The long tale

The story of Cinderella (aka La Cenerentola, Cendrillon, etc) began as that of Rhodopis.
Of course, the "real story" is a lot better.

Rhodopis was a high priced hooker. She hooked up with the right guys and met some literary types along the way.
Somehow, her name was associated with the building of the third pyramid and a real deal Egyptian pharaoh (a lot more of them were women than you might think).