Aesop's Fables of the Twentieth Century: How Ted Hughes Presents Modern Man Through the Non-Human. Ted Hughes' poems primarily explore the world of nature. He uses ordinary animals like the crow, pike and lark, but adds a mythical quality to them. The animals in his world are superior to humans and he seems to adore their brutality and instinct. He does not rationalize the animal, unlike DH Lawrence. Some criticize him for extolling the brutality of animals and putting them on a pedestal, claiming that animals are superior to us because they follow their wild instincts. In fact, the image of animals he creates represents modern society. In the same way that Aesop in ancient Greek described human traits through animals, Ted Hughes uses animals as representatives of man in the world after World War II. However, it depicts both behavior and instinct subject to social values ​​and laws. Ironically, the definition of humanity is presented through the non-human. Firstly, animal instinct is one of the most important themes in Ted Hughes' poems. While most people believe that being rational like humans are superior to animals, Hughes has a completely different attitude about it. He believes that humans also have an animal quality but are subject to social values ​​and behaviors. As a result, humans must suppress their true nature in their subconscious. In his poem “Pike,” Hughes uses Pikes to represent humans. The poem depicts the stages of growth of the pike, while their violence increases with each stanza. They are “killers hatched from the egg”, having a killer instinct since birth. Likewise, humans also have the primitive violence of animal instinct. We all have hidden brutality and cruelty within us, but modern society denies us this with law and order. As a result, this group......middle of paper......if they live according to their instinct while men are confined to social life. For example, "The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel", the last stanza of "The Jaguar" gives a mythical image of the jaguar who turns the world under his feet as if he were God. Moreover, in the last stanza of “Skylark”, Cuchulain, warrior hero of Irish legend, must bow before the lark because his determination is so great that human heroes, even mythical ones like him, cannot compare to her. It can be concluded that Ted Hughes' animal poems, namely Pike, The Jaguar, Skylark and The Crow's First Lesson, are not only about animal behavior driven by instinct, but they also describe us human beings , in a modern context. However, it still gives a mythical quality to animals because they follow their instincts while we leave our true nature behind and follow the rules of civilization..