The Captive Woman: I'm a little confused. Why has Lucius been turned into a donkey and how? I understand where the young woman is coming from. If I was kidnapped I'd be crying all the time too. I don't think I would consider ending my life though.. I think I would just do anything I could to get back to my family. And the old woman is very rude. Like sorry, she doesn't want to be a part of this plan and that she's scared.
Her Dream: Oh my gosh! That would be a terrible dream!! Getting kidnapped is terrible already, but when its on your wedding day, that would be even more devastating!! It is a little weird that she was marrying her cousin, but I guess it was normal back then. But then the dream that her lover was killed by the kidnappers would scare me even more. That poor girl must be scared out of her mind.
Psyche's Beauty: Psyche is the prettiest of her sisters and all the land. To me, it makes no sense that Venus would be jealous of a human girl. Venus is also supposed to be very pretty and she is a goddess. It's weird to me that she would go to any length to try and ruin Psyche. She convinces her son, Cupid, to "exact harsh punishment" so that she'll fall in love with a man who is basically a bum and worthless.
The Oracle of Apollo: Psyche's father was curious as to why his most beautiful daughter had no suitors while the other two were ready to be married. He went to Apollo and asked why. Apollo said that if she has a child with a mortal that the child will be a "serpent-like winged evil". Her parents were upset. I mean who wouldn't be? That's really bad news to hear. I don't really understand why she wouldn't have suitors though, since all admired her beauty.
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| (Psyche entering Cupid's Garden, Source:John William Waterhouse) |
Hi Heather, I'm glad you wanted to do the extra reading! When you are going to do just half of a unit, it's better to pick one with stories in it, instead of one like this where there is a continuous plot. If you only do half of Cupid and Psyche, you don't get to find out what happens in the end! When you are looking at the Table of Contents, for each of the modules there is a list of the units like this one where the first half by itself leaves you kind of unfinished! Although if you are going to do extra reading in Week 3 also, you could finish Cupid and Psyche then! :-)
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ReplyDeleteIn your responses, you have some questions concerning the establishing details in the plot, most noticeably in The Captive Woman. It's easier to make sense of a story if you account for the cultural and social influences of the time. For example: "Why has Lucius been turned into a donkey and how?" I think you'd find that he was manipulated by the gods at some point. The gods usually transform mortals into beasts of burden as a form of punishment. Lucius mentions that Mars is "their god", or the god of the robbers. So, maybe Mars is the one who cursed Lucius. Just my thoughts!
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