One day, a traveler walking through the desert saw a woman sitting dejectedly in the middle of the path and asked who she was.
“My name is Truth,” replied the woman.
“So, why have you decided to leave the city and live in this desolate place?” the man asked again.
“In the past, Falsehood was rarely seen in our parts,” the sorrowful woman answered, “but now, wherever you go, you encounter it. That’s why there is no longer any room for Truth.”
The short story above is attributed to Aesop, who is thought to have lived in the 4th century BC. Aesop (Aisopos), believed to have lived in Anatolia, is known for using characters, primarily animals, in his fables to emphasize the importance of virtues like goodness, honesty, and morality. In our country (Turkey), we usually know him through works adapted by La Fontaine, such as “The Ant and the Grasshopper.”
When I first encountered the work mentioned above, it reminded me of the problem of disinformation on social media, which we frequently criticize today. This age-old problem seems impossible to solve completely in our modern world, where all kinds of information spread at the speed of light, unless societies develop an awareness of social media literacy.
In fact, did you know that in our world, where seekers of truth are lynched by social media trolls, Aesop himself is said to have died because he shared the truth?
According to legend, one day while visiting the Temple of Delphi, Aesop accused the priests there of fraud, claiming they sold fabricated prophecies for money. He mocked them by telling a fable, saying they were unworthy of serving Apollo, the god of light.
Humiliated by Aesop, the priests sought revenge. They framed him by planting one of the temple’s sacred relics among his belongings and accused him of theft. It is said that Aesop even defended himself by telling a fable. Condemned to death, Aesop was dragged to the Lambia Peak of Mount Parnassos and executed by being thrown off.
Later, filled with remorse, the priests decided to erect a statue in his memory and pay blood money to atone for their deed. From that day on, the term “the blood of Aesop” (Aisopos Kanı) entered the lexicon to describe unjust death sentences.
Let’s conclude this piece with the fable “The Travelers and the Bush,” which Aesop is said to have told in his own defense:
“Two travelers waiting for a ferry by the sea saw a large bundle of bushes floating towards the shore from afar and, mistaking it for a ship, began waiting to board it. As the wind blew the bushes closer, they thought it might at least be a boat, even if not a ship. Finally, when the bushes washed ashore with the waves and they realized it was no vessel, one of the angry travelers complained, ‘We’ve been waiting in vain for something that doesn’t exist!‘”