Psyche (U432)

Psyche was the Greek pantheon of the soul, she was born a mortal woman, with beauty that rivaled Aphrodite. Having proved herself as a hero, she was given a seal.

## History

### Early Life

Psyche was the youngest daughter of a Greek king and queen, with two beautiful elder sisters. Her beauty surpassed that of her sisters and people, including priests, compared her to Aphrodite (referred to as Venus in The Golden Ass), the Greek goddess of love and beauty. Many went to the extent of saying that she was even fairer than the goddess. Both of her elder sisters were jealous of her beauty. Her sisters eventually married kings and left to be with their husbands. Nobody asked for Psyche's hand for marriage; men would rather admire her beauty. She was left alone because of how beautiful she was.

### Marriage to Eros

The king consulted the Oracle of Delphi, seeking a solution. Apollo, speaking through the Oracle, said "Despair, king. Your daughter will marry a beast even the gods fear. Dress her in funeral clothes and take her to the tallest rock spire in the kingdom. There, she shall meet her doom." The king returned heartbroken, but obeyed the god's orders.

Psyche was taken to the rock spire and abandoned to her fate. She waited for the beast, but it did not come. In some retellings, Eros is there, only invisible. Zephyrus, the Greek lord of west wind, carried her away from the rock and took her to Eros' palace that was filled with riches.

When Eros returned, he said to Psyche in utter darkness that she must not try to see him and he can't tell her his name or it would ruin everything. Psyche's first weeks within the palace are filled with pleasures, but Eros, her husband, informs her that her sisters are coming to the mountain as they believed that she was dead. Since she had been gone, her family had assumed her death and had been in mourning. She obeyed his command to not go out and see them, but began thinking of the palace as a prison because of her newfound loneliness.

She wept for days because she was not allowed to see her sisters, which troubled Eros. In order to appease her, he allowed her to see her sisters but warned her of things they might say to her to try to break them apart. Psyche promised she could not be swayed and was thankful for the chance to see and talk to them. Her two sisters convinced her to see her husband's true form, in case he was tricking her. In other versions, her sisters are jealous of the good fortune Psyche has had of not only being more beautiful than they are but getting to live such a lavish life. In anger and jealousy, they convince her that her husband is a monster and that she must see for herself whom exactly she is married to.

Psyche eventually listened to what they told her and decided to look at Eros while he was sleeping. She sneaked into his room with an oil lamp and a knife. Psyche shone the light on her husband's face, and a small drop of hot oil fell onto his shoulder, awakening and burning him. Betrayed by his wife's actions, Eros ran off to his mother, Aphrodite. After learning what she had done, Psyche was miserable.

Aphrodite found Psyche and made her face four trials. The first trial was to sort a huge mount of seeds. With the help of an empathetic ant colony, Psyche completed this task. Her next task was to gather wool from a notoriously dangerous sheep. Psyche was saddened but helped by a river god, who taught her to collect pieces of wool from bushes. Her next task was to collect water from the underworld. Psyche was now assisted by the eagle of Zeus, who collected the water for her. Psyche's last task was the most difficult; she had to bring back some of Persephone's beauty for Aphrodite. Persephone willingly gave Psyche some of her beauty. When she was near Olympus, Psyche opened the box of Persephone's beauty, but the only thing inside was the essence of death. Psyche died, but her husband, Eros, who had forgiven her, saved Psyche's life and took her to Olympus. Psyche was made the goddess of the soul. Psyche and Eros had a daughter, Hedone, goddess of physical joy.

### Hercules

Psyche was present at Hercules' baby shower, sitting on a pillar not far from Eros.

## Appearance and Personality

### Personality

While looks may be deceiving, Psyche is actually quite intelligent and enjoys lively debate and discourse.