This fable is suitable for a man who is rough and brutal.
Fable 516 (Themistius, Orations 32 = Perry 430)
Prometheus and the Tears
This is also something that Aesop said. The clay which Prometheus used when he fashioned man was not mixed with water but with tears. Therefore, one should not try to dispense entirely with tears, since they are inevitable.
Fable 517 (Phaedrus 4.16 = Perry 515)
Prometheus and Bacchus
Someone asked Aesop why lesbians and fairies had been created, and old Aesop explained, ‘The answer lies once again with Prometheus, the original creator of our common clay (which shatters as soon as it hits a bit of bad luck). All day long, Prometheus had been separately shaping those natural members which Shame conceals beneath our clothes, and when he was about to apply these private parts to the appropriate bodies Bacchus unexpectedly invited him to dinner. Prometheus came home late, unsteady on his feet and with a good deal of heavenly nectar flowing through his veins. With his wits half asleep in a drunken haze he stuck the female genitalia on male bodies and male members on the ladies. This is why modern lust revels in perverted pleasures.’
NOTE: The fable immediately preceding this one in Book 4 of Phaedrus’ fables is badly fragmented and only two lines remain: ‘[Prometheus made?] the woman’s tongue by redeploying her private parts. This is where the obscene practice [fellatio?] finds its affinity.’
Fable 518 (Babrius 59 = Perry 100)
Momus and the Gods
The story goes that Zeus, Poseidon, and Athena were arguing about who could make something truly good. Zeus made the most excellent of all animals, man, while Athena made a house for people to live in, and, when it was his turn, Poseidon made a bull. Momus was selected to judge the competition, for he was still living among the gods at that time. Given that Momus was inclined to dislike them all, he immediately started to criticize the bull for not having eyes under his horns to let him take aim when he gored something; he criticized man for not having been given a window into his heart so that his neighbour could see what he was planning; and he criticized the house because it had not been made with iron wheels at its base, which would have made it possible for the owners of the house to move it from place to place when they went travelling.
NOTE: An epimythium probably added by a later editor reads: ‘What then does the plot of this story tell us? Try to make something, and do not let envy pass judgement on it. Nothing is entirely satisfactory to someone who is a Momus.’ In Greek mythology, Momus was the archetypal fault-finder, the personification of ‘blame’ or ‘reproach’. Parts of this fable are alluded to in Athenaeus, Deipnosophistae 15.50 (the absence of a window into the heart) and in Aristotle, Parts of Animals 3.2 (the bull and his horns).
Fable 519 (Chambry 111 = Perry 103)
Hermes and the Cobblers
Zeus ordered Hermes to instill a dose of deceit in every craftsman. With a pestle and mortar, Hermes ground the drug into a fine powder and after dividing it into equal portions he began to apply it to each of the craftsmen. In the end, only the cobbler was left and a great deal of the drug was still left over, so Hermes poured the entire contents of the mortar onto the cobbler. As a result, all craftsmen are liars, but cobblers are the worst of all.
This fable is suitable for a man who tells lies.
NOTE: For a fable about a lying cobbler, see Fable 588.
Fable 520 (Chambry 120 = Perry 108)
Hermes and the Dose of Intelligence
After Zeus had fashioned the human race, he ordered Hermes to give them intelligence. Hermes divided intelligence into equal portions and then applied it to each person. The result was that short people became wise, since they were more completely suffused with the standard dose of intelligence, while the tall people turned out stupid, since the potion that was poured into their bodies did not even reach as high as their knees.
This fable is suitable for a man who is physically large but whose mind is lacking in reason.
Fable 521 (Babrius 57 = Perry 309)
Hermes and the Arabs
Hermes filled a cart with lies and dishonesty and all sorts of wicked tricks, and he journeyed in this cart throughout the land, going hither and thither from one tribe to another, dispensing to each nation a small portion of his wares. When he reached the land of the Arabs, so the story goes, his cart suddenly broke down along the way and was stuck there. The Arabs seized the contents of the cart as if it were a merchant’s valuable cargo, stripping the cart bare and preventing Hermes from continuing on his journey, although there were still some people he had not yet visited. As a result, Arabs are liars and charlatans, as I myself have learned from experience. There is not a word of truth that springs from their lips.
Fable 522 (Chambry 109 = Perry 102)
Hermes and the Earth
When Zeus had fashioned man and woman, he ordered Hermes to take them to Gaia, the Earth, and to show them how to obtain food by digging in the ground. At first, the Earth refused to co-operate in Hermes’ mission. Hermes then compelled her, saying that Zeus had ordered her to do so. Earth replied, ‘Then let them dig as much as they like, but they will pay for it with groans and tears!’
This fable is suitable for those people who casually take out loans but who then find it difficult to pay them back.
