Ancient Greeces Facts Related to Slavery. The story of the shepherd and the lion (Aesop, 2002) - Essay Example

? Ancient Greece’s Facts Related to Slavery Introduction It is not at all an exaggeration in stating that the facts presented (in the text) provide athorough understanding of the text! As a matter of fact, the given text can be thoroughly appreciated only when it is viewed in relation to the historical facts highlighted in it. Here, it would very much be appropriate in succinctly elaborating on this very aspect, lest the readers could find all this to be ambiguous. It is but obvious that most of the stories that are presented in the text focus on the evil practice of slavery- the practice that was very much in vogue in the Greece of ancient era! One would be able to aptly comprehend the point conveyed by these stories, only when they consider the extent to which slavery was prevalent in Greece of the bygone era. Or else, the readers could feel that all these are stories narrated for the purpose of either whiling away the time, or conveying some message other than slavery! Utmost care has been exercised for making sure that one would not fail to understand the text in this very manner! The slavery- related points conveyed in the text ensure that one’s perception (of this text) does change in the required way. The points that have been discussed in the preceding paragraph can be best understood only when few stories of the text are closely examined. Examples When the story of the shepherd and the lion (Aesop, 2002) is taken into consideration, the primary message conveyed does get changed, when the crucial points pertaining to slavery of ancient Greece are taken. When this story is read by setting aside the angle of slavery, it speaks about things such as animal-human bonds, faithfulness of beasts, among others. But when one commences a scrupulous reading of the story, with the perspective of slavery, the entire understanding (of the story) undergoes a drastic change! The readers then become fully aware as to the brutality to which the slaves were subjected to, in the Greece of those times! The story also subtly throws light on the fact that slaves were extremely vulnerable to getting wrongly implicated in crimes that they never committed, without having a fair chance of defending themselves! It is in no way an overstatement when all that is categorized as being height of cruelty and inhuman treatment! A proper appreciation of all these points is possible only when the story is studied against the backdrop of slavery that was prevalent in Greece (of that era). At this juncture, it has to be specifically emphasized that the text itself presents those points that are necessary for the readers to have an enhanced understanding of it (the text). Also, it is in no way an exaggeration in maintaining that subsequent to completion of reading of this text, it is but inevitable that readers become more knowledgeable about the historical facts about slavery! Here, it won’t be out of place in briefly looking at another story of the text. The story related to Aesop and the ugly- looking mistress (Aesop, 2002) provides key details about ancient Greece’s slavery, too- details that invariably change one’s understanding of the text. In this story, even when Aesop advised his mistress to give up vanity in a polite manner, the latter was very aggressive in her response. She stated “I’m going to break every bone in your body!” When viewed superficially, this appears only as a short and simple sentence. But when the same is viewed with the aspect of slavery in mind, one gets aware about the total dominance that the masters/mistresses exercised over their slaves. It was that dominance, which gave them the right to unleash even physical violence against the slaves, as and when they pleased. In fact, this dominance was there even to the extent of ruthlessly taking the lives of slaves, and that too for very trivial reasons! Likewise, the following part of the story subtly conveys that some slaves were even able to muster courage to defy their masters/mistresses: “"Threaten the others," said Aesop, "but you aren't going to fool me, my mistress: it's because I told the truth just now that you had me whipped and beaten!"” (Aesop’s Fables, ND) In relation to the topic of this paper, even the story of “the old man and his sons” (Aesop, 2002) is relevant. It is natural to be puzzled as to what could be the possible link between this story and the slavery of ancient Greece! This particular story speaks about the power of unity, by using the analogy of rods. There is no doubt in stating that, with the passage of time, it is this very unity of the oppressed class that led to the death of the evil practice (slavery). All the people living as slaves definitely must have formed into a combined force, similar to the bundle of rods. And, these joint efforts are responsible for bringing about the end of slavery! Owing to all these aspects, it can be argued that this particular story also provides a thorough understanding of the given text- an understanding about slavery as was seen in ancient Greece. Conclusion Similarly, there are several more such examples in the text, all of which cannot be covered here, because of paucity of space. The topic of this paper is an exhaustive one and it is just not possible to cover all its points in a brief paper such as this one. Yet, a sincere attempt has been made to encompass the most salient of all the pertinent aspects. Source 1) Aesop’s Fables. “AESOP”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st2.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. 2) Aesop’s Fables. “The Two Men, the Eagle, and the Fox”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st3.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. 3) Aesop’s Fables. “The Fox and the Stork”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st4.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. 4) Aesop’s Fables. “The Fox and the Cat”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st5.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. 5) Aesop’s Fables. ”The Mice, the Cat, and the Roll”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st6.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. 6) Aesop’s Fables. “FABLES”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st7.rtf. Web.19 November 2012. 7) Aesop’s Fables. “AESOP”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st8.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. 8) Aesop’s Fables. “The City Mouse and the Country Mouse”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st9.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. 9) Aesop’s Fables. “The Old Man and His Sons”. academia-research.com/filecache/instr/s/t/755056_st10.rtf. Web. 19 November 2012. Bibliography: Aesop, The Two Men, the Eagle, and the Fox, Oxford World’s Classics: Oxford, 2002. English. Aesop, The Fox and the Stork, Oxford World’s Classics: Oxford, 2002. English. Aesop, The Fox and the Cat, Oxford World’s Classics: Oxford, 2002. English. Aesop, The Mice, the Cat and the Roll, Oxford World’s Classics: Oxford, 2002. English. Aesop, The city Mouse and the country Mouse, Oxford World’s Classics: Oxford, 2002. English. Aesop, The Old Man and his sons, Oxford World’s Classics: Oxford, 2002. English. Read More