Aesop
Overview
 
Aesop was a Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 writer credited with a number of popular fables
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica are a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The fables remain a popular choice for moral education of children today...

. Older spellings of his name have included Esop(e) and Isope. Although his existence remains uncertain and no writings by him survive, numerous tales credited to him were gathered across the centuries and in many languages in a storytelling tradition that continues to this day. In many of the tales, animals speak and have human characteristics.

Scattered details of Aesop's life can be found in ancient sources, including Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...

, Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...

, and Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...

.
Quotations

Any excuse will serve a tyrant.

The Wolf and the Lamb

Appearances often are deceiving.

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Be content with your lot; one cannot be first in everything.

Juno and the Peacock

Beware lest you lose the substance by grasping at the shadow.

The Dog and the Shadow

Beware the wolf in sheep's clothing.

The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

Do not count your chickens before they are hatched.

The Milkmaid and Her Pail

Don't cry over spilt milk.

The Milkmaid and Her Pail

Familiarity breeds contempt or Acquaintance softens prejudices.

The Fox and the Lion

I am sure the grapes are sour.

The Fox and the Grapes

I will have nought to do with a man who can blow hot and cold with the same breath.

The Man and the Satyr

 
x
OK