The reading notes are taken from Apuleius's Golden Ass by Tony Kline.
The rest of the reading continued the story of Psyche's life. Venus was told the news of Cupid taking a mortal for a wife and how her family name had been ruined. Angry by this she asked what mortal had tricked her son into marrying her. The seagull that had brought the news to Venus said it was Psyche and Venus became enraged. Cupid meanwhile was laying in his mother's home wounded from the hot wax that had burned him. Venus came to him and scolded and threatened him. Wanting to restore her reputation she went to the heavens and asked the messenger god for his help. The messenger god went to earth and told everyone he encountered the reward for finding Psyche.
While searching for Cupid she saw a temple on a high mountain. Hoping to find him there she went to the temple of a goddess. She saw the temple in disarray and cleaned it up, and the goddess appeared to her. Warning her that Venus was angry with her and wanted to find her. Psyche was terrified and asked the goddess to hide her until Venus' anger was calmed by time. The goddess turned her down, and Psyche ran to another temple to pray. The goddess of that temple appeared to her and Psyche requested the same shelter. The other goddess also denied her because it was Venus that was the one looking for her. The goddess told her to try to find her husband at Venus' temple instead of the other gods' temples.
Starting on her journey she found out about the bounty on her head and was fearful of all mankind. They were in a mad search for her and she went to Venus' temple quickly. When she arrived one of Venus' servants grabbed her by the hair and brought her before Venus. Venus then mocked her and tortured her, and left her with an impossible test. Ants nearby took pity on Psyche and helped her with her test which was to separate different grains into piles. Angered by the completion of the task Venus gave Psyche two more impossible tasks to complete. She was able to receive pity on beings passing by and they helped her complete the tasks.
Finally, Cupid came to help Psyche and seeing that his mother was not going to be calmed went to his father for help. The god agreed with a condition of having a beautiful girl brought to him. Then the storytelling part ends with Cupid and Psyche getting married and Psyche becoming immortal.
(Caption: Cupid and Psyche image by Wikipedia)
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