Criticism > Literary Criticism (1400-1800) > The Aesopic Fable - The Evolution Of The Aesopic Fable

1. Printable Version
2. Download PDF
3. Cite this Page
4. Tweet This

THE EVOLUTION OF THE AESOPIC FABLE

Lloyd W. Daly (essay date 1961)

SOURCE: "Introduction," in Aesop without Morals, translated and edited by Lloyd W. Daly, pp. 11-26. New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1961.

[In the following excerpt, Daly asserts that the morals that appearat the end of Aesopic fables are additions made by later generations which do nothing to clarify the meaning of the original tale.]

The Fables. "Know thyself," commanded one of the legends inscribed on the temple of Apollo at Delphi, and Socrates echoed to the Athenian court that condemned him, "the unexamined life is not worth a man's living." This introspective bent, this disposition toward self-criticism, was part of the Greek genius for "seeing life steadily and seeing it whole." It might express itself in tragedy, or it might express itself in comedy; Nietzsche labeled its more austere and measured expression Apollonian, its more enthusiastic and...

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

1. Introduction
2. Representative Works
3. The British Aesopic Fable
4. The Aesopic Tradition Innon-English-Speakingcultures
5. Political Uses Of Theaesopic Fable
6. The Evolution Of The Aesopic Fable
7. Further Reading
8. Copyright