How Old is the Cinderella Story?

When I saw this artwork, I wondered just how old is the Cinderella story? Curiosity sent me on a search. I discovered that the Cinderella story most of us are familiar with (Charles Perrault-1697, Brothers Grimm and Walt Disney), has its origins in classical antiquity. In the 1st century BC, Strabo recorded a tale of a Greco-Egyptian girl named Rhodopis. The oldest known version goes back to at least five centuries before Strabo when Herodotus recorded information about Rhodopis in his “Histories.”

Cinderella was a popular story throughout antiquity, and since those times “the myth of unjust oppression/triumphant fortune” has become an archetype ingrained into our collective psyches. If you’d like to know more about archetypes, read Carl Jung or Joseph Campbell’s work (“The Hero’s Journey”). Also, Christopher Vogel’s “The Writer’s Journey – Mythic Structure for Writers,” is a book that every writer should have on their book shelf.

I’m always fascinated by all the creative and different ways writers and artists can twist and weave the plot elements into a new story or work of art.

Recently, I read Eloisa James’ “A Kiss at Midnight” — a fantastic retelling of the Cinderella story that I enjoyed and recommend to all romance readers and writers.

For more about the Cinderella myth, read Alice Grey’s fantastic article. http://alicegrey.hubpages.com/hub/The-Origins-of-the-Cinderella-story

Have any more Cinderella stories to recommend?