Do you know , Who is Aesop?
Some may say that Aesop is infamous for the life he led
over 2000 years ago and mostly for the hundreds of
fables that have been attributed to his name since.
Aesop’s fables have reached countless generations since
he is reported to have been alive, and they continue to be
a part of the lives of many. Not every fable, however, that
has been linked to Aesop is his own original material. In
actuality, there are many fables attributed to Aesop that,
for a variety of reasons, couldn’t possibly be his own. In
many ways the unclear authorship of the fables is at the
fault of the storytelling tradition, many details are naturally
lost and/or altered. However the storytelling tradition is
also responsible for the survival of the Aesop Fables—if
story telling didn’t exist, neither Aesop nor his fables
would have survived.
********"They were among the first printed works in the vernacular
European languages, and writers and thinkers throughout
history have perpetuated them to such an extent that they
are embraced as among the essential truths about human
beings and their ways."
-D.L. Ashliman
*********“Aesop was such a strong personality that his
contemporaries credited him with every fable ever before
heard, and his successors with every fable ever told since.”
-Willis L. Parker
The legend tells it that Aesop lived during the sixth century
BC, scholars have narrowed down his birthplace to a few
different places but no one knows for sure. He was born a
slave, and in his lifetime two different masters owned him
before being granted his freedom. The slave masters were
named, Xanthus and Iadmon, the latter gave him his
freedom as a reward for his wit and intelligence. As a
freedman he supposedly became involved in public affairs
and traveled a lot—telling his fables along the way. King
Croesus of Lydia was so impressed with Aesop that he
offered him residency and a job at his court.
******“The popularity of Aesop is also shown by the fact that
Plato records that Socrates decided to versify some of his
fables while he was in jail awaiting execution.”
-Robert Temple
While on a mission for King Croesus to distribute a certain
amount of gold to the people of Delphi in Greece, there
was a misunderstanding about how much gold each
person was supposed to receive. Aesop became
discouraged because the Delphians did not seem
appreciative enough of the gift from the King so Aesop
decided to take it all back to King Croesus. On his journey
back the people of Delhi, who thought he was actively
cheating them and giving them a bad reputation, tracked
him down. Lloyd W. Daly writes “Apprehensive of his
spreading this low opinion of them on his travels, the
Delphians lay a trap for Aesop. By stealth they [stashed] a
golden bowl from [their] temple in his baggage; then as
he starts off through Phocis, they overtake him, search his
baggage, and find the bowl. Haled back to Delhi, Aesop is
found guilty of sacrilege against Apollo for the theft of the
bowl and is condemned to death by being hurled off a
cliff.” (Daly, 20.)
Works Cited
Daly, Lloyd W. Aesop Without Morals. New York: Thomas
Yoseloff, 1961.
Handford, S.A. Aesop’s Fables. England: Puffin, 1954.
Parker, Willis L. The Fables of Aesop. New York:
Illustrated editions, 1931.
Stade, George, ed. Aesop’s Fables . New York: Barnes and
Nobles Classics, 2003.
Temple, Olivia and Robert. Aesop: The Complete Fables.
New York: Penguin Classics, 1998.
