Mythology

Project

PART TWO: Stories of Love and Adventure

I Cupid and Psyche

1. Psyche excelled her sisters in beauty and it was often said that not even Venus (Aphrodite) could not equal to this mortal (121).

2. Venus planned to make Psyche fall in love with the most despicable creature in the whole world by using her son, Cupid to shoot her with his arrows (122).

3. When Cupid meets Psyche it was as if he had shot one of his arrows into his own heart (122).

4. The Mildest of Winds lifts Psyche up and lays her down onto a bed of grass soft as a bed and all her troubles left her (123).

5. Cupid never shows himself to Psyche, but he does appear in her life after her banquet when she arrived at the palace. He appears to her because he was star struck when he saw her (124).

6. Psyche's sisters create doubts by using the fact that she has never actually seen her husband and convince her that he was the fearful serpent Apollo’s Oracle (126-127).

7. This Myth ends with Cupid calling a full assembly of the gods and announcing that him and Psyche were properly married and proposed that immortality be placed upon the bride. Psyche was made immortal and Venus could not object to a goddess for she was her daughter-in-law (133-134).

II Eight Brief Tales of Love

1. The deep red color of the mulberry bush represents the death of the two lovers who decided they would rather die than be alone without the other. A misunderstanding was the cause of the red berries (136-137).

2. The sweetness of the nightingale’s song is described in this story in the end. After Orpheus had lost his Eurydice he attempted to retrieve her from the Underworld but failed. But even after his ill-fated attempt left him sorrowful he was slew by a band of Maenads and his remains were buried at the foot of Mt. Olympus. The nightingale sung its sweetest then because of his sorrow and sacrifice (143-144).

3. When Ceyx left on his journey his wife, Alcyone was hoping and praying to Juno to make sure her husband was ok. Juno knew that Ceyx was already dead so she told the god of sleep to tell Alcyone that her husband was already dead. Alcyone said she would not live long. Alcyone went to the shores and saw Ceyx’s body and went to it but was turned to a bird and so was he. So the two lived together and the seven days when the water s undisturbed is known as Alcyone Days (145-146).

4. This myth shows that the power of love is even powerful enough to dismiss life (147-150).

4a. Pygmalion decided that his art is enough to keep him busy (147).

4b. Pygmalion falls in love with the statue after spending so much time making her look immaculate and so life like (147).

4c. Pygmalion acts as if the statue is a real woman by kissing her, putting her to bed and dressing her up like children would do (149).

4d. Venus sees the way Pygmalion feels about this statue and gives it life thus granting his wish of finding the perfect woman (149).

4e. This story ends with Pygmalion and Galatea getting married and having Venus at their wedding. They have one child named Paphos (150).

5. Nature is represented as a symbol of eternal love in this myth because the old couple decided to die together and were still join after death as two trees. Nature like love is beautiful and lasts long (153-154).

6. Endymion was a young Shepard whose beauty attracted the Moon, Selene and she put him into an immortal sleep like state. He lays there motionless forever and she comes down

and kisses him every night (155).

7. The myth of Daphne is related to the laurel leaf because Apollo said that his victors would

"Wreath her brows" (157).

8. The myth of Alpheus and Arethusa explains that if a wooden cup is thrown into the

Alpheus in Greece then it will reappear in the Arethusa in Italy because she was running away from Alpheus and prayed to Artemis and she created a spring and Arethusa plunged in (158).

III The Quest of the Golden