The poet and mythographer Jean de La Fontaine, better known as La Fontaine, was born in 1621 in Château-Thierry, France. He is one of the most famous poets of the 17th century, mainly due to his Fables. His work has been a source of inspiration for later mythographers, and his success has created many imitators, especially in French-speaking regions. He himself never hid the fact that Aesop was the father of his heroes. As we can see from the title of his book "Fables in Verse," the author himself takes credit not for the fables themselves, but for their transformation into poetic form. However, his work is more than just an adaptation, if we can use that term. And how could it not be, when more than two thousand years separate the two mythographers? La Fontaine manages to do something in his Fables that seems particularly difficult: to remain faithful to Aesop, whom he considered his teacher, but also to give his own fresh perspective, thus remaining faithful to the spirit of his time.

On the other hand, the protagonists in Aesop's fables are mostly animals, such as the fox, the wolf, the lion, the deer, etc. They are mainly dialogues between animals that speak and act like humans, while there are also some with humans or gods. These are small domestic narratives, formulated with great conciseness. How many of us have not identified at least once with the lazy grasshopper or the hardworking ant? How many times have we not desired something unattainable with the same longing and feigned indifference with which the fox wanted to devour the grapes?