ftile. He has been highly admired for his writings of this kind in all ages. Quintilian recommends them 92 as the firft object in the inftruction of children; and Plato, when he is banishing the fabulous stories of Homer and 93 Hefiod, advises the ufe of this fort of fables in his Commonwealth; in both of which, he is strongly followed by 94 Philoftratus; who fays "That they were more proper than all other fables, to infpire us with wisdom." The Athenians, in the age when learning was at its greatest perfection among them, fhewed their high opinion of Efop, and his writings; by the 95 noble ftatue they erect ed 92 Efopi fabellas, quæ fabulis nutricularum proximè fuccedunt, narrare fermone puro et nihil fe fupra modum extollente, deinde eandem gracilitatem stilo exigere condifcant. Inftitut. Orat. 1. c. 9. 93 Τις δε εγκριθενίας (μυθος) πείσομεν τας προ φος τε καὶ μήτερος λεγειν τοις παισι· καὶ πλατε ζειν τας ψύκας αύλων τοις μυθοις, πολυ μαλλον η τα σωματα ταις χερσι. Plato de Republica, Lib 2. 94 Philoftratus; Book 5. ch. 5. 95 fopo ingentem ftatuam pofuere Attici. Phædrus, Epif. to B. 2. ver. 1. The Greeks used to fet up ftatues, larger than the life, to compliment their kings, heroes, and gods: of this kind the ftatue here mentioned, in honour of Efop, feems to have been. They ed to his memory, and by the celebrated fculptor 9 they employed for that purpose. 96 The great excellence of his way of writing, confifts in blending of 97 the agreeable and the inftructive fo well together; from which Horace might poffi bly They fet up at the fame time, seven statues to the famous cotemporary fages of Greece; and this ftatue of Efop at the head of them all. Danet, the commentator to the Delphin edition, on the place; from the following epigram of Agathias, Ευ γε ποιων, Λυσίππε γέρων, Σικυωνι πλάσα, Επλα σοφων εμπροσθεν επε κείνοι μεν αναγκην 97 Thus where Phædrus fays that he imitates Efop in his 1ft book of Fables, he immediately adds, Duplex libelli dos eft; quod rifum movet, Et quod prudenti vitam confilio monet. Introd. to B. 1. ver. 4. A. Gellius prefers him to all the philofophers on this very account; and Avienus attributes fo happy a thought to an inspiration from heaven: (Note 86.) Apollonius did the fame, tho' in a different manner; (Philoftratus, B. 5. chap. 5.) the latter fuppofing this light to have been given him by Mercury, and the former from the oracle at Delphi. bly take the hint for that rule, which he feems to diftinguifh 98 as the most confiderable of any in his Art of Poetry. I 'Tis no wonder that works fo useful, fo pleafing, and fo much recommended, were in every body's hands: they were fo efpecially at Athens, 99 the great feat of icience; and about the time, that arts and knowledge were both at their greateft heighth. The fables of Efop was, generally, the first book which was read by their youth; and, perhaps, one of the laft, which fome of them quitted. 2 Plu 98 Omne tulit pun&tum, qui mifcuit utile dulci; Lectorem delectando, pariterque monendo. De Art. Poet. ver. 343. 99 It was a proverbial expreffion there, for a man who was entirely ignorant; "That he had never read Efop."Oud'AlowTOV TEπanxas. Ariftophanes, Aves. ver 471: or, as it is in Galen, Oude Aιowπov μepanxas. De Simplicibus medicam: xi. The reafon of this proverb (as the commentator on Ariftophanes fays) was their reading him there with eagernefs:" Οτι τον λογοποιον Αισωπον δια σποδης είχον. The Athenians pay'd that fignal compliment to Efop of fetting up his ftatue above those of all the feven Sages, in that great age in which Lyfippus and Apelles, and Ariftotle, Plato and Xenophon flourished. Fabulas, primum tradere pueris folent ; quià animos eorum, adhuc molles, ad meliores facilè vias inftituunt vitæ. Prifcian. 3 Plutarch mentions Efop among the authors most proper for forming philofophers; and indeed his diftinguishing character was wisdom, attended (as has been fhewn before) with a perpetual flow of pleafantry. Phædrus calls him, The Sage; and fays, "That he faw through all nature." It must be very difficult, at this distance of time, to determine which of the Greek fables that are publifhed as Efop's, were really of his writing. Several of them may be fo; but we do not know how to diftinguifh them. I fhould think it more easy, to catch him at the rebound; I mean, in the profeft tranflations of him. Phædrus, the firft of the Roman poets who wrote fables, 6 3 Ου μόνον τα Αισωπεια μυθαρια, κ τας ποιητικας υποθέσεις διερχομενοι αλλα και τα περι των ψυχων δογματα μεμιγμένα μυθολογια μεθ' ηδονης ενθεσιωσι. De Audiendis Poetis. 4 Sophus. Phæd. Lib. 3. Fab. 14. ver. 9. Naris emun&tæ fenex, Natura nunquam verba cui potuit dare. Id. Lib. 3. Fab, 3. ver. 15. • Phædrus after speaking of Efop, fays, Quoniam occuparet alter ne primus forem, Ne folus effet ftudui.-Clofe to B. ii. ver. 6. 'Tis probable that Phædrus had not published his fables, fables, begins with informing his reader that he has turned into verfe feveral of those which (as was remarked before) were written in profe by Efop. He confirms this frequently afterwards, in general; and has pointed out fome in particular, as tranflated from Efop. He makes mention of thefe much oftener 8 toward fables, when Seneca wrote his Confolation to Polybius, towards the latter end of the reign of Claudius: for that philofopher fays in it to his friend; Non audeo te ufque eo producere, ut fabellas quoque, & Efopeos logos, intentatum Romanis ingeniis opus, folita tibi venuftate connectas: difficile eft quidem, ut ad hæc hilariora ftudia jam vehementer perculfus animus tam cito poffit accedere. Seneca, Confol. ad Pol. c. 27. 7 Phædrus Introd. to B. I. ver. 2. 8 L. 4. fab. 2, 3, & 10. -L. 4. fab. 16. He mentions Efop and his actions in feveral others; but does not fay those fables themselves are taken from his. One would think, however, from what he fays, Lib. 4. fab. 20. that moft of the foregoing fables were taken from Esop: Quid judicare cogitur Livor modò, Licet diffimulet, pulchrè tamen intelligo. |