{\b Aesop}.

{\b Date of Birth}.:  C.620 BC 

{\b Date of Death}.:  C.560 BC

{\b Works}.

Greek fabulist. His Fables are short stories about animals, all illustrating 
human feelings as well as virtues. They were brought to the attention of  
western European Literature during the Renaissance by Maxime Planudes who 
compiled a prose version of them. Erasmus then produced a Latin edition in 
1513 which was used in schools. Most of  the fables are simple tales in which  
animals symbolize human characteristics to convey a moral lesson. For example, 
The Hare and the Tortoise shows us how "slow and steady" wins the race. The 
most famous of Aesop's fables in English Literature is that of the Cock and 
the Fox told by Chaucer in The Nun's Priest's Tale.

{\b Featured Works}.

The Dog and the Shadow, The Lions Share, The Wolf and the Crane, The Man and 
the Serpent, The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse,The Fox and the Crow, The 
Sick Lion, The Ass and the Lapdog, The Lion and the Mouse, The Swallow and the 
Other Birds, The Frogs Desiring a King, The Mountains in Labour, The Hares and 
the Frogs, The Wolf and the Kid, The Woodman and the Serpent, The Bald Man and 
the Fly, The Fox and the Stork, The Fox and the Mask, The Jay and the Peacock, 
The Frog and the Ox, Androcles, The Bat, the Birds, and the Beasts, The Hart 
and the Hunter, The Serpent and the File, The Man and the Wood, The Dog and 
the Wolf, The Belly and the Members, The Hart in the Ox-Stall, The Fox and the 
Grapes, The Horse, Hunter, and Stag, The Peacock and Juno, The Fox and the 
Lion, The Lion and the Statue, The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Tree and the 
Reed, The Fox and the Cat, The Wolf in Sheeps Clothing, The Dog in the Manger, 
The Man and the Wooden God, The Fisher, The Shepherds Boy, The Young Thief and 
His Mother, The Man and His Two Wives, The Nurse and the Wolf, The Tortoise 
and the Birds, The Two Crabs, The Ass in the Lions Skin, The Two Fellows and 
the Bear, The Two Pots, The Four Oxen and the Lion, The Fisher and the Little 
Fish, Avaricious and Envious, The Crow and the Pitcher, The Man and the Satyr, 
The Goose With the Golden Eggs, The Labourer and the Nightingale, The Fox, the 
Cock, and the Dog, The Wind and the Sun, Hercules and the Waggoner, The Man, 
the Boy, and the Donkey, The Miser and His Gold, The Fox and the Mosquitoes, 
The Fox Without a Tail, The One-Eyed Doe, Belling the Cat, The Hare and the 
Tortoise, The Old Man and Death, The Hare With Many Friends, The Lion in Love, 
The Bundle of Sticks, The Lion, the Fox, and the Beasts, The Asss Brains, The 
Eagle and the Arrow, The Milkmaid and Her Pail, The Cat-Maiden, The Horse and 
the Ass, The Trumpeter Taken Prisoner, The Buffoon and the Countryman, The Old 
Woman and the Wine-Jar, The Fox and the Goat.

{\b General Comment}.

Aesop is believed to have been born at Samos and later settled in Lydia and 
Greece. Some accounts represent him as a dwarf, others as being deformed.  He 
was reputedly a former slave. Though there have been several versions of the 
fables and many sources have been traced, their authorship has been 
traditionally attributed to him.  Aesop supposedly died at Delphi, where he 
angered citizens and was thrown off a cliff.