Aesop's fables and his biography. Who is Aesop? The fabulist Aesop is the creator of the fable genre. Biography and creativity. Essay on Aesop

(1639-1640)

Place of Birth

• Mesembria (Pontus)[d], Nessebar, Burgas region, Bulgaria

A place of death

• Delphi, Delphi, Phocis Regional Unit[d], Central Greece, Greece

The most important monument to this tradition was the anonymous late antique novel (in Greek) known as the Life of Aesop. The novel has survived in several editions: its oldest fragments on papyrus date back to the 2nd century AD. e.; In Europe, from the 11th century, the Byzantine edition of the Biography began to circulate.

In the Biography, Aesop’s deformity (not mentioned by early authors) plays an important role; Phrygia (a stereotypical place associated with slaves) becomes his homeland instead of Thrace; Aesop appears as a sage and joker, fooling kings and his master, a stupid philosopher. In this plot, surprisingly, Aesop’s fables themselves play almost no role; the anecdotes and jokes told by Aesop in his “Biography” are not included in the collection of “Aesop’s fables” that has come down to us from antiquity and are quite far from it in terms of genre. The image of the ugly, wise and cunning “Phrygian slave” in finished form goes to the new European tradition.

Antiquity did not doubt the historicity of Aesop. Luther first questioned it in the 16th century. Eighteenth-century philology substantiated this doubt (Richard Bentley); nineteenth-century philology took it to its extreme: Otto Crusius and after him Rutherford asserted the mythical nature of Aesop with a decisiveness characteristic of the hypercriticism of their era.

In the USSR, the most complete collection of Aesop's fables translated by M. L. Gasparov was published by the publishing house

Many of the plots of Aesop's short moral stories are familiar to everyone since childhood. It is unlikely that anyone has not heard about the fox who took the cheese from the raven by cunning, or about the sons who dug up the entire vineyard in search of treasure.

Aesop was born and lived in the 6th century BC. e. The most famous legends say that, unfortunately, the fabulist was a slave. This theory became widespread thanks to the works of the historian Herodotus.

Popularity of the fabulist

In Ancient Greece, everyone knew who Aesop was. His fables were constantly passed on from mouth to mouth; they were part of the school curriculum. It was Aesop who was the first fabulist to describe human vices through images of animals and ridicule them. He focused on a variety of human weaknesses: pride and greed, laziness and deception, stupidity and deceit. His sharp, satirical fables often brought listeners to tears. And often even rulers asked to tell them in order to amuse their audience.

Fables that have come down to us through the centuries

The stories that Aesop invented fascinated listeners with their brevity, laconism, satire and wisdom. Their main object of ridicule was human vices, which people cannot get rid of to this day. And this is what makes Aesop's works so relevant. Animals and people, birds and insects act in them. Sometimes among the acting characters there are even residents of Olympus. With the help of his mind, Aesop was able to create a whole world in which people can look at their shortcomings from the outside.

In each of the fables, Aesop shows a brief scene from life. For example, a fox looks at a bunch of grapes that she can’t reach. Or a lazy and stupid pig begins to dig up the roots of the tree whose fruits it just ate. But the sons begin to dig up the vineyard, trying to find the treasure that their father allegedly hid on its territory. Getting acquainted with Aesop's fables, the reader easily remembers simple truths that real treasure is the ability to work, that there is nothing better or worse in the world than language, etc.

Historical information about Aesop

Unfortunately, practically no information has been preserved about who Aesop was and what his life was like. Herodotus writes that he was a slave to a master named Iadmon, who was a resident of the island of Samos. Aesop was a very obstinate worker and often made jokes that other slaves laughed at. At first, the owner was dissatisfied with all this, but then he realized that Aesop really has an extraordinary mind, and decided to let him go.

These are brief data from the biography of Aesop. Another historian, Heraclitus of Pontus, writes that Aesop was from Thrace. His first owner's name was Xanthus, and he was a philosopher. But Aesop, who was smarter than him, openly made fun of his attempts to be wise. After all, Xanth was very stupid. Almost nothing is known about Aesop's personal life.

Fable and the Athenians

Once Alexander the Great demanded that the residents of the city of Athens hand over to him the orator Demosthenes, who spoke against him in very harsh tones. The speaker told the townspeople a fable. It said that once a wolf asked the sheep to give him the dog that was guarding them. When the herd obeyed him, the predator very quickly dealt with them without the dog guarding them. The Athenians understood what the speaker wanted to say and did not hand over Demosthenes. Thus, Aesop’s fable helped the city residents to correctly assess the situation. As a result, they united in the fight against the enemy.

