Aesop's Fables
The Cruelty of the Gods
1st Edition
Published on 4. April 2019
320 pages
978-1-78954-259-2 (ISBN)
Description
A witty, scatological illustrated version of the world's most celebrated fables, allegedly written by a slave in the 5th century BC. A book for our times: as Gebler notes, Aesop has two subjects - the exercise of power and the experience of the powerless, who endure life and all that it inflicts on them. This retelling of the Fables makes them relevant and richly enjoyable. Gavin Weston's brilliant images complement Gebler's prose.
Large and fierce animals kill and butcher weaker creatures; gods play games with the hopes and fears of lesser species, including men and women; and occasionally the weak turn the tables on the strong, exposing their pretensions. This is a stunning new version of a book that was often bowdlerised and used to teach moral lessons to children. Gebler's Aesop is darker and more realistic, and compulsively readable.
Large and fierce animals kill and butcher weaker creatures; gods play games with the hopes and fears of lesser species, including men and women; and occasionally the weak turn the tables on the strong, exposing their pretensions. This is a stunning new version of a book that was often bowdlerised and used to teach moral lessons to children. Gebler's Aesop is darker and more realistic, and compulsively readable.
Reviews / Votes
This repackaging of [Aesop's] fables by Carlo Gebler and illsutrator Gavin Weston is a reminder that adult minds were originally the target of this litany of pocket-sized parables... There is very much a feeling here of the ancient sound-tracking the alarmingly present' * Sunday Independent (Dublin) * Scary new versions of ancient morality tales, Aesop's Fables, with stings in all their tails [...] are full of adult wisdom, human misfortune and bitter experiences, which, because they happen to other people, are hilarious * Belfast Telegraph *More details
Edition
1. Auflage
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Head of Zeus
ISBN-13
978-1-78954-259-2 (9781789542592)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Book
01/2020
Apollo
€13.00
Article exhausted; check different version
Book
04/2019
Apollo
€44.76
Article exhausted; check different version
Person
Gebler was born in Dublin, the elder son of the Irish writers Ernest Gebler and Edna O'Brien. He is a novelist, biographer, playwright and teacher, frequently working with prisoners in Northern Irish jails. His novel The Dead Eight, based on events that took place in rural Tipperary in 1940, was described by Julian Evans as having a 'Swiftian understanding of the world's secret machinations'. His other novels include How to Murder a Man (1998) and A Good Day For A Dog. Driving through Cuba: An East-West Journey was published in 1988, and his other non fiction books include The Glass Curtain, about the sectarian divisions of Belfast, and Father and I: a Memoir, a book about his difficult relationship with his distant father.
Content
- Intro
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- CONTENTS
- About the Contributors
- Introduction
- PROLOGUE: The People and Their Pouches
- 1: CAPRICE, ARROGANCE AND THE EXERCISE OF ARBITRARY POWER
- 1. The Good and the Bad Things
- 2. The Hawk and the Nightingale
- 3. The Cock and the Cat
- 4. The Disappointed Fishermen
- 5. The Wood-Cutter and the Fox
- 6. The Frogs Who Demanded a King
- 7. Aphrodite and the Lovesick House-Ferret
- 8. The Little Gudgeon, the Dolphins and the Whales
- 9. The Lion in the Cave and the Hind
- 10. The Bramble and the Silver Fir Tree
- 11. The Earth and Hermes
- 12. Shame and Zeus
- 13. King Fox and Zeus
- 14. Apollo and Zeus
- 15. The Archive of Human Crimes
- 16. The Shellfish and the Dog
- 17. The Vixen and the Lioness
- 18. The Clever Lamb and the Wolf
- 19. Zeus and the Asses
- 20. The Man and the Flea
- 2: IRRECONCILABILITY, CONFLICT AND VENGEANCE
- 21. The Vixen and the Eagle
- 22. The Beetle and the Eagle
- 23. Aesop in the Boatyard
- 24. The Partridge and the Cocks
- 25. The Quarrel
- 26. The Killer
- 27. The Poor Man
- 28. The Vine and the Hind
- 29. The Water Snake, the Adder and the Frogs
- 30. The Dog and the Gardener
- 31. The Fox and the Old Lion
- 32. The Fox, the Ass and the Lion
- 33. The Frog and the Mouse
- 34. The Bear and the Travellers
- 35. Horkos, the God of Oaths and the Man
- 36. The Father and His Daughters
- 37. Hybris and Polemos
- 38. The Huntsman, the Horse and the Wild Boar
- 39. The Snake and the Wasp
- 40. The Ants and the Cicada
- 3: SELF-DECEPTION, STUPIDITY AND IDIOCY
- 41. The Desperate Vendor
- 42. The Copy-Cat
- 43. The Slave
- 44. The Goatherd and the Goat
- 45. The Bunch of Grapes and the Fox
- 46. The Monkey and the Fox Dispute Their Nobility
- 47. Hermes and the Man Bitten by an Ant
- 48. The Stargazer
- 49. The Fox and the Frog Doctor
- 50. The File and the House-Ferret
- 51. The Frozen Snake and the Ploughman
- 52. The Children and Their Father, the Farmer
- 53. The Servants and Their Mistress
