Aesop's Fables - (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

From a renowned scholar and translator, a "lively and colloquial" (Wall Street Journal) translation of Aesop's fables

Aesop's fables are among the most familiar and best-loved stories in the world. Tales like "The Tortoise and the Hare," "The Dog in the Manger," and "Sour Grapes" have captivated us for generations. The fables delight us and teach timeless truths. Aesop's tales offer us a world fundamentally simpler to ours--one with clear good and plain evil--but nonetheless one that is marked by political nuance and literary complexity. 
 
Newly translated and annotated by renowned scholar Robin Waterfield, this definitive translation shines a new light on four hundred of Aesop's most enduring fables. 

Review Quotes

"A lively and colloquial translation of the fables."--Wall Street Journal

"A new translation by Robin Waterfield of some four hundred tales presents the rich world of Aesopian fable in full color, reminding us of the too-often-dismissed sway they still hold over the Western imagination."--The New Criterion

"Highly successful... [a] wholly enjoyable selection."--Classics for All

"Robin Waterfield's Aesop's Fables: A New Translation renders them in all their feral and fatalistic glory - bursts of Hobbesian asperity with dubious, sometimes conflicting morals... Bringing the fables into 'readable modern English, ' Waterfield has given them a freshness and a frankness that makes them all the more discomfiting."--Harper's Magazine

"Robin Waterfield's faithful, clear, and endlessly readable new translation of Aesop's Fables is a buffet of the wild, weird, hilarious, and profound. What a joy to encounter these fables as an adult, aware of their place in our ancient and collective history and in awe of their incredible resonances thousands of years later."--Maria Adelmann, author of How to Be Eaten

"Robin Waterfield's new annotated translation contains 400 of Aesop's fables, in beautifully clear English, which provide a treasure house of ancient moral wisdom and curious tales."--Donald J. Robertson, author of How to Think Like a Roman Emperor

"Waterfield does a superb job translating and annotating 400 of [the fables]."--Air Mail

"Waterfield's selection of 400 tales... lets us read these stories as they are: they are neither sensationalised nor sanitised... Always readable and always faithful to the Greek."--Journal of Classics Teaching (UK)

"While Aesop's world may seem simpler than our own, his fables reveal layers of political nuance and literary sophistication. Waterfield's translation breathes new life into 400 of these classic tales, providing fresh insights and thoughtful annotations that underscore their lasting relevance. This is an essential collection for readers who cherish the intersection of simplicity and wisdom."--INDULGE

About the Author

Robin Waterfield is a British classical scholar, translator, and editor, specializing in ancient Greek philosophy and history. Among others, his translations include Marcus Aurelius's Meditations, Plato's Republic, and Herodotus's The Histories. He lives in Greece.