The psychological portrait of the psyche as presented by Apuleius. Online reading of the book Myths of classical antiquity Book Eight. Cupid (73) and Psyche. The myth of the love of Eros and Psyche

Greek mythology is interesting because in it the gods, like people, love, hate, and suffer from unrequited love. Psyche for the sake of her beloved was ready for anything: to go through suffering, hardship, and as a result, finding such a long-awaited happiness - to be with Cupid.

Who is Psyche in mythology?

The ancient Greeks associated the image of the soul with something light, beautiful and weightless, such as a butterfly. Who is Psyche, you can understand if you know the meaning of this name - "soul", "breath" - that which is in everything in nature, and without which there is no life. That is why the image of Psyche is beautiful, who was often depicted as a young girl with wings, sometimes transforming into a butterfly. Psyche has become the personification of the science of psychology. All those tests that Psyche had to go through contain a deep sacred and philosophical meaning.

Psyche mythology

Psyche is a beloved character from the ancient cultural heritage of the Greeks. The legend of Psyche and Cupid has become a source of inspiration for many writers, on its basis many fairy tales have been created in which the main character undergoes similar transformations: "Beauty and the Beast", "The Scarlet Flower". The path of Psyche is sacrifice, acceptance and redemption. The myth is loved by the Greeks also because it has a happy ending, which is rare in Hellenic mythology.

Children of Psyche

Psyche is a goddess who personifies the breath of life, But she was elevated to the rank of deities only after passing all the tests that fell to her. For her, as a woman, it was worth it. In a happy marriage with Cupid (Eros), a beautiful girl Volupia was born - which means "pleasure" and "pleasure". The sanctuary in Palatine is the place where loving Greeks worshiped the daughter of Psyche and Cupid.

Psyche and Aphrodite

The myth of Psyche and Cupid is also a myth about a very difficult relationship between Psyche and two beautiful women: beloved and mother. The story begins with the fact that one king had three daughters, the youngest, Psyche, overshadowed Aphrodite with her beauty. People focused all their attention on Psyche, gradually forgetting about the goddess of love. Aphrodite was offended by this attitude, and she decided to ruin her rival.

Aphrodite conceived an insidious plan and turned to her son Cupid for help, so that he struck Psyche with an arrow of love for the most unworthy of people. Cupid hastened to fulfill his mother's request, but seeing how beautiful Psyche himself desired her. Aphrodite did not expect such a turn of events. The gods do not always know the consequences of their actions and with her attempt to destroy Psyche, the goddess contributed to the birth of love between Eros and Psyche.

Psyche and Eros

At this time, Psyche's father, in despair, turns to the Miletus oracle with the question of Psyche's marriage. The oracle predicted that his daughter was not intended for humans, but for a winged creature, ordered her to be taken to the edge of the cliff and left. The king did so. Immediately Psyche was picked up by the wind god Zephyr and brought to a beautiful palace. At night, Cupid came to her and before sunrise they indulged in love pleasures. All attempts of Psyche to see him, Cupid suppressed and severely punished not even trying to see him, otherwise she would lose her husband.

In one wonderful state,
To the delight of the reigning persons,
Grew up to glorify the kingdom
The most beautiful three sisters.

All are good, but the youngest is Psyche
So beautiful that Venus *
Out of jealousy, not controlling himself,
I decided to punish her without measure.

Sending his son to Psyche,
She strictly punished him:
To fall in love with a beauty with an insignificant one,
So that she vegetated to death with him.

Cupid * rushed to execute the order,
But he was struck by the heavenly beauty.
He forgot about his mother's order,
He saw Psyche as his wife.

He turned off the suitors from Psyche,
The tsar and the tsarina cannot understand
No one showed love to Psyche.
Her sister has been married for a long time.

The king decided to turn to the oracle,
He passed the sentence made by Cupid:
Psyche needs to dress up for the wedding
And on the mountain to wait for a spouse - that's an agreement.

The king and queen grieved for a long time,
But they did not dare to disobey the gods.
They accompanied their daughter with tears,
Without raising their heads turned gray in an instant.

Psyche is standing in a wedding dress,
She is scared, does not know what will happen.
Her Marshmallow * picks up from behind
And gently into the valley from the cliff carries.

Psyche seemed to be in a fairy tale.
On the emerald grass,
Looking around you without fear,
I forgot about the past matchmaking.

Huge trees surrounded
Wonderful white marble palace.
People have not seen such beauty -
Only the Creator could create such a thing.

The princess quietly walked to the door,
Which swung open before her.
With eyes not accustomed to miracles
She seemed to touch the beauty.

Ivory high ceiling,
The walls sparkle with silver and gold.
The diamond floor burns like a light
It is decorated with rich ornaments.

Psyche walks through the palace with attention,
Servants escort her invisibly.
As soon as something comes into her head -
How they immediately offer her services.

For the whole day, pretty tired,
Psyche went to bed, only it became darker.
He is good with himself: handsome and gold-domed,
In the middle of the night, Cupid descended on the bed to her.

That's how they met at night
Without seeing, only touching each other.
And before dawn we said goodbye in the morning,
Burning out of happiness and great love.

How much joy and happiness of the unearthly!
Psyche alone haunted:
Homesickness, thoughts of your loved ones,
She thought about them all the time.

Husband, my dear, I'm asking you
I miss my family very much.
Let me see us, invite us to your place.
Psyche asked her husband at night.

Cupid immediately answered the request:
-We'd better wait a little longer,
I’m afraid I’m going to slander us.
After all, this will not be done for long.

The princess did not dare to argue with Cupid,
Though I hoped to see my family.
When she heard the answer, she immediately became sad,
All the time she cried over her troubles.

Cupid decided to help his Psyche:
- I'll send for the sisters. Here is my answer.
But be a little more cunning with them,
Don't get bad advice from them.

The marshmallows of the sisters on the wings brought their own.
They, at first, were glad to meet.
But looking at everything around, in their hearts
Envy of annoyance awakened.

Out of innocence Psyche told her sisters,
That I still haven't seen my spouse.
He is young and handsome, she guessed.
He appears to her under the roof of the darkness of the night.

Back home, returning to the king with the queen
They did not say anything, making up only an insidious plan.
We decided to apply it to Psyche. Sisters,
To embroil the young, they went for a petty deception.

The sisters' second visit ended uneasily.
In the evenings a terrible snake crawled to her palace,
And this was her husband, which is immutable.
The neighbors say: "Only the blind man did not see."

They tortured Psyche by deceiving my sister,
And when asked what to do with it,
They replied that with a hidden dagger
She will finish with him: "As he falls asleep, kill."

After spending a little time, the sisters said goodbye.
Zephyrs carried them home on their wings.
Psyche with thoughts was left alone,
Having lost my peace of mind from the conversation.

And, on reflection, I decided to look
The next night, when the spouse falls asleep.
Take the lamp so you don't regret it later
And thereby resolve your ailment.

In the middle of the night when Cupid fell asleep, Psyche
I lit a lamp, got out of bed quietly,
And, turning, numb from fear,
Suddenly she saw God. He was handsome and gold-domed.

Psyche accidentally tilted the lamp,
A drop of oil fell on Cupid's shoulder.
What had happened immediately woke him up.
Cupid was greatly overshadowed by what he saw:

You did not listen to me and here is the result-
And this ruined our happiness.
Your sisters' advice entailed it all.
Well, now the days of bad weather will come.

He said and, flapping his wings, disappeared into the distance,
Leaving a grief-stricken Psyche.
Naivety, simplicity doomed for a long time
Look for a loved one deceived by her.

Meanwhile, Cupid flew to Venus.
The goddess was angry with her son
For the fact that he dared her without knowing
Marry Psyche, for which she is guilty.

Venus forbade people and gods
Help the psyche or provide shelter.
And no one sympathized with her tears,
Psyche saw only enemies around.

So, having found enough, she came
To the palace, where Venus was mistress.
She met her badly and asked
The task is to disassemble various grains,
Which she poured without measure.

Barley, millet, peas and lentils
Psyche must be separated from each other.
Dividing this work bit by bit,
Not enough life to complete.

Psyche cried, not knowing what to do.
Here the ant gathered its squad.
They decided to help the unfortunate
And they fulfilled the plan of the goddess.

Psyche received a new assignment:
Bring wool of golden fleece rams.
The rams were angry and pugnacious
And they didn't let me get close.

The reeds rustled, Psyche heard:
-You wait, the rams fall asleep at noon,
You will walk through the grove, the fleece is stuck in the bushes,
Take it off, it hangs from the branches.

Psyche from the grove brought
An armful of golden fleece wool.
Venus was dissatisfied -
And a new mission out of revenge.

She ordered herself to bring
Water from a stream on a steep mountain.
Stands at the foot, but how to ascend
Up to get some water as soon as possible.

The eagle picked up the crystal vessel
And went up to the source with him.
He poured water into it at the top
And he returned downstairs with a dear gift.

Fantasy is beautiful in the goddess
Venus came up with a more difficult task.
Descend into the realm of the dead to Proserpine *,
Take the chest there and, without opening, deliver it to her.

Full of despair from the plan of Venus,
Psyche rose to the stone tower.
From grief, having burst into tears to the fullest,
She was going to commit suicide.

And so great was the sorrow of Psyche,
That the stones from the tower took pity on her.
They showed her the way to the kingdom of the dead
And how and what to do - they told her everything.

Psyche got into the dead kingdom.
There she saw Proserpina.
The queen gave the casket for Venus.
Having done everything, Psyche returned to the valley.

That she shouldn't open the casket,
Psyche, of course, has not forgotten.
Nothing will happen if it opens, -
This thought constantly pressed on her.

Unable to control my curiosity,
She slightly opened the lid of the box.
Going outside, sleep swallowed her -
Black fog fell to the ground.

In the meantime, Cupid has healed from the wound,
And with her, his anger passed.
He began to look for Psyche and soon found himself
In the valley, where he was sleeping on the grass, he found her.

He woke Psyche with a kiss,
His wife was happy.
I told Cupid about Venus,
What troubles she endured.

Cupid immediately calmed Psyche,
Saying that he would protect her from her attacks.
He flew to Jupiter * and asked,
So to do so that there is peace between wife and mother.

Jupiter Summoned Venus Soon
And he said: - I will give immortality to her,
Then she will be equal to the gods.
I will give her a vessel of ambrosia to drink.

Psyche immediately caught up with the gods,
Having tasted ambrosia, she became equal to them.
Venus recognized her daughter-in-law,
Psyche had never dreamed of this before.

Psyche immediately became sweet to the gods,
Hosanna was sung to her beauty and temper.
She soon gave birth to Cupid,
It was called Pleasure by right.

Venus - In Roman mythology, the goddess of beauty, carnal love, desire, fertility, and prosperity.

Cupid is the son of Venus and Vulcan. They represented the god of love as young men or a child with a shock of golden hair. On his back he had wings that allowed him to hit his targets from any convenient place. Always with him the god Cupid wore a bow and golden arrows that struck the hearts of people. People who gave up their own feelings, the god of love made them suffer. Interestingly, the arrows not only sent, but also killed feelings. Sometimes Cupid was portrayed blindfolded, which symbolized the randomness of the choice. There is information that it was from here that the expression came - love is blind.

Zephyr - Mythological Zephyr is the son of Astrea and Eos. Mentioned in the Iliad. Due to his speed, he was also considered the messenger of the gods. The difference in the properties of Zephyr in the West and in the East, apparently, had an idea of ​​the compilers of Homeric songs, which make Zephyr blow on the islands of the blessed, located in the far west and who know neither storms, nor rains, nor snow.

Proserpine - in ancient Roman mythology, the goddess of the underworld, corresponding to the ancient Greek Persephone, daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, niece and wife of Pluto. According to one version, her name is the Latinized Greek "Persephone". According to another interpretation, this was the name of the Roman goddess, who promoted the growth (proserpere) of the seed and merged later, after the introduction of Greek cults, with the goddess Persephone.

Jupiter - in ancient Roman mythology, the god of the sky, daylight, thunderstorms, the father of the gods, the supreme deity of the Romans. Third son of Saturn and Opa. Brother of Pluto, Neptune, Ceres and Vesta. Brother and spouse of the goddess Juno. Corresponds to the Greek Zeus.

Understanding of Jung's collective unconscious comes when you find similar concepts in different cultures. Both the names of "gods" and the terms are all different, but the essence is the same. Tells "deep old" about the same. Why was it that I was suddenly drawn to Pushkin? "Legends of deep antiquity". Yes, I traced interesting parallels when reading E. Neumann, or rather, his commentary on the myth of Cupid and Psyche. Psieh - Soul. It is a sin for psychologists to pass by such a myth. Moreover, we see fragments of this work in Russian fairy tales. And, moreover, not folk, but copyright. However, the story of Cupid and Psyche also has its author.

Apuleius is just beginning to describe the adventures of Psyche, concluding that her birth was a turning point in human history, since the "New Aphrodite" appeared, born from the earth from a drop of dew, instead of the official, lawful goddess of Love, who turned out to be quite absurd, being born from sea foam fertilized by the severed phallus of Uranus. The author is just beginning to talk about the rage of the goddess Aphrodite and her envy of a young earthly girl, as well as a burning desire to destroy the young impudent woman, as most of us already hear the familiar: "my light, mirror, tell me, but report the whole truth", well, or dreaming about Snow White's dress.

Aphrodite, like the evil stepmothers from fairy tales, wants to prove the superiority of her own beauty over anyone else. And dooms Psyche to a fiery love for "the very last of mortals." For this, Aphrodite uses the arrows of Cupid (Eros), her son, but does not at all send her into the forest "to be devoured by the wolves", like the evil stepmother Elisha's bride, but the theme of "deadly marriage", the sacrifice of a virgin to a monster (namely, the Dragon is dedicated to Psyche , according to the will of the goddess), is present in both works.

In the work of Pushkin, that ancient sound of the myth about marriage has already been lost, but the girl will die from wolf teeth.

This is how the motive of the bride dedicated to death is manifested, the central archetype of the feminine mysteries, from the point of view of which, each marriage is a lonely expectation on the top of the mountain of a monstrous groom, to whom a pure and immaculate virgin was surrendered, despite her free will. Like a victim of masculinity. For a woman, marriage and deprivation of girlhood is a moment of transition, a mystery. For a man, however, this is abduction and conquest, which the bride-girl perceives as rape.

