Eros & Psyche

Eros & Psyche

Long ago, when the gods reigned from Mount Olympus, and Greece was a peaceful country of love and knowledge, a girl named Psyche lived. It was said that when she came from her mothers womb, Psyche glowed like the stars from heaven.
Growing up, Psyche was envied by all for her flowing tresses of auburn hair, soft white skin and beautiful face. Psyche grew up comfortably with her parents and sisters, Diana and Miranda. Psyche's parents loved her more than anything else in the world, mostly for her beauty. Her sisters always treated her well. They secretly they hated her for being beautiful, but they did like her personality.
Psyche loved to be outside. Her sisters liked to be with people inside, but she didn't. Psyche loved to run in the woods and swim in the plentiful rivers. She was un-tameable. Psyche imagined herself a horse running wild that everyone chased, but no one captured. She would spend hours alone until she was cold, hungry, or it was dark. When Psyche stayed out too late, her parents would always worry and fret about her when she came home. They always worried that she would get hurt or stolen, that their trophy daughter would be taken away from them.
When Psyche and her sisters grew older, they started getting invited to glamorous parties and the like. Mostly Psyche received these invites, her sisters just tagged along. Psyche hated these gatherings. It seemed everyone in the room wanted to talk to her alone, and when they did talk, the mostly stared at her face. On the rare occasion she did want to talk, she would be force to move to the next person within seconds.
At one of these parties, Diana met a young prince who fell in love with her immediately. Diana, of course, didn't want him to meet Psyche, so when the prince asked for her hand in marriage, she accepted eagerly.
Diana and her prince were married the next day and they left for his home within the week.
For awhile it was just Psyche and Miranda living at home with the parents, until Miranda also found a suitor. He was a man of great wealth from Crete who boasted a large estate and three hundred servants. Miranda too, could not pass up his proposal of marriage. So, after knowing him a few short days, Miranda was married off.
For the next few months, Psyche lived happily alone with her parents. She had more time than ever to live without any bonds holding her down, like the parties her sisters made her attend. Psyche's parents grew very desperate, their youngest and most beautiful daughter was not married, and she was coming close to the still respectable marriage age of seventeen.
One night, Psyche's father decided to go consult with the god Apollo's Oracle at Delphi.
He spent the night traveling, when he arrived at the temple where she lived, the Oracle herself greeted him. She rushed Psyche's father into a secluded room. There he told her about Psyche, and that she was the most beautiful young maiden in the entire land, but that she hadn't found a husband, or even a decent suitor. The Oracle listened closely to his story, then proceeded to tell him of Psyche's fate.
The Oracle closed her eyes, and started whispering. The Oracle told him that Psyche would be married to no ordinary man, but that she would marry a man that flew on the wind like a dragon, that even the mighty Zeus himself would fall prey to the power of Psyche's husband.
Directly after learning this, Psyche's father went home bent on finding her a husband before the man the Oracle had described found her. Once at home, he told Psyche to make herself look more beautiful than she ever had before. He sent Psyche and her mother to get a new dress and sweet scented perfumes for her.
When they came back home, Psyche's father told them that they were going to the king's annual party, where all of the eligable men in Greece would be. Psyche and her mother spent hours preparing for the party. When they had finally finished, Psyche shown like the glory of the sun. She was the most beautiful woman in all the world.

For a while Aphrodite had been watching Psyche. She knew that Psyche had the potential to have the beauty of a goddess, possibly more beautiful than herself. Aphrodite went into a rage more trecherous than an ocean storm when she saw Psyche ready for the party. She was too beautiful for a mortal.
At once, Aphrodite called her son Eros to her side. When Eros saw his mother so enraged and distressed, he went to her promising anything her heart desired. Aphrodite pulled her son close and told him to shoot Psyche with an arrow of love, but to make sure she fell in love with the most hideous, low, pathetic peasant he could find. Eros was surprised at his mothers wrath, but went to find Psyche and ruin her life.

At the party, Psyche stopped everyone with her beauty. Not a single man there didn't want her for his wife. Psyche soon had men swarming to meet her. Very pleased, her father left her alone a bit, knowing that his last daughter would very soon be married.
Eros flew to the palace where Psyche was. When he saw that it was a huge party he made himself invisible, hovering over the people there, searching for Psyche. Suddenly Eros saw her. His heart pounded at the sight of the gorgeous creature in front of him. She was more beautiful than the stars, more radiant than the sun, more breath-taking then the sea after the storm.