All of Aesop's fables contain an entertaining plot that makes the listener think. His creations are filled with morality that is understandable to everyone. After all, the events of fables are based on those events that everyone has probably experienced during their life.

Subsequently, the works of the fabulist Aesop were rewritten many times by other authors, who made their own additions to them. Ultimately, these stories were short, tongue-in-cheek, and imaginative. The expression “Aesopian language,” which is applied to everything allegorical and mocking, has become a common noun.

What did they say about the fabulist?

There were legends about who Aesop was. He was often portrayed as a short and hunchbacked old man with a lisping voice. They said that Aesop had a repulsive appearance. However, as further analysis showed, this description does not coincide with the data recorded by historians. The description of his appearance is a figment of the imagination of various writers. It was believed that since Aesop was a slave, he had to be constantly beaten and pushed - that’s why he was depicted as hunchbacked. And since the writers also wanted to show the richness of the fabulist’s inner world, they presented his appearance as ugly and ugly. So they tried to stir up interest in the works of the fabulist, and often in their own, the authorship of which was attributed to Aesop.

And gradually a huge amount of fictitious information about who Aesop was was woven into the legend about the fabulist. Maximus Planud, a famous Greek writer, even compiled a biography of Aesop. In it, he described him as follows: “He’s a freak, not suitable for work, his head looks like a dirty cauldron, his arms are short, and there’s a hump on his back.”

Legend of Death

There is even a legend about how the fabulist died. One day, the ruler Croesus sent him to Delphi, and when Aesop arrived there, he began to teach the local residents, as was his custom. They were so outraged by this that they decided to take revenge on him. They placed a cup from the temple in the fabulist's knapsack, and then began to convince the local priests that Aesop was a thief and worthy of execution. No matter how the fabulist tried to prove that he did not steal anything, nothing helped. They brought him to a high cliff and demanded that he throw himself off it. Aesop did not want such a stupid death, but the evil townspeople insisted. The fabulist could not convince them and fell from a height.

Whatever the real biography of Aesop, his fables have managed to survive centuries. The total number of fables is more than 400. It is believed that the works were written in the form of poems, but they have not been preserved in this form. These creations are known in every civilized country. In the 17th century, Jean La Fontaine began processing them, and in the 19th century, fables from his works migrated into the Russian language thanks to the work of Krylov.

Which reports (II, 134) that Aesop was a slave of a certain Iadmon from the island of Samos, then was set free, lived during the time of the Egyptian king Amasis (570-526 BC) and was killed by the Delphians; for his death, Delphi paid a ransom to the descendants of Iadmon.

In Russian, a complete translation of all of Aesop's fables was published in 1968.

Some fables

Camel Lamb and Wolf Horse and Donkey Partridge and Hens Reed and Olive Tree Eagle and Fox Eagle and Jackdaw Eagle and Turtle Boar and Fox Donkey and Horse Donkey and Fox Donkey and Goat Donkey, Rook and Shepherd Frog, Rat and Crane Fox and Ram Fox and Donkey Fox and Woodcutter Fox and Stork Fox and Dove Rooster and Diamond Rooster and Servant Deer Deer and Lion Shepherd and Wolf Dog and Ram

Dog and piece of meat Dog and Wolf Lion with other animals on the hunt Lion and mouse Lion and Bear Lion and Donkey Lion and Mosquito Lion and Goat Lion, Wolf and Fox Lion, Fox and Donkey Man and Partridge Peacock and Jackdaw Wolf and Crane Wolf and Shepherds Old Lion and Fox Wild dog Jackdaw and Dove Bat Frogs and Snake Hare and Frogs Hen and Swallow Crows and other birds Crows and Birds Lioness and Fox Mouse and Frog

Tortoise and Hare Snake and Peasant Swallow and other birds City Mouse and Country Mouse Ox and Lion Dove and Crows Goat and Shepherd Both frogs Both chickens White Jackdaw Wild Goat and grape branch Three bulls and a lion Chicken and Egg Jupiter and Bees Jupiter and Snake Rook and Fox Zeus and Camel Two frogs Two friends and a bear Two cancers Fox and grapes Peasant and his sons Wolf and Lamb

• Beetle and Ant

Quotes

• Gratitude is a sign of nobility of soul.
• Chilo is said to have asked Aesop: “What is Zeus doing?” Aesop replied: “Makes the high low and the low high.”
• If a person takes on two things that are directly opposite to each other, he will certainly fail in one of them.
• Each person is given his own task, and each task has its own time.
• The true treasure for people is the ability to work.

