ABSTRACT
So far we have looked at ancient folk-and fairytales in terms of their resemblance to modern tale-types, as explored by the Aarne-Thompson system by the beginning of the 1960s. But folklore scholarship has moved in other directions, as has classical scholarship itself; both disciplines have opened hitherto forbidden doors into the bloody chambers of psychology, sociology and anthropology,1
and have looked at the relationship between oral and written cultures,2 the socio-historical contexts of literature and sub-literature, or the relationship between psychology and literature-and a broad variety of interdisciplinary explorations is to be taken for granted in both. What is lacking is the connection in the writings of classicists between fairytale-as opposed to myth-and social history, psychology and anthropology.3 I am content to suggest a few lines of approach prompted en passant by the materials we have examined. Within reasonable compass, I could not attempt anything like comprehensive coverage of the explosion of folklore studies in these directions, but it seems proper to note the implications of a whole range of new, if often imperfect, ancient examples for the kind of theorisings that have taken place over the last four decades or so.4 It should be emphasised that very often a new ancient example will tend to confirm what is generally known or suspected about the nature of its tale-type; but it may equally well caution us against premature generalisation about the presumed origin or primary purpose of any given tale.5
