Psyche and Eros // Part Two
Welcome back, Greeks and Geeks! Last time, I left you off when Psyche discovered the identity of her mysterious husband. I’m going to pick up right where I left off, so make sure to read part one before you continue reading this one!
Crying and wanting to fix her marriage, Psyche went to the temple of Aphrodite and prayed to the goddess. However, Aphrodite had not overcome her jealousy of the girl and still wanted revenge. So, Aphrodite decreed that Psyche needed to complete three tasks to prove her love of Eros.
Her first task was to separate all different sorts of seeds before afternoon – wheat, poppies, millets, and more. If she did not separate them, she would never be allowed to see Eros again.
Psyche despaired, but a group of ants came along and separated the seeds for her. When Aphrodite saw the separate piles of seeds, she became angry.
She ordered Psyche to sleep on the ground that night, with no food. At the same time, she ordered Eros to not leave his room, so he would not see the trials Aphrodite was putting Psyche through.
The next morning, Aphrodite came back and told Psyche to fill a bottle with water from the River Estige, but the waters were too rough and the path their too treacherous for anyone without wings to make it.
An eagle ended up helping her; it took the bottle from Psyche’s hands and filled it for her.
Aphrodite knew she had gotten help, because Psyche would have been unable to complete that task without it. She grew angrier, and for her final task, Aphrodite had Psyche got into the Underworld and ask Persephone for a drop of her beauty to be put in a box.
Once in the Underworld, Persephone was happy to help Aphrodite, and put a drop of her beauty into the box. But once Psyche returned to Aphrodite, she just became angrier. The goddess yelled at the girl, saying she would never be free and that she would be her servant.
However, at this moment, the rest of the gods were watching. They sent Hermes, messenger of the gods, to tell Eros what had been happening to Psyche.
Touched by her acts to prove her love, Eros decided to forgive Psyche for her betrayal.
The two lived happily ever after (forgive the cliché). Zeus granted Psyche immortality as a wedding gift, which then led to Aphrodite getting over her grudge, as all men on Earth soon forgot Psyche’s beauty once she was no longer among them.
This myth tells how valuable trust is in a relationship, and how much work must be done to regain that trust when broken. It is often shown as the best love story in Greek mythology (probably because both parties were actually in love with each other, rather than one being forced/manipulated into loving the other, but that’s none of my business).
As always, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you again soon. Αντίο, Σοφία.
