In this paper containing nine pages the origin of these fables and its authorship are discussed as are the possibilities that the messages contained within may have been political or perhaps were only intended to serve as entertaining stories. There are eleven bibliographic sources cited.
Name of Research Paper File: AM2_PPaesop.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
Aesops fables has captivated the minds and imaginations of young and old alike for centuries. Written in approximately the sixth or seventh century B.C., this collection of tales have
been labeled as fables. Fables are didactic, i.e. they are meant to teach a lesson. Aesops fables most often involve animals but these animals are to some degree
impersonal in that they are never named. They are, however, able to speak to man:
"animals had the same ph?n? power of speech as men... men and gods were one community ...In other words, there had been in the Golden Age a communion of
animals and men and of men and gods. In the fables of Aesop, we find animals actually communicating with men as well as one another through the power of speech"
(Nagy, 2002, PG). Each animal, it seems simultaneously impersonates their species while at
the same time having extraordinary characteristics and experiences. The reasons behind the authorship of these great fables can undoubtedly be contended to relate both to the circumstances of the
presumed authors life and to the larger historical and political setting of the time but the stories could have also been created simply for entertainment purposes.
The true author of the tales is really unknown. The literary community speculates, however, that these tales can be credited to Aesop, a man who
is believed to have been a barbarian slave. A contemporary explanation of Aesops life claims that while he was a slave, however, he was detailed as a confidential clerk