As it so happened that I was interested from the youngest age in different tales of different nations of the world (in our home library was a very good collection of books, “Tales of the World”), but most of all I was fascinated by Greek myths. A variety of stories about the gods of Mount Olympus, mythical heroes, adventure-filled journey of the Argonauts, or the heroic exploits of Hercules. On the rich Greek pagan mythology and religion can not write a dozen articles. But today will be dealt with only one Greek myth, which has enormous symbolic value. (By and large, many Greek myths – is not only interesting history, but also deeply symbolic messages through space and time).

According to the eminent Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung, all well-known fairy tales, myths and legends were written by their authors under the influence of a deep and hidden layer of our psyche – the collective unconscious. (In which incorporated the knowledge of mankind. Just imagine the knowledge of humanity in every human being in me, you, and you, too.) Therefore, a fairy tale or a myth is not just a fairy tale or a myth, not all such as it seems. So, let’s hear (or rather read) the myth about Madam Psyche.

Once upon a time, long ago, there lived a king in a kingdom, and he had three daughters. The youngest of the daughters was a great beauty. She was so beautiful that men from all over the kingdom would come to the royal palace, only to admire her beauty from afar. But the girl herself (and her name was Psyche) was deeply unhappy, because all men have come only to admire her, but nothing more. None of them did not even dare to try to win the heart of a beautiful woman.

Nevertheless, all the people never ceased to marvel at her beauty so much that it hurt very much the Greek goddess of love and beauty Aphrodite. In Greek mythology, the gods are no better (and sometimes even worse) than people, such as jealous, vengeful, vindictive, vain. So Aphrodite (also known as the lady Venus) terribly offended that people began to consider Psyche more beautiful than her. And to play a prank of his rival, she summoned her son Cupid. Cupid is often portrayed as a little angel with a bow and arrows (bow and arrows oh what is not simple, who hit a boom, he immediately falls in love.) In our myth Cupid appears in the image is not like little angel, but a very handsome young man (but also with the wings and a bow and arrows).

So treacherous Aphrodite ordered Psyche Cupid to make a beautiful Psyche to fall in love with the most pathetic, disgusting and vile of all men. But it didn’t happen, Cupid seeing how beautiful and wonderful our Psyche, is hopelessly fall in love with her. Secretly at night, he begins to visit a girl; of course, she also falls in love with him and becomes his wife, wife of mysterious, invisible Cupid.

From the very beginning of their marriage, Cupid aims his sweetheart the condition that she in any case should not see his true face. So he visit her only at night under a blanket of darkness. Psyche is a happy woman, even though she had never seen the face of a mysterious man. But alas, jealousy is not among the Greek gods (such as Aphrodite), but also among ordinary people. Psyche’s older sisters, jealous of her happiness, began to incite the last, that her mysterious husband, in fact, may be some terrible dangerous monster.

Finally, one night the curiosity and fear took possession over the girl so that she could not resist and took a knife and oil lamp so they hid in the bedroom. When Cupid fell asleep, she took a lamp and a knife, lit the fire, but instead saw a monster in the bedroom, see a young man of extraordinary beauty. From the surprise and excitement in her trembling hands, and a few drops of hot oil lamp fell on the skin of the sleeping Cupid. He woke up in pain and saw his beloved Psyche with a knife and a lamp. In anger, the betrayal of his beloved, he flies away, and the unhappy Psyche in despair begins to search for her favorite Cupid around the world.

For a long time wandering the world the beautiful Psyche, in search of her husband. Many fabulous mythical characters she meets along the way. Among them, the god Pan. Pan tells Psyche that he saw as the Cupid flew back to his mother Aphrodite, to heal the wounds of the burn and betrayal favorite. Psyche finds his way to the mother in law – Aphrodite and entered into the service to her in the hope of ever returning to her beloved Cupid.

Here is Aphrodite has played at the unfortunate girl hard game. She starts to give her the job harder one another, hoping to kill the girl, in fact, these problems have been almost impossible to solve. So in one of the tasks she had to disassemble the individual grains of a huge pile of mixed grains. (Remember the tale of Cinderella). In this task, the ants helped her, who came to the rescue and quickly dismantled the grain. In other problems she had to mow the golden fleece of the sheep, mad, bring water from the river Styx, which flows into the underworld. The crucial and most difficult task was to bring a box with miraculous ointment from the underworld.

When Psyche, completed the last running task and has successfully returned from the underworld with the miraculous ointment, she had the idea to open that box and rub her face to hide the traces of suffering, tears, and many sleepless nights. However, she did not know that in the drawer was the spirit of the god of sleep – Hypnosis. Brushing face, she went to sleep soundly on the road. It so happened that Cupid flew past the spot where she fell asleep, (he is actually looking for her too) rushed up to her and woke her jabs with his arrows of love (Remember the story of Sleeping Beauty). After that he took her with him to Olympus, and since nothing could separate them. From the marriage of Cupid and Psyche, a child was born who was named Pleasure.

That’s the end of the tale.

For some, this myth – just an interesting, romantic, love story. But I will say that this story is really about each one of us, because the main character of Psyche symbolizes our soul. Everyone of us is in perpetual search of a perfect Cupid. Only hard work of our soul, our Psyche, lead us to love, happiness, pleasure.