Cupid and Psyche Trivia

Cupid and Psyche Trivia

Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge

Psyche means "soul" and "butterfly" in Greek. In most paintings and sculptures, she's shown with butterfly wings (source).

Famous psychologist Carl Jung used the word "psyche" to describe the combined conscious and unconscious parts of our minds (source).

The oldest existing version of "Cupid and Psyche" is a side note in Apuleius's The Golden Ass, a satirical novel in which a man accidentally turns himself into a donkey. Interestingly, Apuleius was once accused of using magic to make a wealthy widow fall in love with him (source).

Cupid and Psyche's love story has been made into a modern musical comedy (source).

What do you get when you cross the soul with love and desire? Pleasure, apparently. Cupid and Psyche's daughter Hedone (Voluptas) was known as the goddess of sensual pleasure (source).