Mythic Monday: Cupid of Courtship
April 24, 2017
If you’ve ever given or received a Valentine’s Day card, there’s a good chance you’ve encountered the subject of this week’s Mythic Monday: Cupid, the ancient Roman god of love. Known as Eros in Greek mythology, Cupid is often depicted as a chubby winged infant armed with a bow and arrow. Cupid’s gold-tipped arrows were said to cause people to fall in love. But he also carried lead-tipped arrows that produced the opposite effect.
One of the most famous stories about Cupid tells how he fell in love with the beautiful mortal princess Psyche. The goddess of love, Venus, became jealous of Psyche because people thought Psyche’s beauty outshone her own. Venus sent Cupid to give Psyche a potion to prevent anyone from falling in love with her. However, while Cupid was giving Psyche the potion, her charms overcame him, and he fell in love with her.
Psyche went to Cupid’s palace, but Cupid would visit her only in the dark of night. He told her that he would leave her forever if she ever saw him in the light. One night Psyche lighted a lamp so she could look at Cupid while he slept. Unfortunately, he awoke and fled the palace. Psyche searched for Cupid, eventually arriving at the palace of Venus. Venus was still angry and jealous of Psyche’s beauty, so she ordered Psyche to perform several seemingly impossible tasks. While trying to perform one of these tasks, Psyche became trapped in the underworld, but Cupid came quickly to the rescue. With the help of Jupiter, the king of the gods (called Zeus in Greek mythology), Cupid convinced Venus to stop tormenting Psyche. Jupiter then made Psyche immortal, and she became Cupid’s wife.