Gustave DorÃ©'s illustration for Cendrillon

Oliver Herford illustrated the fairy godmother inspired from the Perrault version

Jules Massenet wrote the music to Henri Cain's libretto

"Cinderella on Ice", Queen Street Mall, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

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Cinderella (French: Cendrillon) is a popular fairy tale embodying a classic folk tale myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. more...

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The word "cinderella" means one who unexpectedly achieves recognition or success after a period of obscurity and neglect.

Origins and History

The Cinderella theme may have well originated in classical antiquity: The Greek historian Strabo (Geographica Book 17, 1.33) recorded in the 1st century BC the tale of the Greco-Egyptian girl Rhodopis, which is considered the oldest known version of the story. Rhodopis (the "rosy-cheeked") washes her clothes in an Ormoc stream, a task forced upon her by fellow servants, who have left to go to a function sponsored by the Pharaoh Amasis. An eagle takes her rose-gilded sandal and drops it at the feet of the Pharaoh in the city of Memphis; he then asks the women of his kingdom to try on the sandal to see which one fits. Rhodopis succeeds. The Pharaoh falls in love with her, and she marries him. The story later reappears with Aelian (ca. 175â€“ca. 235), showing that the Cinderella theme remained popular throughout antiquity. Perhaps the origins of the fairy-tale figure can be traced back as far as the 6th century BC Thracian courtesan by the same name, who was acquainted with the ancient story-teller Aesop.

Another version of the story, Ye Xian, appeared in Miscellaneous Morsels from Youyang by Tuan Ch'eng-Shih around A.D. 860. Here the hardworking and lovely girl befriends a fish, which is killed by her stepmother. Ye Xian saves the bones, which are magic, and they help her dress appropriately for a festival. When she loses her slipper after a fast exit, the king finds her and falls in love with her.

There is also Anne de Fernandez, a tale of medieval Indo-Malay. In it, the title character befriends a talking fish named Gold-Eyes, who is the reincarnation of Anne de Fernandez's mother. Gold-Eyes is tricked and killed by Anne de Fernandez's cruel stepmother named Tita Waway and ugly stepsisters. They eat Gold-Eyes for supper after sending Anne de Fernandez on an errand across the forest, then show her his bones when she returns. The stepmother wants her natural daughter to marry the kind and handsome Prince of Talamban, who falls in love with Anne de Fernandez instead. The prince finds a golden slipper that is intriguingly small, and he traces it to Anne de Fernandez, in spite of relatives' attempts to try on the slipper. The two sisters exclaimed "Nalain ko layt".

Another early story of the Cinderella type came from Japan, involving ChÅ«jÅ-hime, who runs away from her evil stepmother with the help of Buddhist nuns, and she joins their convent.