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The Arrow and the Lamp: The Story of Psyche
Relates how Psyche married the god of love, Eros, how she lost him, and the many obstacles she had to overcome before she became an immortal and could join him on Mount Olympus.
32 pages, Library Binding
First published December 31, 1989
About the author
Margaret Hodges
64 books56 followersMargaret "Peggy" Hodges was an American writer of books for children.
She was born Sarah Margaret Moore in Indianapolis, Indiana to Arthur Carlisle and Annie Marie Moore. She enrolled at Tudor Hall, a college preparatory school for girls. A 1932 graduate of Vassar College, she arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband Fletcher Hodges Jr. when in 1937 he became curator at the Stephen Foster Memorial. She trained as a librarian at Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, under Elizabeth Nesbitt, and she volunteered as a storyteller at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1958 with One Little Drum, she wrote and published more than 40 books.
Her 1985 book Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, won the Caldecott Medal of the American Library Association.
She was a professor of library science at the University of Pittsburgh, where she retired in 1976.
Hodges died of heart disease on December 13, 2005 at her home in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. She suffered from Parkinson's disease.
She wrote her stories on a notepad or a typewriter. "I need good ideas, and they don't come out of machines," she once said.
She was born Sarah Margaret Moore in Indianapolis, Indiana to Arthur Carlisle and Annie Marie Moore. She enrolled at Tudor Hall, a college preparatory school for girls. A 1932 graduate of Vassar College, she arrived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with her husband Fletcher Hodges Jr. when in 1937 he became curator at the Stephen Foster Memorial. She trained as a librarian at Carnegie Institute of Technology, now Carnegie Mellon University, under Elizabeth Nesbitt, and she volunteered as a storyteller at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. Beginning in 1958 with One Little Drum, she wrote and published more than 40 books.
Her 1985 book Saint George and the Dragon, illustrated by Trina Schart Hyman, won the Caldecott Medal of the American Library Association.
She was a professor of library science at the University of Pittsburgh, where she retired in 1976.
Hodges died of heart disease on December 13, 2005 at her home in Oakmont, Pennsylvania. She suffered from Parkinson's disease.
She wrote her stories on a notepad or a typewriter. "I need good ideas, and they don't come out of machines," she once said.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 24, 2017
From an adaptation perspective, the story is superior to Kinuko Y. Craft's version, because it doesn't sweeten the plot a bit and doesn't omit the part of the myth where Psyche is a sacrifice to the "terrible creature even the gods fear," which Craft changed into her voluntarily going to the god of love's palace instead. I think the story as adapted by Margaret Hodges is much better here, closer to the myth by Apuleius and less summed up.
As for the artwork, I liked that Donna Diamond also went for a Grecian aesthetic for the characters and setting, like Craft did. Except that Diamond's feels a bit more modern because how she's not styled the character's hair in the Greek style but lets them free to the wind, which is a bit bothersome to me because it doesn't correspond to how unbound hair was viewed in Greece and Rome, and also that the characters are often in "posey" frames rather than look like going about their day naturally. It's beautiful, soft-coloured art, however, and I liked that Diamond included butterflies, because that's tied to Psyche's name.
As for the artwork, I liked that Donna Diamond also went for a Grecian aesthetic for the characters and setting, like Craft did. Except that Diamond's feels a bit more modern because how she's not styled the character's hair in the Greek style but lets them free to the wind, which is a bit bothersome to me because it doesn't correspond to how unbound hair was viewed in Greece and Rome, and also that the characters are often in "posey" frames rather than look like going about their day naturally. It's beautiful, soft-coloured art, however, and I liked that Diamond included butterflies, because that's tied to Psyche's name.
July 13, 2011
Hodges is, as usual, clear and a little cool in her rendition of the story. No one seems very upset. This is reflected in the mild, static pastel illustrations. Nary a one conveys energy or action; they remind me of posed photographic scenes. Aphrodite looks like she is striking a Vogue pose whilst waiting to begin her interpretive dance.
There were elements I liked, such as where Psyche is first described, "Her sisters were content to know what they were told. Psyche always wanted to know more." That is something different, something other than the standard beauty. But then it isn't reflected in the story, which hardly has "seek to know more" as its message. I also liked that the sisters seem at least partially motivated by concern that she is in fact married to a monster as the oracle predicted. I liked that Psyche has a knife and is ready to defend herself if necessary. Although I can never help thinking, reading this type of story, that the heroine would be able to tell by touch if her husband was, um, physically abnormal. Is she just lying back and thinking of Rhodes while he has his invisible way with her?
