Cupid and Psyche
In the Tale of Cupid and Psyche, Venus ordered Cupid out of jealousy of Psyche's beauty to strike her with his arrow so that she would fall in love with a man who would treat her cruelly. However, Cupid failed to do so and accidently fell in love with her. He secretly married her but never revealed his true identity which rose a great amount of curiosity in Psyche's thoughts. After a visit from her two sisters, she was convinced that he was a monster ready to eat her and came to the conclusion that she should kill him so she could indulge in all his riches with her sisters. At night she crept into his room with a dagger and lamp, but Cupid awoke in fury and betrayal, fled and told her that love could never dwell where there was suspicion.
There are many small morals to this story. The first is always be obedient and follow directions. This can be seen in two scenarios, when Cupid somewhat defies his mother's orders and when Psyche goes against Cupid's wishes. In both situations good things did not come as a result to disobeying, Cupid was stuck in the uncomfortable situation of never showing himself to his true love, and Psyche developed a curiosity to finding her (ex)husband's true identity. Another moral is never take too much or take advantage of a situation. Because Psyche was a princess and was compared to Venus in terms of beauty she had a great satisfying life even before she was given everything she ever desired at Cupid's palace. However, out of greed for taking the riches for herself and the curiosity of the true identity of her husband she took the risk of 'killing' him and ended up with nothing. Trust, obedience and self-satisfaction are evidently important virtues to the Greeks and their culture. One should learn to be satisfied with what they have to trust others no matter how curious and to be obedient.
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