"This edition has been revised and updated by the author and Gert-Jan van Dijk."

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

Preliminary Material -- Terminology of the Ancient Fable -- General Inventory of the Graeco-Latin Fable -- The Animal and Vegetable Fable in the Classical Age -- The Animal and Vegetable Fable in its Original Context -- Fable and Iambic Genres -- Oriental Elements in the Greek Fable -- Panorama of the Fable in the Archaic and Classical Ages -- The Fable in the Collection of Demetrius -- The New Panorama of the Fable -- The Hellenistic Fables in Verse and their Prosifications -- Content and Intention of the Hellenistic Collections -- The “Life of Aesop” -- The Irradiation of the Hellenistic Fable -- Index Locorum by Gert-Jan Van Dijk -- Supplements to Mnemosyne by J.M. Bremer , L.F. Janssen , H. Pinkster , H.W. Pleket , C.J. Ruijgh and P.H. Schrijvers.

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Spanning from Sumer to the present day few literary genres show greater continuity throughout their history than the fable. Historical evidence reaching as far back as Antiquity, supports the study of more than 500 works considered to be fables. This translation of the original Spanish, standard work on the fable, traces the history of the Graeco-Latin fable, investigates its origins, reconstructs lost collections from the Hellenistic Age, and establishes relationships between the fablist of the Imperial Age and the study of Medieval, Greek and Latin fables. Supplements at the end of each chapter have been added, giving information on a new bibliography and some new data, together with references to subsequent studies.