We’re going to stay in Greece for a bit and examine in length our first “real” tale, Cupid and Psyche.[1] This story isn’t generally seen as a Snow White tale; however, after reading all those Snow White stories, I couldn’t help but see the same themes within this one.
This brief sketch of the tale is necessary as I’ll allude to different aspects of the story in future blogs; however, I want to give you the most important part first (just in case you don’t read to the end).
Cupid and Psyche is a tale of the soul (Psyche) finding love (Cupid). Right there we have an important biblical truth. The soul once had love, but then lost it due to a betrayal. Forever after, the soul searched for the love it lost, enduring many trials from its enemy. However, love came back and restored the soul.
We once had a perfect Love, long ago, in the Garden. We lost it when we betrayed God in the garden…and forever after we sought Love in all sorts of wrong places, egged on by our Enemy. But then, Love came down to us, rescued us, and restored us.
But unlike Cupid and Psyche, our Love vanquishes the Enemy and he can never touch us again.
That is the beautiful grain of Truth embedded in this myth, a truth not even the enemy could stamp out…
Psyche
Princess Psyche, the youngest of three sisters, is more beautiful than Venus, and so begins to detract from the worship of the goddess. Naturally, the goddess is upset. She tells Cupid (her son) to make Psyche fall in love with the basest wretch he can find, thus humiliating her.
Her family leaves her on a precipice (as told to do so by Apollo), and the West Wind floats Psyche down to a valley far below. In typical Snow White style, she wanders into the woods and happens upon a sumptuous palace. There she lives with her invisible servants, and a husband whom she loves.
But he only comes to her at night, and she never sees his face.
One day, Psyche’s husband warns that her sisters are coming, and that she should ignore their cries (like Snow White, who is warned not to listen to the witch). She begs him to allow them to come to her – and he eventually agrees against his better judgement. They come three times (like the witch in Snow White), and on the third time they effectively trick Psyche into believing her husband is a snake that will consume her and her unborn babe. Believing their lies, Psyche agrees to kill him.
Psyche’s Snow White Story
That night, Psyche begins her dreadful deed – only to find her husband is Cupid himself! He didn’t have the heart to carry out his deed! She begins to kiss him, and a drop of hot wax falls upon his shoulder. Awakened, wounded, and enraged, Cupid flies away.
Psyche then sets off on a miserable journey (part of which includes the deaths of both her sisters), and eventually ends up in Venus’ temple. Venus is cruel beyond words, and gives her four impossible tasks. The fourth and final task is to journey to the underworld to obtain a jar of beauty from Proserpine. Psyche is told not to open the jar – but of course she does, and subsequently falls into a death-like sleep.
Cupid, however, has forgiven Psyche, and is onto his mother’s tricks. He finds her, awakens her, and they live happily ever after in Olympus with their newborn daughter, “Pleasure.”
Psyche: The Connection from Inanna to Snow White
It’s my belief that this story connects the Inanna myth to our modern Snow White. If you recall, the Inanna myth also features a trip to the underworld, and the goddess of love, beauty, and war. Rather than being the victim, however, Venus, the goddess of love, and beauty (and war in the earliest accounts), is the villain.[2]
I’m sure you can see the similarities between Psyche and our modern Snow White, too. A jealous female, the pity of the “executioner,” the successful trickery of the sisters after three appearances, the death-like sleep, and the happy rescue.[3]
I look forward to delving more into this beautiful tale with you! What’s more, I’m so excited to see the Truths God is revealing to us through it!
Sources
[1] This tale is a story within a story found in Apuleius’ The Transformation so Lucius. If you google it, you’ll get its other name. Yes, it’s the same book…I chose to use the lesser known title for *obvious* reasons.
[2] A history note: the cult of Aphrodite/Venus is thought to have come to the Greeks from the East; therefore, they took the same stories and morphed them to suite their own culture.
[3] There are many tales in the Snow White anthology where the heroine has two jealous sisters, just like Psyche.
