Psyche & Eros:
The Beauty & The Beast

A very long time ago somewhere in Greece, there was a king and queen who had three beautiful daughters. The oldest two were so stunning it was difficult to find the right words to describe them; but the youngest, Psyche, well, she would just take from you the power of speech entirely. The finest suitors from all over the world lined up by the thousands just to catch a glimpse of her. Some started spreading rumors, saying things like she was the goddess Aphrodite in disguise. Others said she was a new goddess of love and beauty, and a virgin to boot, which in fact made her better than her predecessor. Soon Aphrodite’s temples were ignored. No one even bothered to sweep or clean the bird poop off the steps. More and more people had flocked instead to adore a young princess named Psyche.

Anytime Psyche left the courtyard of her palace she was followed by hoards of admirers. This greatly offended Aphrodite, who had officially won the title of “Most Beautiful Woman in the Universe” in a beauty pageant several years before. “I’m the one who the golden apple!” she said, referring to the pageant’s first place prize. Aphrodite, especially jealous that a mortal had succeeded her reign, promised to teach Psyche a lesson. “By the time I’m done with her she’ll wish she was as ugly as a toad!” These and other vindictive thoughts ran through her head.

At once she sent for her son, Eros, that adorable troublemaker of hers who spent most of his time breaking up marriages and ruining decent people's lives with his little bow and arrows. He'd definitely enjoy messing the young princess, she thought. "Darling,” she said to her son, “There’s this girl who thinks she’s more beautiful than me, and so I need you to do me a favor. I want you to teach her a lesson. Make her fall in love with the worst guy you can find, a man who is a totally lame, a loser, a reject, a complete scumbag, the puss in a wart on the butt of humanity. Basically, find the ugliest man on earth.” And with that Aphrodite kissed her son and took off to relax for a while.

Meanwhile, Psyche was getting sick and tired of all the unwelcome attention. Everyone stared at her, but no one dared speak to her, let alone ask her out. Not even visiting kings and princes from other lands. What made it worse was that her less gorgeous sisters had already found royal husbands, and moved away. She stayed at home, alone, miserable and depressed, and began to hate her beauty. She fell ill, and nothing seemed to make her feel any better. Her father worried that her sickness. Wondering if it was perhaps some punishment from the gods, he traveled to the oracle of Apollo in search of some answers.

The king begged the god to tell him where his poor daughter could find a husband. The oracle replied, “If you get the girl in a wedding dress and take her to the top of the mountain, you will find a husband for her there. Unfortunately, he’s a rather beastly ogre, but don’t worry. A god will be on deck to make sure they fall deeply in love.”

The king, who was usually a pretty laid-back and chill kind of guy, lost his cool when he heard this news. But he couldn’t waste time brooding over something he couldn’t control, so he obeyed the oracle and prepared to marry off his daughter.

Psyche’s wedding was more like a funeral. She sobbed the whole time. “It’s too late for you to try and save me now,” Psyche said to her parents, “but you should have done something when everyone started treating me like a goddess. You should have stopped it. This whole wedding is a set-up; it’s Aphrodite’s way of getting back at me. I get it now. But I am not afraid.” She said this bravely, not really believing it, but at least wiping away her tears before marching up the mountain to meet her man.

Psyche’s family watched their daughter disappear. “A true beauty,” her mother wept, “with a true beast.” They returned home sorrowfully. Her parents locked up the palace shortly thereafter and just sat there in the darkness, utterly melancholy.

Psyche was now alone on the hilltop, weeping and trembling. Gradually a breeze sprang up. It played with her dress, blowing gently underneath it, until it lifted her off the ground and softly carried her down into a valley beneath the hill, where she found herself delicately laid down in a forest glade, on a beautiful soft grassy bank, amid flowers in profusion.

It was so lovely and cool that she began to feel better. She stopped crying and fell asleep. When she woke up, she started walking through the forest. She came to a stream she couldn't cross, so she followed it. Soon, through the trees she saw a palace - so much more beautiful even than her father's that she knew it must be the home of some god. The doors were open, and she felt herself drawn inside - she walked entranced through the large light rooms. The floors were covered in the most marvellous mosaics, and the walls seemed to be made of blocks of gold. Each room had costly furniture, hangings - and unimaginable treasures of unbelievable value were there for anyone to see - or steal. But there was not a single lock, nor any sign of guards or even servants.

