I found this message more in Till We Have Faces than in the original. Thankfully, we have a God who answers, a God who loves us. After all, the prophets, psalmists, and great men of old asked them of God. We Christians are bolder here than with nonfiction, unless you get deep into philosophy. In these, we allow ourselves the freedom to be bold with ourselves and God about the tough questions of life that we face. In the end, I felt comfort in God’s mercy and that even if we cannot see the full picture in our sufferings and blessings, God does.Ībout grappling with these deep questions about life and God, I think this is one of the things I love about good Christian fiction and fantasy. Where Cupid and Psyche is written with a heavy emphasis on pagan myth, Lewis’s retelling asks the questions about life and God that we are often afraid to ask within a mythological setting.

This story speaks about self-righteousness, truth, justice, and the heart of love. Till We Have Faces is similar but with slightly different emphases. She truly wants to love and be loved in return. Psyche is a much more formless character in this tale, yet she still recognizes her sin and strives to pay penance for it. This story also reminded me of two things: how much I hate Venus/Aphrodite and how hopeless pagan religion is. Cupid and Psyche is a tale warning of curiosity, the rights of men and gods, spousal relationships, and justification. While these two stories complement each other, they are also different. Both stories are great in their own right, but they also complement each other in ways you will miss if you don’t read the original before the retelling. But when I saw that note, I decided that I should read the original first, and I’m glad I did.

And I know, the front cover of Lewis’s book literally says a myth retold, but I hadn’t really thought about it much. Thankfully, I read the inside cover first, which informed me that this was a retelling of Cupid and Psyche. So I finally bought a copy, and a couple of weeks ago, I sat down to read it. A least a dozen people in the last year or so have told me that I HAVE to read Till We Have Faces by C.S.

Cs lewis cupid and psyche