No one happily returns to the place of her wound
When the months had past and birth was soon
A woman was lying on the ground, releasing tremulous moans.
Her husband was trying to get her to climb onto her bed
So she could more easily deliver nature’s burden.
“No,” she said, “I don’t think an evil can be relieved
In the very place where it was first conceived.”
I.18. Mulier Parturiens
Nemo libenter recolit qui laesit locum.
Instante partu mulier actis mensibus
humi iacebat, flebilis gemitus ciens.
Vir est hortatus, corpus lecto reciperet,
onus naturae melius quo deponeret.
“Minime” inquit “illo posse confido loco
malum finiri quo conceptum est initio”.
A Dog Giving Birth
“The sweet whispers of an evil man are really a trap,
We should avoid them: the following verses tell us that.
When a dog in labor asked another
If she might enter her home to become a mother
She entered easily and begged again in pleas
Asking for a bit more time, to take her leave
When the pups were strong enough to flee.
When this time too had come and gone
And she asked more strongly for them to move on,
She said if you are equal to my pack all alone,
Then I will gladly now leave your home.”
I.19. Canis Parturiens
Habent insidias hominis blanditiae mali;
quas ut vitemus, versus subiecti monent.
Canis parturiens cum rogasset alteram,
ut fetum in eius tugurio deponeret,
facile impetravit. Dein reposcenti locum
preces admovit, tempus exorans breve,
dum firmiores catulos posset ducere.
Hoc quoque consumpto flagitari validius
cubile coepit. “Si mihi et turbae meae
par” inquit “esse potueris, cedam loco”.
Two Fables from Phaedrus that have nothing to say about anything. Really.
The Ass to the old Shepherd, 1.15
When a state undergoes a change
The poor will change their ways
In nothing but the name of their king.
This little story illustrates the truth of such a thing.
A timid old man was taking an ass to meadow to graze
He was frightened by an enemy’s sudden shout,
To avoid capture, he was urging the donkey to get out.
But the slow one said, “Do you think, please
That your foe would put a double-load on me?”
The old man said no, and the ass said “what difference is a name
when the baskets I must bear are ever the same?”
Asinus ad senem pastorem.
In principatu commutando saepius
Nil praeter domini mores mutant pauperes.
Id esse verum parva haec fabella indicat.
Asellum in prato timidus pascebat senex.
Is hostium clamore subito territus
Suadebat asino fugere, ne possent capi.
At ille lentus: Quaeso, num binas mihi
Clitellas impositurum victorem putas?
Senex negavit. Ergo quid refert mea
Cui serviam clitellas cum portem meas?
The Sheep, the Deer and the Wolf, 1.16
“When a con-man calls dishonest men to back a debt
He looks not to resolve a case, but to spring a trap instead.
A deer was asking a sheep for a load of wheat
With a wolf to back him: But she suspected a kind of cheat.
“To thieve and leave is the wolf’s accustomed way
And you, deer, with headlong speed depart the fray.
Wherever would I find you on collection day?”
Ovis, cervus, et lupus.
Fraudator homines cum advocat sponsum improbos,
Non rem expedire, sed mala videre expetit.
Ovem rogabat cervus modium tritici
Lupo sponsore. At illa praemetuens dolum:
Rapere atque abire semper assuevit lupus,
Tu de conspectu fugere veloci impetu;
Ubi vos requiram cum dies advenerit?
[With thanks to Rick LaFleur with some help on the Latin!]
Archilochus talks about the monkey in another fragment. Here, the monkey meets a fox.
Archilochus, Fr. 185
“I will tell you a fable, Cerycides,
With a mournful message [stick]:
A monkey was traveling ahead of the other animals,
Alone into the distance,
When a clever fox met him,
Possessing a well-formed mind.”
Les Fables d’Esope Phrygien, mises en Ryme Francoise. Auec la vie dudit Esope extraite de plusieurs autheurs par M. Antoine du Moulin Masconnois. A Lyon, Par Iean de Tournes, & Guillaume Gazeau. 1547. Fable 41. Du Singe & du Renard.
(confused about the “message stick” [ἀχνυμένηι σκυτάληι]? Me too. For a discussion, see
See Katerina Philippides’ “The Fox and the Wolf: Archilochus’ 81 D/185 W and Pindar’s “Olympian” 6, 87-91 (With Reference to “Pythian” 2)” Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica. 9 (2009) 11-21).
The fabulous meeting of the monkey and fox may have even more to say to our times. Here are two fables from the Aesopic tradition. (For an embarrassment of riches when it comes to resources for fables, go to mythfolklore.net)
Aesop, Fable 83
“A monkey danced at a gathering of unreasoning animals and, impressing them, was elected king. But a fox, envying him for this, noticed a piece of meat lying in a trap. She led the monkey to where it was, and said that she had discovered a storehouse on her own but did not use it because she had saved the prize for his kingdom. She advised him to take it. When he stupidly approached, he was caught by the trap. When he blamed the fox for leading him to the trap, she said, “Monkey, how are you going to be king of the animals with this kind of mind?”
