Who is Aesop?

Aesop is the name of the man credited with the authorship of a collection or book of fables. Aesop was a slave who many believe lived in Samos, a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea but others say he came from Ethiopia. The name of his first owner was Xanthus. It is believed that he eventually became a free man. In Aesop's biography Planudes describes Aesop an ugly, deformed dwarf, and the famous marble statue at the Villa Albani in Rome depicts Aesop accordingly.

Where was he born?
There are many possibilities relating to Aesop's place of birth, although he certainly spent much of his life living in Greece at the court of King Croesus in Athens. Suggestions for Aesop's place of birth include Thrace, Greece, Phrygia, Ethiopia and Samos.

When were Aesop's famous fables first translated into English?
Aesop's fables were first printed in English by William Caxton in 1484, from his own translation made from the French. Aesop's fables were not believed to have been written as Children's literature and the book of fables were originally used to make thinly disguised social and political criticisms. The similarity to parables or allegories can be seen in most of the short tales in Aesops Book of Fables.

The Morals, Sayings and Proverbs featured in Aesop's fables

Each one of Aesop's fables has a lesson, or moral, to teach to children - just like a parable or allegory. A moral is added at the bottom of each of Aesop's fables. Many of the Morals, Sayings and Proverbs featured in Aesop's fables are well known today. Some of the most famous morals are as follows:

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The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !