aesop
Hellenistic statue reputed to depict Aesop, Art Collection of Villa Albani, Rome. [1]
Little is known about the true life of Aesop himself, and some believe that no such person ever really existed. [2]
Aesop’s Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller supposed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. [3]
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. [4]
This article is about the creator of Aesop’s Fables. [1]
Most of his fables feature familiar animals, including “The Grasshopper and the Ant” and “The Tortoise and the Hare.” [2]
Numerous tales appearing under his name were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. [1]
The first recorded mention of his life came about a hundred years after he died, in a work by the eminent Greek historian Herodotus, who noted that he was a slave of one Iadmon of Samos and died at Delphi. [...] The name “Aesop” is a variant of “Acthiop,” which is a reference to Ethiopia in ancient Greek. [...] 620 B.C.E. - c. 560 B.C.E.), whose stories of clever animals and foolish humans are considered Western civilization’s first morality tales. [2]
The slave masters were named, Xanthus and Iadmon, the latter gave him his freedom as a reward for his wit and intelligence. [4]
Both his name and the animist tone of his tales have led some scholars to believe he may have been Ethiopian in origin. [2]
Nonetheless, for two main reasons - because numerous morals within Aesop’s attributed fables contradict each other, and because ancient accounts of Aesop’s life contradict each other - the modern view is that Aesop probably did not solely compose all those fables attributed to him, if he even existed at all. [3]
Here is a music video for “pigs” created by the multi-talented Dan Wolfe. [5]
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. [4]
Sources:
[1] Aesop - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[2] Aesop: Biography from Answers.com
[3] Aesop’s Fables - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[4] Aesop’s Fables
[5] Aesop