ART HISTORY ADVENT CALENDAR - DAY 6

 Week of Love

6th of December - Cupid and Psyche

Once upon a time,

the god of love himself fell in love

with his mother's mortal rival.

Aphrodite would only take Psyche for an in-law

and give her and Cupid her blessing

if the human girl completed a series of labours

(like a female Theseus or Hercules).

Psyche took the wool from fire-breathing rams,

the wool they had left on the thorns.

Zeus' Eagle helped her fill her pitcher

from a waterfall guarded by dragons.

But the last task was the most daunting:

"Descend to the realm of the dead

and bring me a pot of Persephone's beauty cream," 

said Aphrodite, determined.

Psyche geared herself up for the Underworld:

she brought money for Charon to cross the Styx,

a half dozen doggy biscuits for Cerberus

(three for the journey there, three for the return),

and ate nothing that Hades and Persephone gave her

(otherwise she would have stayed in their dark realm).

On the journey home, however,

she was intrigued, as curious as Pandora,

and opened the tiny pot of beauty cream.

Psyche plunged instantly into deep slumber:

the beauty of Persephone is

the beauty of Death itself.

Cupid found out and woke her up

with a true love's kiss,

just like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty.

And Aphrodite was so moved by their love

that she gave the young couple her blessing.

They got married with great pomp on Olympus,

and she got butterfly wings, like he has feathered wings,

so they now can fly together through the skies.

Cupid and Psyche, the Flesh and the Soul,

who needed one another, were united

to live happily ever after.