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AESOP'S FABLES - THE HISTORY

Aesop was the most famous fabulist in history. Most of his fables can be traced to 6th BC. His fables, always with a moral and ethical undertone, have presented countless generations with amusing and thought provoking tales.

The history of Aesop is buried in antiquity and, like that of Homer, is shrouded in myth and legend. Aesop was first a slave, serving two masters and then as a free intellectual, earning a good reputation for his remarkable wit and wisdom. He was reputedly born in ancient Greece around 620 B.C. and lived to approximately 560 B.C.

Aesop first told his fables to his master and his masters' friends. He soon became famous throughout Greece for not only his fables, but his quick wit. He was owned by two masters in succession, both habitants of Samos, Xanthus, and Jadmon, the latter of gave him his liberty as a reward for his learning and wit. 
 

THE FABLES:
THE SAYINGS:

One of the privileges of a freedman in the ancient republics of Greece, was the permission to take an active interest in public affairs; and Aesop raised himself from the indignity of a servile condition to a position renown.

A few of the more classic stories, like, The Tortoise and The Hare, have been immortalized in many a modern day cartoon.  Aesop is a timeless storyteller cause of the mix of amusing stories that have a lesson to be learned.

Many popular fables throughout history have been attributed to Aesop, but it's unclear how many he actually wrote; indeed, his historical existence as a living person is under question.

According to some legends, his death was unnatural. He was said to have been killed in Delphi by some people following a misunderstanding. There is no general consensus as to what constitutes the original fables of Aesop and how many were later added on ascribed to him owing to his popularity. There is also a theory that Aesop probably got some of his stories from the sailing Indian merchants or the traveling Buddhist monks and added them to his own. The similarity between some stories of the Panchatantra and those of Aesop do suggest that both these works had drawn probably from some common folklore of their times. It is possible that some of the fables might have traveled either ways along the trade routes and the wandering tribes and were incorporated in course of time into respective lists.

One story is good, till another is told!

Aesop


 

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