Where Aesop City lived. Who is Aesop? The fabulist Aesop - the creator of the fable genre

a semi-legendary figure of ancient Greek literature, a fabulist who lived in the 6th century BC. e.

Whether Aesop was a historical person is impossible to say. There was no scientific tradition about Aesop's life. Herodotus (II, 134) writes that Aesop was a slave of a certain Iadmon from the island of Samos, then was released, 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. Heraclides of Pontic more than a hundred years later writes that Aesop came from Thrace, was a contemporary of Therekides, and his first master was called Xanthus, but he extracts this data from the same story of Herodotus by way of unreliable inferences (for example, Thrace as the birthplace of Aesop was inspired by the fact that Herodotus mentions Aesop in connection with the frangian hetera Rodopis, who was also in slavery to Iadmon). Aristophanes ("Wasps", 1446-1448) already gives details about the death of Aesop - the wandering motive of the thrown bowl, which served as a reason for his accusation, and the fable about the eagle and the beetle, which he told before his death. A century later, this statement of the heroes of Aristophanes is repeated as a historical fact. The comedian Plato (end of the 5th century) already mentions the posthumous reincarnations of the soul of Aesop. The comedian Alexis (end of the 4th century), who wrote the comedy Aesop, confronts his hero with Solon, that is, he already weaves the legend of Aesop into the cycle of legends about the seven wise men and King Croesus. His contemporary Lysippos also knew this version, depicting Aesop at the head of the seven wise men.

Xanthus' slavery, connection with seven wise men, death from the cunning of the Delphic priests - all these motives became links in the subsequent Aesopian legend, the core of which had already developed by the end of the 4th century. BC e. The most important monument of this tradition was the "Life of Aesop" compiled in the folk language, which has come down in several editions. In this version, Aesop's ugliness (not mentioned by the ancient authors) plays an important role, Phrygia becomes his homeland instead of Thrace (a stereotypical place associated with slaves), Aesop acts as a sage and joker, fooling the kings and his master - a stupid philosopher. In this plot, surprisingly, almost no role is played by the actual fables of Aesop; anecdotes and jokes told by Aesop in his "Life" are not included in the collection of "Aesopian fables" that has come down to us from antiquity and are quite far from it in 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, the Renaissance first questioned this question (Luther), philology of the 18th century substantiated this doubt (Richard Bentley), philology of the 19th century brought it to the limit (Otto Crusius and after him Rutherford asserted the mythicality of Aesop with a decisiveness characteristic for the hypercriticism of their era), the XX century again began to lean towards the assumption of the historical prototype of the image of Aesop.

Heritage

at school; “You are an ignoramus and a lazy person, you haven’t even learned Aesop,” says one character in Aristophanes. These were prosaic retellings, without any artistic finishing. In fact, the so-called Aesop collection includes fables from various eras.

In the III century BC. e. his fables were recorded in 10 books by Demetrius of Phaler (c. 350 - c. 283 BC). This collection was lost after the 9th century. n. e.

In the 1st century, the freedman of the emperor Augustus Phaedrus transposed these fables in Latin iambic verse (many of Phaedrus's fables are of original origin), and Avian, around the 4th century, transposed 42 fables in a Latin elegiac distich; in the Middle Ages, Avian's fables, despite their not very high artistic level, were very popular. Latin versions of many of Aesop's collection of fables, with the addition of later tales, and then medieval fables, made up the so-called collection "Romulus". Around 100 A.D. e. Babrius, who apparently lived in Syria, a Roman by birth, recounted the Aesopian fables in Greek verses of the size of holiyamb. The works of Babriy were included by Planud (1260-1310) in his famous collection, which influenced later fabulists.

The interest in Aesop's fables was carried over to his personality; for lack of reliable information about him, they resorted to legend. Phrygian fluff, allegorically revolting the mighty this, of course, appeared to be a quarrelsome and spiteful person, like Homer's Thersite, and therefore the portrait of Thersite, depicted in detail by Homer, was also transferred to Aesop. He was represented as hunchbacked, lame, with the face of a monkey - in a word, in all respects ugly and directly opposite to the divine beauty of Apollo; this is how he was depicted in sculpture, by the way - in that interesting statue that has survived to us.

