Aesop’s Fables – The Lion in Love
Gaius Julius Phaedrus (15 BC – 50 AD) was a Roman fabulist. According to many historians, he was probably a Thracian slave and born in Pydna of Roman Macedonia and lived during the reigns of the Roman emperors Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius. He is recognized as the first writer to Latinize entire books of fables, retelling in iambic metre the Greek prose Aesopic tales. “The Lion in Love” is one of Aesop’s Fables that may have some lessons for men. There is more than one way to interpret the fable below, but here we read the fable to search for some commonsense thoughts about relationships between men and women that may be helpful to guys.
The Lion in Love
“A lion demanded the daughter of a woodcutter in marriage. The Father, unwilling to grant, and yet afraid to refuse his request, hit upon this expedient to rid himself of his importunities. He expressed his willingness to accept the Lion as the suitor of his daughter on one condition: that he should allow him to extract his teeth, and cut off his claws, as his daughter was fearfully afraid of both. The Lion cheerfully assented to the proposal. But when the toothless, clawless Lion returned to repeat his request, the Woodman, no longer afraid, set upon him with his club, and drove him away into the forest.”
The above fable tells the tale of the king of beasts being outfoxed by a Woodman. The Lion’s love and passion for the daughter of a woodcutter blinded him from using plain common sense, so he gave up his most valued means of self-defense and ability to hunt as a predator for food for his very survival. Being toothless and clawless, the lion lost his ability to be the king of beasts who had to be strong, independent, and respected by other predators including men.
The daughter of the woodcutter did not have to do anything to destroy the lion by convincing him to extract his own teeth and cut off his own claws. She accomplished the aggression by proxy by letting her father deceive the lion. Despite his great strength, deadly claws, and sharp teeth, the lion did not have the sly and cunning nature of a fox that would have allowed him to outwit the woodcutter. Men need both physical strength and the sly and cunning nature of a fox to outwit the proxy-aggression of predatory women who use third parties such as divorce courts, male relatives, and others to hurt a guy in such as way that leaves him financially, socially, and legally clawless and toothless. Take great care with your feelings of passion and love, and do not let such feelings blind you to the predatory nature of others. A robust “Male Social Technology” requires the constant development of your skill to use the sly and cunning nature of a fox when you are dealing with predatory women.
The gynocentric-focused moral of the above fable is that love can tame a wild beast. Such a gynocentric explanation ignores the pain and suffering of a male lion who has become clawless and toothless.
Click here for more of Aesop’s Fables.
Are there lessons to be learned from Aesop’s Fables? The videos below recognize some of the knowledge that can be of use to men and boys when they read Aesop’s Fables.
Video: Aesop’s Fables – Film, Literature, and the New World Order
Video: Aesop’s Fables and Philosophy (Quotes)
Video: Aesop’s Fables Introduction, Background, and History
