The ancient Greco-Egyptian version of Cinderella where her name is Rhodopis is considered the oldest version of the story.[2] The tale was first recorded by the Greek historian Strabo in the first century BC. Rhodopis washes her clothes in an Egyptian stream, a task forced upon her by fellow servants, who have left to go to a function sponsored by the Pharaoh. A bird takes her rose-gilded slipper and drops it into Pharaoh's lap; he then asks the women of his kingdom to try on the slipper to see which one fits. Rhodopis succeeds.
There is also Ye Xian, a tale of medieval China. In it, the title character befriends a talking fish named Gold-Eyes, who is the reincarnation of Ye Xian's mom...a fish who is tricked and killed by Ye Xian's cruel stepmother and ugly stepsister. They eat Gold-Eyes for dinner after sending Ye Xian 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 China, who (predictably) falls in love with Ye Xian instead. The prince finds a golden slipper that is intriguingly small, and he traces it to Ye Xian, in spite of relatives' attempts to try on the slipper.
Another early story of the Cinderella type came from Japan, involving Chūjō-hime, who runs away from her evil stepmother with the help of Buddhist nuns, and she joins their convent.
The most popular version of Cinderella was written by the French author Charles Perrault in 1697, based on an earlier literary fairy tale by Giambattista Basile (La Gatta cenerentola in 1634). Another well-known version in which the girl is called Aschenputtel was recorded by the German Brothers Grimm in the 19th century.
Cinderella is classified as Aarne-Thompson type 510A, the persecuted heroine; others of this type include The Sharp Grey Sheep; The Golden Slipper; The Story of Tam and Cam; Rushen Coatie; The Wonderful Birch; Fair, Brown and Trembling and Katie Woodencloak.[3]
