cupid & psyche context

‘necessariam’ in demands the essential loan of mercury

can also mean ‘connected by familial ties’ as Mercury is often connected with Venus - they even have joint cults at Argos, Megalopolis, Cnidos and Lesbos

‘Arcadi’ in Venus’ speech- ‘Arcadian brother’

Mercury was born on Mt Cyllene in Arcadia. Here Apuleius is using the genology that Venus is the daughter of Dione & Jupiter

‘metas murtias’ (the murtian turning posts)

Fixtures in the Circus Maximus in Rome, named after the shrine of the goddess Murcia, sometimes given as a cult name for Venus. This is an infamous haunt of prostitutes

‘septem savia’ (seven sweet kisses given by venus as a reward)

Foreshadowing of Lucius’ ritual immersions before his invocation of Isis (venus caelestis) in book II. On the other hand, read in a baser fashion, it makes venus litle better than the slave girl Photis who causes trouble for Lucius in the first place

Consuetudo (Habit)

One of Venus’ servants is the personification of Habit- the word can also mean ‘marriage’ or ‘intercourse’ but here she seems to function to accustom Psyche to the pains of being in love

‘Orci cancros’ (Psyche is described as being in the claws of orcus)

Orcus was a god of the underworld, a punisher of broken oaths, envisaged as a kind of monster with crab-like claws

‘ascalpens aurem dexteram’ (venus scrathing her right ear)

a sign of barely controlled anger- venus is marked by these histrionic gesture- which ancient instructors of rhetoric warn their students against. → touching an ear shows admonition while others (pliny) associate the spot behind the right ear with goddess of retribution - Nemesis

‘Sollicitudo atque Tristities’ (venus’ slave girls anxiety and sorrow)

traditional of the tortures of love

turgidi ventris (venus realises psyche is pregnant- describes it as ‘swollen stomach’)

psyches pregnancy, like her beauty, is threatening to Venus, who doesn’t like the connotations of growing old as a grandmother. Also in this Apuleian tale she is possessed by angst at her own inability to become pregnant- this is a strikingly odd phrase used to describe pregnancy and is probably insulting given that ‘turgidus’ is often used to describe effects of illness

‘felix vero ego’ (venus say ‘how lucky I am indeed’ → finding out about Psyche’s pregnancy

language used plays with a traditional form of prayer to a divinity called a makarismos → echoes the sarcasm of Psyche’s sisters in V.27

‘impares’ (venus describing C&P’s marriage as being ‘between unequal parties)

venus, in castin doubts on the legitimacy of the marriage + the offspring, plays with a number of things. Marriage accross social divides could be illegal- but underlying concepts of illegitimacy seem to be Greek, rather than Roman (such as it taking place in secret with no witnesses. → autobiographical joke on Apuleius’ part- part of his prosecution was on the basis that his wedding took place in the country, away from public view

‘padre non consentiente’ (venus describing Cupid and Psyche’s marriage as illegitimate- ‘with no father consenting)

father’s consent was necessary in Roman law- but this is a sly joke by Apuleius too as parentage of Cupid was notoriously unclear

‘spurius’ (venus saying that Psyche’s child will be born ‘a bastard’)

technical latin term for a bastard with insulting connotations but law is not correct → child of a freedman and a slave is not a bastard but simply a slave- which requires the father to be unknown, not just to be married to the mother

‘partum omnino perferre’ (venus sayinng she might not make psyche ‘carry the child to term altogether’)

medical terminology → abortion was not a crime in the Graeco-Roman world and it did occur, but only when the health of the mother was threatened. → medical writing advises against abortion for social reasons like extra-marital pregnancy- it often resulted in the death of the mother- so a double threat against Psyche

‘tam deformis ancilla’ (venus describes Psyche as ‘so ugly a slavegirl’)

venus betrays her jealousy over Psyche’s beauty

‘sedulo ministerio’ (venus says Psyche only could’ve won her admirers ‘by diligent service’)

refers to Psyche’s servile state (and alludes insultingly to prostitution) but is also religious. Psyche tries to win back Cupid with devoted prayer

promeri (venus describing psyche as ‘winning favours’ of her admirers)

ie like a prostitute

congeriem (the ‘heap’ of grain which Venus orders Psyche to sort out)

Heap of grain was a potential hiding place for Psyche in 6.2. She had diligently sorted out the confused mass in the temple of Ceres, showing in advance her piety and virtue towards gods → Venus attempts to test this

‘formicula…parvula’ (‘tiny little ant’ which comes to help venus)

diminutives are common in apuleius but here emphasise the smallness of the ant → homoioteleiton here (repetition of similar word endings)

certa (describing the ant as ‘aware’ of the difficulty facing Psyche)

ancient authors have credited ants with exceptional perception and even foresight

contubernalis (ant describing Psyche as Cupid’s ‘bed fellow’)

significantly Psyche is not referred to as an ‘uxor’ but as a ‘bedfellow’ or ‘partner’. → slaves living in a union, sanctioned even by their master- reflecting Psyche’s servile presentation

‘magni dei’ (meaning ‘the great god’, when the ant has taken pity on the bed fellow of the great god)

indicates Cupid is behind the help given to Psyche

‘ruunt aliae superque aliae sepedum populorum undae’ (description of the ants- wave upon wave of the 7 footed nations rushed forward)

metaphor of waves is indicative of vast numbers (usually of people) and comes from Homer- and found in military contexts building a mock-epic feel

‘balsama’ (venus returns from the wedding feast fragrant with ‘balsam’)

balsm is an aromatic associated with Venus and weddings

‘rosis micantibus’ (venus returns from the wedding feast with her body covered in ‘with shining roses’)

roses are associated with romance and play a wider role in the novel Fotis comes wreathed in roses to Lucius- and the cure to turn back human requires eating roses

frusto cibarii panis (‘crust of coarse bread’ thrown to venus by Psyche after first task)

a coarse type of bread given to slaves - Psyche is still treated as one

‘sic ergo disentis et sub uno tecto separatis amatoribus’ (in this way the lovers were kept apart and separated under the same roof’)

theme of lovers apart but under the same roof is common place in Greek novels and emphasised here by participles

‘praecipitio fluvialis rupis’ (suicide attempt from Psyche before sheep task ‘by a jump from a river rock’)

image reminds the audience of IV.85 where Psyche was abandoned on a rock by her father. → this is Psyche’s 3rd suicide attempt out of 5. Jumping from a rock is a stereotypical literary way for a desperate person to commit suicide

‘dulcis aurae’ (reed which helps Psyche is divinely blown ‘by a sweet breeze’)

reminds us of Zephyr who earlier transported Psyche to Cupid’s palace

‘sub illa procerissima plantano’ (the ‘lofty plane tree’ which Psyche collects the golden sheep wool from)

resting under a pleasant plane tree for the middle of the day links back to the trope of ‘locus amoenus’ (literary motif depicting an idealized, pleasant place of safety, beauty, and harmony)