Fable fables, which are attributed to the legendary Aesop, supposed to have been a slave in ancient Greece around 550 BCE. When Babrius set down fables from the "Aesopica" in verse for a Hellenistic Prince "Alexander," he expressly stated at the head of Book II that this type of "myth" that Aesop had introduced to the "sons of the Hellenes" had been an invention of "Syrians" from the time of "Ninos" (personifying Nineveh to Greeks) and Belos ("ruler"). Epicharmus of Kos and Phormis are reported as having been among the first to invent comic fables. Many familiar fables of Aesop include
Ancient Greek left-to-right became standard during the classic period. Modern editions of Ancient Greek texts are usually written with accents and breathing marks, interword spacing, modern punctuation, and sometimes mixed case, but these were all introduced later. The beginning of Homer's Iliad exemplifies the Archaic period of Ancient Greek (see Homeric Greek for more details): <poem style="margin-left: 2em"></poem> The beginning of Apology by Plato exemplifies Attic Greek from the Classical period of Ancient Greek: Using the IPA: Transliterated into the Latin alphabet using a modern version of the Erasmian scheme: Translated into English: The study of Ancient Greek in European countries in