Fable 523 (Phaedrus 4.11 = Perry 513)
The Thief and the Lamp
A thief lit his lamp from the altar of Jupiter and then robbed the god by the light of his own fire. When he left, laden with the spoils of sacrilege, holy Religion herself suddenly began to speak: ‘Although those gifts were the offerings of a wicked man and therefore hateful to me (so that I am in no way offended by their theft), you will nevertheless pay for this with your life, you villain, when the day of your assigned punishment arrives! However, so that our fire—this fire which the pious employ in their worship of the awesome gods—may never serve to illuminate the path of crime, I hereby forbid all such traffic in light.’ This is why even today one may no longer light a lamp from the flame that is sacred to the gods, nor is it permitted to use a lamp to light the sacred fire.
Only the author who devised this story, and no on else, can explain to you how many useful lessons it contains. First of all, it shows that someone that you yourself have supported often proves to be your worst enemy; second, it shows that crimes are not punished by the wrath of the gods but only at the time that is decreed by the Fates; finally, it forbids good people to have anything in common with evil-doers.
Fable 524 (Babrius 127 = Perry 313)
Zeus and the Potsherds
Zeus ordered Hermes to write down people’s sins and wicked deeds on potsherds and to pile them in a designated box, so that Zeus could then peruse them and exact a penalty from each person as appropriate. Given that the potsherds are all piled up one on top of the other until the moment that Zeus examines them, he gets to some of them quite soon while others have to wait. It is therefore no surprise that there are wicked people who commit a crime in haste but who are not punished until much later.
NOTE: Potsherds, or broken bits of pottery, were used as writing material in ancient Greece, most notably for recording votes. Thus the Greek word for potsherds, ostraca, gave rise to the English word ‘ostracism’, from votes being cast in favour of someone’s banishment.
Fable 525 (Chambry 1 = Perry 274)
Zeus and the Good Things
The Good Things were too weak to defend themselves from the Bad Things, so the Bad Things drove them off to heaven. The Good Things then asked Zeus how they could reach mankind. Zeus told them that they should not go together all at once, only one at a time. This is why people are constantly besieged by Bad Things, since they are nearby, while Good Things come more rarely, since they must descend to us from heaven one by one.
The fable shows that good things do not happen very often, while bad things happen to us all the time.
Fable 526 (Babrius 58 = Perry 312)
Zeus and the Jar of Good Things
Zeus gathered all the useful things together in a jar and put a lid on it. He then left the jar in human hands. But man had no self-control and he wanted to know what was in that jar, so he pushed the lid aside, letting those things go back to the abode of the gods. Thus all the good things flew away, soaring high above the earth, and Hope was the only thing left. When the lid was put back on the jar, Hope was kept inside. That is why Hope alone is still found among the people, promising that she will bestow on each of us the good things that have gone away.
NOTE: Unlike the famous ‘Pandora’s box’ version of this story (which is attested as early as the eighth century BCE in the Greek poet Hesiod), this version notably does not blame all the misfortune of the world on a woman.
Fable 527 (Phaedrus 4.10 = Perry 266)
Jupiter and the Two Sacks
Jupiter has given us two sacks to carry. One sack, which is filled with our own faults, is slung across our back, while the other sack, heavy with the faults of others, is tied around our necks. This is the reason why we are blind to our own bad habits but still quick to criticize others for their mistakes.
NOTE: There is a similar saying in Seneca, On Anger 2.28: ‘other people’s faults are directly in front of our eyes, while our own faults are behind our backs.’ In the Greek versions of this fable (e.g. Chambry 303), it is Prometheus, not Zeus, who fashions the sacks.
Fable 528 (Chambry 118* = Perry 109)
Zeus and Shame
After he had created people, Zeus immediately implanted in them all the possible human character traits, but he forgot about Shame. Since he didn’t know how to get Shame inside the human body, he ordered her to go in from behind. At first Shame protested, considering Zeus’s request to be beneath her dignity. When Zeus kept insisting, she said, ‘All right, I will go in there, on the condition that if anything comes in there after me, I will leave immediately.’ As a result, people who engage in sodomy have no sense of shame.
This fable can be used for a sodomite.
Fable 529 (life of Aesop 33 = Perry 385)
True Dreams and False Dreams
Apollo, who is the leader of the Muses, once asked Zeus to give him the power of foresight, so that he could be the best oracle. Zeus agreed, but when Apollo was then able to provoke the wonder of all mankind, he began to think that he was better than all the other gods and he treated them with even greater arrogance than before. This angered Zeus (and he was Apollo’s superior, after all). Since Zeus didn’t want Apollo to have so much power over people, he devised a true kind of dream that would reveal to people in their sleep what was going to happen. When Apollo realized that no one would need him for his prophecies any more, he asked Zeus to be reconciled to him, imploring Zeus not to subvert his own prophetic power. Zeus forgave Apollo and proceeded to devise yet more dreams for mankind, so that there were now false dreams that came to them in their sleep, in addition to the true dreams. Once the people realized that their dreams were unreliable, they had to turn once again to Apollo, the original source of prophetic divination.
