As
the young girl stepped out of her house, the world around her had changed. She
was no ordinary girl anymore. She was something else, something from a fairy
tale. Her skin was a pale porcelain, much like the moonlight that shown down on
the city every single night. Her cheeks a fair pink, brought just the right
amount of color to her face. Her hair was a golden brown, mixed with hints of
red here and there. Just by looking at her, the people could feel the softness
of her soul. She was not only beautiful on the outside, but also from within.
No one had witnessed anything quite like her before.
As
the townspeople flocked to her side, they glanced up at her beauty and became
frozen. They stood in awe of this beautiful creature, not knowing reality from
a dream. How could it be that this girl, beautiful as she was, really be in
their midst? Was she a Goddess or a cruel trick played on the people of this
fair city? It was as if she was a reincarnation of the great Goddess Venus.
Dumbfounded by her beauty, some townspeople continued to stare at beautiful
Psyche, while others presented her with bouquets of flowers and showered her
with other gifts.
Throughout
this day, there was another audience, one watching from above the city. It was
the great Goddess Venus. She was not pleased to be seeing the events that
unfolded before her eyes. How could a mere mortal be getting more praise and
love than her? How could this young girl be mistaken for her? How was that
Psyche was able to steal all the love and attention from her? She was an
imposter, one that needed to be stopped right away. She was no Goddess, and
would therefore not be able to bathe in the luxuries of one.
Venus
became infuriated and green with jealousy. There would no other that would take
the place of her. She called upon her younger son Cupid to help put this Psyche
to a stop. Cupid was notorious for ruining marriages and causing mischief wherever
he went, among other things. She asked her dear son to put a wretched spell on
Psyche, a spell that would cause this beautiful young imposter to fall in love
with the most worthless of men. This would be Psyche’s eternal downfall. She
would fall miserably in love, and Venus would finally be rid of her.
Author's Note: I chose to rewrite a chapter from the unit Cupid & Psyche. The chapter that really captured my attention was Psyche's Beauty and the Anger of Venus. I chose to mostly go with the original story already in place. I really just wanted to add more to portrayed beauty of Psyche. There wasn't really a vast description on what the people saw of Psyche's beauty, just that she was very beautiful. I decided to add more of a description of what the people might of seen, and to try and make the audience depict this as well. In all honesty, if you are beautiful enough to anger a Goddess, then there must be a lot to describe about you.
Bibliography
Book: The Golden Ass
Author: Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline
Year Published: Unknown
Web Source: Apuleius: The Golden Ass
Author: Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline
Year Published: Unknown
Web Source: Apuleius: The Golden Ass
I really enjoyed your version of the story! I chose Cupid and Psyche for my Week 3 reading. I see what you mean about the original story lacking in description of Psyche and her extraordinary beauty. You did a good job with descriptive words and I liked your writing style in that section. I also liked how you posed questions that Venus was asking herself. It gave insight into her thoughts.
ReplyDeleteYour story had really good descriptions! I was definitely able to create an image in my mind from your words. I also liked that you ended the story where you did. I haven't read Cupid and Psyche, but that ending definitely makes me want to. I love the descriptions in your story. Maybe make sure to read your story out loud one time before posting though, there were a few times where the sentences were missing words, or had grammar issues. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your adaption of Cupid and Psyche! I think your choice to include all of the questions throughout the story was both great and interesting. It really gave a glimpse into what Psyche was thinking and helps with character development and moves the story along nicely. One thing I could maybe suggest would be to perhaps develop and focus on why she underwent the change in appearance. I think it would add some depth to the story to include a little more background about Psyche. Another thing you could maybe add would be to add a little more description about the spell that Cupid placed on Psyche. Maybe a little dialogue between them? I think that would help give the audience a little more insight into exactly what Psyche had to go through after Venus sent Cupid out on the mission. However, I think you did a great job! Looking forward to reading more of your stories!
ReplyDeleteYour story was an enjoyable read. You have a great tone and a great use of detail and word choices. Those gods and goddesses are a very jealous and vengeful group indeed! The detail that you gave about Psyche's beauty really painted a picture of her in my mind. And woe is the woman's tale about falling for the wrong guy all the time. I think I have known a few Psyche's in my day and even was one for awhile. Maybe we should be blaming Venus for all of men problems. Also, I was a little confused on why she was different and transforming to begin with. I don't know if it mentioned that in the original story, which sometimes doesn't prompt you to think about it. I know some of the stories I read left out some detail and it never dawned on me to create and fill in the blanks that I had when retelling the story. Other than that it was great!
ReplyDeleteTaylor, I thought you did a great job with this story. I like how in the beginning you give such great depth to the main character. You provided a countless number of details to express her appearance and emotions. This was a perfect balance between inner and outer beauty. It is a shame that the story took such a sinister tone, but I guess that is the general tone of Greek mythology. My only suggestion would be maybe adding some depth behind maybe why this is occurring. You did so excellent with expressing the details and emotions of the character that this wouldn't be a problem at all. Overall, great job with the story!
ReplyDelete