In a kingdom not far from here, there lived a king and queen and their three beautiful daughters. The king and queen were fair and kind, and they loved their daughters equally. 

Among the princesses, however, it was a bit of a competition. 

Aglaura, the eldest, was said to be the most radiant beauty. Having entered the world first, one could argue the competition was never exactly fair. But fair or not, everyone admired the eldest princess as the best. 

Cydippe, the second born, might not have surpassed Aglaura in beauty, but she was certainly her equal. To Cydippe, if a princess was to be the best, she needed to not only be beautiful, but have talents as well. Cydippe, therefore, developed a flair for the arts. She excelled in dancing and reciting poetry. Cydippe expressed herself in the most inspiring of ways. It was then agreed throughout the kingdom that this second-born princess, who possessed both beauty AND talents, was the best. 

Well.

Aglaura was so much more than just beautiful. She had a powerful mind and a keen intellect. Aglaura dedicated herself to the study of science and philosophy. Any public dispute, any perplexing problem, would find clarity when brought before Aglaura. People would flock to her, in awe of her beauty and wisdom. They began to say that her beauty, combined with the power of her mind, could outshine any performance. 

It was clear that Aglaura was the best. 

Cydippe eyed her better sister and noticed that with so much attention given to learning, she was letting herself go. Wisdom and weight loss were not an automatic pairing. Cydippe therefore found the perfect diet of fig leaves and pomegranates. Rigorous exercise brought her joy and, being free from the stress of solving the world’s problems, her figure almost rivaled her grace and beauty. As Cydippe began to bloom, everyone could see her loveliness really coming together.

So, actually, Cydippe was clearly the best.  

But wait! Aglaura, in all of her study, discovered the mind-body bond, which was said to help even the most stressed and pudgy souls find balance. She dedicated herself to the study of mindful eating and regular – not rigorous – exercise. She would meditate before every meal, clearing her mind and body of any excess. Then she would eat only the items her body truly needed. She grew perfectly toned, her skin soft and supple. 

Aglaura was the epitome of triumph! 

Which is to say, she was the best. 

Ha! Cydippe wasn’t so easily fooled by the assumed superiority of Aglaura. She had a skill Aglaura would never have –  the ability to make things fun and exciting. She could make people laugh. She knew the real victory was in popularity. 

And Cydippe had Aglaura there. 

Hardly!

Cydippe knew nothing about ruling and being in charge. She might win a little popularity contest, but when it came to important things, like leading, she was definitely lacking. It was clear that Aglaura —

Um, what about Psyche?

Who?

Psyche. 

The youngest daughter. 

Oh. 

Psyche. 

The sisters had given no thought to their little sister. She was usually hiding away somewhere in a quiet corner or making her escape to the market. Psyche seemed oddly interested in the mediocre and mundane. 

And, anyway, Psyche was hardly competition. She was constantly embarrassing herself. Like the time she interrupted an important ceremony just to give a sniffling attendant a handkerchief. 

Why would anyone care about an attendant with a runny nose? 

Given her lack of decorum, skills, or anything that would make her stand out, it was fairly safe to say that Psyche was in third place. 

Which is to say, she was in last place. 

But Psyche didn’t seem to care for the competition. 

Which pleased her sisters just as well. 

As time passed the three princesses continued to grow in grace and beauty. The older two were motivated by staying ahead of the advancements of each other. Psyche, well, naturally grew in her own unique way. 

And then, something rather unusual started to happen in the kingdom. 

It was subtle at first. 

Baby “Psyches” started popping up among the villagers, and then among the nobles. A sweet gesture of parents towards the kingdom’s youngest daughter. 

They somehow thought it would bring their daughters luck. 

Psyche’s sisters couldn’t understand it. A baby by any other name — like Cydippe or Aglaura — would be just as lucky. 

