Three Hundred Aesop's Fables. Literally Translated from the Greek.

xxxii, 224 pp. Engraved frontispiece and illustrations by Harrison Weir (114 total). "Aesop or Esop (c. 620 - 564 BC), known for the genre of fables ascribed to him (see Aesop's Fables), was by tradition a slave and was a contemporary of Croesus and Solon in the mid-6th century BC. Aesop was not born a slave (doulos) but was a slave by foreign capture, an andrapodon (doulos). Although popular culture credits ancient Greece as the place of his birth, his birth place is unknown. Suggestions for Aesop's place of birth include Thrace, Greece, Phrygia, and Ethiopia. The origins of his name which is derived from the Greek word Aethiop which means "Ethiopia!", suggests that he was one of the many Ethiopians living in ancient Greece. He spent much of his life living in Samos, Greece at the court of King Croesus in Athens. Aesops fables consist of short stories which illustrate a particular moral and teach a lesson to children and adults. The characters of fables and tales are usually animals with human characteristics."