Reading Notes: Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche, Part B

Notes:

Venus and the Goddesses:

When Venus is mad I think she should turn into a large sea-like serpent.

Venus and Psyche:

I would change the punishment to making Psyche eat a bunch of food, basically force feeding her instead of flogging her. I think Psyche should be pregnant as well, and Venus would not be able to torture her but to cast a spell on her unborn child to get back at Cupid and her daughter-in-law.

I think Cupid would then come in and stop his mother from torturing his wife so, and then Cupid would use his powers to chain his mother up for eternity.

Psyche’s Task:

I think instead of sheep’s wool Psyche was required to get, I think it should be she must learn how to talk to silk worms on a tree to get them to make her enough silk to make a dress for Venus’s ball. Unfortunately, she is unable to speak to the worms, does not get enough silk and can only make a headband out of the silk she does have. So Psyche is tortured again, but this time goes to bed without food.

The Jar of Beauty:

I think in the jar of beauty will be all of Venus’ secrets and her form, and Psyche will accidentally drop the jar and inherit all of Venus’ power from that moment on. But the catch is that Psyche can no longer be with Cupid, and Venus must live without him even though she is having his baby. So Cupid and Psyche are still unable to be together and raise a child together.

The Escape:

The donkey doesn’t just escape from his chains, but bites and kills all the robbers to save the princess. But before the donkey and princess escape, the old lady casts a spell on the girl now. When she marries, her first born will turn into a donkey unless met by a kind owner who feeds his barley.

The donkey from Cupid and Psyche, The Golden Ass by Apuleius.
Source: Calvary Chapel Birmingham

Bibliography:

Cupid and Psyche by Apuleius