Cupid and Psyche

Probably the first true "fairy tale" in terms of love and eventual marriage is the story of Cupid and his love Psyche. Once upon a time, there lived a king with three daughters whose youngest daughter was so beautiful that people stopped worshiping Venus, the goddess of love. This girl was named Psyche and Venus sent her son Cupid to make Psyche fall in love with a hideous monster (no vengeance, right?). When he saw her beauty, Cupid dropped the arrow intended for Psyche and pricked himself ensuring that he would be her lover (apparently Cupid can get "pricked" too?). Despite her immense beauty and kind nature, no one wanted to marry Psyche so her parents consulted an oracle who believed that she would only marry a monster. Being a jerk, the oracle also instructed her parents to take Psyche to the top of a mountain and leave her there. Coincidentally, Psyche was taken to a palace where she was waited upon by invisible servants and apparently she had a husband that would only come by night to see her so that he would not be seen. Although Cupid was incredibly kind to Psyche, she became quite homesick so he let her sisters come and visit her at the palace. Out of jealousy, Psyche's sisters told her to look at her husband with a light because he was a monster who wanted to eat her. Psyche took a candle to look at Cupid while he was sleeping and dropped hot wax on his shoulder waking him up. He immediately fled the palace destroying it as he left. Feeling guilty for her actions toward Cupid, Psyche roamed the planet looking for Cupid completing a series of intense challenges for his mother Venus (talk about a bad mother-in-law) until Cupid found out she was looking for him convincing Jupiter to make Venus quit persecuting Psyche. Cupid and Psyche got "married" and lived in loving bliss forever after.

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Because this story is such a classically good story, the reader can see many modern counterparts for this story. My favorite love story just has to be a Disney story so I chose Beauty and the Beast. Considering I am such a hardcore francophile, I loved watching this movie when I was little and I still enjoy it today. I think the movie contains strong positive messages like loving an individual for who they are and not necessarily what they look like while the best-looking guy/girl in town may not always win in the end.

http://collider.com/beauty-and-the-beast-disney-joe-ahearne/