Brief biography - Aesop sayings and aphorisms of Aesop Aesop is a semi-mythical ancient Greek fabulist who lived in the 6th century BC. uh

Many plots of Aesop's short moralizing stories are familiar to everyone from childhood. It is unlikely that anyone has not heard about the fox who stole the cheese from the crow, or about the sons who dug up the entire vineyard in search of treasure.

Aesop was born and lived in the 6th century BC. e. The most famous legends say that, unfortunately, the fabulist was a slave. This theory gained popularity thanks to the works of the historian Herodotus.

Popularity of the fabulist

AT Ancient Greece everyone knew who Aesop was. His fables were constantly passed from mouth to mouth, they were part of school curriculum. It was Aesop who was the first fabulist, who, through the images of animals, described human vices, ridiculed them. He focused on a variety of human weaknesses: pride and greed, laziness and deceit, stupidity and deceit. His sharp, satirical fables often brought listeners to tears. And often even the rulers asked to tell them in order to amuse their audience.

Fables that have come down to us through the centuries

The stories that were invented by Aesop fascinated listeners with their brevity, conciseness, satire and wisdom. Their main object of ridicule was human vices, from which people cannot get rid of to this day. And that's what makes Aesop's works so relevant. Animals and people, birds and insects act in them. Sometimes even the inhabitants of Olympus come across among the acting characters. With the help of his mind, Aesop was able to create a whole world in which people can look at their shortcomings from the outside.

In each of the fables, Aesop shows a brief scene from life. For example, a fox looks at a bunch of grapes, which she can’t get at all. Or a lazy and stupid pig begins to dig up the roots of the tree, the fruits of which have just eaten. But the sons begin to dig up the vineyard, trying to find the treasure that their father supposedly hid on its territory. Getting acquainted with Aesop's fables, the reader easily remembers simple truths that the real treasure is the ability to work, that there is nothing better and worse in the world than language, etc.

Historical information about Aesop

Unfortunately, almost no information has been preserved about who Aesop is and what his life was like. Herodotus writes that he was a slave to a master named Iadmon, who was a resident of the island of Samos. Aesop was a very obstinate worker and often made jokes that other slaves laughed at. At first, the owner was dissatisfied with all this, but then he realized that Aesop really had an extraordinary mind, and decided to let him go.

These are brief data from the biography of Aesop. Another historian, Heraclitus of Pontus, writes that Aesop was from Thrace. His first owner was called Xanthos, and he was a philosopher. But Aesop, who was smarter than him, openly laughed at his attempts to be philosophic. After all, Xanth was very stupid. Almost nothing is known about Aesop's personal life.

Fable and Athenians

Once, Alexander the Great demanded from the inhabitants of the city of Athens to give him the orator Demosthenes, who spoke out against him in very harsh tones. The orator told the townspeople a fable. It said that once a wolf asked the sheep to give him a dog guarding them. When the herd obeyed him, the predator very quickly dealt with them without the dog guarding them. The Athenians understood what the orator meant by this, and did not betray Demosthenes. So Aesop's fable helped the inhabitants of the city to correctly assess the situation. As a result, they united in the fight against the enemy.

All Aesop's fables contain an entertaining story that prompts the listener to think. His creations are filled with morality, which is clear to everyone. After all, the events of fables are based on those events that everyone probably experienced during their lives.

In the future, the creations of the fabulist Aesop were copied many times by other authors who made their own additions to them. Ultimately, these stories were short, tongue-in-cheek, and imaginative. The expression "Aesopian language", which is applied to everything allegorical and mocking, has become a household word.

What was said about the fabulist?

There were legends about who Aesop was. He was often depicted as a short and hunchbacked old man with a lisping voice. Aesop was said to have a repulsive appearance. However, as further analysis showed, this description does not match the data recorded by historians. The description of his appearance is a figment of the imagination of various writers. It was believed that since Aesop was a slave, he had to be constantly beaten and urged - that's why he was depicted as hunchbacked. And since the writers also wanted to show wealth inner peace fabulist, they represented his appearance as ugly and ugly. So they tried to stir up interest in the works of the fabulist, and often in their own, the authorship of which was attributed to Aesop.

