Which C.S. Lewis work uses the fictional world of Glome to retell the Cupid and Psyche myth?
Answer
Till We Have Faces
Answer
Till We Have Faces
Till We Have Faces uses the fictional kingdom of Glome to retell the myth of Cupid and Psyche.
Published in 1956, the novel is narrated mainly by Orual, the eldest daughter of the king of Glome. Psyche, her beautiful half-sister, is the figure corresponding most closely to Psyche in the classical myth. Lewis reworks the story through themes of jealousy, possession, suffering, accusation, and the difficulty of seeing oneself honestly.
The novel’s title comes from the idea that people cannot truly confront one another, or the gods, until they have developed identities of their own. Unlike a straightforward retelling, the book gives the myth a psychologically complex first-person narrator whose understanding changes over time.
Lewis wrote the novel with Joy Davidman, whom he married in 1956, in mind as a reader and critic. Readers sometimes place the book among his children’s fantasies, but it is an adult literary novel and does not belong to the Narnia series.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Oct. 2026