Peter RooneyLiterature and MythFebruary 24, 2000True Love: A Modern Day Myth?Love is a continuing human obsession that is full of mystery and magic. Its power is legendary. The idea that there is such thing as love is neither recent nor culturally bound. For centuries there have been many stories, legends, and myths that illustrate its capabilities. “Love is so deeply ingrained within our culture that it passes without question. Its delights, pains and complexities are explored in novels, plays, and television soap operas, maundered over in pop songs, and celebrated in romantic fiction”(Tyse, 7). By examining the myth of Eros and Psyche we can see true love exemplified but does our concept of love compare to that of the myth?Eros, the son of Aphrodite, is depicted as a young “winged” boy who is ready to shoot his bows and arrows at the heart of any mortal or god in order to rouse them to desire. He had two different types of arrows: leaden arrows with owl feathers that caused coldness or, golden ones with dove feathers that provoked love. He was always at his mothers’ side assisting her with her godly affairs until the day he too fell in love. As the myth goes – Aphrodite was very jealous of the beauty of a young mortal by the name of Psyche. In her fit of envy she instructed her son to shoot his arrow into the heart of Psyche causing her to fall in love with a hideous monster. Eros agreed to follow his mothers command but upon seeing the beautiful Morgan, 2young woman, he found himself deeply in love. He would visit her every night in complete darkness due to the fact that he was a god and she a mortal. Psyche too fell madly in love with Eros even though she could not see him however; one night curiosity got the best of her. She obscured a lamp and while Eros slept she lit the lamp to reveal his true identity. In doing so she accidentally dropped a little hot oil on the sleeping g...