And gradually great amount fictitious information about who Aesop is, woven into the legend of the fabulist. Maxim Planud, the famous Greek writer, even compiled a biography of Aesop. In it, he described him like this: "A freak is a freak, not suitable for work, his head looks like a dirty cauldron, his arms are short, and there is a hump on his back."

Legend of doom

There is even a legend about how the fabulist died. Once the ruler Croesus sent him to Delphi, and when Aesop arrived there, he began, as usual, to teach the locals. They were so outraged by this that they decided to take revenge on him. They put a cup from the temple into the knapsack to the fabulist, and then began to convince the local priests that Aesop was a thief and worthy of execution. No matter how the fabulist tried to prove that he did not steal anything, nothing helped. He was led to a high rock and demanded that he throw himself off it. Aesop did not want such a stupid death, but the evil townspeople insisted. No fabulist could not convince them and threw himself from a height.

Whatever was real biography Aesop, his fables managed to survive the centuries. The total number of fables is more than 400. It is believed that the works were written in the form of poems, but they have not been preserved in this form. These creations are known in every civilized country. In the 17th century, Jean La Fontaine took up their processing, and in the 19th century fables migrated from his works into the Russian language thanks to the work of Krylov.

short biography Aesop and Interesting Facts about the life of the ancient Greek writer of fables is described in this article. Brief story about Aesop will help to 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 VI century. This is all that can be said with certainty. The rest is fiction and inventions. History has not preserved information about his life. Bits 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 worker had an exceptionally outstanding mind, and let him go free. That is all we can learn from the writings of Herodotus about this man.

A little more information can be extracted from the writings of the historian Heraclitus of Pontus. It specifies other information. Heraclitus of Pontus claims that Thrace was the birthplace of Aesop. Its first owner was called Xanth, he was a philosopher. But Aesop was much smarter than Xanthus. He constantly laughed at wise sayings his master and his philosophy. And he set his slave free.

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

The legend of his death says the following. One day the ruler Croesus sends Aesop to Delphi. The reason for this act is unknown. Arriving in the city, as usual, the fabulist began to teach 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 a local temple into his knapsack and told the priest that the fabulist was a thief. Aesop, no matter how he tried to prove that he was not guilty - everything was in vain. He was sentenced to death: they led him to a weighty rock and forced him to jump from it. This is how the fabulist from Ancient Greece ended his journey absurdly.

To date, a collection of Aesop's fables has been preserved. But interesting point- it was compiled in the Middle Ages. Therefore, it is impossible to say for sure that this is a genuine legacy of the ancient Greek fabulist.

• Aesop's fables have their own twist. They are based on a folk fable with a long history. They represent household live 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 depicted as a hunchbacked and short old man, speaking in a lisping voice. It was said that he had a repulsive appearance.
• He is the founder of the genre of fable and artistic language allegory, named after him - Aesopian language.
• Aesop's fables, of which about 400 have survived, have a special function. They encourage the listener to think.

A message about Aesop 5th grade can be presented at a literature lesson.

Aesop's work left a significant mark on the literary world, and his aphorisms became well known, remaining relevant today. In antiquity, no doubts were expressed about the historicity of the image, but in the 16th century, for the first time, this fact was called into question.

Aesop's biography is legendary, and his origin is shrouded in secrets. According to some reports, he lived around the middle of the 6th century BC. He was allegedly a small slave from Phrygia, with sharp features and a hump.

Despite such external features, Aesop had an amazing gift for words, a sharp mind and a talent for creating fables. What family the future fabulist came from is unknown, and there is also no information about his parents. His homeland is sometimes called Asia Minor, which sounds plausible due to the nature of the name.

According to one version of Aesop's life, the first owner decided to sell a talkative and useless slave of unknown nationality. He was acquired by Xanthus from Samos, whom Aesop struck with witty answers. Never ancient Greek philosopher he did not regret the acquisition, because thanks to the cunning and inventive slave, Xanth remained in the memory of generations, because the legend associates many jokes and wisdom with him.

