Cinderella

Cinderella, or The Little Glass Slipper, (Italian: Cenerentola, French: Cendrillon, ou La petite Pantoufle de Verre, German: Aschenputtel) is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances, that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune. The story of Rhodopis, recounted by the Greek geographer Strabo in around 7 BC, about a Greek slave girl who marries the king of Egypt, is considered the earliest known variant of the "Cinderella" story. The most popular version was first published by Charles Perrault in Histoires ou contes du temps passé in 1697, and later by the Brothers Grimm in their folk tale collection Grimms' Fairy Tales. Although the story's title and main character's name change in different languages, in English-language folklore "Cinderella" is the archetypal name. The word "Cinderella" has, by analogy, come to mean one whose attributes were unrecognized, or one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect. The still-popular story of "Cinderella" continues to influence popular culture internationally, lending plot elements, allusions, and tropes to a wide variety of media. The Aarne–Thompson system classifies Cinderella as "the persecuted heroine". 2Ancient and international versions 3Ancient Greece The oldest known version of the Cinderella story is the ancient Greek story of Rhodopis, which is first reported by the Greek geographer Strabo, who probably wrote in around 7 BC He writes: "A story is told of [Rhodopis], that, when she was bathing, an eagle snatched up one of her sandals from the hands of her female attendant and carried it to Memphis; the eagle soaring over the head of the king, who was administering justice at the time, let the sandals fall into his la