ALLEGORIES
Fable 530 (Phaedrus App. 5 = Perry 535)
Prometheus and Truth
Prometheus, that potter who first gave shape to our generation, decided one day to sculpt a statue of Truth, using all his skill so that she would be able to regulate people’s behaviour. As he was working, an unexpected summons from mighty Jupiter called him away. Prometheus left cunning Trickery in charge of his workshop (Trickery had recently become one of the god’s apprentices). Fired by ambition, Trickery used the time at his disposal to fashion with his sly fingers a figure of the same size and appearance as Truth with identical features. When he had almost completed the piece, which was truly remarkable, he ran out of clay to use for her feet. The master returned, so Trickery quickly sat down in his seat, quaking with fear. Prometheus was amazed at the similarity of the two statues and wanted it to seem as if all the credit were due to his own skill. Therefore, he put both statues in the kiln and when they had been thoroughly baked, he infused them both with life: sacred Truth walked with measured steps, while her unfinished twin stood stuck in her tracks. That forgery, the product of subterfuge, thus acquired the name of Falsehood, and I readily agree with people who say that she has no feet: every once in a while something that is false can start off successfully, but with time the Truth is sure to prevail.
Fable 531 (Babrius 126 = Perry 355)
Truth in the Wilderness
A man was journeying in the wilderness and he found Truth standing there all alone. He said to her, ‘Ancient lady, why do you dwell here in the wilderness, leaving the city behind?’ From the great depths of her wisdom, Truth replied, ‘Among the people of old, lies were found among only a few, but now they have spread throughout all of human society!’
were found among only a few, but now they have spread throughout all of human society!’
NOTE: An epimythium added to the fable reads: ‘If you want to hear my opinion: the way people live these days is scandalous!’
Fable 532 (Plato, Phaedo 60b = Perry 445)
Pleasure and Pain
Socrates said, ‘If Aesop had thought about pleasure and pain, he would have composed a fable about how when Pleasure and Pain were at war with one another, the god wanted to reconcile them. But as he was not able to do that, he joined them together at the head, which is why when you meet with either pleasure or pain, the other one soon follows.’
NOTE: As recounted in Plato’s Phaedo, Socrates is supposed to have composed Aesopic fables in verse while he was in prison, awaiting execution.
Fable 533 (Babrius 70 = Perry 367)
War and His Bride
The gods were getting married. One after another, they all got hitched, until finally it was time for War to draw his lot, the last of the bachelors. Hubris, or Reckless Pride, became his wife, since she was the only one left without a husband. They say War loved Hubris with such abandon that he still follows her everywhere she goes. So do not ever allow Hubris to come upon the nations or cities of mankind, smiling fondly at the crowds, because War will be coming right behind her.
NOTE: Hubris is a Greek word meaning reckless pride or insolence; as a feminine noun, hubris is, allegorically, a woman.
Fable 534 (Chambry 129* = Perry 316)
Heracles and Athena
Heracles was making his way through a narrow pass. He saw something that looked like an apple lying on the ground and he tried to smash it with his club. After having been struck by the club, the thing swelled up to twice its size. Heracles struck it again with his club, even harder than before, and the thing then expanded to such a size that it blocked Heracles’ way. Heracles let go of his club and stood there, amazed. Athena saw him and said, ‘O Heracles, don’t be so surprised! This thing that has brought about your confusion is Contentiousness and Strife. If you just leave it alone, it stays small; but if you decide to fight it, then it swells from its small size and grows large.’
Fable 535 (Life of Aesop 94 = Perry 383)
Prometheus and the Two Roads
Zeus once ordered Prometheus to show mankind the two ways: one the way of freedom and the other the way of slavery. Prometheus made the way of freedom rough at the beginning, impassable and steep, with no water anywhere to drink, full of brambles, and beset with dangers on all sides at first. Eventually, however, it became a smooth plain, lined with paths and filled with groves of fruit trees and waterways. Thus the distressing experience ended in repose for those who breathe the air of freedom. The way of slavery, however, started out as a smooth plain at the beginning, full of flowers, pleasant to look at and quite luxurious, but in the end it became impassable, steep and insurmountable on all sides.
NOTE: In another version of the story (manuscript ‘G’), the allegory is attributed to Tyche, the goddess of fortune or fate, rather than to Prometheus. There are some obvious similarities between this story and the famous account of Heracles choosin
g between two roads (see Xenophon, Memorabilia 2.1.21; see also the two roads in Hesiod, Works and Days 285).
Fable 536 (Phaedrus 5.8 = Perry 530)
Opportunity
Running swiftly, balancing on the razor’s edge, bald but with a lock of hair on his forehead, he wears no clothes; if you grasp him from the front, you might be able to hold him, but once he has moved on not even Jupiter himself can pull him back: this is a symbol of Opportunity, the brief moment in which things are possible.
Men of old invented this particular image of Time so that our efforts would not be undermined by laziness or hesitation.
NOTE: This fable is based on a famous statue of Kairos, ‘Opportunity’, by Lysippus, a famous Greek sculptor of the fourth century BCE (the statue is described in Posidippus, Anthologia Planudea 275 and Ausonius, Epigrams 11).
Fable 537 (Phaedrus 3.14 = Perry 505)
Aesop and the Bow
Aesop's Fables Page 31
