<< Home Page | Oxford (Gibbs) Index

Aesop's Fables, translated by Laura Gibbs (2002)

21. THE LIONS AND THE HARES
Perry 450 (Aristotle, Politics 1284a)

Only a ridiculous person would try to make laws to govern the [most superior members of a society. Indeed, those gods among men] would probably respond as did the lions in the story of Antisthenes when the hares harangued the assembly, holding that everyone was to be considered of equal worth.

Note: The bon mot attributed here to Antisthenes was apparently so well known that Aristotle only needed to allude to the lions' words, presumably something like: 'You speak well, hares, but where are your teeth and claws?' Antisthenes (d. 365 B.C.E.) was a philosopher associated with the 'Cynic' school; see Fable 85 for a fable about Diogenes the Cynic philosopher.

Source: Aesop's Fables. A new translation by Laura Gibbs. Oxford University Press (World's Classics): Oxford, 2002.
NOTE: New cover, with new ISBN, published in 2008; contents of book unchanged.