Aesop · Cyrus the Great Were Aesop and Cyrus the Great alive at the same time? Yes. Aesop and Cyrus the Great were alive at the same time, from c. 600 BC to c. 564 BC. AesopAncient Greek storytellerBorn c. 620 BC · died c. 564 BCCyrus the GreatFounder of the Achaemenid EmpireBorn c. 600 BC · died 530 BC Nebuchadnezzar IISolonAesopAnaximanderCyrus the GreatXenophanesConfuciusDarius I Aesop and Cyrus the Great in bold, with some of their best-known contemporaries. Drag across to see the age each reached in any year. Faded ends mark uncertain dates.