Tale as old as time 3
Psyche was overwhelmed with despair. She ran to Aphrodite's temple to beg the goddess forgiveness. She promised she would do anything to be able to see her beloved once again.
Aphrodite wanted to play with the foolish mortal girl. "You will only see him again if you succeed in a series of tasks", proclaimed the godess.
She had deviced tasks no mortal could ever accomplish. First, Aphrodite wanted Psyche to gather seeds which had been spread all over a huge field. The ants helped the girl, and by morning the task was done.
Aphrodite wanted Psyche to gather the wool of men eating lambs. Psyche waited till night, then collected the wool that had been caught in thorn bushes, and by morning the task was done.
Aphrodite wanted Psyche to get her some special make up which only Proserpine, the queen of Hades, kept. Psyche went after it. By the banks of the Styge River, she fell into despair. She believed she would never see the light of the day again.
But all of sudden, she heard a voice, a calming, soothing voice which explained to her how she had to do to cross the river, find Proserpine in Hades and come back to the safety of the mortal side. "She will give you a black box. You should not open it for any reason", said the voice.
Psyche obeyed her instructions. She managed to find Proserpine, who was touched so by her love that she gave her a black box with make up for Aphrodite.
But once she had returned to the mortal world, Psyche started to wonder if she was still beautiful. She imagined that all the suffering had left marks and that her beloved would shudder at her. She decided to open the black box and use the make up. But when she opened it, there was nothing there. She just felt sleep taking over her, the heavy and black sleep of death. For the second time, curiosity had betrayed Psyche.
But the god of love couldn't stand to be kept away from her anymore. He had been following her during all the tasks, secretly helping her every step of the way. Risking the wrath of gods, Eros woke Psyche from the sleep of death. He then followed to the Olympian halls and prostrated himself in front of Zeus. He told the gods the stories of his love and all the hardships it had bore, how deep it was. All those who heard him were moved by his word, even Zeus himself.
But there was a problem to solve. It was not allowed to a god to marry a mortal woman. So Psyche was invited to the Olympus and given a bowl with ambrosia. And she became an immortal herself. The couple was received with honor by the gods. Even by Aphrodite. Because now the beauty that had enraged her so much didn't belong to the mortal world anymore.
Eros and Psyche lived happily everafter. And they had a daughter whom they named Pleasure.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home