In Greek, Psyche, yuch,n means “breath of life”, “soul” , or “butterfly”, and in the myth it’s Cupid’s Greek corollary Eros who is her lover. Eros means “erotic love”, and the Greek God is depicted as a youth with wings, not a little boy. It’s quite likely that the Psyche and Eros story isn't a true myth, but but a romance clinging to a Hellenistic philosophical idea about the function of love in the development of the soul.
It’s first known classical source is Apuleius’ Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass which was written in Latin around 180 CE.
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Some scholars see the myth’s origin coming from various ancient folk tales, and many parts of the story do recall familiar folk tale conventions: three sisters, a magic palace, a heroic journey to Hell and back. Robert Graves didn’t address the story in The Greek Myths, probably due to the lack of a surviving Greek source, but the story is also empty of the sorts of cryptic references to dynastic and tribal conflicts that Graves’ work peel away and dissect. Nonetheless, the story of Psyche and Eros is one of the most beautiful Greek stories, like a fairy tale, but symbolically much richer. |
I made this work as a wedding present. The image is made of paintings of flowers and butterflies, and the figures are modeled after a kissing couple in Rubens’ painting De Kermis (La Kermesse), which hangs in the Louvre. I made two similar pieces with the same theme, for two other couples getting married, one was rectangular like this one, and another one was set in an oval frame. To see that piece and to read the myth of Psyche and Cupid, click here. |
