Aesop was an ancient Greek writer of fables. According to the early historian Herodotus, he was a slave who lived in Samos in the 6th century B.C. and eventually was freed by his master. Aesop’s fables may actually come from earlier Greek storytellers. Aesop may have only retold them skillfully and ensured their popularity. Aesop’s fables were first written down in 300 B.C., long after he had died. In the 1600s, a French writer called La Fontaine made excellent verse versions of them, which contributed to their continuing popularity. The most famous of Aesop’s fables include “The Fox and the Grapes,” “The Tortoise and the Hare,” and “The Ant and the Grasshopper.” The lessons of the fables remain as true today as during the time of Aesop.