The Cinderella motif may well have originated in classical antiquity. The Greek geographer Strabo recorded in the 1st century BC in his Geographica (book 17, 33) the tale of the Greek slave girl Rhodopis, "Rosey-Eyes", who lived in the colony of Naucratis in Ancient Egypt. It is often considered the oldest known version of the story:
They tell the fabulous story that, when she was bathing, an eagle snatched one of her sandals from her maid and carried it to Memphis; and while the king was administering justice in the open air, the eagle, when it arrived above his head, flung the sandal into his lap; and the king, stirred both by the beautiful shape of the sandal and by the strangeness of the occurrence, sent men in all directions into the country in quest of the woman who wore the sandal; and when she was found in the city of Naucratis, she was brought up to Memphis, became the wife of the king...[13]
Herodotus, some five centuries before Strabo, supplied information about the real-life Rhodopis in his Histories. He wrote that Rhodopis came from Thrace, and was the slave of Iadmon of Samos, and a fellow-slave of the story-teller Aesop. She was taken to Egypt in the time of Pharaoh Amasis, and freed there for a large sum by Charaxus of Mytilene, brother of Sappho the lyric poet.[14][15]
and,
The 3rd-century-BC poet Poseidippus of Pella wrote a narrative poem entitled "Aesopia" (now lost), in which Aesop's fellow slave Rhodopis (under her original name Doricha) was frequently mentioned, according to Athenaeus 13.596.[65] Pliny would later identify Rhodopis as Aesop's lover,[66] a romantic motif that would be repeated in subsequent popular depictions of Aesop.
In 1690, French playwright Edmé Boursault's Les fables d'Esope (later known as Esope à la ville) premiered in Paris. A sequel, Esope à la cour[73] (Aesop at Court), was first performed in 1701; drawing on a mention in Herodotus 2.134-5[74] that Aesop had once been owned by the same master as Rhodopis, and the statement in Pliny 36.17[75] that she was Aesop's concubine as well, the play introduced Rodope as Aesop's mistress, a romantic motif that would be repeated in later popular depictions of Aesop.
If it is true, why didn't Aesop write Cinderella? Either he did, and that's why we know it. Perhaps in the non-animal part of his oeuvre. Or it wasn't a fable to him.
In a February 5, 2007 letter to Denise, I first mention Cinderella. Recalling a conversation Libby and I have on a drive back up to Brown.
and,
The 3rd-century-BC poet Poseidippus of Pella wrote a narrative poem entitled "Aesopia" (now lost), in which Aesop's fellow slave Rhodopis (under her original name Doricha) was frequently mentioned, according to Athenaeus 13.596.[65] Pliny would later identify Rhodopis as Aesop's lover,[66] a romantic motif that would be repeated in subsequent popular depictions of Aesop.
In 1690, French playwright Edmé Boursault's Les fables d'Esope (later known as Esope à la ville) premiered in Paris. A sequel, Esope à la cour[73] (Aesop at Court), was first performed in 1701; drawing on a mention in Herodotus 2.134-5[74] that Aesop had once been owned by the same master as Rhodopis, and the statement in Pliny 36.17[75] that she was Aesop's concubine as well, the play introduced Rodope as Aesop's mistress, a romantic motif that would be repeated in later popular depictions of Aesop.
If it is true, why didn't Aesop write Cinderella? Either he did, and that's why we know it. Perhaps in the non-animal part of his oeuvre. Or it wasn't a fable to him.
In a February 5, 2007 letter to Denise, I first mention Cinderella. Recalling a conversation Libby and I have on a drive back up to Brown.
No comments:
Post a Comment