Eros/Psyche vs Beauty/Beast

Long have stories and media been devoted to tales of a beauty ‘taming’ a beast, most likely taken from the popularity of the French fairy tale, “Beauty and the Beast.” But where exactly did this plot originate? Many do not realize that the themes within “Beauty and the Beast” were not entirely original ones and many facets of it are mirrored in much earlier tales, such as the ancient Greek myth of “Eros and Psyche.” …

…in theme, even if the individual factors within the theme are changed. Psyche and Eros and Beauty and the Beast had similar situations in their stories and dealt with them in quite different ways. However, in the grand tradition of fairy tales, one thing remained the same – both couples lived happily ever after. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ **Bibliography** Cole, Joanna Best Loved Folk Tales of the World, Beauty and the Beast, page 8 – 23 and Eros and Psyche, pages 180-186