THE ROMANCE OF THE GODS

Greek Love Stories

A HAPPILY EVER AFTER STORY

Cupid and Psyche

Myth of the Day- Psyche and Cupid

Once upon a time there was a king with three daughters. They were all beautiful, but by far the most beautiful was the youngest, Psyche. She was so beautiful that people began to neglect the worship of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty.

Venus was very jealous, and asked her son Cupid (the boy with the arrows) to make Psyche fall in love with a horrible monster. When he saw how beautiful she was, Cupid dropped the arrow meant for her and pricked himself, and fell in love with her.

Despite her great beauty no-one wanted to marry Psyche. Her parents consulted an oracle, and were told that she was destined to marry a monster, and they were to take her to the top of a mountain and leave her there. The west wind took her and wafted her away to a palace, where she was waited on by invisible servants. When night came her new husband visited her, and told her that he would always visit her by night and she must never try to see him.

Although her invisible husband was kind and gentle with her, and the invisible servants attended to her every desire, Psyche grew homesick. She persuaded her husband to allow her sisters to visit her. When they saw how she lived they became very jealous and talked Psyche into peeking at her husband, saying that he was a monster who was fattening her up to be eaten and that her only chance of safety was to kill him.

Psyche took a lamp and a knife, but when she saw her beautiful husband, Cupid, she was so surprised she dripped some hot wax onto his shoulder, waking him. He took in the situation at a glance and immediately left Psyche and the magnificent palace she had been living in disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Redemption Psyche roamed about

looking for her husband, and eventually in desperation approached his mother, Venus. Still angry, the goddess set various tasks for Psyche, all of which she passed, with a bit of help from ants and river gods. At last Cupid found out what was going on, and he persuaded Jupiter to order Venus to stop her persecution of Psyche. Then they were married and lived happily ever after - and it really was ever after since Psyche was made a goddess.

A FORCED ROMANCE

Hades and Persephone

Myth of the Day: Hades and Persephone

Persephone- Daughter of Zeus and Demeter

Hades- God of the Underworld

Unknown to her mother, Demeter, Zeus promised Hades his beautiful daughter as a bride

It all began…

One day, Hades came up from the Underworld to collect his bride.

He kidnapped Persephone, taking her down to his Kingdom below.

Demeter grieved for her daughter, and this caused plants and crops to wither and die. Animals did not bear offspring. This was the first Winter

The Kidnapping

One day, when Persephone was out picking wildflowers in Sicily, Hades carried out his plan. He grabbed her, throwing her in his chariot, and riding down into the Underworld.

She lived there for a whole year, while her mother desperately searched for her.

The SeedAfter finding out where her

daughter was, Demeter pleaded with Zeus to release Persephone.

In all this time, Persephone had not eaten anything in the Underworld.

Now, fearful he would lose her forever, Hades tricked Persephone into eating a single pomegranite seed.

Now that she had eaten food of the underworld, she could not leave.

The Bargain

Demeter’s Winter had caused chaos in the world, which was full of Death.

Zeus forced Hades and Demeter to come to a compromise: Persephone would spend half the year with each of them.

In the Fall, she is given back to Hades. Demeter grieves during this time (Winter). She is returned to her mother in the Spring.

A HAUNTING LOVE

Orpheus and Eurydice

Orpheus and Eurydice

The very earliest musicians were gods and their skill was unmatched. Gods such as Apollo, Athena and Hermes drew sounds so harmonious during their lavish banquets that their fellow deities on Mount Olympus forget all else, even their petty jealousies. Next to these gods came a few mortals who were so admirable in their art that they almost equaled the great gods.

One of these gifted mortals was Orpheus, son of the Muse Calliope and a Thracian king named Oeagrus. Orpheus was given the gift of music by his mother and that gift was nurtured in the land of Thrace where he grew up. The Thracians were the most musically inclined peoples of Greece. The great Apollo presented him with a lyre and the Muses taught him to use it, so that Orpheus was unparalleled in skill when it came to mere mortals, his only rivals were the gods.

