Episode 04: Eros and Psyche
/This week, a truly epic tale of love, betrayal, jealousy, and a quest literally to Hell and back. Episode four dives into the dramatic relationship between the ancient Greek gods Eros and Psyche. You may have heard their names, but never this version of their story!
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Our music is "Danger Storm" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com). Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0
Transcript
AM: Hello and welcome to Spirits podcast, Episode 4 — "Eros...
JS: and Psyche".
AM: Don't forget Psyche.
JS: Don't forget Psyche. This episode is jam-packed full of action, romance, hurt feelings, betrayal.
AM: There's a— you know? Nagging mother-in-laws. There's invisibility, there's tragic acts of romantic devotion.
JS: There's talking towers...
AM: Bit of a telenovela.
JS: Oh, yeah, it's, it's legit. It is probably the first Greek soap opera.
AM: There you go. And we are back to the Greeks. Eros is someone that I didn't know as a person. I just thought that it was like a word that came up in literature studies and like, the three classic kinds of love. One of them is agape, I don't remember the other one.
JS: Oh shit. Oh shit, Amanda. I don't either.
AM: Uhh— my brain is saying stoicism, that's not right.
JS: That's not it.
AM: Let us know. But we know that you're going to enjoy it and what are we drinking today, Julia?
JS: We are drinking the most romantic of all wines, Rosé.
AM: Or the most girly.
JS: It’s…
AM: Depending on your taste—
JS: Hmmm.
AM: —those can be the same. I don't really remember recording this podcast. So that may be a sign that we are two-ish glasses of Rosé in and I hope that upon listening back to it, you will get the message. Enjoy this episode of Spirits.
Intro Music
JS: Amanda.
AM: Yes?
JS: What happens when love falls in love?
AM: Uhh, a paradox?
JS: Not quite. Uhm, well today, we're going to talk about uhm— Eros and Psyche.
AM: Interesting!
JS: In Greek mythology.
AM: Psyche, like your mind, your psychology, your kind of like, soul?
JS: Well, in Greek it actually meant mind and soul.
AM: Interesting.
JS: Same kind of word.
AM: Sure. So like not your brain, but the part of you that is you.
JS: Yes.
AM: Cool.
JS: Uhm, and Eros obviously means love. So for those of you who don't know. Eros is the son of Aphrodite, who is the goddess of love.
AM: Cool, and is Aphrodite herself the daughter of Zeus? Is that it? Is that right?
JS: No, she's kind of like, the sister of Zeus. She was actually born when Zeus cut off their father's dick and threw it in the ocean.
AM: What?
JS: So, basically...
AM: What— what then happened?
JS: Basically, the dick goes in the water, it foams up and out of the foam, Aphrodite is born.
AM: Literal seafoam.
JS: Like literal seafoam, like coming in a Botticelli seashell, covered in hair and foam.
AM: When my mom told me not to touch the seafoam on the beach, she was right. Oh no!
JS: No, that was terrible.
AM: No wonder why it smells so chanky. Oh no!
JS: Okay. So Aphrodite— Aphrodite, the seafoam goddess, is the goddess of love...
AM: I will never look at seafoam green again.
JS: No, no, please stop. Too many puns! Too many puns!
AM: We haven't even started...
JS: We haven't even started. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, sort of the like, jealous goddess of love.
AM: Right, yes.
JS: Becomes super important in this story.
AM: I feel like I've heard stories of her being jealous before.
JS: I mean...
AM: Is that like a characteristic of hers?
JS: I mean, honestly, in Greek mythology, the gods and goddesses get jealous, a lot.
AM: Cool.
JS: The story of Eros and Psyche begins with a king and a queen in Greece.
AM: Cool.
JS: They have three beautiful daughters.
AM: Nice, always in threes.
JS: Always in threes.
AM: Very nice.
JS: The two daughters, the two older daughters are absolutely gorgeous.
AM: Awww.
JS: Super, super pretty. But the third daughter—
AM: Ugly duckling?
JS: —the hottest!
AM: Didn't go the way I was expecting.
JS: No, she is the hottest!
AM: Wow, I'm sure her older sisters are really happy about that.
JS: Oh, super happy. Uhh, and they're not the only ones. So, she had like, suitors coming from all over Greece, all over the world which is like—
AM: Wow!
JS: —the Mediterranean...
AM: The Mediterranean basin.
JS: Yes. Uhm, coming to like, win her favor, trying to win her hand in marriage.
AM: Right, be her suitor.
JS: Exactly. So much so that they're forgetting to make their sacrifices to Aphrodite.
AM: I can see this ending is very badly for the hot one.