In the Middle Ages, an anecdotal biography of Aesop was written in Byzantium, which was long taken as a source of reliable information about him. Aesop is represented here as a slave, sold for a pittance from hand to hand, constantly offended by fellow slaves, and overseers, and masters, but who knows how to successfully take revenge on his offenders. This biography not only did not follow from the true tradition of Aesop - it is not even of Greek origin [source not specified 566 days]. Its source is a Jewish story of the 6th century BC. e. about the wise Ahikar, belonging to the cycle of legends that surrounded the personality of King Solomon among the later Jews. The story itself is known mainly from the ancient Slavic alterations (The Story of Akira the Wise).

Martin Luther discovered that Aesop's book of fables is not the sole work of one author, but a collection of older and newer fables, and that the traditional image of Aesop is the fruit of a "poetic legend."

Aesop's fables have been translated (often revised) into many languages \u200b\u200bof the world, including by the famous fables Jean La Fontaine and Ivan Krylov.

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

A short biography of Aesop and interesting Facts about the life of the ancient Greek writer of fables is set out in this article. Short story about Aesop will help you learn a lot of interesting things about this person.

Aesop's biography for children

It is reliably known that the ancient Greek figure lived in the middle of the 6th century. That's all you can say with confidence. The rest is fiction and invention. History has not preserved information about his life. Grains of information can be found in Herodotus. The historian claims that Aesop served as a slave to a master named Iadmon, who lives on the island of Samos. The fabulist was known as an obstinate worker and often made absurd jokes that amused the rest of the slaves. At first, the owner was outraged by his behavior, but he soon realized that his employee had an exceptionally outstanding mind, and set him free. That is all that we can learn from the writings of Herodotus about this man.

A little more information can be learned from the works of the historian Heraclitus of Pontic. He indicates other information. Heraclitus of Pontic claims that Thrace was the birthplace of Aesop. Its first owner was named Xanthus, he was a philosopher. But Aesop was much smarter than Xanthus. He constantly laughed at wise sayings his master and his philosophy. And he released his slave to freedom.

Nothing more is known about his life. There is only a legend about his death, and a collection of fables has survived.

The legend of his death says the following. Once the ruler Croesus sends Aesop to Delphi. The reason for this act is unknown. Arriving in the city, as usual, the fabulist began to lecture the inhabitants of Delphi. They were very indignant at his behavior and began to think how to take revenge on Aesop. And they came up with: they threw a bowl from the local temple into his knapsack and told the priest that the fabulist was a thief. Aesop did not try to prove that he was not guilty - everything was in vain. He was sentenced to death: he was brought to a weighty rock and forced to jump from it. This is how the fabulist from Ancient Greece absurdly ended his journey.

Aesop's collection of fables has survived to this day. But the interesting point is that it was compiled in the Middle Ages. Therefore, it is impossible to say for sure that this is the true heritage of the ancient Greek fabulist.

Aesop's fables have their own flavor. They are based on a folk fable with a long history. They represent everyday life scenes.
His creations were often distorted. First it was retold by the Roman fabulist Phaedrus, then by the Greek writer Babri and Lafontaine, Dmitriev, Izmailov.
Aesop was often portrayed as a humpbacked and short old man, speaking in a lisp. It was rumored that he had a repulsive appearance.
He is the founder of the genre of fables and the artistic language of allegories, named after him - the Aesopian language.
Aesop's Fables, of which about 400 have survived, have a special function. They encourage the listener to think.

Grade 5 can present a message about Aesop at a literature lesson.

Aesop

Aesop (ancient Greek. Aesop) - a semi-legendary figure of ancient Greek literature, fabulist who lived in the VI century BC. eh ..

Aesopian language (named after the fabulist Aesop) - cryptography in literature, allegory, deliberately masking the thought (idea) of the author. He resorts to a system of "deceitful means": traditional allegorical methods (allegory, irony, paraphrase, allusion), fable "characters", translucent contextual pseudonyms.

Biography

Whether Aesop was a historical person is impossible to say. There was no scientific tradition about Aesop's life. Herodotus (II, 134) writes that Aesop was a slave of a certain Iadmon from the island of Samos, lived during the time of the Egyptian king Amasis (570-526 BC) and was killed by the Delphians. Heraclides of Pontus writes more than a hundred years later that Aesop came from Thrace, was a contemporary of Therekides, and his first master was named Xanthus, but he extracts this data from the same story of Herodotus by way of unreliable inferences. Aristophanes ("Wasps", 1446-1448) already gives details about the death of Aesop - the wandering motive of the thrown bowl, which served as a reason for his accusation, and the fable about the eagle and the beetle, which he told before his death. The comedian Plato (end of the 5th century) already mentions the posthumous reincarnations of the soul of Aesop. The comedian Alexis (end of the 4th century), who wrote the comedy Aesop, confronts his hero with Solon, that is, he already weaves the legend of Aesop into the cycle of legends about the seven wise men and King Croesus. His contemporary Lysippos also knew this version, depicting Aesop at the head of the seven wise men). Xanthus' slavery, connection with seven wise men, death from the cunning of the Delphic priests - all these motives became links in the subsequent Aesopian legend, the core of which had already developed by the end of the 4th century. BC e.