Then the king and queen noticed a sporadic trickle of tokens and payments of gratitude arriving at the palace for Princess Psyche. At first they were small tokens. A chicken or two brought in by a villager. Then a few nobles sent servants to the palace to deliver some goats and several bags of grain. 

How very peculiar that these members of the kingdom wanted to single out Psyche with these tokens. 

Ah, well. It couldn’t hurt to have a few more things to add to the demands of the palace. Plenty of mouths to feed and all. And fortunately, when the king and queen asked Psyche what she wanted to do with all of her gifts, she seemed just as happy to have her tokens go to the needs of the palace.

And then, rather oddly, during a reception organized for visitors from a distant kingdom, the palace musicians performed a song of Psyche’s beauty and kindness. 

Psyche’s beauty and kindness?? 

Her sisters were confused. 

Hadn’t Aglaura been kind in giving of her time and attention to the problems and complexities of the world? Did the people care nothing for her work?

And let’s not forget Cydippe. She tirelessly entertained the kingdom, bringing people laughter to help lighten their load. 

What did Psyche do?? 

Nothing her sisters could see.  

Well, whatever it was that Psyche did, that slow trickle of gifts and tokens soon became a steady flow. The king and queen were running out of room for the barrels of wine, bunches of grapes, and baskets of olives. Food was starting to spoil as the palace fought to keep up. Well, and, the stench and noise of the livestock alone was enough to make the palace “intolerable” (the king’s words). 

Under the direction of Aglaura, the kingdom developed a system for processing all of these gestures of thanks. “Visiting hours” were posted to reduce the interruptions and people were directed to various parts of the palace compound depending on the gift they brought. 

Livestock this way, flowers that way, food over there, everything else here. 

It was quite a good system and the king and queen were notably impressed with Aglaura’s skills. 

Ah, but look! Here come more visiting dignitaries.  

Neighboring kingdoms didn’t just come to visit. They came bringing their own gifts for Psyche, and their donations were considerably bigger. Travelers from various parts of the world made their way to the humble kingdom too, in the hopes of seeing this Princess Psyche they had heard so much about. 

The kingdom was soon scrambling to provide lodging and food for the inflow of visitors. The more opportunistically-minded villagers wasted no time in building inns and restaurants. Some were even clever in their offerings. 

Psyche’s Inn, for example, offered a special room where people could feel Psyche’s presence. Psyche’s Favorite Restaurant offered all of Psyche’s favorite foods — or so they claimed. 

At last, a visiting dignitary made the brilliant suggestion that, given the size and scale of Psyche’s popularity, perhaps it was time to erect a shrine and create an entire “worship” complex.

What a splendid idea!

Under Cydippe’s direction, of course, for she had a better sense of marketing and customer flow, a large shrine was built, complete with lodging and restaurants. Donations and visiting hours were transferred from the palace to the shrine and a full-time staff were brought on to manage everything.  

Well done Cydippe! 

Things were running quite smoothly as people continued to visit the little kingdom. The villagers were gratified, knowing that it was indeed Psyche who had brought them all that luck as the economy continued to grow. These ideas perpetuated more stories and brought in more visitors. 

But Psyche had a concern. 

Apparently not everyone was fairing as well in their new and flourishing economy. With the influx of food and animals from foreign sources, the local growers and herders were struggling. 

And inflation! What had once cost a few coins now demanded a lot more!

How would the poor manage to keep up with the growing prices? 

Aglaura had a simple solution. 

Education, of course!

Using some of the funds brought in from all of the offerings, the palace decided to establish a village school. Aglaura made sure the children were educated in logic. She had grown tired of their simple and circular ways of thinking. Cydippe suggested the children practice and write their own poetry. Poetry of their own would help them appreciate her talents all the more. 

At last, things were going well. No more complaints, no more problems.

And things continued on for quite some time. 

Except. 

Unbeknownst to the kingdom, it appeared that the competition among the sisters had grown to greater heights. 

Much more dangerous heights. 

Like, really dangerous.