Aesop was an ancient Greek writer who lived around 2500 years ago. He is famous for writing brief fables that convey moral lessons. The fables featured talking animals and often taught lessons about human behavior and life experiences. Though little is known about Aesop's actual life, his fables have endured for centuries and are still widely read today due to their simple yet insightful messages. One classic example is "The Boy Who Cried Wolf," in which a shepherd boy falsely claims a wolf is attacking his flock multiple times, causing the villagers to stop believing him when a real wolf does appear.

1. Aesop’s Fables

2. Aesop
Portrait of Aesop by the Spanish artist Velázquez

3. Aesop
"Aesop imparting the wisdom of Africa to the Greeks."

4. • Aesop was a famous writer from ancient Greece.
• He wrote popular stories called fables.
• The fables are around 2.500 years old.
• There is little information about Aesop's life.
Possibly other people wrote the fables.
Some think he was born a slave in Greece.
Others believe Aesop was born in Africa.
He became a free man and advisor to kings.
Aesop
We don't know
if any of this
information
is true.

5. Aesop
• Fables: stories that teach lessons
("the moral of the story" = the lesson).
• Many were animal stories.
• Still very popular today.

6. Aesop Assignment
1. Read The Boy Who Cried Wolf in this presentation.
2. Look online for other examples of Aesop's Fables.
Choose one.
3. Retell the fable in your own words in writing. You must
write 125 words. Your work must be original. Use 5WH to
help organize ideas. Explain "the moral of the story". Use
correct punctuation, capital letters and quotation marks
when there is conversation. Write your name and the date
on the bottom.
4. Type your fable on an email and send it to
acohen@philasd.org.

7. The Boy Who Cried, "Wolf!"

8. A boy watched his father's sheep near a dark forest not far from the village.
His father told him,
"Call for help if a Wolf attacks the sheep.
People will help you chase the wolf."

9. It was very boring.
All he could do was talk to his dog.

10. Then, the boy had an idea.

11. Then, the boy had an idea
"I will pretend I see a wolf!"

12. The boy ran to the village.
Loudly, he shouted, “Wolf! Wolf!”

13. The villagers heard the cry.
They stopped their work
and ran in great excitement to the pasture.

14. But when they got there, they saw the boy laughing at the trick he had played on them.

15. But when they got there, they saw the boy laughing at the trick he had played on them.

16. A few days later the boy again shouted, “Wolf! Wolf!”
Again the Villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at again.

17. Then one evening, the sun was setting behind the forest.
Shadows were creeping out over the pasture.
A real wolf came out and jumped on a sheep.

18. Then one evening, the sun was setting behind the forest.
Shadows were creeping out over the pasture.
A real wolf came out and jumped on a sheep.

19. The boy was terrified. He ran to the village shouting, “Wolf! Wolf!”
The villagers heard his cry but this time, they did not run to help him.

20. “He cannot fool us again,” they said.

21. The Wolf killed many of the sheep and then ran away into the forest.

24. Some of Aesop's Fables:
• Belling the Cat
• The Town Mouse & the Country Mouse
• The Fox & the Grapes
• The Wolf & the Crane
• The Lion & the Mouse
• The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
• The Goose & the Golden Egg
• The Milkmaid & Her Pail
• The Dog and His Reflection
• The Eagle and the Arrow
• The Father and His Two Daughters
• The Hare with Many Friends
Directions
I suggest looking up these fables It is
interesting to read more than one version of
the stories
There are many more fables, so you are
welcome to choose other titles.