JS: It does not go well.
AM: And is the hot one Psyche, she is right?
JS: The hot one is Psyche.
AM: Yeah.
JS: So Psyche's, she's not...
AM: I like that, I like— I like to think that my— my inner self is like the hottest mortal of them all.
JS: She is. Your inner goddess is beautiful.
AM: Right. Work!
JS: Work. So Psyche, she's just like, she's not like trying to do anything. She's like, these boys are nice, like, they're okay. Like, they're not really my types but like...
AM: Got it, right? She has literally all the choices in the world.
JS: Yes.
AM: So I can see her being picky.
JS: A little bit. She's not even picky. She's just like, “Hmm... you're not doing it for me.”
AM: Right.
JS: So...
AM: Waiting for love to strike her.
JS: Exactly.
AM: Woah!
JS: Which actually...
AM: That's kind of a pun, because, Cupid!
JS: Yesss! Cupid or Eros.
AM: Eros—
JS: We call him Eros this time.
AM: Yup.
JS: With Cupid, you think of the...
AM: But the same idea. The bow... is he a chubby baby or he's a person?
JS: He's a hot guy.
AM: Dude?
JS: Hot guy
AM: Hot man?
JS: Hot guy.
AM: Okay.
JS: Not a baby.
AM: Got it.
JS: Makes...
AM: Was that more of a Renaissance thing?
JS: Yes and more like a Rome thing.
AM: Oh, I see.
JS: Eros is like a hot dude, where Cupid is the baby. Cupid is the name in Roman, we're doing Greek.
AM: Got it. So the Greek, Eros, god of love?
JS: Love.
AM: Attraction? Yeah.
JS: Uhh, who quintessentially has the bow and arrow.
AM: Got it.
JS: So like...
AM: And he makes people fall in love with like, that's... like the lovestruck kind of cartoonish thing—
JS: Yeah.
AM: - I have in my head. Is that really what it is?
JS: Yeah, pretty much. That's like that concept. He strikes the arrow at someone, they fall in love.
AM: Just at whim? For fun? Or?
JS: Sometimes. Usually he like, listens to his mother. His mother's like, those people should fall in love and he's like, "All right, mom." Pweshooo!
AM: Aww... kind of creepy, kind of cool.
JS: Kind of creepy, kind of cool. Depends on...
AM: Greek Mythology: Kind of creepy, kind of cool.
JS: Aphrodite's pissed. She is not being worshiped and someone is calling...
AM: Oh yes! [inaudible 6:06] sacrifices, temples are dusty, things are bad.
JS: Like, and Psyche's suitors are calling her the second coming of Aphrodite like you will be pissed too.
AM: That's what you don't do to a jealous god.
JS: Exactly. So Aphrodite is like, "We gotta teach this bitch a lesson."
AM: Oh no!
JS: And so she's like, "Hey, Cupid. You know what you're gonna do?", and he's like, "What mom?" She's like, "You're gonna shoot her with an arrow and make her fall in love with like a gross peasant."
AM: Oh, no!
JS: And he...
AM: This is like A Midsummer Night's Dream.
JS: Yeah...
AM: When Titania shall fall in love with an ass.
JS: Everyone falls in love with asses. So Cupid's like, "All right." So he goes to like her sleeping chamber and is about to shoot the arrow, but as he's pulling it from his quiver, scratches himself and falls in love with Psyche.
AM: Wow.
JS: Hmmm.
AM: Eros, that's pretty ham-fisted. The one, you had one job!
JS: You had one job.
AM: Eros, you had one job. And that job was to stick a mortal with an arrow, not yourself.
JS: Let's, let's keep in mind that the Greek gods are not like omnipotent. They don't know what's going on. So Eros goes back to his mother. He's like, "Yeah mom, I—I shot her. She should be fall in love with that mortal any day now."
AM: Oh, you mean that they can kind of trick each other.
JS: Right.
AM: They don't have kind of all-seeing dominion over—
JS: Right.
AM: —you know? all of humankind.
JS: So Eros goes back to his mom. He's like, "Yeah, I did it." Like, you know?
AM: Mythology would be a lot less fun if the gods couldn't trick each other.
JS: Oh yeah, absolutely. It would be boring. So he tricks his mother, and then sends a messenger—
AM: Right.
JS: —to the king.
AM: Okay.
JS: Psyche's dad.
AM: Right.
JS: And it's like, "Listen, you're going to have to send your daughter to this cliff, and she's going to marry this like, gross monster thing and..."
AM: As sacrifice?
JS: Sort of. Like, you pissed off.
