Which C.S. Lewis work is a retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth?

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Till We Have Faces is C.S. Lewis’s retelling of the Cupid and Psyche myth.

The novel takes its title from the idea that a person must have a true face, or genuine self, before encountering the divine clearly. Its narrator, Orual, is the eldest daughter of the king of Glome. She becomes entangled in the fate of her half-sister Psyche, whose beauty and spiritual experiences echo the ancient myth.

Lewis drew on the classical story associated with Apuleius’s The Golden Ass, but he transformed its emphasis. Rather than retelling the tale from Psyche’s viewpoint, he gives Orual control of the narrative. Her jealousy and complaints gradually become part of a deeper examination of self-deception, love, and judgment.

Published in 1956, the book was Lewis’s last completed novel and was written for an adult audience. It is sometimes mistaken for a Narnia volume because of its mythic atmosphere, but it has no setting, characters, or continuity shared with Narnia.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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