Defloration in an approximate translation can sound like "plucking, destroying a flower", that is, the death of the Virgin, which is symbolized by the flower, and her transition to a pregnant state, bearing the fetus.

By the way, after Psyche was given to the Dragon, the coincidence of the events of the myth begins with a completely different tale. The motive of the evil stepmother (and Psyche has a future mother-in-law instead of a stepmother), jealous of primacy in beauty and recognition, is described only in the Dead Princess (or Snow White), but the Dragon or the Beast is already from Aksakov's fairy tale. About the scarlet flower. How do you mention the defloration in light of the fact that the merchant picked a scarlet flower right from the monster from the middle of the garden? And as a child, I thought - why worry so much about some kind of tops? Are there not enough flowers in the garden? But, however, we knew in childhood about the innermost meaning of this flower. That he is, this meaning. Although what it is is not clear to children.

Further, in the development of the plot, Psyche is not kidnapped by the Dragon. Marshmallow. It turns out that Cupid (Eros) himself pricked himself with his own arrow and fell in love with Psyche. He took her to the ends of the earth and made the girl his wife. Has mastered, more precisely. And now, Psyche is in someone's power. In whose - she does not know. She only knows for sure that she is doomed to the Dragon, the monster. Her nighttime lover is gentle, but she does not allow herself to look at herself. At the same time, seeing Psyche himself clearly, her husband forbids asking about himself, looking at himself and remains incognito.

And this episode, like two kali waters, is similar to a merchant's daughter being held captive by a monster. And, by the way, in oriental tales the "merchant's daughter" is the soul (Psyche); the east does not hide the fact that other wisdom is encrypted in fairy tales. She assumes that her master is a monster, as her father said so. Psyche knows that the Dragon is her husband. But one girl is faced with a kind attitude "around the house" during the day, and another with a fiery lover at night. And both are in a state of ignorance about their future fate, both sacrificed because they are imprisoned against their will.

Both girls have sisters. They persuade the psyche to break the taboo. Take a good look and finally kill your lover, who kidnapped her. The merchant's daughter is deceived by her sisters with the same purpose and motive - with the desire to kill her husband, who is a monster.

A myth is always an unconscious representation of key life situations, and one of the reasons why myths and fairy tales are so significant for us is that in these confessions, clarified by the light of consciousness, we can read the true experience of humanity.

The archetypal influence of deadly marriage extends from prehistoric times to the present day, and can be traced in ritual sacrifices of virgins, and in marriage rites, when the flower maiden makes the transition to a fertile mother.

Both girls voluntarily make this transition. Psyche obeys fate, Alyonushka chooses her herself, taking her father's magic ring.

Neumann speaks of the sisters of Psyche, pushing her to murder her husband, as the shadow side of a girl protesting against the humiliation and insult of the matriarchal psyche. After all, she is in a subordinate position, it is not clear who takes possession of her, and it somehow happened that "in the same body, she hates the monster and loves her husband." Therefore, he hesitates, but listens to the sisters.

This obstinacy is also manifested in Alyonushka. Both girls feel trapped in golden cages and yearn to break free. One is to visit the house, the other is to break the veil of secrecy, to break a taboo. And, if in our fairy tale Alyonushka falls in love with a monster "at a distance", fearing to cause his death, then in the myth of Psyche deeper mysteries are described.

Psyche, obeying the sisters (her shadow), comes into conflict with her lover. And it is this conflict, initiated by her, in the words of Neumann, is "the main factor in Psyche's own development." The state of blind obedience in the dark paradise of sensuality is like being in the waters of the unconscious. The capture of her body and the pregnancy of Psyche is a motive for rape from a feminine perspective. She is not free to give or not consent. They take it every night. From the point of view of matriarchy, the only worthy response to masculinity would be its castration. This is exactly what the sisters (shadow) demand from Psyche, having armed her with a dagger.

Until now, the pair of opposites "lover-monster" was present only in the unconscious of Psyche. The girl must shine a light of consciousness on the situation and see the face of her husband in order to resolve the conflict between the soul that loves her husband and the soul that hates the monster.

Taking an oil lamp, Psyche sees the face of Eros, a beautiful god, and from surprise wounds on one of his arrows. She falls in love. Falls in love seeing individuality. Neumann calls this moment a turning point in the history of femininity. Matriarchy law prohibits any relationship with men as individuals. He recognizes men as conductors of an anonymous power that has a divine essence.

And in this scene, the woman Psyche emerges from the darkness of the unconscious and gains the first experience of interacting with a man as a carrier of individuality. It is revealed to her that there is no difference between a spouse and a monster. She voluntarily gives herself into the arms of Eros, leaving the role of a victim in the role of a consciously loving woman. By this, she does not deny the matriarchal stage of her femininity, but awakens her authentic form and strengthens her to the state of the Amazon.

