The "Fables" of La Fontaine : Wisdom brought down to earth

Humanist writers praised Socrates for bringing wisdom down from heaven, where it is useless, to earth, where it is of real service. Aesop was seen by humanists as another Socrates who followed a similar philosophy: his absurd animal tales, beneath a trivial exterior, concealed precious wisdom. La Fontaine as Socratic ironist points to this richly varied ancient and humanist wisdom by inviting his readers to smile with him at comic unreason. Wisdom for him is a way of viewing the world, and it is revealed through the changing textures, images and language of creatures which he as poet has brought to life. When they allow themselves to be charmed by the artistry and humour of the Fables and read them with the ironical detachment appropriate to the lucid observer of humankind, readers are agreably coerced into a smiling knowledge of the more or less ineradicable follies which characterise both them and the ways of the world. To read the Fables is to converse pleasantly with a good friend.