Cupid and Psyche in Romania. Premises for a Study of Romanian Variants of Type ATU 425

Once the similarities between the tale of Cupid and Psyche and the type ATU 425 folktales were recognized, Latin philology and folklore studies have addressed in different ways the methodological problems raised by the chronological, geographical, and cultural distance between the testimonies. Recent contributions point out, however, that new evidence from areas considered to be peripheral to classical studies may prove useful for the analysis. After discussing the limitations of a strictly chronological approach in comparing ancient text and folktales, this article focuses on the Romanian variants of ATU 425, largely underrepresented in the international classifications. Since the catalogues of Romanian folktales remain obsolete, there are many more Romanian variants of ATU 425 than those recognized. Therefore, an update of the existing tools is needed for future research.