Together with the love that burst out at the moment when Psyche saw Eros, her inner Eros awakens. The inner image of her love, her personal Eros becomes the highest expression, the image of the one who is in front of her in a physical body, burned with oil from a lamp. He flies away from Psyche, because he is unable to compete with his image inside Psyche, her "Eros from within".

And where our heroes are already playing weddings, in the myth of Apuleius, everything is just beginning.

Perhaps this is because she herself does not accept the shadow aspect of Alyonushka. Sisters, no, not like that, Evil sisters have moved the hands on the clock, it is not her fault. She is late for her monster, but completely against her will. It is itself. In the myth of Psyche, she herself decides to kill her husband, armed with a dagger, she goes to his bed. She is trying to end her slave position on her own. And, perhaps, that is why that myth has a continuation.

Two words in the direction of the shadow and negative characters who often embody it. Without them, the plots of fairy tales would not have developed at all. Well, what would even Alyonushka do if not for her sisters, who harmed her so much? I would have returned on time, would have lived on and the monster would not kiss. What for? Everything would be as before. I would live and yearn. I would walk in my golden cage, as before visiting my sisters. And only an internal conflict with its shadow awakens us to growth. And awareness. And awakening. It gives us clarity of consciousness.

Is this why the Self loves it more than our ego? By plotting and initiating internal conflicts, she is the force "that always wants evil and always does good"... [AND. Goethe. Faust.] Another would be to accept this power as his own, how Psyche could do it, and not to attribute it entirely to the sisters.

Friends, are there those among us who, in childhood, impressed the negative heroes of fairy tales?

Together we will find the path to your hidden possibilities.

Cupid and Psyche

In the same years of "sweet mythology" there lived a king, whose three daughters were famous all over the world for their incomparable beauty. Psyche, the youngest of the sisters, was so good that her father's subjects declared that it was she, and not Venus, who should be called the goddess of beauty, and offered to give all the honors to her. Offended by this offer, which the clever Psyche rejected, Venus decided to show the insolent people that the girl is mortal and cannot be worshiped as a goddess. She told her son Cupid to kill her.

Taking a bow and arrows, smeared with deadly poison, Cupid went to obey his mother's orders and reached the palace by nightfall. He silently crept past the sleeping guards, walked through the empty halls and, reaching Psyche's room, slipped there unnoticed. He cautiously approached the bed on which the beauty was sleeping and bent down to kill her.

But at that moment the moonlight fell on her face and, amazed by the beauty of the girl, Cupid recoiled. At the same moment, he accidentally wounded himself with his own arrow - this wound brought him a lot of suffering later.

But Cupid did not yet know how serious she was. He bent over the sleeping girl to capture her beautiful features in his heart, and then silently left the room, vowing that he would never harm her innocence and beauty.

Morning has come. Venus, who expected to see the sunlit corpse of her rival, noticed that she, as usual, was playing in the garden of the palace, and realized that Cupid did not follow her orders. Then she began to annoy the girl with minor troubles and ensured that poor Psyche ran away from home with the firm intention to end scores with a life that she could no longer enjoy.

Psyche with difficulty climbed a steep mountain and, approaching the very edge of the cliff, rushed from it directly to the sharp stones that could be seen below. But Cupid, who indignantly watched how his mother mocked the girl, and understood that he could not help her, followed Psyche invisibly, and when he saw that she decided to commit suicide, he called Zephyr (south wind) and asked him grab the girl with your strong but gentle hands and carry her to a distant island.

And now, instead of a quick fall and painful death, Psyche felt the wind carry her over the fields and mountains and over the sparkling waters of the sea. And before she had time to be frightened, he easily lowered her to the flower-covered beach in the very center of the magnificent garden.

Startled, she slowly got up, rubbed her beautiful eyes to make sure it was not a dream, and looked around the garden with curiosity. Soon she saw an enchanted palace, whose doors opened wide in front of her, and gentle voices invited to enter. Invisible hands carried her across the threshold and began to serve her.

When night fell and the earth was covered with darkness, Cupid appeared in front of Psyche. In the fragrant twilight, he confessed his love for her and tenderly pleaded not to reject him.

And although the dying light did not allow her to discern the features of the unknown young man, Psyche listened with undisguised pleasure to his words and soon agreed to unite with him. Cupid asked not to try to find out his name or see his face, because in this case he would have to leave her forever.

I'll be with you as long as

My face is hidden from you

But if you ever see him,

Then I'll leave - after all, the gods commanded

So that Love is friendly with Faith.

It was for her to flee from Knowledge.

Lewis Morris

Psyche sincerely vowed that she would respect the desires of her mysterious lover, and indulged in the joy of communicating with him. They talked all night, and when the first glimpses of dawn dawned on the horizon, Cupid said goodbye to Psyche, promising to return at nightfall. All day Psyche thought about him, waited for him and, as soon as the sun went down, hurried to the garden filled with birdsong, and with bated breath began to wait for the appearance of her beloved.

And now on the wings from the royal skies

Cupid descended to the land of Cyprus.