Antiquity did not doubt the historicity of Aesop, the Renaissance first questioned this question (Luther), philology of the 18th century. substantiated this doubt (Richard Bentley), philology of the XIX century. brought it to the limit (Otto Crusius and Rutherford after him asserted the mythicality of Aesop with the decisiveness characteristic of the hypercriticism of their era), the 20th century again began to lean towards the assumption of the historical prototype of the image of Aesop.

Under the name of Aesop, a collection of fables (of 426 short works) has been preserved in prosaic presentation. There is reason to believe that in the era of Aristophanes (end of the 5th century), a written collection of Aesop's fables was known in Athens, according to which children were taught at school; “You are an ignoramus and a lazy person, you haven’t even learned Aesop,” says one character in Aristophanes. These were prosaic retellings, without any artistic finishing. In fact, the so-called Aesop collection includes fables from various eras.

Heritage

Later, Aesop's name became a symbol. His works were passed by word of mouth, and in the III century BC. e. were recorded in 10 books by Demetrius of Phaler (c. 350 - c. 283 BC). This collection was lost after the 9th century. n. e. During the era of Emperor Augustus, Phaedrus transposed these fables in Latin iambic verse, Avian, around the 4th century, transposed 42 fables in Latin elegiac distichus. Around 200 AD e. Babriy described them in Greek verses in the size of holiyamb. The works of Babriy were included by Planud (1260-1310) in his famous collection, which influenced later fabulists. "Aesop's Fables", all compiled in the Middle Ages. The interest in Aesop's fables was carried over to his personality; for lack of reliable information about him, they resorted to legend. The Phrygian talker, allegorically vilifying the mighty of this world, naturally appeared to be a quarrelsome and spiteful person, like Homer's Thersite, and therefore the portrait of Thersite, depicted in detail by Homer, was also transferred to Aesop. He was represented as hunchbacked, lame, with the face of a monkey - in a word, in all respects ugly and directly opposite to the divine beauty of Apollo; this is how he was depicted in sculpture, by the way - in that interesting statue that has survived to us. In the Middle Ages, an anecdotal biography of Aesop was written in Byzantium, which was long taken as a source of reliable information about him. Aesop is represented here as a slave, sold for a pittance from hand to hand, constantly offended by fellow slaves, and overseers, and masters, but who knows how to successfully take revenge on his offenders. This biography not only did not follow from the true tradition of Aesop - it is not even of Greek origin. Its source is the Jewish story of the wise Akiria, belonging to the cycle of legends that surrounded the personality of King Solomon among the later Jews. The story itself is known mainly from ancient Slavic alterations. Martin Luther discovered that Aesop's book of fables is not the sole work of one author, but a collection of older and newer fables, and that the traditional image of Aesop is the fruit of a "poetic legend." Aesop's fables have been translated (often revised) into many languages \u200b\u200bof the world, including by the famous fables Jean La Fontaine and Ivan Krylov.

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

Some fables
Camel
Lamb and Wolf
Horse and Donkey
Partridge and Chicken
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 the Lumberjack
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
Lev and Ishak
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
Chicken and Swallow
Ravens and other birds
Ravens and Birds
Lioness and Fox
Mouse and Frog
Turtle and Hare
The snake and the peasant
Swallow and other birds
Mouse from the city and Mouse from the village
Bull and lion
Dove and Ravens
Goat and Shepherd
Both frogs
Both chickens
White Jackdaw
Wild Goat and grape branch
Three bulls and a lion
Chicken and Egg
Jupiter and the Bees
Jupiter and the Serpent
Rook and Fox
Zeus and Camel
Two frogs
Two friends and a Bear
Two cancers

Literature

Aesop. Commandments. Fables. Biography, 2003 288 pp., ISBN 5-222-03491-7
In writing this article, material from Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron (1890-1907).