AM: Or as a cover story?
JS: You pissed off Aphrodite, now she has to marry an evil monster. And the dad is like, so upset by this. Like—
AM: Right.
JS: —"This is my prettiest and youngest daughter." like—
AM: Yeah.
JS: —how dare they?
AM: His baby.
JS: But so he sends her up...
AM: Makes a certain amount of sense, right? Like, the offended Aphrodite and so there's some kind of punishment.
JS: Exactly
AM: —and actually, it's Eros being a little bit duplicitous.
JS: A little tricky.
AM: Okay.
JS: So they like, have like a wedding. Instead of a wedding march, they have like a funeral march.
AM: Oh no.
JS: Everyone's wearing black, like—
AM: Sending her off to her doom.
JS: —they drop her off at this cliff and then the messenger is like, "Okay, everyone needs to leave." And they're like, bu— he's like, "No, you need to leave." And they're like, “Okay…”
AM: Because there is no monster.
JS: Because there is no monster. The messenger turns out to be Zephyr, who is the West Wind god.
AM: Oohh.
JS: I almost said West Wing there, but that's not what I meant. The West Wing god which is like the gentle breeze god.
AM: Now imagining it with the— with the voice of Jed Bartlet.
JS: Martin Sheen.
AM: I know.
JS: Playing Zephyr.
AM: Talking about like, Latin conjugation or Greek conjugation.
JS: So what he does is he picks her up. He takes her to this field and she like, falls asleep and when she wakes up, she's in a castle.
AM: Oh, wow! cat— just like a pop-up castle? It was there.
JS: It's just all of a sudden, it's like there. She's like, wakes up...
AM: Like a holiday pop-up market, but instead it's a castle in the field.
JS: Yes, and it's like the super nicest thing. She's like wandering around. She's like, that's a really nice crown. Oh, look, a nice mosaic! And...
AM: All the things you want in the starter home—
JS: All the things you want.
AM: —a starter castle.
JS: And she's just kinda like, "Wow, this is nice. But where is my creepy monster husband?"
AM: Right.
JS: And a disembodied voice answers her. He like, "I am your husband. Let's go eat something. You cannot see me." and she's like, "That seems super weird." He's like, "Don't worry about it."
AM: But it's not a monster, I guess?
JS: It…
AM: Does she think of the monster is elsewhere? Or does she think that like this is the scary part [inaudible 9:42].
JS: She thinks that this is the scary part.
AM: Oh okay, that her husband's just a voice.
JS: Well, she's not sure. She thinks it's like a trick of some sort.
AM: Sure.
JS: Where it's like, this evil monster is just like disguising himself as a disembodied voice.
AM: Yeah, that seems—
JS: She's like a little sketchy.
AM: —pretty sketchy.
JS: It's a little sketchy to her. But like, slowly as the day goes on. The voice kind of wins her over. Like, he sings her songs and like, makes her food.
AM: Nice feast. Nice mosaic. [10:05]
JS: And so she's like, "Hmmm okay... I, I can get behind this." and so he like takes her to the bedroom, they have awesome sex. She still hasn't seen him yet...
AM: In the darkness?
JS: In the dark.
AM: So she— so there's, she knows that so— something or someone is there.
JS: Right. Because they have sex.
AM: Right.
JS: And she winds up pregnant.
AM: Oh.
JS: It's like a whole thing.
AM: You thought it would happen just right away.
JS: Everyone is super fertile in the Greek mythology, and it just happens. So what she ends up doing is just like living this kind of lap of luxury lifestyle. But like, she never sees her husband, it's a little weird.
AM: It's a little weird, yeah.
JS: And she's like, she's really enjoying everything. She really has only one complaint, she misses her sisters.
AM: Understandable.
JS: You miss—
AM: True.
JS: —your siblings they all think you're like dead or married to a monster.
AM: There's three of them. Feels different with only you know? Yourself around.
JS: Just... exactly.
AM: I get it.
JS: So, she tells her husband this. He's like, "Okay.” so he gets Zephyr to go like pick up the sisters with his like wind power and drop them off at the house.
AM: In the gravelly Martin Sheen voice? That's a messenger you can trust, right? He'd come up to you—
JS: Pretty much.
AM: —I can't do a Martin Sheen impression, but " Girl, it's time to visit your sister."
JS: "Moving on..." So, the sisters are like, super happy to see Psyche and like, "Oh my god!
You're not dead or like, weirdly deformed because of your monster husband."
AM: Right? Yeah!
