Aesop's Fables or the Aesopica is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and story-teller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 560 BCE. The characters of fables and tales are usually animals who act and talk just like people whilst retaining their animal traits. Each one of Aesop's fables has a lesson, or moral, to teach to children - just like a parable or allegory.