Suddenly a soft female voice came out of nowhere: "Are you surprised? All this, and all these treasures are yours. Why not go to your bedroom and rest? You must be so tired. When you wake up, your bath will be ready. And after that it will be time for the wedding banquet."

She couldn't resist the invitation. She found her bedroom, and was amazed to find wardrobes crammed with fashionable clothes, and drawers full of delicious underwear. And all her size! She dozed again, and then found herself being undressed by unseen hands, led to her bath, washed, and dressed in the most wonderful wedding dress. As she wandered out of the bathroom, she saw a table, with a chair in front of it. She sat down and at once exotic delicacies to eat and delicious wines appeared - but the waiters or waitresses were invisible. After the meal was cleared away - by unseen hands - a lyre began to play, joined by an invisible choir. When the performance ended, she moved back to her bedroom and undressed.

It was after midnight when she realized she was not alone! Someone was in bed with her, whispering, caressing her, making love to her. It must be her husband (she hoped!), her unknown husband. But well before dawn he was gone, and she was left alone again. She fell into a deep sleep.

The next day Psyche enjoyed the pleasures of her new palace even more, and that night, when she was in bed and it was quite dark, her mystery husband came again. And the third day and night were much the same - gradually it all settled down into a most enjoyable routine. She had her voices to chat to all day, and made passionate love with her husband every night. It was wonderful! She'd never seen her husband, but she could not have been more happily married!

Meanwhile, her parents were grieving and mourning as if their daughter were dead. When her sisters had heard the sad news, they left their husbands and came home to cheer up their parents. Psyche’s husband had a bad feeling. "Your sisters are going to try and find you,” he said to her one night. “If they do, you are in deadly danger. Even if they find the rock where the West Wind carried you off from, and you can hear them, you must ignore them. Don't even look up and try to see them."

Psyche promised to obey her husband, because she already loved him so much, but next day she couldn't stop weeping at the thought of never seeing or speaking to her sisters again. She begged and begger her husband to let her see them, and finally he caved in. “But I bet you’ll live to regret,” he added. “They’re going to make you take a look at me,” he said. “They’ll try you and tease you until they’ve convinced you to sneak a peak at my hideous face. I promise you’ll live to regret it.”

Psyche swore she didn’t care about his looks. “I love you so much,” she said, “because of who you are on the inside.” She kissed her husband, nibbled at his ear, and wound her arms and legs more tightly around him. He couldn't resist the power of her love, and - against his better judgment - gave in. He promised to give her what she asked, then, as usual, vanished before dawn.

Her sisters arrived at the crack of dawn on the following day. At first everything was hugs and kisses and telling each other how much they were missed. But when Psyche showed her sisters to her palace and all its wonders, having them bathed and fed by her invisible servants, their joy turned to jealousy. The middle sister, always the inquisitive one, dropped the ball. “So, where’s the old sugar daddy?”

Psyche made up a little lie about how handsome her husband was, and how he was away a lot on hunting trips. "He's very young,” she said, “and has a cute little beard.” As the questions got more personal Psyche decided it was time for the sisters to leave, for she knew she wasn’t a very good liar. She abruptly gave them each a small gift and saw them off.

As they walked back to town, the sisters began to talk - they couldn't suppress the bubbling envy in their evil hearts. "How come she's our little sister, but she's got a bigger palace and a better husband than either of us?" "My husband's old, ugly and mean!" said the younger one. "Mine's such an old wreck," said the elder," I'm more like a nurse than a wife! And I can't remember when we last had sex - not it that it was worth remembering!" They both agreed they couldn't bear the way their little sister was putting on airs with her beautiful home and her gorgeous husband, hustling them out as soon as she was bored with a few old jewels for presents. "She needs taking down a notch; in fact, why don't we work together to push her down into the gutter where she belongs?"

