Who Is The King?
Psyche's father, who obeys the oracle
The King is the father of Psyche and her two sisters, and the ruler of an unnamed country. The original text gives neither his name nor the name of his kingdom.
His two elder daughters have married kings, but no suitor ever comes for his youngest and most beautiful daughter. Fearing the anger of the gods, he consults the oracle of Apollo at Miletus and receives a terrible command: "Leave your daughter on a mountain crag as a bride." Grieving, he and the queen obey, sending their daughter up the mountain in a procession that seems both a wedding and a funeral. Afterward, believing she is lost, he shuts himself away in deep mourning.
In the ancient Mediterranean world, people often consulted oracles before important decisions, and defying a god's command was believed to bring great disaster.
Episodes featuring this character2
NEWEpisode 1
Too Beautiful to Be LovedCupid and Psyche
Everyone worships her, but no one falls in love with her. Princess Psyche is so beautiful that she earns the jealousy of the goddess Venus. In this first episode, Psyche tells her father, "I want someone to really see me." Then the god of prophecy gives his answer: "Leave her on a mountain crag as a bride. Her husband is a winged monster."
19 pages
NEWEpisode 2
She Smiled on the Day She Wed a MonsterCupid and Psyche
Psyche is sent to a mountain crag to marry a husband who isn't human. Instead of falling apart, she comforts her weeping parents and leads the wedding procession on her own two feet. Left alone on the rock, she gives herself to the West Wind and is carried to a golden palace run by servants who are nothing but voices. Then night falls, and something comes toward her in the dark.
19 pages