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.

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Aesop's fable ⓘ
literary work ⓘ
moral tale ⓘ
associatedExpression sour grapes ⓘ
author Aesop ⓘ
centralTheme cognitive dissonance ⓘ
envy ⓘ
rationalization of failure ⓘ
self-deception ⓘ
countryOfOrigin Ancient Greece ⓘ
linked to: Greek Antiquity
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 ⓘ
linked to: Aesop's fables
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 ⓘ
The Fox and the Crow ⓘ
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 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (2)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Aesop's Fables → hasNotableFable → The Fox and the Grapes ⓘ
subject linked to: Aesop's fables
Sour Grapes → basedOnConcept → Aesop’s fable “The Fox and the Grapes” ⓘ
linked to: The Fox and the Grapes