"The Frog King" by the Brothers Grimm is a completely different tale compared to "Cupid and Psyche" by Lucius Apuleius, however both have similar messages. "The Frog King" tells the tale of a young, beautiful princess who ventures into forest to play with her precious golden ball, which, while being thrown into the air, falls into a dark, deep well. After promising to be a companion for the ugly frog, he agrees to dive deep into the well to fetch the beloved item for the beautiful. After she is given the ball, she runs away quickly, completely forgetting about the frog. The frog comes to the princess' castle and asks to be let in. Although the princess does not want to, the King insists that she must fulfill her promise and allow the frog to be her companion as promised. The princess soon becomes frustrated with the frog and throws him against the wall with all of her might. He then turns into a handsome prince with beautiful eyes and the princess accepts him as her husband to follow her father's wishes. Faithful Heinrich, the prince's servant, is ecstatic that the witch's spell has been broken and the three iron bands that had been wrapped around his heart to prevent his heart from exploding with grief arebroken because he is so happy.
"Cupid and Psyche", although somewhat similar, tells a completely different tale. Psyche is also the youngest, most beautiful daughter of the king like the princess in "The Frog King". In this story however, Venus is even insanely jealous of her beauty; so much so that she sends her son, Cupid, to punish her for her beauty. Although Cupid initially agrees, he cannot cause her pain and instead gives her joy, which is highly frowned upon by Venus. Pysche, although eagerly adored, never found a man to demand her in marriage. This fact worried her parents since her two elder sisters, both not as beautiful as her, were already married and there consulted the oracle of Apollo. Apollo tells them that will have no mortal lover and says that "He is a monster whom neither gods nor men can resist." She is summoned to the top of the mountain where she marries her unknown lover although her marriage appears to be a "funeral than a nuptial pomp." She is given anything that her heart could ever desire, but she has never seen her husband. All of these strange events do not happen in "The Frog King", where the princess sees her destined lover from the beginning. Psyche, overcome with curiosity, wishes to see her husband who simply responds "If you saw me, perhaps you would fear me, perhaps adore me, but all I ask of you is to love me." This makes Psyche wonder even more and she asks her sisters' advice who tell her to shine a light on him while he is sleeping. She does so, however in the process, drops burning oil on the shoulder of the god, who flies away saying "Love cannot dwell with suspicion." Yearning for her husband, she seeks out Venus to get Cupid back. After being given several tasks, all nearly impossible to complete, are completed with the help of Cupid. Cupid saves curious Psyche and she becomes immortal, in time bearing a daughter named Pleasure.
The differences between these two stories are immense however both of the princesses who originally find themselves disgusted or confused by their destined lovers, end up happily married. They both contain the general story of the Beauty and the Beast while the stories are polar opposites. Psyche uses the help of gods and oracles to find her destined lover whereas the princess in "The Frog King" never expects the frog to transform into a prince.
