Women of Greek Mythology

The chariot lands lightly in a clearing beside a fast moving river, where Psyche stands up after eating enough of the bread she had found in the basket.

After a rough night unable to sleep while imagining all the possible horrors her new husband had planned for her, fear and panic take turns until Psyche, utterly exhausted, falls asleep and wakes bound up somehow as the sun rises.

Zeus calls the rest of the gods to take their seats as his brothers Hades and Poseidon join him again at the head of the room, and the side conversations gradually die down once everyone seems to have returned.

In the beginning there was nothing, which he called the void, and Gaia called him Khaos.

Morning comes and Eros can tell right away that all is not going well, finding Psyche asleep inside a cave.

Chapter twenty-six of the Psyche story, running seventeen minutes, finds Psyche lying awake in the darkness, struggling to sleep.

He asks what happened to the house, since that morning she had allowed it to be a palace he thought looked quite nice, and she answers only that it did not suit her.

Psyche waits several days as her husband checks on her sisters, unsure when he will return, feeling more and more idle and aimless as the days pass while the palace changes each morning to reflect how she feels.

Psyche sighs with relief at having completed the third task, though only almost.

Psyche does not know how long she descends before the path at last opens into a vast landscape, where she stands taking it all in.

Psyche and Iris walk toward Chloe's house as Psyche grows nervous, wondering whether Chloe has changed along with her house into something with an intimidating air, and whether, after so long, she would even know her.

Psyche wakes the next morning blinking at the rising sun, sits up and instinctively gasps at a vast and beautiful landscape where everything Gaia has to offer is on display all at once.

The cottage looks a bit nicer the next morning, with flower designs added to the walls and a prettier bouquet on the table, feeling cheery even if simple.

Athena tells the Gods and Goddesses she has called them to ascertain the proper judgment of this mortal, indicating Psyche's body on the couch; groans follow, and Apollo stands to ask whether they are assembled over a mortal's fate.

Psyche is finally free and looks down at her own body, feeling sorry for it after it worked and tried so hard to prove herself; there is no need anymore.

Ouranos stays away from Gaia for a while as the logical way to stop the flow of constant creation, knowing creation is in her nature and that this is why Khaos was so upset with her.

Hades hates meetings, where nothing important ever happens beyond regular, boring gatherings to make reports and keep records, and he often skips them, except the ones Persephone joins.

The wedding of the century comes and goes as the bride and groom settle into married rhythm, which Aglaura calls perfection and utter bliss, while the remaining sisters occupy themselves until their turn, and Cydippe is so bored.

Eros stands by anxiously watching Panacea work as Psyche's color returns and the pained look on her face finally relaxes, noticing his own body relax as she improves.

The doors open into the receiving hall of the Underworld's kingdom, where Psyche stands unsure how to proceed until an unseen voice tells her she is most welcome, leaving her with a rush of peace and safety.

Eros is glad to be heading back to Psyche after the agony of watching her sisters constantly make a mess of everything.

Gaia watches Ouranos move about his heavens, certain he is avoiding her and never coming close enough to the earth, and thinks that without desire to create, he might still desire her; she just needs to be desirable.

Khaos surveys his void, a vast nothingness stretching beyond his own consciousness, and judges it perfect.

Phobos and Deimos return from a lengthy search to report that they cannot find Psyche.

Apollo, God of Pomp and Puffery, greets Eros, whom he has not seen in a while, and is found still wearing those leaves in his hair.

Psyche performs her song for the festival in a chapter that includes an original song.

Psyche enters the house to a hush as they try to make space for her, though there is not much; someone had brought a wide board to extend the kitchen table, and looking at the table her heart stops.

Ouranos watches Gaia retreat without following her; she seems determined to remain free and he does not blame her, having wanted his own freedom more than she did, at least until then.

Khaos disappears into the void, a relief for Gaia to finally see him go. She knows she will never be completely rid of him; she will enjoy her moment of peace, however long it lasts.

