There is only one verifiable Æsopic fable, but the historical certainty of that one fable is enough to debunk those who wish to believe that Aesop never existed at all. In 594BC, Solon of Athens invented the democratic system of government and when the citizens saw what a wonderful job he had done, they wanted to make him tyrant over them. Solon was appalled. His very objective had been to create a system of government that would not require dictatorial leadership.
    To put them straight, he commissioned Æsop to make up a fable (he probably didn’t write it because in those days hardly anyone could read and write). It was the one about how the frogs wanted a king.
    It is the only fable positively accredited to Æsop, although it is known that he invented many more. But the fables weren’t collected in their present form until the middle ages and by then all sorts of other fables from all sorts of other sources were added to the collection. All except the one.
    An Æsopic fable became one where animals carry out the folly of men, but the evidence suggests that Æsop did not stick to this. He spent some time warning the people of Samos not to trust the Lydian peace envoys and this he did in human format although the actual fables are lost. Eventually he went to Delphi where he was so popular that the jealous Oracle ordered him thrown off a cliff and although he told his three best yarns at his trial to try and save himself, he was not successful.
    It would take me thirty-seven years to realise that Æsop was one of my alter-egos. At the time, I thought him dull and wished for real heroes who would fight and kill all the monsters and dragons and villains and make life as uninteresting as possible.