Cupid and Psyche

A king and queen had three daughters. Of these, the most beautiful and youngest was Psyche, who was thought to be the second coming of Venus. Of course, she had many admirers, the most noteworthy being Cupid, the god of desire, who fell in love after a jealous Venus ordered him to carry out revenge for her. An oracle states that Venus's potential suitor will be a horrible monster that will consume her. She eventually comes upon a house where she meets a stranger whom she is unable to see very well. She begins looking forward to repeated visits, but he always leaves her before sunrise, so that his form is never revealed to her. She then becomes pregnant. Her envious sisters tell her to figure out the identity of the man, warning that it may very well be that monster. A plan is devised for her to carry a lamp in order to see his form and a dagger to kill him. When she sees his form, however, she is so startled that she drops the lamp and injures herself on one of his arrows. Cupid then flees, leaving Psyche. Psyche's jealous sisters attempt to act as replacements but ultimately fail. Cupid begins wandering the Earth looking for her lost love. Eventually, she comes into the care of Venus, who, after having Worry and Sadness torture her for a bit, gives her a few trials as Cupid recuperates inside of her house. After completing these trials, Cupid's wounds have healed and he sneaks out. Cupid asks Mercury to convene an assembly of gods, where he tells Venus to back off from Psyche and then gives her Ambrosia, granting her immortality and allowing them to be wed as equals.

I do find it quite interesting that it is the female rather than the male that is going through trials for her significant other, something not often seen. At the same time, however, Cupid is put on a bit of a pedestal in this story, having Psyche's sisters flinging themselves at him and damaging their sisterly bonds. All in all, it's an interesting story, but not one that I would dwell on for too long personally.

As for the best love story ever told? Quite clearly that would be Pikachu and the ketchup (sorry, this is a topic that I'd prefer avoiding an actual discussion on).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRO8H8QIdck