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Aphrodite looked down from Mount Olympus, the home of the gods. She was the goddess of love and she was worshipped for her beauty. She was angry and jealous as she looked down on earth, where a beautiful and lovely princess named Psyche stood. People thought Psyche was so beautiful, people came from near and far just to gaze at her beauty. Some people even believed she was more beautiful than the goddess of love. In her jealousy, she ordered her son Eros, the god of love, to shoot her with one of his arrows to make her fall in love with an ugly monster. Eros took his magic bows and went down to Earth. Time passed, and Psych would not fall in love, she was very sad. People treated her like a goddess, instead of a person. Finally, her father asked Apollo, the god of truth, for advice. Apollo told him, “Your daughter will be the bride of one who flies through the night like a winged serpent. His terrible power is feared even by Zeus himself. Take her to the top of the mountain and leave her there. The wind will carry her to her husband.” The next day, Psyche and her family climbed to the top of the mountain. They left her by the edge of the cliff, and left. Suddenly, a gentle breeze lifted Psych from the mountain and carried her far away. She was now in a beautiful palace. She said, “This doesn’t look like the home of a monster,” Then she went inside, where she found a banquet table prepared for a wedding feast. Invisible servants began to wait on her. They told her she was the mistress of the palace, and everything was hers. That night, she met her new husband for the first time; though she didn’t even see him in the complete darkness. Even though she could not see him, Psych could tell he was kind and soft-spoken. He told her that everything was hers. “But if you ever see my face, we will have to part. Then you shall live in misery.” One night, he told her that her sisters are at the top of the mountain, desperately wanting to see her again. He told her not to speak to them, they would only bring trouble. “I am alone every day, and I am not permitted to see your face. At least let my sisters come visit us.” At last, he agreed. “But do not tell them you have not seen me.”
Aphrodite, Psyche, and Eros!
The next day, the wind lifted Psych’s sisters up off the cliff to the palace. They looked in envy of their sister, wondering what her mysterious husband looked like. She made up things about him, just as her husband told her to. As the day passed, the sisters became more and more jealous of Psych. They finally find out that Psych has never before seen her husband. Her sisters then tell her that her husband is a terrible monster that is going to kill her. They gave her a knife and told her to take a look at her husband; and if he was a hideous monster, she had no choice but to kill him. That night, Psych waited until her husband was sleeping and then took her knife and oil lamp to his room. When she entered, what she saw startled her so much that she dropped her knife. There before her was Eros, the handsome god of love! Instead of making her fall in love with a hideous monster, Eros had taken her as his own bride. A drip of hot oil fell on his shoulder, waking him up. “When there is no trust, there is no room for love.” Psych was ashamed of herself for breaking her trust with her husband. Meanwhile, Eros returned to Mount Olympus. After Aphrodite had found out what happened, she was more angry and jealous than before. She then vowed to make Psych suffer. She then left her home and went down to Earth. Aphrodite laughed as she looked at Psych. She made Psych do many tasks such as separating seeds, getting gold wool from aggressive sheep, and get water from the top of a dangerous waterfall. Through all these tasks, animals and voices were helping her. When Aphrodite found out Psych had completed all these tasks, she was shocked. She then made Psych take a small box and told her to go down to the lower world and have the Queen of the Dead put some of her immortal beauty inside of it. Once again, the voice helps Psych get the small box filled.
When she finally emerged from the lower world, Psych foolishly opened the small box. Instead of immortal beauty being inside, an invisible death-like sleep came over Psych. But then, Eros came to her rescue by wiping the sleep from her eyes. He told her to take the box to Aphrodite right away. As soon as Eros returned to Mount Olympus, Zeus called all the gods and goddesses together. He decides to grant Psych immortality so that she can live with Eros on Mount Olympus so he can stop wandering around the world. Zeus then sent Hermes, the messenger god, to go get Psych and bring her up to the home of the gods. There was a huge celebration, at which Psych drank from the cup of immortality. Now that Psych was no longer mortal, Aphrodite had no reason to be jealous of her anymore. At last, Eros and Psych were together.
