
Why did Aphrodite hate psyche?
Psyche was so beautiful that people began worshipping her in place of the goddess Aphrodite. Aphrodite was so enraged and jealous that she ordered Eros, god of love, to make Psyche fall in love with an ugly monster. However, Aphrodite’s plot would not go according to plan.
Did psyche become a goddess?
The Greek goddess Psyche started life as a beautiful mortal and became a goddess when Zeus, the ruler of the Olympians, ordained her marriage to Eros, the god of love who was the son of Aphrodite. In a legend that later became the basis for "Beauty and the Beast, the goddess Psyche, unlike most of the other Greek goddesses, acquired her status as a goddess by "marrying up".
Is the story of Cupid and psyche Greek or Roman?
When Roman mythology emerged, it reimagined some of the details of Greek mythology. In the two types of mythology, names are often changed, and sometimes plot points differ. However, the Cupid and Psyche story is largely the same in both Greek and Roman mythology.
What is a symbol for the Greek god psyche?
Psyche is the ancient Greek goddess of the soul. Psyche was born a mortal. She is the daughter of an unknown Greek King and Queen. The symbol of Psyche is two butterfly wings. Psyche appears in “The Golden Ass,” also known as Metamorphoses of Apuleius. Psyche earned the ire of the Olympian goddess Aphrodite.

Is Psyche a goddess?
Psyche (/ˈsaɪkiː/; Greek: Ψυχή, romanized: Psukhḗ) is the Greek goddess of the soul and often represented with butterfly wings. Psyche was commonly referred to as such in Roman mythology as well, though direct translation is Anima (Latin word for "soul"). She was born a mortal woman, with beauty that rivaled Aphrodite.
What was Psyche known for?
PSYKHE (Psyche) was the goddess of the soul and the wife of Eros (Roman Cupid) god of love. She was once a mortal princess whose extraordinary beauty earned the ire of Aphrodite (Roman Venus) when men began turning their worship away from the goddess towards the girl.
What does Psyche look like?
Appearance. Psyche is the loveliest and most beautiful woman in the world. She has sapphire blue eyes, fair skin, rosy cheeks, full red lips, with an angelic face and a goddess-like figure. When she becomes a goddess, she is given butterfly wings so she can fly with Eros.
What are Psyche's powers?
Powers. Immortality, Flight and Magical Abilities.
Who did Psyche fall in love with?
CupidIn another allegory, Cupid's mother, Venus (Aphrodite), became so jealous of the beautiful mortal Psyche that she told her son to induce Psyche to fall in love with a monster. Instead, Cupid became so enamored with Psyche that he married her—with the condition that she could never see his face.
What is the symbol for Psyche?
The history of the psychology symbol (Ψ), the science of the soul. In ancient Greek, the word psyche (as we mentioned earlier), meant butterfly. This insect was also a symbol for the breath of life, a breeze, a life-giving wind…
Why did Psyche become a goddess?
Born a mortal woman, her beauty rivaled that of Aphrodite (Venus) and inspired the love of Aphrodite's son, Eros, god of desire. After completing a series of seemingly impossible tasks to be with Eros, Psyche was granted immortality and made into a goddess herself.
Who married Psyche?
ErosPsyche Became the Goddess of the Soul Following her transformation, she and Eros were able to marry, and they had one daughter, named Voluptas, the goddess of pleasure and delight.
Why was Psyche sacrificed?
The Priest of the goddess Ungit, a powerful figure in the kingdom, then informs the king that various plagues befalling the kingdom are a result of Ungit's jealousy, so Psyche is sent as a human sacrifice to the unseen "God of the Mountain" at the command of Ungit, the mountain-god's mother.
Why did no one marry Psyche?
Psyche was the most beautiful girl on Earth, but she was sad and lonely, always admired but never really loved. It seemed that no man would want her as his wife and this caused great anxiety and distress to her parents.
Who was Psyche the daughter of?
Psyche Facts & Trivia: Psyche is the ancient Greek goddess of the soul. Psyche was born a mortal. She is the daughter of an unknown Greek King and Queen. The symbol of Psyche is two butterfly wings.
What does Psyche goddess look like?
Psyche is depicted as a beautiful, youthful woman, with fair skin, when turned into a goddess she appears with Butterfly wings on her back.
What is Psyche personality?
In psychology, the psyche /ˈsaɪki/ is the totality of the human mind, conscious and unconscious. Many thinkers, including Carl Jung, also include in this definition the overlap and tension between the personal and the collective elements in man. Psychology is the scientific or objective study of the psyche.
What was Psyche's problem?
And her curiosity leads to big problems. The first trouble that arises in Psyche's life is totally out of her control: she can't help how pretty she is, or that Venus is insecure and jealous. Psyche's second problem, though, is within her control.
Why did Aphrodite turn Psyche into a nymph?
