he scarce ever fpeaks without exercifing one or other of thofe talents. He might, poffibly, have been as 6° fatirical too; tho' in a more gay, and lefs difobliging manner: and, indeed, his good-nature is pointed out as strongly, as any part of his character. His wifdom itself was gay and chearful; and it was for that very reason, that he has been so often prefer'd to all the feven Sages of Greece. He was free, and open in his difcourfe: for he fpeaks frequently; and tho' there were fo many in company, 82 and fo many of high rank and figure, he has (in a manner) the first and last word in their converfation. Plutarch too confirms what has been obferv'd 83 by others; that he was very free in intermixing his fables, even in the most common and familiar parts of his discourse. I have 4 already mentioned the reason why 8ο Και ο Αισωπος, οιον ελεκτικοςeon, &c.. Plut. p. 152. Derifor potiùs, quàm deridendus Senex. Phæd. Lib. Fab. 14,4.-For a remarkable instance of his humour, very like Dr. Swift's; fee the fame, lib. 3. fab. 5. 8. In his refcuing a lady of fo charming a charac ter as Eumetis, from her confufion. p. 152, D. 82 See note $4. 83 In particular, by Prifcian. See note 86. I why Efop might chufe to write fables: and tho' he certainly was not s the inven-. tor, he excelled all others fo greatly in that way of writing, that he has generally 86 been 85 Prifcian mentions Archilochus as a writer of fables, who flourished above a century before Esop. (Bayle, Note A.) Quintilian speaks of Hefiod as the firft inventor of them, (id. ib.) who was two centuries earlier than Archilochus: and the fable of Jotham recorded in scripture (Judges, ch. 9. v. 8--20.) is almost three centuries earlier than Hefiod. 86 Illæ quoque fabulæ, quæ etiamfi originem non ab Efopo acceperunt, nam videtur earum primus author Hefiodus,) nomine tamen Æfopi maximè celebrantur; ducere animos folent, præcipuè rufticorum & imperitorum: qui et fimpliciùs, quæ ficta funt, audiunt; & capti voluptate, facilè iis quibus delectantur confentiunt. Quintilian, Instit. Or. Lib. 5. C. 11. Di&tus eft Efopus Aoyororos, non quòd primus muta loqui docuerit; nam ante eum Hefiodus hoc fecerat, in fermone Lufciniæ ad Accipitrem : fed quòd præcipuè hoc fcribendi genus fectatus eft. Menage, in Laertium, Lib. 1. Ñ. 72. Καλείται (μυθος) Συβαρίτικος, και Κίλιξ, καὶ Κύπριος, προς τις εύροντας, μελαθεις τα ονοματα νικα δε μάλλον Αισώπειος λέγεσθαι, τω τον Αισωπον άριςα πανίων συγγραφαι τις μυθος. Aphthonius; id Præexercitamentis. Prifcian, in speaking of fable, calls Esop the Inventor of it; but foon after he corrects himself, and adds, Uf 7 been regarded as fuch; and is called fo by feveral, even of the ancient writers. Ít appears Ufi funt eâ vetuftiffimi quoque autores; Hefiodus, Nunc fabularum cur fit inventum genus Phædrus. Introd. Lib. 3. ver. 30. Avienus fays in the pref. to his fables; Hujus materiæ ducem nobis fopum noveris: qui refponfo Delphici Apollinis monitus, ridicula orfus eft, ut legenda firmaret. From Bayle, Note A. And Apollonius in Philoftratus fays, "That Efop, not content with rejecting the fabulous stories of the poets, in favour of wisdom, invented a new method.” B. 5. ch. 5. From the fame, Note H. As the word, Ridiculous, is always used in a bad fenfe in English; it may not be improper to obferve, that Ridiculus in Latin was used in a good fenfe, as well as in a bad: and is to be taken in the former, in the quotation here from Avienus. 'Tis as much a commendation of Efop, as the Festivus et Delectabilis of Gellius, p. xviii. Note 23; or the Hilariora Studia of appears very plainly from the words of 87 Socrates and 88 Phædrus, each of whom tranflated fome of the fables of Efop, that he wrote them in profe; tho' the invention, which generally attends them, and which is the more effential part in poetry, made the former regard them as a poetical work. The diftinguishing character of Efop's ftile of Seneca, p. xlviii. Note 6. Thus where Horace is preferring the humorous fort of fatire to the fevere, he fays; Ridiculum acri Fortius ac melius magnas plerumque fecat res. Lib. 1. Sat. 10. ver. 15. And Phædrus, fpeaking of Efop's works, attributes half of their merit to this; Duplex libelli dos eft; quod rifum movet, Et quod prudenti vitam confilio monet. Introd. Lib. 1. ver. 4. I fuppofe the Greeks ufed Tehotos of him, in the fame manner. Αισωπο Γελοια· ουτως ελεγον τις Αισωπο μυθος. Hefychius. 87 Εννοησας οτι τον ποιητην δεοι, είπερ μελε λοι ποιητης είναι, ποιειν μυθες αλλ' ο λογος κι αυ 1ος και ην μυθολογικος διαταυτα, τις προχειρες είχαν κι ηπιςάμην μυθος της Αισωπο, τέλων εποίησα AS POOLS EVETUXOV. Socrates, in Plato's Phædo. 88 Efopus auctor quam materiam repperit, Hanc ego POLIVI verfibus fenariis. Phædrus, Introd. Lib. 1. ver. 2. ୨୦ ftile feems to have been that of an 9 elegant fimplicity; it was very 90 plain, fhort, and clear; and his writings have been highly admired for their good fenfe, and usefulnefs, in all ages. The plans of his fables are commended for the fame " elegance, as his ftile. 89 Quifquamne ita nitet, ut comparatus tibi non fordeat? Quis ita ad Efopi venuftatem, quis ad fophifticas Ifocratis conclufiones, quis ad enthymemata Demofthenis, aut opulentiam.Tullianam, aut proprietatem noftri Maronis; quis ita affectet fingula, ut tu imples omnia? Aufonius, in his Epistle to Symmachus: vol. 2. p. 642. Ed. Var. 9o This appears very evidently, even from the imitations of his writings. Phædrus's ftile has commonly been admired for its particular fimplicity and neatness, and he says, very strongly, that he imitates Efop in his manner, as well as in his matter: Librum exarabo tertium Æfopi ftilo. L. 3. Prol. ver. 30. Laertius has preferved a couplet in Socrates's tranflation of one of his fables; remarkable, only, for its particular plainnefs, Αίσωπος πολελεξε Κορίνθιον αςυ νεμεσί, Μη κενών αρείω λαοδίκω σοφια. And the fables which Plutarch (in his Banquet of the Sages) has put into Efop's own mouth, are remarkably fhort and clear. 9 In quibufdam [fabulis] et argumentum ex ficto locatur, et per mendacia ipfe relationis ordo contexitur; ut funt illæ Æfopi fabulæ; elegantiâ fictionis illuftres. Macrobius, in Somn. Scip. Lib. 1. cap. 2. |