New Identity

"Q: Who is this?

A: This is Eros, god of love.

Q: Why does he have wings?

A: So he can move quickly from body to body.

Q: Why is he naked?

A: To make us transparent.

Q: To make us what?

A: Transparent in our love. Foolish to others. Exposed.

Q: Why is he blind?

A: He is always pictured blind, but he really isn't.

Q: Because in love we are so ignorant and compulsive?

A: There's that.

Q: What else?

A: He is blind to show how he takes away our ordinary vision, our mistaken vision, that depends on the appearance of things.

Q: Who's this coming down the stairs?

A: Her name is Psyche.

Q: Psyche? Her name is Psyche?

A: Yes.

Q: What's she doing here?

A: She's married to the god, but she's never seen him.

Q: Why is that?

A: He forbids it.

Q: How did they meet?

A: Psyche was so beautiful, the goddess Aphrodite hated her. She sent her son to punish her, but he fell in love instead.

Q: Does she know that he is a god?

A: She suspects he is a monster.

Q: Have they had sex already?

A: Oh yes.

Q: And how was that?

A: It was good.

Q: Then why does she suspect he is a monster?

A: Her jealous sisters told her so.

Q: And she listened to them?

A: Unfortunately, yes.

Q: So now she's coming to see him as he sleeps?

A: Yes.

Q: To make certain.

A: Yes.

Q: With her eyes.

A: Yes. She's very young. It happens all the time.

Q: She doesn't trust what she has felt herself?

A: Not with the radical trust we need.

Psyche steps into the pool. She moves slowly, so as not to make noise. She approaches the sleeping Eros and holds the candelabra over him, looking. This happens in silence.

Q: What does the word "Psyche" mean?

A: In Greek it means "the soul."

Wax from the candles falls on Eros. He wakes suddenly and turns abrubtly toward Psyche. They stare at each other for a long moment. Then, in one motion, she extinguishes the candelabra in the water.

Q: What's going to happen now?

A: She's going to suffer.

Q: And?

A: She's going to suffer.

Q: And?

A: She's going to suffer.

Q: What does she have to do?

A: She is given horrible and lonely tasks by Aphrodite.

Q: Such as?

A: Sorting thousands of little seeds one from the other.

Q: How did she manage?

A: Some little insects helped her.

Q: Like in fairy tales?

A: Like in all fairy tales.

Q: What else?

A: She had to go down to the Underworld, fetch various things.

Q: Wasn't she afraid?

A: She was petrified, but she did it all the same.

Q: Wasn't it hopeless?

A: It was hopeless, but she did it all the same.

Q: What did Love do in the meantime?

A: He healed his little wound. It hurt him so much when she looked at him like that. The wax from the candle fell on him and burnt him.

Q: How does it end?

A: She finishes her tasks and Zeus declares enough's enough.

Q: He overrides Love's mother?

A: Yes. And further, he gives Psyche a special potion and she becomes immortal. Then he declares that their marriage will last forever.

Q: Does it?

A: Of course.

Q: So it has a happy ending?

A: It has a very happy ending.

Q: Almost none of these stories have completely happy endings.

A: This is different.

Q: Why is that?

A: It's just inevitable. The soul wanders in the dark, until it finds love. And so, wherever our love goes, there we find our soul.

Q: It always happens?

A: If we're lucky. And if we let ourselves be blind.

Q: Instead of watching out?

A: Instead of always watching out."

-Metamorphoses, Mary Zimmerman