Jar of Beauty
Story source:
Apuleius's Golden Ass
Venus tells Psyche that she must go to the Underworld and ask Proserpine for some of her beauty to use for a day while she searches for a lover. When Psyche goes to plunge to her death in order to reach her destination, the turret told her a way to get to the Underworld without actually dying. She would have to bring two coins in her mouth, one for each a beggar and a ferryman, two barley-cakes for the three-headed beast, and ignore any calls for help-as they were all traps set by Venus. Psyche followed these instructions, and gets to and back from the Underworld safely with the jar of beauty. After she is in a safe area, she decides she wants to try some of the beauty in the jar-even though she was warned about opening it. She believes that it will help her get Cupid back. The next story goes on to tell you that when she does open it-there is no beauty inside. Instead, it's full of Stygian sleep, and she quickly passes out.
This was the absolute most interesting story in reading b. I would love if there was a more detailed version of this task she was sent on. I am very surprised that even though she was warned not to open it, she did it anyway. I thought she would have learned from when Cupid's warned her about finding out who he was. After finishing this unit, I want to read more about Cupid and Psyche!
No comments:
Post a Comment