So that was agreed. They pretended to their parents that they'd tried hard - but they hadn't found Psyche, and went back home to their husbands. They took their rage with them, and swore to get back together as soon as one of them had dreamed up a sufficiently vicious plan to destroy Psyche—preferably, one where she died slow and painfully.

Meanwhile Psyche's husband was warning her again about her sisters. "I know you won't be able to resist having them to stay again," he said, "but you must beware. They will try to persuade you to get a look at my face. This you can never do. As I've told you - if you ever see me, you will lose me for ever. And that would be terrible - especially now we have a baby on the way! Keep our secret and the child will be immortal!"

Well this was so exciting! Psyche's mum had not told her very much about the birds and bees, and so the news came as a great surprise. She was even more surprised to find her little tummy beginning to bulge.

Her sisters were now on their way for a second visit. They rushed to the palace. "Dear Psyche! What a darling bulge! What a lovely mother you'll make. Mom and Dad will be so happy!" And so the evil pair wormed their way into Psyche's confidence. After a fragrant bath, and an indescribably delicious dinner, they started the questions again. Poor Psyche couldn't remember what she'd said last time. She told them her husband was a middle-aged man with grey hair, who was away on business trips a lot. But she was starting to panic, and again she rapidly gave her sisters their presents, and ushered them out.

They spent the night at their parents' - still telling them nothing - griping and whining. They knew there was something fishy going on. Why didn't Psyche know what her husband looked like? Neither could sleep with the rage boiling inside. As soon it was morning they were back, jumping off the rock - the West Wind thought about just letting them crash to their deaths - but orders were orders, even if one disagreed with them. Their dastardly plot was ready for execution.

Pretending to weep, they went to Psyche. "You poor darling,” they sobbed. "We've thought about it very hard, and we've decided we have to tell you. We love you too much to hide the truth from you any longer. Your husband (alas!) is an enormous snake. A very dangerous snake that could crush your poor body or poison you with its venom. Remember the oracle that said you would marry a savage animal! We've talked to the local people - many of them have seen it; they say it's only waiting for you to reach your full size - its favorite diet is plump and juicy pregnant ladies, with the baby fully grown inside them! There's only one thing to do - run away with us while you still can. Now!"

Psyche believed every wicked word her sisters told her. She turned white with fear. "It must be true!" she whispered. "That's why he wont let me see him! That's why he only comes when it's dark - and why I'm told I must never try to find out what he looks like! It's because he's an ugly, disgusting...reptile!"

The sisters saw they were winning. The decided to go all the way with their plan. "Don’t worry,” they said, lying, “we still love you. There is a way you can save yourself. Get a knife - make sure it's really sharp. Hide it under your pillow. Get a lamp - make sure it's got plenty of oil, light it, turn the wick right down, and put it behind the curtains - it won't shine through all that heavy brocade. When he's asleep, when the revolting slimy serpent is snoring beside you, fetch the lamp. Take out your knife, and cut off the repulsive monster's vile head. We'll be hiding in the room to help you get away with all his treasure. We'll take you home, and see you married to a nice kind human!"

As soon as they knew Psyche had swallowed the idea, they slipped away, all the way back to their boring husbands - no chance of finding them anywhere around when the disaster struck! It was agony for Psyche. She hated the thought of being married to a snake - but somehow she still loved her husband. Would she be brave enough to carry out the plan? But finally she made up her mind. She hid the knife, and lit the lamp.

Night fell, and in the pitch dark, her husband came to her, as usual. They made love - it was delicious, but she was determined. She took the murderous knife in one hand, and fetched the lamp in the other. She turned up the wick, and moved towards the bed. She saw the most beautiful and gentle creature. She recognized him immediately, from the wings on his back - folded now at rest, with the feathers trembling ever so slightly as he breathed. Eros himself! The god of Love - and yes, there was his bow, and his quiver full of arrows propped at the end of the bed. She took one out to examine it. Ouch! The point pricked her finger, and she was now hopelessly and blindly in love with Love. She flung herself on his sleeping body, kissing and stroking, dazzled by the perfection of his smooth skin, and delicate limbs.

