2I found Psyche (which means "butterfly" or "soul" in Greek) a very complex mythical character to analyse because she was so fickle: at times she behaved wisely, at other times illogically and foolishly, sometimes she listened to advice but at other times she wouldn't, sometimes she accepted her fate and circumstances but at other times she didn't. In many ways she is like all us humans, and also like the human soul, in that she is an individual and you can't pin her down - she is neither wholly good nor wholly bad.
Her main character qualities were that of insatiable curiosity (which led at various times to bad consequences) and that of bravery and perseverance (although at times the sheer impossibility of a situation overwhelmed her).
She behaved very much like a child, going from one extreme to another in emotion and mind. She was simple-minded and couldn't think of multiple possibilities to circumstances (eg. when her sisters told her that her husband was a monster and she completely believed them - she didn't think about the possibility that he wasn't a monster, or that her sisters were lying). She persevered through great trials in pursuit of what made her whole, and eventually succeeded. This success was partly because of herself - her curiosity (about her husbands identity) led to her finding truth and knowledge, and her perseverance and bravery led to her finding love. It was also partly due to the compassion and help of divinity and animals/nature that helped her succeed in the end.
Psyche was a princess, the third and youngest daughter of a king and queen. The three girls were all extremely beautiful, yet Psyche surpassed her sisters with her extraordinary beauty. She was so beautiful that victims were offered in her honour, sacred feasts spread for her and flowers scattered in her paths. Some people said she was even more beautiful than the goddess of love herself, and Psyche was worshipped instead of Venus. Despite this, Psyche remained unmarried until well after her sisters had been married, because no mortal man ever dared make love to Psyche, she was too beautiful. Even before Cupid came and married Psyche we can see that Psyche's main longing was for love - not power or status, worship or admiration because these things came with loneliness. She didn't want to be set apart and envied; she wanted a normal life, with love and marriage. She came to despise her beauty of which everyone else greatly admired, because it means she must be lonely and in conflict with the goddess of love, Venus. It's interesting that beauty, the very thing Psyche seemed to despise most about herself, is what every girl seems to want and is also the thing that made Cupid fall in love with her resulting eventually in a happy and idealistic marriage.
When the oracle of Apollo told of Psyche's fate, Psyche displayed great bravery when she begged her parents to stop crying, "why spoil those two faces that I love best.?" She wisely asked, "Why torment yourselves by prolonging your grief unnecessarily?" Psyche had been tormented by her affliction of beauty long before then, and she seemed to see this consequence as either inevitable or else not much worse than remaining unmarried all her life. She accepted it, because she wisely understood that that was all she can do: she could do nothing to change it. Grieving, she warned her parents, would be a waste of time and a waste of life.
At other times though, Psyche acted like an immature, foolish child. Very quickly her attitude changed when her husband told her to ignore her sisters cries; from that of happy contentment, to one of great sadness and mourning. From feeling very privileged and well looked after, she began to feel like a prisoner, thinking irrationally that her husbands warning against her sisters was one of meanness, not love and protection. Moved by her sorrow, Cupid let her see her sisters but told her, "I warn you solemnly that when you begin to wish you listened to me the harm will have been done." Psyche was very good at getting her own way with Cupid, displaying the selfish and irrational childish changes from being distraught to being happy again after she got what she wanted, "quite herself again." She also lavished him with words of love and admiration, "soul of my soul" until her husband reluctantly yielded to her desire to see her sisters.
Psyche also acted foolishly when her sisters first came to visit her, and she wanted to impress her sisters and make them jealous so she made up a story of what her husband looked like; young, handsome, and a hunter. This was thoughtless, because now she had to stick to it and not contradict herself. The story of her young, handsome husband also helped to fuel the seeds of envy that were growing in her sisters' hearts.
When Psyche's sisters realized she didn't actually know what her husband looked like, they conspired together, and feed Psyche with a story that her husband really was a monster as the oracle had said, a serpent that was going to eat her and her baby with whom she was pregnant. Psyche, again foolishly, chose to listen to her sisters lies instead of her husbands earnest warnings not to listen to her sisters and try to see his face "he warned her with terrifying insistence that her sisters were evil-minded women." Cupid even gave a consequence to the foolish Psyche - if she did see her husband's face they would be parted forever and her child would be born a mortal, instead of a God. Psyche, though, only seemed to think about or consider what she was presently doing, and was very forgetful (she forgot her husbands warnings, she forgot the first story she had told her sisters). She was also insatiably curious, and when this curiosity was fuelled she went along with it despite fears, warnings, instructions or consequences (i.e.: although she was afraid, her curiosity overcame her fear when she ventured into the palace 'fit for a God', for the first time.)
