By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Hare and the Tortoise’ is one of Aesop’s best-known fables. The meaning or ‘moral’ of the fable is worth analysing more closely, however, and the story has attracted a number of competing – indeed, actively conflicting – interpretations. So let’s take a closer look at the meaning of ‘The Hare and the Tortoise’ (sometimes known as ‘The Tortoise and the Hare’). But first, how about a quick recap or summary of the fable?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
Say ‘fox and hedgehog’ and one is likely to think of several things. There is the old proverb, attributed to many people throughout history, that ‘the fox knows many things; the hedgehog, one big thing’. And, building on this idea, there is the philosopher Isaiah Berlin’s famous essay, ‘The Hedgehog and the Fox’. But these vulpine and erinaceous phrases and references are perhaps eclipsed by Aesop’s famous fable of the fox and the hedgehog.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) Aesop’s fable of the fox and the grapes is among the most famous of all of Aesop’s fables. What does this little tale mean? And what common everyday phrase did it inspire? Summary In summary, the fable of the fox and the grapes runs as follows: one hot summer’s … Read more