JS: And she's like, "No, no! It's like, really nice! Like, look at my nice palace and like, blah blah blah blah." And they're like, "Yeah, but what about your husband?" because they're like, they're sounding a little jealous. Like, this is way nicer than our castle. Like, you're living like the lap of luxury.
AM: Right.
JS: Like, what's up with this? She's like...
AM: Plus, she's married.
JS: She's married, they're not. And she's like, "Well like, I haven't seen my husband." They're like, "What do you mean?" Then she's like, "Well, he's invisible!" They're like, "That's weird." She's like, "It is a little weird." They're like, "No, no, he's probably like a vile like, flying serpent thing." And she's like, "He doesn't feel like a vile flying serpent thing." She's like, they're like, "No, no, he is." And then she's like, "Well, what if he is?"
AM: Wow, classic older sisters just ruining her happiness!
JS: Oh absolutely! Like, so jealous that they have to ruin everything for her. So the sisters are like, "You need to find out like if he is a vile serpent thing." and so she like, have— the sisters get flown away again. And as...
AM: It's over they go home.
JS: Exactly. And Psyche hatches a plot. She's like, “When he's sleeping tonight after we have awesome sex. I'm going to take a candle and a knife. And if he's a vile serpent, I'll kill him. And then we'll like…” out to, you know, to protect—
AM: Keep the castle
JS: —protect herself. Keep the castle, make sure her baby is safe. 'Cause she's still pregnant.
AM: Oh, right.
JS: And so she like, in the middle of the night, she like hides like a knife under her pillow, and like pulls it out, and lights a candle and she like, puts it over his body. And it's not a vile serpent thingy.
AM: It's a god!
JS: It's a hot dude!
AM: Ohhh.
JS: It's a super hot dude.
AM: Best possible outcome.
JS: And she's like, "Oh my god! This is the hottest guy I've ever seen" and like while she's flipping out over that. She accidentally spills a little bit of the wax on his chest.
AM: Ohhhhh.
JS: Which...
AM: Classic.
JS: Of course, wakes him up. Because he's not super kinky like that. And so...
AM: Or maybe he springs out of bed like, "Let's do this!"
JS: Except not...
AM: Either way, he wakes up...
JS: He wakes up.
AM: He realizes he's been seen, right?
JS: Yes.
AM: Oh no!
JS: And he's like, "Oh my god, you betrayed my trust!" and flees.
AM: Ohhh.
JS: He disappears, the castle disappears. She's just like, left stuck in a meadow by a river and she's like, "I don't know what to do now."
AM: Oh no!
JS: This is super weird.
AM: In her nightgown.
JS: She's probably naked, let's be real. She is just like...
AM: Not thinking again about the, the Venus painting in the— in the [inaudible 13:43]
JS: Oh no, sorry. So basically, she kind of— she wanders her way back home. She finds her sister. She tells them, "I was married to a god" and they're like, "Oh, we want to be married to gods" and like knowing that...
AM: No apology.
JS: No!
AM: They totally messed this up for her.
JS: So they're like, "Hmmm well, we want to be married to gods." So they each like individually go to the cliff where they had dropped off Psyche.
AM: Right to like, send her away.
JS: And they're like, "Yo Zephyr, bring me to Eros", and then jump off the cliff, assuming that he's going to pick them up, which he doesn't.
AM: Do they plummet to their death?
JS: Yes, they do. It's very like stepsisters and Cinderella—
AM: Oh yeah.
JS: —when they get their eyes checked out in the end.
AM: Self—sabotaging, right?
JS: Exactly.
AM: And they kind of get retribution.
JS: Hmmm.
AM: That's kind of sad, but I kind of get it.
JS: Yeah, like they were kind of dicks about it.
AM: They were.
JS: So—
AM: They totally ruined her happiness.
JS: —and like, also like, they're just like, "Oh, I'm pretty enough for me to marry a god."
AM: No, you're not, dude.
JS: "Let me jump off a cliff."
AM: You're not the second coming of Aphrodite, are you?
JS: Nope. Understandably, her husband's gone. Her sisters are dead now.
AM: Oh no!
JS: Her parents have kind of like shunned her.
AM: Of course.
JS: Well, yeah. They like, basically pretending she's dead. So Psyche isn't sure what she's going to do. She kind of starts wandering the earth. She throws herself, at the like, at the feet of like different goddesses like...
AM: To pray for help?
JS: Exactly. She becomes a priestess for Demeter. That doesn't help. She becomes a priestess for Hera. That doesn't help. Finally, she's like, you know what I'm going to have to do? I'm going to have to become a, like, mistress of Aphrodite.
AM: Interesting. So like a servant of Aphrodite.
JS: Yeah.
