Teresa S. Welsh, Ph.D.Associate Professor, SLISteresa.welsh@usm.edu

Aesop’s Fables in de Grummond

Children’s Literature Collection

Anthropomorphism of Animals: Cave Art

‘Shaman’ c. 12,000 BC, Dordogne, Francehttp://www.arthistory.upenn.edu/smr04/101910/Slide18.jpg

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Anthropomorphism of Animals: Sumer

Top: wolf carries a table, lion carries two vessels

Middle: donkey plays a bull-harp, bear dances, fox plays a rattle

Bottom: jackel(?) waves rattle

Front Panel of Lyre, c. 2600 B.C., wood inlaid with gold, shell, lapis lazuli, Penn Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology 3

Anthropomorphism of Animals: Crete

Minoan Mural, c. 1800 B.C., Cretehttp://www.heraklion-crete.org/knossos.html

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Anthropomorphism of Animals: Egypt

Animals revered as gods, mummified:Bastet catThoth ibisApis bullSobek crocodile

Papyrus, c. 1100 BC, Thebeshttp://www.britishmuseum.org 5

Anthropomorphism of Animals: Bible

Serpent Tempts EveGenesis 3: 1-8

Woodcut, “Die Bibel in Bildern” (1860)

Balaam’s Talking DonkeyNumbers 22: 21-30

Colored Woodcut, Nuremberg Bible (1400s)

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In the preface to his 1609 collection of classical fables entitled de Sapientia Veterum (On the Wisdom of the Ancients), Francis Bacon argued that ''beneath no small number of the fables of the ancient poets there lay from the very beginning a mystery and an allegory.''

Through such fables, hidden meanings can be exposed and made understood to unskilled ears and eyes and “the fable serves as a very appropriate expedient for instruction and persuasion, the higher goals of rhetoric beyond simple entertainment and delight." 7

‘Ask the animals and they will teach you’ — Job 12:7Parable – from Greek paraballo meaning to

place alongside or compare; a story that uses familiar human events to teach a moral or spiritual lesson

Proverb – from Greek proverbium or adage; a wise saying that effectively embodies a useful truth

Fable – from Latin fabula meaning story or tale; a short tale that teaches a moral lesson, often using animals.

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Sumerian Fable: The Eagle and the Serpent

Stone vessel (photo and drawing), c. 2400 BC, NippurMuseum of the Ancient Orient, Istanbul, Turkey

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Egypt Fable: The Mouse as Vizier

Papyrus, c. 1100 BC, Thebeswww.britishmuseum.org

Stone ostracon, c. 1200 BC, Thebes

www.brooklynmuseum.org

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Animal Stereotypes Aesop “puts animals in a pleasing light and makes them interesting to mankind. For after being brought up from childhood with these stories … we acquire certain opinions of the several animals and think of some of them as royal animals, of others as silly, of others as witty, and others as innocent” -

Flavius Philostratus, c. 200 AD

• Clever crow• Cruel, ravenous wolf• Greedy dog• Evil snake• Ferocious, proud lion• Quiet mouse

• Sly fox• Stubborn ass• Wise owl• Industrious ant

• “Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise" (Prov. 6: 6–8)

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Who was Aesop?• Greek historian Herodotus

claimed ”Aesop the fable-writer” lived c. 620 - 560 B.C.

• According to Aristotle, Aesop was:• Slave first owned by Xanthus on

Isle of Samos

• Later owned by Iadmon who gave him freedom because he was such a skilled storyteller

• Became advisor to King Croesus of Lydia

• Reportedly thrown from a cliff at Delphi because people took offense at some of his fables.

Earliest-Known Depiction of AesopGreek Red Kylix, 470 BC

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Evidence of African Origin• Greek name Aisopos is

version of Aethiop or Ethiopian

• Described as having dark skin, wide nose, stutter that could indicate foreign accent

• Many fable animals not Greek but African: apes, lions, crocs, elephants, jackals, lions, monkeys, asps, scarabs, scorpions

Aesopi Phrygis Fabvlae, 1623

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Other Evidence of African Origin

Two of Aesop’s tales are about Ethiopian (Nubian) slaves

Some tales feature Nile River

Some scholars find Aesop’s fables similar to “Libyan tales” - African moral fables built around talking animals

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Rock Art, Namibia

References to Aesop in Greek Literature

• “You are not educated. You never inquire. Of your Aesop you don't know a word” - from The Birds, a comedy by Aristophanes (414 BC)

• “Others tell us anecdotes or some comic story from Aesop” - from The Wasps, a comedy by Aristophanes (422 BC)

Woodcut from Fabulas de Esopo (Madrid, 1489) 15

References to Aesop in Greek LiteratureSocrates, while in jail at

the end of his life, spent his time turning Aesop's fables "which he knew" into verses - from Phaedo by Plato (360 BC)

“Like those who dine well off the plainest dishes, he made use of humble incidents to teach great truths” - Philosopher Apollonius on Aesop (1st Century AD)

Aesop’s Fables (1687)Woodcut by Francis Barlow

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More than 600 fables attributed to Aesop

Earliest-known collection of Aesop's Fables by Demetrius of Phalerum (345-283 BC), a scholar at Great Library of Alexandria. Although the work of Demetrius was mentioned frequently for the next 12 centuries and was considered the official Aesop, no copy now survives.