In this way, people who attempt deeds without any experience slip into misfortune and absurdity.”
“While traveling together a fox and a monkey started arguing about their family trees. They were arguing for a while until they came to a graveyard. After he looked there, the monkey moaned. When the fox was asking why, the monkey pointed to the monuments and said, “How can I fail to weep looking at the graves of my ancestors?” The fox responded, “Lie as much as you want. None of them will stand up to refute you!”
It is the same way with men: braggarts lie the most whenever they won’t be challenged.”
Phaedrus, Appendix: Simius et Vulpes (Monkey and Fox)
“A monkey was asking a fox for part of her tail
So he could properly cover his naked ass.
The mean fox said, “even if it should grow longer still
I would rather drag my tail through muck and spines
Than share with you the smaller part of mine!”
Vulpem rogabat partem caudae simius,
contegere honeste posset ut nudas nates;
cui sic maligna: “Longior fiat licet,
tamen illam citius per lutum et spinas traham,
partem tibi quam quamvis parvam impartiar.”
And just because I cannot leave well-enough alone:
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers 5.6 (Heracleides)
“Dionysius said to him: “you will also find these lines: ‘an old monkey is not caught in a trap’; ‘he is caught, he is caught after some time’. And in addition to these, he said: “Heracleides is illiterate, but not ashamed of it.”
Lately we have been posting a lot of fables. Why? Because they are fabulous. But, also, because they are fun, fascinating, and a fine way to seek shelter from current events (while still doing some thinking). Ancient literature does not include a great deal of critical reflection on the Fable, but we do find it prized at the beginning of an education (by Quintilian) and the end of Socrates’ life.
Quintilian, Inst. Orat. 1.9.1-3
“Therefore, let children learn to relay Aesop’s fables—which follow closely the stories of the nursery, in a simple speech and without adding too much and then to write them down in the same unadorned fashion. They should first analyze the verse, then interpret it in their own words, and finally expand it in their own version in which they may either compress some parts or elaborate others with without losing the poet’s meaning.”
[2] igitur Aesopi fabellas, quae fabulis nutricularum proxime succedunt, narrare sermone puro et nihil se supra modum extollente, deinde eandem gracilitatem stilo exigere condiscant; versus primo solvere, mox mutatis verbis interpretari, tum paraphrasi audacius vertere, qua et breviare quaedam et exornare salvo modo poetae sensu permittitur.
Do you think Cheiron taught Achilles fables?
Diogenes Laertius, Vita Philosophorum 2.5.45
“Then they sentenced[Socrates] to death, adding 80 additional votes to this tally. After he was imprisoned for just a few days, he drank the hemlock, but not without having a few exemplary conversations which Plato describes in the Phaedrus. He also composed a paian which begins: “Hail, Delian Apollo, and Artemis, famous children”. Dionysodôros says that this paian is not his. He also composed Aesopic tales in verse, though not completely well, one of which begins:
“Aesop once said to the men who live in Korinth,
Do not judge virtue according to a jury’s opinion”
And then he was taken from the world of men. Soon, the Athenians changed their minds and closed the wrestling floor and gymnasium. They banished the accusers but put Meletos to death. They honored Socrates with a bronze statue which they placed in the Pompeion. It was mad by Lysippos. As soon as Anytos visited Heracleia, the people expelled him. Not only did the Athenians suffer concerning Socrates, but according to Heracleides they fined Homer fifty drachmae because he was insane and they said Tyrtaeus was out of his mind and they even honored Astydamas and others more than Aeschylus with a bronze statue. Euripides rebukes them in his Palamedes when he says:
“You have butchered/ you have butchered
The all-wise nightingale of the muses
Who caused no harm”
This is one story. But Philochorus claims that Euripides died before Socrates.”
Diogenes is not completely fabricating material here. Plato’s Phaedo records that Socrates while imprisoned composed “poems, arranged versions of Aesop’s tales and a prooimon to Apollo” (ποιημάτων ὧν πεποίηκας ἐντείνας τοὺς τοῦ Αἰσώπου λόγους καὶ τὸ εἰς τὸν Ἀπόλλω προοίμιον, 60d). When asked why he was occupying his time in this way, Socrates responds (Phaedo 60e-61a):
“The same dream often come to me in my past life, appearing in different forms from time to time, but saying the same things: “Socrates, make music and work on it.” In earlier time, I believe that it was compelling me and encouraging me to do what I was doing—just as some cheer on runners, in the same way the dream was telling me to do what I was doing, to make music, since philosophy is the greatest music of all and I was working on that. But now that the trial is complete and the festival has delayed my death, it seemed right to me, if the frequent dream really meant for me to make what is normally called music, not to disobey it but to compose.”
