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Cupid and Psyche
Cupid and Psyche
live where
there is
no trust.”
1. LOVE WITHOUT TRUST
CAN BE SELFISH.
2. TRUST IS THE
FOUNDATION FOR LOVE.
•The Greco-roman
goddess of
the soul
•youngest daughter of
the king
•the most lovely maiden
exist that surpass the
beauty of
Venus.
VENUS (APHRODITE)
•The Roman
goddess of love
and
beauty
•also called
Aphrodite in
Greek
•mother of Cupid
OTHER CHARACTERS
APOLLO
The god of
Greek
prophecy
and
healing.
ZEPHYR
The
sweetest
and
mildest of
winds.
JUPITER (ZEUS)
The god of
the sky and
ruler ofthe
Olympian
gods.
TWO SISTERS OF
PSYCHE
KING
Father of Psyche
by Francois Gerard (1770-1837)
Psyche,
excelled her
sisters.
As word
spread of
Psyche’s
beauty,
worship of the
actual
goddess wasPsyche by William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1892.
Venus summoned her winged son [Cupid] and implored
him to make Psyche fall in love with “the vilest and most
despicable creature.”
Unfortunately
for Venus , Cupid
found Psyche just
as lovely as
everyone else. He
himself fell in love
with Psyche.
Psyche’s Parents Offering Sacrifice to Apollo
by Luca Giordano, 1692-1702.
Cupid begged Apollo to help him, giving an oracle to let Psyche’s family
bring her to the summit of a rocky hill, saying that “her destined
husband, a fearful winged serpent, stronger than the gods
themselves, would come to her and make her his wife.”
Cupid gave
Psyche servants,
a mansion to live
in, and all the
gifts; however,
he bid Psyche
not to steal a
glance at him.
Cupid himself
always appeared
at night and left
before sunrise.
Without seeing
her husband,
Psyche knew that
he was not a
monster but a
lover she longed
for.
It was not until Psyche’s sisters visited that she was
persuaded her to take alook of Cupid.
Psyche gazed at the
sleeping Cupid. The
unsteady hands
made “some hot oil
fall from the lamp
upon Cupid’s
shoulder,” making
him awake.
Cupid left as he said
“love cannot live
where there is no
trust.”
Psyche found
Cupid no where so
she went to Venus
for help. Venus
hated Psyche,
thereby she gave
Psyche difficult
tasks.
All the tasks Psyche had were
helped by others
• Task 1: sorted seeds, wheat and poppy
and millet and so on. (Helped byants)
• Task 2: fetched some shinning wool
from sheep with fleeces of gold.
(Helped byreed)
• Task 3: get the black water from the
waterfall of river Styx. (Helped by an
eagle)
Venus Punishing Psychewith a Task
by LucaGiordano, 1692-1702.
The last task
Put some of
Proserpine’s
beauty into a
box.
Curiosity
drove Psyche
to open the
box.
However, there was nothing in the box but “a deadly
languor.” It took possession of her and Psyche fell into a
heavy sleep.
“ Cupid was
healed of his
wound” and
found
Psyche.
Cupid woke
Psyche with
a prick from
one of his
arrows.
Cupid pleaded Jupiter to make Psyche his wife and
immortal.
• Jupiter: “Even
though you have
done me great harm
in the past –
seriously injured my
good name and my
dignity by making
me change myself
into a bull and a
swan and so on….
However, I cannot
refuse you.”
•
The assemblage of
gods consent Cupid
and Psyche’s
marriage. Venus
found it “ok” as
well since Psyche
“could not be
much on the earth
to turn men’s
heads and interfere
with her own
worship”
“So all came to a most
happy end. Love and soul
(for this is what Psyche
means) had sought and,
after some trials, found
each other; and that union
could never be broken.”
The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche by Pompeo Batoni, 1756