We Are All Asses

So this won't be a very dignified post, or even very worthwhile for that matter, but I had to comment...
Dr. Sexson's comment made me think of this computer prank I was emailed one time, since I can't find it I will hacve to just describe it. You are sent am email thinking it will be a neat optical illiusion, told to get as close to the screen as possible and stare...and keep staring...and keep staring...until the screen suddenly changes and you are face to face with a huge donkey head staring you right in the eye and a caption that sas "Get back to work you ass!!" Speaking of which, that's what I should be doing right now...

So yeah, totally pointless, but couldn't help myself :)

Love and the Soul

Now I have seen the names 'psyche' and 'eros' both translated in two different ways. Psyche I have heard as either "mind" or "soul," and Eros as either "love" or "desire" (or lust). When I put these together I found something interesting. The philisophical value I took from this story was that 'love' and the 'soul' cannot exist without one another, they need one another to complete and whole and by the same turn, 'lust' and the 'mind' go together as well. So love is born of spirit, the soul finding it's severed half as Plato said; and lust is of the brain, simply the mind working on it's baser instincts. This, in an odd way, gives me reassurance in the nature of love. In a world of visual cues and heavy sexuality, we are given a reminder that real love truly is born of the soul, even if it is erotic.

Cupid and Psyche, Beauty and the Beast?

Reading the tale of Cupid and Psyche, I was surprised to be reminded of stories from my childhood. Cupid's waking of the sleeping psyche, placed under a spell of eternal sleep reminded me of two other very familiar characters who paid a price when curiousity got the best of them:

(On a side note, when I think of the apple given to Snow White by her stepmother in disguise, I can't help but think of the καλλίστ apple thrown by Eris that caused the Trojan war.)

And even before this in the story, I was reminded of the story of Beauty and the Beast. Like Belle, Psyche has been trapped in a beautiful home by a master whose face she cannot see (whether literally or figuratively depends on the version of the Fairy Tale) and whom she believes may be a terrible monster, a theory implanted largely by her jealous sisters. When she does finally see him, however, and realizes that he is not the monster she thought he was, she returns his love and begs him to return. I certainly like this version of the story much better than Disney's!

Cupid and Psyche

It was a tough decision, but I think that this has to be my favorite depiction of the two:

I simply cannot get past their beautiful expressions. Eros' determination to keep this woman as his bride is so fierce it seems almost tangible, and Psyche's dreamy expression of content and happiness counterbalances his perfectly. Beautiful, simply beautiful.