Reading Notes: Aesop's Fables (Jacobs), Part A

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Aesop's Lion by Wenceslas Hollar (Wikimedia)


Aesop’s Fables

 Lions, Part 1-2:
  • ·        Commented on it last week, but I know it’s something I would struggle with: beginnings are straightforward, can just state the facts as exposition.
  • ·        Even though first fable, Lion’s Share is short, contains beginning, middle, and end.
  • ·        Feels more like a setup to back/demonstrate a greater principle.
  • ·        The sick lion is an interesting tale. Almost like intro leading up to a thesis
  • ·        As someone who likes to talk, I don’t know if I could write this concisely, but I like how concentrated these stories feel. Very little filler
  •        You can tell these are tales that were at one point retained and passed down through word of mouth
  • ·        The Four Oxen and the Lion – extremely concentrated, leanest story I’ve ever read.
  •        The Lion in Love is a bit of a sad story, not entirely sure what to make of the lesson but I like that kind of ambiguity in the message. Different people will take this to mean different things

Wolves:
  •       These fables are a bit harsh but deliver important messages. Also how life’s hardest lessons are learned.
    ·        I like the poetry paired with the story, might be fun to take a crack at. Appears to follow AABBA rhyming scheme.
    ·        Wolf is an interesting character. While the lion represents monarchs/those with power/tyrants and can be anywhere along that spectrum, the wolf appears to be more on the evil side of power, simply by right of being stronger
    ·        Equally important to character development is characters paired with character, affects how reader frames character. Wolf attacking innocent lamb: wolf is tyrant taking what it wants. Wolf telling kid it is easy to be brave from a distance: doesn’t achieve that same negative valence.
    ·        The Dog and the Wolf – I really like this fable, I think this may be a good one to look at retelling and expanding upon. I like the comparison created between wolf and dog as free adventurer vs. someone who has settled.

  • I like the Nurse and the Wolf as well, interesting frame of the wolf as not just evil. 

*Apologies for these bullet points as Blogger does not want to cooperate today.

Bibliography

The Fables of Aesop, Joseph Jacobs


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