Greek Love - And Modern Love

I was doing one of my Greek Mythology assignments, and I found on assignment to be very interesting. We had to read several stories of Greek love, and then make comparisons to contemporary situations, choosing a story that accurately reflects some aspect of love today.
Interestingly enough, these stories could be about contemporary issues. This is comforting in a way, to think that the good and bad of love are timeless, and that other people have obviously gone though this before. That is just common sense, but its nice to see this kind of thing glorified through the Greeks. This stuff happened centuries ago! That is pretty fantastic if you ask me.

Take the story of Apollo and Daphne. Apollo spent so much time and energy chasing Daphne, described as his first love. The more he chased, the more elusive she became. She ran until she turned into a tree, and the only way Apollo got to have her was as an ornament, using her branches for a crown, a bow, etc. Obviously, this is much more metaphorical. Its like, how we chase who we first love, no matter how unrequited it may be. We may never give up, but do we ever catch up, and get what we want? Apollo didn't. All he got were the remains of a potential love, physical objects that don't compare. Of course, most people aren't necessarily as elusive and opposed to love as Daphne. But it happened. This is unrequited, and I see it so much right now.
Take the story of Pygmalion. In a way, it relates to the first. But Pygmalion grows so tired of women that he gives them up, to instead fall in love with a statue of his own creation. He dresses it up and plays up the aspects he wants, making it perfect but not real. This could also be unrequited, but being in love with the idealistic version instead of something real. We fall for someone, worshiping the aspects we think are great, ignoring what we don't want to see or believe. Its not real, but its perfect. It could be our dreams of how we wish it could be, but this is what we will never really have.
Then there's the story of Cupid and Psyche. I don't like this one as much, mostly because I've already analyzed it to death for my class. But anyway, this story basically depicts a fickle kind of last resort love. That is my opinion, at least, but most people seem to really like this story. It seems, most people think that this is love. I hope this isn't love. Cupid and Psyche annoy me.


Our issues are timeless, we are just more people doing the same old thing that's already been done. Beautiful, phantasmal, epic situations that play over and for no one's amusement. Maybe we can learn from the past, but I think that one has already been tried as well. We are living these stories, like millions of people already have. We will eventually find some conclusion, but not anything original. Maybe it will be new for us, what we wanted or didn't want. To the rest of the world, its just another story with a predictable end. But to yourself, it can be as monumental as you want it to be. Tell your own story, exactly how you want it to be.