Once upon a time there lived a king and a queen with three beautiful daughters. You know the rest. The youngest daughter was the most beautiful of them all and people traveled to admire her beauty. They would even compare her to Venus, and they even started praying to her like she was the goddess. Obviously this made Venus mad so she summoned her son Cupid.
The plan was to let Psyche continue to be admired, but like a statue. No one would ever want to marry her. Her father noticed something fishy was up so he prayed to Apollo. Apollo answered the father with a prophecy about his daughter, and it wasn't good news. This brought great sorrow to Psyche and her family. Psyche insisted her family let her go to die. She said there was no point in running from the inevitable. So she went to the cliff and Zephyr lifted her up with the wind.
She wakes up in the courtyard of an amazing palace. It had all the typical amenities like treasure, riches, and invisible servants.
Finally her husband arrives, but he's mysterious and we don't know what he looks like. He tells Psyche that if she hears her family not to answer. Psyche agrees to this so the husband reluctantly agrees to bring Psyche's family to visit.
The sisters arrive and Psyche greets them. "Why mourn when I am still here," she says. She takes them inside and the sisters get envious. Why were we not deserving of this fate they thought. So they did what all sisters in fairy tales do. They devised a scheme.
Once again Psyche's husband warned her about her sisters. He tells her "do not talk to them and you will bear a child." Psyche pleads and her husband agrees to bring the sisters back again.
The sisters congratulate her on her pregnancy. They want to know about her husband. She makes up a lie to tell them, and the sisters know she's lying. The sisters warn Psyche that her husband is a monster. Psyche ignores everything her husband has told her and believes them. The sisters tell Psyche that she has to sever her husbands head.
Well, Psyche is going to sever her husbands head, but then she sees him and realizes he is Cupid. This made her fall more in love with him. Oil from the lamp Psyche was using to see drips on Cupid and wakes him. Cupid wails "I warned you over and over again yet you disregarded my warning. Why Psyche?"
To be continued...
Psyche's arrival to the palace. Source
Bibliography:
Apuleius, The Golden Ass, Translation by Tony Kline. https://mythfolklore.blogspot.com/2014/05/myth-folklore-unit-apuleiuss-cupid-and.html
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