Blog #6: "Cupid & Psyche" vs "Iron Henirich" (The Frog King)


https://i2.wp.com/excellence-in-literature.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/CupidPsyche.jpg?w=403&ssl=1At the beginning of Cupid & Psyche, Venus sends down her son Cupid to punish Psyche for challenging Venus in terms of her immense beauty. Venus talks to Cupid about his mission: "My dear son, punish that contumacious beauty; give your mother a revenge as sweet as her injuries are great; infuse into the bosom of that haughty girl a passion for some low, mean, unworthy being, so that she may reap a mortification as great as her present exultation and triumph." Cupid takes two amber vases and fills them one with sweet water and the other with bitter water; from Venus's garden. When Cupid goes down from Venus's garden to punish Psyche, he drops some of the bitter water on her lips and in the process he pokes her with one of his arrows, Psyche wakes from this and in his panic, Cupid scrapes himself with of his arrow aswell. He started to pour drops of the sweet water to fix what he had done.

Whereas in the Grimm fairy tale "The Frog King" or "Iron Henrich", whenever it gets hot outside the king's daughter goes into the dark forest. In the forest, she would sit on the edge of a cool well, whenever she gets bored she will throw her golden ball in the air and have it fall back into her hands. One time when she threw the ball up in the air it never fell into her hands, but it rolled into the well and sunk to the bottom. Out of the water a frog which started talking to the princess and told her that to get her ball back that she would have to help him, he says "I don't want your clothes, your pearls, and jewels, or you golden crown...but if you will love me and let me be your companion and playmate, and let me sit beside you at the table, eat from your little golden plate, drink out of your little cup, and sleep in your little bed..."

Both tales deal with a contract of sorts with "Cupid and Psyche", Venus wants to punish Psyche for being so beautiful and sends down her son Cupid to punish her. He does what he is told but falls in love with Psyche by happenstance because he pokes her with one of his arrows and in a panic, he scrapes himself aswell. However in  "Iron Heinrich" the frog only wants companionship and does not want to hurt or punish the princess but uses her golden ball as a bargaining chip to get said companionship.

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