But somehow she'd been careless when she put down the lamp. She nudged it unawares, and a drop of scalding-hot oil landed on the god's shoulder. At once he was awake, saw Psyche, took in the situation, and took off - without a word. Psyche was still clinging to his leg as he flew - but he managed to shake her off. She landed on the earth with a bump. He landed beside her, and spoke with a voice full of anger and sadness. "You stupid fool! My mother told me to make you fall in love with a worthless nobody - but I disobeyed, and fell in love with you myself. But now, because you broke our agreement, it's all over. I told you not to listen to those filthy-minded sisters of yours: I'll have my revenge on them. But your punishment is this - you will never see me again!" And with that he soared away into the air.

Psyche flung herself into the river that she'd followed all those months ago - to drown herself. But the river god refused to allow her to die, and washed her ashore. She started walking, and by evening found herself in a strange city. It was the one where her eldest sister was queen! Her sister was very surprised to see her, but let her explain what had happened. "I got the lamp, and the knife, just as you said, but it wasn't a snake at all! It was Aphrodite' darling son, Eros, lying there asleep! I

was overcome with emotion, and somehow a drop of oil got spilt on his shoulder. He jumped up, saw the knife, and told me: "Get out of my bed, you bitch! I divorce you! I shall marry your beautiful elder sister instead!"

The sister could hardly wait - spinning her husband some lie, she rushed off back to the rock and leaped off. But the West Wind's orders had been cancelled, and she was smashed to pieces on the rocks. Then Psyche went to the city where her other sister was queen, and told the same story. She too rushed off, and - sadly to say - died in agony in exactly the same way. Poor Psyche went on looking for her beloved, all over the world. But she had no chance of finding him, because he was now back home with his mother, and in fact in bed - in severe pain from that nasty burn.

Meanwhile, a rather unpleasant bird was on its way to inform Aphrodite of what had been going on. This gull found the Goddess of Love enjoying a dip in the ocean - and told her: her son was bedridden with a dreadful wound; he'd been having a sordid affair with a girl; and that the gossip was she herself had had a nervous breakdown and gone on a seaside holiday! And that as a result the whole universe was in complete disorder - with love having completely gone out of everyone's lives!

This revolting bird poisoned Aphrodite' mind - she believed the story about her son, and demanded the name of the Nymph, Muse or Grace who'd dared seduce her innocent son. "Unless I'm completely mistaken," piped the talkative gull, it was a mortal. I think her name was something like ... Psyche!"

Her vacation abruptly curtailed, Aphrodite went straight home, and straight to her son's bedroom. "You lazy, disobedient little lecher. How dare you? I told you to ruin that girl's life, and instead you have the cheek to go and sleep with her yourself! Well, I'm not too old to have children - I can have another son! Or I can confiscate your little toys and give them to someone who knows how to handle them. I'm anyway sick of you always shooting your arrows at me, and sneering at me - and showing no respect for your stepfather either. I know you're always making Mars fall in love with other women just to annoy me. But I'm going to make you so sorry you ever set eyes on that mortal girl, Sunny Jim."

Perhaps wisely, Eros pretended to be asleep. Aphrodite, fuming and snorting, went off to consider his punishment. She bumped into Demeter and Hera. Her auntie Demeter asked why her face was all red and puffy. "Help me, auntie," pleaded Aphrodite. "I'm looking for a creature called Psyche. She's disappeared after the, um, scandal...or, um, affair…her ridiculous affair with my s—"

"What's the big deal?" said Demeter innocently. "Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. What could be more natural - especially as your son has so obviously inherited his mother's talents! How silly you look - trying to ban your son from doing the thing you encourage everyone else to!"

"And you have to remember, sweetie," said Hera, "that he's not a little boy any longer. I think he's old enough to make his own decisions." Demeter and Hera were not being entirely honest, however. Both were scared of Eros and wanted to avoid falling victim to his next prank, and so they thought best not to say anything bad about him.

Meanwhile Psyche was still searching for her husband - determined to whatever she had to to win him back. One day, she saw a temple on a hilltop. She went inside, and found it was all in a terrible mess - offerings of corn, sheaves of barley, sickles and scythes were strewn about all higgledy-piggledy. Without thinking, she started tidying it all up - and soon the goddess whose temple it was arrived. It was Demeter.