Earliest-surviving version translated into Latin by Phaedrus (early 1st Century AD)

The Fables of Aesop, first English version by William Caxton (1484).

Early Versions of Aesop's Fables

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Twelve languages:

English language – 219

French – 6

Ancient Greek & Latin – 6

Modern Greek – 5

German – 4

Italian – 3

Spanish – 3

Arabic, Chinese, Hebrew,

Welsh – 1 each

Aesop's Fables in de GrummondMore than 200 versions

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Publication dates:1500s – 2

1600s – 1

1700s – 12

1800s – 47

1900s – 141

2000s - 25

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Aesop in de Grummond: 1500-1600s

Oldest Aesop’s Fables:Fabvlarvm Q

vae hoc libro cõtinent interpretes, atq[ue] authores (1500s) Contains Authors &

Interpreters of Fables

Aesopi Phrygis Fabellae Graece & Latine (1530/1549) Aesop the Phrygian’s Fables in

Greek and Latin

Fabularum Aesopicarum Delectus (1698) Selected Fables of Aesop Greek & Latin with additional

fables in Hebrew & Latin, Arabic & Latin

Aesopi Phrygis Fabellae Graece & Latine Title page (1530)

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Aesop in de Grummond: 1700s • Oldest English version:

Fables of Aesop by Roger L'Estrange (1708)

• H.G.L. Mag, The Eagle and the Robin. An Apologue (1709)

• Jean de La Fontaine, Fables Choisies (1722)

• John Locke's Aesop's Fables (1723)

• Gabriello Faerno's Fables in English and French Verse (1741)

• Robert Dodsley's Select Fables of Esop (1786)

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Aesop's Fables in de Grummond: 1848• Aesop's Fables : A

New Version, Chiefly from Original Sources, by Thomas James

• with more than 100 illustrations by John Tenniel

• Published in London by John Murray and in New York by Robt. B. Collins

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Aesop's Fables in de Grummond: 1887

• Baby's own Æsop: The Fables Condensed in Rhyme by Walter Crane

• Illustrated by Edmund Evans

• Published in London & New York by Routledge & Sons

• Reprinted in 2011 by Pook Press

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Aesop's Fables in de Grummond: 1899

• The Fables of Aesop: Compiled from the Best Accepted Sources

• Sixty illustrations

• Published in Philadelphia by Henry Altemus

• Altemus Young People’s Library

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Aesop's Fables in de Grummond: 1909

• The Fables of Aesop

• Illustrated by Edward J. Detmold

• Published in London by Hodder & Stoughton

• Reprinted by Hodder & Stoughton in 1981

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Aesop's Fables in de Grummond: 1919

• Aesop’s Fables for Children

• Illustrated by Milo Winter

• Published in Chicago by Rand McNally & Company

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Aesop's Fables in de Grummond: 1941

• Aesop’s Fables by Munro Leaf

• Illustrated by Robert Lawson

• Published in New York by Heritage

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The Town Mouse & the Country Mouse

http://www.yankeeweb.com/library/storytime/fables/fables_38.html

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The Town Mouse & the Country Mouse

http://www.yankeeweb.com/library/storytime/fables/fables_38.html

Other Popular Aesop’s Fables• “The Dog and His Reflection” • It is foolish to be greedy.

• “The Crow and the Pitcher” • Good use of our wits may help us out.

• “The Wolf and the Crane”• Gratitude and greed go not together.

• “The Fox and the Grapes” • Many despise and belittle what is beyond their

reach.• “The Ant and the Grasshopper” • It is best to prepare for the days of necessity.

• “The Tortoise and the Hare” • Slow and steady wins the race.

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Recommended ResourcesAesopica: mythfolklore.net/aesopica/

Best-Loved Aesop Fables

mmdelrosario.hubpages.com/hub/Best-Loved-Aesop-Fables

The Evolution of Aesop’s Fables ryerson.ca/childrenslit/group40.html

The Fables of Aesop as First Printed by William Caxton in 1484, by Joseph Jacobs; London: David Nutt, 1889. archive.org/stream/fablesofaesopasf02aesouoft#page/n11/mode/2up

Free Aesop’s Fables app for i-phone, i-pad, or android phoneread.gov/aesop/index.htm

Free Audio of Aesop’s Fables storynory.com/category/aesop/

Online Collection of Aesop’s Fables with Moral of the Story www.aesopfables.com/aesopsel.html

Wise Animals: Aesop and His Followerswww.library.illinois.edu/rbx/exhibitions/Aesop/aesopica.html

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Thank you for your attention…

Questions?