Fairytale in the Ancient World
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In this, the first modern study of the ancient fairytale, Graham Anderson asks whether the familiar children's fairytale of today existed in the ancient world. He examines texts from the classical period and finds many stories which resemble those we know today, including:
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* a Jewish Egyptian Cinderella
* a Snow White whose enemy is the goddess Artemis
* a Pied Piper at Troy.
He puts forward many previously unsuspected candidates as classical variants of the modern fairytale and argues that the degree of violence and cruelty in the ancient tales means they must have been meant for adults.
Liked Fairytale in the Ancient World? Here’s where I’d start.
These suit anyone who liked Fairytale in the Ancient World. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.
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“If it was the fairy tale that hooked you, try one of these.”
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Grimms' Bad Girls and Bold Boys: The Moral and Social Vision of the Tales
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Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the Process of Civilization
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Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal About the Transformations in a Woman's Life
