Storytelling for Week 2: The Revenge Feast

The feast was in full array, bountiful foods and drinks spread across the tables, songs of celebration echoing off the glorious halls of the splendid theatre. It was an important meeting, called forth by the god Jupiter himself, and not a single soul invited would miss it. At one end of the room stood a couple, two people come together to join each other in matrimony, blessed by the gods themselves. It would be an event of the century according to the heavenly powers and mortals alike.

Cupid and Psyche.

Image by Leo Gonzales. Source: Wikimedia commons.

Venus sat idly by, twirling her hair around her fingers and tapping a foot impatiently. It was not joy she shared today for the marriage of her traitorous son, Cupid, but anger and hatred for the vile temptress that stood next to him.

“The evil little Psyche… If you think I will let you get away with taking away my boy and my beauty, think again,” she muttered under her breath.

Jupiter’s knowing eyes peered towards her, as if he knew exactly what the goddess was thinking. She feigned a sweet smile, lifted a fluttering hand in a peaceful gesture, and returned to the discussion taking place at her table. He had already warned her once, reassuring her that her lineage would remain pure. It was not the lineage that she cared for, but the fact that such an inferior mortal could be worthy of the heart of the rest of the world, of her own son.

“Oh, Venus! You are so lucky to have such a beautiful daughter-in-law! Even the mortals acknowledge her blessings!” A strawberry blonde goddess gleefully continued the conversation, “They even believe she could give you a run for your position!”

Holding back the temptation to smite this unnecessary goddess down where she sit, Venus sneered and replied, “There is neither goddess nor mortal that can compare to me. Surely even you understand that.”

The sheer sarcasm of her biting tone was enough to silence the other woman. She’d had about enough of celebration for a while. Venus closed the doors behind her, cutting off the sounds of dance and song, of laughter and cheer. She was ashamed of her kind, accepting that girl into their heavenly embrace.

“Anxiety! Sorrow!” Venus called, snapping her fingers. Her servants scuttled to her side, bowing in submission to their beautiful mistress. “We have plans to attend to and deaths to scheme, sweet servants. Psyche must be rid of one way or another.”

Down the hall and beyond the doors of the grand theatre, Cupid turned his attention away from his happy wife. He looked around, seeking his mother, but found her absent. Frowning, he gave up and returned back to the smiling face of Psyche, more beautiful than Venus herself.

Author’s note: This is a retelling of The Wedding Feast in Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche. Psyche is a beautiful mortal compared to Venus herself. After Venus ordered her son, Cupid, to harm Psyche, he betrayed her and fell in love instead. In retaliation, Venus tortures poor Psyche and attempts to drive her to her end, but of course, Psyche and Cupid are reunited and blessed by Jupiter, the god of the heavens. I decided to write this from Venus' perspective during the celebration of Cupid and Psyche getting married. After she spent so much time torturing Psyche, I couldn't see her being very happy about the heavens blessing their marriage, so I decided to write what I thought she would respond with!

Bibliography:

"Apuleius's Cupid and Psyche" by Apuleius, from The Golden Ass, translated by Tony Kline (2013). Web Source: The Wedding Feast.