Opening arms, gentle Psyche

He presses to his heart.

The daytime hours spent alone seemed to Psyche endless, but the night in the society of Love flew by unnoticed. Cupid instantly fulfilled all her desires, and, subdued by his desire to please her in every possible way, she admitted that she really wanted to meet with her sisters and talk to them. The ardent lover could not refuse her this request, but Psyche noticed that he gave his consent reluctantly, after some hesitation.

The next morning, walking in the garden, Psyche suddenly saw her sisters. They rushed to hug each other and bombarded each other with questions, and then sat down and began to talk. Psyche talked about how she tried to commit suicide, how she was miraculously saved, how she was transported through the air to this magnificent palace, how she fell in love with a mysterious young man who came to her at night - in a word, about everything that happened to her after leaving home.

The older sisters always envied the extraordinary beauty of Psyche, and when they saw the luxurious palace in which she now lived and heard about the beautiful young man who fell in love with her, they decided to ruin her happiness, which they did not have to experience. And they began to convince her sister that she had fallen in love with some monster, since her lover did not dare to appear before her in the daylight. He is probably so scary that he is afraid to scare her with his appearance, and they added that if she does not take care, he will eat her.

And they advised poor scared Psyche to hide a lamp and a dagger in her beloved's room and, when he fell asleep, secretly examine it. If the light of the lamp reveals - in which they did not doubt in the least - the ugly features of the monster, then she should stab him with a dagger. After that, satisfied that they had managed to sow doubts in Psyche's soul, the sisters left, leaving her alone.

The sisters returned home, but the story that Psyche told them did not get out of their minds, and, in the hope of finding the same luxurious palaces and equally beautiful lovers, they secretly climbed a high mountain, threw themselves off the cliff and crashed.

Night came, and Cupid appeared, for whom Psyche had been waiting so impatiently. But, tormented by suspicions, she barely concealed them. Cupid unsuccessfully tried to cheer her up, and then went to bed and, as soon as his even breathing informed Psyche that her beloved was asleep, she carefully lit a lamp, grabbed a dagger and, slowly going up to the bed, bent over the sleeping person. She raised the lamp higher and saw in front of her a beautiful young man with a face and body.

Psyche's heart began to beat with joy when she saw that she had fallen in love not with a monster, but with a graceful young man, and she forgot about caution. She accidentally tilted the lamp, and one drop of boiling oil fell on Cupid's bare shoulder.

In dismay and confusion, Psyche

Then suddenly I decided, then again frightened,

Quietly takes a bright lamp

And, pulling out a dagger, goes to the bed,

Deciding to kill the one who lies there.

But in the light of the lamp our virgin sees

That before her lies the god of love himself.

Apollonius

The sharp pain awakened Cupid. Seeing a burning lamp, a flashing dagger and a trembling Psyche, he immediately understood everything. He jumped up from the bed, grabbed his bow and arrows and, throwing a last sad, reproachful glance at Psyche, flew out of the open window, exclaiming:

Goodbye! There is no Love without Faith,

And you don't believe me.

Goodbye! Do not wait for me!

Lewis Morris

Before he had time to disappear into the darkness of the night, the quiet breeze was replaced by such a hurricane that poor frightened Psyche was afraid to be left alone in the palace and ran out into the garden, where she soon lost consciousness. When she woke up, the hurricane died down, the sun was high, and the palace and garden disappeared.

Poor Psyche spent the next and many other nights here, hoping in vain that Cupid would return to her. She wept bitterly, cursing herself that she had obeyed the sisters. Finally, she again decided to commit suicide and threw herself into the river, but the deity of this river caught her and dragged her to the shore, where his daughters, the river nymphs, brought her back to life. The inconsolable Psyche, forcibly returned to life, wandered in search of Cupid, asking everyone she met on the way - the nymphs, Pan and Ceres, who sympathetically listened to her story and her declaration of love for her husband.

Ceres often met Cupid and heard that Venus had healed the wound on his shoulder. He advised Psyche to go to the goddess of beauty, enter her service and readily carry out all her tasks. This was the only way to hope for a meeting and reconciliation of lovers.

Psyche thanked Ceres for the advice and, having entered the service of Venus, began to work from morning until late at night to please her strict mistress. Venus gave her such difficult tasks that the girl would never have been able to complete them if she had not been helped by animals and insects, who loved her very much.

Venus endlessly tested her devotion and endurance and, finally, as a final test, she decided to send her to Hades with the task of bringing a box with a medicine that returned beauty to everyone who smeared it with it. The recipe for this drug was owned only by Proserpine. Guided by Zephyr, her old friend, Psyche freely passed all the horrors of Hades, conveyed Venus's request to Proserpine and received a small box. The gates of Hades had already closed behind her, and she had almost completed the task entrusted to her, when it suddenly occurred to her to smear her face with magic ointment in order to destroy the traces of sleepless nights and tears.

