An image of the wedding of Cupid and Psyche. Which one is Cupid? Who is the female on the left? (Not the official prompt for this blog; see below)
Official prompt: Can you detect any similarities between the stories of Hercules and Psyche? Other thoughts about your research into these two stories, or about the Lavinia reading, are also welcome.
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i just find it interesting that Pysche represents the inner soul and Hercules represents the outer sould (physical power)
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I think there are many similarities between these myths. They both are given their tasks by gods or oracles for the god, although Psyche's situation is much more dire. But, a more interesting connection, is the daunting impossibility of the tasks with which they are charged. The nature of these tasks emphasizes, quite obviously in Hercules' case, their heroism, but Psyche's heroism is less obvious. Her tasks in the underworld are to return to Cupid, and although this type of heroism is different, it follows the theme that carries through Greek myths. Heroism is always expressed through the hero going through and overcoming a hard obstacle - no hero is born a hero; there is no hereditary heroism.
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I agree with jake I think it's all about their heroism. One thought I was having was that these stories were only written to show how amazing they are. All greek myths did that but I think these two are very good examples of herosim and showed how much better they're than the common human.
I was able to find the story of psyche at theoi.com but where did everyone find the story of hercules??
Also do you spell Hercules like Hercules or Heracles??
Nami...and anyone else who needs to know this...I got a pretty good summary of the myth of hercules at this website: http://ezinearticles.com/?Greek-Mythology-Hercules:-The-Mortal-Who-Became-A-God&id=37435
Anyways...
I'm not sure about how everyone interpreted these stories...some of it was confusing for me...but here are my thoughts on it...
Similarities:
*they become gods through trials given to them by the gods
*they both have a god who is angry with them and tries to make them fail
Differences:
*Psyche becomes a god mostly because of her beauty, while Hercules becomes a god mostly because of his physical strength and heroic deeds
*Psyche had mortal parents, Hercules was only half-mortal because his father was Zeus
That's all for now....
All of the myths we've been reading (well, maybe not Oedipus) have to do with a hero. So, that is almost an implied similarity. The Greeks were very interested in heros and their story. That seems to be the basis for all their entertainment. Same goes for the involvement of gods or...supernatural beings (the oracle).
But I very much agree with Turner! Psyche and Hercules both have a sense of power. But Psyche's more about inner power whereas Hercules is the strong, physically powerful one. It is a very interesting thing to bring up!
I'll be checking in...
Thanks Rachael! That was a good article.
Anyways, I agree with all the people talking about how Psyche has inner power and Hercules has strength. I was kind of confused because Hercules suceeds in all his tasks but Psyche wasn't able to succeed in the task which was to not look at Eros but she did. I do think that it really wasn't her fault that she looked at him because it was her sisters who forced her but I stil think that it was Psyche who did the wrong thing because after all she was the one who looked at him not one of her sisters.
About what everyone has been saying about Psyche representing inner power and Hercules representing physical strength...putting these two side by side (not knowing much about greek mythology myself) maybe the authors of these myths were trying to say something about gender roles, or the behavior, strengths and weaknesses of the different genders. Women have inner strength and beauty. Men have physical strength. hmmm...
I think that Hercules is a great hero but I do not understand how Pshcye is a hero. Maybe it was just the particular version I read but I didn't see much hero stuff going on. It seemed like she was the victim rather then helping victims. Or maybe she was just a hero in a different way but I don't know how.
I am aware that Hercules shows physical strength but how does Psyche show inner strength. I don't know I am just really confused.
Noth of them are heroes and are told to do things by the gods. As renee said, in most greek myths, it tells of a hero. I feel like usually greek myths are about men and it's cool to have one about a woman (Psyche). That is one of the differences.
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i agree with jake and renee. i think that the tasks are different but the overall themes are similar.
After reading Alex P and Rocco's comments, I do feel like I was just interpreting that Psyche was a hero and I can't really find evidence that would support that she is a hero. I didn't think about that when I blogged and read the stories the first time.
An answer to the official prompt:
The analogous characters here are Heracles and Psyche. Both take the role of hero/heroine in their respective myth. But that's obvious. I'd say it were a surface connection, or something like that, though. Content connections... The biggest joint content here is the hero/heroine's relationship with the gods. Both have sort of a "nemesis-god": in Psyche's case, Aphrodite, in Heracles', Hera. These gods just love to make life miserable for their respective hero/heroine. What is the mythic purpose of these nemesii, as they were, I wonder? They serve, in my opinion, to make Psyche and Heracles' feats even more heroic. Without the tasks presented them, Heracles and Psyche would appear simply significant beings, although that isn't too bad. The real difference between the two is a big one. Heracles IS the powerful man who can complete the tasks his half brother has set before him, while Aphrodite is aided by a series of inanimate objects. In this respect, I feel as if Psyche's story has no message, moral. Unless it is trying to teach children to trust in the aid of inanimate objects...
Both very entertaining tales, though...
I think that they are kinda like hero/heroin. I see a lot of similarites in their stories. They each have different realations to different gods too. Hercules does not have the same realations with some gods that Phyche has, and Phyche has different realations to gods the Hercules doesn't have.
The most obvious similarity (unless I'm quite mistaken) is that both stories are about mortals who become gods/godlike beings. Psyche is so beautiful that Eros falls in love with her and Hercules is so physically powerful that it leads to him being an actual "god". These two elements (for I couldn't really call them virtues) are commonly thought to be desirable in a human being, but what makes them godlike? Do strength and beauty really matter for most daily thins? Do they make you a better person? Would it be desirable for a god to have these things? These are just the questions I asked while I was reading the myth.
It's Rosamund.
Checking in...and totally agreeing!
This is Sofia...
One similarity I found between the two myths is that they both focus on characters that have something very special and have something god or goddess-like about them although they are not gods. In Pysche's case it's her beauty, and in Hercules' it's his amazing strength. Another similarity I found was that both of the characters have to complete tasks for the gods, like Jake said.
Hey it's Hunter.
I agree with Rosamund. The fact that they are both mortals who turn into gods is definitely the most obvious. I also found that people were not happy when they became gods. Hades wasn't happy when Hercules became a god and Aphrodite is not happy about Psyche becoming a god. They both have to go retrieve something from the Underworld as well.
This is Alison!!
I was thinking the same as Jake. I thought the connections between the stories is heroism. The heroism in Hercules is very obvious but the heroism in Psyche is much more subtle. Subtle or obvious, they both have heroism in it. I think Greeks would write these stories because they want reasons and heroes for things that happen.
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Another connection is they had to perform tasks. Psyche had to get her husband back and Hercules had to pay the dept for killing his children.
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it's Rosamund.
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-Sofia
agreeing with jake...both stories are about heroism. Hercules is a great hero with physical strength and cleverness. Psyche is a hero with a love affair with cupid. They are also great physical figures of mortals. Herucules is a strong, powerful, handsome man and psyche is a beautiful young woman. However, both are mortals.
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