1. Aesop’s Fables…the Man, the Beasts, the Art! Gary Murphy
“Look before you leap.” “Slow and steady wins the race.” “Don’t count your chickens before
they’re hatched.” You’ve probably heard these bits of folk wisdom drawn from the stories known as
Aesop’s Fables. Over the centuries, all over the world, these fables have been a part of young children’s
education, teaching reading skills and moral lessons. But while you can find these seemingly simple tales
in the juvenile books section, Aesop’s fables are worthy of grown-up consideration, too. There is a wealth
of historical interest, food for thought, and even a few surprises in the fables themselves, how they came
to be created, and how they have been woven into the fabric of Western culture.
To begin with a surprise: Aesop wasn’t really named Aesop. Historical study reveals that the name
is based on geography, translated from the Greek as Aesopus, Hesopus, Esope, and so on, from
“Aethiops”, the area we now know as Ethiopia. So when ancient historians wrote of this person and the
stories associated with him, they were calling him “The Ethiopian.” But that doesn’t make Aesop himself
fictional. About 2,400 years ago, Greek historian Herodotus wrote of a famed storyteller living 100 years
earlier, and the events of Aesop’s life were cemented in historical record by Plutarch, famed author of
lives of Roman emperors. Aesop was said to have been born a slave, lived on the Greek island of Samos,
served men named Xanthus and Iadmon, and eventually to have won his freedom by virtue of his smart,
witty storytelling. Through this creative skill and wisdom, he became a counsel to King Croesus of Lydia
and to King Lycurgus of Babylon. These elevated positions ultimately led to his doom. His sharp and
principled mind led to conflict with corrupt political leaders at Delphi, who “framed” him for theft from a
temple of Apollo and executed him, throwing him off a cliff. A fittingly fabulous ending for the life of
someone destined to become a literary immortal!
Another surprise about Aesop’s fables: as far as anyone knows, the man Aesop never actually
wrote a single word of any of them. Very few people were literate in Aesop’s time, so the stories
attributed to him were retold in oral tradition then put to paper (or papyrus) by others over time. So,
unlike, say, the works of William Shakespeare, “Aesop’s Fables” exist in many languages, in various
“The Tortoise and the Hare”; “The Fox and the Crane”,
Arthur Rackham. Rackham’s illustrations are considered
to be among the finest renderings; he could capture both
human-like social complexity and beautiful naturalism.

2. forms. There is no single, original version. The oldest known versions of fables from Aesop were by
Phaedrus, written early in the 1st century A.D. in Latin verse. These were followed closely by those of
Babrius, composed in Greek verse (somewhat more appropriate, since Aesop himself would have spoken
Greek.) Century after century the fables were re-worked in different languages, in both poetry and prose,
some with formal “morals” attached, some without.
These fables were among the first literary works ever to be put into print. The first English
language edition was published by William Caxton in 1484, while a 1722 edition by Reverend Samuel
Croxall became the best-known English language version for centuries to come. Croxall treated the stories
as mature literature, with extended morals much more “preachy” than anything that would have come
from Aesop’s mouth. You could say Aesop has been in school for hundreds of years…the book Aesopi
Phrygis Fabellae Graece & Latine was published in 1518 as a primer for education in Greek and Latin,
and in 1868 Aesop’s Fables in Words of One Syllable was for the youngest reader. In France, the fables
would best be remembered via the writing of Jean de La Fontaine. He reworked them in elegant verse in
books appearing in the 1600s, for the pleasure of King Louis XIV and his court. As is often the case with
“adapted” stories, La Fontaine’s versions contain geographical and social references that wouldn’t make
much sense to us today, but would have amused a French reader of the time.
The fables, with their animal characters and simple story lines, have often been used for basic
moral and social training. “The Ant and the Grasshopper”, with the grasshopper playing the summer
away while the industrious ant stores food for winter, argues for the virtues of work and responsibility.
“The Tortoise and the Hare”, with the tenacious turtle victorious over the proud rabbit in a race, similarly
encourages dedicated, sincere effort over laziness and arrogance. “The Fox and the Crow”, with a
flattering fox baiting a gullible crow to drop the food in its beak, is a warning against vanity. Both “The
Dog and the Brook” (a dog sees the meat in his mouth reflected in water and snaps after the image, losing
what he actually has) and “The Goose That Laid the Golden Egg” (a fowl offers up one solid gold egg per
day; its owner kills it believing he’ll quickly get at a volume of gold inside) serve as lessons against
greed, against grasping for more. Some of the fables carry political and social messages, as “The Mice in
Council”. A mouse has the brilliant idea of putting a warning bell around the neck of a cat that terrorizes
their community—which seems like a wonderful plan, until a wiser mouse asks for the brave volunteers
to actually carry out the idea.
You may have noticed familiar characters and phrases in those stories above, as Aesop’s fables
have provided many common English language figures of speech. “Killing the goose that laid the golden
egg,” “slow and steady wins the race”, and “belling the cat” (applied to too-easy political proposals) are
Aesop-derived expressions, as are “look before you leap,” “crying wolf”, “necessity is the mother of
invention”, and “sour grapes.” Because they’re derived from tales with moral weight, these phrases are
uniquely useful, allowing just a few words to make a large point. The fables have often appeared in
advertising for a similar reason, namely their effectiveness in immediately engaging an audience. And
their entertainment value in literature lives on, with modern writers creating their own unique versions.
American author James Thurber wrote an entire book of humorous takes, Further Fables of Our Time,
featuring “The Lion and the Foxes”, with lawyer-like foxes trying to get “the lion’s share” of the lion’s
hunt. Famed poet Nikki Giovanni has done her own version of “The Ant and the Grasshopper”, aimed at
today’s children and titled “The Grasshopper’s Song: An Aesop Fable Revisited.” In her tale, the