But she did not know that the spirit of the Dream was contained in the box, which put her to sleep right on the road. Cupid, passing by, saw traces of suffering on Psyche's face, remembered his love for her and all her torment, and, driving the spirit of the Dream back, woke Psyche with a tender kiss.

Open your eyes, love, now.

Can you see me. Never

I will not leave you. I'm your husband.

Lewis Morris

And, holding hands, they flew to Olympus, where Cupid introduced Psyche, his bride, to the assembled gods, and they promised to attend their wedding. And even Venus, forgetting about her envy, greeted the bride, blushed with a blush, who finally found her happiness.

Ancient people, for whom Cupid was a symbol of the heart, considered Psyche the personification of the soul and awarded her with butterfly wings - this insect was also a symbol of the soul that never dies.

In the family of immortals, she is the youngest -

But more miraculous than nature itself,

More beautiful than the sun and the moon,

And Vesper, the worm of the shining firmament.

The most beautiful of all! - even though she doesn't have a temple,

No altar with flowers

No chorus of virgins, under the crowns of the alleys

Singing in the evenings

No flute, no cithara, no haze

From fragrant resins;

No grove, no shrine, no priests,

From the spells of the drunk.

Oh light! It may be too late

Trying to resurrect a bygone world.

The forest is full of secrets, and the sky is many stars,

But even now, even though it's all gone,

Away from delight, now reserved,

I see how between the pale Olympians

This light wing sparkles.

So let me be your priest

From spells drunk;

Kefara, flute, curly smoke -

Fragrant smoke,

A sanctuary and a grove and a singer,

And a prophetic idol!

Yes, I will be your prophet

And I will build a secluded temple

In the forest of your soul, so that thoughts are pines,

With sweet pain sprouting there

Stretched upward, thick and myrrh-bearing.

From ledge to ledge, slope behind slope

Rocky they will cover the ridges,

And there, to the sound of birds, streams and bees,

The timid dryads will fall asleep in the grass.

And in this center, in silence

Unseen, marvelous flowers,

Garlands and bright stars -

To everyone that was hardly seen in a dream

Fantasies to a crazy gardener, -

I will decorate the temple - and to please you

I will leave all the joys there with the keys

So that you never look gloomy,

And a bright torch, and a window in the night,

Revealed for the boy Cupid!

Keats (Translated by G. Kruzhkov)

One of the last myths associated with Venus was the myth of Berenice, who, fearing for the life of her husband, asked the goddess to protect him in battle, promising to donate his luxurious hair to her if he returned home safe and sound. The request was fulfilled, and Berenice's beautiful hair fell on the altar of Venus, from where it suddenly disappeared. The astrologer, who was asked about who could steal them, pointed to an approaching comet and stated that the gods decided to place Berenice's hair among the stars so that it would shine forever as a memory of the sacrifice she made in the name of her husband.

Venus, the goddess of beauty, was represented either completely naked or in a short dress called the "belt of Venus." Sitting in a chariot in the form of a pearl shell, attracted by the snow-white doves, the beloved birds of the goddess, she rode from altar to altar, smugly admiring the luxurious jewelry made of precious stones and flowers that her admirers brought her. Most of all she liked the sacrifices of young lovers.

Numerous ancient and several modern sculptures of this goddess adorn various art galleries, but among them the most perfect is the world famous Venus de Milo.

The festivities in honor of Venus were always very colorful, and her priests appeared there in wreaths of fresh, fragrant flowers, a symbol of natural beauty.

Cupid (Cupid) Cupid is the god of love. He is depicted as a naked winged child with a bow and a quiver full of arrows. His parents are usually considered Aphrodite and Ares. Cupid is often called Eros or (in the Roman version) Cupid. A popular motif in ancient myths is love.

Cupid In ancient Roman mythology, Cupid (Cupido) is the Latin name for the god of love Eros (see); sometimes different from Amor. He was represented as a handsome boy with wings, in more ancient times - with a flower and a lyre, later - with arrows of love or a flaming torch. Cicero in Op.

Psyche In ancient Greek mythology, Psyche, Psyche or Psishe (Greek ????, "soul", "breath") is the personification of the soul, breath; presented herself as a butterfly or a young girl with butterfly wings. In myths, she was pursued by Eros, then she avenged him for the persecution, then between them

The peculiarity of ancient Greek mythology is that in its legends the gods tend to experience feelings available to mere mortals. The story of Eros and Psyche is direct evidence of this. The passionate love and extreme curiosity of Psyche, described in the legend, inspired the representatives of the art world for centuries.

Origin story

The culture of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome describes Psyche as the personification of the soul. In the drawings, she was given the appearance of a girl with wings or a butterfly. The heroine was often depicted on tombstone accessories, accompanied by symbols associated with death. Frescoes with Psyche were found during excavations in Pompeii and in the course of archaeological work on the study of artifacts from the 3rd-1th centuries BC. Folklore is replete with stories about Psyche and her tragic love.

