Cupid and Psyche, plaster sculpture
Antonio Canova, 1794
I saw this at the Metropolitan Museum of Art today. I wish I took a picture of it myself, but I was with someone and I was a little bashful of my interest in this sculpture. It also felt too intimate to stick my iPhone into. Here is a close-up of the prime version in the Lourve, made of marble (the Met has the second model):
I read the story of Cupid and Psyche after seeing this. It mostly comes from the Metamorphoses by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus) from the 2nd century AD, but has a lot of different interpretations. The story basically goes like this:
Psyche was a beautiful princess who was often compared to Aphrodite (Venus in Roman mythology). Aphrodite was displeased and sent her son Cupid (also known as Eros/Amor) to make her fall in love with something ugly. Instead, he pricks himself on his arrows and instantly falls in love with Psyche.
Psyche's father suspects that he has displeased the gods because Psyche is still unmarried. The oracle of Apollo tells him that she must be sacrificed to a monster as a wife. When she is awaiting the monster, a wind god Zephyr brings her to a lavish palace where Cupid takes care of her. However, Cupid doesn't allow Psyche to see him, as his godly form may harm her. He only visits her in the darkness and she accepts this lifestyle.
Psyche's jealous sisters come to visit her and are struck with jealousy when they see her luxurious home. They drive distrust into Psyche, urging her to find out her husband's true form and seeing if he is a terrifying monster. One night, Psyche brings a lamp and a dagger to Cupid in the dark in an attempt to see his form and kill him. Instead, she sees the beautiful god that he is and basically freaks out. He freaks out too and flies away, dropping her off by by a river.
Psyche wanders from temple to temple looking for divine help, but realizes she can only be helped by Aphrodite herself. Aphrodite puts her through torturous trials. First, Psyche is expected to sort an abundance various grains and seeds into piles, but she is helped by a colony of ants. Second, Psyche is sent to cross a river to collect golden wool from sheep belonging to Helios (god of the Sun). She intends to drown herself, but receives godly advice to collect the wool snagged on nearby bushes. Third, she is sent to gather water from the Styx and Colchis rivers but falls into despair. Luckily, Zeus (or Jupiter) takes pity and sends an eagle to get the water for her.
The final trial is traveling to the Underworld and capturing the beauty of Proserpina (queen of the Underworld/Persephone) in a box. Psyche is overwhelmed by despair again and tries to throw herself off a tower, but suddenly the tower begins to give her advice in travelling to the Underworld. Essentially, the tower says to not make eye contact with anyone and pay the ferryman of the Styx fairly.
She follows the instructions and Proserpina grants her this gift. However, when Psyche reaches the land of the living, she can not help but open the box. When she does, she falls into a deep sleep. Cupid finds her asleep and sends her to Aphrodite with the box. Meanwhile, he argues to Zeus that Aphrodite is being unjust with these trials and the other gods agree. They all invite Psyche up to Olympus and give her ambrosia, which grants immortality. Cupid and Psyche have a daughter named Voluptas (the goddess of pleasure) and live happily together forever.
I actually love that story. After reading and translating Vergil's Orpheus and Eurydice story (the Georgics), I can almost see it as a happier version. Psyche and Orpheus are incredibly similar. Both travel to the Underworld for their lover. Both can not resist looking at what they aren't supposed to, whether it be a box or Eurydice in the Underworld or Cupid in the dark. Both are shown pity by divine beings. Psyche got lucky with Zeus' verdict and got to live a happily ever after. Orpheus did not.
There's also the obvious parallel to Heracles, as he was also put through trials and tribulations by a goddess. However Psyche is not portrayed as a mighty warrior or wise hero. Instead, she gets a lot of divine assistance and tries to kill herself three times.
I also liked the charm of this story. How does Psyche just accept not knowing what her spouse looks like? Why does a colony of ants help her with her task? Why is there a talking tower? Why does it know so much about the Underworld? After Psyche becomes immortal, she is known as the goddess of the soul, which is so sweet. I would like to be a symbol of the soul.
When looking for other depictions of them, I noticed a lot of the artwork showed Cupid as a winged baby and Psyche as a pregnant woman, which is not entirely comfortable to the modern eye. However, these other pieces do not, and are so beautiful that I must share them too:
^Cupid and Psyche by William Page (1843)
^Cupid and Psyche by Edvard Munch (1907)
TLDR: I fell down the rabbit hole of Cupid and Psyche. I stayed up way too late on this.
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