Psyche
heroPsyche was a princess so beautiful that Aphrodite was jealous — she married Eros in darkness and lost him when she looked, then won him back through impossible labours.
The Myth
Psyche's beauty rivalled Aphrodite's, who sent Eros to make her fall for a monster. Instead, Eros fell for Psyche. He visited her nightly in darkness, forbidding her to see his face. Her jealous sisters convinced her to look. She held a lamp over him; a drop of hot oil woke him and he fled. To win him back, Psyche performed four labours for Aphrodite: sorting seeds, gathering golden fleece, fetching Styx water, and descending to the underworld. Zeus granted her immortality.
Parents
A mortal king and queen
Children
Voluptas (by Eros)
Symbols
Fun Fact
"Psychology" and "psychiatry" both come from Psyche — the Greek word for soul/mind, and this princess who embodied the soul's journey to love.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Aphrodite
godGoddess of love and beauty, born from the sea foam. Aphrodite's power to inspire desire was so...
Eros
conceptIn the oldest myths, Eros was a primordial force — one of the first beings to emerge from Chaos,...
Styx
placeThe great river that formed the boundary between the world of the living and the realm of the dead....
Zeus
godSupreme ruler of the Olympian gods and lord of the sky. Zeus overthrew his father Kronos and...
Achilles
heroThe greatest warrior in the Greek army at Troy, nearly invulnerable thanks to being dipped in the...
Actaeon
heroActaeon was a master hunter who accidentally saw Artemis bathing naked — she transformed him into a...