Robinson, James M. (2007) [1stpubl.1978]. "On the Origin of the World". The Nag Hammadi Scriptures. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060523787. Eros appears in ancient Greek sources under several different guises. In the earliest sources (the cosmogonies, the earliest philosophers, and texts referring to the mystery religions), he is one of the primordial gods involved in the coming into being of the cosmos. In later sources, however, Eros is represented as the son of Aphrodite, whose mischievous interventions in the affairs of gods and mortals cause bonds of love to form, often illicitly. Ultimately, in the later satirical poets, he is represented as a blindfolded child, the precursor to the chubby Renaissance Cupid, whereas in early Greek poetry and art, Eros was depicted as a young adult male who embodies sexual power, and a profound artist. [8] Cupid and Psyche is a story originally from Metamorphoses (also called The Golden Ass), written in the 2nd century AD by Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (or Platonicus). [2] The tale concerns the overcoming of obstacles to the love between Psyche ( / ˈ s aɪ k iː/; Ancient Greek: Ψυχή, lit.'Soul' or 'Breath of Life', Greek pronunciation: [psyːkʰɛ̌ː]) and Cupid ( Latin: Cupido, lit.'Desire', Latin pronunciation: [kʊˈpiːd̪oː]) or Amor ( lit. 'Love', Greek Eros, Ἔρως), 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, [3] and it has been analyzed as an allegory and in light of folktale, Märchen or fairy tale, and myth. [4] Wagenvoort, H. (1980). "Cupid and Psyche". Pietas. pp.84–92. doi: 10.1163/9789004296688_007. ISBN 9789004296688. Hurbánková, Šárka (2018). "G.B. Basile and Apuleius: first literary tales: morphological analysis of three fairytales". Graeco-Latina Brunensia (2): 75–93. doi: 10.5817/GLB2018-2-6.

The Neoclassical sculptor, Antonio Canova, created the marble sculpture titled Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss (1787 – 1793), which measures 155 x 168 x 101 centimeters. Its location is the Musée du Louvre in Paris, France. Aristophanes, Birds. The Complete Greek Drama. vol. 2. Eugene O'Neill, Jr. New York. Random House. 1938. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library. Vertova, Luisa (1 January 1979). "Cupid and Psyche in Renaissance Painting before Raphael". Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. 42 (1): 104–121. doi: 10.2307/751087. JSTOR 751087. S2CID 195046803. Eros in his Roman equivalent, Cupid, remained popular during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. His iconography and role influenced the depiction of Cupid, in addition to Christian tradition. [ clarification needed] This iteration of Eros/Cupid became a major icon and symbol of Valentine's Day. [6] Etymology [ edit ]On the other extreme, German classicist Detlev Fehling [ de] took a hard and skeptical approach and considered the tale to be a literary invention of Apuleius himself. [65] Literary legacy [ edit ] At dawn, Venus sets a second task for Psyche. She is to cross a river and fetch golden wool from violent sheep who graze on the other side. These sheep are elsewhere identified as belonging to Helios. [14] Psyche's only intention is to drown herself on the way, but instead she is saved by instructions from a divinely inspired reed, of the type used to make musical instruments, and gathers the wool caught on briers.

The Eros and Psyche statue is made of marble and does not have any other color painted over it. The marble appears as a soft white. Psyche's first weeks within the palace were filled with pleasures, and although she feared him at first, she eventually came to fall in love with the invisible man. During the day, however, she became lonely, only looking forward to nighttime when her husband would visit. Eventually she asked to see her sisters who, in her absence, had assumed her death and had been in mourning. Eros eventually gave her permission to invite her family to the palace, instructing Zephyrus to carry the sisters to the palace where they would be reunited. Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss (1787 – 1793) by Antonio Canova; Antonio Canova, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Discover the myth of Eros and Psyche

William Morris retold the Cupid and Psyche story in verse in The Earthly Paradise (1868–70), and a chapter in Walter Pater's Marius the Epicurean (1885) was a prose translation. [44] About the same time, Robert Bridges wrote Eros and Psyche: A Narrative Poem in Twelve Measures (1885; 1894). Plantade, Emmanuel et Nedjima. «Du conte berbère au mythe grec: le cas d'Éros et Psyché». In: Revue des Études Berbères no 9, 2013, pp.533–563.

Ariane van Suchtelen and Anne T. Woollett, Rubens and Brueghel: A Working Friendship (Getty Publications, 2006), p. 60; Susan Maxwell, The Court Art of Friedrich Sustris: Patronage in Late Renaissance Bavaria (Ashgate, 2011), pp. 172, 174. It has been described as philosophical and political in its development turning to the rational or reason-based faculties embedded in science to understand life and society. It was a time of expansion, not only of the human mind but of society. While this is a brief description of the story involving Cupid and Psyche, it explains the storyline that Antonio Canova drew inspiration from, and notably the climax of the story when Psyche is saved by Cupid. The love affair between Cupid and Psyche is one of the best known classical myths, recounted in the Latin novel The Golden Ass by Apuleius. Many Neoclassical paintings and sculptures derived inspiration from the story. Cupid, lover of the mortal Psyche, forbids her to cast eyes upon him and visits her only at night. Disobeying him, Psyche holds a light over his sleeping body, for which she is punished by Aphrodite. The scene conveyed by this modello is of Psyche being rescued in Cupid's embrace. Malcolm Bull, The Mirror of the Gods, How Renaissance Artists Rediscovered the Pagan Gods, pp.342–343, Oxford UP, 2005, ISBN 978-0195219234Eros and Psyche 1st century BCE from Pella,..." museumofclassicalantiquities . Retrieved 20 March 2018. Eros is characterized as a mighty entity who controls everyone, and even immortals cannot escape. Lucian satirized this concept in his Dialogues of the Gods, where Zeus chides Eros for making him fall in love with and then deceive so many mortal women, and even his mother Aphrodite advises him against using all the gods as his playthings. Nevertheless Eros could not touch any of the virgin goddesses ( Hestia, Athena and Artemis) who had all taken a vow of purity. Sappho writes of Artemis that 'limb-loosening Eros never goes near her.' [38] Eros and the bees [ edit ] Cupid the Honey Thief, by Lucas Cranach the Elder. Conner, Randy P.; Sparks, David Hatfield; Sparks, Mariya (1998). Cassell's Encyclopedia of Queer Myth, Symbol and Spirit. UK: Cassell. p.132. ISBN 0-304-70423-7. Till We Have Faces | Fantasy Novel, Mythology & Christian Allegory | Britannica". www.britannica.com . Retrieved 2023-11-02.