Aesop Αἴσωπος (Aisōpos)
Hellenistic statue thought to depict Aesop, Art Collection of Villa Albani, Rome
Born	c. 620 BC
Died	564 BC (aged c. 56) Delphi, Greece
Nationality	Greek
Genre	Fable
Notable works	Number of fables now collectively known as Aesop's Fables

Aesop, or Æsop (from the Greek Αἴσωπος Aisopos), is known for his fables. He was, by tradition, a slave of African descent who lived from about 620 BC to 560 BC in Ancient Greece.

Aesop's Fables are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for entertainment, especially children's plays and cartoons. Aesop is said to have written thousands of fables, but none has been verified. This means we do not know whether he wrote any, or perhaps just collected them. His most famous one was perhaps The Lion and the Mouse.