Like I said my name is Cupid, I am 22 years old and you would think from looking at me that I pretty much have it made. Living in a giant palace in the clouds, being the god of love and attraction, I must be pretty happy right? Wrong. You see, as I’ve spent so much time helping others with their love life’s and happiness, mine has fallen by the wayside. I recently broke up with my one and only true love Psyche, a mortal woman that I met by accident while I was on a mission. Back to the shooting arrow thing, like I said most people just think I shoot arrows into people’s butts and I’m on my way, but trust me it is much more complicated than that, and no the arrows do not go in people’s butts.
So, you’re probably wondering why we broke up. Well you see, my job can be quite demanding at times and if I said I was good at time management I would be lying. Essentially cancelled dates, not calling enough, basically not putting enough effort into the relationship is what got me where I am now. Don’t get me wrong, I really do love her, but I’ve been going through a lot lately and it doesn’t help that my mom Venus (a.k.a Aphrodite the goddess of love), doesn’t approve of my divine/mortal love affair.
Anyway, since the breakup, I’ve tried dating around trying to fill the void that Psyche left, nut no other woman compares to her. I really want to try to win her back (that should be easy considering I’m the god of love, right?) but there’s just one problem, she has a new boyfriend and I’ve heard he is quite the catch. Apparently, he takes her on lavish dates, they spend tons of time together and he is the “sweetest man she has ever met”. (sometimes being able to listen in on mortal conversations is a bad thing).
But need not worry, I have come up with a master plan to win her back, but first I must win over the approval of my mother. If you know anything about Venus, you know that her love life hasn’t been roses and butterflies either. She got stuck with this real drag of a god that she never truly loved named Vulcan. To fill her need for love, she took on a great lover named Ares, (god of war). Let’s just say that that didn’t work out for her very well in the end when Vulcan found out about it. It’s true that she doesn’t approve of Psyche because she is mortal, but in reality, I think the bigger issue is that she is jealous that I have found great love like she never has. So, my plan is to get rid of that dweeb Vulcan, help get my mom and Ares back together and then go win back my girl.
Vulcan is the god of forge and metalworking so he’s not the brightest, but does he know how to fashion some nets! I figured that it wouldn’t be too hard trick him into one of his own. So that’s just what I did. Late one night I snuck into his shed and took one of his finest nets that he had woven himself. Using my charming powers, I cast a charm of lust and love over the net and laid it out in front of his house for him to awake to. The next morning sure enough, Vulcan awoke from his sleep and came stumbling out of his house to take on another day. Although, instead of taking off towards the shed like normal, he immediately saw the beautiful net and was enchanted so much by it he didn’t even realize it was his own work. “This must be the work of a great craftsman, far better than I and I am a god!” Unable to resist due to the charm Vulcan stepped onto the net to get a better look and the next thing you know he was hanging from a tree entangled in it. With Vulcan angry and confused, I came forward and told him that if he did not free my mother of her misery by leaving this place and never coming back, allowing her to have the great love that she deserved, he would surely hang there for eternity and suffer. Vulcan, who didn’t really love Venus much either gave in and fled the land leaving nothing behind.
I then went to my mother and explained to her what I had done. At first, she started crying and I thought to myself, surely this is not out of sadness? But then she raised her face and I saw that they were tears of happiness! Now free to go find Ares and live happily ever after she expressed her gratitude to me and in return gave me her blessing to win Psyche’s hand back and marry her if she will have me.
Now onto the biggest part of the plan, winning Psyche back. After Venus’s blessing I flew immediately down to earth to find Psyche and profess my love for her. Barging in on a date with her new man, I flew in, grabbed her from her seat and looked her straight in the eyes and said these worlds, “My love, I know that these past few months I have not given you the attention that you deserve or have I put in the effort into our relationship, but after you left me I realized just how lost I am without you. I have gotten my mother’s blessing and if you will have me, I want to whisk you away to the clouds and marry you, making you immortal and we will live happily ever after in the clouds in our grand palace. There is no one else that I would rather share my life with and I promise to never neglect you again.” A small tear fell from Psyche’s eye, and I gently swept it away. Awaiting her response, I looked over at her new boyfriend who looked quite dumbfounded and confused. After a moment of pause, Psyche said to me, “My dearest Cupid, how my heart has yearend for you to come and whisk me away, yes! I will take you back and be married to live happily ever after!”
So that’s it folks. Psyche and I flew back up to the heavens leaving a shocked ex-boyfriend behind and were wed in great celebration and feasting. So far, we have both been the happiest we’ve ever been and I cannot wait for ever after with her.
Psyche and I basking in our love.
Author’s note: In the original story, Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius’s Golden Ass, Psyche is a girl that Venus despises because she tried to take on the identity of Venus on Earth as being the most beautiful in all the land and people worshiped her. Cupid, sent to doom Psyche to a lifetime of loneliness and wretched loves fell in love with her instead and brought her to his castle where he came to her only at night to hide his identity from her, and she loved like royalty during the day alone. Cupid warned Psyche that if she ever tried to find out his identity she would lose him forever. However, Psyche was tempted and one night gazed upon him by candlelight and saw that it was Cupid. Cupid fled and Psyche was left at the wrath of Venus. She had to complete many tasks in order to try to win Venus’s approval but it wasn’t until pity of the other gods helped her out and Cupid and Psyche were wed.
Bibliography: Cupid and Psyche from Apuleius's Golden Ass translated to English by Tony Kline.
Web Source for photo: Wikimedia Commons.
Hey McKenzie! I loved your take on this story. It was so interesting to hear about the original story and how different it was. I thought you did a great job changing the details to make the characters views for each other vastly different than the original. I was interested most in how Cupid went about his want for getting Psyche back. You would think that he would go about it in a very lovey dovey way, when instead it was almost a little revengeful. He almost had to be very angry about the whole situation in order for the outcome to be successful. In the end he seemed so passionate about his love and really expressed that she was all he cared about. I wonder how they're life is affected by the time apart in their future. Do you think their love stayed as passionate because they realize that in the end they only needed each other? Great job!
ReplyDeleteMcKenzie, wow I loved this story! You truly added such a creative touch to a story that is known very well around the world. I like how you told it in first person. That is something that I have been wanting to try, but it is always hard for me to keep writing in first person. I like how the character cupid was not completely a love bug in the story and instead had some more serious actions in him. I also like all of the details you embedded in the story, I feel like it helped to put the cherry on top of it!
ReplyDeleteWow, Cupid was behind a lot of breakups in this story! I like that twist you played on his character. I did feel bad for the guy that Psyche left in the dust. Loved the plan against Vulcan (but felt a little bad for him too!) and thought it was a good way for Cupid to show his smarts. Great story!
ReplyDeleteMcKenzie, I think my heart melted. Cupid was just so precious in his devotion and determination and yeah, my heart definitely melted. You are really good at developing a character so that the audience is inclined to feel connected with them. By using first person, I feel like you showed us another side to Cupid that we don't usually get to see in the myths. Here, he was able to show his cleverness while also proving that he was more than a god who had everything he wanted. He had to work for Psyche's love; he had to win her over. It humanized him all the more and made his character much more reachable for the reader. Good work!
ReplyDelete