irb #2- heroes, gods and monsters of the greek myths

For my second irb, I read Heroes, Gods and Monsters of the Greek Myths by Bernard Evslin. Just like its title states, it is a collection of 26 different short tales about the many demigods, gods, monsters, and heroes that come out in Greek mythology. There are stories about each of the 12 Olympians, as well as stories of well-known heroes such as Perseus and Hercules. There are also myths about other major characters, like Prometheus, Pandora, and Orpheus. However, the most interesting thing about this collection to me was that it included stories about characters I had never even heard of before, such as Athene, Arion, Phaethon, and Atalanta. Whereas some of the stories seemed to be simply for entertainment, others told important morals and reflected the beliefs of the Greeks who initially told them. For example, the story of Narcissus and Echo ends with the words, "And his pale face and yellow hair became delicate yellow and white petals- the flower Narcissus, which lives on the riverbank and leans over watching its reflection in the water." It also said, "And in the woods too, when all is still, you will sometimes come upon Echo. And if you call to her in a certain way, she will answer your call." Likewise, many of the other stories ended by making real life connections to the characters mentioned in the stories. 

Due to the fact that my irb is a collection of Greek myths, the each of the stories are only around 3-5 pages long. Because of this, the author is not able to develop the characters fully. However, one story that was longer than the others was the myth about Eros and Psyche. In this particular story, the author was able to develop both of the main characters very well, as well as the goddess Aphrodite. The character who was the most well-developed was Eros, or as he is better known, Cupid. 
The author starts off by portraying him as an obedient son to Aphrodite, his mother. He obliges in her evil plan and obeys her command when she tells him to pierce Psyche with an arrow that would make her fall in love with someone undesirable. Instead of refusing to do as his mother wishes, he obediently flies to Psyche to carry out his mother's orders. However, once he accidentally scratches himself with his arrow and falls in love with Psyche, he turns on Aphrodite. The author described this by saying, "Not the gods often quarrel, but Olympus had never seen such a feud as now flared between Aphrodite and her son." In contrast to his initial image of a good son who always does as his mother tells him to do, he became very rebellious. He refused to shoot his arrows, and people began to stop falling in love. The author was able to show this rather stubborn side of him. 
Also, the author portrayed Eros as a rather naïve character. He was unconditionally in love with Psyche, and innocently believed that he could trust her, despite the fact that he hardly knew her. He trusted that she would listen to his orders and that he would be able to remain a mysterious being forever without her finding out who he really was. However, he was naïve and therefore became very angry when she broke his trust and crept up on him while he was asleep, therefore finding out that he was Eros. The author also showed the childish nature in him when he said to Psyche, "Wretched girl- you are not ready to accept love. Yes, I am love itself and I cannot live where i am not believed. Farewell, Psyche." After this, he simply left her and disappeared. Some stories, however, say that he eventually forgave her and that the two married and lived happily every after.