There is a legend about how Xanthus ordered Aesop to purchase “all the best” that is in the world for the upcoming holiday. And the slave brought only tongues various ways cooking and explained to the surprised owner that the best thing is the language, because they establish laws and treaties, express wise thoughts.

Xanthus thought about it and the next day asked Aesop to buy "all the worst". And the slave again brought tongues, proving that there is nothing worse: people cheat with them, start quarrels and conflicts. The owner, although angered by the situation that had arisen, admitted that Aesop was right.

Once, after a magnificent celebration, Xanthus boastfully declared that he could drink the sea. In the morning next day Aesop's master remembered with horror his own promise. But the slave saved him from disgrace, advising him to set a condition: that the rival block the rivers flowing into the sea, because Xanthus did not promise to drink them too. So the philosopher got out of the predicament and avoided humiliation.

Aesop repeatedly asked Xanth to give him freedom, but he did not want to let go of the wise slave. Everything changed when a strange event happened - an eagle grabbed state seal and released her into the bosom of a slave, and Aesop was asked to explain the incident.

He reacted to the request in a peculiar way: he said that it was not supposed for a slave to advise free people, but if he were fired, he could do it. When the people agreed, Aesop explained that the eagle is a royal bird, which means that the king decided to conquer the city.

Upset residents sent the former slave to the king for reconciliation. The ruler liked Aesop, he made him an adviser and made peace with the inhabitants of the city. The legend says that after that the sage went to the Babylonian and Egyptian kingdoms, met with the sages and wrote many interesting fables.

Creation

Aesop became famous not only for quotations and parables, he is considered the first fabulist, because it was Aesop who became the founder of this genre. A fable is a short poetic story with instructive content. The characters are different animals and plants, in the actions of which human vices are seen and ridiculed. This hidden subtext of the work is called the Aesopian language.

Books from ancient Greece have survived to our time, containing short fables, the authorship of which was attributed to Aesop. Today's readers know these works in adaptations by Gulak-Artemovsky and other fabulists.

It is estimated that the Greek poet used about 80 animals and 30 gods, mythical images and representatives of various professions in his work.

Aesop distinguishes an interesting fable about a cunning donkey: once an animal crossed a river with a load in the form of bags of salt. But the donkey could not stay on the flimsy bridge and fell: the salt dissolved, and it became easier to walk. The donkey was delighted and the next time he fell on purpose, but the load was wool, which swelled from the water, and the donkey drowned. The moral of this fable is that ill-conceived cunning is fatal.

Such folk wisdom, common sense and hopes for justice, expressed in a witty manner, made Aesop's work immortal.

Personal life

There are several references that say that Aesop's beloved was from Thrace and was in slavery to Iadmon. According to one version of the legend, Rhodopis and Aesop had a secret love affair.

In an unspecified period, the biography of Rhodopis took the form of a fairy tale about. In one of the variations retold by Strabo, when Rhodopis was bathing, an eagle stole the girl's sandal. At this time, the king was holding court in the open air, and an eagle, hovering over his head, threw a sandal on his knees. The astonished king ordered his subjects to go in search of the girl who had lost her shoes. And, according to legend, when she was found, Rhodopis became the wife of the king.

Death

Death overtook Aesop at Delphi, the legend of this time is being restored according to Herodotus and, combining with later evidence.

It is believed that while in Delphi, Aesop, with his slander, aroused the anger of several citizens who decided to punish him. To do this, the Delphians stole a golden thicket from the temple utensils and put it in Aesop's travel bag while he did not see. The sage was searched, found missing and, like a sacrilegious, stoned to death.

After many years, the innocence of the fabulist was discovered, and the descendants of his murderers paid the vir, for which the grandson of that Iadmon, who was considered the first master of Aesop, arrived.

Quotes

Gratitude is a sign of nobility of the soul.

Chilo is said to have asked Aesop, "What is Zeus doing?" Aesop replied, "Makes the high low and the low high."

