Cupid and Psyche

In Greco-Roman myth, Cupid’s arrows inspire passionate love—a symbol that endures in contemporary images surrounding Valentine’s Day. The arrows evoke the powerful sensations associated with desire: a piercing, sometimes painful wound that can only be healed by the caresses of the beloved. When Cupid discusses falling in love with Psyche, he speaks of being pierced by his own arrows. When Psyche discovers him in her bed and accidentally pricks herself with an arrow, she swoons with love. No one, human or god, is safe when Cupid chooses to fire.

Cupid’s arrows do not always wound or destroy, however. When Cupid discovers Psyche lying asleep, he gently pricks her with an arrow to wake her. Love brings Psyche out of the death-like state into which she falls, acting as a restorative, reconciling force.

Apollo describes Cupid as possessing both “torch and dart” (78). Greco-Roman art sometimes portrayed Cupid with a lamp that served to enflame hearts with desire, as did his arrows. In being splashed with a drop of oil from Psyche’s lamp, Cupid is symbolically wounded by love for her. Explaining love as being provoked by an outside instrument such as an arrow reflects the overwhelming power of love, yet it also seems to absolves people from taking responsibility for their behavior in romantic relationships.