Blog Entry 6

Lucius Apuleis depiction from Wikipedia

The story of “Cupid and Psyche” by Lucius Apuleis was told long before the Brothers Grimm version was published in 1812. There are many differences that can be found between the two, but some similarities are present. In both stories, the opening paragraph starts by describing a beautiful daughter figure who was the youngest of the family. In the Brothers Grimm version, the youngest daughter was described to be as beautiful as the sun and in the version by Apuleis, “the beauty of the youngest was so wonderful that the poverty of language is unable to express its due praise.” 

The Frog Prince

Both of the female characters then showed violence within themselves, which can be compared to their inner beast. This is displayed when the princess threw the frog against the wall out of anger because he was promised love and companionship even though the princess really was not willing to give it, she just wanted her ball. In ‘Cupid and Psyche,” she begins to put a knife to his throat. Both women, the princess and Psyche, came to a moment of realization when there were transformations. The “Beauty and the Beast” idea is the biggest similarity between the two stories.

Some differences between the two are that Psyche was frightened to begin with, but that changes quickly. The princess from the Grimm tale despised the frog. She hated that he had so many demands and wanted to sleep beside her so much that she threw the frog against a wall. She despised him from the start and made it very clear that she thought that the frog was nasty. 

Painting of Cupid and Psyche by Orazio Gentileschi

Another very obvious difference is that ‘Cupid and Psyche’ is a Greek myth based around the gods while ‘The Frog King’ is a fairytale. It has no real setting, but there are mentions of royalty and a very limited number of characters since there’s no ‘outer world’ or things happening outside of the plot.