82. Lupi et Pastores. Cum Philippus rex Macedoniae cum Atheniensibus foedus initurus esset, ea conditione ut oratores suos ipsi traderent, Demosthenes populo narravit fabulam qua iis callidum regis consilium ante oculos poneret. Dixit enim lupos quondam cum pastoribus pactos esse se numquam in posterum greges esse impugnaturos, si canes ipsis dederentur; placuisse stultis pastoribus conditionem sed, cum lupi caulas excubiis nudatas vidissent, eos impetu facto omnem gregem dilaniasse.
Click here for a
SLIDESHOW of all the colored Steinhowel images. This shows the shepherd negotiating with those treacherous wolves.
M0082 (not in Perry). Source: Jacobs & Doering 45. This fable is not in Perry’s catalog, although it is similar to the story of the treaty between the sheep and the wolves, #300. This anecdote about Demosthenes can be found in Plutarch’s Life of Demosthenes; in denouncing Alexander, Demosthenes referred to him as the Macedonian monolukos, the leader of the Macedonian wolf pack. For another story about Demosthenes, see #240.
