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A Spiritual Way of Life: Reading the Greek Aesop as an Indian Rishi

A Spiritual Way of Life: Reading the Greek Aesop as an Indian Rishi

Classics Thursday, September 29, 2016 4:00 pm

On Thursday, September 29, at 4:00 PM, Professor Arti Mehta of Howard University will speak about her comparative research on the tradition of the spiritual sage in ancient Greek and South Asian cultures.  Her talk will be followed by a reception. 

The figure of Aesop appears briefly in ancient authors, from Herodotus and Plato in the Classical Period to Plutarch’s Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, the Life of Aesop and Philostratus’ Imagines during the early centuries of the Common Era. New interest in investigating the boundaries between philosophy and religion have focused on wise men as participants in ancient “ways of life” rather than as adherents of specific lines of philosophical inquiry. Scholars know little about the historical Aesop; instead, this exceptional story-teller, specializing in animal fables that teach life lessons, appears intermittently during emotionally charged moments in Greek literature such as the last days of Socrates. Greek sophoi exhibit attributes and behaviors often side-stepped in favor of the content of their messages. Attention to these intellectuals’ advanced age of life, commitment to meditation and other life practices suggests parallels with an Indian spiritual figure from the Vedic and post-Vedic periods, the rishi. Aesop’s life practices emerge in post-Classical texts when the disfigured slave advances in society by solving riddles until he reaches the status of a royal advisor. The later development of Aesop’s psuchē, seen through the protocols of the rishis, suggests Aesop participates in a spiritual line, and his fables demonstrate the results of both pragmatic and spiritual forms of wisdom.

Dr. Arti Mehta is a Lecturer in Classics at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests include ancient folklore, linguistics, comparative rhetoric and literary critical theory. She received an M.A. in Greek and a Ph.D. in Classics with a minor in Sanskrit from Indiana University at Bloomington. Her dissertation, titled “How Do Fables Teach? Reading the World of the Fable in Greek, Latin and Sanskrit Narratives,” initiated an on-going investigation into the cross-cultural functions of fables in conveying popular wisdom. She is currently writing a monograph comparing folkloric and rhetorical themes in Greek and Sanskrit fables. Dr. Mehta teaches Greek and Latin as well as mythology and comedy.

Add to Calendar 09/29/16 4:00 PM 09/29/16 4:00 PM America/New_York A Spiritual Way of Life: Reading the Greek Aesop as an Indian Rishi

On Thursday, September 29, at 4:00 PM, Professor Arti Mehta of Howard University will speak about her comparative research on the tradition of the spiritual sage in ancient Greek and South Asian cultures.  Her talk will be followed by a reception. 

The figure of Aesop appears briefly in ancient authors, from Herodotus and Plato in the Classical Period to Plutarch’s Banquet of the Seven Wise Men, the Life of Aesop and Philostratus’ Imagines during the early centuries of the Common Era. New interest in investigating the boundaries between philosophy and religion have focused on wise men as participants in ancient “ways of life” rather than as adherents of specific lines of philosophical inquiry. Scholars know little about the historical Aesop; instead, this exceptional story-teller, specializing in animal fables that teach life lessons, appears intermittently during emotionally charged moments in Greek literature such as the last days of Socrates. Greek sophoi exhibit attributes and behaviors often side-stepped in favor of the content of their messages. Attention to these intellectuals’ advanced age of life, commitment to meditation and other life practices suggests parallels with an Indian spiritual figure from the Vedic and post-Vedic periods, the rishi. Aesop’s life practices emerge in post-Classical texts when the disfigured slave advances in society by solving riddles until he reaches the status of a royal advisor. The later development of Aesop’s psuchē, seen through the protocols of the rishis, suggests Aesop participates in a spiritual line, and his fables demonstrate the results of both pragmatic and spiritual forms of wisdom.

Dr. Arti Mehta is a Lecturer in Classics at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Her research interests include ancient folklore, linguistics, comparative rhetoric and literary critical theory. She received an M.A. in Greek and a Ph.D. in Classics with a minor in Sanskrit from Indiana University at Bloomington. Her dissertation, titled “How Do Fables Teach? Reading the World of the Fable in Greek, Latin and Sanskrit Narratives,” initiated an on-going investigation into the cross-cultural functions of fables in conveying popular wisdom. She is currently writing a monograph comparing folkloric and rhetorical themes in Greek and Sanskrit fables. Dr. Mehta teaches Greek and Latin as well as mythology and comedy.