丘比特与Psyche的传说

丘比特与Psyche的传说：丘比特一直被喻为是爱情的象征，相传他是一个身上有着翅膀又顽皮的小神，他的箭一旦射入青年男女的心上，就会使他们深深爱着彼此。

在古希腊神话中，他是美神Venus和爱神Aphrodite的小儿子Eros。

在罗马神话中，他叫丘比特Cupid。

传说有一位国王和王后生了三个美丽的女儿，最小的是Psyche，因为她的美貌而使得Venus非常嫉妒她，便命令丘比特去惩罚她。

然而当丘比特一见到Psyche时却深深爱上了她，并使她成为自己的妻子，进而使她住进了神殿，但由于她只是个凡人，所以始终见不到丘比特的面容，为此她很郁闷。

Psyche的两个姐姐很嫉妒她在神殿里的生活，便欺骗她说丘比特是个恶魔，并怂恿她晚上偷偷看他。

她在夜晚点上油灯看到丘比特后，才知他原来是个英俊的少年。

不巧丘比特因此被惊醒愤怒离去，宫殿、花园顿时消失不见，她最后发现自己一个人躺在一片荒野上。

Psyche 到处寻找丘比特，不知不觉中来到Venus的神殿。

为了毁掉她，这位爱神交待给她很多艰钜而又危险的任务。

最后一项任务便是叫她把一个空盒子交给Proserpine（冥府的王后），并从她那边带回另一个盒子美容。

返回途中，一直有一个声音指引她如何摆脱各种死亡的威胁，并警告她取回盒子后，无论如何都不能将其开启。

Psyche克服了种种障碍，终于完成了任务。

可是最后她的好奇心还是战胜那个声音，驱使她打开盒子一探究竟。

里面装的哪是什么美容，而是地狱里的睡眠鬼。

它从盒中跑出来并附在Psyche身上，使她成了一具睡尸。

丘比特发现Psyche僵睡在地上，便从她身上抓出睡眠鬼，重新装回盒子里。

丘比特原谅了她，Venus也原谅了她。

众神被她对丘比特执着的爱情感动了，便赐予她一碗长生不老羹，并封她为女神。

终于，Psyche与丘比特自此结为伉俪。

Psyche, Greek Goddess of the SoulThe Greek goddess Psyche, strictly speaking, wasn't a natural-born goddess . . . she got there by "marrying up". But talk about mother-in-law problems, not to mention having a "mama's boy" for a husband! You'd be hard pressed to come up with a story that tops that of the Greek goddess Psyche's.The goddess Psyche started out as a mortal, but one of exquisite grace and beauty. Fervently courted by numerous mortal men and gods, Psyche truly wasn't interested in romance and she wasn't just playing hard to get! This offended Aphrodite, the goddess of love, who decided to bring Psyche down a notch by sending her son Eros, the god of love, to shoot her with one of his magical arrows tipped in an aphrodisiac that would make her fall hopelessly in love with the first man she saw, no matter how wretched, unsuitable, or unappealing he might be.But as the Fates (the Greek goddesses responsible for luck and destiny) would have it, just as Eros had Psyche lined up in his sights, Eros stumbled and accidentally pricked himself with the arrow and fell madly in love with Psyche himself.Reluctant to face mama with the news of what had happened, Eros whisked Psyche off to his palatial hideaway in the mountains for a quick wedding and lengthy honeymoon.Afraid that he might be recognized and word of his bumbling might get back to Aphrodite, Eros visited Psyche only after dark and made her swear she would never look at him. She was beginning to love him deeply and growing more curious each day about her beloved's features. Psyche decided to take just a quick peek while he lay sleeping, but a drop of hot oil from her lamp accidentally spilled on his shoulder, waking him . . . but not before she saw that he was more beautiful than any many she'd ever imagined.Another version of the story, probably the original version of "Beauty and the Beast", was that she was persuaded by her sisters, who were jealous of her good fortune in marrying into such wealth, to stab him as he slept since he surely must be a "monster" to be so fearful of her seeing him, and that he awoke to find her poised over him, knife in hand. Regardless, Eros was upset by her lack of trust and her betrayal and flew back home to mother and made a full confession.Psyche missed him enormously. Abandoned and bereft, she decided to go to go and humble herself before Aphrodite, begging for her blessing on the marriage and for the return of her husband. Aphrodite, however, saw this as her opportunity to take her revenge. She demanded that Psyche complete four tasks, each of them more frightening and difficult than the previous, if she were to prove herself worthy of marriage to her son.First, Psyche was to spend the night in a room filled with assorted grains and to have them all sorted and bagged by daybreak. Realizing the enormity of the task, Psyche huddled in the corner weeping, when an army of ants took pity on her and came to her aid, getting the job done for her well in advance of the deadline.Next Psyche was ordered to bring back the Golden Fleece belonging to a fearsome ram that had already killed several heroes who had tried to acquire his fleece. Terrified that she too would be crushed, Psyche took the adviceof a nearby reed that whispered to her to wait until nightfall when the ram slept before entering the field and to gather the fleece that had fallen off the ram and clung to the branches of the blackthorn trees.For her third task, Aphrodite gave Psyche a crystal jar and demanded she return with water taken from a waterfall positioned on a high cliff on the River Styx, the entrance to the underworld. In the depths of