Читать книгу The Herodotus Encyclopedia - Группа авторов - Страница 180

JEREMY B. LEFKOWITZ

Swarthmore College

Herodotus mentions Aesop only in passing, identifying him as a logopoios (“story maker”) and fellow slave of the hetaira RHODOPIS (2.134), in the context of his discussion of King MYCERINUS of EGYPT (2.129–36). In order to prove that both Rhodopis and Aesop were contemporary slaves owned by IADMON (1), Herodotus adds that Aesop was killed by the Delphians (cf. Ar. Vesp. 1443–48), who, following the ORACLE, were then compelled to pay compensation to a descendant of Iadmon (also named Iadmon).

Though Herodotus says nothing further about the legendary fabulist, Rhodopis’ Thracian birth and her association with XANTHES of SAMOS find echoes in later sources on Aesop. But there were divergent traditions in antiquity on the matters of Aesop’s life. On the one hand, following Herodotus, the historical record places him on Samos in the sixth century BCE (Aristotle, Constitution of the Samians (F573 Rose)), where he may even have defended a politician on trial for embezzlement (Arist. Rh. 2.20). On the other hand, beginning also with Herodotus, there is a more fanciful tradition that has Aesop associate with major sites and figures of his day, including not only Aesop’s infamous execution at the hands of the Delphians and subsequent return to life (Plato Comicus, PCG VII F70), but also affiliations with SOLON (Alexis, PCG II F9), PERIANDER (Plutarch, Banquet of the Seven Sages (Conv. Sept. Sap.)), and CROESUS (Plut. Sol. 28), on which Herodotus’ silence is noteworthy. The Life of Aesop, which is usually dated to the first or second century CE (Kurke 2011, 5–6), draws primarily upon this latter body of Aesopic legend, as well as borrowing motifs and episodes from the Aramaic Story of Ahiqar (cf. Life of Aesop, chaps. 101–23) and numerous other sources (cf. Wiechers 1961; La Penna 1962; Jedrkiewicz 1989), to create a novel account of the fabulist’s life.

SEE ALSO: Delphi; Fable; Sappho; Short Stories; Slavery