VALENTINE'S SPECIAL : CUPID

CUPID

By Adesuwa

Hello People! Still on St. Valentine’s day series… today we want to talk about Cupid. I guess we may have heard or used the word, especially when people say “ I have been struck by Cupid’s arrow”. 

Well, Cupid is not a word but the name of the god of love. Cupid is believed to be the god of love. According to Roman myths He is the son of Venus the goddess of love, while the Greeks call him Eros and believe that he is the son of Aphrodite the Greek god of love and beauty and also of passion and sexual love.  He is that chubby angel-like creature we see, mostly drawn in a heart shape with a bow and arrow, wearing nothing but briefs.

Valentine’s Day would not be complete without Cupid, He is the most recognised symbol of love. It is believe that if struck by his arrow, such a person would fall deeply in love with the next person he or she meets (on a lighter note, get a shield will you? You don’t want to be struck and then the next person you see is your boss or a sworn enemy!).

So, the Romans believe that Cupid fell in love with Psyche, his mother Venus was very jealous of Psyche’s beauty but this did not deter Cupid. He married her but also warned that she never looks at him, and he came to her only at night. However Psyche’s sisters convinced her to flaunt his warning. So she took a lamp one night to see him. Cupid left Psyche because of this.

She searched for him everywhere without guidance until she found Venus’s temple. Venus still brimming with jealousy and with an intention to destroy her, made her go through hideous tasks, each one more difficult than the last. The last task was for Psyche to go to the underworld with a little box and get some of the Prosperine’s beauty. Prosperine is the Roman goddess of the underworld.  She was warned not to open the box, but curiousity got better of her and she opened the box. History has it that opening the box caused her to fall into deadly slumber!

Not to worry, Cupid really loved Psyche and found her lifeless body. He gathered the deadly sleep from her body and swept it back into the box. He forgave her and so did she. The gods moved by Psyche’s love for Cupid made her a goddess and they lived happily ever after.

Little wonder that when love hits you, your whole psyche does some sort of 360 degree turn..like you are no longer thinking. When that happens to you just know its Cupid and Psyche at work! Don’t be scared about being struck, whoever gets struck lives happily every after.

Cupid is sometimes shown blindfolded, why? Because love is blind!

Today’s cupid is You and I. We meet people everyday and our little acts of love live beyond us. That’s the whole essence of St. Valentine’s day.  One love!

N.B I would like to acknowledge the following sources consulted to put this article together- www.holidayinsights.com/valentine/cupid