The Feast of the Gods

As we can see from the story of Peleus and Thetis and that of Cupid and Psyche, the marriage feast is a traditional and very it form of celebration.

The Feast of the Gods

The myth of Peleus and Thetis differs from that of Cupid and Psyche, but they both treat the subject of marriage. In Greek mythology, Peleus was the king of Phthia in Thessaly, while the nymph Thetis was a daughter of Nereus. Zeus and Poseidon had quarreled over Thetis's hand, but because Themis had foretold that the son of Thetis would become greater than his father, they thought it better to marry her to a mortal, Peleus. But Thetis objected and tried to wrestle out of Peleus's clutches by transforming from bird to tree to tigress. Finally Peleus, with advice from the centaur Chiron, caught her, made her resume the form of a goddess, and married her on Mount Pelion in the presence of the gods. The Muses sang, and everyone brought gifts. In the myth of Cupid and Psyche, Venus was jealous of the girl’s great beauty. The goddess ordered Cupid (Eros) to make Psyche fall in love with a lowly person. Instead, Cupid fell in love with Psyche himself. Every evening at sunset he went to see her, insisting, however, that she never look at him. Psyche accepted this condition, but one day she broke her promise, lighting a lamp to look at him as he slept. Cupid awoke, furious, and abandoned her, but Psyche refused to give him up. After long wanderings  she was finally forgiven, and the two were married at a feeast attended by  the gods. Allegorically, it symbolizes the union of the soul (psyche) and desire (eros).

Sources

Pindar Pythian 3.92ff.;  Apollodorus 170; Catullus Carmina 64.3 Iff.; Apuleius Metamorphoses 4-6

Iconography

A popular subject in ancient art, which was developed in painting from the Renaissance to the 18th century because of its archaeological interest and the excellent excuse it provided to represent lavish banquets in mythological settings

Giulio Romano, The Marriage of Cupid and Psyche (detail), са. T528. Mantua, Palazzo Te, Cupid and Psyche Room

Giulio Romano, The Banquet on the Island of Cythera, 1527-30. Mantua, Palazzo Te, Cupid and Psyche Room

• Here we see the rustic banquet organized by the satyrs in honor of Cupid and Psyche. Its position opposite the feast of the gods is meant to illustrate the contrasting but complementary aspects of love: the elevated and the material.

• The hybrid human-animal figures are a clear allusion to the more instinctive side of human nature.

• The satyr Pan is seen offering a bread roll to a naked goddess. This can be taken as an erudite reference to the belief among the ancients that the Latin word panis (bread) derived from the name of the god.

• Mercury is the messenger sent by the gods to break up the disorderly feast and endow it with harmony of a superior order.