In Roman mythology, Cupid is the god of love and son of Venus. He is identified with the Greek god Eros. In some accounts, Cupid is a handsome youth, while other sources describe him as a mischievous child. He is often represented as a winged archer and sometimes as blindfolded to signify that love is blind. Gods or mortals wounded by his arrows fell helplessly in love, as, for example, Apollo with Daphne, and Dido with Aeneas.
The most famous legend about Cupid is probably the Cupid and Psyche myth narrated in Apuleius' The Golden Ass (2d century A.D.). According to this tale, Venus commanded Cupid to punish a mortal princess, Psyche, because she was so beautiful that men honored her instead of the goddess. However, when Cupid saw Psyche, he fell in love with her. He then made himself invisible and ordered her never to try to see him. When Psyche eventually disobeyed him, he left
her in anger. After much suffering and searching for him, Psyche was forgiven, granted immortality by Jupiter, and united with Cupid forever. This myth symbolizes the union of Love and Soul, for Cupid is the god of love and psyche is the Greek word for "soul."
