Aesop's Fables (Penguin Popular Classics) [Paperback]

Aesop (Author)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Popular Classics

Sardonic, wry and wise, "Aesop's Fables" are some of the most enduring and well-loved literary creations in history. In a series of pithy, amusing vignettes, Aesop created a vivid cast of characters to demonstrate different aspects of human nature. Here we see a wily fox outwitted by a quick-thinking cicada, a tortoise triumphing over a self-confident hare and a fable-teller named Aesop silencing those who mock him. Each jewel-like fable provides a warning about the consequences of wrong-doing, as well as offering a glimpse into the everyday lives of Ancient Greeks.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

AESOP probably lived in the middle part of the sixth century BC. A statement in Herodotus gives grounds for thinking that he was a slave.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Popular Classics (January 25, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140621288
• ISBN-13: 978-0140621280
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 0.6 x 4.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,508,555 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Arabs are still liars..., July 23, 2008

By 

C. Brandt "I gave the propina to Guy." - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Aesop's Fables (Penguin Popular Classics) (Paperback)

No matter who authored these fables--Aesop, if he existed, or a committee of Greeks and Romans--they are wonderful, time-transcendent stuff. There is more ethical philosophy in certain of Aesop's PARAGRAPHS than in the bloated books of some philosophers.

So many cultural tropes (did I just write "tropes"? I apologize.) spring from Aesop: tortoise and hare, fox and grapes, town-mouse and country-mouse, et seq. To be a well-rounded person, you should read this book...it'll take you a couple hours at most.