Story:
Ever since the unveiling of her
husband’s identity, Psyche had been wondering day and night trying to find him.
She had traveled long and far when she finally gazed upon a beautiful house in the
distance. With the beauty that this house had, Psyche knew that is must have been a home of a God and thought that just maybe it could be one of Cupid’s dwellings. She wearily climbed the steps onto the porch of the home. Upon her
entry, she saw a vast array of farmhouse décor and pictures of bountiful fields of
crops, she then discovered she had entered the shrine of the Goddess of the Harvest,
Ceres. In the center of the house there was a sacred altar, where many farmers had slovenly scattered crops about it, knowing this was disrespectful to the Goddess, even
in her weariness Psyche organized the grains. While organizing, Ceres wondered
upon Psyche and said to her, “Child what are you doing here? Why have you entered
the shrine of a friend of Venus? Do you not know she is looking for you and has
instructed me to bring you to her if I saw you?” Shocked and frightened by the Goddess' words, Psyche began to sob, “Oh! Great and mighty Ceres, please protect me from Venus
for I have done no wrong. I have just discovered my husband’s identity against
his wish and upon this great betrayal, my husband fled our home and I cannot
find him. My husband is Cupid, Venus’s son, have she no mercy on her own
daughter in-law?” Psyche continued uttering praises to the Goddess to try and
win her favor. Ceres, flattered by Psyche's praise, replied, “My dear, have you no idea of the source of Venus’s
anger? She has accused you of stealing and basking in her name, yet you are
just here trying to find your husband.” Stunned, Psyche replied, “A God once told me
that I was cursed by Venus for being a great beauty, and said that I would be
married to the most dreadful and horrid of men and I found myself in the bed of
a God, unknowing that it was Cupid, Venus’s son. While I have just learned who he is, I adore him so and long to find him.” Ceres felt compelled by Psyche’s
story and began to ponder on Venus's actions. She thought, is her anger right to be avenged or is it the envy that has brought this great hate for Psyche. Ceres then said, “I
am very moved by your story and do not know what to do, I will take you to my dear friend, Juno,
to receive her council on the matter, as she too is a friend of Venus.” The
two then made their way to Juno’s home. After they informed Juno of her story, Psyche realized she had gained favor in the Goddesses eyes and asked if she could rest while they talk about Venus’s actions. The next morning, Psyche was woken by the two
Goddesses informing her that she was safe with them. They decided that Venus
had acted out of great jealousy and she would face the repercussions for her
actions. The Goddesses then decided that they would tell Zeus, Juno’s husband and
King of the Gods, of Venus' envy and jealousy and let him decide her fate.
Armed with the two Goddesses at her side, Psyche then decided it was time to confront
her dreadful mother-in-law.
Author’s Notes:
In the original story, Psyche is out searching for her husband, Cupid, after
just revealing his identity against his wishes and stumbles upon the home of
Ceres, the Goddess of the Harvest. There, Ceres informs her that Venus, Cupid’s
mother and the Goddess of Love, is searching for her and looking for revenge. You
see, when Venus had first learned of a beautiful girl named Psyche and how the
common humans praised her great beauty, she got jealous and ordered her son,
Cupid, to make her fall in love with the most dreadful of men. However, Cupid
ended up falling in love with Psyche and married her. In this story, Venus has
just learned of her son’s marriage to Psyche, a mere human and is fueled with
rage to get back at Psyche. When Psyche learns of Venus’s plan, she pleas to
Ceres, the Goddess of the Harvest to let her rest there because she is wearied
from her journey, however Ceres is friends with Venus and tells Psyche she is
lucky she isn’t telling Venus she is here. Psyche then wonders upon the home of
Juno, Zeus’s wife, and begs for her protection from Venus. Juno too was friends
with Venus and refused to help Psyche. After being denied protection twice, Psyche
then decides it is time to face her mother-in-law. This is where this story
ends. The way I changed this story was to have the Goddesses side with Psyche
instead of Venus. In the stories before this one, Psyche had two sisters and when
they saw all of Psyche’s possessions and new home, they became very jealous.
They are the ones who persuaded Psyche to unveil the identity of her husband.
This jealousy cost them their lives by Cupid’s hand as payment for them making
Psyche reveal his identity. I thought that putting this twist on this story would
make learning not to be jealous the moral of the story. Even though Venus is a
God, it is her jealousy that lead to Psyche’s marrying her son in the first
place so changing the story to punish her for her sins just added to completing
the moral and taught that no one is above what is right and that no matter your status, you will always be jealous of someone or something.
Bibliography: "Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche" from The Golden Ass translated by Tony Kline. Web Source.
Hi Aubryelle! This was a great version of the story! I really liked how you changed the ending, so that the goddesses actually helped Psyche. I actually contemplated doing this too, but I got a different idea instead. I really like how you did it though! Nice job! I also liked how you added a moral to the story in your author's note!
ReplyDeleteHey Aubryelle! That's nice that you decided the goddesses would help Psyche. I think it would have been interesting to see how Venus would react to two goddesses confronting her, especially if they are her friends. Would she feel betrayed or simply give in? Considering how vengeful Greek gods/goddesses are, it could have been the showdown of the millennia!
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