As their relationship continued, Psique's family and friends began to worry about her mysterious lover. They urged her to reveal his identity, but Psique, bound by the secrecy of their nocturnal encounters, could not comply.

Venus, still determined to thwart Psique's happiness, devised a plan to separate the lovers. She presented Psique with a series of impossible tasks, hoping that she would fail and lose Cupid's love. Psique, however, demonstrated remarkable courage and resourcefulness, completing each task with the help of sympathetic gods and goddesses.

Venus, determined to punish Psique for her supposed arrogance, ordered her son Cupid (or Eros) to shoot the mortal with one of his magical arrows, causing her to fall in love with the most despicable of men. However, Cupid accidentally shot himself with the same arrow, and subsequently, he fell deeply in love with Psique.

In the final test, Psique was asked to retrieve a box of beauty from the underworld, said to contain the essence of the goddess Proserpina. Psique successfully completed the task, but, tempted by the box's promise of divine beauty, she opened it, releasing the contents and falling into a magical sleep.