The action takes place in the middle of the 6th century B.C. In contrast to the opulence in the tents of the Lydian King Croesus and the home of Xanthus, where Sappho is giving reading of her wonderful verses, the slaves work to death in the quarries of the island Lesbos. Aesop is one of those slaves. His jokes, fables and remarks about the masters reflect the concentrated wisdom, man's insatiable thirst for freedom and happiness. The short verses reveal the inner dialogue between Aesop the skeptic and Aesop the optimist. Having drawn the hatred of the priesthood upon him Aesop perishes because of a slanderous accusation.