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Perry Index
The Perry Index is a widely used index of "Aesop's Fables" or "Aesopica", the fables credited to Aesop, the storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BC. The index was created by Ben Edwin Perry, a professor of classics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Modern scholarship takes the view that Aesop probably did not compose all of the fables attributed to him; indeed, a few are known to have first been used before Aesop lived, while the first record of many others is from well over a millennium after his time. Traditionally, Aesop's fables were arranged alphabetically, which is not helpful to the reader. Perry listed them by language (Greek then Latin), chronologically, by source, and then alphabetically; the Spanish scholar Francisco Rodríguez Adrados created a similar system. This system also does not help the casual reader, but is the best for scholarly purposes.Rodriguez-Adrados, Francisco. ''Historia de la fabula greco-latina. III: Inventario y ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aesop's Fables
Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a Slavery in ancient Greece, slave and storyteller who lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 Before the Common Era, BCE. Of varied and unclear origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal Register (sociolinguistics), registers and in popular as well as artistic media. The fables were part of oral tradition and were not collected until about three centuries after Aesop's death. By that time, a variety of other stories, jokes and proverbs were being ascribed to him, although some of that material was from sources earlier than him or came from beyond the Greek cultural sphere. The process of inclusion has continued until the present, with some of the fables unrecorded before the Late Middle Ages and others arriving from outside Europe. The process is continuous and new stories are still b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Fox And The Mask
The Fox and the Mask is one of Aesop's Fables, of which there are both Greek and Latin variants. It is numbered 27 in the Perry Index. A fable for the empty-headed The fable is always briefly stated and seems chiefly the vehicle for a criticism of the good-looking but stupid upper class. A fox comes across a mask anciently used by actors; after an examination, it remarks, 'So full of beauty, so empty of brains!' The Latin version of this, generally shortened to ''caput vacuum cerebro'', then became proverbial. It is recorded by Erasmus in his ''Adagia'', along with its Greek equivalent (Ὦ οἷα κεφαλὴ, καὶ ἐγκέφαλον ούκ ἔχει), with the explanation that it originates from Aesop's fable. There are different versions of the story, sometimes involving a wolf contemplating the broken head of a statue. Its earliest English appearance is in William Caxton's collection of the fables (1484), under the title of "The wulf and the dede man's hede", as an examp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Old Woman And The Doctor
The Old Woman and the Doctor (or Physician) is a story of Greek origin that was included among Aesop's Fables and later in the 4th century CE joke book, the ''Philogelos''. It is numbered 57 in the Perry Index. A rare fable This fable falls into the category of jokes that were added to the Aesop corpus through the attraction of his name. Because it was largely preserved in Greek sources, it was not noted in the rest of Europe until the Renaissance. One of its first appearances then was in an early Tudor period jest book, '' Merry Tales and Quick Answers'' (c. 1530), under the title "Of the olde woman that had sore eyes". The joke involves a woman who asks a surgeon (in this case) to cure her from approaching blindness on the understanding that he would not be paid until she was cured. The surgeon applied salves but stole from the house anything moveable during the course of his visits. Once the cure was completed, the woman refused him payment on the grounds that now her sight was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Old Man And His Sons
The Old Man and his Sons, sometimes titled The Bundle of Sticks, is an Aesop's Fable whose moral is that there is strength in unity. The story has been told about many rulers. It is numbered 53 in the Perry Index. Fable An old man has a number of sons who constantly quarrel with each other. As he nears death he calls them to him and gives them an object lesson in the need for unity. Having bound a bundle of sticks together (or in other accounts either spears or arrows), he asks his sons to break them. When they fail, he undoes the bundle and either breaks each stick singly or gets his sons to do so. In the same way, he teaches them, though each can be overcome alone, they are invincible combined. The fable was included by Babrius in his collection. Later, Pseudo-Plutarch told the story of King Scilurus of Scythia and his 80 sons.''Sayings of kings and commanders'p. 174/ref> It has also been told about other barbarian kings or nomad khans by other authors, such as the Bulgar K ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Snake And The Farmer
The Snake and the Farmer is a fable attributed to Aesop, of which there are ancient variants and several more from both Europe and India dating from Mediaeval times. The story is classed as Aarne-Thompson-Uther type 285D, and its theme is that a broken friendship cannot be mended. While this fable does admit the possibility of a mutually beneficial relationship between man and snake, the similarly titled The Farmer and the Viper denies it. Versions of the fable The oldest Greek versions of the fable are numbered 51 in the Perry Index. A snake dwells in a hole at the farmer's threshold and is tolerated until his son accidentally steps on it and is bitten and killed. The enraged father then chases the snake with an axe and cuts off its tail. When he later attempts to make his peace with the snake, it refuses on the grounds that neither of them will ever forget their mutual injuries. Substantially the same story appears in the Neo-Latin poems by Hieronymus Osius and Pantaleon Candidus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Weasel And Aphrodite
The Weasel and Aphrodite (), also known as Venus and the Cat is one of Aesop's Fables, numbered 50 in the Perry Index. A fable on the cynic theme of the constancy of one's nature, it serves as a cautionary tale against trusting those with evil temper, for even if they might change their body, they will not change their mind. The fable has similar themes with the Indian tale of ''The Mouse Turned into a Maid'', in which a mouse turns into a woman and marries a human male. The story A weasel fell in love with a young man, and begged the goddess of love, Aphrodite, to transform her into a human woman. Aphrodite, touched, did so, and turned the weasel into a exceedingly beautiful woman that every man would be lucky to have. The young man fell in love with the weasel, and soon they got married. As the woman sat in the nuptial bedroom, Aphrodite wished to test whether she truly was a human now or still retained an animal's nature at heart, so she released a mouse. Sure enough, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The North Wind And The Sun
