My Love.
		I screamed at them that it wasn't true, but they assured me it was. "And worse still," they said, "the oracle said he waits only for you to bear him a child and then plans to kill you!" My sisters convinced me to light a candle that night and hold it to his face after Cupid fell into a deep slumber. I was shocked to find Aphrodite's son laying there, his perfect features making even the candle burn more brightly. My heart raced as I found my love for him swell even greater inside me, and in that moment of emotion, a drop of wax fell from the candle and landed on Cupid's shoulder. Cupid woke, and when he saw me standing over him holding the lamp, his eyes lowered in sadness. "So you thought I was grotesque and hideous," he mumbled. Before I could answer him, he quietly said, "There can be no love if there is not trust. I will never come to see you again." He walked to the window and prepared to fly away. I leaped after him and held his legs as he rose, but my strength left me and I fell to the ground. I wished the pain that consumed my body would soon bring death. When I recovered I sought help from many gods and goddesses, but none of them dared face the wrath of Aphrodite. Demeter, the god of Grain, finally gave me some advice. He told me that Cupid was filled with sorrow as well, and that Aphrodite grew tired of caring for him while he sulked in his bed at her palace. "Go and seek forgiveness from Aphrodite, and beg her to unite the two of you once more." Aphrodite shrieked when she saw me at her door and ordered her handmaidens Trouble and Sorrow to tear my clothes and pull at my hair. When they had finished, Aphrodite gave me a task to complete before I could see Cupid. She led me to a store-house filled with many kinds of grain. Sort all these by evening, she said, then disappeared. I stared hopelessly at the pile of barley, lentils, and poppy seeds. There was a rope on a shelf, and I resigned to hang myself and be rid of my anguish. As I finished tying the noose, an army of ants marched out from a crack in the floor. They balanced a single grain on each of their backs and made three separate piles while more ants followed behind from the crack. When Aphrodite returned that night she screamed, "Someone must have helped you! You must do another task in the morning!" I was hungry, but finally fell asleep on the floor. The next morning Aphrodite led me to a high hill. "Go to the pasture beside the flowing stream," the goddess said. "Fierce rams with golden wool live there. You must gather some of their fleece, then maybe you'll be worthy of my son's love." I stood by the flowing stream that bordered the pasture and watched the beasts fight with one another. I knew I could never get near their wool without being killed. I accepted my certain doom and decided to drown myself in the stream. As I waded out, the reeds whistled in the breeze and began speaking to me. "You need not approach those terrible sheep," they whispered. "In the midday heat, when the sheep are napping, slip into the pasture and pick the golden wool caught on the briars and thorn bushes. When the drowsy rams settled down to sleep, I crossed the stream and crept into the pasture. I gathered an armful of wool from the sharp bushes then quietly snuck away. When Aphrodite saw the wool in my arms, she smiled bitterly. "Someone is helping you," she said, "but they can't help you on this next task". She told me to fill a crystal goblet with icy mountain water from the mouth of the Stygian River. I could tell by Aphrodite's expression that I would never be able to get the water, but began climbing the steep mountain ridge anyway. When I reached the top and looked at the river in the valley, I began crying in desperation. The rocks leading down to the mouth of the river were hopelessly steep and wet from the current's spray. I decided to jump off the cliff and end my suffering. "Wait!" I looked up and saw an eagle soaring toward me. "Give me the cup and I will fly to the river's mouth and get the water for you." I held the crystal goblet above my head and the eagle swooped down and took it. The great bird held the vessel tightly with its talons as it glided to the gurgling river. It returned and gently released the goblet of dark water into my outstretched hands, and I made my way back down the mountain.
		Visit my other links: My Love (Part 3)