Did Cupid have a wife

Answer 1

Yes he did. Her name was Psyche, a beautiful, young mortal. She was praised by many for her beauty, and men came from afar to worship her. They abandoned Aphrodite's temples for a mortal girl.

Aphrodite was angry and jealous, so she told her son, Cupid, to make her fall in love with a terrible monster. However, he fell in love with her himself.

Meanwhile, though men were praising Psyche's beauty, none wanted to marry her. Puzzled, Psyche's father went to see an oracle. At Cupid's instruction, the oracle commanded that Psyche be left on a hilltop and would be taken by a fearful winged serpent for marriage. Horrified, but unable to do anything, Psyche's father and sisters bid her farewell.

Zepher carried Psyche to a mansion. There, she lived with her 'husband', but never knew of his identity at his command. Finally, her sisters came to visit, though Cupid did not want this. Seeing Psyche's beautiful mansion, her sisters were very jealous. They came up with a plot; they told Psyche that she had to know who her husband was, and that she should take a lamp and look at his face while he was sleeping. Agreeing, Psyche did so.

When she finally realized that her husband was Cupid, the god of love, it was too late. A drop of oil from her lamp landed on his face, and he quickly awoke. Finding that his wife had disobeyed his orders, he fled to his mother's chambers so she could care for his wounds.

Psyche was brokenhearted. She prayed to all of the other gods, but none would help in fear of angering Aphrodite. Finally, she offered herself to Aphrodite as her servant.

Then, Aphrodite made Psyche do 'impossible' tasks. She had to sort seeds out of a large pile, then she had to get golden fleece from fierce sheep, then get water from the River Styx, and finally get a box of beauty from Proserpine. Psyche succeeded in all of those tasks, with the help of ants, a green reed, an eagle, and a tower, respectively.

However, Psyche opened the box of beauty before taking it to Aphrodite. This caused her to fall into a deep slumber. She was awakened by Cupid, who went to Jupiter to officially marry them. This was done, and Psyche was granted immortality. Aphrodite was no longer angered, as she could not object to a goddess as a daughter-in-law. In addition, when Psyche would be caring for children and Cupid, she would no longer have the time to meddle with Aphrodite's worshipers.