Reading Notes: Cupid and Psyche, Part A

• A group of robbers steals young women from rich families to take for ransom 
• the robbers steal a woman and take her to their cave where she cries all night
• an old woman begins to talk to her, and the young woman tells her that they stole her on her wedding day 
• the old woman tells her a story to comfort her
• there were a king and queen with three daughters, two of which who were beautiful and one who was extraordinarily gorgeous, and her name was Psyche
• the third daughter was so beautiful that people would come from all over to appreciate her beauty and were no longer visiting shrines to Venus 
• Venus, who is angry and jealous, sends her son Cupid to punish her, as he is known for doing harm 
• he curses Psyche to only choose the most wretched of men 
• All suitors found Psyche extraordinarily beautiful, but nobody wanted to marry her
• The king consults Apollo, and he prophecizes that a winged creature is leading her to a fatal marriage 
• The king and queen weep for Psyche's fate, and lead her to the top of the mountain in her flame-red vail for her dark wedding, and left her there with the bridal torches
• A zephyr lifted her from the mountaintop to the valley below 
• she fell asleep peacefully in the valley, and she awoke to a stunning palace that belonged to a god
• a voice spoke to her and said that everything there was hers, so she took a bath and slept, then ate dinner 
• the mysterious and bodiless husband appeared and made her his wife, and she feared for her solitude but was comforted by the whispering voices 
• her husband spoke to her one night and told her that her sisters think that she's dead and they're coming to the mountain top, and if she hears their cries, don't listen or it will bring pain and ruin to them both
• she became very depressed and cried all the time as she had no human company and could not see her sisters
• she seduced him into allowing her sisters to come to the castle, as long as she would not give in to their inquiries about him 
• the sisters came and they cried tears of happiness when they arrived at the palace to see Psyche
• the sisters took a luxurious bath and ate amazing food, and began to be jealous of Psyche; this made them curious of who her husband was
• the sisters became incredibly envious as to how their sister was living because their husbands were old and they had to leave the country to live with them
• Psyche keeps her promise to her husband, and the sisters leave with a plan to come back and punish her for her arrogance and riches
• after her sisters leave, her husband warns her that there is a heinous act being plotted against her, and tempting her to inquire more about him 
• he says if she keeps her promise and does not speak about him, she will have a child
• the sisters return again, falsely embracing Psyche but are still plotting against her 
• the sisters returned every day to try and convince her that she's married to a venomous monster, and once she gives birth, he'll devour her
• she was filled with terror and told her sisters her husbands secret, breaking her promise 
• Psyche was torn between her fear for the beast and her love for her husband
• She grabs a razor and then finds that her husband is Cupid, and falls in love with him
• he reveals that he was ordered to sentence her to a horrible marriage by Venus, but chose to love her instead to his own demise
• Psyche lays outside on the ground and sees the god of the wild, Pan, who tells her to pray to Cupid instead of lamenting 
• She finds her sisters and lets them know that it was Cupid that was her husband, and he left her because of their orders
• The sister leaves to go to the palace and be Cupid's mistress. she jumps from the cliff, expecting the Zephyr, but is only met by jagged rocks and death

Bibliography. Cupid and Psyche. Written by Apuleius. Web Source

Painting of Cupid and Psyche by Brocky

Source: Wikipedia