Aesop’s Fables
:The lecture covers the following
Aesop's Fables: definition and a brief history
Elements of Fables
Application in selected fables
Aesop's Fables: Definition and brief history
Aesop's Fables refers to a collection of well-known
fables credited to Aesop.
Fables are stories that are intended to teach a lesson
and animals often speak and act like human beings.
Aesop's Fables have been popular throughout history,
and remain a popular choice for moral education of
children even today.
Aesop
Aesop was a slave and story-teller who lived in ancient Greece
in the 6th Century BCE.
He was later freed by his Greek master because of the wit and
charm of his stories.
The stories told by the historical Aesop are
a mix of legends, myths, and political parables.
However, Aesop became most closely
associated with the animal fable.
The fables attributed to Aesop were actually
composed over the course of many centuries.
Fables and Story-telling
Aesop's Fables belong to the oral tradition.
They fall under the tradition of story-telling. They
are told time and time again.
As they were retold over the years, they evolved in
content, emphasis, and style.
Elements of the Fable
• Moral and theme
• Characters
• Plot and structure
Moral and Theme
A moral is the lesson taught by a story. The moral is
almost always stated at the end of each fable.
Examples of some of the morals of fables: the early
bird gets the worm, where there’s a will there’s a way,
work hard and always plan ahead for lean times,
charity is a virtue.
The clear presence of a moral distinguishes fables
from other folk tales.
Theme refers to the central idea of the fable.
Characters
Animals are the main characters: a way of signaling
the fictional, ‘fabulous’ nature of the story and its
serious purpose.
Usually few characters are included in each fable and
often only two.
They are portrayed as simple stereotypes rather than
multidimensional heroes or villains.
The main characters are often named in the title (The
Town Mouse and the Country Mouse, The North
Wind and the Sun, etc)
Characters Continued
Animal characters speak and behave like humans.
Each animal symbolizes a different human virtue or vice
(human qualities). This is called PERSONIFICATION.
The fox represents cunning, the ass stupidity, the lion
ferocity, the ant industry, the grasshopper laziness, the
crow vanity, and so on.
The fables allow the storyteller to make cautionary
comments upon the human behavior and criticize
common human foibles without pointing the finger at
real people.
Plot and structure
Plot is overtly fictitious and fabulous as the point of
the story is its message.
The events, characters and setting are fabulous (NOT
realistic).
Fables tend to use:
formulaic beginnings that establish setting and character very
quickly - e.g. ‘One day a farmer was going to market...’ ‘A hungry
fox was sitting by the roadside...’ ‘In a field, one spring
morning...’
connectives to explain or show cause and effect - e.g. ‘If you
will give me...’ ‘So the wolf...’ • temporal connectives that hold
the narrative together and give it a chronological shape - e.g. ‘One
morning...as he was... first he saw...then he saw...’ ‘When winter
came...’ ‘And then the grasshopper understood...’
simple dialogue between two main characters, often questions
and answers - e.g. ‘Why do you howl so loudly?’; or statements
that refl ect on a situation - e.g. ‘You seem to have a wonderful
life here in the town.’ ‘My feathers may not be beautiful but they
keep me warm in winter.’
The Hare and the Tortoise
Synopsis:
• A hare boasts to the other animals about how fast he can
run. He ends up challenging the Tortoise to a race, and
claiming no other animal has ever beaten him. The Hare,
with his cocky attitude, believed he could rest and still beat
the Tortoise. Little did he know his nap would cost him the
race.
• Unfortunately, when the Hare wakes up, he's too late, and
realizes there's no way he can beat the Tortoise.
• Because of this attitude and lack of care for his natural
abilities, the Hare wakes up to find there's no way he can
win. His negative attitude comes back to bite him, causing
him to lose what should have been an easy race.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjokVI0LJzw
Sequence of events:
• Hare challenges animals to a race
• Tortoise responds to challenge
• Tortoise spends a week in training
• Race starts, hare is so far ahead that he stops for a rest
and falls asleep
• Tortoise overtakes the hare whilst he sleeps
• Cheering wakes up the hare, who races to catch up
• Tortoise finishes just in time
Characters:
• Hare: one of the fastest animals around, over
confident, has excessive pride, cocky animal
• Tortoise: known as Slow and Steady, a slow-moving
creature that's aware of his limitations. He knows he's
far slower than his opponent.