Literature

Lyrics

Translations

• In the series: “Collection Budé”: Esope. Fables. Texte établi et traduit par E. Chambry. 5e circulation 2002. LIV, 324 p.

Russian translations:

• Esop's fables with moral teaching and notes by Roger Letrange, again published and translated into Russian in St. Petersburg, office of the Academy of Sciences by secretary Sergei Volchkov. St. Petersburg, 1747. 515 pp. (reprints)
• Esop's fables with fables of the Latin poet Philelphus, from the latest French translation, a complete description of Esop's life... supplied by Mr. Bellegarde, now again translated into Russian by D. T. M., 1792. 558 pp.
• Ezopov's fables. / Per. and note. I. Martynova. St. Petersburg, . 297 pp.
• Complete collection of Aesop's fables... M., . 132 pp.
• Aesop's Fables. / Per. M. L. Gasparova. (Series “Literary monuments”). M.: Science, . 320 pp. 30,000 copies.
  • reprint in the same series: M., 1993.
  • reprint: Ancient fable. M.: Artist. lit. 1991. pp. 23-268.
  • reprint: Aesop. Commandments. Fables. Biography / trans. Gasparova M. L. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2003. - 288 p. - ISBN 5-222-03491-7

see also

	Aesop in Wikiquote
	in Wikisource
	Aesop on Wikimedia Commons

• Babriy - author of poetic expositions of Aesop's fables

Links

• Aesop on Wikilivre

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Synonyms:

See what "Aesop" is in other dictionaries:

- (Aesopus, Αί̉σωπος). The author of the famous “Aesop's fables”, lived around 570 BC. and was a contemporary of Solon. He was on. slave origin; Having received his freedom, Aesop went to Croesus, who sent him to Delphi. At Delphi he was accused of sacrilege... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

- (Esop) (VI century BC) legendary fabulist, Phrygian by origin When you are at the royal court, let everything you hear die within you, so that you yourself do not have to die untimely. Be nice to your wife so that she doesn’t want... ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

During the lesson we work with a sculptural image of Aesop and a portrait of the fabulist. We also use materials from the book by M.L. Gasparov "Entertaining Greece". Stories about ancient Greek culture. – M.: New Literary Review. – 2004. – 428 p.

Sculptural portrait of Aesop First, let's look at the sculptural portrait of the fabulist. A passionate admirer of ancient and classical art, the Italian church leader and philanthropist Alessandro Albani (1602-1779) built the famous Villa Albani in Rome, in which he housed his collection of ancient Greek and Roman works of art. Among them is a bust of Aesop. The sculpture dates back to the 1st-5th centuries. However, there is a legend that the image of Aesop in the form of a statue was made by Lysippos or his student Aristodemus in the series “Seven Ancient Sages” (IV century BC). The statue clearly displays Aesop's features, which harken back to the traditional ancient Greek perception of the legendary fabulist. Strands of thick hair hanging symmetrically on the forehead, suffering eyes under the steep brow ridges, a wrinkled forehead, as if even at this moment weighed down by deep thoughts, protruding thin collarbones, a short neck and a noticeable stoop (as a common feature of the depiction of a slave’s posture in ancient art).

Portrait of Aesop by Diego Velazquez Now let’s take a closer look at the portrait of Aesop by Diego Velazquez (1599-1660). The painting was created around 1638 (oil on canvas, 179 x 94). Kept in Madrid at the Prado National Museum. The portrait shows the image of a poor slave, rejected by society, but who has formed an ironic attitude towards the world, and therefore has gained true inner freedom. Wide-set dark eyes, a wide bridge of the nose, sharp cheekbones, sunken thin cheeks, a skeptically protruding lower lip. On his face is the sad indifference and wisdom of a man who has known the true value of life. Having captured the fabulist in full growth, the artist gives him the outlines of a wandering philosopher: an old loose coat that casually reveals his chest, simple hiking boots, and a book in his right hand, indicating the intellectual predilections of the man depicted in the picture. This is exactly how Aesop was remembered by his contemporaries and this is how, following the legends and traditions, the artist Diego Velazquez introduces the fabulist to us.

