Aesop's Fables · Chapter
Demades and His Fable explained
Demades the orator, frustrated by the inattentive Athenian Assembly, captures their attention by offering to tell a fable.
What happens
Demades the orator, frustrated by the inattentive Athenian Assembly, captures their attention by offering to tell a fable. He begins a story about Demeter, a Swallow, and an Eel crossing a river, but stops before finishing, rebuking the audience for prioritizing fables over public affairs.
Themes in this chapter
Wisdom and Foolishness
Demades uses a fable to expose the foolishness of the audience's inattention to serious matters.
Cunning and Deception
Demades cunningly tricks the Assembly into listening by promising a fable, then turns the tale into a lesson.
Characters to notice
- The Swallow
Appears in Demades' fable as one of the three travelers.
- The Eel
Appears in Demades' fable as one of the three travelers.
Key passages
“Demades the orator was once speaking in the Assembly at Athens; but the people were very inattentive to what he was saying, so he stopped and said, “Gentlemen, I should like to tell you one of Aesop’s fables.””
The orator Demades, noticing the Athenian Assembly was not paying attention, paused and offered to share a fable by Aesop.
Demades uses the promise of a fable to regain the audience's focus.
““Demeter,” he replied, “is very angry with you for listening to fables when you ought to be minding public business.””
Demades explains that Demeter is upset because the audience pays attention to fables instead of attending to their civic duties.
The moral rebukes the audience for misplaced priorities.