When Valentine’s Day rolls around each year in February, we see candies and chocolates in heart-shaped boxes and Valentine’s Day cards all adorned with the cute little cherub we loving call Cupid. But do you know the history of the little winged boy with the golden bow and arrows named Cupid? Cupid’s tale falls back to Roman and Greek mythology and is quite a story of love and heartache in itself.
Cupid was the son of Venus, the goddess of beauty, and Jupiter, the god of commerce and wrestling. To the ancient Romans, Cupid, otherwise known as Amor, was known as the God of Love. It is said that once you were shot with an arrow from Cupid’s bow, you would fall madly in love with the next person you meet. But, Cupid did not always have good intentions, at times Cupid was just plain cruel. Sometimes, Cupid would mischievously toy with others affections by matching up couples with complete opposite qualities just to see what would happen. One day, Cupid was given a dose of his own medicine and would soon learn his lesson about true love.
A certain king and queen had three daughters, one of which was more beautiful than the goddess of beauty herself, Venus, or so the townspeople said. The name of the daughter with the most astonishing beauty was Psyche. When news spread of such an amazing beauty, Cupid’s mother, Venus, felt threatened and she became furious. Venus became so furious that she felt she must seek out her competitor and put her in her place. She wanted to punish Psyche so severely that she ordered Cupid to find Psyche, pierce her with his arrow, and make her fall in love with the most hideous monster he could find. Cupid obeyed his mother and set out to find Psyche. Once Cupid found Psyche, he was so overcome by her beauty that he accidentally pierced his own body with his arrow and fell head over heels in love with Psyche.
Soon Psyche’s parents decided that her beauty was so overpowering that they should consult an oracle for direction. The oracle tells Psyche’s parents that she should be sent to live on a mountain, for her beauty is so great that she is not meant for any normal man. Psych lives on the mountain and is taken care of by invisible servants and is promised that her husband-to-be will visit her in the night. Cupid visits her under the darkness of night and consummates their marriage but insists that she never be able to look upon his face in daylight. While back at her palace, rumours began to surface that Psyche had married a hideous serpent. For fear that she had indeed married a monster, one night Psyche held a lamp over Cupid’s face. Startled to see who he is, Psyche also accidentally pricks herself with one of Cupid’s arrows and falls deeply in love with Cupid. Cupid leaps from a window, flies away from Psyche and goes into hiding. After searching for Cupid far and wide, she beseeches the help of Cupid’s mother, Venus, to help find her true love.
Psyche goes through many ridiculous tests of faith, trying to please Venus so that she and Cupid could be united and live happily for all eternity. After successfully completing every impossible test put before her by Venus, Cupid comes to the aid of Psyche. Cupid and his beloved Psyche ask Jupiter for help to make Psyche immortal. Cupid’s wish is granted and the two have a baby girl named Voluptas or Delight, which means the goddess of sensual pleasures. Cupid and his love, Psyche, live happily ever after.
So you see, Cupid finally learned his lesson about what it feels like to truly love someone. It was a hard lesson learned. The story of Cupid and Psyche relate to Valentine’s Day and to all those who have ever loved someone so deeply that it became an endless affair of the heart.
Sources:
www.weddingsandcourtships.com/italy/historycupid.asp
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cupid_and_Psyche
