Publisher's Synopsis
Aesop's Fables is a collection of fables attributed to Aesop, a slave and storyteller thought to have lived in Greece around 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse sources, the stories linked with his name have arrived in modern times through many references and continue to be reinterpreted in many verbal registers, media and in traditional as well as artistic venues. The fables come via oral tradition and were uncollected for three centuries after Aesop's pass. By that time a variety of other proverbs, stories, and jokes were credited to him, although some of that material was from earlier sources or came from beyond the Greek culture. The process of inclusion has continued until today, with some of the fables unrecorded before the Middle Ages and more arriving from outside Europe. The process continues. Manuscripts in Latin and Greek were important avenues of transmission, despite poetical approaches in European vernaculars ultimately formed another. With the appearance of printing, Aesop's fables were among the earliest books in many of languages. Aesop's reputation as a fabulist has spread throughout the world. Initially, the fables were directed to adults and covered religious, social and political themes. Also as ethical guides and from the Renaissance onwards were particularly used for the education of children. Their noble qualities reinforced in the adult world through depiction in art, sculpture, painting and other illustrative means, as well as adaptation to drama and song. Also, there have been reinterpretations of the meaning of fables and changes in emphasis over time.
