In a previous story, you heard how poor Psyche, when she was the servant of Aphrodite, was made to do all kinds of difficult things and was finally sent down under the earth for a pot of Persephone’s ointment. You shall now hear exactly what these hard tasks were; and, also, the full tale of the sorrowful princess’s visit to the kingdom of Hades and his six months queen.

You must know that, after Aphrodite had forced Psyche to become her servant, she prepared to set off to a grand wedding, saying that Psyche must stay at home to perform the first of the tasks that would be set for her. Leading her to a great piled-up quantity of wheat, barley, millet, poppyseed, peas, lentils, and beans, the queen of love declared that all the seeds were to be sorted into different heaps before she came back from the wedding breakfast. Then she mounted her chariot drawn by four doves, shook the jeweled reins, and was driven swiftly away.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).

One fine morning, in those days of long and long ago, a beautiful baby, the son of a still more beautiful princess, was born in a little room at the top of a high tower built of brass.

That was a strange birthplace for a prince, you will think, but the fact is that the whole matter was a close secret. The poor princess had been shut up in the tower for months, just because her father, the king, did not want her to get married. He had been told that someday he would be killed by his own grandson, so he decided that the best way to avoid this would be not to allow his only daughter to be married so that then he would never have any grandchildren at all.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).

A certain king and queen, who lived in a wonderful land more years ago than anyone can count, had three daughters, all of whom were beautiful, while the youngest, called Psyche, was the loveliest maiden that the people of the country had ever seen.

So fair was she that her father’s subjects declared she was fairer than Aphrodite herself. This made the queen of love —who, like others among the Shining Ones, could sometimes be very jealous— so angry that she decided poor Psyche must be punished for daring to become her rival. So, calling her son Cupid to her side, she told him to go at once in search of the maiden who was called Psyche, and, by wounding her with some magical arrows Aphrodite had given him, make her fall in love with the first hunchback or beggar that she met.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).

One beautiful day, a maiden, pretty as spring itself, was playing with her companions in a meadow full of flowers. Sometimes they gathered great bunches of violets and lilies and made wreaths for their necks and heads; sometimes they danced; and sometimes they played at ball.

The pretty maiden was called Persephone, and the meadow where she played was quite close to an enchanted pool, where fairy swans sang like nightingales. Persephone was young and happy, and never thought of anything so serious as getting married. All she wanted was to laugh and sing in the sunshine, and to gather nosegays to show her mother at night.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).

In the green glades of old Greece, where anemone and crocus grew, lived the wood nymphs, who danced in the sunlight and the moonlight upon the soft moss. They did not take much notice of human beings, but were content to laugh and play with all the strange fairy creatures that lived among the flowers.

One morning, however, as they chased each other through the trees, they came upon a beautiful youth named Narcissus, hunting with bow and arrows in the golden-green shadows of the forest. They peeped at him between the branches and whispered to each other, saying how handsome he was. Then all danced away again except one, who stood gazing, and gazing, and gazing at the tall, strong youth, longing, with all her heart, to speak to him.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).

Long, long ago, on the top of a high mountain in Greece called Olympus, a wonderful palace stood, with its windows in the clouds and its doors in the snow. It was quite invisible to the human beings who lived in the valleys beneath, but they knew it was there, and that shining and beautiful people dwelt in it, some of them crowned like kings and queens, and some with wings on their shoulders, like birds.

Now and then one or another of these fairy-like people would come floating down the side of the mountain, leaving the sound of music and the scent of violets and roses on the air as they passed. Nobody knew when the Shining People had been born, and it was said of them that they could never die, so the shepherds who minded their flocks in the meadows, and the fishers who set their crab pots in the rocky bays, called them “The Immortals”, and as The Immortals they are known to this day.

👉 And that's it for now! Subscribe to the podcast if you haven't already: Classicsness.com. And if you want to know more about classics and even learn Latin online, check out LatinFromScratch.com.

📚 Source: Once Upon A Time: Children’s Stories From The Classics (1920?) by Blanche Winder (1866-1930).

A podcast that invites you to embark on a fascinating exploration of Latin, Greek, classical culture, and Greek mythology.

Immerse yourself in the vibrant tapestry of classical culture, where art, architecture, and literature flourished. We'll explore the epic tales of Greek mythology, from the mighty Olympian gods to the exploits of heroes like Hercules and Odysseus.

Classicsness is not for classics scholars, but for anyone with a curious mind and a desire to uncover the roots of our shared human experience. So join us as we embark on an enlightening and engaging journey through the realms of Latin, Greek, classical culture, and Greek mythology.

(Sorry, that description was generated by ChatGPT. Who cares about it? Just listen! And yes, these public domain texts are read by text-to-speech software, but it's pretty good, isn't it?) ⚡

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