My mother thinks she is the most beautiful woman both in Heaven and on Earth. Up until this point she was right, but once I set my gaze upon the face of Psyche I knew my mother would be in for a rude awakening. My mother wanted me to get revenge on Psyche by using one of my arrows to make her fall in love with the vilest man I could find. I had other plans. One day I found Psyche dressed in fine apparel on the edge of a cliff, I told my wind servants to bring her to my private home where I could meet her face to face.
Oh gods, she was even more beautiful up close. How I longed to be by her side, but I couldn’t let her see who I really was. As she walked around the estate I told my servants to treat her like the queen she was. By the time night fell I couldn’t stay away any longer, I rushed to see my new bride. The night didn’t last long enough. I snuck out of our room before the dawn broke, I was sad to leave Psyche, but I knew if she found out who I was everything would be ruined.
After a while Psyche became homesick, I knew she wanted to be reunited with her sisters, but if I let that happen I knew her sister would try and convinced her to find out who I really was. Eventually I caved and let her bring her sister here, but I warned her about what they might try and do. It wasn’t until I woke up to a sharp pain on my shoulder, that I knew her sisters had convinced her to find out who I really was. Seeing her face looking over me in the candle-light, I couldn’t help but stare back.
Soon my awe at her beauty turned into rage as I came to the realization that she broken my trust. She did the one thing I ask her not to do. I flew away, as my beautiful bride chased after me, I was too distraught to look back to her pleads. I hid myself away at my mother’s house. She was greatly upset that I not only disobeyed her orders, but that I fell in love with her enemy. She decided to take matters into her own hands, I was too sad and angry to intervene.
Weeks later I decided to venture out of my mother’s house, and the first person I stumble upon is my beautiful Psyche fast asleep in the middle of the woods. I quickly realize that she had been tricked by my mother and was put to sleep with the waters of the River Styx. Seeing Psyche like this made all of my anger and hurt towards her fall away. I was able to wake her up from this deep sleep, and knew that I had to set things straight.
I called upon the help of Jupiter to try and make amends with my mother. Jupiter happily agrees and calls upon all the gods and goddess to join him for a party. Once my mother arrives, we reveal to everyone that this party is in fact a wedding, the re-marriage of Psyche and I. Jupiter performed a beautiful ceremony, and Psyche and I were able to live together happily as man and wife for the rest of our days.
Author's Note:
My inspiration comes from the story Cupid and Psyche. It tells the story of the beautiful Psyche and her troubles with the goddess Venus. Venus is considered the most beautiful woman that has ever lived, but once Psyche was born everyone started to praise her for her immense beauty. This did not please Venus so she sent her son Cupid to get revenge on Psyche. However, instead of going through with his mothers wishes, he fell in love and married her. This caused problems for both of them. After a lot of turmoil and heartbreak, Cupid and Psyche reconcile and the story ends with them getting remarried with the help of Jupiter. For my retelling I decided to do it from the perspective of Cupid, since he gets to see both Venus' side of the story and Psyche's side of the story.
Bibliography:
Cupid and Psyche, written by Apuleius and translated English by Tony Kline. A fairy tale included in the novel The Golden Ass.
Morgan, I've never read this story before, so I had no idea who was telling the story until the end of the first paragraph. I liked how you introduced the conflict, seeing as Cupid is the son of Venus, but falls for Psyche. I like how you tell this story from Cupid's perspective. Although he is the god of love, you give us his perspective on how he feels the emotional roller coaster of love himself. Another thing that I feel like we can all relate to, is the fact that Psyche's sister (family) was trying to intervene in their relationship. Although sometimes a good thing, in this case it was not. Good story!
ReplyDeleteI was definitely rooting for Psyche the whole way. How dare someone have so much jealousy to send their son to ruin things for her. But, props to Cupid for turning differently from what he was supposed to. I really like that you did tell this from Cupid's perspective, as it does show both sides of the story. Also, I really love the happy ending!
ReplyDeleteGreat story!
Hey Morgan!
ReplyDeleteWow: I really enjoyed your story! I read this story last week as well and did a sort of shortened slightly modified rendition of it as well, but yours was so great! I loved how you were able to keep all the important aspects of the story, but still shorten it and make it an enjoyable read!
I wonder: I wonder if Cupid had noticed Psyche before his mother told him to make her fall in love with someone else? I also wonder how Venus could be the goddess of love and have so much hate in her that she would want to see someone fall in love with a terrible person.
What if: I wonder what would have happened if Cupid had actually gone through with his orders to find a vile man for Psyche to love? I also wonder what would have happened if Venus had not been accepting of Psyche as her daughter-in-law. Would Cupid have had to chose between his mother and the love of his life?
Hey Morgan, great story! I liked how the story was told through Cupid's perspective. I'd never really thought about Cupid falling in love, since he's so busy making that happen to others. I enjoyed the ending, with Cupid and everyone else tricking his mother. Was she okay with the re-marriage in the end? Overall, the organization and flow of the story was great and you really put it together well.
ReplyDeleteHi again, Morgan!
ReplyDeleteWow: I love that this story is in first person. It gives the story so much more depth and makes it so much more personal. I love that it ended with a happy ending and that Cupid and Psyche were able to be together.
I wonder: I would like to know how Psyche felt about all of this. Obviously it would be very strange to not have ever seen your husband, so I wonder what she thought. I forget if the original story said why, but why did Cupid not show himself? I also wonder how they lived after they were married for a second time, when they could both see each other.
What if: What would happen if Psyche had seen Cupid from the very beginning? Would things have changed, or would it have solved a lot of their problems. I also wonder what if Psyche didn't love Cupid and was held there against her will. That would be interesting.
(I'm a little sad you didn't write the story in the modern world with the characters as celebrities, but I still really liked your story).
Hi Morgan! I really like that you took this story from Cupid's side; I think that it gives more insight because he sees both sides of the story. How do you think the story would have been different if Psyche hadn't tried to discover who Cupid really was? I think it would have had a worse ending if she hadn't. However, I also think that the story wouldn't have progressed this far if she knew who he was from the beginning. Do you think Cupid would have fallen in love with Psyche in the first place if he wasn't tasked by his mother to make her fall in love with a vile man? I think that Venus' selfishness came back to bite her there. I do not think that Cupid would have fallen in love with Psyche if Venus hadn't accidentally connected them. What do you think the outcome of the story would have been if Venus had never asked Cupid to take care of Pscyhe? Would this story even be relevant if that were the case?
ReplyDelete