Psyche's quest to win back Cupid's love when it is lost to her first appears in 

The
Golden Ass of Lucius Apuleius in the 2nd century AD. Psyche is a princess so
beautiful that the goddess Venus becomes jealous. In revenge, she instructs her
son Cupid to make her fall in love with a hideous monster; but instead he falls in
love with her himself. He becomes her unseen husband, visiting her only at night.
Psyche disobeys his orders not to attempt to look at him, and in doing so she
loses him. In her search for him she undertakes a series of cruel and difficult
tasks set by Venus in the hope of winning him back. Cupid can eventually no
longer bear to witness her suffering or to be apart from her and pleads their
cause to the gods. Psyche becomes an immortal and the lovers are married in
heaven.
The origins of the story are obscure. It could have been adapted from a folk-tale or
have its roots in ancient myth. It is a story of great charm, a fact which has been
reflected in the numerous re-tellings since Apuleius's time. Many writers have
interpreted it as an allegory, with Cupid representing Love and Psyche the Soul. It
was particularly popular with Renaissance audiences, when poetical, dramatic and
musical versions proliferated alongside the many visual representations of the tale.
In the 19th century, it notably inspired an ode by John Keats, a prose version by
Walter Pater and a long poetical work by William Morris, illustrated by Sir Edward
Burne-Jones. Today, Cupid and Psyche still symbolise everlasting love - as can be
seen by the numerous images of them that appear on Valentine's cards.
Cupid and Psyche is a famous Ancient Greco-Roman myth. Although the
characters of Cupid and Psyche can be found in Greek art as early as the 4th
century BC, the earliest written record of this story was written by Apuleius
in the 2nd century AD. The story begins with a king and queen who have
three daughters. The youngest daughter, Psyche, is of such exceptional
beauty that “the poverty of language is unable to give her due praise.”
People travel to her, proclaiming the girl is the second coming of Aphrodite,
and make offerings to her instead of the goddess herself.

Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty, becomes jealous. Aphrodite tells
her son Cupid, a young man with golden wings who represents unrestrained
passion, to go to Psyche, and make her fall in love with some low, ugly
person. Cupid finds the sleeping Psyche and drops bitter water on her to
bring her sorrow. He pricks her with a magical arrow, waking her and
startling himself. Cupid accidentally pricks his own leg with the arrow, which
unbeknownst to him, will cause the two to fall in love. Cupid feels badly for
bringing the girl sorrow, and unaware that he is already in love with her,
drops joyful water on her to bring her happiness.

Aphrodite continues to interfere in Psyche’s life, preventing any man from

The god of the western wind, Zephyr, picks the sleeping Psyche up and
gently brings her Cupid’s palace. An invisible voice tells her that everything
she sees is hers. She is treated like royalty, and every night her now-husband
Cupid visits her in total darkness, refusing to let her see him. For a time she
is happy, and she soon becomes pregnant.
Psyche misses her family, who thinks she is dead. These thoughts of her
parents and sisters consume her, and she beseeches her husband to let her
sisters visit. Cupid finally agrees, sending Zephyr to bring them.

Her sisters, awed by the wealth and splendor of the palace, become jealous
of their little sister. They ask about her husband, and Psyche describes a
beautiful youth who spent time hunting in the mountains. The sisters are
suspicious, and Psyche admits she has never seen her husband. They
convince Psyche that her husband is the monster of the prophecy. The
sisters tell Psyche to get a lamp and knife, and while her husband sleeps,
light the lamp and look at him. If he is a monster, she must cut off his head.
She obeys, but when she lifts the lamp, she instead sees an inhumanly
beautiful man: Cupid. Psyche accidentally spills hot oil on his skin, burning
him, and Cupid wakes. Feeling betrayed by his wife, he says “Love cannot
dwell with suspicion,” and flies away forever.

Psyche finds herself just outside the city where her sisters dwell. She tells
them everything, and the sisters feign sorrow and shock. They hope Cupid
will choose one of them instead. They journey back to the mountain and
jump of the peak, demanding Zephyr bring them back to Cupid. But Zephyr
does not, and they are both dashed to pieces on the ground below.

Psyche wanders the earth, searching for her husband. She tidies some corn
and barley inside a temple, hoping to please one of the gods enough to help
her. The temple’s goddess, Ceres, says she cannot help but may give advice.
Ceres tells Psyche to go to Aphrodite and surrender, and maybe Aphrodite
will be appeased by submission.
But Aphrodite traps Psyche in a storehouse, demanding that she sort the
monstrous piles of grains that lie there. While Psyche stares in despair at the
task ahead of her, thousands of ants appear and sort the grains, one by one.
When Aphrodite returns, she is furious, and leaves only a small piece of
black bread for Psyche’s dinner. Psyche’s next challenge is to collect the
legendary Golden Fleece from a flock of sheep grazing by a river. Psyche is
destitute and hungry, and intends to drown herself in the river. But the
reeds speak, warning Psyche about the fast flowing river and the
temperamental rams. They help her collect the Golden Fleece. For the third
task, Psyche must collect the black water from the rivers Styx and Cocytus,
which lead to the Underworld. Once again, she is determined to give up, and
throws herself from the cliff she stands on. This time, Zeus pities her, and
sends his eagle to catch her. Next, Aphrodite instructs Psyche to visit
Persephone in the Underworld and ask for a little of her beauty. Again,
Psyche becomes hopeless and climbs a tower to throw herself off it, and
again an anthropomorphised object—this time the tower—saves her. She
must bring barley cakes for the three-headed dog Cerberus and two coins
for Charon the Underworld ferryman to bring her across the river both ways.
The tower also warns her not to open the box Persephone fills.

However, on her return to Aphrodite, Psyche looks at her dishevelled

Cupid, unbeknownst to Psyche, had been divinely helping her through all
her trials. Recovered from him burns and no longer able to bear being away
from his love, Cupid flies to her. After he puts the sleep back into its box,
Psyche revives. He then flies to Zeus, who publicly approves of the couple,
convinces Aphrodite to leave them alone, and gives Psyche the drink of
immortality, Ambrosia.
Finally, the marriage is made official, and their daughter, Pleasure, is born.

This story has been allegorised as the fall of the hidden soul. In Apuleius’
telling, Psyche is rewarded for her commitment to Cupid with immortality.
An origin story claims the first rose is created from Psyche’s blood when she
loses her virginity to Cupid. Motifs from the story appear in fairy tales like
Rumpelstiltskin, The Little Mermaid, and more. It is a timeless story of
enduring love, influencing theatre and literature of every era including
Milton, Wordsworth, and Lewis, as well as and art including the fresco by
legendary painter Raphael.