Showing posts with label Aesop's Fables. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aesop's Fables. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Aesop's Fables

Aesop's Fables Goodreads Synopsis:    As legend has it, the storyteller Aesop was a slave who lived in ancient Greece during the sixth century B.C. His memorable, recountable fables have brought amusing characters to life and driven home thought-provoking morals for generations of listeners and modern-day readers. Translated into countless languages and familiar to people around the world, Aesop’s fables never tarnish despite being told again and again. 

This collection presents nearly 300 of Aesop’s most entertaining and enduring stories from The Hare and the Tortoise and The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse to The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs and The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing. Populated by a colorful array of animal characters who personify every imaginable human type from fiddling grasshoppers and diligent ants to sly foxes, wicked wolves, brave mice, and grateful lions;these timeless tales are as fresh and relevant today as when they were first created. 

Full of humor, insight, and wit, the tales in Aesop's Fables champion the value of hard work and perseverance, compassion for others, and honesty. They are age-old wisdom in a delicious form, for the consumption of adults and children alike.


My Thoughts:

-    I'm sure everyone has heard an Aesop tale or two.  They are so common, yet not a lot of people know it is an Aesop fable.

-    Some of my favorites are:  The Peacock and the Crane, Mercury and the Woodman, The Ass The Fox and The Lion, The Crow and The Pitcher, The North Wind and The Sun, The Bear and the Travelers, The Bee and Jupiter, Father and Sons, The Two Bags, The Blacksmith and His Dog, The Farmer and The Fox, The Farmer and The Viper, The Lion and The Hare, The Crow and The Raven, and The Miser.

-    Some of the fables were a little hard to understand because I don't have a vast knowledge of Roman mythology or places.

-    These are the classic comedy or tragedy type tales.

-    There is a lot of wisdom and great advice in these little fables.  I loved pondering the message of a lot of them.

-    I really enjoyed reading these.  

-    I liked how Aesop used animals to explain people and their demeanors.  He was a clever guy.

-    I would have loved to me Aesop.  He would have been a fun person to hang out with.

-    I love how these Barnes and Noble Classics have added information on the authors and time period.  I also liked the little glossary at the end.  It helped me.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Analyzing Aesop #2


I love Aesop's Fables, and I'm sure everyone knows at least one of them.  I love Aesop's use of animals and symbology.  I love the lessons he teaches through parables. 

I want to start a series of Analyzing Aesop blogs.  It will be loads of thought provoking fun!  I'm going to share one of his fables, and we're going to dissect it and find the meaning and lesson behind the parable.  I'm eager to read your response! 
Ready?


A man and his wife had a good fortune to possess a goose which laid a golden egg every day.  Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store of precious metal at once.  But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose.  Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

Much wants more and loses all.

My Thoughts:

-    First of all, those people were dumb!

-    I think the message is simply:  Don't Be Greedy!!

-    I wish I had a bird like that.  It would be sweet!

-    Sad thing is, there are really people out there like this.  

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Analyzing Aesop #1


I love Aesop's Fables, and I'm sure everyone knows at least one of them.  I love Aesop's use of animals and symbology.  I love the lessons he teaches through parables. 

I want to start a series of Analyzing Aesop blogs.  It will be loads of thought provoking fun!  I'm going to share one of his fables, and we're going to dissect it and find the meaning and lesson behind the parable.  I'm eager to read your response! 
Ready?



A hungry fox saw some fine bunches of grapes hanging from a vine that was trained along a high trellis and did his best to reach them by jumping as high as he could into the air.  But it was all in vain, for they were just out of reach.  So he gave up trying and walked away with an air of dignity and unconcern, remarking, "I thought those grapes were ripe, but I see now they are quite sour."


My Thoughts:

-    I feel like this Fox sometimes.  I want something really bad, but it is so far out of reach, so I just pretend I really don't want it or need it right now.

-    Why didn't the fox try climbing the tree?

-    Is this a healthy way of thinking?  Do we sometimes get lazy and talk our way out of things?  I think so.