Theme(s):
• Doing things quickly doesn’t necessarily mean doing
them well
• Defeat of arrogance and over-confidence
Moral:
• Don’t be over-confident – even if you think you
should succeed, you may not if you do not put in
sufficient effort
• Even if you do not think you can succeed, it is still
good to put in the best effort that you can
• Doing things quickly does not necessarily mean doing
them well
The Lion and the Mouse
Sequence of events:
• Mouse climbs onto lion
• Lion catches mouse
• Mouse pleads for its life, claiming it will be able to
help the lion one day
• Lion, amused, releases mouse
• Mouse finds lion trapped in hunter’s net
• Mouse gnaws through net to free lion
• Lion thanks and praises mouse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPybpc-xuG0
Characters:
•Mouse: small, Lion: mighty, arrogant, generous
Theme(s):
• Bravery
• Mutual kindness and favors
• Size not necessarily equating to effectiveness
Moral:
• Friends can be very useful, even if they are very
small.
• The manner in which we treat others is how we will
be treated in return. One should always be kind to
others as you never know when you will require their
kindness.
• You shouldn't judge someone's worth and abilities by
their appearance (identifying stereotyping in
behavior: what designates being "strong" or being
"weak" regardless of gender and race).
The Crow and the Pitcher
Summary: A thirsty crow uses stones to raise the level
of water in a pitcher to quench its thirst.
Characters:
• Crow: Shows determination and patience
• able to solve complex problems using tools
Sequence of events:
• Crow introduced as being a clever problem-solver
• Crow dying of thirst, unable to find water
• Crow finds pitcher containing a small amount of
water
• Crow cannot reach the water inside the pitcher
• Crows drops pebbles into the pitcher so that the water
level rises, and it can drink
Theme(s):
• Problem solving
• Patience
Moral:
• Take the time to think through a problem and you
might find a solution.
The Fox and the Stork
Sequence of events:
• Stork arrives in forest
• Stork meets fox
• Stork is advised against befriending fox, but does so anyway
• Fox invites Stork to supper
• Fox serves soup on shallow plate. Stork cannot eat it
• Stork invites Fox to supper in return
• Stork serves meal in long, narrow jar. Fox cannot eat it and gets
the jar stuck on its nose • Stork removes jar – fox apologizes
Characters:
• Fox: cunning, selfish
Stork: friendly, clever and outgoing.
Theme(s):
• Trickery
• Contrition (of the fox having had his own trick played
back on him)
• Getting a taste of ones own medicine
Moral: If you are going to play tricks on people, expect them
to
be played on you in return
The Dog and his Reflection
Sequence of events:
• Dog sees his reflection in the water, and thinks it is
another dog
• Dog drops the bone into the water and loses it.
Character: •Dog with a bone
Moral: • Be thankful for what you have.
• If you are too greedy you risk losing what you already
have.
The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse
Sequence of events: • Town Mouse travels to the country
• Country Mouse prepares for his cousin’s visit
• Town Mouse scorns the surroundings and the food
• Town Mouse persuades Country Mouse to come back to town
• Country Mouse enjoys the surroundings and the food in town
• A Cat shows up and attempts to
eat the mice.
• The country mouse manages to escape
• Country Mouse returns to the country
Characters: • Town Mouse; Country Mouse; Chef and
Servants
Theme(s): • Simplicity and safety are preferable to luxury and
danger
• The simple things in life can be the best
• Happiness and security as preferable to material possessions
Moral: • Be thankful for what you have
• Be careful what you wish for
• Material possessions are not everything
The Ant and the Dove
Sequence of events:
• Ant, dying of thirst, decides to risk drinking from
the river
• Ant swept away by water
• Ant is saved by a dove, who helps it climb on to a
leaf
• Ant sees hunters preparing to catch the dove
• Ant bites the hunters’ feet to save the dove
Characters:
• Dove; Ant; Hunters
Theme(s):
• Mutual kindness and favors
• Size not necessarily equating to effectiveness
Moral:
• Do someone a good turn and they may do the same for you
in return
• One good turn deserves another
The Fox and the Crow
Sequence of events:
• Fox smells cheese, and sees crow sitting in
the tree with it
• Fox tries, unsuccessfully, to get the crow
to come down from the tree
• Fox tries, unsuccessfully, to get the crow
to drop the cheese
• Fox flatters crow about its appearance
• Fox asks crow to sing, and crow does so,
thereby dropping the cheese
• Fox eats the cheese
Characters:
• Fox; Crow
Theme(s):
• Flattery
• Cunning
• Pride
Moral:
• Don’t trust people who flatter you, particularly
if you have something that they want
• Pride comes before a fall
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hACpLj0_EiA
