Aesop, known for his fables that end with useful morals, may
or may not have been a real person. If he was, he was born about 620 B.C.
somewhere in Greece or thereabouts. Athens, Sardis, Samos, Thrace, Phrygia, and even Ethiopia have all
claimed to be his birthplace. Whoever he was, there is ample biographical
information about him, which just goes to show that if you become famous
enough, you need not actually exist.
Over the years, people throughout Greece came to know the fables of the elusive Aesop. The playwright Aristophanes cites them in The Wasps, and Plato relates that Socrates spent his time in prison versifying some of the tales. By the fourth century B.C. many of them were collected in books, and new editions appeared from time to time for the next fifteen hundred years. The most popular of the fables, as you undoubtedly know, include “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Fox and the Crow,” “The Fox and the Grapes,” “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “And The City Mouse and the Country Mouse.”
In one of his fables, “The Old Man and Death,” Aesop comments on the universal reluctance to accept the finality of life’s end. As the story goes:
An old laborer, bent almost double by years of backbreaking toil, was gathering sticks in the forest. He grew so weary and despondent that he threw down his heavy bundle and cried: “I cannot bear my life any longer! I wish that Death would come and free me from my pain and sorrow!” Sure enough, Death appeared and said, “I heard you call. What do you wish of me?” The old laborer thought for just a moment and answered, “Please, sir, would you be kind enough to help me lift this bundle of sticks onto my shoulder?” Moral: Sometimes we would regret it if our wishes were granted.
Aesop had the inevitable visit from Death in 564 BC at the age of fifty-six, and unfortunately he lacked a bundle of sticks to distract the Reaper from his intended purpose. For reasons that are unclear—possibly too many sarcastic insults to people in Delphi, or maybe embezzlement of some funds intended for the Delphians, or perhaps the theft of a silver cup—Aesop incurred the wrath of an angry mob. So outraged were they by whatever he had done that they picked him up, carried him to the edge of a steep cliff, and tossed him over. Moral: It’s best if you can keep both feet on the ground.
Over the years, people throughout Greece came to know the fables of the elusive Aesop. The playwright Aristophanes cites them in The Wasps, and Plato relates that Socrates spent his time in prison versifying some of the tales. By the fourth century B.C. many of them were collected in books, and new editions appeared from time to time for the next fifteen hundred years. The most popular of the fables, as you undoubtedly know, include “The Ant and the Grasshopper,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” “The Fox and the Crow,” “The Fox and the Grapes,” “The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing,” “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” “And The City Mouse and the Country Mouse.”
In one of his fables, “The Old Man and Death,” Aesop comments on the universal reluctance to accept the finality of life’s end. As the story goes:
An old laborer, bent almost double by years of backbreaking toil, was gathering sticks in the forest. He grew so weary and despondent that he threw down his heavy bundle and cried: “I cannot bear my life any longer! I wish that Death would come and free me from my pain and sorrow!” Sure enough, Death appeared and said, “I heard you call. What do you wish of me?” The old laborer thought for just a moment and answered, “Please, sir, would you be kind enough to help me lift this bundle of sticks onto my shoulder?” Moral: Sometimes we would regret it if our wishes were granted.
Aesop had the inevitable visit from Death in 564 BC at the age of fifty-six, and unfortunately he lacked a bundle of sticks to distract the Reaper from his intended purpose. For reasons that are unclear—possibly too many sarcastic insults to people in Delphi, or maybe embezzlement of some funds intended for the Delphians, or perhaps the theft of a silver cup—Aesop incurred the wrath of an angry mob. So outraged were they by whatever he had done that they picked him up, carried him to the edge of a steep cliff, and tossed him over. Moral: It’s best if you can keep both feet on the ground.
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