Article Sphere Logo
 
Main Article Categories
 Alternative Medicine
 Arts And Entertainment
 Automotives
 Beauty
 Business
 Communications
 Computer And Technology
 Disease And Illness
 Finance
 Food And Beverage
 Health And Fitness
 Home And Family
 Home Based Business
 Insurance
 Internet And E-Business
 Legal
 News And Society
 Pets And Animals
 Product Reviews
 Real Estate
 Recreation And Sports
 Reference And Education
 Self Improvement
 Shopping
 Travel And Leisure
 Women Health And Fitness
 Women Interests And Issues
 Work At Home
 Writing And Speaking
 All 511 Categories
 
"Reference And Education" Article
 Article Directory Home Reference And Education

Who Wrote Aesop's Fables?

By Expert Author: Mike Haydon
View Summary | Submitted: 2006-09-12 | Word Count: 482 words
Mike Haydon
Everyone is familiar with Aesop's Fables. They are short stories usually about animal characters designed to make a point about human behaviour. Aesop has been credited with inventing the fable. Indeed, the name Aesop has become synonymous with fables. However, animal fables existed long before Aesop. There are fables recorded in ancient artefacts of Babylon, Harappa (the ancient Indian civilisation), China and Persia.

Fables are the second oldest form of story known. The first is the myth: how the world came into existence, stories of the gods and goddesses and the powers that keep the earth going. Fables were often used by public speakers or priests trying to get their message across. In the days when people lived a lot closer to nature and usually were illiterate, the easiest way to communicate an important message to them was to tell a story about animal behaviour and relate it to human behaviour.

Before writing became widespread among the so-called "educated" members of the ancient societies, all the stories were passed on by word of mouth, with nothing written down. Stories were often told instead of laws being set down and adhered to. If you think about it this way: are you more inclined to "look both ways" before crossing traffic because your parents or "Constable Care" told you stories of people being hit by passing vehicles, or because the Road Traffic Act says to "be cautious when crossing a road"?

As nothing in that era was written down (except the exploits of a King or warrior), it is impossible to know exactly whether Aesop thought of the fables himself, or whether he was a wandering storyteller who collected fables. In the days of such widespread illiteracy, it is likely Aesop could not even read or write. Some have suggested he may have been blind, as Homer is suggested to be. The earliest reference to written fables we have is from the Greek historian Herodotus from around 300 BC. Unfortunately, Herodotus seemed to think everyone knew Aesop and his fables so well that he did not need to give any details of Aesop or his work.

Regardless of whether or not Aesop was the creative genius behind all the fables, they are still Aesop's Fables. Even if they were not specifically written by a person by the name of "Aesop", their value is no less. Would the fairy tales by Hans Christian Andersen or the Brothers Grimm be any less loved simply because they were written by different people? Of course not. Having said that, we are as certain as is possible that Hans Christian Andersen did in fact write the fairy tales attributed to him, as with the Brothers Grimm.

Do not let this article make you enjoy Aesop's Fables any less. For in spite of all the difficulties and uncertainty surrounding the Fables, they bestow on us and on future generations the benefits of the ancient wisdom.
About the Author/Author Bio

Mike holds a Bachelor of History and a Law degree from the University of Notre Dame. He has been involved in online marketing since mid 2005. This article is copyright 2006. Permission to use this is given on the condition that you link back to http://www.aesopresources.com

Article Source: http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/Who-Wrote-Aesop-s-Fables-/49729

More "Reference And Education" Related Articles

 

Listed below are more articles related to the above article from the "Reference And Education" article category.

People interested in the above article "Who Wrote Aesop's Fables?" are also interested in the related articles listed below:

The history of formal mail service in the United States dates back to 1639, when the state court of Massachusetts established the first government-authorized dropoff point for mail. That location was a privately held business, a tavern in Boston. In those days, it was quite common for local stores and taverns to be used as mail drop points. Citizens became quite accustomed to inquiring for their mail in that manner. If someone was picking up a package and noticed something marked for a neighbor or friend, that person would probably take their friend's mail and make a personal delivery.
The history of glow sticks is over 40 years old when Edwin Chandross, a chemist at Bell Labs, invented the glow technology which used chemical energy to emit light. This was quite an achievement as at that point either battery or electrical power was used as an energy source for emission of light.
Like most nations, Japan relies on the metric system for most of its weights and measures. While you may be used to the British Imperial system used in the U.S., the fact is that anyone who can add, subtract, multiply and divide by tens will have a very easy time with weight conversion the metric way.
If you're going to Japan, you'll need to know something about "volume-metrics". Since Japan is on the metric system, you'll need to know something about metric volume conversion, either by using a volume conversion chart or a calculator designed for metric volume conversion.
Those who are planning on driving their own or a rented private vehicle during their time in Japan should be aware of several issues - not the least of which is mileage conversion and how to use a gas mileage conversion chart. The fact is that in Japan, gasoline is sold by the litre, and distances are generally measured in kilometers.
Rejection of the metric system is a mystery, because metric length conversion is quite easy - far simpler than the old-fashioned Imperial system of weights and measures in use today. If you can count to and add, subtract, multiply and divide by tens, you can master the metric system in short order.
Like Great Britain (from which the current U.S. system originates), Japan once had its own traditional system of area conversion, weights and measures. Since the 1920s however, Japan has turned to the metric system as its official standard for the most types of measurement. Nonetheless, the Japanese hold on to a system of area conversion calculating that dates back well over a millennium - to the Ninth Century of the Common Era (AD), in fact.
Article Directory Home Reference And Education

Can't find what you're looking for? Try Google Search!
(Search in 23 languages: English, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic, Italian, German,
Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Dutch, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Greek,
Swedish, Romanian, Polish, Norwegian, Finnish, Danish, Czech, Croatian, Bulgarian)
 
 
Copyright © 2005 - by Larry Lim, Singapore - Article Search Engine Directory at ArticleSphere.com™
All Rights Reserved Worldwide. All Trademarks and Servicemarks are the property of the respective owners.
Template Design by Internet Marketing Singapore | Internet Marketing
Français Español 日本語 [أربيك] Italiano Deutsch 汉语 漢語 Nederlands 한국어 PortРусско
Ελληνικά Swedish Indo Romanian Polish Norwegian Hindi Finnish Danish Czech Croatian Bulgarian English - Original language