Once upon a time, in Ancient Greece, there was a woman named Psyche. She was very beautiful. Some even dared to call her more beautiful than Aphrodite. This made Aphrodite jealous, so she sent her son Eros (cupid) to make her fall in love with a hideous creature. Upset about his duty, Eros made himself invisible and entered her room one night while she was sleeping. He felt pity for her, because she was born too beautiful for her own good. But before he can pierce her with one of his arrows, she wakes up and startles him, looking straight into his eyes, despite his invisibility. She startled him so much, he accidentally scratched himself with his own arrow and fell in love with her. He flees, unable to finish his mission and reported back to his mother, Aphrodite. Aphrodite was very angry and cursed Psyche to never find a suitable husband. This made Eros very angry, and he vowed as long as Psyche was cursed, he would no longer shoot his arrows.
Aphrodite eventually had to give in, as without Eros, young were not being born and the earth was growing old. Psyche remained unmarried, and when her parents consulted an oracle, she told them to leave Psyche on a mountain top, as she was not meant for mortal men. When left of the mountain, Psyche was carried by the west wind to a great house in a lush valley. There she was tended by invisible servants, and at night, Eros visited her. Eros didn't want her to know who he was before the time was right Psyche was forbidden to see his face, but every night he visited her, and they slept together. One day, Eros permitted Psyche to visit her sisters, but warned her not to listen to them. The jealous sisters convinced Psyche that she should look at the face of her lover, as they thought she was married to a giant serpent (not quite sure where they got that idea, but it was Ancient Greece). So that night, while Eros was sleeping, Psyche lit a candle, and looked at his face. When she saw him, she recognised him as Eros, the God of Love. She accidentally pricked herself with one of his arrows, and falls in love with him. However, Eros woke up and seeing she betrayed him, left.
Psyche left heartbroken wandered into a temple and, seeing it a mess, starts to clean it up. Demeter appears and tells her that she must call on Aphrodite, who started the mess. Psyche calls on Aphrodite and Aphrodite sets Psyche several impossible tasks. First she must separate a basket of grain by sunset, which a group of friendly ants help her achieve. Then she must collect some golden wool from some very vicious sheep. This time a river gods helps her, advising her to collect the wool caught on the bushes in the field. Thirdly she must collect some water from a cleft which cannot be reached by mortals, and was guarded by a serpent. An eagle helps her collect the water. Finally she is sent to the underworld to bring back a piece of Persephone's beauty in a box (as you do). She manages this as well, surviving all the dangers of the underworld, and bringing back a piece of Persephone's beauty in a box. As is so often the case, after surviving all these impossible challenged, curiosity again takes over, and Psyche opens the box. Instead of beauty, there is an infernal sleep, which covers her. Eros, seeing her in trouble, and forgiving her, flies down and wakes her. He then flies back to Olympus and petitions Zeus to allow him to marry Psyche. Zeus agrees, and ives Psyche a cup of Ambrosia, which makes Psyche immortal. And the only God who ever loved was Love himself.
I have always thought that the story was very beautiful. This statue shows the moment, when Eros flies down to help Psyche after she opens on the box. Behind the two figures you can actually see the box.
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