The love story of Eros and Psyche is one of the most prominent stories in Greek mythology. The best source for the story is told in Metamorphoses by Apuleius.
Psyche, who represents the human spirit or soul, was the youngest daughter of a king. She was so beautiful that she appeared goddess like. The people of her country began to worship her instead of Aphrodite. In despite of the fact that Psyche was modest and resisted this attention, Aphrodite was infuriated and insulted. She decided to punish Psyche.
Aphrodite sent her son Eros to use his powers to make Psyche fall in love with the ugliest thing on Earth. But, Eros saw Psyche's beauty for himself and fell in love with her.
Eros did not, however, want to anger his mother. So to win Psyche for himself and to keep Aphrodite from knowing, Eros devised a clever scheme. He arranged for Psyche to be brought to a desolate area and was told that she was to marry an evil being. She dressed in a wedding gown, awaiting her doom. Zephyrus, the wind of the north, led her to her new home, a palace which seemed magical.
Eros came to Psyche when she had gone to bed that night. The room was too dark to see anything when he approached her. He whispered to her that he was her husband and that she was never to see him or know his identity, under any circumstances. Psyche began to enjoy her life at the majestic palace. Over time however, she became lonely and homesick. She begged to see her 2 sisters. Although Eros was wary, he could not deny his beautiful bride her wish.
Her sister came to visit after being invited. They were immediately jealous of Psyche's good fortune and together, they convinced her that her husband was a dangerous monster and that she must leave him at once. Psyche, being young and naive, believed her sisters.
The next night when she went to bed, Psyche took a lamp with her. She lit the lamp when she was sure that her husband was asleep next to her. When Psyche finally gazed upon Eros, she was shocked to see his perfection and beauty. She realized her husband was a god and out of suprise, she droped some oil from the lamp on Eros. This awoke him and once he realized Psyche saw him, he swiftly departed, abandoning her.
Psyche was filled with grief and dispair. She was alone and missed her husband. She searched for him but could not find him anywhere. She called upon Demeter and Hera for help, but neither wanted to enrage Aphrodite. So finally Psyche went to Aphrodite herself.
Aphrodite decided to punish Psyche on her one. She made Psyche her slave and asked of her impossible tasks. One task, Psyche had to sort, and entire room full of seeds, grain by grain, in one day. Psyche had the aid of ants and was able to perform this task. This infuriated Aphrodite even more. Another task was to fetch a jar that contained beauty from under Persephone, the Queen of the Underworld. Psyche was able to obtain instruction on how to desend to the Underworld while still alive and approach Persephone. Her final task was to deliver a golden box, which Aphrodite told her she was forrbiden to open. Naturally, Psyche did open it and fell into a deep sleep of death.
Eros in the mean time was also miserable without Psyche. He approached Zeus with his dilema and Zeus decided to let Eros desire to be with Psyche be. Zeus made Psyche immortal and allowed for the two to be joined in marriage. Aphrodite gave up her vendeta against Psyche and welcomed her into the family. Eros and Psyche had a daughter named Voluptas (Pleasure).
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