Psyche had great problems knowing who to trust and who not to trust. She herself was very untrustworthy, claiming to her husband at one stage, "I'd rather die a hundred times over than lose you. I have no idea who you are, but I love you," yet not long after she was quite prepared to kill him, and didn't seem particularly mortified about it. She also carelessly made up two different stories for her sisters about her husband, then gullible as she was, fully accepted who they said her husband was - even when their description of a cruel, bloodthirsty husband didn't match with her own personal knowledge of a loving, caring, kind, listening and compassionate husband. Again, thinking that her husband was a savage beast, Psyche got incredibly emotional and distraught, not considering for a moment that the story may not be true.
Psyche displayed either great foolishness, or arrogance (hubris) or a mixture of both when she forgot or disregarded her husbands strong warnings and listened to her sisters instead, then disobeyed her husband yet again by attempting to look at his face. She didn't seem to think of the consequences of disobedience that would fall on her or her child - it was as if she thought that because Cupid loved her so much and because she was beautiful and a princess, she was exempt from consequences. Psyche's pride pulled Cupid down from his high place as a god, and may have been partly the reason for his anger when he found out that she had seen what he looked like.
When Psyche saw her husbands face, not a monster but the god Cupid himself, she again went from extremes in attitude and emotion and in her present state of extreme turmoil and terror she irrationally decided to kill herself, although unsuccessfully. When Cupid flew angrily away from Psyche saying that they could never be together again because love and distrust could not dwell together, Psyche again tried to kill herself in a river, but the river wouldn't drown her.
Psyche, again untruthfully, then told each sister in turn that her husband divorced her, and was going to marry that sister instead. They both jumped off the cliff expecting the wind to carry them safely to Cupid, but it did not. Psyche did this as revenge on her sisters, and also, I think, to make her sisters worse off in the hopes that she herself would feel better.
Psyche then went to a temple of the goddess Ceres, which was in disarray, and sorted it out. Psyche wisely understood that she needed to behave respectfully toward every deity in order to get their sympathy and help. But unfortunately, although the gods and goddess's wanted to help Psyche, they didn't want to risk Venus's anger, and therefore did not help her. Nevertheless, Psyche was persistent and determined, first imploring Ceres, then Juno. When at last she had no other deity except Venus to turn to, Psyche worked up enough boldness and courage to submit to her in the hopes of calming her rage or at least of finding her husband. This was a risky, even suicidal thing for Psyche to do, but in the end she had no other choice, and this display of braveness may have been Psyche's only hope of a life with Cupid.
Venus responded to Psyche's appeal with scorn and great mocking, belittling Psyche, and beating her, yet Psyche bravely endured this and did not take it too much to heart.
Her first 'impossible' task, to separate a pile of assorted seeds, Psyche didn't even attempt: she was easily discouraged and now felt so hopeless that she didn't even try to separate the seeds, although, if failed, it would be her last attempt to please Venus and get Cupid back. Lucky for Psyche, the ants took pity on her and helped her.
Her next task, Psyche was equally discouraged by and planned to commit suicide, despite the ants help yesterday and the possibility of further help today. It is easy to see that Psyche would be very scared to go amongst those dangerous sheep, yet her decision to kill herself seems very extreme and lacks the courage with which she went to Venus, and the determination that she previously had in imploring the deities.
In her third task, Psyche yet again felt extremely discouraged by what she saw as a very impossible task. She did not even think of the possibility of help; which came to her anyway as an eagle.
Her final task, to go to the Underworld and bring back some of Proserpine's beauty in a box, again overwhelmed her, and she thought it so impossible (despite, again, the success of her previous tasks and the great help she had received) that she decided to jump off a tower, in suicide, again. But the tower took pity on her, "How rash of you to lose hope just before the end of your trials." And the tower instructed her how to full-fill her task, but warned, "Do not open or even look at the box you are carrying". Psyche obeyed all his advice, and found it to be good advice and so succeeded in her task. On the way home though, she was overcome by jealousy that Venus should have the beauty and not herself, a mere mortal who needed it all the more, and Psyche disregarded the towers advice (although it had given very helpful advice on all other matters and had no reason not to do so now) and let her curiosity get the better of her. Psyche opened the box, but it was not beauty, but a deep sleep that fell over her.
Cupid had seen all the impossible trials set by his jealous mother, which Psyche had faced and succeeded just for the chance to be with Cupid again. This proved to Cupid that she really did love him, and was committed to him. He helped her, and with Jupiter's consent, Psyche was made immortal and lived with Cupid forever.
