FSEM 101 - The Tales of Cupid and Psyche

Embedded in a second-century Latin novel about a man who turns into an ass is a long story about a woman who turns into a goddess. It is a folk tale and a hard story, of rape and murder and love and transformation, in turns ghastly and glorious. Frequently interpreted and frequently retold, it appears now as a philosophical myth of the nature and ascent of the soul, now as a psychological analysis of the development of the feminine; it can be a sociological document illustrating the realities of Roman marriage, or an erotic account of sex turning immature youths into mature adults. We will read and reread the story of Cupid and Psyche, in ancient and modern versions, in print and painting and film, and try to understand how its retellings and reinterpretations can include Beauty and the Beast and King Kong, and how we can draw a line from Plato to Disney.

Credits 1