A Painting of Venus by Sandro Botticelli (Wikimedia Commons)
The plot of the second part of Apuleius's "Cupid and Psyche" was similar to that of stories like the legend of Hercules, who was made to perform a series of incredible feats. This story was a bit different in that Psyche received divine aid in completing her tasks, which give it more of a fairy-tale feel.
It's interesting to me that the allegiances of the gods were so flexible. It seemed that every time someone asked a god or goddess for a favor, the answer was something to the effect of "Well, I shouldn't, but I'll give you a pass." It seems like there's a lot of drama among the roman deities.
The writing styles I noted for Part A were also present here, namely the ascription of value judgments to characters and actions and a thick foreshadowing/foretelling of future events.
Bibliography. "Cupid and Psyche" from The Golden Ass, written by Apuleius and translated by Tony Kline. Web Link.
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