Because I reread East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon a few days ago, I was also struck by the question of what would have happened had Psyche not employed the lamp? In East of the Sun and related fairy tales like Pajaro Verde the husband is under enchantment, and would have been freed had the wife been trusting for one year. In this case there is no curse -- if Psyche had been obedient would the status quo of the invisible nocturnal relationship persisted indefinitely? Not to mention Psyche would have grown old and died. In this case her disobedience seems to pay off.
There were elements I liked, such as where Psyche is first described, "Her sisters were content to know what they were told. Psyche always wanted to know more." That is something different, something other than the standard beauty. But then it isn't reflected in the story, which hardly has "seek to know more" as its message. I also liked that the sisters seem at least partially motivated by concern that she is in fact married to a monster as the oracle predicted. I liked that Psyche has a knife and is ready to defend herself if necessary. Although I can never help thinking, reading this type of story, that the heroine would be able to tell by touch if her husband was, um, physically abnormal. Is she just lying back and thinking of Rhodes while he has his invisible way with her?
Because I reread East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon a few days ago, I was also struck by the question of what would have happened had Psyche not employed the lamp? In East of the Sun and related fairy tales like Pajaro Verde the husband is under enchantment, and would have been freed had the wife been trusting for one year. In this case there is no curse -- if Psyche had been obedient would the status quo of the invisible nocturnal relationship persisted indefinitely? Not to mention Psyche would have grown old and died. In this case her disobedience seems to pay off.
February 8, 2015
মু-হা-হা-হা!! এখন বুঝতে পারলাম চৌধুরী সাহেবের ছেলে/মেয়েদের ভালোবাসা কেন কোনো দরিদ্র ছেলে/মেয়েদের সাথে হয়! এই কাহিনীই তো করে গেছেন এরস (কিউপিড) নিজেই। ভালবেসেছেন মর্ত্যের মানুষ। পরে অবশ্য সাইকি নিজের যোগ্যতায় (পড়ুনঃ পিঁপড়া, ঈগল, ঘাস, অদৃশ্য কণ্ঠস্বরের যোগ্যতায়) আদায় করে নিয়েছেন অমরত্ব, ভালবাসার মানুষটির পাশে চিরকাল থাকার অধিকার।
ছবিগুলো ভাল লেগেছে। মনে হয় মানুষ দেবতা সব কিছুর মেকিং ম্যাটেরিয়াল হাওয়াই মিঠাই। হাওয়াই মিঠাই এর কথায় মনে পড়লো পুরো গল্পটার তুলনাই আসলে হাওয়াই মিঠাই এর সাথে দেয়া যায়।
ভালবাসা দিবসের আগে আগে ভালবাসা নিয়ে জ্ঞান অর্জন হয়ে গেল, গুড!! :P
ছবিগুলো ভাল লেগেছে। মনে হয় মানুষ দেবতা সব কিছুর মেকিং ম্যাটেরিয়াল হাওয়াই মিঠাই। হাওয়াই মিঠাই এর কথায় মনে পড়লো পুরো গল্পটার তুলনাই আসলে হাওয়াই মিঠাই এর সাথে দেয়া যায়।
ভালবাসা দিবসের আগে আগে ভালবাসা নিয়ে জ্ঞান অর্জন হয়ে গেল, গুড!! :P
September 3, 2017
Very well done and accurate. The first version I've read with the Greek names for the gods instead of the Roman ones, but I like that there's a guide at the beginning of the book that tells you the Roman names too.
May 29, 2017
Sometimes it's just better to read myths from a young reader perspective.
November 27, 2019
A good book to introduce kids to myths.
February 16, 2017
Good telling, but not crazy about the illustrations.
January 1, 2013
Book #47 of 2012
Lovely illustrations and a pretty, if somewhat flat, writing style. If I'm being completely honest, I have to say that I just don't get much out of Greek mythology to begin with. They simply never made sense to me, so it takes somebody like Neil Gaiman to get me interested. But this was certainly not an unpleasant way to spend 20 minutes, and I might actively recommend this to somebody who already has an interest in ancient myths,.
Lovely illustrations and a pretty, if somewhat flat, writing style. If I'm being completely honest, I have to say that I just don't get much out of Greek mythology to begin with. They simply never made sense to me, so it takes somebody like Neil Gaiman to get me interested. But this was certainly not an unpleasant way to spend 20 minutes, and I might actively recommend this to somebody who already has an interest in ancient myths,.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews