Reading Notes: Cupid and Psyche "A"

Cupid and Psyche
Wow so much to write about this story! For my reading this week I chose the Cupid and Psyche unit, which had so much more to it than I remembered! For one I had no idea that it was part of a larger story, The Golden Ass, or that it was presented via and old women, I'd only read the story independently so that really stood out to me. Just like almost every Greek Mythology story I am struck by the selfishness of the gods and goddesses. For Aphrodite to be so angry about Psyche's beauty it so mystifying to me - shouldn't the people who stopped worshiping her be punished rather than Psyche who did nothing but be born that way? Even Cupid struck me as pretty selfish. Yes he decided not to force her to marry someone awful (should we really celebrate people doing the moral bare minimum here?) but he also took her for himself and then refused to show himself to her. I understand that he provided a lot of wonderful things for her, but this story wants me to blame Psyche for wanting to know what the man she's sleeping with looks like and I just can't fault her for that. Plus he did take her away from her family and leave her basically all alone with no company - he is so not the good guy in this story!! That being said, it's clear that her sisters are completely awful. I can't fault them for their jealously - they're married to all these old, mean, arthritic men while their little sister gets a god - but at this point in the story they have basically ruined her life. Everyone has things in their life that they wish were different, but you can't take that out on other people! Overall this story has honestly made me very anxious - I hate it when bad things happen to good people!

Bibliography:

Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche

Comments

Popular Posts