“Why thank you, dear," she cooed. "Fancy looking after my temple for me so nicely, while Aphrodite is going mad trying to find you."

"O please, please help me!" Psyche begged. "Just let me hide in your temple so I can rest for a few days. I'm so exhausted."

"Of course! I'd love to!" said Demeter. "But my niece and I are very close. I'd never do anything to offend her. Get out of my temple this minute, or I'll have you arrested."

When a little later, she found another temple and took refuge there, it wasn't really a surprise when Hera, after saying how much she'd love to help, refused and threw her out - because she'd never do anything to offend her daughter-in-law, the goddess who'd married her son Vulcan.

Psyche, now desperate, decided the only thing left was to give herself up - go to Aphrodite and try to win her round. She had no idea how she was going to do this. Aphrodite meanwhile had got out the best chariot, and drove, accompanied by the usual chirping flock of birds, straight to Jupiter's palace, to demand the services of Ares, the gods' own media specialist. She told him "I want an announcement made to all mankind". And she described the massive reward for whoever found Psyche, who she claimed was her escaped slave girl. And she handed over a picture, and her full dossier. Then she went home.

Ares lost no time. All over the world he flashed - proclaiming everywhere: "Oyez, oyez! If anyone do apprehend the person of one Psyche, an escaped slave of the goddess Aphrodite, he shall be rewarded by the said goddess with seven kisses upon the lips, plus one to include full tongue involvement."

In fact Psyche had nearly reached the palace of Aphrodite all by herself, when she felt herself being grabbed by the hair. It was one of Aphrodite' less prepossessing slaves, who dragged her in front of the dread goddess. Did he get the promised reward? History, I'm afraid is silent on the matter!

"So, slut, you've come to introduce yourself to your mother-in-law at last, have you? Or have you come to see your husband, whose still very seriously ill because of that burn you gave him. But make yourself at home, do!" She shouted for her slaves. Their names were Pain and Agony - and they lost no time in carrying out their mistress' pleasure. Psyche was taken off and kicked, whipped and tortured. When they brought her back, Aphrodite laughed maniacally.

"Look at the whore's belly. Tried to make grandmother of me did she? Me! A grandmother at my age! Some chance - even if I allow you to have the brat, it'll never be immortal. Your child will be a mongrel bastard!" And she flew at poor Psyche and ripped off her clothes, pulling her hair out in handfuls, and shaking her until she nearly shook her head right off. Then she decided to continue her revenge by more cunning means.

She led Psyche to a mixed heap of grains and seeds - wheat, barley, millet, lentils, beans, chickpeas and told her to sort them into separate piles - by nightfall. Psyche was too weak and depressed to do anything, but a friendly nest of ants set to work, and soon had it done for her. When Aphrodite came home, a bit tipsy and reeking of perfume, she shouted at the poor girl: "You never did this yourself, you lazy slut. You seduced some poor wretch into doing it for you, you cheat!" Psyche went to bed, alone, thinking of her beloved - under the same roof, but so far away still.

The next day Aphrodite had another job for her. She pointed to a wood by a stream. "There are some golden sheep in that wood. Go fetch me a tuft of their wool. Now!" Psyche went down to the stream - intending to have another shot at drowning herself. But some friendly reeds whispered to her: "We know how you're suffering, but don't kill yourself in our stream! And keep away from the wood. While the sun is high the sheep are mad killers - they butt any human who comes near them to death, or bite them with their poisonous teeth. Wait until the cool of

evening - then they go to sleep, and you can pick up as much wool as you like where it's stuck on the thorn-bushes." So that's what she did, and took a while armful of golden wool back to the goddess.

"You don't fool me," she said. "You got some poor sucker to do it for you, didn't you, you cheat! So here's a real test for you. See that mountain? At the top there's a stream that gushes out of the rock, before tumbling down a cliff into the gorge below. Take this crystal pot, and fill it with ice-cold water from the place where the stream comes out of the mountainside." A terrible punishment lay in store if she came back empty-handed.

