Greek Mythology Love Stories: Spring Romance is in the Air

Psyche was a mortal princess known for her exquisite beauty. People would often compare Psyche to Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty. But Aphrodite didn't love that so much, and we know what happens when the gods are not happy with mortals...

Aphrodite orders her son Eros, the god of love, to shoot Psyche with one of his love arrows that would make her fall for the most hideous creature. Except, Eros can't help but fall in love with her and does not listen to his mother. Instead, he takes Psyche to a secret place where he visits her nightly, but forbids her to look at him.

Of course, Psyche's curiosity gets the better of her and she soon discovers that her lover is the beautiful Eros. In anger at her betrayal, Eros leaves, but Psyche is determined to find him again.

After a long tormenting journey, Psyche meets Aphrodite who demands she complete several impossible tasks. Psyche's devotion to Eros allows her to complete the tasks. Eventually, Zeus makes her immortal so that she and Eros can bask in their love through eternity.

Orpheus, a musician with superhuman skills, and Eurydice, an oak nymph, fall madly in love, but shortly after their wedding, Eurydice was bitten by a venomous snake and died. The devastated Orpheus embarked on a never-before successful journey to the underworld to try and bring her back.

He played his lyre and sang a tune so heart-wrenching that even Hades was moved. So with Persephone's urging, Hades agreed to let Eurydice return to the land of the living, but on one condition (uh-oh!): Orpheus must walk ahead of her and not look back until they had both reached the upper world.

All was smooth sailing until Orpheus couldn't resist the urge to look back to see if Eurydice was still there. Of course, she was, but at that moment, she was whisked back to the underworld...forever. Devastated by the loss of his beloved wife, Orpheus spent the rest of his life in mourning, playing sorrowful songs that moved both mortals and gods.

Greek mythology love stories get transformed throughout history in many different types of media. Believe it or not, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was not Shakespeare's brain child. He took inspiration from Pyramus and Thisbe's ill-fated love story. The two young lovers were head over heels for each other, but you guessed it, feuding families made this love affair quite forbidden. Of course that didn't stop them from secretly communicating through a crack in the wall that separated their houses and plan to elope.

They were to meet under a mulberry tree outside of town, but Thisbe arrived first and was scared off by a lioness with a bloody mouth. Fleeing, she dropped her shawl, which the lioness ripped apart. When Pyramus arrived, he saw the shredded shawl, and assumed Thisbe was dead.

Consumed with despair, he took his own life with his sword. Thisbe returned to find Pyramus dead and was so grief-stricken that she also took her own life. The two lovers were buried together, and their parents reconciled in grief over their children's tragic end. Sound familiar?

Echo was a chatty mountain nymph who could talk the ears off of anyone. She was so good at talking that she would distract Zeus' wife, Hera, while Zeus snuck off for a little rendezvous. But Hera caught on to Echo's trickery and cursed her by taking away her ability to speak except for repeating the last words of others.

One day Echo spotted a handsome young man deer hunting in the woods and fell enamored by him. But because of her curse, she couldn't express her feelings to him. This boy was Narcissus who was so handsome that everyone who saw him fell in love, but he had none of it because he was too much in love with himself. So he denied Echo's affections and she went into the woods to hide from embarrassment.

One day, while out for a stroll, Narcissus stumbled upon a pool of water and caught a glimpse of his own reflection. He was so smitten with the image in the water that he spent all his time staring at it, refusing to leave even for food or water. That's right, he died of thirst and starvation, all for the love of himself! Where he perished, a flower with white petals and a yellow center grew, forever known as the Narcissus.

When Narcissus died, Echo was so heartbroken that she slowly withered away until all that was left of her was her voice in the mountains, echoing the last words of others.

I think we all know that Greek Mythology love stories are rarely happy, but this one seems to turn out okay despite its rocky beginning. One day, Demeter, the goddess of harvest and agriculture, along with her daughter Persephone, were out picking flowers when Hades, the god of the underworld saw Persephone and was immediately taken with her beauty. He did what any self-respecting god of death would do and kidnapped her.

Persephone's mother, Demeter, was rightfully devastated by the loss of her daughter. She searched the Earth for her but could not find her, and in her grief, she neglected her duties, causing a famine on Earth.

Zeus, the god of gods and Hera, the goddess of women, marriage and childbirth are Mount Olympus's ultimate power couple. But their story is pretty far from your idyllic romance. In fact, it's said that their marriage was more of a political arrangement than a love story.

Some versions of the myth suggest that Zeus was smitten with Hera from the moment he laid eyes on her and spent years trying to win her over. But let's be real, Hera was having none of it. She was a strong and independent goddess who didn't need a man to define her power.

In a desperate attempt to win her heart, Zeus transformed himself into a cuckoo bird and played the role of a helpless creature. Of course, Hera took pity on the little bird and took him under her wing.