AM: Who is your mother-in-law.
JS: Yes.
AM: So what is her aim? She wants to get Eros back and apologize?
JS: I think to like, some way, she wants to win back her love, because she really did love him even if Eros thought she [15:31 inaudible]
AM: So make sense go to the mother—in—law, who hates her because she's jealous?
JS: Hmmm.
AM: I assume.
JS: Yes. And also is like the goddess of love. So if anyone's gonna win her back her love— AM: Sure.
JS: It's going to be Aphrodite to help her out. Aphrodite...
AM: I bet that doesn't work out simply.
JS: Aphrodite is still pissed. Even more pissed probably because she stole her son away.
AM: And her son is now sulking.
JS: And the son is like off sulking somewhere. Psyche doesn't know where.
AM: Right.
JS: Aphrodite is kind of just like a bitch to her.
AM: Awww...
JS: Like, she gets treated like an intern at a really big company. Aphrodite sends her on a bunch of different missions in order to prove her like, loyalty to her and also her worthiness to her son.
AM: Okay.
JS: So the first thing she does is like, Aphrodite is like going off to like a, like, god feast.
And she— she like pulls like, literally it's like story of Cinderella. She like throws a bunch of like different kind of grains and she's like, "Sort this before I get back", and Psyche's like, "Well, how the fuck am I supposed to do that?"
AM: Giant pile of like, seeds and stuff.
JS: Like, giant pile of grain seeds and all sorts of things.
AM: Classic pointless intern tasks.
JS: Exactly.
AM: Intern, unfuck this filing room.
JS: And so Psyche like a fairy tale creature just decides like, let me grab some insects from this tree and like—
AM: Awwww.
JS: —have them sort it for me.
AM: Enlist the— the— the you know? Fruits of the forest to help me out.
JS: Exactly. And Psyche's like also in there, like kind of plucking them as she can.
AM: All right. She's trying.
JS: And so by morning, it's done and Aphrodite is just like, pissed that she actually got it done.
AM: Whenever you finished.
JS: Like ugh, here's a scrap of bread. Enjoy!
AM: Awww.
JS: So she passes the first— the first test.
AM: Good for her.
JS: Then the second test, she has to cross the river and fetch golden wool from a violent sheep.
AM: Violent sheep?
JS: Violent sheep.
AM: I never heard of sheep being violent.
JS: I mean like, they're like the ones with the horns who like ram into you—
AM: Oh.
JS: —and stuff like that.
AM: All right, well.
JS: Yeah, like— and they're like, like the sheep of the sun or something. So they're like—
AM: Special.
JS: —run into you and like, kill you. And they're like, god sheep.
AM: Oh, wow.
JS: So she's like, looking across this river. She's like, "What am I gonna do. I might as well just drown myself in the river." And then Apollo, fuckboy Apollo—
AM: Ohhh.
JS: —is just like hanging out and he's like, "Hmm, this hot girl seems to want some stuff from my sheep. I guess I'll help her out."
AM: Classic Apollo, going for the damsel in distress.
JS: So Apollo teaches her how to make like an instrument out of the reeds in the river—
AM: Why?
JS: —which soothes the uhh, the sheep.
AM: The sheepies.
JS: And she's able to like shear the sheep without them like trying to kill her.
AM: Wow.
JS: Yeah.
AM: It's kind of like changing a fussy baby.
JS: Yes.
AM: You gotta distract it somehow.
JS: Exactly. So she succeeds in that task, and meanwhile...
AM: All right. Second task, I'm assuming it's gonna be three tasks. Is that true?
JS: It's four, actually.
AM: Oh, dang it.
JS: But there's, there's like three and the final task.
AM: Okay, okay.
JS: That's fine.
AM: Okay.
JS: So...
AM: This isn't like the nine gyms of Johtuhn?
JS: Johto?
AM: Johto.
JS: And Kanto?
AM: That's the one.
JS: Pokemon reference. Uhm so—
AM: Mangles Pokemon reference.
JS: Right.
AM: It’s even worse.
JS: So Aphrodite's just pissed that she's like, kind of getting through all the tasks.
AM: Right, every time she succeeds, Aphrodite gets madder.
JS: She's like, she sorted stuff.
AM: How dare her be so good at this?
JS: She got wool from sheep.
AM: She's good with animals.
JS: God, damn it! Uhm, and so mad that she actually, in a fit of rage and is yelling at Psyche, revealed the fact that Eros is just like chillin' in her household.
AM: Ohhh.
JS: Like, recovering from the wound that like Psyche gave him.
AM: Ohhh.
JS: He's like— he's like a whiny child sulking.