Eros cries out that she is choking as he watches Aphrodite and Psyche standing suspended together in some shared vision.

Psyche's breath catches as a scene stretches out before her, after Aphrodite touches a delicate finger to her forehead and pulls them both into a shared vision.

Aphrodite thinks it is time to be rid of the mortal, reflecting that Psyche has been such a thorn in her side.

Psyche's father exclaims that he still cannot believe she married a god as he settles into his chair, and her mother apologizes that this happened to her, adding that her sisters have been sent for.

Eros is pleased to find that Psyche's corner of their home has turned into a beautiful palace, and the fact that she is getting it, making progress, makes him so happy.

The next few days pass as the sisters begin to really enjoy their time together, though a few tense moments remain as more feelings are expressed and some old habits prove hard to break.

Gaia describes Ouranos's embrace as indescribable, never feeling more alive or whole than with his heavens surrounding her earth, though she pushes herself and Ouranos past the limit and makes him release some of his heavens.

Ouranos tells Gaia that Khaos is right and her earth is ugly; she ignores him, noting he is just like Khaos in adding nothing to her creations, as he warns that Khaos is going to slowly take her earth apart.

Zeus stands watching as attendants and gods make preparations for the ceremony, while Hera is especially busy ensuring everything is properly placed.

Hades asks how Persephone can be sure she will find her out here, as the two stand together on the Plains.

The gods show clear surprise as Hades's voice still echoes in the chamber, since he almost never allows mortals a reunion with their bodies once their spirits enter his realm, yet in this rare case he has said yes.

Aphrodite knows the moment Psyche arrives, feeling the shift in energy as the mortal's imperfect, dying frame enters her realm.

Eros enters the grounds of his mother's palace, wondering what she will do once she learns that Psyche is back mingling among the mortals.

Psyche gasps as Eros's eyes fly open after something burns his hand, leaving a mark he notices, along with something else: light.

This nine-minute chapter is devoted to preparation: the sisters get ready for Aglaura's big day.

A king and queen love their three beautiful daughters equally, though among the princesses it starts as a bit of a competition that grows to greater heights, then much more dangerous heights, really dangerous ones.

Gaia waits through enough cycles of day and night before searching out Ouranos, who does not seem to feel the same need to seek her out; she wants to know what he had learned from his talk with Kronos.

Demeter watches the trial carefully, almost leaving on learning it concerns a mortal, Eros's wife, and decides she should be left in the Underworld since he deserved to lose what he loved.

Eros's heart leaps at the sight of Psyche, even more beautiful as a spirit, and he watches her approach her own body, hesitating and drawing back slightly into Hades.

Eros is visible again, leaning against a tree in his mother's garden days after he should have left the party like the other guests, unsure where to go now that returning home feels different with Psyche gone.

Psyche wakes to someone drawing open the curtains and letting sunlight stream in, blinking blurrily as she adjusts, and is greeted as Princess Psyche, welcomed home.

He asks Psyche what she is doing out here, surprised to find her asleep, wrapped in a towel, in the garden.

Psyche lies awake listening to her husband breathe, resolving that tonight she will light the lamp.

The morning passes somewhat less pleasantly than Psyche had hoped, though she manages to push aside her tangled feelings after hearing what her sisters really thought about her and her exile.

Psyche paces impatiently for the sun to set; her husband has been bringing her news from the village the last few nights.

Psyche takes a deep breath as Aglaura, beside the balding noble who is the current frontrunner, and Cydippe grow desperate to guide her through every step of conversation and decorum, since left alone she would make a mess of it.

Psyche is too busy to help with her sister's upcoming wedding, though she does sit down with a villager who has lost everything.

Psyche steps out of the chariot to look at a huge crack in the ground, wondering whether this could really be the entrance to the Underworld.

Psyche is happy to see her little wooden chariot as the sun rises the next morning, telling it brightly that it is a welcome sight.