Essay on Aesop

People talked a lot about Aesop. They said that he was ugly, almost ugly: a head like a cauldron, a snub nose, thick lips, short arms, a hunchbacked back, and a distended belly. But the gods rewarded him with a sharp mind, resourcefulness and the gift of words - the art of composing fables. Even the master was afraid of his eloquent slave. One day he decided to get rid of Aesop - to take him to the slave market on the island of Samos and sell him. When they were getting ready to set off, they began to distribute travel luggage among the slaves. Aesop asks his comrades: “I’m new here, weak, give me that bread basket over there,” and points to the largest and heaviest one. They laughed at him, but gave it. However, at the very first stop, when everyone ate bread, Aesop’s basket immediately became lighter, but the rest of the slaves had their bags and boxes as heavy as they were. It was then that it became clear that the freak’s mind was not a failure.
Here are some more funny stories.
On the island of Samos lived the simpleton philosopher Xanthus. He saw three slaves for sale: two were handsome, and the third was an Aesop. He asked: “What can you do?” The first said: “Everything!”, the second said: “Everything!”, and Aesop said: “Nothing!” - “How so?” - “But my comrades already know how to do everything, they left me nothing.” Xanth marveled at Aesop's resourcefulness and bought it, hoping that he would help him in making important decisions.
Once Xanth decided to give a treat to the students and sent Aesop to the market: “Buy us all the best that there is in the world!” Guests have arrived - Aesop serves only tongues: fried, boiled, salted. "What does it mean?" - “Isn’t language the best thing in the world? People use language to agree, establish laws, talk about wise things - there is nothing better than language!” - “Well, for tomorrow, buy us all the worst things in the world!” The next day Aesop again gives only tongues: “What does this mean?” - “Isn’t language the worst thing in the world? People use language to deceive each other, start disputes, discord, war - there is nothing worse than language!” Xanthus was angry, but could not find fault.
Xanth sent Aesop to do some shopping. Aesop met the mayor of Samos on the street. “Where are you going, Aesop?” - "Don't know!" - “How come you don’t know? Speak!” - "Don't know!" The mayor got angry: “To prison for the stubborn man!” They took Aesop away, and he turned around and said: “You see, chief, I told you the truth: did I know that I was going to prison?” The boss laughed and released Aesop.
Xanthus got ready to go to the bathhouse and said to Aesop: “Go ahead and see how many people are in the bathhouse?” Aesop returns and says: “Only one man.” Xanth was delighted, walked and saw: the bathhouse was full. “What nonsense were you telling me?” “I didn’t tell you nonsense: there was a stone lying in front of the bathhouse on the road, everyone tripped over it, cursed and moved on, and only one was found who, as soon as he tripped, immediately picked up the stone and threw it out of the way. I thought that there were a lot of people here, but there was only one real person.”
Many times Aesop asked Xanthus to free him, but Xanthus did not want to. But there was an alarm on Samos: the state council was meeting before the people, and an eagle flew from the sky, grabbed the state seal, soared up and from there dropped it into the slave’s bosom. They called Xanthus to interpret the sign. Not knowing what to say, he said: “This is below my philosophical dignity, but I have a slave, he will explain everything to you.” Aesop came out: “I can explain, but it is not becoming for a slave to give advice to the free: free me!” Xanth freed Aesop from slavery. Aesop says: “The eagle is a royal bird; not otherwise, King Croesus decided to conquer Samos and turn it into slavery.” The people were upset and sent Aesop to King Croesus to ask for mercy. The generous king liked the smart freak, he made peace with the Samians, and made Aesop his adviser.
Aesop lived for a long time, composed fables, visited the Babylonian king, the Egyptian king, and the feast of the seven wise men... Aesop composed fables because he was a slave and saying directly what he thought was dangerous for him. Therefore, he came up with an allegorical language, which later received the name “Aesopian”.
And he died in the Greek city of Delphi. It is known that the temple of Apollo was built in Delphi, and the city lived under the patronage of this powerful god of light, knowledge and art. Petitioners from all over Greece flocked to Delphi, since in the temple of Apollo there was a soothsayer answering visitors’ questions about their future. Therefore, the temple flourished due to the offerings of parishioners, growing richer every year. Aesop looked at how the Delphians lived, who neither sow nor reaped, but fed only from the sacrifices made to Apollo by all the Hellenes, and he did not like it very much. The Delphians were afraid that he would spread a bad rumor about them around the world, and they resorted to deception: they threw a golden cup from the temple into his bag, and then they seized him, accused him of theft and sentenced him to death - they threw Aesop off a cliff. For this, a plague befell their city, and for a long time they had to pay for Aesop’s death.
This is how they told about the folk sage Aesop. (Based on materials from the book by M.L. Gasparov).