After Eros abandoned Psyche when she broke his heart, Aphrodite went to the house Eros kept her in and eventually found her crying. After getting Psyche to summarize her story, Aphrodite takes pity on her and decides to disguise her as a nymph and keep her on Olympus to see how much Eros really loves her.
What do Eros and Psyche represent?
Eros, son of Aphrodite, was the personification of intense love desire and he was depicted throwing arrows to people in order to hit their heart and make them fall in love. Psyche, a beautiful maiden, personifies the human soul.
The Origins of Psyche
Contrary to popular belief, Psyche was not born a deity. She was the daughter of Greek royalty. The princess had two older sisters, but she was the subject of attention during her early years.
The Start of Cupid and Psyche
While Eros went to Psyche to fulfil his mother’s wishes, he was caught off guard by her sheer beauty. The god fell in love with the mortal, ultimately forgetting his mother’s wishes. He spared her.
Instructions from an Oracle
Despite her immense beauty, no one dared to ask her hand in marriage. Men admired her from afar, leaving her no available consorts. Pair that with the departure of her jealous sisters, and Psyche was a lonely princess. The lack of prospects for marriage left Psyche’s father worried about her fate. So, he went to the Oracle of Delphi for advice.
Eros and Psyche
Psyche’s father abandoned her at the tallest rock spire of his kingdom. After waiting for the beast to take her, Psyche grew fearful and decided to take her own life. She leapt from the spire to her doom. But instead of dying, she was rescued.
Did you know?
Sometime back in the 16th century, we borrowed the word psyche directly from Greek into English. In Greek mythology, Psyche was a beautiful princess who fell in love with Eros (Cupid), god of love, and went through terrible trials before being allowed to marry him. The story is often understood to be about the soul redeeming itself through love.
Examples of psyche in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web France is set to open a trial Wednesday that will examine the origins and fallout of terrorist attacks that ripped through the French capital nearly six years ago, killing 130 people and rattling the national psyche. — Nick Kostov, WSJ, 8 Sep.
Medical Definition of psyche
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Psyche in the Underworld
For her fourth task, Aphrodite ordered Psyche to go to the underworld.
The Story in Fable and Folklore
The myth of Eros and Psyche may have only survived in one written account, but it has influenced literature and storytelling for nearly 2,000 years.
Cupid and Psyche in Art
The story of Eros, or Cupid as he was known to Latin speakers, and Psyche became a favorite subject for artists.
The Soul and the Mind
While her legend may be poorly preserved, Psyche’s name is one of the most widely used today. This isn’t due to the popularity of her love story, but rather to her domain as the goddess of the soul.
The Enduring Appeal of Psyche
It is noteworthy that the story of Psyche’s marriage to Eros has remained so popular. Many myths have much more remaining evidence but little recognition.
psyche
noun soul, mind, self, spirit, personality, individuality, subconscious, true being, anima, essential nature, pneuma (Philosophy), innermost self, inner man Knowledge of the human psyche has advanced immeasurably since Freud.
psyche
English-Spanish/Spanish-English Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.
Etymology
The basic meaning of the Greek word ψυχή ( psyche) was "life", although unsupported, some have claimed it is derived from the verb ψύχω ( psycho, "to blow"). Derived meanings included "spirit", "soul", "ghost", and ultimately "self" in the sense of "conscious personality" or "psyche".
Ancient psychology
The idea of the psyche is central to the philosophy of Plato. Scholars translate the Platonic conceptualization of the term as "soul" in the sense that he believed that it is immortal. In his Phaedo, Plato has Socrates give four arguments for the immortality of the soul and life after death following the separation of the soul from the body.
Medieval psychology
The term psyche was Latinized to anima, which became one of the basic terms used in medieval psychology. Anima would have traditionally been rendered in English as "soul" but in modern usage the term "psyche" is preferable.
Phenomenology
19th century psychologists such as Franz Brentano developed the concept of the psyche in a more subjective direction.
Psychoanalysis
In psychoanalysis and other forms of depth psychology, the psyche refers to the forces in an individual that influence thought, behavior and personality.
Cognitive psychology
The word " mind " is preferred by cognitive scientists to "psyche". The mind is a set of cognitive faculties including consciousness, perception, thinking, judgement, language and memory. It is usually defined as the faculty of an entity's thoughts and consciousness.
Further reading
Valsiner, Jaan; Rosa, Alberto, The Cambridge Handbook of Sociocultural Psychology, Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-521-85410-5. Cf. Chapter 1, p. 23, "The Myth and Beyond: Ontology of Psyche and Epistemology of Psychology".
Soul as "life"
Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.
Soul as the spiritual element of our existence
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

The Origins of Psyche
The Start of Cupid and Psyche
Instructions from An Oracle
Eros and Psyche
Psyche’s Trials
Psyche’s Death and Resurrection
Psyche’s Legacy
Psyche Facts & Trivia
- Psyche is the ancient Greek goddess of the soul.
- Psyche was born a mortal.
- She is the daughter of an unknown Greek King and Queen.
- The symbol of Psyche is two butterfly wings.
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