Eros-Cupid and Psyche, the Greek and Roman Gods of Love and the Soul

Did you know that before becoming a fat little baby Cupid was a handsome young man? Hello and welcome to World History Encyclopedia. My name is Kelly and today's video is all about the love story of the god Eros also known as Cupid and the mortal girl Psyche. Don't forget the easiest way to support us is by giving this video a thumbs up, subscribing to our channel and hitting that bell icon for notifications so you don't miss out on any new uploads. World History Encyclopedia is a non-profit organization and you can find us on Patreon, a brilliant site where you can support our work and receive exclusive benefits in return. Your support helps us create videos twice a week so make sure to check it out via the pop-up in the top corner of the screen or via the Patreon link down below. Eros in Greek mythology known as Cupid in Rome is the god of love but more specifically the god of physical and passionate desire. He is often referred to as a son and attendant of Aphrodite or Venus, the goddess of love and beauty and he is both a trickster, a god associated with fertility and is especially the protector and patron of homosexual love. In Hesiod's Theogony Eros is described as the son of Aphrodite but earlier in the text he is also described as a primordial deity, a god that came before the creation of the universe and was then a part of the creation born of Uranus the sky and Gaia the earth. In this role he perhaps represents something more like universal love. Eros could use his arrows to create a passion that was difficult to control though sometimes he used it in a playful and mischievous way and other times he could be cruel with his attacks and no one was immune. Gods, heroes and mortals and even Eros himself could be made to fall in love with those pierced by his arrows. One of the most famous tales caused by one of Eros's arrows is the myth of Apollo and Daphne. The god Apollo was struck by an arrow, fell in love with the nymph Daphne who, after being unable to outrun Apollo, pleaded with her father to keep her away from the god and so she was turned into a tree. The hero Jason was aided by the sorceress Medea after she was struck by one of Eros's arrows and this ensured Jason's success in capturing the golden fleece. Eventually Eros began to be depicted in twos or threes and in this form the gods were known as the erotes or in latin the cupides. As the erotes the three gods had distinct personalities that represented the different forms that love could take. There was Eros, there was Himeros, Desire and Pothos, yearning or longing. Eros's wife in both Greek and Roman mythology is Psyche the goddess of the soul. Psyche began her life as a mortal and after many trials was eventually granted immortality and married Eros. We have evidence for Eros and Psyche depicted in ancient Greek art from the 4th century BCE. However the most complete version of their myth comes to us from the time of the Roman Empire in Apuleius's Metamorphoses or dating to the 2nd century CE. According to Apuleius this is how the story of Cupid and Psyche goes. There was once a king and a queen who had three daughters. The eldest two were beautiful but the third and youngest Psyche had beauty that was matched only by the goddess of beauty Venus. Psyche's beauty became famous. She attracted strangers with her beauty and as she walked down the street people gave her gifts and offerings and praised her with names only ever used for Venus. Psyche became so popular that Venus's altars and temples were neglected and people stopped worshipping her. Unsurprisingly this infuriated the goddess. She was enraged that a mortal woman would be offered the same respect and worship that had always been her own and so she contrived a plan for revenge. Venus summoned her son Cupid or Eros the god of physical love and desire who is known for his mischievous use of his arrows. Venus told her son how she was being scorned and so she asked Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with someone hideous. Someone with no money and no prospects. So Cupid headed out with his bow and arrow to do exactly what his mother had asked. He snuck into Psyche's bed chamber but upon seeing her beauty he was overcome and the point of his arrow touched her. Psyche woke up with the touch and looked towards where Cupid was but since he was invisible she couldn't see him. Her look startled the god who accidentally pierced himself with his own arrow and so fell hopelessly in love with the mortal. Despite being adored for her beauty Psyche was deeply unhappy. Both of her older sisters had been married to princes but men were more intent on admiring Psyche's looks than marrying her. Psyche's parents were afraid that they'd done something to offend the gods since Psyche was still unmarried and so they visited the oracle of Apollo to see what the The oracle told them that Psyche needed to be dressed in funeral attire and left on a nearby mountaintop where she would meet a horrible serpent creature. A creature that even the gods feared that would be her husband. Now that had been foretold there was nothing the king and queen could do but follow the god's advice and so Psyche was dressed in funeral attire and waited at the mountain peak for her husband. While she waited Zephyrus the west wind picked her up and carried her to a grove where she promptly fell asleep. When she awoke Psyche was in the midst of a lovely palace. She wandered the halls and an invisible voice told her to make herself comfortable since everything that she saw was now hers. Psyche had a bath and a feast while being entertained by an invisible lyre and she realized that the invisible person was her new husband. Her invisible husband would visit her at night and then leave her before sunrise and she was forbidden to look at him. Psyche eventually came to love her husband and looked forward to his visits despite being unable to lay eyes on him but in time Psyche became lonely on her own during the long days waiting for him to visit. Psyche asked her husband if she could have her sister's visit both for company and to let them know that she was still alive. Cupid not being able to bear Psyche feeling such sorrow agreed but he also repeated his warning that no matter what her sister said she could never look at him and if she did he would leave her forever. Psyche promised she would never look. Zephyrus carried Psyche's sisters to her palace and upon seeing their younger sister's new home