Reading Diary B: Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche

The second half of Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche is much darker than the first. I preferred reading the second half over the first, though, because the story showed the downsides and dangers of love instead of just the blind obsession with it. In this half of the story, love was the driving force and motivator for both Cupid and Psyche.

In this part, I really enjoyed Psyche's interactions with all of the different characters. It struck me as interesting that the gods wouldn't help her, but the most insignificant things would. This became apparent in Venus and Psyche and continued on through The Third Task. I liked that not only insects helped her, but plants too. The second task involving the aide of the reed struck me as incredibly sweet.

I was rooting for Cupid and Psyche the whole time, but Psyche frustrated me again when she gave in to her urges and peaked at what Persephone had given to her to take to Venus in The Sleep of the Dead. The whole time I was thinking that she had surely learned her lesson, but alas, she was still careless.

I found the ending of Cupid and Psyche's story delightful in that it actually ended happily! In The Wedding Feast, Cupid and Psyche have finally gotten the chance to be together and have now officially been married.  So many mythological tales end on a bad note. Examples of this are: Atlas having to hold up the world for all eternity and Prometheus having to endure an eagle eating his liver and then having it re-grow every single day until the end of time. One of the reasons why this is now one of my favorite stories is because it has a happy ending.

(Cupid and Psyche's Wedding)