COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF APULEIUS’ METAMORPHOSES AND POLISH FAIRY TALES – A CASE STUDY OF CUPID AND PSYCHE
Abstract
Purpose of the paper is a comparative literary analysis of the fairy-tale type of animal groom/bride, which in the international fairy-tale index of H. J. Üther. Fairytale type is widespread types with subtypes. It is ATU number from 400 -459. The fairy tale type is known from ancient literature, from Apuleius's Fairy Tale of Amor and Psyche (2nd c. AD). The purpose of the article is to make the public aware of the intertextual connection of selected Polish fairytales with European fairy tales. The results of the comparative analysis show that the Polish variants of fairy tales, at the level of motifs, blind motives and structure, are similar to Apuleius's Fairy Tale of Amor and Psyche and at the same time different. Paper analysis the four Polish fairytales in the two-hundred-year-old tradition, from ancient literature to the present, have evolved and changed, e.g., Polish names (Jashek and Marusya).
Keywords: Amor and the Psyche, Hans Jorg Üther, Max Lüthi, Polish Fairy Tales, Vladimir Propp, etc.
References
Uther, Hans-Jörg, 2011: The Types of International Folktales, a Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Helsinki Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia/Academia Scientiarum Fennica.
Bedenk, K., Blažić, M. M., 2019. Comparative Analysis of Fairy Tales and Women Fairy Tales Writers: Tina Wajtawa – Rožica from Rezija. Slovene Language and its Neighbours / [Slovenian Slavistic Congress, Novo mesto, 3-5 October 2019]; edited by Matej Šekli and Lidija Rezoničnik. Zbornik Slavističnega društva Slovenije, ISSN 1408-3043; 29 (in print).
ATU is an international label or an acronym based on the surnames of three folklorists Antti Aarne, Stith Thompson, Hans-Jörg Üther, who published an internationally classified index of fairy-tale types (Uther 2004, reprint 2011). Üther, Hans-Jörg, 2011: The Types of International Folktales, a Classification and Bibliography, Based on the System of Antti Aarne and Stith Thompson. Helsinki Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia/Academia Scientiarum Fennica.
APULEIUS, Lucius, SOVRE, Anton, 1925: Amor in Psyche: pravljica ljubezni. [S. l.: self-publ.] A. Sovrè, 1925 (in Ptuj: V. Blanke)
Underlined by the author.
In theoretical explanations, it is rarely mentioned that in the second part of the fairy tale Psyche is pregnant and goes through many ordeals which are metaphors for symbolic transitions from the archetype of a naive girl, through different phases (four trials of Psyche), to the archetype of the great mother, but this segment goes beyond the present article and will be the subject of further research.
Convicted, Sisters Malice, Sin, Mother and Son, All Across the World, Ordeal, Salvation.
GROŠELJ, Milan, 1942: O tipu pravljice o Amorju in Psihi. Etnolog 62–70.
NEUMANN, Eric, 1971: Amor and Psyche: The Psychic Development of the Feminine.Princeton: Princeton University Press. First ed. 1956.
BETTELHEIM, Bruno, 1999: Rabe čudežnega: o pomenu pravljic. Ljubljana: Studia humanitatis.
Boj za zrelost; O fantu, ki je šel po svetu strahu iskat; Živalski ženin, Snežica in Rožica, Žabji kralj; Kupido in Psiha; Začarani prašič; Sinjebradec ter Lepotica in zver.
Kupido in Psiha, Lepotica in zver, O fantu, ki je šel po svetu strahu iskati, Sinjebradec, Snežica in Rožica, Začarani prašič in Žabji kralj.
ZIPES, Jack, 1982: The Dark Side of Beauty and the Beast: The Origins of the Literary Fairy Tale for Children. Minneapolis Children's Literature Association, pp. 119–125.
BACCHILEGA, Chrine, 1997: Postmodern Fairy Tales: Gender and Narrative strategies.Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press.
TATAR, Maria, 2017: Beauty and the beast: classic tales about animal brides and grooms from around the world. New York: Penguin books.
ANDERSENON, Graham, 2000: Fairytale in the ancient world. London; New York; Routledge.
Hittite myths on clay tablets: The Sun God Telepinus and the Daughter of the Sea God, The Disappearance and Return of Anzili and Zukki; in antiquity the myth of Zeus and Semele, Zeus and Europe, and Zeus and Callisto, etc.
APULEIUS, Lucius, 1981: Metamorfoze ali Zlati osel.Foreword and notes Primož Simoniti,Ljubljana Cankarjeva založba.
GAŠPARIKOVA, Viera et al. 1979: Zveneča lipica: pravljice zahodnih Slovanov. [Ljubljana]: Mladinska knjiga; Budyšin: Domowina, 1979 (printed in German Democratic Republic).
PEKLAJ, Marijan, 2007: Eksegeza in teologija stare zaveze: izbrana poglavja. Ljubljana: [self-publ.].
PROPP, Vladimir Jakovlevič, KROPEJ TELBAN, Monika (editor). Zgodovinske korenine čarobne pravljice, (Collection Studia mythologica Slavica, Supplementa, suppl. 8). Ljubljana: Založba ZRC: Inštitut za slovensko narodopisje ZRC SAZU, 2013.
Snake King – In ancient, ancient times, a very poor woman lived in the village. She had three daughters, they were all beautiful, and the youngest, Helen, was the most beautiful (Gašparikova 1979: 178).
About a Brother and Sister – Once upon a time there lived two children, Jashek and Marusya (Gašparikova 1979: 173).
About a Girl and a Prince – Once upon a time there lived a father who had three daughters. He once became seriously ill, and he remembered that he could be healed if he got water from a well behind the village (Gašparikova 1979: 156).
