AESOP'S FABLES

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Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to modern times through a number of sources and continue to be reinterpreted in different verbal registers and in popular as well as artistic media. The fables originally belonged to the oral tradition and were not collected for some three centuries after Aesop's death. By that time a variety of other stories, jokes and proverbs were being ascribed to him.

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The Father and His Sons

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The Fable:

An old man on the point of death summoned his sons around him to give them some parting advice. He ordered them to bring in a bundle of sticks, and said to his eldest son: “Break it.”

The son strained and strained, but with all his efforts was unable to break the bundle. The other sons also tried, but none succeeded.

“Untie the bundle,” said the father, “and each of you take a stick.” When they had done so, he told them: “Now, break,” and each stick was easily broken.

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The Moral:

Strength is in unity.

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In limerick form:

To his sons, who fell out, father spake:

“This Bundle of Sticks you can’t break;

Take them singly, with ease.

You may break as you please;

So, dissension your strength will unmake.”

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Comments:

The political motto "Unity is strength" associated with the fable was adopted by various trade union organisations. A depiction of a man kneeling over a bundle of sticks on the ground was used, often accompanied by the motto, for example:

Badge of the Nottinghamshire Miners Association

Manchester union banner:

The fable was also referred to by American trade union organisations in the 20th century.

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