Changing Psyche (mythology)

[[Image:Psycheabduct.jpg|thumb|250px|''The Abduction of Psyche'' by [[William-Adolphe Bouguereau]]|right]]
'''Psyche''' (pronounced: SY-kee) is a former [[mortal]] woman and goddess of the soul in [[Greek mythology]]. She is the wife of [[Eros]] (Cupid) and the mother of [[Hedone]].  Today, Psyche is known from a story called ''[[The Golden Ass]]'', written by [[Lucius Apuleius]] in the [[2nd century]].

==Mythology==
=== Early life ===
Psyche was the youngest daughter of a Greek king and queen. She had two older sisters. She was the most beautiful. Many people said she was more beautiful than [[Aphrodite]]. People started worshipping Psyche instead of Aphrodite. This made the goddess angry. As a punishment, she sent her son, [[Eros]], to make Psyche fall in love with an ugly person. However, Eros pierced himself with his own arrow of love and fell in love with Psyche. He decided to save her from his mother's anger.

Psyche's sisters were [[Jealousy|jealous]] of her beauty. They eventually married kings and left to be with their husbands. Nobody asked to marry Psyche. She was left alone. Her father decided to ask the [[Oracle of Delphi]] for help.

=== Marriage to Eros ===
[[File:Amore e Psiche, Canova.jpg|thumb|left|''[[Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss]]'' by [[Antonio Canova]]]]
[[Apollo]], spoke to Psyche's father through the Oracle. He told her father that Psyche would marry a [[monster]] that even the gods were afraid of. Apollo said to dress Psyche in funeral clothes, take her to the tallest rock in the kingdom, and leave her there. The king sadly obeyed Apollo.

Psyche waited for the monster. When it did not come, she jumped from the rock. [[Zephyrus]], the Greek lord of west wind, held her up to save her from death. He took her to [[Eros]]'s palace. When Eros returned, he talked to Psyche in the dark. He said that she must not try to see him. He said that it would ruin everything if he told her his name. The first few weeks of Psyche's life in the palace were good. But soon her sisters convinced her to see what her husband looked like. 

[[File:Louis Jean Francois Lagrenée - Psyche Surprises the Sleeping Cupid, 1769.jpg|thumb|''Psyche surprising sleeping Cupid'' by [[Louis Jean Francois Lagrenée]]]]
Psyche sneaked into her husband's room with an [[oil lamp]] and a knife. Psyche shone the light on her husband's face. A small drop of hot oil fell onto his [[shoulder]]. That burned him and woke him up. Eros felt [[Betrayal|betrayed]] by his wife's actions. He left Psyche.

Psyche was very unhappy after learning what she had done.demeter pitied her and told her to find Aphrodite and ask her for help she found her and aphrodite made her do four things. <ref name="Trials Reference">{{cite web |title=The Myth of Cupid and Psyche |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/the-myth-of-cupid-and-psyche-117892 |website=ThoughtCo |publisher=N.S. Gill |access-date=April 2, 2021}}</ref>
*The first thing was to sort a huge pile of seeds. An [[ant]] colony helped Psyche do this.
*The second thing was to gather [[wool]] from a herd of  dangerous [[sheep]].she wailed in despair.she planned to drown herself the river god told her he does not fill his waters with her pitiable death,and told her to wait 'til the weather was cooler then collect the wool.
*The third thing was to collect water from  river styx . The [[eagle of Zeus]] collected the water for her.
*The last thing was the most difficult. She had to bring back some of [[Persephone]]'s beauty for Aphrodite. Persephone gave Psyche some of her beauty. When she was on her way back to [[Olympus]], Psyche opened the box of Persephone's beauty. The only thing inside was deep sleep. Psyche fell asleep. Her husband, Eros, forgave her. He took her to Olympus.

Psyche was made the goddess of the soul. Psyche and Eros had a daughter, [[Hedone]]. Their daughter was the goddess of  joy.

== Related pages ==
*[[16 Psyche]]

==References==
{{Commonscat|Psyche}}
{{Wikisource|Cupid and Psyche}}
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Greek gods and goddesses]]