In our play, Psyche shall wear expensive, finely woven, colourful (maroon and royal purple to show she is a princess) tunics and gold stoned jewellery. She shall wear a small crown to show she is princess but not a queen, and have her hair half up and half down before she is married to symbolise that she is younger, still a virgin, and less wise/experienced than her sisters (who will have their hair tied up to look older and superior to her.) After she is married, Psyche will have her hair tied up to show that she is older, of good-status, and married. She shall also begin to wear very fine fabrics, brighter colours and lots of big expensive looking jewellery (contrasting to her sisters who shall wear fabrics of duller colours and courser materials, and less jewellery) to show she is now more well-off than her sisters, and to give them good reason to be jealous. When she appeals to Venus, Venus will then have her beaten, and Psyche will have her clothes ripped and some of her hair pulled out (that is, taken down and made messy). She will look like this for the rest of the play, to show the extreme trials she had to got through, in contrast to her luxurious virgin-princess and newly-married stages in life.
The curiosity of Psyche and her search - for both knowledge (of who Cupid was and what he looked like) and for love - are symbolic of humanity's own soul-search for truth and love. Psyche goes through many states of the soul and emotions: curiosity, jealousy, love, obedience, truthfulness, selflessness and perseverance.
"Psyche" is Greek for butterfly, later meaning soul, presenting the idea that ultimate happiness comes only after many trials and tribulations, as in the case of Psyche. Despite tremendous obstacles, Psyche persisted in her search for what made her soul complete, "Love and Soul. had sought and, after some trials, found each other, and that union could never be broken." (Hamilton, 1942, p.100).
The fable of Cupid and Psyche is allegorical. The Greek name for "butterfly" is "Psyche", and the same word means "soul". The butterfly is a great symbol of the immortality and brilliance of the soul, bursting on glorious wings from the tomb in which it has lain, after a dull, sluggish existence, to fly in the light of day. Psyche is an ambiguity of the human soul, tested and strengthened by sufferings and misfortunes, and consequently prepared for the enjoyment of true and pure happiness. Psyche, as human souls are, was made for immortality, and she achieved this when she persevered and succeeded in her struggle for truth and love.
The character of Psyche was fickle and in this way was very much like the human soul -unbridled, unpredictable, and unknown or not well understood. In many ways, I think Psyche behaved in ways that seem strange, foolish and irrational but are in fact similar to the ways in which many humans may behave under similar circumstances: She lied to make herself look better, she mistrusted someone irrationally because of what certain people had 'implanted' into her heart, she sometimes faltered and sometimes persevered boldly under impossible looking circumstances, she made the same mistakes at least twice, she made foolish as well as wise decisions, she was sometimes selfish, sometimes selfless, she was victim to curiosity, she suffered the consequences of her actions, she whined or rubbed up to people (like her husband) relying on their sympathy to get her own way, but eventually her trials to get what would ultimately satisfy her soul won out, and she was happy.
Psyche was, as is any real human being, a changeable and complex person. She was not always predictable and she was not easy to pin down, though at first glance it may seem she closely resembled a stereotyped blonde female; stupid, silly and foolish relying on her extravagant beauty and charm to succeed, the real Psyche was much more human, although she often seemed to behave in very foolish and forgetful ways, and didn't seem to learn from her mistakes. She was very child-like, which in a sense is realistic as she was little more than a child. Her emotions and attitudes changed very often going from one extreme to the other, and she was single-minded. She let her emotions; love, wonder, fear, distrust; and not her common sense, decide how she was to act. She often didn't listen to advice, or else chose the wrong advice to listen to - she acted like a child or a teenager when she listened to her peers (sisters) advice, which was jealous and self- destructive, over the advice of adults/family (husband) which was meant for her own good and was given because from deep love.
Psyche behaved courageously at many places in the myth: she bravely went to the hilltop to await her awful fate, she bravely ventured inside Cupids magnificent palace, she bravely (and foolishly) disobeyed her husband and was even willing to kill him, bravely she submitted to the cruelties of Venus, and bravely she (eventually) went down into the Underworld. She was scared during these times, but despite her anxiety she did what needed to be done anyway, and this made her courageous, bold and strong.
During other circumstances though, Psyche easily became discouraged and felt hopeless, seeing only the utter impossibility of a situation. In those times, animals, deities and nature had compassion on her and helped her, and it was this sort of help that gave Psyche the hope, strength, perseverance and will to go on in her struggle for Cupids love.