Aesop’s Fables in Latin: Ancient Wit and Wisdom from the Animal Kingdom

This intermediate Latin reader allows students to review grammar and syntax and increase their knowledge of Latin prose style while they read eighty Aesop’s fables in Latin prose, taken from the seventeenth-century edition illustrated by Francis Barlow. These Latin prose fables are ideal for Latin language students: simple, short, witty, and to-the-point, with a memorable moral lesson that provides a jumping-off point for discussion. Forty original black-and-white Barlow illustrations and 129 pertinent Latin proverbs are featured, spurs for classroom discussion. Selected fables include many that have become proverbial, such as “The Tortoise and The Hare” and “The Dog in the Manger,” along with lesser known fables.

This is the perfect ancillary for intermediate students, to increase comprehension, confidence, and enthusiasm for reading Latin.

To see Aesop’s fables come to life with quizzes, podcasts, and more, click:
http://aesopus.pbworks.com/w/page/1472596/perry210

For a sample crossword puzzle based on an Aesop fable, click:
http://aesopus.pbwiki.com/barlow059crossword

For sample audio and video, please click:
http://aesopus.ning.com/video

Special Features

• Introduction, covering Aesop’s fables in the ancient world, the Latin-language sources for the fables, and Aesop’s fables in early modern England
• Latin Reading Guide, including study tips and strategies to increase student reading confidence—helps students read, not just translate
• 80 Aesop’s fables in Latin prose, with:
  • – introductory comments with references to other versions of the fable
  • – engaging grammar overview for review and to increase comprehension
  • – opposite-page vocabulary notes for less familiar words
  – same-page grammar notes

   

• 40 black-and-white illustrations by Francis Barlow
• 129 thematically relevant Latin proverbs
• 4 Appendices:
  • – glossary of grammatical terms, with references to fables containing specific grammatical features
  • – vocabulary frequency list
  • – English vocabulary-building list based on the Latin vocabulary
  – annotated listing of online

   

• Bibliography for further reading
• Digital Materials: LatinViaFables.com/