History Webcomic / Aisopos

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: [[spoiler: Solon]] in Part 3, where his actions sentence Aesop to [[spoiler: death]]. To be more specific, he is more of an {{Antihero}} than a villain, since he realises his mistake. Yadmon still serves the role of the BigBad, however.

* DeliberateValuesDissonance: As important as the Greek civilisation was, the creators make an effort that times and values were really different back then.
** The webcomic shows that the wealth of ancient Greece was mostly built on the backs of hard-working slaves. There were slaves who rose up to become quite important and even managed to escape slavery, and/or were practically brothers to their masters (such as Archius), but for the most part the life of a slave was a hard and often very short one. And the most horrific thing is that '''both''' the masters and the slaves view this situation as ''perfectly normal''. You really couldn't imagine a society without slaves back then.

* EvilerThanThou: Drakon uses Yadmon to his advantage but when he goes back on his promise to promote him as an Arcon, and pretty much tells him [[TriggerPhrase he is going to be his puppet from now on]], in return for [[BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord not telling anyone his father attacked Athens]], be ends up [[BlackmailBackfire mysteriously suffocating]] during the victory celebration in Aigina. Yadmon becomes an Arcon short-after.
* EvilMentor: Drakon is this to Yadmon. Not only does he initiate him in the "dog eat dog" world of Athenian politics, he tells him his ideas of taking over power, and shows him how to be a more effective ManipulativeBastard to get ahead. Unfortunately for everyone Yadmon takes those lessons to heart.

** Subverted with Drakon. History states that he suffocated after being covered by numerous pieces of cloth in Aigina. In the webcomic, that's how ''history'' records his death. In reality he was suffocated by Yadmon.

* ManipulativeBastard: Drakon is this initially, manipulating Yadmon into turning on his father and then using that fact to blackmail him. [[EvilerThanThou Yadmon soon surpasses him however and become more ruthless and manipulative than Drakon ever was]].

* ChekhovsGunman: Plenty people that Aesops meets during his life, turns out to have a biggest role later in the series.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Unsurprising, since this is a historical fiction webcomic. It should be noted that for the most part the webcomic's creators have ShownTheirWork.

* ClarkesThirdLaw: PlayedForLaughs. When the Barbarian encounters [[DeusExMachina the mechanical "God" created by Thales]], he thinks it's an actual ''God'' with real powers. Thales explaining to him that it's all based on machinery doesn't change his opinion.

* FamilyValuesVillain: Yadmon's only redeeming quality is that he deeply loved both his mother and his son. He show concern when Rikes got poisoned.

* IdiotHero: Completely averted. Aesop is no dumb at all! In fact, he is very cunning (in a good way), knows how to deal with every situation and uses his rhetoric skills effectively.

* TheLostLenore: Heavily deconstructed with Yadmon's obsession with Elli. Losing her causes him to become a tyrant, and abuse Aesop for the remainder of his life. In the end, Yadmon is reduced to buying blonde women and naming them Elli as a [[ReplacementGoldfish replacement of sorts]], much to Aesop's chagrin.

** Master Yadmon was deeply in love with Ellis and hunted her down for TEN years after she and Frontis run away. He found her in Athens, where one of his guard accidentally killed her.

* SleazyPolitician: Drakon. He is a sexist, greedy, ambitious "Arcon" (ie high ruler of the city) who looks down on his fellow Athenians and deliberately made his laws ''bloody strict'' because he detests them. He detests the oligarchy of Athens and is only a part of it because [[{{Hypocrite}} he admits it's the best place for him ''for now'']]. He then goads Yadmon into turning on his own father by promising him a position as an Arcon, and then goes back on his promise on the basis that "it's not appropriate to promote a man who killed his own father". [[RightForTheWrongReasons He is right not to trust him]] but still...

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Aesop looks almost like his father.

* UnnecessaryRoughness: Master Yadmon shouldn't be that harsh on Aesop. He is just a kid!

** In RealLife Solon was a benevolent law-maker who reformed the Draconian Laws into a system that was much more humane and fair than before. He went into a self-imposed exile because he thought his laws were as fair as they could be and he didn't want to be forced to change them. In the webcomic he is an AntiVillain who [[spoiler: organizes a coup that [[GoneHorriblyWrong goes horribly wrong]] in order to get rid of Athens' corruption and emancipate the slaves]]. He ends up [[spoiler: [[UnwittingPawn unwittinlgy helping Yadmon gain ultimate political power]] and causes Aesop's death]]. He is [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone understandably horrified]] and goes into self-imposed exile because of that instead.

** Subverted with Drakon. History states that he suffocated after being covered by numerous pieces of cloth in Aigina. In reality, he was poisoned by Yadmon.

** Drakon, who was a SleazyPolitician and a huge [[HeManWomanHater misogynist]] ends up [[spoiler: dying from suffocation, after the crowd threw clothes upon him]].

