In Search of Cupid and Psyche: Myth and Legend in Children's Literature
CUPID AND PSYCHE < --------> MYTHIC ELEMENTS
Two disingenuous, "evil-minded," "hateful vampires," p. 111; duplicitous, envious, usually confederated against the third.
Stainless daughter of matchless beauty (sacrifice of, loving, questing) (described in C&P as "innocent" p. 110; "servile", p. 116; simple-minded, p. 129); tends to be wandering or abducted heroine; may include Pandora episode frequently associated with pregnancy.
Invisible Husband/Monster husband/Questionable Husband:
"Beast", p. 131; "snake", p. 131; "eat you alive", p. 131; "fiendish reptile," p. 115; "poisonous snake," p. 115.
This is a husband of contradictory elements: see the ambiguous oracle, the sisters’ descriptions, Venus’s tirade, discussions of the goddesses; However, in Psyche’s nocturnal pleasures and in her stolen perceptions, different aspects emerge. Perhaps Cupid is a coincidentia oppositorum symbol: a symbol of the paradoxical union of contradictory characteristics. To be seen in folktale in simplified forms (e.g. Beast and Bluebeard)
Vengeful, irrational, jealous, implacable, whether as mother, step-mother, queen, witch, goddess). Mozart’s Queen of the Night is such a figure lifted directly from German folklore.
In traditional literature, whether mythic or romantic, these tend to manifest supernatural or otherworldly traits; while they sometimes seem to personify the natural world, perhaps they imply the sweetness or benevolence of earthly life; sometimes they suggest transcendental or atemporal realities, perhaps invoking the ideal world, or perhaps the illusoriness of worldly suffering.
In realistic or naturalistic fiction (mimetic literature), invisible/kindly/supernatural helpers tend to be merely quaint, folksy, menial, very old, foreign, even handicapped; they seem to be emphatically non-modern, anti-historical, vehicles of traditional wisdom. Like their counterparts in myth and romance, they also seem to imply either the sweetness of earthly life or the proximity of the timeless.
Jungian mythological critics (see E. Neumann) tend to interpret both types of Mysterious helper as representations of psychological elements involved in the process of individuation or maturation, both on conscious and unconscious levels.
Mysterious, Menacing or Neutral Supernatural BeingsCharacteristics:
Opposite of the above: natural, supernatural elements that cannot be implored to help, will not render assistance, may be dangerous, deadly, fatal.
Three unhelpful goddesses: Ceres (p. 127), Juno (p. 128), Venus, Old Habit (p. 131), Anxiety and Grief (p.132), Golden sheep (p. 134), "Illusions"—Three weaving women (p. 138), Lame man with lame ass (p. 139), Putrid corpse (p. 138-139), Charon (p. 140), Cerberus, the three-headed dog (p. 140), Proserpine (p. 139), gossipy sea-gull (p. 123), Mercury (p. 130-131), Jupiter (p. 141)
Places distinguished by the presence of a god, goddess or supernatural entity.
Plots, Subplots, Events, MotifsCharacteristics:
Draws upon ancient, religious, authorized, sources and tends to be repeated, ritualistically