Secret love between a beautiful lady and a monster, an enchanted palace, two envious older sisters and a happy ending. So far, it seems like a folk tale from a Walt Disney movie. But it is the story of Eros and Psyche, included in the Latin work entitled Metamorphoses or The Golden Ass, by the prolific author Apuleius (2nd century A.D.).
"Nothing arises from nothing", determines the Greek philosopher Parmenides in the Aristotelian Physics. Although this is a metaphysical principle, it is often applied to literature, which is made up of sources and models that are reproduced over the years. Therefore, there are no completely original authors, since these, consciously or unconsciously, build their characters and fictional worlds inspired by previous literary works or reinventing them.
In this sense, Apuleius' story is an archetype of the folk tale, and many of the motifs it includes are still clichés of fantastic tales such as Beauty and the Beast, from the 18th century, disseminated through Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's version. The Russian linguist Vladimir Propp analyzed the recurring elements in folk tales in his Morphology of the Fairy Tale, and Beauty and the Beast and "Eros and Psyche" share many of them, even though the former has enjoyed greater popularity than its counterpart, written 1,600 years earlier. Although the exact reasons why the Latin work has not had such a significant reach cannot be known, it is true that classical literature is often considered inaccessible to the uneducated reader and is restricted to those interested in the Greco-Latin world or mythology. However, Apuleius' tale is neither convoluted nor archaic in language and can be as enjoyable as one of the Brothers Grimm.
The play begins by introducing the protagonist, Psyche, the youngest of three sisters who, despite being the most beautiful, is the only one who has not married. Her father, concerned about this status, asks committee to the oracle of Apollo (to which many of the characters of Greco-Roman literature go) and he announces that his daughter Psyche will marry a "cruel and fierce" husband, so he must abandon her on a stone to fulfill her destiny. Although in the 18th century tale the motivation for Bella's departure is different, both know that they are destined to live with a "beast" who ends up being a beautiful suitor.
Supernatural beings are a fundamental element in fantasy tales, so the breeze of the Zephyr, a soft and gentle wind in Latin literature, is in charge of leading the young woman to her husband. Like Bella, Psyche arrives at an uninhabited palace full of riches, where she is greeted by disembodied voices offering her their services and where she enjoys an opulent banquet.
The imposition of a prohibition and its subsequent transgression is recurrent in folktales or fairy tales. The two main characters, Psyche and Belle, receive warnings, but break their promises at some point in the story and are punished for it. Psyche's perversion stems from her insatiable curiosity, a weakness that also plays a fundamental role in the classic myth of Pandora or the tale of "The Mysterious Bottle" by the Brothers Grimm, in which a young girl breaks a king's order not to open an enigmatic bottle.
In addition, the magical auxiliaries, animals or other fantastic beings that star in fables and children's stories, also appear in Apuleius' tale, since it is an ant, a talking reed and an eagle that help the protagonist to fill in the Herculean tasks entrusted to her by the goddess Venus in order to take revenge on her.
On the other hand, the older sisters, both those of Belle and those of Charles Perrault's Cinderella, traditionally play the role of antagonists: they are cruel, envious and try to make life miserable for their innocent younger sister (or not so innocent, in the case of Psyche...).
At final, "Eros and Psyche" constitutes the birth of a literary tradition that endures despite the fact that its diffusion in the last century has not been as B as that of other contemporary folk tales. Therefore, the presentation of this story is intended as a plea in defense of reading the classics at an early age. Obviously, not all works of antiquity are equally suitable for a children's audience, but some are ideal for introducing the classical world to the reader who has not yet delved into it. Apuleius' Metamorphoses and those of Ovid, the Greek author Apollodorus' MythologicalLibrary Services or the fables of Aesop and Phaedrus (among others) show that the classics are the first to reveal the didactic value of literature. The curiosity of Psyche, the vanity of Venus or the jealousy of the sisters of the protagonist of Apuleius' text are counterexamples of behavior to be avoided, so that many Greco-Latin works are and will be valuable tools in the human Education .
