This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” for Valentine’s Day, Cupid, draw back your bow, for two contrasting treatments of the allegorical myth of Psyche and Eros.

Frequently interpreted as a metaphor for the elevation of the soul through love, the tale of Psyche and Eros has much in common with that of Beauty and the Beast: the prohibition against a maid glancing at her “captor,” catty stepsisters who conspire to trip her up, and the revelation of the “beast” as a kind of prince – in this case, the God of Love himself.

In the end, the protagonists pass through travails to triumph, as true love conquers all – a nice change of pace, I think you’ll agree, from the usual classical story arc of being transformed into a stag and devoured by hounds, flying too close to the sun and being struck down by Zeus’ thunderbolt, or accidentally eating one’s own children in a meat pie.

We’ll hear music from César Franck’s “Psyché,” full of romance and ardor, and a somewhat cheekier version, “Cupid and Psyche” by Lord Berners, which sounds more suited to a ballroom or even an amusement park.

Get Psyched for Valentine’s Day. Love is blind, then kind, on “Slings and Eros,” this Sunday night at 10:00 EST, on WWFM – The Classical Network and wwfm.org.