3. grasshopper’s music serves to aid the ants’ work, but the grasshopper eventually has to sue to get a share
of the food they harvest.
As we’ve seen, Aesop didn’t actually write his own fables, nor did he draw them, but the volume
and quality of art they have inspired is remarkable. One exceptional children’s edition is The Baby's Own
Aesop (1887) with elaborately pretty drawings by Walter Crane, and simple verse tellings, like this: “This
Fox has a longing for grapes/He jumps, but the bunch still escapes/So he goes away sour/And, ’tis said, to
this hour/Declares that he’s no taste for grapes.” The moral, “The grapes of disappointment are always
sour.” Other very popular and beautiful editions were done by British artist Arthur Rackham in 1912 and
the American Milo Winter in 1919. In recent years, Eric Carle (the collage artist known for the classic The
Very Hungry Caterpillar) did The Rabbit and the Turtle collection for children. But the fables haven’t
been done only for children.
The printmaker Gustav Doré, celebrated for his illustrations of the Bible and Milton’s Paradise Lost,
did work for La Fontaine’s 1867 versions. An unusual element with Doré is that the characters appear as
humans rather than animals, which gives the stories a mature outlook. For example, “The Ant and the
Grasshopper” are pictured as a motherly woman and a presumably irresponsible younger woman with a
“The Fox and the Grapes” illustrated by Walter Crane.
A verse text and a brief moral are integrated within each
illustration, making it the ideal picture book version.
Doré’s illustrations for La Fontaine:
“The Ant and the Grasshopper”,
“The Fox and the Grapes.”
The realistic human characters add
“adult” weight to the tales.

4. guitar. And “the grapes” of Doré’s “The Fox and the Grapes” are pictured as pretty young women in the
background, with “the fox” portrayed as an older man gesturing to suggest that they aren’t ready for
romance. Modern painter and sculptor Alexander Calder drew a series of the fables that work as
illustrations for children but double as fine art, done in his familiar sweeping, arcing fine-line style.
African American artist Lawrence Jacob did watercolor paintings based on Aesop that have been
collected by the Smithsonian Institution. His 1969 versions include “The Bundle of Sticks” (a fable with a
particularly political moral, about strength in unity) and “The Monkey and the Camel” (which seems to
suggest sharp ridicule of the camel as acting “uppity,” which was a sensitive topic in African American
culture at the time.)
So, Lawrence Jacob’s art, as Doré’s, and like the many, many written interpretations, illustrate an
important truth about Aesop’s Fables—that even though they are thousands of years old and are often
seen as “child’s play”, they have much value today. Just like other significant literary works, these fables
have truths to appreciate and apply to life. So be sly like the fox, or wise like the owl (yes, those are his,
too) and check out your Aesop!
“The Fox and the Grapes” illustrated by Alexander Calder.
Cover of the edition. Calder was an established fine artist by
this time (well-known for his wire sculpting) and carried his
distinctive Modernist style over to this “children’s book.”
“The Bundle of Sticks” and “The Monkey and the Camel”,
watercolors in black & white by Lawrence Jacob.
Jacob was commissioned to choose whatever fables he wished,
and chose to comment on socio-political and racial issues
important at the time.