The Story of Aphrodite and a Beautiful Princess Psyche

As promised, here is the story of Psyche's journey to finding her 'Happily Ever After' and the inspiration for my jewelry piece, the Psyche Clip.  'Psyche' is a metaphor for the soul's struggle to find divine love.  

Psyche’s Journey to Immortality

Once upon a time, in a kingdom far older than memory, lived a princess named Psyche. She was so breathtakingly beautiful that people began to ignore the altars of Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love herself, claiming a new divinity had walked onto the earth.

As you can imagine, Aphrodite—never one to share the spotlight—was less than thrilled.

The Jealousy

Fuming, Aphrodite summoned her son, Eros (Cupid), the mischievous god of desire. "Go to this girl," she commanded, "and scratch her with one of your arrows. Make her fall in love with the most hideous, vile creature in existence."

Eros flew down to do his mother’s bidding, but when he saw Psyche sleeping, he was so startled by her radiance that he accidentally nicked himself with his own golden arrow. In an instant, the god of love fell in love with the mortal princess. 

The Invisible Husband

While Psyche’s sisters married kings, Psyche remained alone. Her father, worried, consulted the Oracle of Apollo. The news was grim: Psyche was destined to marry a "terrible winged serpent" and must be left on a mountaintop to meet her fate.

Terrified, Psyche waited on the peak. But instead of a monster, a gentle wind (Zephyrus) carried her down to a shimmering palace. There, she lived in luxury, served by invisible voices. Her husband visited her only at night, in total darkness. He was tender and kind, but he gave her one strict warning: "You must never look upon my face."

The Betrayal of Curiosity

Psyche’s sisters eventually visited. Jealous of her wealth, they whispered poison into her ear: "He hides his face because he is a monster! Kill him before he eats you."

Convinced by her sisters that he was a serpent; one night, visited him sleeping.  Trembling, Psyche lit a lamp and held a razor. But as the light touched her husband, she didn't see a monster. She saw the most beautiful of the gods—Eros. Stunned, she spilled a drop of hot oil from her lamp onto his shoulder. He awoke, saw her betrayal, and fled into the night, crying, "Love cannot live where there is no trust."

The Impossible Trials

Desperate to win him back, Psyche went straight to the source of her problems: Aphrodite. The goddess smiled a cruel smile and set four "impossible" tasks for the princess.  These 4 tasks are represented by the 4 black beads in my 'Psyche' piece.  

1. The Seeds: Psyche had to sort a mountain of mixed grains by dawn. (A colony of ants, pitying her, did the work).

2. The Golden Fleece: She had to gather wool from violent, sun-baked sheep. (A reed whispered to her to wait until they slept and gather the wool from the briars).

3. The Styx: She had to fill a flask from the waterfall of the River Styx. (An eagle of Zeus flew up and filled it for her).

4. The Box of Beauty: Finally, she had to go to the Underworld and ask Queen Persephone for a bit of her beauty in a box.

Psyche succeeded all four tasks, but curiosity got the better of her again. She opened the box, hoping to look beautiful for Eros. Instead of beauty, the box contained a "sleep of the innermost darkness," and she collapsed, lifeless.

The Reunion

Eros, his wound finally healed and his heart still aching, flew to her. He wiped the sleep from her eyes and tucked it back into the box.

He then flew to Zeus and begged for mercy. Impressed by Psyche’s devotion (and probably tired of the drama), Zeus granted her immortality. He gave Psyche the sacred nectar, ambrosia (the drink of the Gods).  Upon drinking it, she grew butterfly wings and became the Goddess of the Soul, living eternally on Olympus.