Phaedrus
Latin fabulist and probably a Thracian slave · Writers · Lived c. 20 BC to c. AD 50
A Roman freedman who turned Aesop's Greek fables into Latin verse, then vanished so thoroughly from the record that most of what we know about him comes from asides in his own poems.
Phaedrus is read about 158 times a day, in 40 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 9 November 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 400 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?Media & music
Photos 8
Phaedrus Fabulist 1745 engraving
Fabel van de barende berg, RP-P-OB-5209
Fábulas de Esopo Phedro Iriarte y Samaniego para el uso de las escuelas primarias 1844
The fables of Phædrus, translated into English prose, As near the Original as the different Idioms of the Latin and English Languages will allow Fleuron N008051-2
The fables of Phædrus, translated into English prose, As near the Original as the different Idioms of the Latin and English Languages will allow Fleuron N008051-3
The fables of Phædrus, translated into English prose, As near the Original as the different Idioms of the Latin and English Languages will allow Fleuron N008051-4
The fables of Phædrus, translated into English prose, As near the Original as the different Idioms of the Latin and English Languages will allow Fleuron N008051-5
Troyes, fedro, fabularum aesopiarum, lib. V, 1596, d'elci 384In their own words 3
, Phaedrus (dialogue), a dialogue of Plato's
Phaedrus (play), a 3rd-century BC comedic play by Alexis (poet)
Phaedrus, character in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
About this person
Born around 15 BC, Phaedrus lived through the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, working as the first writer to render Aesop's fables in Latin meter. His life left almost no external trace - no biographies, no contemporary mentions - and late antiquity largely ignored him. He survived only in fragments until the Renaissance, when imperfect manuscripts surfaced and scholars realized what had been lost: not just an author, but a key link in how the fables traveled from Greek antiquity into European tradition. He died around 50 AD, his significance recognized centuries too late.