Sitting here, mentally preparing for bedtime, I found myself thinking about Aesop. As one does, of course. Specifically I was wondering who he actually was. The short answer is that no one knows. He is said to have been born in Mesembria, which might mean that he was of Thracian descent, or not. Some have described him as a Black African, but this might just be a misunderstanding based on his name.
The stretch of time is funny. Aesop's lifetime at the tail end of the Iron Age was just a minute ago in geographical time. And indeed the tales, the fables, have survived, although they were probably heavily revised when Latin and Ancient Greek were still being spoken. But it was long enough ago that the doings of individual people have become quite mysterious.
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Another mysterious character from just about the same time period is Lao Tzu - the founder of Taoism. Western philosophers concluded the Tao had been written by multiple people and were collected under the name Lao Tzu, but Chinese antiquarians have found evidence written on bamboo tablets that indicate he was one particular wise man.
I think it's very difficult for Western scholars to conceive of just how brilliant an individual can be. We're seen it before with the frequent questions made of Shakespeare's authenticity.
Lao Tzu is another historical figure shrouded in mystery. His actual lifespan is unknown, the potential period covering a couple of centuries. Whoever he really was, his thoughts an writings had an influence.
Anti-Shakespeareans have a weird habit of doubling down. I once heard a scholar say that William Shakespeare was almost certainly illiterate. Okay, so even if he didn't write any plays, how did he act in and direct them?
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