Aesop is a semi-mythical ancient Greek fabulist who lived in the 6th century BC. e. He is considered the founder of the fable genre; after his name is named the allegorical manner of expressing thoughts, which is used to this day - the Aesopian language.

Today it is not known for certain whether such an author of fables actually existed or whether they belonged to different persons, and the image of Aesop is collective. Information about his biography is often contradictory and historically unconfirmed. For the first time, Herodotus mentions Aesop. According to his version, Aesop served as a slave, and his master was a certain Iadmon from the island of Samos, who later granted him freedom. He lived when the Egyptian king Amasis ruled, i.e. in 570-526 BC e. He was killed by the Delphians, for which the descendants of Iadmon subsequently received a ransom.

Legend calls Aesop the birthplace of Phrygia (Asia Minor). According to some reports, Aesop was at the court of King Croesus of Lydia. Centuries later, Heraclides of Pontic will ascribe to Aesop his origin from Thrace, and he will name a certain Xanthus as his first master. At the same time, this information is the author's own conclusions based on the data of Herodotus. In the "Wasps" by Aristophanes you can find information about the circumstances of his death, ie. about the false accusation of stealing property from the temple in Delphi; and about the fable "About the beetle and the eagle" allegedly told by Aesop before his death. After another century, the statements of the characters in the comedy will be perceived as historical fact... At the end of the IV century. comedian Alexis, whose pen belonged to the comedy "Aesop", speaks of his involvement with the seven wise men, relations with King Croesus. With Lysippos, who lived at the same time, Aesop already leads this glorious cohort.

The main plot of Aesop's biography arose by the end of the 4th century BC. e. and was embodied in several editions of the Life of Aesop, written in the vernacular. If the early authors did not say anything about the peculiarities of the fabulist's appearance, then in the "Life" Aesop appears as a humpbacked freak, but at the same time a witty and a great sage who does not need to deceive the owner and representatives of the upper class. Aesop's fables are not even mentioned in this version.

If in the ancient world no one questioned the historicity of the personality of the fabulist, then in the 16th century. Luther was the first to open a discussion on this issue. A number of researchers in the 18th and 19th centuries. talked about the legendary and mythical character of the image; in the twentieth century, opinions were divided; some authors have argued that Aesop's historical prototype may well have existed.

Be that as it may, Aesop is considered the author of more than four hundred fables set out in prose. Most likely, they were transmitted orally for a long time. In the IV-III centuries. BC e. 10 books of fables were compiled by Demetrius of Fales, but after the 9th century. n. e. this vault was lost. Subsequently, Aesop's fables were translated into Latin by other authors (Phaedrus, Flavius \u200b\u200bAvian); the name of Babriya remained in history, who, borrowing plots from

Aesop (Old Greek Αἴσωπος) (fr. Ésope, eng. Aesop) - a semi-legendary figure of ancient Greek literature, a fabulist who lived in the 6th century BC. eh ..

(Aesop. Painting by Diego Velazquez (1639-1640))

Biography

Whether Aesop was a historical person is impossible to say. There was no scientific tradition about Aesop's life. Herodotus (II, 134) writes that Aesop was a slave of a certain Iadmon from the island of Samos, lived during the time of the Egyptian king Amasis (570-526 BC) and was killed by the Delphians. Heraclides of Pontus writes more than a hundred years later that Aesop came from Thrace, was a contemporary of Therekides, and his first master was named Xanthus, but he extracts this data from the same story of Herodotus by way of unreliable inferences. Aristophanes ("Wasps", 1446-1448) already gives details about the death of Aesop - the wandering motive of the thrown bowl, which served as a reason for his accusation, and the fable about the eagle and the beetle, which he told before his death. The comedian Plato (end of the 5th century) already mentions the posthumous reincarnations of the soul of Aesop. The comedian Alexis (end of the 4th century), who wrote the comedy Aesop, confronts his hero with Solon, that is, he already weaves the legend of Aesop into the cycle of legends about the seven wise men and King Croesus. His contemporary Lysippos also knew this version, depicting Aesop at the head of the seven wise men). Xanthus' slavery, connection with seven wise men, death from the cunning of the Delphic priests - all these motives became links in the subsequent Aesopian legend, the core of which had already developed by the end of the 4th century. BC e.

Aesop's fables have been translated (often revised) into many languages \u200b\u200bof the world, including by the famous fables Jean La Fontaine and Ivan Krylov.

Aesop's language (named after the fabulist Aesop) is a cryptography in literature, an allegory that deliberately disguises the thought (idea) of the author.

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

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia