Author

Aesop

Ancient Greek storyteller traditionally credited with a large collection of fables

About Aesop

Aesop is the traditional name of a Greek storyteller of the sixth century BCE, said to have been a slave who gained freedom through wit. Almost nothing about his life is certain; the fables attached to his name were collected and retold for centuries in Greek and Latin before modern vernacular translations.

Notable works

On this site

Aesop's Fables

Aesop

c. 6th century BCE (Townsend trans. 1867) · Ancient · Collection

Aesop's Fables are short animal tales that turn ordinary encounters—a wolf and a lamb, a lion and a mouse, ants and a grasshopper—into clear morals about justice, prudence, gratitude, and folly. The Greek slave Aesop is the traditional name attached to a body of stories that circulated orally and in later collections; what survives for English readers is a tradition of brief narratives ending in a pointed lesson.

low medical relevanceVirtue EthicsAnimalsEducation