AM: But now she knows where he is.
JS: But now she knows where he is, which is why she continues she's like, "Okay, I know where he is. I'll keep doing this until he like, if— until I prove my love to him."
AM: Okay.
JS: And so, the next task she ends up doing is she's given a crystal vial, and she has to go to the River Styx and fill it with water. And so, it's just like a rocky volcanic area filled with dragons.
AM: Wow.
JS: Yeah.
AM: You can't get much more hard to pass through than that.
JS: Pretty much. So Psyche like shows up. She's like, "There's all these dragons. I'm just a pregnant lady."
AM: Oh, gosh!
JS: “I can't— I can't fight dragons.” and so another fuckboy that's been watching her, Zeus, is like you know what—
AM: OG fuckboy.
JS: —and he sends a bunch of eagles down to fight the dragons while she's getting these vials of water.
AM: So Zeus just takes pity on her?
JS: Yeah.
AM: Or Zeus likes seeing Aphrodite's plans undone?
JS: A little bit of both.
AM: Okay.
JS: They're all trying to fuck with each other like—
AM: Right.
JS: —that's just how the Greek myths are. They're like always trying to mess with each other.
AM: As the oldest of four kids, I, I understand this impulse.
JS: Absolutely. So she's able to retrieve it. Aphrodite gives her a task that she's like, "I'm gonna give Psyche a task that it's just like, impossible."
AM: Right.
JS: Like...
AM: Try to— try to trip her up.
JS: There's no way she's gonna do this. So Aphrodite goes, "Listen, I need you to take this box and go down to the Underworld—
AM: Oh man.
JS: —and get Persephone's beauty.
AM: That doesn't sound very easy.
JS: It's not because: One, it's the Underworld; and two, it's Persephone.
AM: And three, it's beauty, an intangible force.
JS: Well, it's, it's the Greeks. They think [20:59 inaudible] –
AM: They make intangible tangible.
JS: Love— love is a person.
AM: So is it— so people don't go into Hades that often, right?
JS: It's like not a thing you can do.
AM: You go in and you don't go out.
JS: Exactly. There's like been, like three people who went into Hades and that were able to come out.
AM: Wow. So what does she do?
JS: So...
AM: Does she know how to do it?
JS: Nah.
AM: I feel like— I just— I don't know how to get...
JS: And she's just like, she like, "You know what? This seems really hard."
AM: Yeah.
JS: "I'm gonna climb onto this tower and commit suicide."
AM: No, please don't.
JS: But she doesn't. Because the tower like, somehow comes to life and starts speaking to her.
AM: So not just the crickets of the forest, but also stones just talk to her.
JS: Inanimate objects, it's fine.
AM: Wow!
JS: So it basically tells her how to get to Hades and how to survive getting to Hades and coming back.
AM: That's very convenient.
JS: So it tells her the path to go down, tells her where to go, tells her, "You can't talk to anyone until you're in Hades." So you can't like talk to anybody on the way there.
AM: To be distracted on your path?
JS: Exactly.
AM: Or would that like magically entrap her in some way?
JS: It's kind of very like, in like fay stories you can't like, eat the food on the way there—
AM: Oh sure.
JS: —or else you're trapped. He tells her to do that. He also tells her to bring treats for Cerberus, the guard dog.
AM: Ohhh, that's so sweet!
JS: It's so cute.
AM: That makes so much sense.
JS: And then to make...
AM: It's like quick piece of practical advice. Julia, before we continue. If you are in a long car ride with children, the most important thing you can have in your arsenal is snacks.
JS: Oh my god.
AM: You have to…
JS: Right.
AM: You have to distract the wailing creature.
JS: I kinda picture it as like every, every like spy movie where they trying to break into somewhere...
AM: Oh like the pink [inaudible 22:36]
JS: Right. Where there's like a guard dog and—
AM: Oh yeah.
JS: —they throw steaks to the guard dog—
AM: Throw the steaks.
JS: —to get it distracted.
AM: Awww.
JS: And so he tells her to bring snacks for Cerberus, and then he tells her, "You need to bring coins." Point plural 'coins' to get past the ferryman.
AM: Oh, sure. The guy who ferries you when crossing the boat.
JS: Exactly. That's why the Greeks would bury someone with one coin so that they have— would have the—
AM: Ohhh.
JS: —the toll—
AM: The fair. Right.
JS: —the fair to go across the river.
AM: She needs two.
JS: She needs two cause she gotta come back.
AM: I feel like, I totally would have forgotten that.
JS: Oh, exactly. You definitely would. Uhm, and I feel like a lot of myths forget that and most like will how they go back? So everything goes according to plan.