Archilochus talks about the monkey in another fragment. Here, the monkey meets a fox.
Archilochus, Fr. 185
“I will tell you a fable, Cerycides,
With a mournful message [stick]:
A monkey was traveling ahead of the other animals,
Alone into the distance,
When a clever fox met him,
Possessing a well-formed mind.”
Les Fables d’Esope Phrygien, mises en Ryme Francoise. Auec la vie dudit Esope extraite de plusieurs autheurs par M. Antoine du Moulin Masconnois. A Lyon, Par Iean de Tournes, & Guillaume Gazeau. 1547. Fable 41. Du Singe & du Renard.
(confused about the “message stick” [ἀχνυμένηι σκυτάληι]? Me too. For a discussion, see
See Katerina Philippides’ “The Fox and the Wolf: Archilochus’ 81 D/185 W and Pindar’s “Olympian” 6, 87-91 (With Reference to “Pythian” 2)” Quaderni Urbinati di Cultura Classica. 9 (2009) 11-21).
The fabulous meeting of the monkey and fox may have even more to say to our times. Here are two fables from the Aesopic tradition. (For an embarrassment of riches when it comes to resources for fables, go to mythfolklore.net)
Aesop, Fable 83
“A monkey danced at a gathering of unreasoning animals and, impressing them, was elected king. But a fox, envying him for this, noticed a piece of meat lying in a trap. She led the monkey to where it was, and said that she had discovered a storehouse on her own but did not use it because she had saved the prize for his kingdom. She advised him to take it. When he stupidly approached, he was caught by the trap. When he blamed the fox for leading him to the trap, she said, “Monkey, how are you going to be king of the animals with this kind of mind?”
In this way, people who attempt deeds without any experience slip into misfortune and absurdity.”
“While traveling together a fox and a monkey started arguing about their family trees. They were arguing for a while until they came to a graveyard. After he looked there, the monkey moaned. When the fox was asking why, the monkey pointed to the monuments and said, “How can I fail to weep looking at the graves of my ancestors?” The fox responded, “Lie as much as you want. None of them will stand up to refute you!”
It is the same way with men: braggarts lie the most whenever they won’t be challenged.”
Phaedrus, Appendix: Simius et Vulpes (Monkey and Fox)
“A monkey was asking a fox for part of her tail
So he could properly cover his naked ass.
The mean fox said, “even if it should grow longer still
I would rather drag my tail through muck and spines
Than share with you the smaller part of mine!”
Vulpem rogabat partem caudae simius,
contegere honeste posset ut nudas nates;
cui sic maligna: “Longior fiat licet,
tamen illam citius per lutum et spinas traham,
partem tibi quam quamvis parvam impartiar.”
And just because I cannot leave well-enough alone:
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers 5.6 (Heracleides)
“Dionysius said to him: “you will also find these lines: ‘an old monkey is not caught in a trap’; ‘he is caught, he is caught after some time’. And in addition to these, he said: “Heracleides is illiterate, but not ashamed of it.”
Whoever once is known as a corrupt fake
Even if he tells the truth forfeits all faith.
This short Aesopic tale will prove the case.
A wolf was suing a fox for a sneaky scheme
She was denying she was near the scene.
Then an ape sat between them as a judge,
As both pleaded out their case and argued much.
The ape is said to have handed down this line:
Wolf, you don’t seem to have lost the things you seek.
But fox, I think you stole what you so cleverly deny.
Lupus et vulpes iudice simio.
Quicumque turpi fraude semel innotuit,
Etiam si verum dicit, amittit fidem.
Hoc attestatur brevis Aesopi fabula.
Lupus arguebat vulpem furti crimine;
Negabat illa se esse culpae proximam.
Tunc iudex inter illos sedit simius.
Uterque causam cum perorassent suam,
Dixisse fertur simius sententiam:
Tu non videris perdidisse quod petis;
Te credo surripuisse quod pulchre negas.
By chance a fox had seen a tragic mask:
What a sight, he has no brains inside!–he gasped.
To whomever fortune grants honor and glory,
It deprives of common sense, as in this story.
Personam tragicam forte vulpes viderat:
O quanta species, inquit, cerebrum non habet!
Hoc illis dictum est, quibus honorem et gloriam
Fortuna tribuit, sensum communem abstulit.
Lately we have been posting a lot of fables. Why? Because they are fabulous. But, also, because they are fun, fascinating, and a fine way to seek shelter from current events (while still doing some thinking). Ancient literature does not include a great deal of critical reflection on the Fable, but we do find it prized at the beginning of an education (by Quintilian) and the end of Socrates’ life.
