Cupid + Psyche : A Love Story Myth — Ohm Terra

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Our story starts in the mortal realm with a princess named Psyche. She was so beautiful that when men would come to visit from other lands, they would bring gifts to honor her beauty. This admiration caught the attention of the goddess, Venus. Being jealous of the attention a mortal received, she came up with a plan to have her son Eros, the God of Love, make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest of beings. 

On the night Eros snuck into Psyche’s room to fulfill his mother’s request, he slipped, shooting himself with his own arrow, leaving him madly in love with Psyche, but unable to act as he was a god, and she a mere mortal. So he left, never coming back.

As years went on, the king and queen became concerned that their beautiful daughter still had not yet found a suitor. Baffled by this, they paid a visit to the Oracle of Apollo where they were told to dress their daughter in funerary clothing and to stand her on a mountaintop. 

This is where Psyche would meet her future husband.. a horrible serpent that was feared by everyone. Terrified, they did as they were told and left Psyche to her dreadful fate.

Carried by the wind from the mountaintop where she had fallen asleep, Psyche awoke outside of a palace made of gold, silver, and jewels. A voice welcomed her, telling her this castle was her new home, and he was her new husband.

As Gods were not allowed to marry mortals, Eros could only visit his new wife at night, under the cloak of darkness and invisibility. She was to never see his face. He would say “love me as an equal rather than adore me as a god”

But enough was enough, and one night Psyche lit a candle to see her husband's face, the wax from the candle badly burning Eros on the hand. With the speed that only a god could have, as soon as who her new husband was registered in her mind, Psyche was in a field near her old home. No longer in the castle that had become her home.

From that day forward, Psyche searched for Eros…  day in and day out, always coming up empty-handed. When she finally could look no more, she pleaded to Venus for help.

But Instead of help, The Goddess gave Psyche 3 impossible tasks - separating different grains from each other, shearing shining gold fleeces from the backs of violent rams and collecting the black water from the River Styx.

With some godly assistance, she was able to complete all 3 tasks. But before she could complete the 4th task from Venus, Eros heard about these trials his mother was requesting of Psyche, the love of his life. 

At this point, Eros stepped up to the plate. Knowing his mother despised Psyche, Eros made a deal with Jupiter, the King of the Gods. The deal was tit for tat- if I make your mortal a goddess, so you can marry her, when I find my love- Eros will have an arrow waiting.

With this deal, Eros stepped in and stopped his mother from her games with Psyche and brought her to Jupiter. Jupiter turned Princess Psykhe into the goddess of the soul and officiated their wedding.  The pair can now be seen flying around together, Eros with angelic wings and Psykhe with butterfly wings, symbolizing her transformation.