Eros and Psyche

The tale of Eros and Psyche, preserved in Apuleius's Latin novel The Golden Ass (second century CE), is among the most beloved narratives in classical mythology.‌​‌​‌​‍​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‌​‍​‌​‌​‌​‍​‌​‍​‍​‍​‍​‌ Psyche was a mortal princess of such beauty that people began worshipping her instead of Aphrodite. The insulted goddess sent her son Eros to make Psyche fall in love with the vilest creature on earth. But Eros, upon seeing Psyche, pricked himself with his own arrow and fell in love with her instead. He arranged for Psyche to be carried by the West Wind to a magnificent palace, where he visited her only in darkness, forbidding her to see his face. Psyche's jealous sisters convinced her that her invisible husband must be a monster. One night, Psyche lit an oil lamp and saw the beautiful sleeping god. A drop of hot oil fell on Eros's shoulder; he awoke, declared that love cannot exist without trust, and flew away. Psyche wandered the earth searching for him. Aphrodite, furious, subjected her to a series of impossible tasks: sorting a mountain of mixed grain (accomplished by ants), gathering golden wool from ferocious sun-sheep (aided by a river reed), collecting water from the Styx (achieved by Zeus's eagle), and finally descending to the underworld to obtain a box of beauty from Persephone. Psyche completed each task but opened Persephone's box, falling into a deathlike sleep. Eros, healed and still in love, revived her. Zeus granted Psyche immortality so the lovers could be united forever on Olympus, and their daughter was named Hedone (Pleasure). The story is read as an allegory of the soul's (psychē's) purification through suffering before achieving divine union.