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PSYCHE (//vxi7)

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Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 544 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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PSYCHE (//vxi7) , in See also:Greek See also:mythology, the personification of the human soul. The See also:story of the love of See also:Eros (See also:Cupid) for Psyche is a philosophical See also:allegory, founded upon the Platonic conception of the soul. In this connexion Psyche was represented in Greek and Graeco-See also:Roman See also:art as a See also:tender See also:maiden, with See also:bird's or butterfly's wings, or simply as a butterfly. Sometimes she is pursued and tormented by Eros, sometimes she revenges herself upon him, sometimes she embraces him in fondest See also:affection. The See also:tale of Cupid and Psyche, in the Metamorphoses of See also:Apuleius, has nothing in See also:common with this conception but the name. In it Psyche, the youngest daughter of a See also:king, arouses the See also:jealousy of See also:Venus, who orders Cupid to inspire her with love for the most despicable of men. Cupid, however, falls in love with her himself, and carries her off to a secluded spot, where he visits her by See also:night, unseen and unrecognized by her. Persuaded by her sisters that her See also:companion is a hideous See also:monster, and forgetful of his warning, she See also:lights a See also:lamp to look upon him while he is asleep; in her See also:ecstasy at his beauty she lets fall a drop of burning oil upon the See also:face of Cupid, who awakes and disappears. Wandering over the See also:earth in See also:search of him, Psyche falls into the hands of Venus, who forces her to undertake the most difficult tasks. The last and most dangerous of these is to fetch from the See also:world below the See also:box containing the ointment of beauty. She secures the box, but on her way back opens it and is stupefied by the vapour. She is only restored to her senses by contact with the arrow of Cupid, at whose entreaty See also:Jupiter makes her immortal and bestows her in See also:marriage upon her See also:lover.

The meaning of the allegory is obvious. Psyche, as the personification of the soul, is only permitted to enjoy her happiness so See also:

long as she abstains from See also:ill-advised curiosity. The See also:desire to pry into its nature brings suffering upon her; but in the end, purified by what she has undergone, she is restored to her former See also:condition of See also:bliss by the mighty See also:power of love. On this story see L. Friedlander, " Ueber das Marchen von Amor and Psyche " (in Darstellungen aus der Sittengeschichte Rams, 1888, vol. i.; for a treatment of the Greek conception, see E. Rohde, Psyche, 1894). For Psyche in art see A. Conze, De Psyches imaginibus quibusdam (1855); Max Collignon, Essai sur See also:les monuments grecs et romains relatifs au mythe de Psyche (1877).

End of Article: PSYCHE (//vxi7)

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