Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Week 2 Reading Diary: Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche


There were many parts in the first half of reading Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline, that caught my attention. For example when the thieves kidnapped the girl the donkey talked about how gorgeous the young woman was and that she looked like a girl to “covet”. I also liked how they chose to describe the young woman later on in the story. It was said that she looked as if she was, “born from the blue depths of the sea, emerging in spray from the foaming waves…” (Psyche’s Beauty). Another part of the story that stuck in my mind was the fact that Psyche was so beautiful but still lonely. Her two older sisters weren’t as pretty as she was but they were happily married… or so it seemed. The story also follows a very standard fairy tale plot because when they find that Psyche has a wonderful life they immediately get jealous and want to take her happiness away. The last thing that stood out to me was the description the sisters made for Psyche’s husband. They made him sound like he was such a hideous creature. I had a vivid picture of a serpent like creature slithering into bed with Psyche and was shocked to find that he ended up being a handsome Cupid. 
                                                       
(Painting of Psyche Abandoned by Coypel
Source: UnTextbook)

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