** Thales really did use his calculations [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Eclipse to an eclipse and end a war]].

* UnnecessaryRoughness:
** Master Yadmon shouldn't be that harsh on Aesop. He is just a kid!
** Same goes to the teacher in Agoge about the way he treats his students, especially Lenius and Daross. He instantly beat Lenius the moment he saw him, just because he was late, told him to cut one of Aesop's limbs and threatened Daross that he would harm his brother if he didn't bring him Aesop.

*** One, however, would consider it a BrokenAesop and argue that this causes more problems.

*** One: don't be fooled by people who pretend to be in need, since they might want to take advantage of you or harm you.
*** Two: be careful when you visit a place you know it's dangerous! Chances are you never come back!

*** It's important to make the difference between enemies and allies! What's weird is that this particular [[AnAesop aesop]] is coming from the [[EvilTeacher teacher in the agoge]].
*** From the same chapter, we have this line:

*** Speaking of which, to solve this, the "sheep" must beat the fear against their "wolves".

*** One, however, would consider it a BrokenAesop and argue that this causes more problems.

--> '''Theo''': Remember, Aesop, you only need one thing to cheat someone. It's the greed inside of that person.

--> '''Spartan King''': Sometimes, peace is crueler than war.

--> '''Sir Alkanos''': I have been telling you. The biggest asset is not money, but people.

*** Chapter 38:
--> '''Aesop''': You can't be sure that your load that departs today [[MakesSenseInContext isn't cotton that gets heavier when it gets wet]].

--> '''Wolf''': My conceit and delusion drew ruin upon myself.

** Chapter 7: Mrs. Crysan gives to Aesop a good advice on how to deal with enemies: [[EyeForAnEye make them feel the same way they made you feel]].
*** One, however, would consider it a BrokenAesop and argue that this causes more problems.
** Chapter 13: The story with the man and the goose that laid golden eggs tells that you should be satisfied with what you've got and not to "kill" your precious resources.
** Chapter 16: A not-so-friendly one, but one way to control and capture humans is by offering them something they desire, via the myth with the monkey and the peanuts.

** The "Lion's Den" offers two:
*** One: don't be fooled by people who pretend to be in need, since they might want to take advantage of you or harm you.
*** Two: be careful when you visit a place you know it's dangerous! Chances are you never come back!
** Chapter 25:
*** It's important to make the difference between enemies and allies! What's weird is that this particular [[AnAesop aesop]] is coming from the [[EvilTeacher teacher in the agoge]].
*** From the same chapter, we have this line:

** Frontis has also adviced his son and has provided him with a {{Deconstruction}} of the [[{{Determinator}} Never Give Up]] trope: it's alright to quit, but only after you have tried hard and know that there's no way for you to succeed, or else, your efforts will prove to be meaningless.
** Chapter 31: A greedy person will not only harm themselves, but the people around them. The dog from Yadmon's story ends up starving not only itself to death, but the horses as well, for not wanting to abandon a beautiful manger full of barley.
** From Chapter 32, we have this line by Sir Alkanos:

** Chapter 34: The world itself is a "wolf". And the "sheep" feel security when the "wolf" eats others and not them, for it's because of these coward "sheep" that the world is monstrous.
*** Speaking of which, to solve this, the "sheep" must beat the fear against their "wolves".
** Chapter 38:

** ''"My conceit and delusion drew ruin upon myself".''
** Chapter 45: If you try to get rid of your problems, new ones will come and trouble you. Sir Alkanos told the story of a fox which fell down in the river and had ticks drink her blood to show that a free-man's life is not better than a slave's. A free-man has to pay taxes, while if a slave becomes free, they will suffer from poverty.
** Chapter 56: No matter how fast a rabbit is, it always loses to a slow but untiring turtle that heads towards the finishing line.

* ShoutOut: The Spartans' appearance and clothing is literally taken away from Film/ThreeHundred. Though this is mostly to drive the TakeThat home.

** Frontis has also adviced his son and has provided him with a {{Deconstruction}} of the [[{{Determinator}} Never Give Up]] trope: it's alright to quit, but only after you have tried hard and know that there's no way for you to succeed, or else, your efforts will prove to be meaningless.

** It's important to make the difference between enemies and allies!
** A greedy person will not only harm themselves, but the people around them.
** ''"I have been telling you. The biggest asset is not money, but people".''
** The world itself is a "wolf". And the "sheep" feel security when the "wolf" eats others and not them, for it's because of these coward "sheep" that the world is monstrous.

** Chapter 38: you can't be sure that your load that departs today [[MakesSenseInContext isn't cotton that gets heavier when it gets wet]].

** Chapter 7, Mrs. Crysan gives to Aesop a good advice on how to deal with enemies: [[EyeForAnEye make them feel the same way they made you feel]].

