Sam Clemens found an ancient scroll tucked in a vase he bought from a scruffy man at Covent Garden. The man said the vase was from a temple to Venus. Probably a cheap job lot made in Wapping. But then, where did the scroll come from? It couldn’t be true, surely? Still. It will make a good article for the Tattler.
Surely everyone’s heard by now. Psyche, once said to be even more beautiful than Venus, Goddess of Love and Beauty has raised the goddess’s ire once again! As told by the Three Graces.
“Did you see her?” Splendor asked her sisters.
Cheer and Mirth had just returned from the servants’ hall of the goddess’s palace. There among the pink marble and silken couches, they had spied Venus’s prisoner Psyche.
“I can’t believe that mortal was once said to be more beautiful than Venus herself!” Mirth laughed.
“I can see though,” Cheer whispered. “Maybe, before her trials and her heartbreak. But when Cupid’s lead arrow strikes…well, it is enough to frighten a god.”
“Angering Venus is enough to anger a god,” Splendor said. “I would not risk it, sister.”
“No, of course not.” Cheer said, glancing up at the ceiling for invisible spies. “No mortal could ever rival Venus in beauty.”
“But the mortal is brave,” Mirth said. “Foolish, but brave. I heard she already succeeded in fulfilling two of Venus’s tasks. The first was impossible, the second was meant to kill her.” She lowered her voice. “I think the gods are helping her.”
Cheer laughed at this and Splendor covered her smile with a delicate hand.
“She was once a princess,” Cheer said. “I didn’t expect such fight.”
“But what does she fight for?” Splendor asked.
“Love!” Mirth laughed. “She argues with the Goddess of Love and Beauty over love! Sorrow told me even after they whipped her, she continued to say her love would endure. Venus even offered to make her a princess again and send her back to her father.”
“But the foolish mortal insisted that she could win back her love,” Cheer interrupted. “She begged for another task if only the goddess would allow her to see her love again.”
Splendor shook her head in sorrow, yet delight shone in her eyes. Love was mysterious, fickle and demanding. No one asked explanations of love.
“What did Venus do?” Splendor asked.
“Well, Sorrow said the goddess almost killed the girl with pleasure. Apparently, she’s very sensitive to our essence.” Mirth smiled. “It would be fun to go play with her. You could make her feel splendid, sister. Cheer could lighten her pain, and I could make her find enjoyment in her torment!”
“But she is Venus’s toy, not ours. What will the goddess do to her next?”
Mirth grinned. “She’s sending the little vixen to the Underworld!”
Splendor gasped. “Do you mean the goddess is going to kill her?”
“No. she’s sending her to the Underworld alive to ask the Queen of the Dead for a boon. Can you believe it?”
“Splendid,” Splendor said.
“If she survives,” Cheer said, “she will have done the impossible. If she dies, she will make a great plaything for the King and Queen of the Dead. Either way, it will make a very good tale.”
Psyche Unbound
The celebrated beauty of Roman princess Psyche has enraged Venus, the Goddess of Love and Beauty. As punishment, Psyche is left naked on the beach to be sacrificed to a monster.
When Cupid, the God of Love, swoops her up and flies her to the monster’s palace, Psyche mistakenly wraps her legs around his waist, looks into his eyes, and falls in love. Blindfolded and tied to a bed, Psyche awaits the monster, vowing to be brave as she faces death. Yet when the monster arrives, he marries her on the condition she never see his face.
As she grows to love her shadow husband, she can’t stop thinking about the God of Love. Consumed by curiosity, Psyche breaks her promise by lighting a lamp. Awaking in a rage, and furious with her betrayal, her husband banishes her from the palace.
Psyche begs Venus for another chance at love. Unmoved, Venus demands Psyche perform three impossible tasks. If Psyche succeeds, her husband will return. If she fails, she will be condemned to death. Can Psyche satisfy Venus and win back her true love?
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