CuPiD & PsYcHe

Not satisfied with this, Venus enlisted her son Cupid, to aim his bow and arrow at Psyche, that she may fall in love with the dragon, and so, in foolishness, welcome her fate. The ever-dutiful son, went on to fulfil his mother's wishes, only to be so dumbstruck by Psyche's beauty that he shot his own foot in mistake. The enamored deity of Love commanded Zephyrus, the wind to carry her away to a magical palace. There, he visited her at night, instructing her to never gaze upon him.

Psyche fell deliriously in love with his kindness and gentle ways and wanted her sisters to know of it. >Despite Cupid's reservations, she managed to persuade him to let her invite them for a visit. Her sisters were enraged with her good fortune when they visited her. They taunted her , saying that her husband was the dragon, a foul wizard who had bewitched her and who was now making a fool out of her. As she listened to their words, she began to forget all his gentle moments with her and all that they had shared. Instead, revulsion and dread crept up on her, and she did what they had suggested.

Lighting a lamp one night, she saw the features of beauty and innocence. She saw his perfect white white wings. In her wonder, she grew careless, and caused oil from the lamp to fall on his cheek. In a flash, her life was gone. She was alone on a rocky cliff.

In agony, she appealed to Venus to restore her mate to her. Still bearing hatred towards the beautiful Psyche, the deity set her torturous, and impossible tasks to perform. She ordered Psyche to go to the riverbank and gather fleece from the sheep of gold. As she approached the river, her efforts again, seemed futile. The sheep were far out in the river, and she would surely drown if she tried to reach them. As she began to wade, she heard the voice of a small green reed. it told her to wait until the sheep came back out of the river, that their fleece would get caught on the bushes of the forest, and from there she could safely gather their wool and take it back to Venus.

After gathering the fleece, and returning it to the Goddess Venus, her next task was to gather water from the black River Styx, where death was present at all times. As she approached the river, she discovered that the water was flowing down a waterfall. Only a winged creature could get to that water. Her savior this time was an eagle, seeing how true the love in her heart was for Cupid, he took the flask and filled it for her.

Seeing that there wasn't much else for Venus to do to her, she returned the water and asked for her next task. Aphrodite sent her to the underworld to gather the beauty of Proserpine, seeing as how she needed it after tending to her son for so long. Psyche traveled a long way to get this beauty, and after her efforts, she stopped on the road to the palace. her vanity stole over her and she opened the box, hoping to gain a bit of the beauty for herself, in the event that if she saw Cupid, she would be more beautiful to him.

After opening the box, a smoke of sleep engulfed her and she fell into a deep sleep. cupid was feeling better by this point, and suspecting his mother was involved with the foul play upon his wife, he left Mount Olympus to look for her. When he found her sleeping, he woke her with one of his arrows, chided her for her vanity, and sent her to take the sleep to his mother. She took the box to Aphrodite, while he flew to Olympus to talk to the Gods about their marriage and making it permanent. Finally, Cupid pleaded with Jupiter to take pity on her. Psyche was fed nectar and ambrosia in order to gain immortality and was reunited with Cupid. Eventually Cupid and Psyche had a daughter who they named Pleasure