despair when she arrived and saw the tremendous danger involved, Psyche was amazed when an eagle, circling above her, swept down for the jar and flew off to the waterfall to fill it for her.The future goddess Psyche's last and most frightening challenge was to descend into the underworld, the kingdom of the dead, and to return with a box of sleeping potion from Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld, all the while ignoring the pleas for help from all the unfortunate that she encountered. This task was her longest and hardest: she succeeded, but Psyche was so exhausted by the effort that she took some of the potion for herself. Finding Psyche in a deep sleep and unable to rouse her, Eros rubbed the potion from her eyes and returned it to the box which he sent on to his mother.Deciding, finally, that he'd had quite enough of his mother's meddling in his affairs, and that he truly loved Psyche, he humbled himself and sought expert advice to save their marriage. He flew to Zeus, who upon Athena's advice, made Psyche immortal (a Greek goddess in her own right). Their marriage, legitimized by the king of the gods, was now restored. Even Aphrodite had to admit they made a fine couple and gave them her blessing.The myths of the Greek goddess Psyche exemplify a woman's search for authentic personal growth, a reminder that the integration of our experiences, however sad or frightening they may be, matures and transforms us, like the symbol of the butterfly emerging into the light from its dark cocoon.Story of Eros and PsycheLittle rascal：The Eros who met Psyche is the son of Aphrodite, a very wicked boy as some say, lacking all manners, and spending his time in running all night long from building to building, and with his arrows breaking up respectable homes.Psyche worshipped for her beauty：Psyche was one of the three daughters of an otherwise unknown king and his queen. All three sisters were very beautiful, but Psyche's beauty was beyond description. People would talk about her as if she were Aphrodite incarnated as a mortal. Her beauty was such that she was regarded as a new Goddess of Love, and as her Fame spread many came from distant countries to witness this extraordinary wonder.Aphrodite neglected：As a result, the shrines of Aphrodite were empty and her festivals neglected, and instead of visiting the temples of this sweet goddess, people made long pilgrimages to see the greatest beauty of their time, the princess Psyche. In this way they started worshipping Psyche, scattering flowers in her path, and addressing her by the titles that belong to lovely Aphrodite.Ridiculous cult：The goddess disliked this state of affairs, as there is nothing more ridiculous than when a mortal is regarded and honoured as a god. For, however brilliant a human may be, there is no way of comparing a mortal, who walks upon the dirty mud of earth, with the subtle delicacy of those who inhabit Heaven.Possible remedy：So, as so many had lost their minds worshipping a mortal as a god, Aphrodite thought the time had come to put things right, and calling her darling son Eros, she instructed him to shoot his arrows against the girl, and thus make her fall in love with some kind of accomplished outcast of a man, the worst specimen of the human race he could find, lacking rank, fortune, character, intelligence, courage, and whatever good quality one could think of, and being in the most perfect state of degradation.Psyche feels miserable：During all this time Psyche got not satisfaction at all, because men, instead of falling in love with her in a plain way, stared at her, praised her, and paid her all kinds of honours, without ever daring to make love to her. So while her elder sisters were married to kings, the mass of admirers and worshippers were still treating her like a wonderful statue. And because of this absurd situation, Psyche, who had remained single, started feeling miserable, and began to hate that same beauty of hers, which had turned her into an object of cult. The Oracle：Even her father started fearing that this inconvenient cult might upset the gods, which inevitably happens when humans transgress the limits of their nature, acting as if they were someone else. So he went to the Apollo's Oracle at Miletus, and there he asked where he was to find a husband for her daughter, given that all menshowed such an abnormal behavior. But the answer he received was of no consolation, since the Oracle declared