~Psyche~

There is not much to Psyche seeing as we do not know much about her. We know she is the Goddess of Soul & Dreams for both the Greeks and Romans. We also know that she was originally the human daughter of a common farmer before she was turned goddess. She is also a kind and loving Goddess, unlike her mother-in-law,Aphrodite.

In the story Aphrodite was jealous of the human Psyche so she sent her son, Eros to make her fall in love with the uglest man on earth. One version says that Eros saw her and instantly fell in love. Another version is that Eros accidentally pricked himself with his golden arrows used to make people fall in love. I say he fell in love at first sight, but that's just me. Either way he fell in love.

Psyche's parents, wanting her to marry soon, took her to an oracle to find out if she would ever marry. The oracle told them that she was not destend to have a human love, but a creature that lived on a certain mountain that even the gods feared. Psyche parents were upset, but told Psyche to go up the mountain and meet creature that lived on the mountain. Psyche, resigned to her fate, climbed the mountain. At the top of the mountain a gentle west wind picked her up and carried her downward to a cave where Eros came every night. There in the dark they made love, the only request Psyche's love made was that she not light a lamp. Eros had small wings on his back and if she lighted a lamp she would know who he was.

One day Psyche's sisters conviced her to light a lamp. That night she lighted a lamp when her lover fell asleep. When she did so she droped some of the lamp oil on Eros who awoke and fled.

When Psyche told her sisters who her lover was, they rejoyced. Her sisters who were jelous of her went up to the mountain hopping that Eros would chose one of them. Eros still broken hearted over Psyche, did not choose the sisters who then fell to their deaths.

Psyche searched all of Greece for her love. She ended up in the Temple of Demeter who gave her a mixed grain pile to sort into piles. When she finished Demeter told her to the best way to find Eros was to find Aphrodite and gain her approval. So Psyche went to Aphrodite's temple and gave Psyche a similar task to Demeter's, but with a impossible dead-line. Eros, still in love with Psyche, sent ants to sort the grain for her.

Enraged, Aphrodite sent Psyche to find golden sheep and gather some of their wool. Psyche found the field that had the golden sheep with the wool that Aphrodite wanted and was just about to cross the river when a river god stopped her. The river god told her that the sheep would kill her if she went across now, but if she waited until the noon when the sheep were asleep, she could gather the wool from the branches and trees where the sheep had rubbed up on.

` Again Psyche finished the task Aphrodite had given her, much to Aphrodite's fury. Finally Aphrodite told Psyche that she had lost some of her beauty from the stress of carrying for her depressed son, Eros because of Psyche's unfaithfulness. In order to get some of her beauty back Psyche needed to go to Hades (the Greek Underworld) and get a black box from Persephone, Hades' (the god) wife. Psyche went to the top of the tower, figuring the quickest way into Hades was to die, but just as she was about to jump off a voice told her the way into Hades without dying. The voice told her how to get pass Cerberus, Charon and any other dangers of the path. Psyche found the path down to Hades and gave Cerberus one of the three barley cakes she made the previous night as the voice had told her to do. To Charon she payed two coins for him to take her across the water into Hades, along the way hand reached out of the water and Psyche threw them a barley cake. Once she reached the other side Persephone said she would gladly do a favor for Aphrodite and gave Psyche the black box. Again she paid charon two coins and gave Cerberus the last of the barley cake.

Once Psyche left the underworld she decided to take a little bit of beauty for herself thinking Eros would surely love her, unknowingly that Aphrodite had tricked her. Inside the box was "Stygian sleep" which over took her making her sleep. Aphrodite was pleased, but Eros who had forgiven her, flew to her body and wiped the sleep from her eyes so she could wake up. Eros than begged Zeus and Aphrodite to let him marry Psyche, which they granted, Zeus also made Psyche immortal. All of this was much to Aphrodite's fury.

I read a book like this before, but is was about a polar bear being cursed by his step-mother (I think that was it, it may have been his grandmother). But the polar bear told this girl that he could make her family wealthy so that they could all live happily if she came with him. So she did go with him and he took her to a castle. Upon arriving there she was told that she would have a night visitor every night and that if she did not light a candle to see who it was for 1 year then she could go home. It was an interesting book. It was called East by Edith Pattou. And it is a young adult book.

Okay back to Psyche. She was the human daughter of a farmer made Goddess of Soul and Dreams. Psyche is the wife of Eros, God of Love & Lust, and the mother of Bliss (sometimes called Delight. In Rome she was Voluptas). She is kind and likes to help those who need help through dreams. She knows what is in the soul and mind. She is often seen it the Garden of Eros waiting for her lover to return to her.

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