Aesop
Ancient moral storyteller
Aesop was a Greek storyteller of the sixth century BCE, credited with a body of fables featuring animals that speak and act like humans to illustrate moral lessons.
The fox and the grapes, the tortoise and the hare, the boy who cried wolf—these are Aesop's fables, though many were likely compiled from older sources.
His name is synonymous with brief moral tales: an Aesop for our times.
Land-dwelling shelled reptile
lion · mouse · ant · grasshopper · wolf · lamb · dog · manger
Didactic animal stories
- moralsPrinciples of right conduct
- storytellerOne who recounts tales
- parablesDidactic allegorical tales
- allegoriesSymbolic narrative works
didactic · tales · narrative · wisdom · lessons · animals · speaking · anthropomorphic
French fable writer
- children's literatureBooks aimed at youth
- proverbsTraditional wisdom capsules
- idiomsFixed figurative expressions
- adaptationsChanges to fit conditions
illustrated · editions · translations · retellings · Uncle Remus · Western canon · educational · literary influence
tortoise
Land-dwelling shelled reptile
crow · lion · mouse · ant · grasshopper · wolf · lamb · dog · manger · goose
fables
Didactic animal stories
- moralsPrinciples of right conduct
- storytellerOne who recounts tales
- parablesDidactic allegorical tales
allegories · didactic · tales · narrative · wisdom · lessons · animals · speaking · anthropomorphic · cautionary
La Fontaine
French fable writer
- children's literatureBooks aimed at youth
- proverbsTraditional wisdom capsules
- idiomsFixed figurative expressions
adaptations · illustrated · editions · translations · retellings · Uncle Remus · Western canon · educational · literary influence
slow and steady
Gradual but consistent
- sour grapesDisparaging the unattainable
- cry wolfGive false warnings
- prideSatisfaction from one's achievements
humility · patience · greed · hubris · cunning · kindness · folly · vanity · perseverance · contentment
- moral talesparable, moral stories, allegory, moral fables, moral tales
- Ancient GreeksSocrates, Plato, Aristotle, Homer, Pericles
- FabulistsLa Fontaine, fabulist, James Thurber, Thurber
- Greek LiteratureHomer, myths, Greek poetry, fables, Iliad
- Literary traditionsmythology, folklore, fairy tales, fables, legends
- animal fablesfables, beast fables, ant and grasshopper, lion and mouse, tortoise and hare
AesopSocrates
Ancient Athenian questioning philosopher
Plato · Aristotle · Confucius · Seneca · Marcus Aurelius
AesopHomer
Ancient Greek epic composer
Franz Kafka · Virgil · Samuel Beckett · epic poet · tragedian
- Aesop's fablesAncient Greek moral stories
- Aesop fablesMoralistic animal stories