that Psyche was to marry a horrible monster on the top of a mountain.The Day of the Wedding：Following the Oracle, a procession, looking more like a funeral cortege than a bridal train, was then formed to lead Psyche to the top of the mountain, and there they left her weeping and trembling until the West Wind (Zephyrus 1), suddenly springing up, lifted her off the ground, and having carried her down into a valley, laid her gently on a bed starred with flowers. There she stopped crying and fell asleep, and when she awoke she walked towards a near-by wood, and in its very heart she found a palace, so wonderfully built that she knew at once that this was the residence of a god.The first night：When she had walked among the many wonders treasured in this fabulous castle, a voice coming from nowhere informed her that the castle was hers, and gently invited her to rest in the bedroom while she awaited her bath and the wedding banquet. When later the banquet was over, she went to her bedroom, and while she lay awake in the dark she heard the gentle whisper of her unknown husband, as he was climbing into bed with her. But after having made love to her, her husband left her, just before daybreak. And in this way night after night her husband paid her visit, without ever showing himself.The Family's Concern and the Husband's Warning：Meanwhile, Psyche's parents and sisters were wasted in grief and tears believing her dead, and the sisters reunited with the parents in order to console them. And when her sisters started searching for her, the unknown husband warned Psyche not to listen or look at them if she wanted to avoid utter ruin and unhappiness.Psyche's anxiety：But when she again saw herself left alone by this lovely but still mysterious husband, she felt like a prisoner in the wonderful palace, even forbidden to relieve the minds of her worried sisters. And as she knew nothing better than crying, and at the same time said that she would die unless she were allowed to see her lovely sisters, her unknown husband consented. However, he warned her that her sisters were evil-minded women, and would try to make her discover how he looked like; and that if she ever agreed to this it would be the end of her happiness, and she would lose him for ever. On hearing this Psyche, calling him "soul of my soul" and thanking him many times, said that she never would consent to such a thing. So he, overcome by her and his own love, however reluctantly, promised to arrange the visit of her sisters, and as always disappeared at daybreak. Psyche's sisters come to visit her：Next day the West Wind brought Psyche's sisters from the top of the mountain to the castle, and as the unknown husband had said, they started to feel miserably jealous as soon as they arrived and saw the wonderful abode of Psyche. And as it is the case in such circumstances, they thought that Psyche was really not worth such goddess-like prosperity, for themselves, if they had the chance, they would know better than her how to make proper use of such masses of jewels, embroidered dresses, floors made of gems and set in gold, and all other marvels.Misery grows：So, having been confronted with such tremendous wealth, the sisters now saw their own husbands, not as kings as they really were, but rather as beggars, and their own palaces they judged to be shabby homes; and having received presents from Psyche, they decided not to show them to anybody, and not even mention that Psyche was still alive. For through such a simple device they intended to deprive Psyche of the pleasure of being rich, because, what pleasure is to be found in possessions, they reasoned, if nobody knows about it ? But for the future they agreed to think of a way of making this proud Psyche a little bit more humble, and so to say, bring her back to reality.New visit, new warning：The god knew that a storm was about to come with the sisters' next visit, and he once more warned Psyche not to speak a word about him, as the sisters were scheming for their destruction and would finally urge the now pregnant Psyche to look at her husband's face. But as Psyche insisted, and now she even argued that it would be bad for the baby if she felt unhappy, the god, out of love, consented again, and as before disappeared at daybreak.Sowing Doubt：When the sisters paid a new visit, they reminded Psyche of Apollo's oracle, and carefully put into her mind that she was perhaps lying all nights with a poisonous