This paper focuses on an odd testimony documented in John of Sardis’ Comm. in Aphth. Prog. 8,1-11, referring to a person named Aeolus as being among those who knew of fables before Aesop. This name is probably a mistake that arose during the manuscript tradition. A parallel passage, Theon Prog. 73,14-21, suggests that the original testimony might have read Hesiod. While this is possible, it is not the only way to explain this mistake. A further testimony in Isid. Orig. I 40,1, ascribing the invention of the fable to the Presocratic thinker Alcmaeon of Croton, might point at an alternative direction, which, even though it likewise cannot be confidently accepted as true, is certainly worth considering, particularly insofar as it circumvents certain difficulties that arise from the former hypothesis.