Χαίρετε (greetings) fellow οἰκέται (servants of the household). Aesop has me thinking about slaves in a cautionary tale of consistency. Is the grass greener on the other side? Of course it is.
Aesop tells the fable of a donkey who, belonging to a gardener, complained of his toil; for, truly, nothing could be worse than the gardener’s work. The gods, ever-caring, allowed the donkey to be sold to a potter, who made the animal work even harder. Finally, the donkey, once more asked the gods to get him sold, One last time, the gods made him to be sold to a Tanner (οφ animal hides), but the donkey, old and disappointed, complained that now even after his death he would suffer, for the tanner would use even his skin, which would never receive rest from labor. Aesop closes his fable with the following:
Μὴ σπεύδετε, ὦ οἰκεται, ἀπολείπειν τοὺς δεσπότας.
Do not hasten, o servants, to run away from your masters.
No os apresuréis, sirvientes, a correr de vuestros amos.
Let it be said that οἰκέτης was, precisely, a Servant of the Household, hence not a plain slave (δοὺλη). Indenture servant-ship was a thing in Archaic Greece (mostly due to debt), but with it came also the possibility of serving this or that house, unlike slaves taken in war.
Much like our jobs today, we have the option to indenture ourselves to companies to make money or pay off debts (funny how little things have changed in 3000+ years), but we must be concerned with our current job. Aesop says that it is easier to learn to do our current job better rather than to move and possibly find our situation worse. Further, as time goes by, you will have a long job history, but little tenure in the position you are in, a major problem then and today. In summary, fellow servants, consistency of resume is appreciated more than mobility; now, and according to the Ancients.
Χαίρετε!