- 54. The Lion and the Stag at the Spring
- 55. The Breakdown of the Chariot of Hermes
- 56. The Two Enemies in the One Boat
- 57. The Jar of Things That Did People Good
- 58. The Reflection and the Dog
- 59. The Ass and His Burdens
- 60. The Passengers at Sea
- 4: AMBITION, OVERWEENING AND OVERREACH
- 61. The Debtor from Athens
- 62. The Eagle and the Two Cocks
- 63. The Foxes on the Bank of the River
- 64. The Greedy Fox
- 65. The Python and the Fox
- 66. The Man and the False Promise
- 67. The Chancer
- 68. The Blowhard
- 69. The Fox and the Farmer
- 70. The Statue and the Man
- 71. Herakles and the Ox-Driver
- 72. Chance and the Ploughman
- 73. Diogenes at the River
- 74. The Sculptor and Hermes
- 75. Teiresias and Hermes
- 76. The Kite and the Snake
- 77. The Heron and the Wolf
- 78. Spring and Winter
- 79. The Eagle and the Tortoise
- 80. The Hare and the Tortoise
- 5: SELFISHNESS, SELF-INTEREST AND SELF-LOVE
- 81. The Picarel and the Fisherman
- 82. The Fisherman Who Made the River Muddy
- 83. The Leopard and the Fox
- 84. The Fox Who Lost His Tail
- 85. The Ravens and the Fearful Man
- 86. The Two Mistresses and the Middle-Aged Man
- 87. The Fuller and the Charcoal Burner
- 88. The Lion and the Cowherd
- 89. The Dead Tree and the Ploughman
- 90. The Quarrelsome Sons of the Ploughman
- 6: GLOATING AND HEARTLESSNESS
- 91. The Bramble and the Fox
- 92. The Billy-Goat and the Fox
- 93. The Monster Mask and the Fox
- 94. The Drunkard and His Wife
- 95. The Prophetess
- 96. The Ox and the Heifer
- 97. Zeus and the Oak Trees
- 98. The Wolf and the Kid-Goat on the Roof
- 99. The Metal File and the Adder
- 100. The Shark and the Tunny-Fish
- 101. The Fox and the Jackdaw
- 102. The Fox and the Raven
- 103. The Biting Dog and His Bell
- 104. The Hare and the Lion
- 105. The Fox, the Wolf and the Old Lion
- 106. The Itinerant Priests and Their Ass
- 107. The Young Ant and the Young Scarab Beetle
- 108. The Domestic Ass and the Wild Ass
- 109. The Vine and the Billy-Goat
- 110. The House-Ferret and the Parrot
- 7: JEALOUSY, COVETOUSNESS AND GREED
- 111. The Donkey and the Goat
- 112. Aphrodite and the Slave Girl
- 113. The Crocodile and the Fox
- 114. The Monkey Elected King and the Fox
- 115. Zeus and the First Men
- 116. The Gold Lion and the Man Who Found It
- 117. Zeus, the Camel and the Bull
- 118. The Pigeons and the Jackdaw
- 119. The Dogs
- 120. The Lion and the Wolf
- 121. Zeus and the Bees
- 122. The House-Ferrets and the Mice
- 123. The Flies and the Honey
- 124. The Butcher and the Young Men
- 125. Hermes and the Wood-Cutter
- 126. The Floating Tree and the Travellers
- 127. The Ass and the Mule
- 128. The Ass and the Lapdog
- 129. The Cicada and the Ass
- 130. The Cranes and the Wild Geese
- 8: CUNNING, GUILE AND INSIGHT
- 131. The Eagle and the Two Captors
- 132. The Swallow and the Nightingale
- 133. The Mice and the Cat
- 134. The Wild Goats and the Goatherd
- 135. The Tunny-Fish and the Fisherman
- 136. The Sun and the North Wind
- 137. Death and the Old Man
- 138. The Eagle and the Ploughman
- 139. The Dogs and the Ploughman
- 140. Demades the Orator
- 141. Hermes and the Artisans
- 142. The Belly and the Feet
- 143. The Bitten Traveller
- 144. The Cock, the Dog and the Fox
- 145. The Wild Ass and the Lion
- 146. The Lamb and the Wolf
- 147. The Ewe and the Injured Wolf
- 148. The House-Ferrets and the Bat
- 149. Hermes and the Traveller
- 150. The Swallow and the Crow
- 9: BITTER WORDS, REBUKES, BARBS AND SAVAGERIES
- 151. The Fisherman Who Was a Flute-Player
- 152. The Shipwrecked Man
- 153. The Man Unable to See
- 154. The Lion and the Man Travelling Together
- 155. The Satyr and the Man
- 156. The Fox and the Bear
- 157. The Axle and the Oxen
- 158. The Bat and the Linnet
- 159. The Doctor and the Old Woman
- 160. The Wood-Cutter and the Cowardly Hunter
- 161. The Sheep and the Young Pig
- 162. The Bald Man and Diogenes
- 163. The Pine and the Wood-Cutters
- 164. The Fox and the Adder
- 165. The Flute-Playing Wolf and the Dancing Kid
- 166. The Castrate and the Priest
- 167. The Camel Who Shat in the River
- 168. The Dog Who Did Not Get Dinner
- 169. The Sleeping Dog and the Wolf
- 170. The Crane and the Peacock
- 10: LAST GRIEFS OR A SERIES OF EPILOGUES
- 171. The Eagle and the Arrow
- 172. The Halcyon
- 173. The Wolf and the Ploughman
- 174. The Snake and the Labourer
- 175. The Champion Hen and the Widow
- 176. The Half-Blind Hind
- 177. The First People and Zeus
- 178. The Snake and the Bird-Catcher
- 179. The Famished Dogs
- 180. The Lion and the Gnat
- 181. The Stag, the Fox and the Lion
- 182. The Fox, the Bear and the Lion
- 183. The Lion and the Wolf Proud of His Shadow
- 184. The Lion, the Cock and the Ass
- 185. The Lion, the Ass and the Fox
- 186. The Wolf and the Ass Who Pretended to Be Lame
- 187. The Son and the Painted Lion
- 188. The Dolphin and the Monkey
- 189. The Professional Mourners and the Rich Man
- 190. The Trumpeter
- List of Illustrations
- A Note on the Text
- An Invitation from the Publisher
