Aesop
Aesop (Greek: Αἴσωπος, Aesop) is considered the founder of the Greek fable and is still one of the most famous fabulists today. He was active in Greece around the 6th century BC. He is said to have originated in Asia Minor, living in Athens and on the island of Samos.
The founder of the Greek fable Aesop lived in the 6th century B.C., he was supposedly from Asia Minor, lived in Athens and on the island of Samos. He is still one of the most famous fabulists today, and his fame is equal to that of the famous Homer. Not much is known about his life, he was probably born a slave and travelled extensively during his lifetime. Other sources say he was crippled and physically ill.
He recited his fables orally. They were short prose stories with a concise plot, featuring a settled group of characters, especially animals and plants, who take on human characteristics and become a type, a bearer of a particular character. Often real people and figures of Greek gods also appear, and dialogue is frequent, giving the fables momentum and enhancing the drama and dynamism of the stories. Each fable usually contains a didactic lesson at the end. Aesop's works have become known throughout the world over time (e.g. The Strong Lion, The Proud Eagle, The Clever Fox, etc.).
It was not until the 3rd century BC that Aesop's fables were recorded in writing and later compiled in verse form in a Roman setting (Demétrios Falerón, the author of the Latin verse text is Phaedrus). Aesop's work was followed by later fabulists such as Jean de La Fontaine and Ivan Andreevich Krylov. In our environment, ancient fables were already known in the Middle Ages, appearing, for example, in the Prostějov Collection from the 16th century. In 1791, Václav Matěj Kramerius published Aesop's Fables, and later Václav Rodomil Kramerius published a translation under the title Aesop Restored.
Among the more recent translations we recall the translations of Rudolf Kuthan, which were published under the title Aesop's Fables (Prague: Czech Graphic Union, 1941); Aesop (Červený Kostelec: Doležalovo nakl., Aesop's Fables (Prague: Mladá fronta, 1975); The World of Aesop's Fables (Rudolf Kuthan, Václav Bahník, Jiří Valeš; Prague: Svoboda, 1976); and Aesop's Fables (Prague: Albatros, 1998), retold by Pavel Šrut and illustrated by Miloslav Jágra. Šrut's work has been positively evaluated by the professional community and is often referred to as the first truly modern adaptation of Aesop for children in the Czech environment. M. Jágr was awarded the Golden Ribbon for his illustrations of fairy tales. Jiří Kolář's retelling was published under the title Aesop (Ostrava: Knižní expres, 2000).