If a person undertakes two things that are directly opposite to each other, one of them will certainly fail him.

Each person has his own work, and each work has its own time.

The true treasure for people is the ability to work.

Bibliography

• "Wolf and Lamb"
• "The Fox and the Grapes"
• "Dragonfly and Ant"
• "The Frog and the Ox"
• "The Peasant and the Snake"
• "Pig and Lioness"
• "The Fisherman and the Fish"
• "Lion and Mouse"
• "Raven and Fox"
• "Beetle and Ant"

Aesop(Áisopos) - the legendary ancient Greek fabulist (6th century BC), who was considered the creator (canonizer) of the fable. Legends depict Aesop as a holy fool, a folk sage (in the guise of a lame slave), innocently thrown off a cliff. He was credited with the plots of almost all the fables known in antiquity ("Aesop's fables"), processed by many fabulists - from Phaedrus and Babrius to Jean de La Fontaine and the Russian writer Ivan Andreevich Krylov. Under the name of Aesop, a collection of fables of 97 short works in prose has been preserved. According to the data for 2013, not all of them were translated into Russian.

Aesop is the ancestor of the "Aesopian" fable named after him. According to ancient tradition, he lived around the middle of the 6th century BC, was a slave of the Samian Iadmon, and died a violent death at Delphi. Later, Asia Minor was called his homeland, which is quite plausible, since the nature of his name is consistent with this. His death at Delphi was adorned with a legend that can be reconstructed from Herodotus and Aristophanes, combined with later evidence.

According to this legend, Aesop, while in Delphi, aroused several citizens against himself with his slander, and they decided to punish him. To do this, they, having stolen a golden bowl from temple utensils, secretly put it in his knapsack and then sounded the alarm. After that, it was ordered to search the pilgrims, the cup was found at Aesop, and he, like a sacrilegious, was stoned to death. Many years later followed the miraculous discovery of the innocence of the fabulist; the descendants of his murderers were compelled to pay the vira, for which the grandson of that Iadmon, who was his lord, appeared.

The historical core of this legend lies in the relation of Delphi, that center of the poetry of the sixth century, to the Aesopian fable: being hostile at first, it eventually became friendly, that is, Delphi considered it best to take this popular and influential type of narrative poetry under its protection. As for the Aesopian fable itself, by this name the ancients meant the one in which the characters were animals and other dumb creatures and objects. Another variety was the so-called Sybarite fable, in which people performed; in addition, there were also Libyan, Egyptian, Cypriot, Carian and Cilician fables.

All named localities lay on the outskirts (western, southern, eastern) of the Greek world; this stands in connection with the often noticed fact that the works of folk literature were better preserved and attracted attention earlier precisely in the outskirts, where antagonism with other nationalities made the treasury of national traditions more valuable. Accordingly, we should also see in the Phrygian Aesop simply a collector and reteller of Greek fables; his popularity was the reason why every fable of an "esopic" nature was attributed to him. There is reason to believe that in the era of Aristophanes (the end of the 5th century), a written collection of Aesopian fables was known in Athens, according to which children were taught at school; “You are an ignorant and lazy person, you didn’t even learn Aesop!”, Aristophanes says one thing actor. These were prosaic retellings, without any artistic finishing.

The recognition of Aesop by Delphi was for the poets an indirect call to bring into poetic literature this abandoned form of folk literature; the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates from Athens responded to him, under the influence of that mystical mood in which he, as the chosen one of the Delphic Apollo, spent last days own life. The modifications of Socrates have not been preserved for posterity; and imaginary fragments of them are spurious.

The set of Aesop's fables in prose was compiled at the end of the 4th century by Demetrius of Faler. Only free poetic alterations of Babrius (3rd century after the birth of Christ) in Greek, Phaedra (1st century after the birth of Christ) and Avien (4th century after the birth of Christ) - in Latin have come down to us from antiquity; the same dry prose retellings that are titled in the manuscripts as "Aesop's Fables" are all composed in the Middle Ages.

