External links
Eros and Psyche public domain audiobook at LibriVox - Eros and Psyche (from the Internet Archive)
Eros and Psyche is a narrative poem with strong romantic and tragic themes: first published in 1885 by Robert Bridges. Bridges was licensed as a physician in England until 1882 when he was forced to retire due to a lung disease. He would then devote the rest of his life to literary research and writing and would be appointed as Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom in 1913. [1]
Bridges' Eros and Psyche retells the Eros (Cupid) and Psyche myth first recorded by Lucius Apuleius in his book The Golden Ass . [2] The work received critical acclaim; Coventry Patmore expressing the opinion that Bridge's version would become the standard form of Apuleius myth. [3]
As Psyche - the youngest daughter of a petty Cretan king - grows into the full flower of womanhood, she becomes worshiped by the common people as the living apotheosis of Aphrodite. Aphrodite - noting her worshipers forsaking her temples to instead ask for the princess' blessings - demands speedy vengeance. Commanding her own son (Cupid) for her purpose: Aphrodite orders him to make the Princess Psyche fall in love with some ugly, worthless vagabond. Cupid departs upon his mission.
Cupid's capriciousness - his delight in making gods and men love someone unobtainable - is amply repaid by the Fates: who now condemn him to experience the same. Arriving in Crete and seeing Psyche: Cupid himself falls helplessly in love with her, and resolves to marry her himself and protect her from his own mother's jealous ire. Cupid whisks his beloved Psyche away to a secret dwelling place - conjured into existence by his own divine powers: here Psyche can remain in safety, being protected watched and served by friendly spirits. [4]
The poem is divided into twelve cantos - one for each of the twelve months of the year - which gives the poem a certain, almost "pastoral" feel. The number of stanzas in each canto equals the number of days in that month: so the first canto March has 31 stanzas, the second canto April has 30 stanzas, and so on. Each stanza is a septet (i.e. comprises exactly seven lines) which follow the same end-rhyming schema of ABABCCB. [5]
While writing for the St. James Gazette in 1885, Coventry Patmore wrote a review on Bridges' version of Eros and Psyche. Patmore stated that Bridges's version of Apuleius's myth "will probably be the standard transcript" because he "takes the story as it stands." Patmore also adds that "Mr. Bridges writes neither above nor below himself. [3]
Author C.S. Lewis also makes a mention of Bridges' Eros and Psyche in his book Till We Have Faces in the Notes section at the end of the book. Lewis says that authors such as Bridges and William Morris re-tell the Apuleius myth with small embellishments and Apuleius remains the "source. Not an influence or a model. [6]
In a study on Robert Bridges done by Albert Guerard, Guerard compares Bridges' version to the original tale by Apuleius. Guerard points out that Bridges made embellishments the Apuleius myth to make the tale appear more lucid and easier for the reader to understand. Guerard also compares certain excerpts from both the Apuleius version as well as Bridges'. [7]
Eros and Psyche public domain audiobook at LibriVox 
Aphrodite is an ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretized Roman goddess counterpart Venus, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. Aphrodite's major symbols include seashells, myrtles, roses, doves, sparrows, and swans. The cult of Aphrodite was largely derived from that of the Phoenician goddess Astarte, a cognate of the East Semitic goddess Ishtar, whose cult was based on the Sumerian cult of Inanna. Aphrodite's main cult centers were Cythera, Cyprus, Corinth, and Athens. Her main festival was the Aphrodisia, which was celebrated annually in midsummer. In Laconia, Aphrodite was worshipped as a warrior goddess. She was also the patron goddess of prostitutes, an association which led early scholars to propose the concept of "sacred prostitution" in Greco-Roman culture, an idea which is now generally seen as erroneous.
In the ancient Greek myths, ambrosia, the food or drink of the Greek gods, is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Olympus by doves and served either by Hebe or by Ganymede at the heavenly feast.
Psyche is the Greek term for "soul".
Venus is a Roman goddess, whose functions encompass love, beauty, desire, sex, fertility, prosperity, and victory. In Roman mythology, she was the ancestor of the Roman people through her son, Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and fled to Italy. Julius Caesar claimed her as his ancestor. Venus was central to many religious festivals, and was revered in Roman religion under numerous cult titles.
In Greek mythology, Adonis was a mortal lover of the goddess Aphrodite and of Persephone.
Robert Seymour Bridges was a British poet who was Poet Laureate from 1913 to 1930. A doctor by training, he achieved literary fame only late in life. His poems reflect a deep Christian faith, and he is the author of many well-known hymns. It was through Bridges's efforts that Gerard Manley Hopkins achieved posthumous fame.
Till We Have Faces: A Myth Retold is a 1956 novel by C. S. Lewis. It is a retelling of Cupid and Psyche, based on its telling in a chapter of The Golden Ass of Apuleius. This story had haunted Lewis all his life, because he realized that some of the main characters' actions were illogical. As a consequence, his retelling of the story is characterized by a highly developed character, the narrator, with the reader being drawn into her reasoning and her emotions. This was his last novel, and he considered it his most mature, written in conjunction with his wife, Joy Davidman.
