Week 4 Story: Disapproving Mother-In-Law

Psyche and Cupid were madly in love. They were both crazy for each other despite their different upbringings. Cupid was born to one of the wealthiest families in the state. His father was a real estate mogul and a successful businessman. Psyche, however, came from more humble beginnings. They met their freshman year of college and never looked back. As soon as they graduated they planned to get married. Cupid's mother heavily disapproved of their relationship and constantly reminded her son, Cupid, about her heavy disapproval. Psyche had always wanted a nice family wedding. However, Venus told her son that she would not fund any of the wedding. She also vowed to never approve of their marriage.

Cupid and Venus spent many nights frantically worrying about how to repair the disconnect between mother and daughter in law. Cupid tried his best to mend the relationship and reasoned with his mother about a compromise. Venus came to a compromise with her son, but she offered unreasonable terms. Venus told Psyche to complete one monumental feat. This task would be deemed unreasonable by many. If Psyche completed the task, Venus said she would agree to fund the wedding and come to terms with the marriage.

Venus told Psyche that she must learn to juggle six flaming torches by the end of two months. If she failed to do so, the marriage would not receive her blessing and would not be funded. So, Psyche set out to train. She sought out the help of many different entertainers and acrobats to help her perform this feat. She dedicated ten hours of each day to train. Psyche started with two unlit torches and progressed her way to six. By the end of the second week she had managed to juggle six torches without fail. Next, she began to train with fire. Psyche suffered many burns and hurt herself quite a bit. She was confident in her ability and skill but had not mastered the final hurdle. On the day of her performance she felt ready. Psyche was nervous but felt confident. She demonstrated her newly acquired ability to Venus flawlessly. Venus was stunned by this, but she had to accept the outcome. In the end, Psyche and Cupid would marry. The wedding went according to plan and Venus learned to accept and appreciate her daughter-in-law over time.

(A photo of the mythological wedding between Psyche and Cupid. Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Author's Note: For this story, I retold a portion of the tale of Cupid and Psyche. Psyche was considered to be the most beautiful woman to walk the earth. Many people had spoke of her beauty far and wide. It did not take long for Venus, the most beautiful goddess, to catch word of the mortal Psyche. In response to this, Venus ordered her son, Cupid, to dispose of Psyche. She wanted Cupid to curse Psyche to a lifetime spent with the most ugly and wretched men. However, Cupid could not go through with this act. Cupid wed Psyche in secret and hid his face and identity to his lover. He did not want his mother to find out what he had done. Eventually, Psyche unveiled his identity and Cupid was forced to leave. Venus tracked down Psyche and demanded her to complete 3 impossible tasks. However, Psyche was able to accomplish each task to the dismay of Venus. In the end, Jupiter called for the marriage to be approved. He blessed Psyche with the gift of immortality to make the marriage between two immortals. I put more of a modern twist on my retelling of the story. I chose to focus on the section that included Venus and her demands of Psyche to complete the impossible tasks. I changed the outcome of the events and added my take on the well-known tale. I wanted to create a relatable story that pits the evil mother-in-law against the soon to be bride. I also wanted to add a bit of humor by adding a ridiculous task.

Bibliography: Cupid and Psyche from The Golden Ass, written by Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline. Source: UnTextbook.