Rhodopis: The Original Cinderella - Egyptian Mythology

Rhodopis: The Original Cinderella from Egyptian Mythology

Rhodopis, otherwise known as the Egyptian Cinderella, was an enslaved Greek girl who ended up marrying the Pharoah of Egypt. Her tale is the earliest known version of the story made famous in the modern world by Disney. Let’s dive straight in

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🎶 Outro music by Oliver Foster

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Thanks for watching!

[RaconteurMythologyHistory]

Thanks for watching! Drop any other disney characters you would like to uncover the origin story of below!

[harrietyounger]

I never heard this version. Amazing how little it's changed over thousands of years.

[brianbommarito]

A few more details about Rhodopis are told in “The Histories” by Herodotus (Book 2, chapters 134, 135; each chapter is only about a paragraph long). Apparently she was a real-life person, although several details of her life may have been exaggerated and added to by legend and myth. Among other things, Herodotus makes the interesting claim that she was once the servant of the same master who had Aesop the fable-teller as a slave. Perhaps this is where she got her knack for storytelling. She was very popular with Egyptian men, and there is room for doubt if she ever was married to one of the Pharaohs.

[TheMagicCrafter]

Ahhhh! I work at a school and just pulled this book out for Valentine's Day. I thought it was a completely made up story until I read that it was based on some truth. Very cool!

[justhana]

My dad used to read me this story a lot when I was a kid, he’s from Egypt. It’s really cool seeing this story again after so many years it brings back a lot of nostalgia!

[dankbudew]

Never expected the Cinderella story to have so many versions. Which one was the original Cinderella story? How did this phenomenon start? I’m just glad Disney made a movie about her 😌

[cheryl-lynnmehring]

I read this version once as a child. Excellent retelling. The book version had awesome artwork.

[KayxzTarot]

Love the story, but I highly doubt this is from the “Ancient” Egypt we think of.
This is a Greek story told in Egypt.

[amaliapursell]

This is a Greek story from during the Roman Empire around the time of Jesus. It's from Strabo's Geographia, who was a Greek man living in Asia minor. It was not recorded in Ancient Egypt or told by Egyptians. The animation is nice though.

*Edit, a story told by a Greek man about ancient Egypt

[stephanpopp]

Do you know the original Grimm brothers story? It does not have a fairy godmother. Instead, Cinderella works the magic herself, with the help of a hazel rod planted on her mother's grave. And, cruel twist, the evil stepsisters cut off their toes to fit into the shoe, but two turtle-doves that have helped Cinderella before reveal it.
Grimm's heroines often are much more self-confident than their Disney counterparts.

[WoodlandPrincess]

I read the original story of Rhodopis as a child in our library. its better than the original. In fact, he uses the art from that same childhood book in the video! nice.

[Treemotan]

I take a lot of issue with Rhodopis being called the "original" Cinderella; "oldest known recorded" is much more accurate because the truth is, we will never know the original tale. Fairy tales descend from oral tradition, long before any sort of literacy became widespread and when any sort of record had to be entirely by hand. They were stories told by parents to children, around campfires, in taverns, or to pass the time on the road. And with each retelling, details can change or be added depending on the storyteller and local culture. Sometimes tales would split off and become different, sometimes two separate but similar tales from different regions would mix and combine into something new. And when the times would change, so would the stories to suit the views of the era. So it's frankly an impossible to ask to tell where or when these stories originated, but the fact that they've traveled and related to by so many different people of different cultures and times and survived to the modern day is honestly what makes them so special.

[muffinbutton]

I’m college, we read a story that was less than a page, basically saying “A woman washed some clothes, a sandal fell in the water, a bird took it to the king, and the king wanted to marry her.” Nothing about their gods or backstory

[bubbles]

I find it so interesting how so many stories are from around the world

[jamienelson]

It's amazing the way oral history keeps stories alive for millenia, with just the subtlest changes.

[ghosty.ri.z]

i don't think we can say "original" Cinderella, we can say an early version of cinderella's story or something similar. because stories similar to the Disney cinderella we know have been around in many different cultures in different times. it is possible that people from different parts of the world get the same idea, or it's possible for similar stories to have happened in real life.
we describe these kinds of stories as Cinderella story, but that's because it's what we grew up with, and there's nothing wrong with that. nobody necessarily copied anyone.

[iThiink]

She acctually took orders from other servants.. that's like those co-workers who work the same position as you, yet feel the need to micro manage you

[bookworm]

I remember reading this story when I was a kid! I also remember reading different Cinderella stories from different cultures and backgrounds. ie. the Korean Cinderella, the Irish Cinderella, the Caribbean Cinderella, etc.
Thank you soooo much for uploading this video!

[dingdring]

I feel like the story of a poor girl marrying a rich guy will always be a staple of all time

[carlottarobbins]

I remember I had a childrens' book of this story when I was a little kid - the illustrations, some of which were featured in this video, were absolutely gorgeous! <3 :D