The Fables of Avianus

"When the word fable is mentioned", writes Jack Zipes in his foreword to this volume, "one automatically thinks of the name Aesop, never Avianus". Nevertheless, the lively and instructive fables of this early fifth-century Roman writer enjoyed significant popularity in Europe throughout the Middle Ages. Now the complete work of Avianus - 42 elegiac fables in all - has been rendered into contemporary English verse by acclaimed translator David Slavitt. The volume also features four new illustrations by the artist Neil Welliver. The fables of Avianus show a world in flux, a topsy-turvy world, in which humour and cunning constitute the only saving grace for humans and, one might add, the poet. While remaining true to the Aesopic spirit of depicting scenes of survival of the fittest in a blunt and candid manner, Avianus is fond of hyperbole and the grotesque, and he skillfully employs his hexameters to bring about an ironic twist that often makes the reader question traditional assumptions. Writing at a time when the Roman world was being transformed by the rise of Christianity, Avianus appears to voice doubt about humankind's ability to deal with change. But Avianus's voice was not a voice of despair. Like Aesop, he shows a clear preference in his fables for learning how to survive and for the underdog. These and other parallels between Avianus's world and our own are all the more striking in the splendid verse translations of David Slavitt. Speaking as clearly to us as he did to his Roman contemporaries, Avianus is once again revealed as a shrewd poet who can unmask hypocrisy and overcome adversity every bit as well as his savvy master Aesop.