Love is blind. But, why?
February 13, 2016 · ☕️ 3 min read
There is a very interesting story in Greek mythology from where the term “Love is blind” originates. It’s the story of Cupid (the god of love) and Psyche
Psyche was the most beautiful woman in her land and men came to catch a glimpse of her from far away lands, this enraged Aphrodite, the goddess of Beauty and the mother of Cupid as people used to once come to her temple in such large numbers but now Psyche was getting all the attention. So she asked her son to use one of his arrows to make her fall in love with ugliest man in the realm. Cupid being an obedient son, went to shoot an arrow at Psyche as he spotted her looking at the ugliest man in the crowd outside her house, but the moment he noticed her face, he dropped the arrow which fell on his foot and made him fall in love with her. But he couldn’t marry her because that would enrage his mother and well, also because he was a god and she was a mortal!
Meanwhile Psyche’s father was worried because everyone wanted to look at Psyche or meet her but no man wanted to marry her (well because, men!) so he went to Zeus’ temple for advise. Zeus decided to play Cupid’s wingman, so the oracle told Psyche’s father that she was fated to marry a demon and he was supposed to drop her at a mountain peak on a moonless night so that the demon could take her away to his land. He freaked out a little but after a lot of emotional drama he left her at the mountain for her destined husband to pick her up. She obviously couldn’t see who he was because it was dark, he took her to a palace above clouds which was again totally dark.
He explained the rules of their marriage to her that since he’s a demon(self conscious one), he doesn’t wish for her to see him, so he would only visit her at night when all the lights are out and leave before sunrise. She also couldn’t make any contact with her family (control freak demon) and during the day, invisible servants would take care of all her needs. He also told her that he would leave her if she ever tries to see his face. Win win for Cupid!
So night after night he visited her and she obviously got a feeling that he’s not a demon but hiding something else (because you know, he felt like a person probably with decent enough features) and she also got bored in the lonely palace, so she coaxed him one day to let her talk to her sisters and allow them to visit. So they came, got a little jealous of her palace and her demon husband who was surprisingly very caring. They told her to hold a lamp over his face when he falls asleep that night to see how he looks. So she did exactly that, knowing well that he would leave her if she’s caught, because she just had to know what he was hiding. She realized that he was Cupid, the most handsome god and not an ugly demon. Win win for Psyche!
But cupid woke up and startled her, making the hot oil from the lamp fall into his eyes. He got really angry with her for breaking her promise and spilling oil in his eyes and he left, despite everything she tried.
Psyche tracked cupid down and found that he was living with his mom, who obviously didn’t like her and thus instead of saying no to her, she promised that she would allow her to see Cupid if she completes a bunch of impossible tasks, just to toy with her! Out of love and desperation she accomplishes everything and gets to see Cupid and discovers that he is blind because of her oil spill. Long story short, he forgives her, family matters sort out and they live happily ever after.
Cupid found love himself but he is blind now so he runs around hitting anyone with arrows at any time and sometimes he forgets to hit the other person all together! Thus love is blind shouldn’t be translated in the romantic sense that people don’t care about looks but in the sense that love is chaotic madness and the person who once brought soul mates together is running around blind with love arrows.
h/t a Quora user
Personal blog by @dorelljames
I love you and coding!
Let me know your thoughts... 😊
Continue reading articles using the links below...