Love and Adventure

Cupid and Psyche

This story centers on the power of true love. Psyche first doubts that love, feeling that she must see Cupid in the flesh. She later redeems herself many times over when she proves her commitment, overcoming all obstacles in her way. Figuratively, love (Cupid) and the soul ("psyche" is the Greek word for the soul) belong together in an inseparable union. When Cupid sees Psyche, the soul in its beauty, he immediately wants to join with her. Somehow, this beauty is admired by men but does not lead to the kind of love that eventuates in a marriage proposal. But Cupid is able to fully appreciate Psyche’s beauty.

The happy ending, with Venus, Psyche, and Cupid all reaching a positive resolution, illustrates that when love is pure, all pains, sorrows, and challenges will align to ensure that the love is realized. Even nature, as the ants and eagle demonstrate, support true love. Of all the stories in the Greek mythology, none more clearly demonstrates that true love exists than this story. Moreover, Psyche reveals that true love is to be defended and supported no matter what the cost. 

Pyramus and Thisbe

The story of Pyramus and Thisbe is the first complete story in the Metamorphoses which tells of a male and female who love each other mutually. However, a different kind of obstacle—the disapproval of the two families and the wall between their homes—keeps this mutual love from existing happily. This suggests that love of any kind is likely doomed. 

Orpheus and Euridyce

One of the great tragic love stories from Greek mythology, the tale of the musician Orpheus and his wife Eurydice features love, death, poetry, and the afterlife.

The Orpheus and Eurydice myth is often slightly simplified when told, and thus it loses some of its force and meaning. Why, when he has successfully negotiated the seemingly impossible – persuading the gods to bring his wife back from the dead – does Orpheus blow it all at the last moment by foolishly going against their instructions and looking back at Eurydice before they are safely back in the world of the living?

It’s often said that it’s devotion or love that is Orpheus’ downfall: he’s so desperate to take one quick, besotted glance back at his wife as she follows him out of the Underworld that he turns round and, in doing so, condemns her (back) to death.

Ceyx and Alcyone

Ceyx, the son of the morning star, married Alcyone, the daughter of Aeolus. They were devoted to each other, and in their bliss Alcyone began calling herself Hera and her husband Zeus. For this presumption Zeus destroyed Ceyx as he sailed to consult an oracle. Alcyone, who had been left at home, then learned of Ceyx's death in a dream, so she plunged herself into the sea. But a god took pity on the pair, changing them into king-fishers. The female kingfisher lays her eggs and hatches them in a sea-nest during the two weeks in winter when the sea is calm. This time is called the Halcyon Days. 

The story of Alcyone and Ceyx is very touching and portrays the love that triumphs over tragedy. This young couple was so much in love that neither the gods nor death could set them apart. Alcyone followed her husband to the other life and did so with her free will.

Pygmalion and Galatea

The Pygmalion and Galatea story delves into the transforming potential of love and the boundary that exists between art and reality. Galatea, which Pygmalion created, represents the artist's search for a perfect beauty that surpasses the flaws in the actual world. His intense love for the statue symbolizes the human desire for achievement and the realization of dreams. Venus's intervention, which gives Galatea life, emphasizes the notion that there is a heavenly presence in earthly matters and that love has the transforming ability. In the end, the story considers how creation may satisfy profound emotional demands and how the lines separating reality from fantasy might become unclear. 

Daphne and Apollo

This charming myth talks about the platonic love of god Apollo for the beautiful nymph Daphne. It is said that Daphne was the first love of Apollo but unfortunately the girl never responded his love. It was not usual or possible for a nymph or a mortal woman in the Greek mythology to resist to the love of a god, but Daphne did so and in fact, she lost her life trying to escape this love.