I'm the one who is known for creating love or heartbreak, however one chooses to look at it. I'm able to break up marriages, or I can create the truest admiration. I enjoy my job, but it can get lonely.
When I heard of my mother's rage, I couldn't believe it at first. How could a mortal make her so angry when she was the fairest goddess of them all? Who is this Psyche, and why have I not received any prayers for her hand? When Venus gave me her grave orders, I visited her in the night to see what all the commotion was about. I couldn't believe my eyes! I now understood why she had not been wed. Her beauty surpassed any woman I had ever seen, and it was powerful enough to intimidate any mortal man. I, however, am not mortal and instead of arranging her with some atrocious beast. I decided to make her my wife in secrecy. I am the matchmaker of both man and god, why is that when I find a companion worthy of being my equal my mother orders me to banish her? I needed to come up with a plan.
(Cupid and Psyche, by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope)
I concocted a master scheme, but of course someone always has to meddle. I have paid an oracle to instruct her parents to leave her at the nearest airport in two days. She was to continue to relay that Psyche was unworthy of any mortal man, and they must submit her to the gods. Once she is left alone, someone will greet her, and take her to her new home. Darn this modern age and it's technology, if this were of the ancient times Zephyr could simply summon her with the winds. The day she arrived I stayed out of site, until night, before I decided to introduce myself. After introductions I told her about Venus, not revealing that she is her new mother-in-law, and her jealousy. I continued that she must remain in our home, in hiding, until I could console her anger. Psyche seemed to understand, and we spent the rest of the night as newlyweds.
Psyche seemed content with our home and new life, but I could sense she was lonely. She was now pregnant with you, and I could tell she was longing for girl time. While I was working one night, I happened to cross the homes of her two older sisters. They were complaining of their husbands, and prayed for secret lovers while they were out on business trips. On any normal occasion I would have considered the prayers, but since these were my new sister-in-laws I couldn't comply. Instead I sent them word of their sister's new marriage and baby on the way.
I decided that I would set up a reunion for Psyche and her sisters, and in the mean time I would travel to Olympus to reveal my new marriage to the counsel including my mother. When I told my wife of this she was ecstatic, but I gave her a warning not to reveal the secrets of our relationship. I knew that if she did then word would travel fast, and I would be unable to break the news to my mother first. I knew Psyche would want to discuss her meeting with her sisters, so I scheduled my flight for the morning after.
That night I was suddenly awoken to something stabbing into my left shoulder. When I turned on the lights, the scene revealed a dagger in my shoulder by the hands of my very own Psyche! At this moment she realized who I was, and the look of deep regret came over her. In my anger I cast her away from our home, and left for Olympus to seek treatment. My foolish love for this mortal woman allowed me to let my guard down, just for an instant, and she betrayed me at the hands of her vile sisters envy.
When I returned to the Mount my fury surpassed the fear of my mother’s wrath, and I visited her home. I revealed to her my secret marriage, and how Karma had now come back for me. I told her to ignore my wound, but to show my mortal wife that she had defied the gods. Venus was enraged once again, and instantly sent me away to the infirmary. She instructed her servants to bring my wife to heaven, and place her upon her doorstep. While receiving treatment I had Zephyr bring me word of what was occurring.
Zephyr relayed that Venus assigned Psyche to do all of her dress shopping for of her upcoming string of parties. Everyone around Olympus knows of mother's exceptional sense of style, and that it is nothing like the mortal world has ever seen. What your grandmother did not know was that Psych was not only a trained seamstress, but she is also very smart. Psyche created a dress from material that she had crafted herself. She then traveled to the underworld, in secrecy, to obtain a small amount of remarkable beauty from Proserphine herself. With this applied to the garment, Venus was astounded with what she was presented. She was so happy all her previous resentment had been absolved. She insisted that your great grandfather wed us as immortals, at once. Jupiter complied, and Psyche was given the sacred ambrosia during our wedding feast granting the gift of immortality.
So my dear Pleasure, at your request, now you know the story of your parent’s marriage. I am pleased to inform that although I am a god, I’m your father first, and I will not intervene with true love. I only hope to have successfully demonstrated the commitment and sacrifice that comes along with it.
Love,
Your Father
(Cupid)
When I heard of my mother's rage, I couldn't believe it at first. How could a mortal make her so angry when she was the fairest goddess of them all? Who is this Psyche, and why have I not received any prayers for her hand? When Venus gave me her grave orders, I visited her in the night to see what all the commotion was about. I couldn't believe my eyes! I now understood why she had not been wed. Her beauty surpassed any woman I had ever seen, and it was powerful enough to intimidate any mortal man. I, however, am not mortal and instead of arranging her with some atrocious beast. I decided to make her my wife in secrecy. I am the matchmaker of both man and god, why is that when I find a companion worthy of being my equal my mother orders me to banish her? I needed to come up with a plan.
(Cupid and Psyche, by John Roddam Spencer Stanhope)
I concocted a master scheme, but of course someone always has to meddle. I have paid an oracle to instruct her parents to leave her at the nearest airport in two days. She was to continue to relay that Psyche was unworthy of any mortal man, and they must submit her to the gods. Once she is left alone, someone will greet her, and take her to her new home. Darn this modern age and it's technology, if this were of the ancient times Zephyr could simply summon her with the winds. The day she arrived I stayed out of site, until night, before I decided to introduce myself. After introductions I told her about Venus, not revealing that she is her new mother-in-law, and her jealousy. I continued that she must remain in our home, in hiding, until I could console her anger. Psyche seemed to understand, and we spent the rest of the night as newlyweds.
