Exhibition launch
The Library’s latest temporary exhibition ‘The moral of the story is… The legacy of Aesop’s Fables in Armagh Robinson Library’ was launched by Dr John Curran of Queen’s University Belfast and Ms Helen McVeigh from The Classical Association in Northern Ireland. The exhibition carries both books and prints from the Library’s collection to show the legacy of Aesop’s work.
Aesop’s Fables
Apart from the New Testament, no other treasures of the Classical world written in Greek are more widely or better known than ‘Aesop’s Fables’. Around 2,500 years ago, it is believed, Greek storyteller and creator of fables Aesop created, and gathered from other sources, hundreds of fables. Fables are short fictional stories that teach a moral lesson, the so-called ‘moral’. They feature animals, legendary creatures, plants, inanimate objects, or forces of nature that are given human qualities, such as the ability to speak.
Over the centuries, Aesop’s Fables have been translated into many languages and have often been re-written, according to local culture. Armagh Robinson Library holds several 17th and 18th Century publications on Aesop’s Fables, as well as works inspired by or based on Aesop’s legacy. This exhibition showcases some of these works.
In launching the exhibition, Dr John Curran, who is a Senior Lecturer in the School of History, Anthropology, Philosophy and Politics at QUB, said, “It’s wonderful to see the way in which the wisdom of ancient Greece has made its way down the centuries. And it is particularly appropriate that the tradition should be so well presented in Armagh, one of the oldest seats of learning in Ireland. The Robinson Library is to be congratulated for its celebration of the continuing importance of the culture of the Classical world.”
Dates
The exhibition will run until the end of May 2019 during normal opening hours, Monday to Friday, 10.00am to 1.00pm, and 2.00pm to 4.00pm.
