Psyche's Four Tasks

[sdi]

In the fable of Cupid and Psyche, Psyche is required to undertake various tasks on behalf of Venus in order to reascend from the sensible world to the intellectual world. Each of these is meant to destroy her, but each time, she receives aid:

• Her first task is to sort a large pile of seeds and grains by type under severe time constraints. She is aided by a colony of ants, a creature of the earth.

• Her second task is to collect fleece from a flock of man-eating sheep. She is advised by a reed, a creature of the water.

• Her third task is to fill a pitcher from a Stygian spring guarded by fierce dragons. She is aided by an eagle, a creature of the air.

• Her fourth task is to descend to Hades and fetch some of Proserpine's beauty. She is advised by an tower enchanted by a spirit, a creature of fire.

That the elements give aid to Psyche is an obscure way of saying that our sojourn here in the sensible world is governed by Providence: it is not a punishment for sin but rather how we learn to apprehend Love.

The tasks themselves, too, are representative of what we need to learn in the body: the tedium of manual labor (growing and managing of grain), the crafts of civilized life (animal husbandry and the spinning of wool), the mastery of social custom (the Styx is representative of oaths), and finally the overcoming of death itself (going to and returning alive from Hades).