Skip to main content

Welcome to NN!

Naya' s YouTube Channel

Subscribe to my YouTube to make sure you don't miss out on my latest videos!

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.






Popular posts from this blog

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 ...
Read more

The Frogs & The Well - Summary and Analysis | Aesop Fables

 This fable tells us the story of two frogs who had to abandon the marsh they were living at because it dried out. " Two frogs lived together in a marsh. But one hot summer the marsh dried up completely. So they left it to look for another place to live in." So they had to find another home. On their search they came upon a deep well. One of the two frogs considered the well a wonderful place to live in. "By and by they came to a deep well. One of them looked down into it and said to the other, “This looks like a nice cool place. Let's jump in and settle here.” " But his companion was wiser and said to his friend that they shouldn't make a hasty decision because " Supposing this well dried up like the marsh, how should we get out again?". The moral lesson of the fable is "Look twice before you jump", meaning that one should take the time and asses every aspect of a matter and also use past experiences, before making a decision that mig...
Read more

The Frogs & The Ox: A Tale of Vanity and Authenticity | Summary and Analysis | Aesop Fables

Summary : In this  fable, we find an Ox who accidentally squashes a young Frog while taking a sip from a reedy pool. The wise old Frog, intrigued by the incident, asks about the reason behind the little one's sudden disappearance. The other Frogs paint a picture of the Ox as a gigantic monster, and the old Frog, keen to show her own size, puffs herself up. However, as the young Frogs insist that the monster was even larger, she continues to inflate until she bursts.  Moral Lesson & Analysis: The primary moral lesson is: “Pride is all good and well, but don’t think yourself bigger than you are.”  The old Frog's vanity and desire to seem bigger than she truly was ultimately led to her downfall. This story serves as a valuable lesson against excessive pride and self-deception.  In addition to this moral lesson, we can explore another perspective. The fable sheds light on the folly of comparing oneself to others. The old Frog's attempt to measure up to the Ox's size ...
Read more