Interest in Aesop's fables was transferred to his personality; in the absence of reliable information about him, they resorted to a legend. The Phrygian rhetorician, allegorically reviling the powers that be, naturally seemed to be a quarrelsome and vicious person, like Homer's Thersites, and therefore the portrait of Thersites, depicted in detail by the ancient Greek poet Homer, was also transferred to Aesop. He was represented as hunchbacked, lame, with the face of a monkey - in a word, ugly in every respect and directly opposite to the divine beauty of Apollo; this is how he was depicted in sculpture - in that interesting statue that has survived to us.

In the Middle Ages, an anecdotal Aesopian biography was composed in Byzantium, which for a long time was taken as a source of reliable information about him. Here the fabulist was represented as a slave, sold for a pittance from hand to hand, constantly offended by fellow slaves, overseers, and masters, but able 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 about the wise Akiria, belonging to the cycle of legends that surrounded the personality of King Solomon among later Jews.

Intermediary links between this story and Byzantine biography Aesop has not yet been discovered; the story itself is known mainly from ancient Slavic alterations. Aesop's biography gained wide popularity and was early translated into many languages: Bulgarian, Turkish and Romanian.

The history of the Aesopian fable is one of the most sensitive gaps in the history of ancient literature; it must be preceded by a collection of all the vaults and passages of Aesop's fable, and this is a very difficult task, which is unlikely to find an executor soon.

Aesop - hunchbacked sage

Aesop is considered the creator of the fable. The literary tradition dates his life to the 6th century. According to legend, he was a slave from Phrygia (in Asia Minor), was subsequently set free and lived for some time at the court of the Lydian king Croesus. It is believed that he eventually ended up in Delphi, where, accused of sacrilege by the priestly aristocracy, he was thrown off a cliff.

A large collection of Aesop's fables has survived, but it was compiled in the Middle Ages, so it is difficult to determine the true legacy of Aesop. Aesop's fables are based on a folk fable that has a long history. His fables are often live everyday scenes taken from the very thick of folk life; they are a vivid example of early fiction. Subsequently, the Aesopian heritage was subjected to distortions, alterations and caused imitation, starting with the retelling in verse by the Roman fabulist Phaedrus (1st century AD) and the Greek fabulist Babrius (3rd century AD) up to the poetic alterations of Lafontaine, Dmitriev, Izmailov and others Translations of fables from Greek and Latin were made by Mikhail Leonovich Gasparov (Mikhail Leonidovich - Russian literary critic and classical philologist, historian ancient literature and Russian poetry, translator (from ancient and new languages), versifier, literary theorist. Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Author of fundamental works on Russian and European verse. Translator of ancient, medieval and modern poetry and prose. Essayist).

Martin Luther believed that the book of Aesop's 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 story".

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

Aesop's fables

Literature about Aesop

• Keller, "Geschichte der griechischen Fabel" (1852);
• The best edition of fables is Halm (Lpc., in Teubner);
• Biographies - Eberhard - "Fabulae Romanenses" (ibid.).
• About Akiria Art. Yagich in "Byzantinische Zeitschrift" (1892);
• Loparev, "The Word about St. Theostirikte” (“Memorial of ancient writing” No. 94);
• Article "Aesop" from " encyclopedic dictionary Brockhaus and Efron" (1890-1907);
• Aesop's fables with moralizing and notes by Roger Letrange, re-published and translated into Russian in St. Petersburg, the office of the Academy of Sciences by Secretary Sergei Volchkov. St. Petersburg, 1747. 515 pages (reissues);
• Aesop's fables with the fables of the Latin poet Filelf, from the latest French translation, full description the life of Ezopova ... supplied by Mr. Bellegard, now again translated into Russian by D. T. M., 1792. 558 pages;
• Complete collection of Aesop's fables ... M., 1871. 132 pages;
• Aesop's fables. / Translated by M. L. Gasparov. (Series "Literary monuments"). Moscow: Nauka, 1968. 320 pages, 30,000 copies;
• Ancient fable. M.: Fiction 1991. S. 23-268;
• Aesop's Commandments. Fables. Biography / translation of Gasparov M. L. - Rostov-on-Don: Phoenix, 2003. - 288 p. - ISBN 5-222-03491-7;
• Gasparov M. L., Antique literary fables, M., 1971;
• Aesopica, ed. B, E. Perry, v. 1, Urbana, 1952; in Russian translation - Aesop's Fables, M., 1968;
• Nøjgaard M., La fable antique, t. 1, Kbh., 1964.

