Heshiena's Point of View

Nandito ako ngayon sa lugar na gustong-gusto kong tambayan. I am sitting on the ice chair I made under this enormous tree. Habang hawak-hawak ko ang librong ipinahiram sa amin ng school librarian.

Unfortunately, hindi natuloy ang aming klase dahil nagpatawag ng meeting si Miss Aqua sa lahat ng mga school's staff. I wonder what it is. Bago umalis si Miss Meriam, sinabihan niya kaming pumunta sa library. And instructed us to read about the Garden of Hesperides and Eros and Psyche's love story.

Mabilis kong iniling ang aking ulo. Tumingin ako sa malawak na karagatan. Napangiti ako. It is true that this realm rarely rains or experience a storm. Unless if I or the children of Zeus triggered the weather.

"Eros and Psyche's Love Story." Basa ko sa paksang nakasulat sa front cover. Dahan-dahan kong ibinuklat ang dalawang blank pages. "Psyche was born as the youngest of three daughters to the rulers of a Greek city."

So, she's a princess. Tumango ako pagkatapos.

"Since her childhood, she was an object of admiration and envy because of her extraordinary beauty." Napabuntonghininga na lamang ako dahil sa sumunod na pangungusap. "Crowds would gather in the street below to admire her as if they were celebrating the unmatched beauty of a goddess." My hand flinched.

I know where this is going.

"Fearing the gods would punish them, she tried to discourage these actions to not avail." Hindi lang siya maganda, may malasakit din sa mga subjects niya. "As she matured and became increasingly beautiful, Psyche grew miserable―no one wanted to be friends with her as they were too threatened by her beauty." I was quick to click my tongue.

How annoying.

"And no one dared to court her as the only love she could inspire in them was more of a hopeless infatuation." Napailing na lamang ako. "Her sisters were so jealous of her that, while they have the appearance of being nice to her, they said mean things about her behind her back and encouraged others to be mean to her as well." Napatingala ako sa kalangitan.

Jealousy . . .

One of the most dangerous emotion a person can feel. Nagbubunga ito ng hinala, pagdududa, at kawalan ng tiwala na maaring tumaas sa medyo matinding emosyon at pag-uugali.

It's as if it summons a whole host of negative emotions in its wake.

Ina-hijack nito ang ating mga iniisip at dinadala ang mga ito sa mga mapanganib na lugar. At inaagawan tayo nito ng pananaw.

"Jealous that they were worshipping a mortal girl instead of her, Aphrodite ordered her son Eros, the god of love―" Nagpakawala na naman ako ng marahas na hininga. And absentmindedly rolled my eyes. An Olympian entered the picture, great! "to make Psyche fall in love with a hideous creature."

Typical, I thought.

"However, Eros fell in love with Psyche instead." Napatakip ako ng aking bibig. My heart pound like crazy. Pinamulahan ako ng aking pisngi. "He could not carry out his mother's order and instead, he remained silent. The years went by and, despite her beauty, Psyche could not marry."

"All men admired her godly beauty but then would go on and marry another." Well, it's clear they don't deserve someone like Psyche. She shouldn't waste her beauty over shallow men who only see her physical appearance. "Her parents decided to go to Delphi and ask for guidance from Apollo. The Oracle said that Psyche had to dress in black, climb a high mountain alone and stay there."

"Then, a winged serpent would come for her and take her as his wife. Psyche and her parents had no choice but to follow the god's word." I snorted while rolling my eyes. "As she was waiting alone on the mountain, shaking and crying, the fresh wind of Zephyrus raised her and traveled her through the sky to the gates of a magnificent castle―"

I paused to swallow, "there, a sweet voice greeted her and made her feel like home."

"Every night, Eros would come in the dark and lie beside her. Without seeing him, Psyche could feel that he was not a monster but the loving husband she had always been wishing for." Napakagat ako ng aking ibabang labi. My heart once again skipped a beat. "The following days passed in full joy and Psyche was happy. However, she missed her family and felt sorry for them."

Felt sorry for those horrible jealous sisters?

Psyche is way too kind.

"He asked Eros to let her see them and he granted her wish, after warning her not to be influenced by them, otherwise―" Kinabahan ako, "their relationship will be destroyed and she will suffer a lot. The next day, her two sisters, carried by the wind, arrived at the palace."

I impetuously clicked my tongue.

"They felt jealous ―" Of course, mga inggetera kasi, "of her sister living like a goddess and told her that her husband did not allow her to see him because he was the horrible creature the Oracle had mentioned. This idea overwhelmed the mind of Psyche, who could not understand why her husband would not show his face."

