The Fascinating Life of Aesop | From Slave to Renowned Greek Fabulist

Don't miss my new video on YouTube, about the great Greek fabulist!

As appeared in Project Gutenberg “Aesop's Fables” , Translated by George Fyler Townsend.

The video delves into the life and history of Aesop, a renowned Greek fabulist. Born around 620 B.C. as a slave, Aesop gained freedom through his wit and wisdom. He traveled widely, encountering prominent figures like Croesus and philosophers such as Solon and Thales. Aesop's fables were used diplomatically to reconcile conflicts in various Greek cities, but his refusal to bribe the Delphians resulted in his unjust execution. Despite his tragic end, Aesop was posthumously honored with a statue in Athens. These established facts stand in contrast to earlier, fictitious accounts of Aesop's life, discredited by later scholarship. French scholar M. Mezeriac's meticulous research in the 17th century shed light on the true story of Aesop, separating fact from fiction perpetuated by earlier accounts, such as the unreliable narrative by Maximus Planudes.

The 5th of July by Nicholas Leonard | Short Review

THE morning after a 4th of July party, Amanda Teacup wakes up to an unexpected visitor from the other side. BUT, The 5th of July by Nicholas Leonard is NOT just another ghost story. It's a reckoning . Leonard uses the supernatural to explore human issues. To explore us. Our history, our plastic patriotism, our cultural amnesia. What I love about his story: He tackles many different important issues. His story has layers , each one revealing deep societal fractures. And apart from that, his storytelling is so vivid that one feels as if they're inside the story, not just reading it. The details aren't just decoration, they are arguments. Everything hums with subject, adding to the story, making it absolutely compelling but simple and deeply humane at the same time. The setting: Lynn, Massachusetts and the woods. Even I, a reader from Greece, with no knowledge of the place whatsoever, after reading Leonard's story felt deeply connected to the place. A need awoke in ...

Voice and Verse: Three Original Poems by Nicholas Leonard

Recently, I came across some poems by Nicholas Leonard on TikTok and was immediately struck by their honesty and depth. Nicholas is a writer from Massachusetts with whom I have the pleasure of collaborating on YouTube by narrating his stories. This post is written to share his work here — not just to give it space, but to celebrate it. There is a common denominator in the three poems, or better yet sonnets, I’m sharing — the reclamation of authentic humanity against systemic dehumanization. Each poem exposes how institutions distort our innate magic, connection and legacy. But crucially - all three end with a unifying call to action, a redemptive defiance, a manifesto to live. But those are just my thoughts. See what you make of them. Nicholas Leonard’s Note: “I like writing short stories and novels, but there’s something about writing sonnets that feels magical. It gives me that feeling I’d used to get in church when I was a little child, the feeling where...

The Farmer & The Snake - Summary and Analysis | Aesop Fables

Summary This fable tells us the story of a farmer who felt compassion and pity for a snake stiff and frozen by the cold. He thus thought it wise to place the snake in his bosom, to save it apparently. But the snake, after having revived by the warmth and resuming its natural instincts, mortally bit the farmer. The farmer then, with his last breath, cried that he was rightly served for pitying a scoundrel. The moral lesson of the fable is: “The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.” Analysis The moral lesson of this fable is a very important one and should be given due notice, though i find this fable as told here, not very successful for the following reasons: The story talks about a farmer, to whom nature’s dangers are not unknown. Why, why, why would a farmer ever place a poisonous snake in his bosom? So, it was naïve of the farmer to rescue the snake in the first place and secondly, when he did, not carry it in a pouch but put it in his bosom. The fa...

Naya Nomikou

Search This Blog

Welcome to NN!

Naya' s YouTube Channel