Æsop (ē′sop), a Greek writer of fables, born about 620 B. C. He was sold as a slave at Athens, but was freed by his master. He gained great reputation as a writer, and was invited by Crœsus, king of Lydia, to live at his court. He was sent by Crœsus, about 564 B. C., to the temple of Apollo at Delphi, where he angered the Delphians by his sarcasm and was thrown from a precipice. His real works have probably been destroyed, the fables which bear his name having been written by later authors.