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Culturally Speaking . . .
Cinderella
Cinderella is a very common fairy tale about a young girl marrying a prince. The
theme is to eventually gain something after everything seems not to have worked
out. In the usual case, the evil family members try to exclude the girl only for her
to accidentally capture the interest of the prince. The prince goes out and finds
her to make her a princess. Many cultures have adapted the story to create their
own.
Examples:
Rhodopis
Ye Xian
Anne de Fernandez
Chujo-Hime
Kongji
Greco-Egyptian
Chinese
Philippines
Japan
Korea
All of these are from different cultures influenced by what is known today as Cinderella.
Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It comes to us from
Ancient Sumeria and was originally written on 12 clay tablets in cunieform script. It is
about the adventures of the historical King of Uruk in Babylonia, which is located along
the Euphrates River near Iraq. Gilgamesh lived around 2700 BC, but historians argue
about the actual date.
The Epic of Gilgamesh follows his quest to find immortality. He is described as twothirds god and one-third human. In Mesopotamian mythology, Gilgamesh is credited
with having been a demigod of superhuman strength who built a great city wall to defend
his people from external threats.
Thanatos
Thanatos was the son of Nyx (Night) and Erebos (Darkness) and twin of Hypnos
(Sleep). Thanatos was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but
rarely appearing in person as the god of death. He is known only to bring death
to mortals and unable to affect the immortals. Therefore, he is considered to be
scorned by the people and discarded by the Gods. He was
also believed to be the god of peaceful death, unlike his
siblings. Counted among Thanatos' siblings were other
negative personifications such as Geras (Old Age), Oizys
(Suffering), Moros (Doom), Apate (Deception), Momos
(Blame), Eris (Strife), Nemesis (Retribution) and even the
Stygian boatman Charon. He pretty much does what the black
hooded figure (Death) does in present day belief.