Story teller (c620 BC – 564 BC)
A legendary story teller, whose actual existence was disputed even in the Classical times. He is regarded as the most famous story teller of antiquity. His stories were systematically compiled and published in the 14th century by Maximus Planoudis, a monk who gave the form of “Aesop’s Fables” as they are today.
His name is first recited by Herodotus nearly after 100 years after Aesop’s death. According to him, Aesop was a crippled, stutter hunchback. He was primarily laughed at not for his voice but for his ugliness. He came to Greece as a slave but eventually gained his freedom and started travelling around the world. He visited Egypt, Asia Minor and Babylon until settling in King Kroisos’ courtyard, who admired him for his wisdom.
Aesop’s fables are short narratives with allegorical and ethical characteristics. Most of them feature anthropomorphic animals as the protagonists, who engage in a discussion with didactic background. Another common aspect in Aesop’s Fables is that it pits the rich and powerful against the poor and week, with often the latter winning, possibly reflecting Aesop’s own image. Perhaps the most famous one is “The Tortoise and the Hare”, in which a tortoise and a rabbit hold an unequal race which results in the tortoise’s victory because of the rabbit’s overconfidence. Other well-known fables include “The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs”, “The Fox and the Grapes”, “The Lion and the Fox”, “The Lion and the Mosquito”, “The Eagle and the Beetle” etc. More than 300 such fables exist, each one with its own moral.
The origin of Aesop’s fables is obscure. Ancient Greek writers suggest that some of them were as old as the Greek race itself, some even older. Some of them had originated in Egypt or Asia but regardless of their origin, they were always attributed to the mythical person under the name of Aesop, even when some of the fables were made after Aesop’s death.
Bibliography
- “Aesop”. Helios. Passas, I. Athens. 1946. Print.