Why do you scream? (1)

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A Sumerian fable tells of a lion who had caught a hog and proceeded to bite him, saying, ‘Until now your flesh has not filled my mouth, but your squeals have made a din in my ears!’ Another similar Sumerian tale concerns a butcher who slaughters a pig, saying, ‘Must you squeal? This is the road which your sire and grandsire travelled, and now you are going on it: and yet you squeal.’ A similar story in spirit is told by Hesiod (Works and Days 202ff.) - a hawk, carrying off a nightingale in its talons, asked why she was screaming, and pointed out that it was foolish to struggle against one much stronger. This is the first example of an animal fable in Greek literature, and it is possible that the Greek tradition derives from the Near East.

Source (list of abbreviations) (source links will open in a new browser window)
Hesiod, Works and Days 202ff.

Bibliography

Amar Annus

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