The three sisters travel to Aphrodite's temple in a regal line of chariots; Psyche's sisters had stared at her in bewilderment when she suggested they walk, since they could not arrive red-faced and sweaty.

Eros has been visiting the village and returning to give Psyche all the news, finding it fun since the normal ebbs and flows of the mortal realm feel far more exciting seen through her lens; she loves and appreciates everything.

Eros watches Psyche's procession make its way to the top of the hill, looking like a funeral march, with the bride so shrouded in layers that she appears as a ghost.

Eros itches in his billowy robes and flabby skin, reflecting that playing the part of Apollo's oracle was probably his worst idea yet.

This seven-minute chapter is devoted to a single moment: time for Psyche to meet her husband, called here only the monster.

Psyche sighs as she approaches the village square, glad Cydippe had joined her for a visit to the school where the children did well with their poems, and at the sight of Psyche several visitors rush toward her.

After the creation of Kronos, Ouranos takes more interest in the children, and Gaia calls his interest wonderful, at least at first.

Sitting in the cool of Nyx's calm night, Gaia turns over Themis's question, wondering whether she feels complete, whether she is finished creating, and whether something is still missing.

In the final chapter, the people of the kingdom prepare for the most glamorous and most dazzling of all celebrations as the king and queen's third daughter is finally reunited with her husband, the God of Desire.

Eros tells his mother it has been long enough and asks where Psyche is, but Aphrodite shrugs it off casually, saying Psyche must need more time and that, in Hades's realm now, there is nothing she can do.

Deimos reports, surprised, that Mother is tipping over all of the grain, while Phobos remarks that she treats it as the most precious substance on earth.

Psyche bends over a pile of wheat, patiently picking out barley sprayed from a nearby bin, having already set several bins upright and scooped up multiple handfuls of grain where the mixing had been minimal.

Psyche shivers against the morning air in this six-minute chapter; it is not yet dawn.

Eros appears before his mother, startling her a little, and tells her to prepare the bride, prompting Aphrodite to frown and ask, somewhat suspicious, whether he has found someone.

Aglaura scolds Psyche for still sleeping while Cydippe hurries her along with the usual army of attendants; Aglaura gushes that the oracle will be declaring the will of the gods, and the oracle has received an answer.

In the final chapter, Gaia floats weightless within the core of her earth, some time after Kronos took what he needed, what he wanted and what he used to rule over the rest of them.

Gaia suddenly lifts her head from where it had been resting on Ouranos, who asks what is wrong, and she answers that she can hear the children crying.

Ouranos moves through the heavens sensing and pushing out bits of Khaos's power, finding it good to be busy, to have purpose and to be useful.

Over the next few cycles of day and night Gaia finds herself distracted, thinking often about Ouranos and wondering whether he will eventually stop caring and stop protecting them.

Eros reacts in disbelief to the idea of immortality as attendants bring in a couch for Psyche, while he, Harmonia and Athena find a quiet corner of the council room to watch her and plan.

Eros asks Harmonia what he can do, insisting he cannot just leave Psyche to face the Underworld alone and that his mother has no right to send her there.

The sisters arrive and wait for Psyche in the family sitting room, while she, having received word, rushes back to the palace from her work in the village.

He asks how she enjoyed her sisters' visit, and she stands to greet him and he gives her a kiss, thanking him again for bringing them to see her, though something feels off.

Eros had thought he knew what love was, but he did not, never having even a hint of an understanding of love or passion before Psyche.

Cydippe's silly Suitor Games are in full swing while Eros still struggles to find a fittingly vile suitor for Psyche.

Aglaura's wedding is spectacular by mortal standards, with plenty of gold and splendor to blind the weaker eyes, and they had picked his mother's temple for the ceremony, which would please her.

Aphrodite loves her work, finding absolute pleasure in bringing love and beauty into the world, which had been so dull and boring before she arrived, though maybe not completely, since Gaia, the great Mother, had created many beautiful creations.