AM: That's a very convenient tower. Can we just return to the for a second? Do we know anything more about it?
JS: No, she's just like, "Thank you, Tower." and she goes. Everything goes according to plan.
AM: Oh wow!
JS: She ends at meeting Persephone, like in the throne, in the middle of Hades.
AM: Sure, and does Persephone has some sympathy for her? 'Cause she was...
JS: Persephone is usually like a cold-blooded bitch.
AM: Oh no!
JS: But Persephone's like, "Nah, I feel you."
AM: Respect.
JS: Respect.
AM: Yeah.
JS: And gives her the beauty in the box.
AM: Do we know what that beauty is?
JS: Psyche doesn't see what the beauty is—
AM: Alright.
JS: —when she puts it in the box.
AM: Cool.
JS: Uhm, so she managed— she gives her second toll to the uh, to the boatman—
AM: Ferryman.
JS: —walks back into the Overworld again. Sunlight hits her face, but the problem is she's like, "What's in the box? What's in the box?!"
AM: Oh, no!
JS: And so she, in very Pandora method opens the box.
AM: Don't open the box!
JS: What's in the box—
AM: Never open the box.
JS: —is like a magical sleep. And she instantly like, falls into a coma.
AM: Why? Why does it represent beauty?
JS: Well, I mean, I don't know the actual answer. But when I'm thinking about it, I'm like the Greeks are like, "You need your beauty rest."
AM: Awww, that's, that's so fitting. I was thinking something like, either Persephone was sabotaging Aphrodite, right? And like wanted to knock her out or something or potentially that when a mortal opens the box, she sees something different than a god would.
JS: Probably.
AM: But, the beauty sleep that's...
JS: That's really cute.
AM: That's pretty adorable.
JS: Absolutely.
AM: And headcanon, I'm choosing to believe that that's true.
JS: Got it. So, as Psyche is like, asleep at the edge of the Underworld...
AM: Right on the precipice.
JS: Yeah, exactly. At the same time, Eros is finally like recovering from his man angst.
AM: Oh, his little, his little heart wound has healed?
JS: Oh, yes, they literally, in the mythology, they say that the wound over his heart had healed and turned into a scar.
AM: Awwww!
JS: Which is like, poetic but also like, really like, it was— it was a burn.
AM: So Eros comes out of his angsty mancave.
JS: Yes.
AM: And his childhood bedroom...
JS: Pretty much.
AM: Where he's been fawned over by his mom.
JS: Yeah. And so...
AM: Aphrodite is essentially like answering the phone. Like "No, Eros is not home. Yes, he's very busy."
JS: Pretty much. And Eros, like realizing that he's still in love with Psyche-
AM: Aww!
JS: -and knowing that his mother is still super pissed about the entire thing—
AM: So he's woken up?
JS: —he pops out of his bedroom window and flies off to go find her.
AM: Really?
JS: And because there's like that emotional connection between them, he's able to like find her right away.
AM: Bella!
JS: Pretty much. It’s like, that weird Twilight scene.
AM: Yeah.
JS: She's like, coming into her in dreams, but not really. So he finds her, he draws the sleep from her face, which is like the phrase that they use, but basically like wakes her up—
AM: Lift the, right. Lifts the veil of sleep.
JS: —puts it back in the box.
AM: Cool. So, she can fulfill her mission.
JS: And then wakes her up by pricking her with an arrow that does not harm. So he then like, picks her up, lifts her into the air and then carries her back to Mount Olympus.
AM: Cool.
JS: Also, like dropping off the box with his mother on the way there.
AM: Alright, so test fulfilled—
JS: Test fulfilled.
AM: Fine!
JS: Aphrodite is like, "Huh. I guess— I'll guess— I'll send her on another one." And Eros is like, "No, mom." So he goes to Zeus. And he's like, "Listen…”
AM: This is the arbiter, right? So he can kind of decide—
JS: Yeah, he's like the patriarch. He's the king.
AM: Yeah.
JS: He gets to decide, like all the Greek gods, like fights and stuff.
AM: All their petty disputes.
JS: Exactly. So he— Eros goes to him. He's like, "Listen. My mom is being ridiculous. I love this woman. She loves me back. I know she's a mortal, but like, can we like make it work?" And Zeus is like, "You know what? That's chill. You could do that, you can marry her." And then they give Psyche ambrosia, which is the like, drink of the gods and also grants mortals immortality.
AM: Oh gosh!
JS: So she becomes a goddess as well—
AM: Whaaat!?
JS: —and they are united in a marriage of equals.
