace. In the palace she heard voices, her husband, telling her that later on her sisters would be coming and to not let them see him otherwise â€Å"you will bring great sorrow upon me and ruin to yourself† but the next day when her sisters came they became so envious of her good fortune that they worked on a plot to destroy Psyche, telling her to destroy her husband for he was a monster. Later that evening, Psyche went to the bed of her husband, lit a lamp and saw that he was not a monster, but the God of Love and as she bent over his bed some oil from the lamp burned his shoulder, he awoke and fled away bidding his farewell and saying there can not be love where there is no trust. Psyche was determined to find her love so she went to Venus and gave herself as a servant jealous Venus made her do horrible tasks. One of the tasks she had to retrieve beauty from Persephone, but curios Psyche opened the box and fell into a deep sleep. Cupid now healed and still in love with Psyche took away the sleep and asked Zeus to make her immortal so she could be his bride. Zeus did so and Cupid and Psyche were married. 1. Psyche was married to a god, but she herself was mortal, so she was bound by certain rules in her approach to the god ( the superior male). She broke the rules, driven by human desires, and thus hurt his divinity. Here is the conflict between the divine and the profane(human). It is significant fact that the embodiment of the pure mind( psyche) happens to break the rules against the embodiment of love (feeling), and to hurt him. . The ordeals Psyche has to overcome in order to retrieve the love of Cupid (Eros), appear later in many other fairy tales bearing the motive â€Å"In search for the lost husband†. Here the most important one is the symbolic death and rebirth of Psyche, represented by the decent to the kingdom of the dead and her sleep, from which she is awaken by the power of love. She must die as an imperfect human with her human weaknesses to be able to become a true wife of the deity. Note that Psyche is perfect outside, but imperfect inside. The author implies to our human imperfectness and the role of love to overcome it. Eros. The sign position of the Asteroid, Eros, can reveal some of our erotic turn-on, as well as the level of our erotic nature. EROS IN TAURUS Here Eros has little interest in the aggressive ardency of Aries. Taurus is not responsive to getting up at 6 a. m. to do fifty laps at the pool and he would rather not have to compete with anyone to get what he wants. Eros has a different orientation in this sign, namely, an orientation towards pleasure. That means pure and natural, undiluted personal and sensual gratification. This pleasure-seeking eye of the bull is ever on the niceties of sensuality whether they be in the dinning room, on the massage table or in a king size bed. He finds joy in tangible pursuits that revolve around making the body feel good as well as the pleasure of acquisition. Taurus can also become ferociously possessive of those pleasures in an extremely dogmatic way. PSYCHE Psyche Sign describes your characteristics based on the placement of the asteroid Psyche in your natal chart. Along with the sun sign and moon sign, the Psyche sign also helps you understand yourself better. Psyche in Greek means â€Å"Soul†. This has given rise to a most unconventional kind of astrology. The name has come from Greek mythology where the stories are about evil fathers, jealous women and prince charming. Psyche stands for everything related to love, passion, jealousy and our inner self. This asteroid tells us a lot about ourselves and our journey through life. It gives us an aim to know our soul and mind better and know where we stand today. It tells us about what we expect from our partners and what we crave for in a relationship. PSYCHE IN CANCER: Tend to take on nurturing roles, not necessarily with everyone, but definitely with their lover. They will go out of their way to make partner happy. Psyche , What is the theme/moral/message ? Don't let outside influences affect your relationship with another person†¦ or the trust in between you. Cupid and Psyche is a story of love, truth and redemption. For the Greeks its purpose was to emphasize the importance of truthfulness and also to show that redemption can be obtained through hard work and humility. I suppose you could also say there is a lesson in there about the futility of jealousy (like that displayed by Aphrodite and Psyche's sisters), or simply that love can overcome any obstacle. Eros and Psyche is an allegory of the mystical love of the soul (Psyche) for the divine. In some myths Eros was the first God or ‘Protogenoi' from which all creation sprang. The soul (psyche) seeks to return to it's divine source (Eros/God) through mystical love. Psychology actually first started with its original meaning – the study of the soul that is why it is called as psychology. Why? In the early times, philosophers would like to explain why people behave this or that way and since they attribute human behavior with the soul, they try to study the soul instead of behavior. In addition to this, their findings includes that dead people no longer think, work or do anything, Therefore if the person is dead he has no soul. If there is no soul man cannot think and behave the way he is supposed to be and so on ans so forth. This is to give due consideration that in the past the focus of attention is on philosophy (logic specifically) and psychology evolved from it when they found out that it is a different kind of science. http://answers. yahoo. com/search/search_result;_ylt=AkbtFb6mKbWNQjRbX4HxZ1kjzKIX;_ylv=3? eywords_filter=all&p=psyche+and+eros&keywords_search=+Search+Answers Help on ancient Greece love stories 2003 Ramona Bryce Sometimes referred to as Cupid by Roman writers and translators. Interesting Fact: The word â€Å"erotic†, meaning sexual love, comes from the name of Eros. However, even in ancient times, his quality of love was thought to be spiritual as well as physical, and was generally believed to be the deity who caused the love of be auty, healing, freedom, and many other good things as well as the love between people. Children: By Psyche, Volupta or Pleasure; Nyx (Night). With Chaos he is said to have created all birds. Title: fast facts on: Eros url: http://gogreece. about. com/od/greekmythology/a/eros. htm author: deTraci Regula doa: may 8 dop: 2010 Basic Myth: Pan is the god who watches over flocks, forests, mountains, and all wild things. While he is usually despoiling maidens and others, he can also be gentle and is said to have talked Psyche out of commiting suicide over her thwarted love for Eros. Title: Fast facts on: Pan Author: deTraci Regula Doa may 8 Dop: 2010 http://gogreece. about. com/cs/mythology/a/blmythpan. htm Question: What Were the 4 Tasks Psyche Had to Complete? Answer: The taskmaster in the story of Cupid and Psyche was Cupid's mother, the love goddess Venus or Aphrodite. Venus had never liked Psyche, so the opportunity of putting her to a series of tests gave Venus a chance to demand the seemingly impossible. In order for Psyche to win back her husband, Cupid, Venus set 4 seemingly impossible tasks before Psyche: 1. sorting out a huge pile of seeds 2. etrieving the Golden Fleece, 3. filling a flask from the water that fills the River Styx, and 4. returning from the Underworld with a box of the beauty ointment of Proserpina (aka Persephone). Cupid is also known as Amor or Eros, words for love. url: http://ancienthistory. about. com/od/cupidandpsyche/f/Psychestasks. htm Title: Were the 4 Tasks Psyche Had to  Complete? Author: N. S. Gill 2010 Dop:may8 Larger institution:about. com Definition: Psyche is the pe rsonification of the human soul and wife of Eros. Title:Psyche Author: N. S. Gill