Life story
Aesop (Esop) is considered the founder of the fable as a genre, as well as the creator of the artistic language of allegory - the Aesopian language, which has not lost its relevance from ancient times to the present day. In the darkest periods of history, when one could lose one's head for a true word, humanity did not fall into silence just because it had Aesopian language in its arsenal - it could express its thoughts, views, protests in stories from the life of animals, birds, fish .
With the help of fables, Aesop taught mankind the basics of wisdom. “Using the animals in the form in which they are still imprinted on heraldic emblems to this day, the ancients passed on from generation to generation great truth life ... - wrote Gilbert Chesterton. - If the knightly lion is ferocious and terrible, he is indeed ferocious and terrible; if the sacred ibis stands on one leg, it is doomed to stand like that forever.
In this language, arranged like a huge animal alphabet, the most ancient philosophical truths are derived. Just as a child learns the letter "A" on the word "stork", the letter "B" on the word "bull", the letter "B" on the word "wolf", a person learns simple and great truths from simple and strong creatures - heroes of fables " .
And this never silent humanity, which owes so much to Aesop, still does not know for sure whether such a person actually existed, or whether this is a collective person.
According to legend, Aesop was born in the 6th century BC. in Phrygia (Asia Minor), was a slave, and then a freedman. For some time he lived at the court of the Lydian king Croesus in Sardis. Later, while in Delphi, he was accused of sacrilege by the priestly aristocracy and thrown off a cliff.
A whole book of funny stories about his life and adventures has been preserved. Despite the fact that Aesop, according to legend, was ugly and hunchbacked, besides, and foul-mouthed, he became a real hero of folk legends telling about his bold performances against the rich and the nobility, about his shame of the false wisdom of the ruling elites.
In the book of the German archaeologist, historian and art critic Hermann Hafner "Outstanding Portraits of Antiquity" (1984), a drawing is presented on a drinking vessel made in the 5th century BC. in Athens (kept in the Vatican). It grotesquely depicts a hunchback counterpart with a fox, which, judging by the gestures, is telling him something. Scientists believe that the figure depicts Aesop.
In the same book, Hafner claims that in Athens during the reign of Demetrius of Phalers (317-307 BC), the statue of Aesop, created by Lysippus, was placed next to the group of "Seven Wise Men", which indicates the high veneration of the fabulist and two centuries after his death. It is believed that under Demetrius of Phaler, a collection of Aesop's fables, compiled by an unknown person, also appeared. “In such a compiler, apparently, there was something great and human,” as Chesterton rightly noted, “something from the human future and human past ...”
Under the name of Aesop, a collection of 426 fables in prose has been preserved. Among them there are many stories familiar to us. For example, “A hungry fox noticed bunches of grapes hanging on one vine. She wanted to get them, but she could not and left, saying to herself they were still green. Or “The wolf once saw how the shepherds in the hut were eating a sheep. He came close and said, "What a fuss you would make if I did it!"
The fables from this collection were given literary form by writers of different eras. In the 1st century A.D. the Roman poet Phaedrus became famous for this, and in the 2nd century the Greek writer Vabrius. In the Middle Ages, the fables of Aesop and Phaedrus were published in special collections and were very popular. The fabulists of modern times Lafontaine in France, Lessing in Germany, I.I. Khemnitser, A.E. Izmailov, I.A. Krylov in Russia.
Of the Russian prose writers, M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin. His fairy tales "The Wise Piskar", "Karas the Idealist", "The Eagle the Patron" and others are an excellent example of Aesopian craftsmanship.