snake. And as doubt became the master of Psyche's mind, the sisters found her ready to receive their bold instructions: to prepare a lamp and a knife for the night and to wait for her husband's sleep, and then, with the light to assist her, plunge the knife in her husband's neck and cut off his head.Preparing crim e：Psyche, determined to follow the instructions, went back to her room, and like anybody fostering such intentions, her mind was like a storm. For this way of solving troubles never fails to create evengreater worries from the very beginning. But the course of action had been decided, and when the moment came she uncovered the lamp and let its light shine on the bed.The god discovered：Well done! But no need for the murderous knife! For there was no poisonous snake, but the sweet and beautiful god gently sleeping. Psyche could now not stop staring at his beauty. Examining his weapons, she pulled an arrow out of the quiver, and on touching the point with his finger to try its sharpness, she pressed too hard and pierced the skin, and out came a drop of blood. This is is how Psyche was wounded by the love weapons of Eros, falling desperately in love with him, forgetting everything, and letting the lamp drop on the god's shoulder, who awakening spread his wings and flew away without a word. But as Psyche had seized his leg, Eros, flying down, returned her to the ground, and there explained to her how he had disobeyed his mother Aphrodite and fallen in love with her, and how he now would be flying away from her, which happened immediately.Psyche's requital：This is how Psyche paid back the bad advices she had received. First of all she went wandering in the woods, but later she came to the city, where her elder sister was queen of a "shabby" kingdom. When Psyche met her sister the queen, she told her how she had discovered Eros lying in her bed, and how he, coming to his senses because of the drop of scalding oil, had called her wicked, saying that he would divorce her and marry her elder sister instead. So, on hearing those splendid news, Psyche's sister rushed off to her "shabby" husband and king, and said that she had to travel home at once because her parents were dead. Having then arrived to the top of the mountain, she called for Eros and the West Wind, and taking a leap, she cast herself down and was destroyed by the rocks which cut her to pieces. And exactly the same thing happened to the other sister.Psyche wanders, Eros is sick, and the world decays：In the meantime, Psyche went on traveling, looking for Eros, who was in no country but in Heaven lying in bed and suffering from the love-disease. But as a result of this the world had become ugly and dull because as Pleasure, Grace, and Wit had now disappeared from the surface of the earth, nobody cared for their children, or for their friends and lovers, and everybody found even disgusting to show any kind of affection.Aphrodite intervenes：So when Aphrodite learned from a gull that this disaster was the outcome of her son's love pains, not for a Muse or another goddess, but for a mortal woman, who besides had been her rival because of her extraordinary beauty, she was really upset, and coming back to Heaven after witnessing the miserable state of earth, she threatened Eros with taking his weapons away from him and giving them to someone else, covering him with all sorts of reproaches.Runaway Wanted：Most of all Aphrodite wished now to catch the runaway princess who would not acknowledge she had a mistress in the goddess of love, punish her, and reestablish order and affection on earth, along with the worship she herself deserves. So an announcement was made, and a reward was offered to whoever would give any information about Psyche, and the reward was this:Old Habit catches Psyche：It is not known if Old Habit, who finally caught Psyche, received the promised reward, or whether he was able to enjoy it. In any case Psyche was brought to Aphrodite, who promised her the sort of welcome that a good mother-in-law is bound to give her son's wife, and clapping her hands the goddess called her attendants Anxiety and Grief, and gave Psyche over to them for a lesson.Psyche punished with tasks：When Anxiety and Grief had done their job, torturing Psyche in all possible ways, they brought her back to Aphrodite, who let the pregnant girl know that she was not at all happy to become the grandmother of what she called a bastard. So she gave Psyche