Psyche seemed content with our home and new life, but I could sense she was lonely. She was now pregnant with you, and I could tell she was longing for girl time. While I was working one night, I happened to cross the homes of her two older sisters. They were complaining of their husbands, and prayed for secret lovers while they were out on business trips. On any normal occasion I would have considered the prayers, but since these were my new sister-in-laws I couldn't comply. Instead I sent them word of their sister's new marriage and baby on the way.
I decided that I would set up a reunion for Psyche and her sisters, and in the mean time I would travel to Olympus to reveal my new marriage to the counsel including my mother. When I told my wife of this she was ecstatic, but I gave her a warning not to reveal the secrets of our relationship. I knew that if she did then word would travel fast, and I would be unable to break the news to my mother first. I knew Psyche would want to discuss her meeting with her sisters, so I scheduled my flight for the morning after.
That night I was suddenly awoken to something stabbing into my left shoulder. When I turned on the lights, the scene revealed a dagger in my shoulder by the hands of my very own Psyche! At this moment she realized who I was, and the look of deep regret came over her. In my anger I cast her away from our home, and left for Olympus to seek treatment. My foolish love for this mortal woman allowed me to let my guard down, just for an instant, and she betrayed me at the hands of her vile sisters envy.
When I returned to the Mount my fury surpassed the fear of my mother’s wrath, and I visited her home. I revealed to her my secret marriage, and how Karma had now come back for me. I told her to ignore my wound, but to show my mortal wife that she had defied the gods. Venus was enraged once again, and instantly sent me away to the infirmary. She instructed her servants to bring my wife to heaven, and place her upon her doorstep. While receiving treatment I had Zephyr bring me word of what was occurring.
Zephyr relayed that Venus assigned Psyche to do all of her dress shopping for of her upcoming string of parties. Everyone around Olympus knows of mother's exceptional sense of style, and that it is nothing like the mortal world has ever seen. What your grandmother did not know was that Psych was not only a trained seamstress, but she is also very smart. Psyche created a dress from material that she had crafted herself. She then traveled to the underworld, in secrecy, to obtain a small amount of remarkable beauty from Proserphine herself. With this applied to the garment, Venus was astounded with what she was presented. She was so happy all her previous resentment had been absolved. She insisted that your great grandfather wed us as immortals, at once. Jupiter complied, and Psyche was given the sacred ambrosia during our wedding feast granting the gift of immortality.
So my dear Pleasure, at your request, now you know the story of your parent’s marriage. I am pleased to inform that although I am a god, I’m your father first, and I will not intervene with true love. I only hope to have successfully demonstrated the commitment and sacrifice that comes along with it.
Love,
Your Father
(Cupid)
Author's Note:
Over the past two weeks I have come across many variations of the tale concerning Cupid and Psyche. I didn't want to copy any of these plots, so it took me a while to come up with a new story that no one had yet used. I decided to tell the story through Cupid's point of view as a letter to his daughter. I tried to convey that it seemed as if she was coming of age and he, as a concerned father, was trying to reach out to her all the while telling of his marriage and it's rocky start. The beginning of my story correlates with the original tale, but I decided to change up the ending a bit. I didn't want to completely copy the original text, and tried to use modern day references when I could. To get a better understanding of what is similar and changed in my version, you can view the original text in the Un-Textbook.
Bibliography:
Book title: Apuleius's Golden Ass
Author: Tony Kline
Year Published: 2013
Web Source: Poetry in Translation
I really enjoyed reading your story. It was well thought out and I liked that it was like a letter to his daughter. I'm unfamiliar with the original, but I liked the ending you created and how you portrayed each character in the story. I like that it's diary like and we can see into Cupid's thoughts and feelings. It really gives a better picture of what was happening. It's a great story, I want to read the original now. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI really like your "How I Met Your Mother" spin on this story. I did this reading as well and I guess I've never considered the story from Cupid's perspective. Hearing the story from Cupid's perspective gave some clarity about some questions I had in the story, even though some of the questions were answered by your creativity, it still allowed me to "fill in the gaps" that I felt existed in the story. For example, I wondered why it was so important that Psyche not see her husband or tell her sisters about him, and you gave me answers! Great work!
ReplyDeleteLike Jada mentioned above, I like how you told this story in a "How I Met Your Mother" kind of way. It is always nice to hear a story we are used to hearing from a different perspective. I also like how you added modern things such as technology. It makes the story more relatable for readers like us! Great job on your storytelling.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate how you told this in first person, because I know that can be a harder way to write sometimes. I liked the modern references and thinking about airports being in Greek Mythology was pretty comical. I think you did a really good job of telling the story and showing how Cupid is such an interventionist in the lives of others as well!
ReplyDeleteThe 'How I Met Your Mother" spin was very creative and clever. I really love how you took off with the story and included the modern perspectives of things. The little part at the end that says "I will not intervene with true love" makes me think of Ted and how he would push his kids to go out there and find the blue french horn. Great work!
ReplyDelete