Yellow
McMaggie
Registered User
(7/9/02 12:13:35 am)
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Re: first fairy tale
It is not actually possible to determine what the world's first fairy tale is, as most fairy tales have been established via oral tradition. As each tale is told /has been told, they often take/took on slight new changes and that is why we find so many variants to each tale. (This is because every storyteller is different especially in regards to time, because as society and the world changes, the storytellers often gain new and changing perspectives to the story they are telling. However, these changes are not always conscious changes, but rather they often occur unconsciously)
Many people would agree that folktales evolved from myths, and yes, Cupid and Psyche are myths. But are they the first fairy tales? No. To say that they are would be a dishonest conclusion, because we can't call them the original ones. There was mythology and folklore long before then....
Sumarian mythology, for example, dates back as far as 4,000 BC. (i.e the mythology of Dumuzi and Inanna).
I also find it interesting that most of the ancient mythology focused around the image of the female as a goddess, and I am not sure of when it took place, but eventually most of the ancient goddess religions were wiped out and replaced with the mythological religions that focus on the worship of male gods- hence Greek mythology, where we find the myths surrounding Cupid and Psyche.
We do not actually know when and where the first fairy tales/myths developed. They most likely began the second man developed the cognitive abilities to describe and understand the world (For example, why we see the moon for half the day and the sun for the other half- this might mean that the gods are fighting, and decide to share the sky... and so on... and then this eventually evolved into the many myths that we are familiar with)
I hope that this isn't too confusing, as I haven't had my morning coffee yet.
Cheers,
Katie
Edited by: Yellow McMaggie at: 7/9/02 12:17:02 am
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