Since before we can remember, we have been celebrating Valentine’s Day, taking the opportunity to express our love and care for that special someone in our life by giving valentines day gift. We have been celebrating the day, without actually knowing much about how it came to be. Cupid, a little baby in a diaper (sometimes nude), with arrows and wings, has been the symbol of Valentine’s Day for a long time now. But actually, the stories of Cupid and of St. Valentine are not even the same; they didn’t even happen in the same time period. Maybe the basic underlying theme of love caused the stories to get muddles together over time. Don’t worry though, here is what happened:
The Story of Cupid
Though Cupid is these days shown as a cute little baby, he was actually, a strapping young god; Eros, the son of Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of beauty and love. Eros is just better known as his Roman version, Cupid, the son of Venus. His story begins with him taking a mortal bride, who he fell in love with. Psyche was a beautiful woman, the daughter of a king. She was so pretty that people in the city started ignoring the worship of Venus. Venus was jealous of this mortal’s beauty. She sent her son, Cupid, to punish the mortal, pricking her with his arrows, making her fall in love with a monster. But when he saw her, he fell in love with her and married her.
She lived in a beautiful palace and was served by invisible servants. Her husband told her that she must never look upon him, and visited her only at night. Growing homesick, she persuaded Cupid to let her sisters visit her. The sisters got jealous when they saw her lifestyle and started poisoning her mind that her husband must be a monster and that was why she couldn’t look at him.
One night, Psyche took a lamp and a knife and looked at Cupid. She was so surprised with his beautiful face that she dripped hot wax on him. He woke up and saw that the rules had been broken, so he left along with the palace and the servants.
Wandering around, looking for her husband, Psyche came across a temple of Venus. The goddess still wanted to punish her, so she gave her a number of tasks to do. As this was going on, Cupid saw, and asked Jupiter to stop Venus. Psyche was made a goddess, and since that day, Cupid’s arrows have signified true love.
St. Valentine
Earlier, Valentine’s Day was called St. Valentine’s Day, and there are different speculations about the origin of the day. But the most famous legend is about St. Valentine, back in the third century. In Rome, the emperor, Claudius II decided one day that single men would make better soldiers than a man who has a wife or a family. With this thought in mind, he outlawed marriage for young men. St. Valentine served the church, but he realized that this decree was highly unfair. He defied the emperor and performed marriages for young lovers, in secret. He was executed, when the emperor found out; but since then, ST. Valentine’s Day has been celebrated, remembering the saint who gave his own life for young lovers.
Two different stories from two different time periods, but both led to a day that we celebrate even now, a day dedicated now to love.
