Apuleius's Golden Ass, as translated into English by Tony Kline (2013). Cupid and Psyche
Characters/Setting
Story-within-a-story is initially told from the perspective
of an on-looking donkey
Old woman- comforting, motherly, calm at first, then turns angry
and defensive of robbers, wants to divert attention from her circumstances
rather than actually comfort her
Young woman- scared, comes from wealth, stolen on her wedding day,
weeping, pessimistic viewpoint, the audience for the story, begs old woman to
show mercy
Story begins just like most fairy tales, uses elevated language
and imagery
Psyche- Youngest of her siblings, very
beautiful “the youngest girl’s looks were so delightful, so dazzling, no human
speech in its poverty could celebrate them” or even rise to adequate
description.” Psyche is compared to Aphrodite (Venus) and rumors start spreading
that Psyche is the real Aphrodite, which causes people who used to worship
Aphrodite to now worship Psyche. Didn’t gain anything from being beautiful, as
no man asked for her hand in marriage. Her marriage to an unknown suitor was
arranged and this made Psyche and her family sorrowful.
Aphrodite- beautiful and vain.
Seeing this, she becomes angry, calls upon her son Cupid to wreak havoc on Psyche,
asks him to revenge her for the girls’ defiant beauty.
Elder sisters- married off first,
jealous of their sister’s beauty and fame. When Psyche marries a God and gains
wealth, they begin to plot against her out of jealousy.
Plot
Psyche is revered as the most beautiful
woman and begins to be worshipped like she is Aphrodite. She becomes somewhat
of an idol, so much so that no man asks for her hand in marriage. Her father
goes to an Oracle and receives a message from Apollo saying that she is to wed
a terrible man. Psyche accepts her fate and goes to the top of a mountain but
is surprised when she is transported to a ‘palace of wealth’. There she is fed
and told to rest until her mysterious husband arrives and lays with her. The mystery
man warns her that her sisters want to come and see her and that she should not
give in to their schemes. She cries that she misses them and begs him to let
her see them, to which he obliges. When they visit her, they become very
jealous of her new life and come up with a scheme to make her lose all that she
has gained. When they find out that she does not know what he looks like, they
tell her to find out who he is when he is asleep. Naively believing that they
have her best interest in mind, Psyche holds up a lamp to his face as he sleeps
and finds out that her husband is the God of Love. When he awakes to find her
doing what he told her not to, he becomes enraged and flies away, leaving Psyche
alone. In great despair, Psyche tries to throw herself in the river, and when
her plan fails, she meets Pan. Pan sees that she is upset and tells her to pray
to Cupid, which is ironic considering all that has happened.
Themes
As is the case in most classic
stories of Greek mythology, divine intervention/advice giving plays a big role
in this love story
The spreading of rumors, hearsay,
and jealousy are also themes in this story.
The plot of this story reminded me
of the saying “curiosity killed the cat.”
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| Psyche and Cupid by Rubens, Blogspot |
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