Cinderella’s story is much older than Disney’s adaptation. In fact, it can be…

Cinderella’s story is much older than Disney’s adaptation. In fact, it can be traced back to stories that date back as far as 2,000 years ago, according to Vox.

The story of Cinderella, at its most basic, is of overcoming oppression and crossing class lines. The first iteration of the story can be traced to Greece, during the sixth century B.C. In the Greek version of the tale, a courtesan named Rhodopis has her shoe carried away by an eagle.

The eagle takes it across the Mediterranean and drops it in the lap of an Egyptian king. The king goes looking for the shoe’s owner, and eventually finds Rhodopis and marries her, lifting her from her previous station in life and making her a queen.

Another very old version of the story exists in China and is the tale of Ye Xian. According to Ancient Origins, she was the motherless daughter of a cave-dwelling chieftain. There is a very similar cast of characters to the Cinderella myth we recognize today, including an evil stepmother and unkind step-sister. In place of a fairy godmother, Ye Xian has the magical bones of a fish, which grants her wishes.

In the Greek version of the tale, who is the protagonist?