0:00:07.079,0:00:10.020
"Beauty is a curse," Psyche thought

0:00:10.020,0:00:15.170
as she looked over the cliff's edge[br]where she'd been abandoned by her father.

0:00:15.170,0:00:18.760
She'd been born with the physical[br]perfection so complete

0:00:18.760,0:00:25.060
that she was worshipped as a new[br]incarnation of Venus, the goddess of love.

0:00:25.060,0:00:30.861
But real-life human lovers were[br]too intimidated even to approach her.

0:00:30.861,0:00:34.312
When her father asked for guidance[br]from the Oracle of Apollo,

0:00:34.312,0:00:36.942
the god of light, reason, and prophecy.

0:00:36.942,0:00:40.572
He was told to abandon his daughter[br]on a rocky crag

0:00:40.572,0:00:47.463
where she would marry a cruel[br]and savage serpent-like winged evil.

0:00:47.463,0:00:51.584
Alone on the crag, Psyche felt[br]Zephyr the West Wind

0:00:51.584,0:00:54.773
gently lifting her into the air.

0:00:54.773,0:00:57.823
It set her down before a palace.

0:00:57.823,0:01:02.563
"You are home," she heard [br]an unseen voice say.

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"Your husband awaits you[br]in the bedroom, if you dare to meet him."

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She was brave enough, Psyche told herself.

0:01:12.353,0:01:16.163
The bedroom was so dark that she[br]couldn't see her husband.

0:01:16.163,0:01:19.194
But he didn't feel serpent-like at all.

0:01:19.194,0:01:23.364
His skin was soft,[br]and his voice and manner were gentle.

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She asked him who he was,

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but he told her this was the one question[br]he could never answer.

0:01:29.834,0:01:35.205
If she loved him, [br]she would not need to know.

0:01:35.205,0:01:39.016
His visits continued night after night.

0:01:39.016,0:01:42.556
Before long, Psyche was pregnant.

0:01:42.556,0:01:46.235
She rejoiced, but was also conflicted.

0:01:46.235,0:01:51.147
How could she raise her baby[br]with a man she'd never seen?

0:01:51.147,0:01:57.017
That night, Psyche approached[br]her sleeping husband holding an oil lamp.

0:01:57.017,0:01:59.706
What she found was the god Cupid

0:01:59.706,0:02:03.106
who sent gods and humans [br]lusting after each other

0:02:03.106,0:02:06.198
with the pinpricks of his arrows.

0:02:06.198,0:02:12.117
Psyche dropped her lamp,[br]burning Cupid with hot oil.

0:02:12.117,0:02:16.137
He said he'd been in love with Psyche[br]ever since his jealous mother, Venus,

0:02:16.137,0:02:21.107
asked him to embarrass the young woman[br]by pricking her with an arrow.

0:02:21.107,0:02:26.328
But taken with Psyche's beauty, Cupid[br]used the arrow on himself.

0:02:26.328,0:02:31.469
He didn't believe, however, that gods[br]and humans could love as equals.

0:02:31.469,0:02:36.330
Now that she knew his true form,[br]their hopes for happiness were dashed,

0:02:36.330,0:02:40.519
so he flew away.

0:02:40.519,0:02:45.189
Psyche was left in despair until[br]the unseen voice returned

0:02:45.189,0:02:48.070
and told her that it was indeed possible

0:02:48.070,0:02:52.741
for her and Cupid [br]to love each other as equals.

0:02:52.741,0:02:55.430
Encouraged, she set out to find him.

0:02:55.430,0:03:00.860
But Venus intercepted Psyche and said[br]she and Cupid could only wed

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if she completed a series [br]of impossible tasks.

0:03:05.541,0:03:12.741
First, Psyche was told to sort a huge,[br]messy pile of seeds in a single night.

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Just as she was abandoning hope,

0:03:15.200,0:03:20.622
an ant colony took pity on her[br]and helped with the work.

0:03:20.622,0:03:22.810
Successfully passing the first trial,

0:03:22.810,0:03:26.782
Psyche next had to bring Venus[br]the fleece of the golden sheep,

0:03:26.782,0:03:30.923
who had a reputation for [br]disemboweling stray adventurers,

0:03:30.923,0:03:33.012
but a river god showed her how to collect

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the fleece the sheep [br]had snagged on briars,

0:03:35.883,0:03:39.032
and she succeeded.

0:03:39.032,0:03:42.473
Finally, Psyche had to travel[br]to the Underworld

0:03:42.473,0:03:45.644
and convince Proserpina, [br]queen of the dead,

0:03:45.644,0:03:50.324
to put a drop of her beauty in a box[br]for Venus.

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Once again, the unseen voice came[br]to Psyche's aide.

0:03:54.602,0:04:00.374
It told her to bring barley cakes for[br]Cerberus, the guard dog to the Underworld

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and coins to pay the boatman, Charon[br]to ferry her across the river Styx.

0:04:08.234,0:04:11.214
With her third and final task complete,

0:04:11.214,0:04:15.525
Psyche returned to the land of the living.

0:04:15.525,0:04:21.476
Just outside Venus's palace, she opened[br]the box of Proserpina's beauty,

0:04:21.476,0:04:24.736
hoping to keep some for herself.

0:04:24.736,0:04:28.597
But the box was filled with sleep,[br]not beauty,

0:04:28.597,0:04:32.417
and Psyche collapsed in the road.

0:04:32.417,0:04:37.786
Cupid, now recovered from his wounds,[br]flew to his sleeping bride.

0:04:37.786,0:04:41.166
He told her he'd been wrong and foolish.

0:04:41.166,0:04:43.508
Her fearlessness in the face[br]of the unknown

0:04:43.508,0:04:48.147
proved that she was more than his equal.

0:04:48.147,0:04:55.467
Cupid gave Psyche amborsia, the nectar[br]of the gods, making her immortal.

0:04:55.467,0:04:58.958
Shortly after, Psyche bore their daughter.

0:04:58.958,0:05:01.249
They named her Pleasure,

0:05:01.249,0:05:06.199
and she, Cupid, and Psyche, [br]whose name means soul,

0:05:06.199,0:05:10.249
have been complicating people's[br]love lives ever since.