they were filled with jealousy. They asked Psyche all about her husband and at first she lied but eventually she was forced to tell them that she did not know who he was or what he looked like. Her sisters reminded Psyche that she was prophesied to marry a beast and told her she should arm herself with a knife and a lantern by her bed and to sneak a peek of her husband while he slept and to cut off his head if he was the foretold serpent. Psyche tried not to let what her sisters said worry her but she couldn't forget their words of the prophecy. She became more curious as to why her husband couldn't show his face to her so that night after he had fallen asleep Psyche took her lantern and looked at him and what she saw was the incredible beauty of Cupid. As she leaned over to get an even better view of her husband a drop of oil from the lantern dripped onto his face and Cupid awoke and without a word he spread his wings and flew out the window abandoning his wife. Psyche tried to follow by jumping out of the window too but floated slowly down to the earth below cushioned by Zephyrus and as she looked around she found herself in a field near her childhood home and her lovely palace had disappeared. She headed home and told her sisters of what had happened. Her sisters pretended to grieve for her but they were in truth overjoyed that she had been abandoned. For now Cupid might choose one of them instead. The next morning the two sisters headed to the mountain peak where they were carried off to visit Psyche and they jumped off assuming Zephyrus would carry them in his winds again but they were not caught by the god and instead fell to their deaths. Psyche wandered all day every day eating and drinking nothing in She prayed to the gods and Ceres the goddess of agriculture took pity on her and told the girl that if she pledged herself to Venus she may be able to one day gain her forgiveness and be reunited with her husband. Venus knew all about their secret marriage and was busy healing Cupid of his burn from the oil lamp. When Psyche arrived before the goddess Venus had her beaten whipped and mocked before appearing to the mortal herself. Venus collected beans lentils poppy seeds and the seeds of barley wheat and millet together and dumped them in a pile before Psyche and told her to separate and sort all of the grains that evening. Venus left and Psyche wept knowing she could never complete what was demanded but an aunt who had been watching took pity on her and with the help of all the ants in his anthill both sorted and separated the grains into neat piles before vanishing. Venus was of course enraged that Psyche had managed to complete what she thought would be an impossible task. The next day Venus presented Psyche with her next task which was to cross a river and shear the golden fleece off of some violent rams on the other side. Psyche meant to fling herself into the river instead of completing the task but the river told her instead to hide until the rams were calmed by the midday sun and the breeze. So she did and was able to shear the rams without them becoming aggressive. Venus's next challenge for the girl was to collect some of the black water from the river Styx one of the rivers in the underworld. This time the god Jupiter took pity on Psyche and sent an eagle to retrieve the water for her. Venus of course was yet to be satisfied and so for her fourth and final task Psyche was told to descend into the underworld and collect a golden box containing a dose of the beauty of Proserpine, the queen of the underworld. On her travels Psyche came across a tower which was an entrance to the underworld which told her how to find Proserpine. Once she followed the instructions Psyche found herself inside the underworld palace where she continued to heed the advice of the tower by refusing to take a seat or eat any of the rich food that she was offered but instead she sat on the floor and ate a bread crust. Psyche told Proserpine Venus's message and Proserpine willingly filled the golden box with her beauty. Psyche left the underworld but soon became curious of what was inside the box and eventually as it had done before her curiosity got the better of her and she peeked inside where all she found was a black cloud that made her fall into a deep sleep. Cupid at this point was finally healed from his burn and couldn't bear to be apart from his wife any longer. He found Psyche where she was sleeping, he closed the golden box and woke her up. Cupid took the box to his mother and then asked Jupiter if he would make his wife immortal and Jupiter agreed only if Cupid would help him whenever a beautiful girl caught his attention. In wake of this agreement Jupiter held an assembly and warned Venus to no longer torture the girl and Psyche was then handed a cup of Upon drinking the divine contents Psyche became the goddess of the soul. She was married to Cupid officially and the two of them eventually had a daughter Voluptas, a personification of delight and pleasure. The myth of Cupid and Psyche has endured through the centuries and since the 6th century CE the story has been interpreted as an allegory for the human soul. Psyche, the mind and soul, falls from grace after being deceived by lies like Eve in the Garden of Eden or the mind and soul falls due to romantic or sexual attraction. In the modern era the scholar Thomas Bullfinch claims the myth deals with transformation as the butterfly symbolizes the human soul given that butterfly and soul in greek are the same word Psyche. This interpretation is supported by the claim that humans and butterflies both endure pain and change in their transformation into something beautiful and this is exemplified in Psyche's arduous tasks for Venus which eventually lead her to becoming a goddess. The story will also be familiar to anyone who has ever read European fairy tales as the theme of the invisible husband or beast who is actually a prince appears fairly frequently as does the story of the ugly witch or reptile who is actually a princess. In Roman Britain the figures of Cupid and Psyche together have been found on rings and in Greek art Eros was frequently depicted as a youth with wings often with a bow and arrow. In Roman art Cupid's depiction shifted from a handsome young man to a putto or a plump baby and it is this figure that has continued into modern day art especially in images associated with Valentine's Day. What do you think the myth of Psyche and Cupid means? 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