While reading both the story of “Cupid and Psyche” and “The Frog King” I noticed that the stories were not easily comparable but digging into the images in both stories you can see the comparable images and the meanings behind them. Some similarities that could be seen throughout both stories are the transformation of the male character, the responsibility of the princess, the way the princess reacts to the presence of their love, and the happy ending.
In “The Frog King,” the youngest, most beautiful daughter of the king made a deal with the frog that if he gets her gold ball from the well, he is to become her companion and lover. She tries to escape her deal by avoiding the frog, but her father forced her to fulfill her end of the deal that she promised. This is also seen in a similar, yet the different way in “Cupid and Psyche” when the king’s youngest, most beautiful daughter received an oracle saying she shall marry “a monstrous whom neither gods nor men can exist.” One difference that can be seen noticeably is that the princess stepped up to fulfill the oracle. The monstrous creature is prophesized to be the husband of the virgin, beautiful daughter of the king.
The transformation in the Brothers Grimm version would be when the princess threw the frog against the wall and turned into a handsome prince. At first, she didn’t want to marry the frog but after the transformation happened, she went through with the marriage. In “Cupid and Psyche,” she accepted her fate to marry the unknown creature they see has never seen before. It was believed that the creature was monstrous and ugly but when she took a lamp to finally see his face, she discovered that he was “the most beautiful and charming of the gods.” In the end, they eventually became happily married but she had to go through different tests to show that she truly loved Cupid.
https://www.greekmyths-greekmythology.com/psyche-and-eros-myth/
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/314126142732422887/
