“Psyche scoured the earth”
but she cannot find Cupid and eventually out of desperation she turns towards her jealous mother in law, Venus, begging to be reunited with her husband.
Venus, being wicked, sets Psyche a number of tasks; four in total, the last of which is to fetch a box from the underworld. On returning from her journey from the underworld, Psyche opens the box to look inside, and is overcome by a powerful sleep. Next Cupid finds her and he asks the Gods to make her a goddess so he can marry her, the wish is fulfilled and the fairytale ends happily ever after and Psyche bears Cupid a child called Pleasure.
The story of Cupid and Psyche draws modern day comparisons with the fairytale story of Beauty and the Beast. According to the folktale elements in Cupid and Psyche contain Cinderella type motifs. To a small extent it does. This is seen in her two malevolent elder sisters, but I feel Cupid and Psyche draws more comparisons with Beauty and the Beast.
The story of Cupid and Psyche carries all the elements of a typical fairytale. The story begins typically as a fairytale, fairytales content themselves with stating that,
“Once upon a time there lived a King and Queen.”
In the story we also have three sisters, two of which are described as,
“hateful vampires” or “faithless she-wolves”
and we have Psyche, the heroine, who is described as having,
“unequalled beauty”
The above as said earlier draws comparisons with our modern day Cinderella.
According to fairytales are told primarily in private and in prose, they are also situated outside a specific time and place as Cupid and Psyche is. Cupid and Psyche is also a typical fairytale in that it is not told in order to explain the ancient world, but to entertain us, the audience. The story of Cupid and Psyche literally jumps out of the book and draws us into its magical context.
True fairytales always have an “evil puppet master” also. By this I mean someone who is at the root of all evil and bad behaviour. In Cupid and Psyche the “evil puppet master” who pulls all the strings is Cupid’s mother, Venus. She can be described as jealous, vengeful and highly irrational. This is seen in,
“No I can’t let this creature, whoever she may be, usurp my glory any longer. I’ll very soon make her sorry about her good looks…they are against the rules.”
Venus plays the role of the witch of the folk tale in Cupid and Psyche.
In every fairytale there are helpful creatures or elements which help the heroine or hero. According to in traditional literature, whether mythic or romantic, these tend to manifest supernatural or other worldly characteristics. They sometimes seem to personify the natural world or perhaps they imply the sweetness or benevolence of earthly life. In realistic or naturalistic fiction we see invisible, kindly and supernatural helpers which tend to be merely quaint, menial, very old or even handicapped. Like their counterparts in myth and romance, they also seem to imply either sweetness or earthly life or the proximity of the timeless. In Cupid and Psyche we see the helpful as the friendly west wind, Zephyrus,
“On the instant he obeyed her command and straightaway on his most gentle breeze brought them to her unharmed”
We also see the helpful in the servants at Cupids palace who do much to make Psyche feel at home and comfortable. The ants which help psyche complete one of Venus’ tasks are also helpful and you can almost imagine them helping her sort through a storehouse of seeds in one night. According to the ants are authentic folk – lore elements.
In every fairytale there are also unhelpful creatures that make the task of the heroine or hero more difficult. In Cupid and Psyche the gossipy seagull makes life difficult for Psyche.
“The garrulous bird was very ready to talk.”
True fairytales always contain mythical places also. In Beauty and the Beast the beasts’ magical palace in the middle of a dark enchanted forest carries the mythical tone of the fairytale. While in Cupid and Psyche, as in Beauty and the Beast, Cupid’s palace is the fairytale’s mythical location. The palace is extraordinary and its magic and the magical element of the fairytale is seen in the palace’s description,
“The ceiling….carved in citrus wood and ivory….the walls sheeted with silver….to have created this masterpiece, with all those animals engraved in silver, was clearly the work of an exceptionally gifted man, or rather of some demi-God, or, truly, some God.”
According to P.G. Walsh, Cupid and Psyche has been well described as “a folk tale with mythological additions”. In my view Cupid and Psyche is without a doubt a fairytale, but it does as; quoted from Walsh, contain mythical elements. These mythical elements in my view make up the foundations, to an extent, of the fairytale. The “myth” in Cupid and Psyche is seen in that there is a clear involvement of the Gods in the story. Cupid and Psyche also carries no history and it is not based on a true story. So therefore, to an extent, Cupid and Psyche can be seen as a myth as well as a fairytale. The story is a combination of myth and fairytale but yet it is a unique fairytale because it is a magical love story which appeals to the healthy imagination of any normal human being.
I don’t think it would be exaggerating to describe Cupid and Psyche as the “perfect fairytale”. It carries every trait needed for a fairytale, as discussed in this essay. The jealous, wicked sisters, the undying love of Cupid and Psyche, the wicked mother in law, the fixer who soughts everything out in the end, Jupiter and the happy ending with a happy product all contribute to making this a perfect fairytale with mythological additions.
Bibliography
- Interpretations of Greek Mythology – Edited by Jan Bremmer – Croom Helm – 1987
- The Uses of Greek Mythology – Ken Dowden – Routledge – 1992
- The Roman Novel – P. G. Walsh – Cambridge – 1970
- Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990
- Cupid and Psyche – Apuleius, Edited by W.H.D. Rouse Litt.D. – London, Chatto and Windus - 1907
Whose name means soul – Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 41
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 43
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 75
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 83
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 17
Interpretations of Greek Mythology – Edited by Jan Bremmer – Croom Helm – 1987 and Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 63
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 41
Interpretations of Greek Mythology – Edited by Jan Bremmer – Croom Helm – 1987
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius – Unknown who edited by given to us as handouts in seminar.
The Roman Novel – P. G. Walsh – Cambridge – 1970 – Page 212
The Uses of Greek Mythology – Ken Dowden – Routledge – 1992
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius, Edited by E. J. Kenney – Cambridge – 1990 – Page 57
The Roman Novel – P. G. Walsh – Cambridge – 1970 – page 213
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius – Unknown who edited by given to us as handouts in seminar
Cupid and Psyche - Apuleius – Unknown who edited by given to us as handouts in seminar
The Roman Novel – P. G. Walsh – Cambridge – 1970 – page 198