Aesop (VI century BC) - hunchbacked sage. VI century Don. e.

When Alexander the Great demanded that Athens hand over the orator Demosthenes, who had sharply opposed him, Demosthenes told the Athenians Aesop's fable about how a wolf persuaded the sheep to give him a guard dog. The sheep obeyed, gave up and were left without protection. The wolf quickly strangled them all. The Athenians understood the hint and did not betray their defender. Thus, Aesop’s fable helped to correctly assess the dangerous situation, united people, and they saved their city from plunder by the Macedonians.

In ancient Greece, Aesop was no less popular than Homer. His fables were passed on from mouth to mouth, studied in schools, and performed on stage. Aesop was the first to draw types of people under the guise of animals, creating comic situations and ridiculing various vices inherent in both the rich and the poor: greed, stupidity, complacency, deceit, laziness, selfishness, deceit. His mocking, poignant fables brought listeners to tears. And even great kings asked to tell them in order to make their guests laugh.

Unfortunately, no reliable information has been preserved about Aesop’s life. The famous historian Herodotus (5th century BC) wrote that Aesop was a slave of a certain master named Iadmon, who lived on the island of Samos. roll printing on paper The future fabulist turned out to be an obstinate worker and often made sharp jokes that made other slaves laugh. The owner was dissatisfied with him, but when he listened, he was convinced that the slave was really smart, worthy of more, and set him free. Another historian and philosopher, Heraclides of Pontus, more than a hundred years later, reported that Aesop came from Thrace. His first owner's name was Xanthus, he was a philosopher, but Aesop openly laughed at his stupidity.

Aesop's fables combined a short, entertaining plot that anyone could understand with a thought-provoking moral based on life experience. Aesop's fables, which circulated among the people, were brought together by Demetrius of Phalerus (350-283 BC), an Athenian philosopher and statesman. They were rewritten and supplemented by many writers and poets of antiquity, adding something of their own to them. Ultimately, the fables turned out to be satirically apt, figurative, and the expression “Aesopian language”, that is, allegorical, mocking, became a household word.

Legends arose about Aesop himself. He was portrayed as short, hunchbacked, with a lisp, repulsive with his ugly appearance. But, as it turned out later, compiling a biography and describing his appearance was the fruit of the work of various writers who specifically enhanced Aesop’s unpleasant appearance. It was believed that since he was a slave, he must be an unhappy creature, who was pushed in every possible way and beaten mercilessly. In addition, the writers wanted to show the richness of his inner world against the background of Aesop’s external ugliness. So they fueled interest in his works, and in their own, which they passed off as Aesop’s.

Gradually, a heap of various kinds of anecdotes, simply successful inventions, was woven into an Aesopian legend. The famous Greek humanist and writer of the Middle Ages, Maximus Planud (1260-1310), even compiled the “Biography of Aesop.” In them, the fabulist looked like this: “... a freak of a freak, not fit for work, a swollen belly, a head like a dirty cauldron, dark skin, crippled, tongue-tied, short arms, a hump on the back, thick lips - such a monster that it’s scary to meet.”

There is also a legend about the death of Aesop. Once he was allegedly sent by King Croesus to Delphi, and when he arrived there, out of his habit, he began to lecture the local residents, ridiculing them in every possible way. They were very outraged by this and decided to take revenge on him. Having placed a cup from the temple in Aesop's knapsack, they began to convince the priests that he was a thief and should be executed. No matter how Aesop tried to explain that he did not take the cup, nothing helped. They took him to a cliff and demanded that he throw himself off it. Aesop did not want to die so stupidly and began to tell his moralizing fables, but nothing helped - he was unable to reason with the Delphians. Then he threw himself down the cliff and died.

But whatever the real biography of Aesop, his fables have survived thousands of years. There are over four hundred of them. They are known in all civilized countries. In the 17th century, their translation was carried out by the famous French fabulist Jean La Fontaine. In the 19th century, Ivan Krylov translated Aesop’s fables into Russian in La Fontaine’s arrangement. Quotes from them live in popular speech and adorn many literary works. They became fertile material for 1639-1640. illustrators.