The Dogs And The Fox

The moral is "It is easy and also contemptible to kick a man that is down." Some Dogs find a Lion's skin and furiously tear it apart with their teeth — something they would never dare do to a living Lion. A Fox watches and laughs, pointing out that the Lion's claws would have proven far sharper than their teeth. Aesop warns that attacking the powerless is not a sign of strength but of cowardice. True courage is measured by what you do when the threat is real, not when it has passed.

The Dogs and the Fox is a short fable by Aesop about a group of Dogs who discover a Lion's skin and immediately begin tearing it to pieces with their teeth. A passing Fox sees them and laughs scornfully, remarking that if the Lion had been alive, the Dogs would have quickly learned that his claws were far sharper than their teeth. The fable is a pointed commentary on those who attack the reputation or remains of someone powerful only after that person can no longer defend themselves.

The central theme is false courage and contempt for the fallen. The Dogs display aggression toward a Lion's skin — something completely harmless — while they would never have confronted the living animal. This reveals that their bravery is performative, not genuine. A secondary theme is the relationship between power and respect: people often only show defiance toward the powerful after the power is gone, exposing their earlier fear as the true measure of their character. The Fox serves as the voice of reason, cutting through the display with a single observation.

The Fox represents clear-sighted wisdom and honest observation. While the Dogs are caught up in their display of aggression, the Fox sees immediately that their behavior is not brave but ridiculous. His scornful laugh and pointed comment — that a living Lion would have easily overpowered them — serve as Aesop's moral voice. The Fox does not try to stop the Dogs or join them. He simply names what is happening: they are attacking something that cannot fight back and pretending it makes them strong. In Aesop's fables, the fox typically represents intelligence that sees through pretense, and this story is a perfect example.

The Dogs and the Fox is classified as Perry Index 406 in Ben Edwin Perry's standard index of Aesopic fables. The fable is also known as The Dogs and the Lion's Skin. It survives through a medieval Greek manuscript attributed to Syntipas (Fable 19), which claimed to be a translation from Syriac sources. The moral was famously paraphrased by George Fyler Townsend in his 1867 English translation as "It is easy to kick a man that is down."

Both fables explore the theme of attacking the powerful after they have fallen, but from different angles. In The Dogs and the Fox (Perry 406), the Lion is already dead — the Dogs tear apart only its skin, and a Fox mocks their false courage. In The Lion Grown Old (Perry 481), the Lion is still alive but aged and feeble, and former victims — a boar, a bull, and even a donkey — take turns attacking him. The aged Lion laments that being kicked by a donkey is like "a second death." The Dogs and the Fox emphasizes the contemptibility of the attackers, while The Lion Grown Old emphasizes the humiliation of the fallen.

This proverb means that it takes no courage to attack someone who is already powerless or defeated. The phrase became widely known through George Fyler Townsend's 1867 translation of this fable, though the idea is ancient. In the original Greek moral, the lesson was directed at "people who attack a man of renown when he has fallen from his position of power and glory." The proverb warns that such behavior reveals cowardice, not strength — because the attacker is choosing a target that cannot fight back. It remains a common English expression used to criticize those who pile on someone who is already suffering or disgraced.

If you enjoyed this fable about false courage and contempt for the fallen, try these related Aesop fables:

• The Kid and the Wolf -- A young Kid taunts a Wolf from the safety of a rooftop, only to be told that it is the position doing the talking, not real courage.
• The Ass, the Fox, and the Lion -- A Fox betrays his friend the Ass to a Lion, only to discover that treachery does not buy safety.
• The Mischievous Dog -- A Dog mistakes the clog fastened around his neck as punishment for a badge of honor.
• The Man and the Lion -- A Man and a Lion argue over which species is superior, each seeing only what flatters themselves.

Browse all of Aesop's Fables in our collection.