Aesop was a slave in ancient Greece who earned his freedom by telling fables. In the education of ancient Greeks and Romans, fables were known as 'progymnasmata' - exercises that trained students in writing and public speaking. They learnt the fables, expanded on them and invented their own to use in speeches as persuasive examples.
The fables
The fables are listed below in alphabetical order. You can choose to teach them in any order you like as the characters are not inter-related.
Each fable includes a transcript and set of useful weblinks relating to it. See also our general Aesop's fables useful weblinks for further useful background information.