The first mentions of the goddess belonged to the pen and other ancient Greek historians. The myth about her is described in detail by Apuleius. The philosopher and writer of Ancient Rome laid out everything that was known about this heroine. Born in Madhavar, the author became a researcher and possessed the knowledge that allowed him to engage in scientific and literary activities. Apuleius, the author of the novel The Golden Donkey, described the myths that were popular in his era and the legends that came down to him from the ancestors.

The story of Eros (Cupid) and Psyche, as we know her, first appeared in the literary creation of Apuleius.

Myths and legends

Psyche personified the soul, that is, something sublime and beautiful. Therefore, she was associated with a touching and weightless butterfly. The meaning of the girl's name is deciphered as "soul", "breath" is what wildlife has. Philosophers regard the life of Psyche as a constant sacrifice and atonement for their misdeeds. The science of psychology is named in honor of the heroine, since the trials that she had to overcome have a philosophical and sacred meaning.

The legend of Eros and Psyche inspired writers and formed the basis of the famous fairy tales "Beauty and the Beast" and "The Scarlet Flower". This ancient Greek myth is very rare, as it belongs to the number of stories with a happy ending.

Psyche became a goddess, having passed the tricky tests invented by the mother of Eros (in Roman mythology - Cupid). The obstacles that she overcame symbolize the woman's resilience and her willpower in the struggle for feelings and the chosen one. In a marriage with Eros, Psyche had a daughter named Volupia. This name means "pleasure" in translation.

According to legend, the relationship between Psyche and Aphrodite did not go well from the very beginning, because the goddess of love considered the girl a competitor. From a young age, the mortal was compared to Aphrodite, recognizing that she is able to outshine the beauty of the idol of millions. A peculiar cult of Psyche was formed, which hurt the pride of Aphrodite. The goddess decided to take revenge by resorting to the help of her son, whose arrows were supposed to connect the heart of Psyche with the most unworthy of men. But Eros was struck by the beauty of the girl and fell in love with her.

God transferred the girl left at the edge of the cliff to the palace. There she lived with Eros, never seeing the chosen one. He came at night to give the girl pleasure, and at dawn he left his beloved again. People were forbidden to contemplate the gods, and Psyche wondered who her lover was. But to see him meant to renounce love forever.

The sisters persuaded the girl to secretly find out her husband's secret. When he fell asleep, the girl lit her face with a night light and froze, amazed at her husband's beauty. Hot wax dripping on the body of the god woke him up and revealed the betrayal of Psyche. He fled, leaving her alone.

The wait was agonizingly long, and the girl decided to seek help from her mother-in-law. She ordered to separate many seeds from grains, find the golden fleece, get water from Styx and a box. All the trials were within the power of Psyche, and Eros decided to return to her, seeing how strong the love of his wife was. approved the request to rank her among the gods, and the beautiful legend of strong love ended happily.

Psyche in culture

The image of a mythological character is incredibly popular in the art of different eras. Boccaccio was one of the first after Apuleius to pay attention to the legend of Psyche. The medieval author was not familiar with the work of the philosopher and drew material from other sources, expanding the plot of the story. The writer supplemented the story with a story about the birth of the heroine, her parents and fate.

Visual images of the heroine, dating from the 15th century, are found on Florentine accessories, which were supplied to brides before the wedding ceremony. Michelozzi's bas-relief became a sculptural chanting of Psyche.

In the 16th century he returned to mythological leitmotifs. He owns the first images of Psyche that have survived to this day. The artist depicted the goddess in panels and frescoes. After his death, the students adopted the author's style and created engravings and tapestries based on well-known subjects. Duddy's engravings and the bas-relief of the Porta affair are described by art critics as vivid examples of the praise of Psyche in art. The poem "The Tale of Psyche and Cupid" and the comedy "The Wedding of Psyche and Cupid" by Italian authors are devoted to the romantic history of the heroes and are inspired by the creation of Apuleius.

Works by 17th century painters depict Psyche at a feast dedicated to her wedding, or in a duet with Eros. The artists painted pictures where the lovers were imagined asleep. Jordaens and Van Dyck pioneered the depiction of Eros (Cupid).

The first to mention the curious girl in a piece of music was A. Leardini, who staged the opera of the same name in Mantua. P. Calderon, continuing the mention of Psyche in his dramatic works, wrote the play "Psyche and Cupid". was inspired by the conflict between Cupid and Psyche and understood the intricacies of their relationship in his own poem.

In 1671, a ballet appeared, staged according to an ancient plot. J. B. Lully used the libretto, Corneille and Kino. In Russian works of art, the prototypes of Psyche are read in the fairy tale "The Snow Maiden", and a direct reference to the myth is found in the poem. The heroine was remembered by Mattison, Herder, Pushkin, Gogol, Anderson, Kuprin and other world famous lyricists.

The popularity of the heroine did not subside in the 20th century, and a celestial body, characterized as an asteroid, was named in her honor.