Aesop’s, << EE sops, >> fables are a collection of stories credited to a Greek slave named Aesop, who died about 565 B.C. Each of these tales teaches a moral (lesson) and offers useful advice. Most of the characters in Aesop’s fables are animals that talk and act like humans. They show the failings and good qualities of human nature in a simple, humorous way. Each fable ends with a proverb that sums up the fable’s moral and advice.
The best-known of Aesop’s fables is probably “The Tortoise and the Hare.” It tells about a race between a slow tortoise and a swift hare. Halfway through the race, the hare is so far ahead and so confident of victory that he takes a nap. The tortoise continues along slowly and steadily. He eventually passes the hare, who awakens and sees his opponent crossing the finish line. The proverb “Slow and steady wins the race” sums up the moral of this fable. It teaches that persistence can be more important than speed.
Another favorite fable, “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” illustrates the value of hard work and preparation. In this fable, the grasshopper plays all summer, while the ant stores food. When winter comes, the ant has plenty to eat. The grasshopper starves.
Aesop’s fables have provided numerous popular expressions. For example, an enemy who pretends to be a friend is sometimes called “a wolf in sheep’s clothing.” This expression comes from the fable in which a wolf disguises himself in a sheepskin. The wolf then moves undetected among a herd of sheep and kills them for food. However, the shepherd also mistakes the wolf for a sheep and kills him for supper.
No one knows how many of the stories credited to Aesop were actually composed by him. Some of the fables originated from older sources. Aesop may have been responsible only for retelling these fables and making them popular.
For many years, Aesop’s fables were handed down orally from generation to generation. About 300 B.C., the Athenian politician Demetrius of Phaleron gathered about 200 of them into the collection Assemblies of Aesopic Tales. This collection was translated into Latin about 300 years later by Phaedrus, a freed Greek slave. About A.D. 230, the Greek writer Valerius Babrius combined Aesop’s fables with some from India. He translated all of them into Greek verse. Since then, other writers have retold the fables and expanded their meaning. But the tales have never lost their original charm and simplicity.
See also Allegory ; Fable ; La Fontaine, Jean de .
