sooda
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Written by a former Greek slave, in the late to mid-6th century BCE, Aesop’s Fables are the world’s best known collection of morality tales. The fables, numbering 725, were originally told from person-to-person as much for entertainment purposes but largely as a means for relaying or teaching a moral or lesson.
These early stories are essentially allegorical myths often portraying animals or insects e.g. foxes, grasshoppers, frogs, cats, dogs, ants, crabs, stags, and monkeys representing humans engaged in human-like situations (a belief known as animism). Ultimately the fables represent one of the oldest characteristics of human life: storytelling.
Origins
The origins of the fables pre-date the Greeks. Sumerian proverbs, written some 1,500 years before Christ, share similar characteristics and structure as the later Greek fables.
The Sumerian proverbs included an animal character and often contained some practical piece of advice for living (“You should not boast; then your words will be trusted”). The writing style of both the earlier proverbs and the later fables were simple and direct. Neither contains many words.
The situations re-counted in the stories begin with some type of incident and conclude with a punch line which would transform into the oft-recognized moral of the tale. It is much later that writers would begin to include the moral either at the beginning of the story (designed to tell the reader the purpose of the tale upfront) or was added to the end (to instruct the reader what the story was supposed to teach). Ultimately, the fables are designed to highlight both desired and undesirable human behaviors: what to do or what not to do.
FABLES ARE DESIGNED TO HIGHLIGHT BOTH DESIRED AND UNDESIRABLE HUMAN BEHAVIORS: WHAT TO DO OR WHAT NOT TO DO.
The fables, written down in Greek between the 10th-16th centuries CE, may not be recorded in the exact words as when they were first told. Over time, and largely due to the numerous times the stories were re-told, words may have been changed or eliminated in order to fit the storyteller’s purpose. Despite these changes, one characteristic that most of the fables share is the role of animals in the stories.
The animals display human-like qualities, especially the characteristics of speech and behavior. In effect, the stories are designed to mimic human life. Most of the stories/fables are meant to highlight bad or poor human decisions and behaviors. In order to allow the animals to appear in multiple tales and roles, Aesop did not restrict the animals to behaving in a manner generally associated with that particular animal e.g. the cunning fox, the slow turtle. These looser characterizations allow for the animals to appear in other settings acting in different manners.
continued
These early stories are essentially allegorical myths often portraying animals or insects e.g. foxes, grasshoppers, frogs, cats, dogs, ants, crabs, stags, and monkeys representing humans engaged in human-like situations (a belief known as animism). Ultimately the fables represent one of the oldest characteristics of human life: storytelling.
Origins
The origins of the fables pre-date the Greeks. Sumerian proverbs, written some 1,500 years before Christ, share similar characteristics and structure as the later Greek fables.
The Sumerian proverbs included an animal character and often contained some practical piece of advice for living (“You should not boast; then your words will be trusted”). The writing style of both the earlier proverbs and the later fables were simple and direct. Neither contains many words.
The situations re-counted in the stories begin with some type of incident and conclude with a punch line which would transform into the oft-recognized moral of the tale. It is much later that writers would begin to include the moral either at the beginning of the story (designed to tell the reader the purpose of the tale upfront) or was added to the end (to instruct the reader what the story was supposed to teach). Ultimately, the fables are designed to highlight both desired and undesirable human behaviors: what to do or what not to do.
FABLES ARE DESIGNED TO HIGHLIGHT BOTH DESIRED AND UNDESIRABLE HUMAN BEHAVIORS: WHAT TO DO OR WHAT NOT TO DO.
The fables, written down in Greek between the 10th-16th centuries CE, may not be recorded in the exact words as when they were first told. Over time, and largely due to the numerous times the stories were re-told, words may have been changed or eliminated in order to fit the storyteller’s purpose. Despite these changes, one characteristic that most of the fables share is the role of animals in the stories.
The animals display human-like qualities, especially the characteristics of speech and behavior. In effect, the stories are designed to mimic human life. Most of the stories/fables are meant to highlight bad or poor human decisions and behaviors. In order to allow the animals to appear in multiple tales and roles, Aesop did not restrict the animals to behaving in a manner generally associated with that particular animal e.g. the cunning fox, the slow turtle. These looser characterizations allow for the animals to appear in other settings acting in different manners.
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