Babrius and Phaedrus: Fables

by Babrius, Phaedrus, Ben Edwin Perry (Translator)

Babrius is the reputed author of a collection (discovered in the 19th century) of more than 125 fables based on those called Aesop's, in Greek verse. He may have been a hellenised Roman living in Asia Minor during the late 1st century CE. The fables are all in one metre & in very good style, humorous & pointed. Some are original.
Phaedrus, born in Macedonia, flourished in the early half of the 1st century CE. Apparently a slave set free by the emperor Augustus, he lived in Italy & began to write Aesopian fables. When he offended Sejanus, a powerful official of the emperor Tiberius, he was punished but not silenced. The fables, in five books, are in lively terse & simple Latin verse not lacking in dignity. They not only amuse & teach but also satirise social & political life in Rome.
This edition includes a comprehensive analytical Survey of Greek & Latin fables in the Aesopic tradition, as well as a historical introduction.
INTRODUCTION: The aesopic fable in antiquity. Nature & origin of fable. Aesop. Babrius. Phaedrus
BABRIUS: Introduction. Text & translation of the metrically extant fables
PHAEDRUS: Introduction. Text & translation of the metrically extant fables
APPENDIX: An analytical survey of Greek & Latin fables in the Aesopic tradition
INDICES: Index of fables. Index of proper nouns & adjectives occurring within the fables

Genres: Classics, Poetry

736 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Babrius (Greek: Βάβριος, fl. c. 2nd century), also known as Babrias or Gabrias, was the author of a collection of Greek fables, many of which are known today as Aesop's Fables.

Reviews

[Erik Rostad · Rating 5 out of 5]

Aesop didn't write down his fables. They were collected and embellished by others, including these two:

Babrius (Greek)
Phaedrus (Roman)

This Loeb edition was very helpful in providing 100 pages of introduction in how Aesop's fables have made their way to us.

It also contained some more ribald fables not found in the sanitized Barnes & Noble copy.

[Will · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Fame coacta vulpes alta in vinea
uvam adpetebat, summis saliens viribus.
quam tangere ut non potuit, discedens ait
'Nondum matura es; nolo acerbam sumere.'

Qui, facere quae non possunt, verbis elevant,
adscribere hoc debebant exemplum sibi."

[Philski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great short stories in the Aesopic fashion as told by Babrius and Phaedrus in Greek and Latin (respectively), in the AD200's and AD010's.