She set off - with suicide again in her thoughts. As she came close to the mountain, she realized what an impossible task it was. But help was at hand. An eagle, Jupiter's own pet, saw her and flew down. "Don't you realize that stream is the Styx? Even the gods are terrified of its waters. But I can reach it for you!" And he snatched the little jar, and - though not without difficulty - came back with it filled.

Aphrodite was beside herself with rage when she discovered Psyche had achieved this task, too. "Here's one last task for you, sweetie," she hissed. "Take the jar to the Underworld. Give it to Queen Proserpine. Ask her to swap it for a little box of her special beauty, because Aphrodite has none of her own left, after sitting up night after night with her sick son. And hurry up! I need it tonight."

Psyche realized this none-too-subtle death sentence. She decided that the quickest route to the Underworld would be to throw herself off a tower. But the tower was a friendly one, and gave some advice. "Yes, miss, you'll get there quick enough, but if you want to be able to come back, this is what you must do. Go to Taenarum, at the southernmost point of Greece. There you'll find a hole. Climb down into it, and you'll find a road that leads direct to King Pluto's palace. Take with you two pieces of barley bread, soaked in honey-water, and two coins. Carry a piece of bread in each hand, and the coins in your mouth. Aphrodite will try to make you drop the bread - she'll send all sorts of apparitions, who'll try to make you feel sorry for them - a lame ass-driver, a poor floating corpse, three old ladies weaving cloth. You must ignore them all. The coins are for Charon, the ferryman who'll take you across the Styx - if you pay him. The sops are for Cerberus, the three-headed hound who guards the gates of Hell; throw him one, and he'll let you pass. Proserpine will give you what you ask for. Take it, and use the second sop, and the second coin to get out again safely. One last thing. Do not open the box on any account. Good luck!"

Well, what a nice tower! Psyche had done exactly as she's been told, and had got the box from Persephone. She'd passed the dog, and crossed back over the Styx, and was very nearly home. But did I tell you she was stupid? She reasoned to herself: "It's silly not to have a quick peek inside the box - I could certainly use a tiny spot of that beauty to help me get my lover back." And so she opened it. She couldn't see any beauty inside it - or anything else. It contained an invisible cloud of Deathly Sleep, which enveloped her. She collapsed with the open box beside her.

Eros was by now better. And desperate to find his love. His wings - all the stronger for their long rest carried him swiftly to where Psyche lay, wrapped in Sleep. He briskly brushed the Sleep off her, and put it back in the box. He woke Psyche with a tiny prick from one of his arrows. "No time to talk now," he said. "Finish the job my mother gave you, and leave the rest to me!"

He flew straight up to heaven, and threw himself at Jupiter's feet. Jupiter, despite the tricks which Eros had played on him in the past had a soft spot for the boy. "I'll try to forget all those times you involved me in sordid affairs with mortal ladies," he chuckled. "What if I did have to turn myself into insects, swans or a farmyard bull? But let's put all that behind us. Find me a really attractive young mortal girl - whoever's the one they're all talking about at the moment, and leave your mother to me."

All the Immortals were officially commanded to come to Olympus. When they'd got themselves comfortable, Jupiter made an announcement. "You all know Eros, that mischievous brat who's always tempting one or other of us to some sinful liaison with some mortal or other. Well, the time has come to domesticate him. Married, with a family and responsibilities of his own, he won't be able to do so much damage. I sentence him to live for ever with the girl he seduced. She is his to have and to hold from this time forth." Seeing Aphrodite squirming he turned to her and said: "Don't fret, my dear. Your son will not be marrying beneath him." And he had Ares fetch Psyche. He took a cup of divine nectar and handed it to her. "Come Psyche my sweet," he boomed. "Drink this, and become immortal! Eros will be your husband now and for ever."

There followed a feast - wines by courtesy of Bacchus, food served by Vulcan; flowers by the Hours and Graces; music by Apollo. Thus Psyche was married again, properly this time, to Eros. Skillful dress-making concealed her bulge - but in much less than nine months she produced Aphrodite' first grandchild, a beautiful girl they called Pleasure.

Source: http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~loxias/cupid/cupidframeset.htm