Week 2 (Storytelling): Venus and Psyche

In the meadows of Nysa, one of the goddess’s favorite sacred havens, Venus walks through throngs of flowers to celebrate the new spring. Sunshine illuminates the vast meadows and reflects from the waters that it is almost blinding. However, it is not a sight you want to close your eyes from. Countless blossoms bloom in the new sunshine, creatures emerge from their winter slumber, and chatter fills the air with liveliness. Venus watches as her servants enjoy the relaxing day. Some are picking flowers, while some sit, sharing secrets, and others are playing a…….scream? Everyone looks at the source of the noise. One young servant dressed in blue clothes looks pale and is as frozen as if Medusa had stunned her.

Venus hurries to her. “What is it, my child?”

She turns to look in the same direction and sees it. Not an it, a her. A young maiden in her later teens emerges from behind the tree.

“What is this nonsense? What name do you go by, young maiden? Why do you trespass here?”

“I am known as Psyche, the youngest princess of a king, not far from here. I did not mean to cause harm. I just wanted to gander with my own eyes the beauty of this place,” says the pretty young maiden.

“These lands are blessed, as decreed by the father of all gods himself. No mortal is allowed to walk on the soft soil or lay his or her eyes on the lush greenery. Begone,” sneered one servant.

“Yes, no servants are permitted to come here, especially not a vile-looking creature as yourself, human,” laughed another. All the servants followed.

However, this young maiden was not a vile-looking creature. She was actually a very beautiful girl, an uncommon beauty. She had light brown hair done up in an unruly braid that hung down on her shoulders. Her pale and delicate skin greatly contrasted with her strong facial features, deep-set eyes, a tall nose, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin. Her most attractive feature was her eyes. They shined light brown in the sunlight, but in the shade they looked green around the edges. They were the most unique set of eyes the goddess had ever laid her eyes on.  She had to have them.

“Tell me, Psyche, why do your eyes change as they do? They are a wonder that I have not seen before and I am the fairest of all creatures in Heaven and Earth. Tell me, Psyche.”

 “I am sorry, great Venus, I do not know why. I am the only of my family and our kingdom that can do such.”

“I see. You do know where you are standing is sacred ground? The air you are breathing is revered? The sight you are seeing is blessed? Your kind is not welcomed here.”

“Yes, I do know. Please spare my life! I did not wish to do harm! I just wanted to see your splendor with my own eyes. You are the queen of all that is exquisite,” begged Psyche.

“Do not be afraid, young and naïve Psyche. I will not take your life away. However, I cannot allow you to leave unpunished from trespassing. Since you yearned so much to see this safe haven, I shall make sure this that last thing you see.”

With that, the goddess’s servants held poor and struggling Psyche down, while one pulled out her eyes. Psyche cried with all her lungs with the worse pain.

“My eyes! How can I see now? Please Venus, give me back my sight!”
“They are mine now. Hush, young one. Stay calm. I will not give back your eyes, but I will make you my servant. I will grant you immortality and your status will no longer be a mere mortal."

(Psyche Before The Throne Of Venus; 

photo by Henrietta Rae; source:ArtScroll)

Author's Note  - In the original plot of Cupid and Psyche, Venus is jealous of Psyche because humans used to praise her more than they praised Venus. If you do not already know, when Venus is envious of someone, she goes on a rampage. There is a lot more to the story, but at some point, Venus is torturing poor Psyche. When I first wrote this story, I tried to come up with a storyline that went with the original storyline of Venus and Psyche. However, I came at a dead end and ran out of things to write so I looked at storytelling from my peers and realized that some people took a completely different take from the original plot. So I redid my whole storyline to what it is now. Obviously, this is completely different from the original storyline so this is not a retelling of the story. Rather, I use the characters, their personalities, and some of the basic ideas from the original story and made a completely new storyline. I ended up liking this version of my storytelling a lot more than what I had before even though it is a bit gruesome. I tried to imitate the typical flamboyant and descriptive language Roman stories are written in. I'm not sure if I did it justice, but I gave it a shot.

Book: The Golden Ass
Author:ApuleiusYear
Published: 2013
Web Source: Poetry in Translation