"Cupid and Psyche" compared to "The Frog Prince"

The Greek myth, “Cupid and Psyche,” is a story about a beautiful girl, named Psyche, who makes Venus jealous. Once Venus sent her son, Cupid, down to punish Psyche, he ended up falling in love with her. Venus then cursed Psyche by never allowing anyone to fall in love with her. After her parents learn that she is destined to marry a monster they leave her on top of a mountain where she is then carried away to a beautiful castle that is all hers and she meets her husband but is told she can never see him. One night she snuck into his room and found that it was cupid. So was so taken back how handsome he was that she dropped the candle and burned his skin. Cupid got so angry that he flew away. The castle disappeared, leaving Psyche to wander in sadness. She finally presents herself to Venus, who then gives her two tasks and with the help of other gods, she successfully completes them. For the final task, Venus sends Psyche to the underworld to get Persephone’s beauty box. When she does she is warned not to open it but she does anyway and immediately falls into a deep sleep. Cupid was able to wake her up and tells her to give the box to Venus, while he convinces Jupiter to help them. Jupiter tells Venus that she needs to leave them alone and turns Psyche immortal so she and Cupid can finally get married.  

The fairy tale, “The Frog Prince,” written by the Brothers Grimm, tells the story of a king’s beautiful daughter who loved to play with her golden ball by the well in the forest. One day the princess lost her ball in the well, and while she was crying she could hear someone ask her what was wrong. When she looked around she realized that it was a frog. She had told the frog what had happened and the frog offered to get the ball but at a cost. The frog made the princess promise that if he gets the ball he can come back to the castle and she will love him and play with him. The princess agreed, figuring she could just walk away and the frog wouldn’t be able to do anything. Once the frog got the ball the princess ran back home so the frog couldn't keep up with her. At dinner that night, there was a knock on the door and when the princess answered it and saw it was the frog she slammed the door and ran back in fright. When the princess told the king what had happened, the king made the princess let the frog in. the princess began to cry because the cold frog scared her and now she has to sleep with him. When the frog asked to be picked up and put on the bed, the princess picked him up but threw him against the wall. When he hit the ground he turned into a handsome prince and the princess accepted him as her husband. In the morning there was a horse-drawn coach, with the young king’s faithful Heinrich, who was so upset when he had learned that his master had been turned into a frog that he had three iron bars but around his chest. Along the way, Heinrich’s bars were breaking off because he knew his master was safe and happy.  

The fairy tale, “The Frog Prince,” by the Brothers Grimm and the Greek myth, “Cupid and Psyche,” share some similarities. While the plots of the two stories seem relatively different, there are parts they both share. Both stories focus on the youngest daughter, who happens to be both a princess and extremely beautiful. The parents in both stories have to make difficult choices; in Psyche’s story, her parents had to choose to leave her on the mountain which was the right choice but as a parent very difficult to do, and in the “The Frog Prince,” the king made his daughter keep her promise to frog even though she was frightened and uncomfortable. In both stories, there is also a happy ending; Psyche and Cupid get to be together and the prince and princess get to be together.