Coventry Kersey Dighton Patmore was an English poet and literary critic. He is best known for his book of poetry The Angel in the House, a narrative poem about the Victorian ideal of a happy marriage.
Psyche is the Greek goddess of the soul and often represented as a beautiful woman with butterfly wings. The name Psyche means "soul" and "butterfly" in Greek and was commonly referred to as such in Roman mythology as well, though direct translation is Anima. She was born a mortal woman eventually granted immortality, with beauty that rivaled even Aphrodite, goddess of love. Psyche is known from the novel called The Golden Ass, also known as Metamorphoses, written by the Roman philosopher and orator Apuleius in the 2nd century. In the myth, she was given multiple trials in order to be with her beloved, Eros, also known as Cupid, god of physical love and desire, son of Aphrodite. The cultural influences of Psyche's story can be depicted in art dating back to the 4th century BCE.
L'Amour et Psyché, enfants is an oil painting by William Adolphe Bouguereau in 1890. It is currently in a private collection. It was displayed in the Salon of Paris in 1890, the year Bouguereau was President of the Société des Artistes Français. The painting features Greek mythological figures Eros and Psyché, sharing an embrace and kiss. Bouguereau was a classical-style painter in the Neoclassical era of art. The painting is characterized by the frothy background the figures delicately stand on. It depicts the beginning of the forbidden romance of Cupid and Psyche, a popular subject at the time of execution.
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which Augustine of Hippo referred to as The Golden Ass, is the only ancient Roman novel in Latin to survive in its entirety.
Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from Metamorphoses, written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis. The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche and Cupid or Amor, and their ultimate union in a sacred marriage. Although the only extended narrative from antiquity is that of Apuleius from 2nd century AD, Eros and Psyche appear in Greek art as early as the 4th century BC. The story's Neoplatonic elements and allusions to mystery religions accommodate multiple interpretations, and it has been analyzed as an allegory and in light of folktale, Märchen or fairy tale, and myth.
Mary Tighe was an Anglo-Irish poet.
"Ode to Psyche" is a poem by John Keats written in spring 1819. The poem is the first of his 1819 odes, which include "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode to a Nightingale". "Ode to Psyche" is an experiment in the ode genre, and Keats's attempt at an expanded version of the sonnet format that describes a dramatic scene. The poem serves as an important departure from Keats's early poems, which frequently describe an escape into the pleasant realms of one's imagination. Keats uses the imagination to show the narrator's intent to resurrect Psyche and reincarnate himself into Eros (love). Keats attempts this by dedicating an "untrodden region" of his mind to the worship of the neglected goddess.
In Greek mythology, Eros is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire"). In the earliest account, he is a primordial god, while in later accounts he is described as one of the children of Aphrodite and Ares and, with some of his siblings, was one of the Erotes, a group of winged love gods.
In classical mythology, Cupid is the god of desire, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus and the god of war Mars. He is also known as Amor. His Greek counterpart is Eros. Although Eros is generally portrayed as a slender winged youth in Classical Greek art, during the Hellenistic period, he was increasingly portrayed as a chubby boy. During this time, his iconography acquired the bow and arrow that represent his source of power: a person, or even a deity, who is shot by Cupid's arrow is filled with uncontrollable desire. In myths, Cupid is a minor character who serves mostly to set the plot in motion. He is a main character only in the tale of Cupid and Psyche, when wounded by his own weapons, he experiences the ordeal of love. Although other extended stories are not told about him, his tradition is rich in poetic themes and visual scenarios, such as "Love conquers all" and the retaliatory punishment or torture of Cupid.
In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Erotes are a collective of winged gods associated with love and sexual intercourse. They are part of Aphrodite's retinue. Erotes is the plural of Eros, who as a singular deity has a more complex mythology.
Love and Psyche or Cupid and Psyche is an 1817 painting by Jacques-Louis David, now in the Cleveland Museum of Art. It shows Cupid and Psyche. It was produced during David's exile in Brussels, for the patron and collector Gian Battista Sommariva. On its first exhibition at the museum in Brussels, it surprised viewers with its realist treatment of the figure of Cupid. Critics generally saw the painting's unconventional style and realistic depiction of Cupid as proof of David's decline while in exile, but art historians have come to see the work as a deliberate departure from traditional methods of representing mythological figures.
Cupid Crowned by Psyche or Psyche Crowning Cupid is a 1785-1790 oil on canvas painting by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, now in the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Lille. It shows a scene from the myth of Cupid and Psyche, with a figure of Modesty standing behind Psyche and two cupids in the background placing rose crowns on a bed and throwing incense on a tripod.
In folkloristics, "The Animal as Bridegroom" refers to a group of folk and fairy tales about a human woman marrying or being betrothed to an animal. The animal is revealed to be a human prince in disguise or under a curse. Most of these tales are grouped in the international system of Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index under type ATU 425, "The Search for the Lost Husband". Some subtypes exist in the international classification as independent stories, but they sometimes don't adhere to a fixed typing.