AM: Happy twist ending!
JS: It's super, super cute. He tells Aphrodite to back off, she has to like accept it. And then he also says that their union will redeem Eros of his history of provoking adultery and sorted liaisons.
AM: Wow!
JS: So she's like, literally made an honest man of him.
AM: That is amazing! So how is their kid? Is the kid okay?
JS: The kid is great. He's born and he becomes the god of pleasure in Greek mythology.
AM: That's a little bit creepy.
JS: A little bit.
AM: But this is such an interesting and different kind of myth. So the human prevails.
JS: Uh—uh.
AM: The god is put in her place. I mean, that's pretty unusual, is it not? Normally if the gods kind of like playing with us like we're their pawns.
JS: Absolutely.
AM: And she said, she gets to prove herself, right? She doesn't get rescued. She you know?
JS: Yeah.
AM: She goes and, and wins her love back.
JS: Exactly. She like, wins everyone over, she fights back. She like, wins them over...
AM: While pregnant.
JS: While pregnant.
AM: Wow!
JS: Like— like— literally like a female pregnant superhero.
AM: Yeah!
JS: She's great and like, in sort of like the allegory of it all. It's like that representation of when the soul and love are like, combined and like can create great things. And it also in Greek mythology, they talked a lot about, the phrase that comes up is "There can be no love where there is no trust."
AM: Wow!
JS: So it kind of proves like...
AM: That's profound.
JS: She trusted him so much that she like went through all of these tasks, hoping, trusting that he would come back to her and like, give her back the love that they had.
AM: Yeah. And he learned to trust her again, right?
JS: Exactly.
AM: Like, the kind of the inciting act here was her betraying him.
JS: Hmmm.
AM: And now they decided to, you know? Look each other in the face spiritually—
JS: And actually...
AM: ——literally. And embark on their new life together.
JS: And like everyone kind of wins out. Like, love conquers all, which is...
AM: That's a pretty profound parable.
JS: Exactly, and like so different than most Greek mythology. Usually, it ends like really tragically.
AM: Be too ambitious and die.
JS: Yes, pretty much.
AM: Right? Or whatever.
JS: Hubris.
AM: Or look into the box and die.
JS: Yes, and in this situation, it's just you see love and the human soul prevail and it's like so interesting as like a myth. And as like...
AM: Because it really is a, a meeting of passion and intellect, right of passion and, and reason.
JS: Yes.
AM: They don't just have that initial attraction. It's not just the fact that the arrow pricked him and he's in love with her. They, they have to decide to recommit to each other. And isn't that such a trope that we see all the time? Talk about, you know? The same myths, or the same stories recurring again and again in human life, whenever 3000 years ago to today. We still see romcoms where they have an initial kiss or attraction or one-night stand...
JS: And then everything goes to shit and then—
AM: Someone...
JS: —and then reconnect at the end.
AM: Right, exactly. If someone has a betrayal or someone who slept with their ex or whatever. And then at the end, they have to decide okay, you know? A clear head now outside of the, the initial passions. We decided we recommit to each other.
JS: Exactly.
AM: Wow! The Greeks have stuff to teach us sometimes.
JS: Sometimes. Usually, it's kill your father and create a weird sister out of the foam and ocean.
AM: Oh, you reminded me again. No!
JS: And sometimes, it's the passion of love and human soul coming together.
AM: It's a little bit less sweet.
Outro Music
AM: Spirits was created by Julia Schifini and me, Amanda McLoughlin. It's edited by Eric Schneider with music by Kevin MacLeod. Allison Wakeman designed our logo.
JS: Subscribe to Spirits on your preferred podcast app to make sure you never miss an episode. Our website is spiritspodcast.com and you can also find us @SpiritsPodcast on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and SoundCloud.
AM: On our Patreon page, patreon.com/spiritspodcast. You can sign up for exclusive content like behind the scenes, photos, audio, extras, blooper reels, and beautiful recipe cards with custom drink and snack pairings to go along with each show.
JS: We are so thankful to those of you who signed up to support us already. Every little bit helps as we get our first season off the ground.
AM: If you like the show, please share it with your friends on Twitter, on Facebook wherever you want, and leave us a review on iTunes. As lame as it is, as much as apps remind you to review them. All you have is my sultry voice and your ears, pleading with you to please rate and review us if you like the show.
JS: And listen, we're listed in the history section rather than the comedy section. So what I'm saying is we're totally coming for you, Lore.
AM: Here's hoping. Thanks so much for listening! 'Til next time.
Transcriptionist: Haniza Redoblado
Proofreader: Krizia Marrie Casil