Rhadopis

“Once upon a time, there was a beautiful girl named Cinderella. She lived with her evil stepmother and two step-sisters. The stepmother didn’t like her and made her do household work. They just roamed around the house in their fancy dresses and always made fun of Cinderella. One day, a letter from the king came to their house which said that the king is having a ball tonight and his son ‘The Prince’ would be choosing a wife ; every girl in the kingdom must be aware. Everyone got excited on reading this, Cinderella too wanted to go to the ball. Her stepmother was evil and she made Cinderella stay home. The girl got help from a magical person, and goes to the ball wearing magical clothing that transforms back into her clothing at midnight, except for her magical glass shoes. She loses one shoe at the ball as she is running home, which the prince uses to find her, and then marry her”.

This is Cinderella story as we all know it but actually the origin of this story comes from the ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptian Cinderella’s name is Rhadopis, a young, beautiful slave from Greece who came to Egypt and lived in the grand house by the Nile in the city of Memphis. Everyone was jealous of Rhadopis’s beauty and kindness. As a slave, Rhadopis didn’t have anything on her except for a pair of beautiful red shoes left from her former life. Rhadopis loved her slippers and kept them hidden from the other slaves. She used to hide and hold her sparkling slippers in her hands to feel better. Once, Rhadopis went to the roof and took her slippers out to feel better after an exhausting long day of work. An eagle came out of nowhere and took one of her slippers in his claw.

Far far away from where Rhadopis was working, a pharaoh was listening to his minister on the current events of the city, when the eagle flew into the garden, and dropped the bright slipper in the pharaoh’s lap and left. Both the pharaoh and the minister were astonished to see the red slipper. The minister, out of his surprise, advised the pharaoh to ask the officials in each city to see if anyone has reported a missing red slipper of high quality, covered with jewels.
“Yes, my vizier. Do what you can to find her. I am sure the woman who owns this slipper would appreciate its return.” Said the pharaoh.

A report came to the minister four days later that they found the shoe that belongs to a greek slave who lives in a grand house by the banks of the Nile. The minister was shocked and decided to travel there and confirm these news. The minister asked Rhadopis to prove that it was her red slipper. Rhadopis pulled the matching red slipper from its hiding place. The minister sat, thinking for a moment. “I believe Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, sent Pharaoh an eagle with a message. He looked at Rhadopis and said, you, my child, are coming with me, back to the palace.”

The family, sadly, had to let their beautiful slave go after receiving a bracelet of gold from the minister and accepted to let Rhadopis travel back with the vizier. The pharaoh fell in love with Rhadopis and asked her to marry him. She accepted the proposal and they lived happily ever after; that almost every child today has been told the story of Cinderella, Rhadopis, the queen.