The North Wind and the Sun is one of Aesop's Fables ( Perry Index 46). It is type 298 (Wind and Sun) in the Aarne–Thompson folktale classification. The moral it teaches about the superiority of persuasion over force has made the story widely known. It has also become a chosen text for phonetic transcriptions. Story and application The story concerns a competition between the North wind and the Sun to decide which is the stronger. The challenge was to make a passing traveler remove his cloak. However hard the wind blew, the traveler only wrapped his cloak tighter to keep warm, but when the Sun shone, the traveler was overcome with heat and soon took his cloak off. The fable was well known in Ancient Greece; Athenaeus records that Hieronymus of Rhodes, in his ''Historical Notes'', quoted an epigram of Sophocles against Euripides that parodied the story of Helios and Boreas. The Latin version of the fable first appeared centuries later in Avianus, as ''De Vento et Sole'' (Of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Oxen And The Creaking Cart
The Oxen and the Creaking Cart is a situational fable ascribed to Aesop and is numbered 45 in the Perry Index. Originally directed against complainers, it was later linked with the proverb 'the worst wheel always creaks most' and aimed emblematically at babblers of all sorts. The fable The Greek fabulist Babrius collected two variant fables that told of oxen straining to pull a laden wagon with creaking wheels. In one the oxen reprove the cart for complaining when it is they who have the heaviest work to do. In the other, it is the angry waggoner who points this out. When the situation began to be related in English collections, however, there were significant changes. In Roger L'Estrange's version (1692), titled simply "A Creaking Wheel", it is "the worst wheel of the four" that justifies the noise it makes by pointing out that "They that are Sickly are ever the most Piping and Troublesome". In Samuel Croxall's collection of 1722, the worst wheel of a coach remarks that "it was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Frogs Who Desired A King
The Frogs Who Desired a King is one of Aesop's Fables and numbered 44 in the Perry Index. The fable According to the earliest source, Phaedrus, the story concerns a group of frogs who called on the great god Zeus to send them a king. He threw down a log, which fell in their pond with a loud splash and terrified them. Eventually one of the frogs peeped above the water and, seeing that it was no longer moving, soon all hopped upon it and made fun of their king. Then the frogs made a second request for a real king and were sent down a water snake that started eating them. Once more the frogs appealed to Zeus, but this time he replied that they must face the consequences of their request. In later variations of the story, the water snake is often replaced with a stork or heron. Commentary, analysis and depiction The original context of the story, as related by Phaedrus, makes it clear that people feel the need of laws but are impatient of personal restraint. His closing advic ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Farmer And His Sons
The Farmer and his Sons is a story of Greek origin that is included among Aesop's Fables and is listed as 42 in the Perry Index. It illustrates both the value of hard work and the need to temper parental advice with practicality. The Fable A farmer nearing death calls his sons to him in secret and tells them not to divide the family land since there is a treasure hidden somewhere on it. But afterwards, although they dig it over carefully, they find nothing. However, when the crops (or in some versions the vines) flourish profitably, they realise the valuable hidden meaning of his advice refers to hard work. The fable is rare in dealing directly with the human situation, rather than through the intermediary of animals. Although it has long been accepted as one of Aesop's, and appeared as his in early European collections, the story has also been ascribed to the philosopher Socrates. The Neo-Latin poets Gabriele Faerno and Hieronymus Osius both wrote poetic versions, as did Jean de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Astrologer Who Fell Into A Well
"The Astrologer who Fell into a Well" is a fable based on a Greek anecdote concerning the pre-Socratic philosopher Thales of Miletus. It was one of several ancient jokes that were absorbed into Aesop's Fables and is now numbered 40 in the Perry Index. During the scientific attack on astrology in the 16th–17th centuries, the story again became very popular. The fable and its interpretation The story of Thales falling into a well while gazing at the stars was originally recorded in Plato's '' Theaetetus'' (4th century BCE). Other ancient tellings sometimes vary the person or the rescuer but regularly retain the rescuer's scoffing remark that it would be better to keep one's mind on the earth. The Roman poet Ennius summed up the lesson to be learned from the story in the line ("No one regards what is before his feet when searching out the regions of the sky") and was twice quoted by Cicero to this effect. Thomas Aquinas (d. 1274) reports the story as follows in his commentary on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Satyr And The Traveller
The Satyr and the Traveller (or Peasant) is one of Aesop's Fables and is numbered 35 in the Perry Index. The popular idiom 'to blow hot and cold' is associated with it and the fable is read as a warning against duplicity. The Fable There are Greek versions and a late Latin version of the fable by Avianus. In its usual form, a satyr or faun comes across a traveller wandering in the forest in deep winter. Taking pity on him, the satyr invites him home. When the man blows on his fingers, the satyr asks him what he is doing and is impressed when told that he can warm them that way. But when the man blows on his soup and tells the satyr that this is to cool it, the honest woodland creature is appalled at such double dealing and drives the traveller from his cave. There is an alternative version in which a friendship between the two is ended by this behaviour. The idiom 'to blow hot and cold (with the same breath)' to which the fable alludes was recorded as ''Ex eodem ore calidum et fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