His Talent

His music was enchanting; no one and nothing could resist him. He had the ability to control both animate and inanimate objects, subduing wild beasts and making the trees and rocks move from their places in their eagerness to follow the sound of his music.

Orpheus Little is known about Orpheus

prior to his marriage, but it is known that after a visit to Egypt he sailed with the Greek hero Jason on the ship called the Argo. He was quite useful on this Quest for the Golden Fleece, because when the heroes were weak and weary or the rowing was immensely difficult he would play his lyre to arouse the freshness in the heroes and thus allow them to continue the voyage.

Orpheus also saved the Argonauts from the Sirens, playing his lyre so exquisitely as to hypnotize the feared monsters and drive out all thoughts save the longing to hear more of his sweet music. The Argonauts than sailed off and set their course, avoiding certain death thanks to the sweet song of Orpheus.

His MarriageIt is not told where he met

his wife and how he courted her, but surely no maiden Orpheus desired could have resisted the power of his music.

The by now renowned poet and musician chose a beautiful woman named Eurydice, whom some called by the name Agriope, and they had decided to settle down and raise a family among the savage Cicones of Thrace.

Disaster Strikes Sadly immediately following the wedding as Eurydice walked in a meadow with her bridesmaids, a serpent stung her and she died. Others say that a brute named Aristaeus tried to force her near Tempe, in the valley of the river Peneius.

Either way, his beloved new bride was dead and the grief of Orpheus was so great that he vowed to venture down to the Underworld and try to bring Eurydice back, a feat very few had managed.

Through the Underworld

Orpheus used the passage which opens at Aornum in Thesprotis and boldly descended into the realm of Hades.

He charmed with his song the ferryman Charon and gained the other side, even though he wasn't dead.

As he played his lyre, Cerberus the three-headed dog relaxed his guard and the three Judges of the Dead were mesmerized by the sound.

Even the tortures of the damned were temporarily suspended: The wheel of Ixion stood motionless; Sisiphus sat at rest upon his stone; Tantalus forgot his thirst; for the first time the faces of the horrific Furies were wet with tears.

Finding his Bride

No one under his spell could refuse him.

Hades and his queen Persephone granted Orpheus’ wish and summoned Eurydice and gave her to him, but upon one single condition: that he would not look back at her as she followed him, until they reached the upper world and were safely back under the light of the sun.

Leaving the DeadAs they exited the Underworld,

passing through the great doors of Hades to the path that would take them out of the darkness, Orpheus knew Eurydice was close behind him, following the sound of his lyre, but he longed to make sure.

The moment that he joyfully stepped out of the darkness into the light he turned back, but it was too soon, for Eurydice still hadn’t exited the cavern and was still in the shadows of Hades. He saw her in the dim light, and he held out his arms to clasp her, but she slipped away from him. As Orpheus reached for the hand of his beloved wife Eurydice disappeared with one last word: "Farewell."

And she was gone forever.

Loss and Grief Totally dismayed he attempted to rush after her, but the gods would not consent to allowing Orpheus to enter the Underworld a second time, while he was still alive.

Forced to return to earth alone and overcome with grief, he forsook the company of men and wandered through the wild playing his melodious lyre.

Only the creatures of nature and the rocks, rivers and trees were fortunate enough to hear the sad strains of his lyre, singing of his heartbreak.

His DeathWhen the god of wine

Dionysus invaded Thrace, Orpheus failed to properly honor him and taught other sacred mysteries, much to the chagrin of the slighted deity.

At last, a band of Maenads, who were frenzied nymphs in the service of Dionysus, came upon him,  and they mutilated Orpheus, tearing him limb from limb, flinging his head into the swift river Hebrus.

His Fate

The Muses discovered his intact unchanged head at the Lesbian shore, where it had floated, still singing. Tearfully they found and collected his limbs,  and placed them in a tomb at the foot of Mount Olympus. To this day, the nightingales there sing more sweetly than anywhere else.

Divine JusticeThe murderous Maenads

were turned into oak trees by Dionysus to save their lives from the furious Olympian gods, who were distraught at the loss of such a great musician.

The Maenads had attempted to cleanse themselves of Orpheus' blood in the river Helicorn, but the River-god did not want to be accessory to murder and dived under the ground, disappearing for nearly four miles, finally emerging with a different name, the Baphyra.

His HeadWhat about the head of

Orpheus? A jealous Lemnian serpent attacked it but Apollo at once turned the snake into a stone. The head was laid to rest in a cave at Antissa, where it prophesized so accurately that Apollo's oracles at Delphi, Gryneium and Clarus were becoming deserted, as people flocked to Orpheus day and night.

This would not do! So Apollo ordered Orpheus' head to cease talking or singing, and the head fell silent. The Muses had found Orpheus' lyre, which had likewise drifted to Lesbos, and had dedicated it in a temple of Apollo. Eventually the lyre was placed in heaven as a Constellation.

UNREQUITED LOVE

Echo and Narcissus

Echo and Narcissus Zeus, the King of the

Olympian gods, was notorious for his numerous love affairs and flings. He never missed an opportunity to mess around, especially when his wife Hera, Queen of the Olympians, was otherwise occupied.

There lived a young and beautiful mountain Nymph named Echo, who was a very pleasant girl, but she had a reputation for being a chatterbox. Nothing pleased Echo more than the sound of her own voice.

The Infidelity of Zeus One day, while Echo was

amusing and distracting Hera with her chatter, Zeus took advantage to frolic on earth with the other mountain Nymphs. He succeeded in ravishing some of them, until Hera finally became aware of his infidelity.

Hera was livid, to say the least, but she knew better than to challenge her husband, Ruler of Olympus and possessor of the fearsome thunderbolts. Rather that retaliating against Zeus, she took out her wrath on poor Echo!

Cursed!

To punish the hapless girl, Hera took away her most valuable possession, her voice.

Hera permitted Echo only to reply in foolish repetition of another's shouted words.

Thus, all Echo could do was mimic the words of the speaker.

Enter…Narcissus There lived in Thespia a vain

youth named Narcissus, son of the blue Nymph called Leiriope. This Nymph had been seduced by the River god Cephisus, who had encirled Leirope with the windings of his streams and trapped her.

Narcissus was the product of their union.

Leirope was concerned about the welfare of her new baby so she went to consult a famous oracle by the name of Teiresias regarding her son's future. The seer told the Nymph that Narcissus "would live to be a ripe old age, as long as he never knew himself.“

A cryptic pronouncement, to be sure, but fitting, as we shall soon see.

Narcissus

Narcissus was incredibly beautiful as a child, and grew even more so as he matured. Both men and women equally desired him, but the vain youth rebuffed everybody. By the age of sixteen he had left strewn a trail of broken hearts, rejected lovers all.

Narcissus had absolutely no interest in falling in love with anyone and strenuously resisted all attempts at romance.

Unrequited Love Echo had spotted the

gorgeous - yet conceited - youth and had fallen desperately in love with him. Looking for an opportunity to convey her adoration, she found her chance one day while Narcissus was out hunting stags.

For hours Echo stealthily followed the handsome youth through the woods, her heart beating with excitement, yet unable to speak first. Finally Narcissus heard soft footsteps behind him and paused in his tracks.

Nothing there. He kept walking.

Rejected He heard the steps again and

this time shouted loudly, "Who goes there?“

"Who goes there?" came Echo's reply. And so it went, back and forth, until finally Echo could no longer handle the longing - dashing out from behind a tree, she rushed the startled Narcissus and wrapped her arms around the lovely object of her obsession.

Narcissus was mortified! Who was this impetuous girl, he wondered, and why was she trying to kiss him? Repulsed, he shoved away Echo, rudely telling her to leave his presence.

Echo’s FateDevastated, Echo spent the remainder of her

life wandering in lonely glens, pining away for the love she never knew, until at last only her voice remained.

Artemis saw what happened to Echo, and cursed Narcissus. He came upon a crystal clear spring. Seeing his reflection, he fell in love.

Narcissus’ Fate

Artemis’ curse worked well.

When Narcissus realized that he could never have the object of his desire, he was devastated.

He plunged a dagger into his own heart, calling out a final goodbye to his reflection, his love.

From his blood sprang a white flower…known as the Narcissus flower.