Yeah, I think we have a tendency to look at other stories through the lens of our own stories.
It's good and interesting to look for similarities between stories across the world, but I think sometimes we tend to overemphasize those parts which feel familiar and lose some of the magic that exists in what makes other stories unique and different.
I was reading about re-tellings of Native American stories packaged as children's books by non-Natives the other night, and — while not really factually inaccurate — many of the re-tellings overemphasized the similarities to Western fairy tales, which often subtly changed the whole meaning and point of the story.
When we call two things by the same name, we are equating them in some manner, saying they have the same essence. Sometimes we do that without really thinking about it, and in doing so accidentally erase the original thing. That can be especially problematic when we do it across cultures.
In general, I'm not a great fan of calling interpretations "inaccurate". When different versions come from similar influences, I prefer to think of them as each being accurate in different ways.
In oral tradition, there is often a recognition that other versions of the same tale are told, without denigrating their truth, while in written accounts, it feels like differing versions tend to vie for accuracy.
I prefer it when no one has to be wrong for two people(s) to be right.
