Eros and Psyche

The story of Eros and Psyche has a longstanding

tradition as a folktale of the ancient Greco-Roman
world.
The story tells of the struggle for love and trust
between Eros and Psyche. Aphrodite was jealous of
the beauty of mortal princess Psyche, as men were
leaving her altars barren to worship a mere human
woman instead, and so she commanded her son
Eros, the god of love, to cause Psyche to fall in love
with the ugliest creature on earth. But instead, Eros
falls in love with Psyche himself and spirits her away
to his home. Their fragile peace is ruined by a visit
from Psyche's jealous sisters, who cause Psyche to
betray the trust of her husband. Wounded, Eros
leaves his wife, and Psyche wanders the Earth,
looking for her lost love. Eventually she approaches
Aphrodite and asks for her help. Aphrodite imposes a
series of difficult tasks on Psyche, which she is able
to achieve by means of supernatural assistance.
After successfully completing these tasks, Aphrodite
relents and Psyche becomes immortal to live
alongside her husband Eros. Together they had a
daughter, Voluptas or Hedone (meaning physical
pleasure, bliss).
In Greek mythology, Psyche was the deification of
the human soul. She was portrayed in ancient
mosaics as a goddess with butterfly wings (because
psyche was also the Ancient Greek word for
'butterfly'). The Greek word psyche literally means
"soul, spirit, breath, life or animating force".