science

The Moon and her Mother

The Moon and her Mother is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Moon and her Mother rather than just read about it. In short: The Moon and her Mother (Ancient Greek: Σελήνη καὶ μήτηρ) is an ancient Greek fable doubtfully attributed to Aesop. It is number 468 in the Perry Index, and in Laura Gibbs's inclusive collection it is listed as number 16 in the Vernon Jones index (1912).

Key takeaways

The Moon and her Mother belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Moon and her Mother to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Moon and her Mother from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Moon and her Mother (Ancient Greek: Σελήνη καὶ μήτηρ) is an ancient Greek fable doubtfully attributed to Aesop. It is number 468 in the Perry Index, and in Laura Gibbs's inclusive collection it is listed as number 16 in the Vernon Jones index (1912). The story is attested by the Greek author Plutarch in his Banquet of the Seven Sages from the Moralia, who attributes it there to the sage Cleobulus, who in turn relates it as a tale told by his daughter Cleobulina to her brother. The fable is now included in many collections of Aesop's fables, but the lesson to be learnt from it differs from narrator to narrator.

Fable In the story as related by Plutarch, "the Moon wanted her mother to weave for her a garment to fit her measure; and the mother said, "How can I weave it to fit your measure? For now I see you full and round, and at another time crescent-shaped, and at still another but little more than half your full size." The conclusion drawn by Cleobulus is that "there is no measure of possessions that can be applied to a foolish and worthless man". Cleobulus then goes on to liken such a foolish person to the improvident dog in a fable told by Aesop – who is also present at the feast.

Versions The earliest English account of the story as a separate fable appears in Roger L'Estrange's Fables of Aesop (1692) under the title "The Moon Begs a New Gown", but in his case the moral given is that "the Humour of many People [is] to be perpetually Longing for something or other that's not to be had", since "there is no Measure to be taken of an Unsteady Mind". Later the fable was retold in Thomas James' Aesop's Fables (1851) and the compilations that followed it. The fable's currency outside Britain is testified by an Italian version by Marcello Adriani the younger (1533–1604), later versified by the Rev. G. Bayley in his collection of 50 Fables for Little Folks versified from the Italian (Sydney, 1861). The fable is retold in only the first four lines of the poem, while the moral is drawn at length, based on Plutarch's account of the episode. Another versification was undertaken by Abraham Arouetty in his Fables in Verse Inspired by Aesop and La Fontaine (2000), whose rendering clarifies the lesson to be drawn:

Illustrations of the fable have been comparatively rare. They include those in colour by Arthur Rackham for the fable collection of V. S. Vernon Jones and those in black and white by Nora Fry for her own collection of Aesop's Fables (1930), in which the moral is given as "Changeable people are not easily satisfied". A more recent American musical illustration of the fable occurs as a section of Liz Nedela's "Fables for Oboe and Piano". A Serbian variant called "Why the Moon has no Dress", retold in verse form by Samuil Marshak in Russian, has the moon ordering a dress from a tailor, but each time the client comes for it, the clothing doesn't fit and has to be redone. Finally, the tailor gives up and runs away.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Moon and her Mother

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Moon and her Mother claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Moon and her Mother before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Moon and her Mother ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Moon and her Mother

In research: The Moon and her Mother appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Moon and her Mother in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Moon and her Mother is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Aesop's Fables, Greek folklore, Moon in culture, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Moon and her Mother outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Moon and her Mother in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Moon and her Mother means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Moon and her Mother out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Moon and her Mother in simple terms?

Why does The Moon and her Mother matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Moon and her Mother?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Moon and her Mother.