** The story with the man and the goose that laid golden eggs tells that you should be satisfied with what you've got and not to "kill" your precious resources.
** A not-so-friendly one, but one way to control and capture humans is by offering them something they desire, via the myth with the monkey.

** Sir Alkanos only appeared in "The Great Failure" arc and acted as a mentor to Aesop. After that, he disappears completely and we never hear a word about him.

** Same goes to the teacher in Agoge about the way he treats his students, especially Lenius and Daross. He instantly beat Lenius the moment he saw him, just because he was late, told him to cut one of Aesop's limbs

** Same goes to the teacher in Agoge about the way he treats his students, especially Lenius and Daross.

* ShoutOut: The Spartans' appearance and clothing is literally taken away from Film/ThreeHundred.

* TakeThat: The "Lion's Den" story arc is essentially a big one for the film Film/ThreeHundred by showing some of the nastier aspects of the Spartan way of life, such as the ''Krypteia'' (where Helots where routinely murdered for training), and by driving the point home that Spartan Society is absolutely '''not''' one that should be romanticized and idolized. The "Zeus Stinger" arc contains another big one by showing the LogicalWeakness of the Spartan way of fighting, namely its inflexibility and strict adherence to protocol which can be lethal if they are fighting someone who is a good strategist.

* LaserGuidedKarma: Yadmon manages to get Aesop falsily accused and summarily sentenced to a painful death by stoning on the cross. Too bad for him that [[spoiler: his mind is transferred into Aesop's body right before the execution reaches its climax]].

* TakeThat:
** Drakon, who was a SleazyPolitician and a huge [[HeManWomanHater misogynist]] ends up [[spoiler: dying from suffocation, after the crowd threw clothes upon him]].
** [[TheBully Kollos]] and his two minions, three of the most massive [[{{Jerkass}} jerkasses]] in the webtoon, [[spoiler: are abandoned close to the coasts of Miletus]].
** Master Yadmon killed both of Aesop's parents and made the rest of his life miserable. After [[spoiler: Bri transfers his soul to Aesop's body (and Aesop's soul to Rikes' body, and Rikes' soul to his father's body), he finally dies and Aesop is free at last]].

** A greedy person will not only ruing themselves, but the people around them.

Needs WikiMagic.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Aesop's plan in Part 2 is to get enough money to buy his freedom and live a happy life with Bri. None of these happens as Bri [[spoiler: suddenly gets sick and the only way to save her is to accept her fate and become a Pythia, losing every bit of memory from her previous life]] and he's captured by Master Yadmon after a ten-year chase.
* SparedByTheAdaptation: RealLife Aesop died by crossing. There, [[spoiler: his soul is transferred to Rike's body before he died]].
* TheSpartanWay: One of the city-states' culture that the webcomic covered was about Ancient Sparta, mentioning the ''Krypteia'', a ritual where Spartan youths were sent to hunt down and kill dangerous helots, and a glimpse of life in the ''Agoge''.

** Master Yadmon killed both of Aesop's parents

* StarcrossedLovers: Aesop and Bri. After their ten-year reunion, they are forced to be separated, because Bri ought to obey her destiny and become a Pythia, in order to be saved. To do that, however, [[spoiler: she has to forget everything about her previous life]].

* StrictlyFormula: The first two parts are all about Aesop traveling all around Greece.

''"Do you know what makes a human strong? The power no one can fight against. The power no one can handle. What creates such almighty power is… hatred and wrath."''

* AdaptationalVillainy: Yadmon, in Real life, actually cared about RealLife Aesop and tried to free him. In the webtoon, he killed his parents, tormented him in daily basis, hunted him down for ten straight years after Aesop managed to escape, and still treated him the same awful way he did when the latter was a kid.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Drakon might be a ruthless sleazy, greedy, sexist and self-centred ruler who intentionally made his laws extremely strict and bloody to punish his fellow citizens, but even he looks down on Yadmon for betraying his own father.

* {{Hypocrite}}: Yadmon dismisses Aesop's fables and makes fun of them, but he uses them to impress his student, Peisistratus, who seems to enjoy them.

* SleazyPolitician: Drakon. He is a sexist, greedy, ambitious "Arcon" (ie high ruler of the city) who looks down on his fellow Athenians and deliberately made his laws ''bloody strict'' because he detests them. He detests the oligarchy of Athens and is only a part of it because he admits it's the bast place for him ''for now''. He then goads Yadmon into turning on his own father by promising him a position as an Arcon, and then goes back on his promise on the basis that "it's not appropriate to promote a man who killed his own father". [[RightForTheWrongReasons He is right not to trust him]] but still...

** The story with the man and the goose that laid golde

* XanatosSpeedChess: Part 2 is essentially all about Aesop trying to get enough money to buy his freedom and Yadmon chasing after him to force him back into slavery. [[spoiler: Aesop eventually loses]].