He asks how she enjoyed her sisters' visit, and Psyche gives a start, realizing he is back.

Psyche shifts her waking hours to night so she and her husband can spend more time together, and he does not mind listening to her stories of the villagers, seeming quite familiar with most of them anyway.

Everyone stays quiet as the sisters and attendants work in the dressing room, nothing like what Psyche had imagined years ago when Aglaura wed, as Aglaura sets aside haughty self-righteousness to help Psyche into her dress while Cydippe fastens it.

Psyche sits in one of the music rooms with the lyricist while the vocal trainer is soon to arrive to help her practice the notes, and the composer nearby plucks out a fine melody.

Ouranos steps back to observe what he and Gaia had created, having wanted to provide for her and protect her from the cycle of creation that would eventually destroy her, and he wanted her to be safe.

Ouranos watches Gaia closely, aware that his elements exist because of her, needing her heat and her core to keep them from condensing into Pontos's sea or disappearing into the void.

Psyche stands dripping water onto the marble floor as she quickly wraps a cloth around herself, reflecting that a bath had never felt so refreshing in her entire life.

The Council sits momentarily silent, looking from the beautiful and powerful Aphrodite to the corpse of Psyche on the couch, and it seems Aphrodite is right that Psyche was weak and belongs in the Underworld with the other departed mortals.

Eros demands that Zeus restore the life of his wife, wrongfully taken from him, and Zeus looks at Psyche's body and answers, surprised, that she is a mortal.

Psyche's mother exclaims her name as an attendant leads Psyche into the family's private sitting room while the king and queen are alerted of her return, with her mother the first to reach the room.

Psyche stays true to her word, letting Eros take charge of their home and accepting it.

Eros watches the kingdom transform in preparation for the Festival of Psyche, wondering whose idea that was anyway.

Psyche's sisters will be gone by morning, and it is a tearful goodbye as they go to sleep that night.

Psyche wakes the next morning to a soft and comfortable bed that reminds her of home, and on opening her eyes she is surprised to find herself in a palace much like the one of her childhood.

In the days after the sisters' excursion, the king and queen decide Cydippe should select a suitor of her own, though accompanying Psyche in some of her work had been nice and not nearly as boring as she expected.

Okeanos, Hyperion, Rheia, Tethys and Krios grunt as their energy fails to push free of Gaia's earth; Tethys says they cannot break through, and Koios blames Kronos for refusing to help.

Gaia cries out that they are trying to break free, and summons Ouranos to her side.

Kronos's sickle strikes rock, prompting Okeanos to ask if it worked; Kronos replies it will take more than a little power and one hit, and that he might be relatively new and seems to have a better understanding.

Gaia sits watching the mound marking where they had trapped the children, still black and charred from the heat.

Psyche wakes to the sound of Aphrodite's voice crying impossible in the doorway, just as Apollo begins pulling the sun into the sky, and gets up.

Eros remarks that Psyche is off, wondering aloud whether they might cancel the whole arrangement and swoop in to save her.

Having bought himself some time, Eros relaxes a little, playing different characters as he mingles among the villagers, though just as often he turns invisible to simply watch Psyche, who still proves a perplexing case.

Eros appears beside Aphrodite at the top of her temple, where she asks whether this is a splendid night; Aphrodite looks glorious in the starlight.

Eros can no longer ignore the two forest nymphs arguing, after what had been such a peaceful morning.

Lord Whats-his-name is delighted to have finally won the Suitor Games, having worried somewhere in the middle, but events went well, he made it through, and now Cydippe would be his, and she seems rather pleased with him too.

Aphrodite cries out to the Gods and Goddesses, demanding that Psyche be taken back to the Underworld and declaring her an imposter.

Eros strides into Aphrodite's dining hall demanding she put a stop to this, and Aphrodite briefly pauses before popping a grape into her mouth and asking why, between chews.

The days drag on as the kingdom scrambles to find a husband for Psyche, while Eros does his best to put off sealing her fate, trying to find some other way.