three difficult tasks.[1] First, like Cinderella, she must separate the different kinds of seeds from a pile. Helpful ants quickly executed the task. Venus believed that Amor had helped her and charged her to bring her a lock of the golden fleece. Psyche, who frequently wished to end her life, was instructed by the nymph Arundo how she could solve this problem. Third she must bring water from a spring, guarded by dragons, which supplied the Stygian swamps and the waters of Cocytus. Jupiter's eagle helped her this time.
Finally Venus wishes a box full of the beauty of Proserpine. As Psyche in despair would throw herself from a tower, it speaks in an encouraging and counseling voice,[2] telling her in what manner she can carry out this most difficult task and safely enter the under world. She came near forfeiting her life by being overcome with sleep emanating from the box which she had opened in her curiosity in order to take for herself some of the underworld beauty. The recovered Amor, escaping from the bondage of his mother, comes to her assistance and turns back the sleep into the box, and Psyche delivers the present of Proserpine. Amor—instead of, as in other tales, vanquishing the persecutrix as the hero—now goes to Zeus in order, as his favorite, to procure deliverance from the difficulties.
Zeus charges him with having, in various ways, wounded his heart and stained it by earthly passion and brought the customs into disrepute through an objectionable love affair and spoiled his reputation and authority, when he had induced him to be changed into serpents and flames, into a bull and a swan.[3] However, he promises to help him; the mortal Psyche receives the nectar of immortality[4] and is united forever with the godly Amor.
The author concludes this study with a feeling of great incompleteness. Unfortunately he has taken only a very little from the rich treasures of the fairy tales—perhaps more, however, than has been taken formerly from these beautiful creations, thanks to the Freudian psychological discoveries. There remains yet very
