The Mythic Love of Cupid and Psyche

Many believe the story of "Beauty and the Beast" is based upon one of the most famous Roman myths; that of Cupid and Psyche. There is certainly denying that there are a lot of parallels and the stories have similar meanings. For today, however, let's examine the story of two seemingly star-crossed lovers.

Cupid's mother, Venus, was the goddess of beauty. Still, she was extremely vain and selfish. She insisted upon the devotion of her people and demanded that they hold her above all others in their hearts and minds.

You can, therefore, imagine her wrath when she discovered many of her temples suddenly empty and her altars redesigned to honor a mortal woman name Psyche. One of three daughters born of royal parentage in one of Rome's provinces, Psyche began her life as a sweet, unassuming child that people couldn't help but adore.

She and both of her sisters were highly intelligent and bright. However, Psyche's light shone brighter than that of both of her sisters put together. People began to build altars to her and held her great beauty above that of the goddess. This pleased Psyche, whose ego had by now gotten out of control, making her nearly as vain as Venus herself.

Angry that a mere mortal dared to compare herself to the goddess of beauty, Venus bade her son Cupid to dispatch her mortal enemy. He reluctantly agreed. However, when he saw Psyche asleep in her chamber, her fragile beauty moved him to pity. As he stood staring at Psyche, he somehow startled the girl who jumped, inadvertently jarring the invisible god. This caused his draw arrow to pierce not Psyche, but the god himself. Falling immediately in love with the girl, Cupd could not bring himself to kill her.

Furious at the turn of events, Venus vowed revenge upon the mortal who had not only stolen her loyal subjects, but now possessed the heart of her son. She levied a horrible curse upon the girl, having the oracle of her brother Apollo tell Psyche's parents that the she must be given as bride to a horrible monster that lived atop a nearby mountain.