Quintilian, Inst. Orat. 1.9.1-3
“Therefore, let children learn to relay Aesop’s fables—which follow closely the stories of the nursery, in a simple speech and without adding too much and then to write them down in the same unadorned fashion. They should first analyze the verse, then interpret it in their own words, and finally expand it in their own version in which they may either compress some parts or elaborate others with without losing the poet’s meaning.”
[2] igitur Aesopi fabellas, quae fabulis nutricularum proxime succedunt, narrare sermone puro et nihil se supra modum extollente, deinde eandem gracilitatem stilo exigere condiscant; versus primo solvere, mox mutatis verbis interpretari, tum paraphrasi audacius vertere, qua et breviare quaedam et exornare salvo modo poetae sensu permittitur.
Do you think Cheiron taught Achilles fables?
Diogenes Laertius, Vita Philosophorum 2.5.45
“Then they sentenced[Socrates] to death, adding 80 additional votes to this tally. After he was imprisoned for just a few days, he drank the hemlock, but not without having a few exemplary conversations which Plato describes in the Phaedrus. He also composed a paian which begins: “Hail, Delian Apollo, and Artemis, famous children”. Dionysodôros says that this paian is not his. He also composed Aesopic tales in verse, though not completely well, one of which begins:
“Aesop once said to the men who live in Korinth,
Do not judge virtue according to a jury’s opinion”
And then he was taken from the world of men. Soon, the Athenians changed their minds and closed the wrestling floor and gymnasium. They banished the accusers but put Meletos to death. They honored Socrates with a bronze statue which they placed in the Pompeion. It was mad by Lysippos. As soon as Anytos visited Heracleia, the people expelled him. Not only did the Athenians suffer concerning Socrates, but according to Heracleides they fined Homer fifty drachmae because he was insane and they said Tyrtaeus was out of his mind and they even honored Astydamas and others more than Aeschylus with a bronze statue. Euripides rebukes them in his Palamedes when he says:
“You have butchered/ you have butchered
The all-wise nightingale of the muses
Who caused no harm”
This is one story. But Philochorus claims that Euripides died before Socrates.”
Diogenes is not completely fabricating material here. Plato’s Phaedo records that Socrates while imprisoned composed “poems, arranged versions of Aesop’s tales and a prooimon to Apollo” (ποιημάτων ὧν πεποίηκας ἐντείνας τοὺς τοῦ Αἰσώπου λόγους καὶ τὸ εἰς τὸν Ἀπόλλω προοίμιον, 60d). When asked why he was occupying his time in this way, Socrates responds (Phaedo 60e-61a):
“The same dream often come to me in my past life, appearing in different forms from time to time, but saying the same things: “Socrates, make music and work on it.” In earlier time, I believe that it was compelling me and encouraging me to do what I was doing—just as some cheer on runners, in the same way the dream was telling me to do what I was doing, to make music, since philosophy is the greatest music of all and I was working on that. But now that the trial is complete and the festival has delayed my death, it seemed right to me, if the frequent dream really meant for me to make what is normally called music, not to disobey it but to compose.”
Phaedrus, Fabulae 1.5: The Cow, Goat, Sheep and Lion
“There can be no true friendship with those in power.
This story is the proof of my assertion:
A cow, goat, and innocent sheep
Were allies to a lion in groves of trees.
Together they captured a humungous deer.
When the portions were made the lion said:
‘Because I am a lion I take the first part as mine.
Because I am brave, you yield to me the second too.
Then, the third as well, because I am stronger than you.
Should any of you touch the third, he’ll be killed.’
And so the lion stole all the spoils without guilt.”
Numquam est fidelis cum potente societas:
Testatur haec fabella propositum meum.
Vacca et capella et patiens ovis iniuriae
Socii fuere cum leone in saltibus.
Hi cum cepissent cervum vasti corporis,
Sic est locutus, partibus factis, leo:
Ego primam tollo, †nominor quia leo;
Secundam, quia sum fortis, tribuetis mihi;
Tum, quia plus valeo, me sequetur tertia;
Malo afficietur si quis quartam tetigerit.
Sic totam praedam sola improbitas abstulit.
“Whoever seeks another’s goods has rightly lost his own.
A dog was swimming across a river carrying his meal
And saw his own reflection in the water’s shine:
Thinking he might claim different spoils from another
He tried to snatch it: but instead deceptive greed
Was gripping him as his mouth released his meat:
And so he also failed to touch what he tried to seek.”
Canis per fluvium carnem ferens.
Amittit merito proprium qui alienum adpetit.
Canis per flumen carnem cum ferret natans,
Lympharum in speculo vidit simulacrum suum,
Aliamque praedam ab altero ferri putans
Eripere voluit; verum decepta aviditas
Et quem tenebat ore dimisit cibum,
Nec quem petebat potuit adeo adtingere.
