We tend to think of Cupid – Eros to the ancient Greeks – as a chubby, naughty little boy shooting everyone with arrows of love and creating all kinds of mischief in the process. But those who have suffered the arrows of love’s torment will be happy to know that Eros grew up and fell in love himself, with the most beauteous Psyche, arousing the jealousy of her older sisters and the ire of Aphrodite (Venus), Eros’ mama. Girl gets boy. Girl loses boy, thanks to the envious sisters. Girl is forced to endure all kinds of trials at the hands of her threatened mother-in-law. But girl, who is as lovely inside as she is out, and boy are reunited in the end to everyone’s – almost everyone’s – satisfaction, folks figuring that Eros will finally leave them alone being at last so happily matched himself.
Think “Beauty and the Beast” with a helping of “Cinderella,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow White” and “Rumpelstiltskin.”
The main thing to remember is that “psyche” is Greek for “soul.” In the end, the soul and love are united.
– Georgette Gouveia
