Psyche & Eros: The Lady and the Monster [A Greek Myth]

Graphic Myths and Legends

by Marie P. Croall, Ron Randall (Illustrator)

In ancient Greece, a princess rises to a Psyche lives in the comfort of her parents’ wealthy kingdom. But when her beauty draws the jealous anger of the powerful goddess Aphrodite, Psyche finds herself in great danger. She is taken away to an isolated mountain to marry a monster. Will Psyche find love after all with her mysterious new husband? Or will she fall prey to Aphrodite’s revenge?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Mythology, Comics, Romance, Fantasy

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Marquise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad adaptation of the myth overall, with some very small changes like, for example, the sisters are helpful and fine with Psyche getting all the attention everywhere (in the myth, they aren't), and Eros purposefully nicks himself with his own arrow so he will never love anyone but Psyche (in the myth, it's accidental). I didn't like the artwork much, though, it was too basic and had the women all looking samey, with little to distinguish one from another.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good retelling of the myth of Psyche and Eros (and I loved that her sisters weren't evil in this version!) that also shows how it was the root for both 'East of the Sun, West of the Moon' and 'Beauty and the Beast'.

[Carolina Morales · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've imposed myself a new challenge this year: to read all avaliable myths and novels related to The Beauty and The Beast. Nevertheless, this specific myth would rather be entitled 'the Beauty and the Beauty', I'll explain why...

Psyche is the most beautiful princess in all realms, which turns out to make harder rather than easier for her to find a suitable match. The Goddess Aphrodite overhears rumours about a mortal whose beauty is equal, perhaps superior, to her own's and is very unpleased. Therefore, she demands her son Eros (best known as 'Cupid') to make Psyche fall for the most wretched man in the world - that's right, because we all know nothing spoils female beauty quicker than a bad romance. Much to Aphrodite's dismay, Eros falls in love with the adorable princess and instead of throwing her a sick love arrow, he injuries himself with one and gets insanely attached to her.

Eros wants to make sure no one gets to Psyche's bed heart first, so he performs a spell to make all men admire her as much as they want, however, they must turn to their heels and leave. Psyche's father is distraught and decides to go to the Delphos Oracle to demand the God Apollo an answer for the burning question 'Why isn't my cheerleader daughter married just yet? She's almost 17, next year she'll be a spinster and I don't want an old maid under my Palace roof!'

Now Eros has an ally in Apollo, who instructs the king his daughter must be left alone in a cliff, dressed as a bride, to be taken wife of a huge snake (well, if it was a Whitesnake I wouldn't be worried because David Coverdale is one my faves rockstar BFs, however, no one assured me this happened to be the case). Psyche is horrified, but once the Oracle has spoken its rules must be obeyed not to wake the Gods' rage. The wraths aren't much sympathetic either. The only ones who seem happy to these instructions are Psyche's two envious sisters (yeah, the guy who first wrote Disney's Cinderella wasn't very original, at all...).

Psyche, abandoned over the cliff under stormy skies, prays for a quick ending and at some point falls asleep. She is transpoitted to a Castle in some place dreamy and sultry but when it comes the time to the share the marital bed, all is dark, so she is unable to know who her husband is. She only learns that he is kind, gentle, worships her body and will be nowhere to be found during the day, allowing her to do as she pleases during sunlight. Now I would be more than happy with such a deal, but Psyche is very worried about who her Master is, is she married to a huge serpent at all?

Now the sisters come along to a visit and get very envious of the hedonist lifestyle Psyche is leading, filled with all kinds of treasures and not even a husband to complain in her ears if she misplaces the porcelain collection or burns the stew in the oven. They fill her ears with hideous stories and convince her to light a lamp during the night in order to see his face that's right Psyche, listen to your long rivality feed jealous sisters and not to the man who treats you like a precious companion night after night and when she does that she realises he is not a snake but the handsomest man she has ever seen and she is so thrilled admiring him that drops some burning oil, which consisted on the fuel of her lamp, over his chest. Eros wakes up scared and in pain and disappears whispering 'There is no love without trust'.

After such deceit, Psyche is left alone and decides to accept the most horrid of all humiliations: to beg for her mother-in-law's help. Psyche really knows whom to ask for advices, really! Aphrodite is actually working on a way to cure her son already, but cunningly proposes the abandoned princess a deal in order to regain her son, as well as her trust: Psyche must overcome the challenges the Goddess imposes and, if she survives, she can have Ero's love back (girls, listen to my advice - don't EVER do that).

Psyche, detangling the schemings Aphrodite dictated, is always able to perform all deeds demanded by the Goddess, even when every single one has a catch. Now call me feminist, but that is much more clever than Hercules' twelve labours because she wasn't instruted by no one in particular, had no peculiar strenght or scheming due to war training (as Achilles and Odysseus). So, she at last suceeds and they are reunited in their unique splendid (read gorgeous) forms to become the handsomest couple of Olympus' Mount.

At last, but not less important in any level, I praise the excellent idea of converting Greek Myths into Graphic Novels. Let our youngsters see how thrilling ancient adventures can be!

[Ariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonder which came first? The Greek myth or East of the Sun West of the moon.
I may’ve enjoyed it more if I hadn’t already read and enjoyed variables of that tale, so I was kinda annoyed to come across it again.
Course some of it didn’t make sense... and then was just annoying how it ended 😅🤷🏼‍♀️ Guess I’m just sick of that superficial jargon. Even if that is a big part of Greek Mythology. 😎

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is 4.5 stars and is second best to Demeter and Persephone in this series of 27 in which I have read 22 so far.

[Dodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Greek myth done as a graphic novel about Psyche and Eros. A great way to introduce myths to kids.

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The illustrations are nice at times but the story is not told well

[sarah_schmarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eros is lame in this version :/

[Misty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the story of Cupid and Psyche. I found this while searching around on amazon.com and bought it on a whim. I am so glad I did! The artwork is Breathtaking and really enhances the story. The differences between Aphrodite and Psyche are great Aphrodite is golden like the sun while Psyche with her pale skin and dark hair resembles the night sky.

In a way this is the 'beauty and the beast' tale we all know. Psyche is told she will marry a beast even the gods themselves fear. So when she is delivered to a beautiful palace in a pretty forest meadow she is astonished. It has a lot of the elements invisible servants (sorry folks no talking objects here!) and a husband she never sees except after the candles and fires are put out. I will not spoil the story for those who have never read it. But if you love Greek myths and Fairy tales, you will love this.

[Stephanie]

I love all tales in this cycle and I read it on my lunch break so I won't give it a rating but I did enjoy it.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this series of books but this one in particular is very beautifully illustrated.