Greece: The Beginning

        Greek and Roman mythology are riddled with tragic love stories and grotesque monsters. It is no wonder that the Beast and the Beast legend traces back to these. Not all tales that mimic this story line involve hideous creatures, some of the incorporate more romantic or tragic aspects. One of the very initial characteristics of Beauty and the Beast is the idea of the beautiful female love interest who is forbidden to cast her eyes upon her lover or capture.

       The story of Cupid (or Eros, as the Greeks referred to him) and Psyche is much like this.

"Cupid and Psyche" by Alicechan via DevianArt.com 

http://alicechan.deviantart.com/art/Cupid-and-Psyche-315642768

        This tale began like any others, with a king and a queen who had three attractive daughters, but the youngest was by far the most beautiful. Her beauty was so great that many simply forgot to worship Venus (Aphrodite), the goddess of beauty, love, sex, and fertility, and flocked to view Psyche. This enraged Venus. To deal with this insolence, she sent her son Cupid (Eros) to use his bow to make her fall in love with a poor, dirty man. In this way no one would ever respect or want her again. Cupid went to do as his mother commanded of him, but when the young Psyche awoke amid his preparation to strike her, he fell upon his own bow. And like that, poor Cupid fell steadfastly in love with Psyche. 

       Nevertheless, Psych was still cursed by Venus. Psyche's charms were fruitless now. Although people still looked upon her with great love and in awe of her beauty, no man would ask for her hand in marriage. While her two sisters were happily wed, Psyche sat alone. Consulting an oracle, her distressed parents were informed that Psyche was destined to marry a man not of human origin who waited for her upon a mountain. Now, there was rumored to be a terrifying monster atop this mountain. Her parents feared they were to sacrifice their youngest daughter and with great sorrow they gave her up. Zephyr, the wind of the West, lifted her up to her new home whereupon she fell asleep on the grass.

      When she awoke, to her surprise, a grand palace awaited her. Here she had everything she could ever desire. Her new husband, however, was nowhere to be seen and would only speak to her as a disembodied voice. At night, while she slept, he would come to her and be gone by the time she awoke. Psyche eventually wished to see her husband, to which he scolded her it was best if she did not see him, he would rather she love him as an equal. 

        Eventually she grew to miss her sisters and requested they be allowed to see her. With his permission, they came to see their little sister. Swollen with jealousy at their sister's grand home and gracious ways of living, the sisters poisoned her mind with suspicion against her husband. After getting Psyche to admit she has never physically seen her husband, they said that he was a monster who needed to be slain. That night they instructed her to wait until he slept and then taking a lamp with which to see him, and then remove his head from his shoulders.

        That night, after struggling with herself, Psyche gave in to her sisters' idea. When she shown the light on her husband, she found a beautifully handsome winged man. But he awoke with a startle and a cry. Now that she has seen him, they could never be together. He flew out the window, with Psyche following him. She fell to the ground and the palace was gone. The sisters then thought perhaps one of them would be his new wife. Calling Zephyr to lift them to the mountain, they went to test this idea, but fell to the ground and perished when Zephyr could not hold them.

        Psyche, with help of Ceres, went to the temple of Venus to beg for her husband. Venus, still enraged at Psyche for her initial treason and now for the harm against her son, gave Psyche three nearly impossible tasks to perform in order to win back Cupid. With the help of Cupid, river gods, and others was able to succeed time and time again. At the tend, Cupid consulted Jupiter (Zeus), a friend of Venus, to persuade her with their tale of love. Jupiter was able to convince Venus to let the lovers be. Psyche was then brought up to the heavens and given a cup of ambrosia, making her immortal.

Word Count: 757

Reference:

Age of Fable or, Stories of Gods and Heroes, Third Edition by Thomas Bulfinch, 1855 

“Tale as Old as Time”: The Literary Origins of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST by The Marquee,

               (http://mtiblog.mtishows.com/tale-as-old-as-time-the-literary-origins-of-beauty-and-the-beast/)