some impossible tasks to work on, like classifying huge quantities of different grains, just to see, she said, how industrious she was. But even if in every task Psyche was helped by someone who felt pity for her, she nurtured the desire of ending her miserable life, and went about planning how she would take her life. And take her life was what Aphrodite herself seemed to desire, because finally she ordered Psyche to fetch water from the river Styx, a task she only survived thanks to Providence, who always notice when innocent souls are in trouble, and Zeus' Eagle, who filled the jar with the requested Stygian water.Most difficult task：So when Psyche returned with the water in the jar, Aphrodite thought she must be a clever and wicked witch, and gave her yet another task: to go to Queen Persephone in the Underworld carrying a box and ask the queen of the dead for a little of her beauty, and having done so, bring the box back to Aphrodite, who had to make such a drain of her own beauty while taking care of her sick son by night.Guide to the Underworld：Psyche thought that the most direct way to the Underworld was to jump from a tower, but as she was about to take her life, the tower broke into human speech, dissuaded her of taking a way withoutreturn, and instructed her about the entrance to the Underworld that may be found at Taenarum in southern Hellas, and about the convenience of taking with her two pieces of barley bread soaked in honey for the Hound of Hades, and two coins in her mouth for the greedy ferryman Charon (one for the arrival and one for the return). For Avarice lives in the Underworld, and there they do not do anything for nothing, which in fact makes it difficult for poor people to achieve true death, as they instead had to wander without hope on this side of the river Styx, which is in fact similar to their fate on earth, where they are prevented to achieve true life. Psyche was also instructed not to feel pity for anybody in the Underworld, and never grant the requests of the dead, as hauling them into the boat or giving any kind of help, for Pity is strictly forbidden in that world.Psyche in the Underworld：Psyche did what she was told, and when she met Persephone, still following instructions she sat on the ground instead of on the cushioned chair she was offered, and she refused the meal that was served in front of her. For he who eats in the Underworld has to stay there for ever, and he who sits in that chair forgets everything. So Persephone, having listened to Psyche, filled the box as the girl requested, and Psyche was allowed to return to the world of lovely light.Curiosity puts Psyche in danger again ：But as before Psyche could not restrain her curiosity, and thinking besides that taking a tiny touch of the beauty contained in the box would show that she was clever and not a fool who lets go by such an splendid opportunity, she opened the box, but out crept not beauty but truly Stygian sleep, and falling to the ground, she lay like a corpse, the open box beside her.Eros rescues Psyche：Now Psyche would have slept for ever, had not Eros, now recovered from his sickness, come to her and awakened her, which was bound to happen. For there is no place for Love to dwell except in the Soul, who animates all things, and there is no meaning for the Soul to live and be awake except for the sake of Love. So Eros shut the cloud of sleep up again in the box and roused Psyche with the harmless prick of an arrow. Eros helped by Zeus：Eros now consoled Psyche, but fearing his mother, he flew off to Heaven, and casting himself as a suppliant at the supreme god's feet, he pleaded his case. So Zeus, who had been defiled by Eros so many times, found on this occasion the opportunity to prevent Eros, by marrying him, from shooting so many arrows at his divine heart, so often and in such an unpredictable manner. Zeus then called a council of the gods in which he informed his decision, that Eros was to marry Psyche, possess her, and cherish her for all times to come. Immortality and offspring：This is how Psyche, through Eros' office, entered Heaven and gained immortality. For as Love cannot dwell in any other place but the Soul, the Soul cannot enter Heaven but through Love. And Lucius Apuleius, who, as far as it is known, was the only one to have ever written these facts, though he himself denies to have committed them to writing, says that the child of Eros and Psyche was named Pleasure.。