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About Aesop's Fables

Aesop fablesAs a genre fables are close to the artistic atmosphere of fairy tales about animals. Observing the life and characteristics of animals, the fabulist makes a comparison between them and the moral characteristics of men.

Trickery is not only exclusive to the fox, calmness - not only for pigeons, deceit - not only for the snake, cowardice - not just for rabbits. All these properties can be encountered in the conduct of people. Seeing these similarities, people began to call one another fox, snake, rabbit in their domestic relations. But the images of animals and plants also have a parabolic meaning. The donkey began to express the characteristics of a hard and stupid man, the sheep - of the gentle and harmless, the snake - of the evil and vindictive, and the wolf reveals the nature of an evil and cruel man.

In that sence Aesop summarizes the essential morals of his time, giving them a satirical evaluation. To hide the sharpness of his critics, but also to provoke the resourcefulness in people, Aesop often likens people with animals and plants. This particular sense of expression has been associated with Aesop's fables throughout the centuries, starting from ancient Greece, going into Rome and Byzantium, reaching the Renaissance and surviving until today. Since the time of Aesop the fable was a powerful tool to expose and ridicule our ills and vices as people and as a society.

Aesop's fables may be short, but offer a wise lesson in the end. It is up to us to discover ourselves what is hidden behind the images presented by the author.

Read more about Aesop

Aesop's fables

La Fontaine book cover

Notes: "Aesop's fables" is a compilation of a some of Aesop's numerous fables.

Author: Aesop
Published: Unknown
Publisher: Unknown

1. The Cock and the Pearl; The Wolf and the Lamb; The Dog and the Shadow; The Lion's Share; The Wolf and the Crane
2. The Man and the Serpent; The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse; The Fox and the Crow; The Sick Lion
3. The Ass and the Lapdog; The Lion and the Mouse; The Swallow and the Other Birds; The Frogs Desiring a King
4. The Mountains in Labour; The Hares and the Frogs; The Wolf and the Kid; The Bald Man and the Fly; The Woodsman and the Serpent; The Fox and the Stork
5. The Fox and the Mask; The Jay and the Peacock; The Frog and the Ox; Androcles; The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts
6. The Hart and the Hunter; The Serpent and the File; The Man and the Wood; The Dog and the Wolf; The Belly and the Members; The Hart in the Ox-Stall
7. The Fox and the Grapes; The Horse, Hunter, and Stag; The Peacock and Juno; The Fox and the Lion; The Lion and the Statue
8. The Ant and the Grasshopper; The Tree and the Reed; The Fox and the Cat; The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing; The Dog in the Manger; The Man and the Wooden God
9. The Fisher; The Shepherd's Boy; The Young Thief and His Mother; The Man and His Two Wives; The Nurse and the Wolf
10. The Tortoise and the Birds; The Two Crabs; The Ass in the Lion's Skin; The Two Fellows and the Bear; The Two Pots; The Four Oxen and the Lion
11. The Fisher and the Little Fish; Avaricious and Envious; The Crow and the Pitcher; The Man and the Satyr; The Goose With the Golden Eggs
12. The Labourer and the Nightingale; The Fox, the Cock, and the Dog; The Wind and the Sun; Hercules and the Waggoneer; The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey
13. The Miser and His Gold; The Fox and the Mosquitoes; The Fox Without a Tail; The One-Eyed Doe
14. Belling the Cat; The Hare and the Tortoise; The Old Man and Death; The Hare With Many Friends
15. The Lion in Love; The Bundle of Sticks; The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts; The Ass's Brains; The Eagle and the Arrow; The Milkmaid and Her Pail
16. The Cat-Maiden, The Horse and the Ass; The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner; The Buffoon and the Countryman; The Old Woman and the Wine-Jar; The Fox and the Goat
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