Nagtagis ang bagang ko, at sinapo ang aking noo.

"So, she devised a plan." Nagpakawala ako ng malalim na buntonghininga. "She decided that when Eros falls asleep next to her, she will light a candle to see him. If he is a monster she will kill it with her knife, otherwise, she will happily fall back to sleep."

Why do I have the feeling that this is the start of Psyche's sacrifices for love?

"And so she did. But, after seeing his face, a drop of hot oil fell from the candle and woke Eros up. He immediately left her saying with a heartbroken voice: "Love cannot live without trust"." Muli na naman akong napakagat. My tears are threatening to fall. "Psyche was really sorry and sad, and she could not find Eros anywhere."

"After walking for days, Psyche decided to rest and ask for help in the nearby temples, which she decided to clean after finding them dirty and forgotten." Damn, I realized now how powerful love can be. "When she cleaned a temple of Demeter, the goddess appeared to her and thanked her, but revealed Psyche had to find Eros on her own."

My shoulders dropped in disappointment.

"Psyche later cleaned an altar of Hera, who thanked her but said that she couldn't protect her from Aphrodite." I heaved a sigh. "Hearing her, Psyche decided to confront the goddess of beauty herself."

Love . . .

"As Eros was still recovering, he told her mother what had really happened, much to Aphrodite's fury. Upon being brought to Aphrodite's palace by Hera, Aphrodite made Psyche complete several tasks if she wanted to be her son's wife or she would die."

What the fuck? Kahit na nagbabasa lang ako, at nangyari na ito noon libu-libong taon na ang lumipas, kinakabahan pa rin ako sa kaniya.

I decided to continue, "First, she had to sort mountains grains into the correct bags before dinner time. Demeter sent ants to do it as a thank you for cleaning her temple." I flashed a smile. Demeter helped her. "Next, Psyched had to fetch some wool of sheep for clothes to mend. Some reed near a river got it for her as Hera's reward for cleaning her altar."

"Then, Psyche had to travel up a tall mountain to fill a pitcher of water from a sacred spring, one of the headwater for the River Styx. Having overheard this, Eros convinced Zeus to send an eagle to get the water instead." So as Hera and Zeus.

I scoffed when I learned three of the Olympians had actually helped Psyche to fulfill all the trials of Aphrodite. Demeter and Hera helped her willingly, but Eros needed to convince Zeus first.

"Furious that Psyche had passed them all, Aphrodite decided the final task." I immediately clicked my tongue. Hindi pa nga nakuntento. "Psyche need to go to the Underworld and ask Persephone if she could borrow some beauty cream."

Beauty cream? What the hell!

Napailing na lamang ako.

"Appearing as a towering rock, a hidden Eros told Psyche that there is a volcanic crater leading to the Underworld. She paid Charon two Golden drachmas and gave Cerberus honey-flavored rice cakes from Sparta in order to get inside."

Clever, I thought.

"At Hades' Palace, Persephone put light in the rosewood box Psyche had and warned her not to open it. On the way out of the Underworld, a very dirty-looking and tired Psyche decided to take some of the beauty cream for herself because unlike Aphrodite, she really needed it." Ngiti-ngiti pa akong tumatango.

"Instead of beauty cream, Persephone actually put Stygian sleep inside, the essence of the Underworld, intended to Aphrodite for causing problems before." Umatras ang dila ko. That's why Persephone told her not to open it. "The Stygian sleep filled Psyche's lungs which caused her to pass out."

"Witnessing all this, the other gods of Olympus sent Hermes to tell Eros of what had happened to Psyche. Eros was touched by Psyche's love and flew to her but found her in a delicate state." I squealed in excitement after reading the first sentence on the last paragraph. "He took her to Mount Olympus during one of Apollo's plays, which was when Aphrodite arrived."

"He pleaded with Zeus to save his wife's life, and to make her a goddess amongst the Olympians. Zeus then allowed Psyche to taste the drink of the gods, ambrosia, making her immortal." Bumalik na naman sa aking isipan kung gaano makapangyarihan ang pag-ibig. "On the other hand, Aphrodite was also happy because now that Psyche was immortal, the men would forget about her and worship once again the true goddess of beauty."

Seriously? After all the trouble she bestowed upon Psyche?

"Soon afterwards, Psyche gave birth to Hedone, goddess of pleasure." True love finally bore fruit. "From that day on, the couple lived happily together."

I closed thebook. Eros and Psyche's love story is so heartwarming.