The Fox and the Grapes
E1026547
"The Fox and the Grapes" is a classic Aesop fable that illustrates the concept of cognitive dissonance and the expression "sour grapes" through a fox who dismisses grapes he cannot reach as undesirable.
Statements (45)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Aesop's fable
ⓘ
literary work ⓘ moral tale ⓘ |
| associatedExpression | sour grapes GENERATED ⓘ |
| author | Aesop NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| centralTheme |
cognitive dissonance
ⓘ
envy ⓘ rationalization of failure ⓘ self-deception ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin |
Greek Antiquity
ⓘ
surface form:
Ancient Greece
|
| culturalImpact | popularized the phrase "sour grapes" in many languages ⓘ |
| educationalUse |
illustrating cognitive dissonance in social sciences
ⓘ
teaching idioms ⓘ teaching moral reasoning ⓘ |
| featuresCharacter |
fox
ⓘ
grapes ⓘ |
| genre | fable ⓘ |
| hasAdaptation |
animated shorts
ⓘ
children's picture books ⓘ poetic retellings ⓘ theatrical skits ⓘ |
| hasMoralAgent | fox ⓘ |
| includedIn | collections of Aesop's Fables ⓘ |
| influencedConcept | idiom "sour grapes" ⓘ |
| literaryTradition | Aesopic tradition NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| moral |
It is easy to despise what you cannot get
ⓘ
People often belittle what they cannot obtain ⓘ |
| moralCategory |
honesty with oneself
ⓘ
humility ⓘ |
| moralPerspective | critiques pride and self-justification ⓘ |
| narrativeStructure | brief anecdotal narrative ending with an explicit or implicit moral ⓘ |
| narrativeSummary | A fox tries to reach some high-hanging grapes, fails, and then claims they are sour and not worth having ⓘ |
| originalLanguage | Ancient Greek ⓘ |
| relatedWork |
The Dog and the Shadow
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
The Fox and the Crow NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| symbolism |
fox symbolizes human tendency to rationalize failure
ⓘ
grapes symbolize desirable but unattainable goals ⓘ |
| targetAudience |
children
ⓘ
general readers ⓘ |
| teaches |
awareness of self-justifying excuses
ⓘ
not to disparage what one cannot achieve ⓘ |
| timePeriod | 6th century BCE (traditional attribution) ⓘ |
| usedIn |
moral education for children
ⓘ
proverbs and idioms collections ⓘ psychology discussions of cognitive dissonance ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
Aesop's Fables