You are like a boy who cried wolf! There is a sad tale of a scorpion who merely says, “It’s in my nature…”

These are parables that you most likely have heard even if you have never been introduced to the mysterious figure who supposedly penned them. Aesop fables have been translated into picture books, children cartoons, and told as bed time stories for centuries.

However, we know very little about this mysterious Aesop. For starters, we can’t even be certain that he really existed!

It is possible that these collection of fables were penned by numerous authors and simply published under the name “Aesop”. However, if we are to believe Herodotus, then Aesop may very well have been a living man.

Whether Aesop was real or merely a pen name for a series of authors, we will never know. That does not mean that we can’t enjoy these timeless tales that will excite the child within all of us.

Download your own copy of Aesop’s Fables below to learn more about the possible origin of Aesop and to read some of his famous parables.

Oh, and if you do have children of your own, maybe try reading them a few fables for bed time. You might just be facilitating the birth of a future classical reader.

Aesop’s Fables by Euripides
Commentary by Nicole Saldarriaga
Compiled by Nicole Saldarriaga