The Enchanted Spike – Once upon a time there lived a woman, an evil witch (Gašparikova 1979: 170).
Snake King –Once upon a time, girls went swimming in a pond. They left their dresses on the bank behind the hedge. ... Then they saw a big snake lying on the youngest sister's dress (Gašparikova 1979: 178).
About a Brother and Sister – Their mother died and the father took another wife (Gašparikova 1979: 181).
About a Girl and a Prince – "If I got water from that well, I'd definitely be relieved right away." (Gašparikova 1979: 156).
The Enchanted Spike – Take these baskets, go to the creek and catch fish (Gašparikova 1979: 170).
Snake King – They left their dresses on the bank behind the hedge (Gašparikova 1979: 173). The motif of three fairies bathing and leaving their clothes on the shore is similar to the Slovene folk tale Vile [Fairies] which is intertextually connected with ancient literature and forest and/or water fairies.)
About a Brother and Sister – "Children, come with me to the forest." (Gašparikova 1979: 170).
About a Girl and a Prince – She came to the big forest again and found a hut where the light was on (Gašparikova 1979: 158).
The Enchanted Spike – Kahna lay down in the grass under a small linden tree and fell asleep (Gašparikova 1979: 171).
Snake King – At the end of the corridor stood a palace ... Then the king stepped off the throne and led her through the whole palace, through many luxurious rooms ... (Gašparikova 1979: 179).
About a Brother and Sister – They came to a meadow where a haystack was lying. As they were very tired, they ran to the pile, dug into it and fell asleep (Gašparikova 1979: 174).
About a Girl and a Prince – She came to a deep forest. There stood a hut.... (Gašparikova 1979: 157-8).
The Enchanted Spike – “Stop crying! Lie down under the linden tree and fall asleep!” (Gašparikova 1979: 171).
Snake King – Helena lacked nothing. She now resided in the snake king's castle for seven years (Gašparikova 1979: 179).
About a Brother and Sister – Wether, who had always been with his sister, was now sitting by the cradle looking after the child (Gašparikova 1979: 176).
About a Girl and a Prince – The sun took the girl to the path and gave her a nut. ... He also gave her a nut (Gašparikova 1979: 159).
The Enchanted Spike – "Then said the pike, ‘Stop crying! Lie down and get some sleep! I will help you out, because I know that you are kind to all living beings.’" (Gašparikova 1979: 171).
Snake King – They hadn’t been on the road long before the carriage drove into the water, the iron door opened, and they continued down the hallway, which was bright as though it was noon (Gašparikova 1979: 179).
About a Brother and Sister – They walked through the woods all night and nothing happened to them, they didn’t even trip over a rock. Towards the morning, when it was already dawn, they came out of the woods into an open field (Gašparikova 1979: 174).
About a Girl and a Prince – The girl had her shoes made with iron soles and an iron-lined stick. She took a pitcher and went to look for her lover. ... She cried day and night, tears streaming down into the pitcher. She came into a deep forest (Gašparikova 1979: 158).
The Enchanted Spike – "Go to the stream and don't come home to me until you scoop a jug of water with a sieve!" (Gašparikova 1979: 171).
Snake King – Once upon a time, girls went swimming in a pond (Gašparikova 1979: 178).
About a Brother and Sister – They came to the water, to a shallow pond. ... A duck came out of the water, changed into a woman, gave the child a drink, and returned to the pond in the shape of a duck (Gašparikova 1979: 176).
About a Girl and a Prince – She came to the well. She ladled water and took it to her father, who drank it and was healthy immediately (Gašparikova 1979: 156).
The Enchanted Spike – As she bent down to the water, an evil witch came running and wanted to throw her into the stream (Gašparikova 1979: 172).
Snake King – When it got dark, Helen and her son sat in the carriage and drove to the mother's hut (Gašparikova 1979: 179).
About a Brother and Sister – She came to a deep forest. ... “Your lover is in a big castle, but someone else is with him. Anyway, go there; maybe you will win him over again!” (Gašparikova 1979: 159).
About a Girl and a Prince – To say goodbye, he told the girl that he would now have to go beyond the Red Sea as punishment. ... Overnight, I took under my roof a girl who roams the world looking for her lover (Gašparikova 1979: 157).
The Enchanted Spike – Kahna began to scoop water into a jug with a sieve (Gašparikova 1979: 171).
Snake King – "Do you want to become my wife?" She replied: "Yes, I do!" (Gašparikova 1979: 178).
About a Brother and Sister – He fell in love with the girl because she was very beautiful, but also kind and smart. She stayed with him, and when she grew up, the gentleman told her that he would like to marry her (Gašparikova 1979: 170).
About a Girl and a Prince – If you swear to me that you will be mine, you may scoop water. ... “You saved me when I was enchanted, from today you are a lady here, the whole court will serve you!” (Gašparikova 1979: 156).
The Enchanted Spike – He married Kahna, they celebrated a great wedding, and the newlywed lived together happily for a long time (Gašparikova 1979: 172).
ŠMITEK, Zmago. Paralele med indijsko in slovensko mitologijo: sledovi skupne indoevropske dediščine. Studia mythologica Slavica. [Printed ed.], 2008, 11, pp. 127-145.
Motifs: worship of snakes (Snake King); worship of the Sun (About a Girl and a Prince); tree cult (trunk, trees, linden, reeds); a loaf of bread (bread, spread bread); the motif of a boatman transporting souls across the sea (“to go beyond the Red Sea as punishment”); underground (the carriage drove into the water); fire chariots (gilded chariot); a handful of hay (haystack, haystack); offering food to the wind (About a Girl and a Prince); the world of the dead (“Their mother died, their father took another wife.”); big fish (The Enchanted Pike) and medicinal herbs (healing water).
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