born 0441; 15 BC, Thrace
died 0441; AD 50, Italy
Roman fabulist.
A slave by birth, Phaedrus became a freedman in Augustus 's household. He was the first writer to Latinize whole books of fable s, producing free versions in iambic metre of Greek prose fables that were then circulating under the name of Aesop . Phaedrus's renderings, noted for their charm, brevity, and didacticism, became very popular in medieval Europe; they include such favourites as "The Fox and the Sour Grapes" and "The Wolf and the Lamb."