During the height of the regrettable witch-hunting craze in Europe and its colonies, numerous theologians and inquisitors built careers and reputations by theorizing about...
Giovanni Boccaccio (c. 1313-1375)
"Whatever happens, my fate can be no worse than that of the fine-grained dust, which, when a gale blows, either stays...
Japan’s imperial dynasty, the Yamato Dynasty, traces its origins back to times of myth and legend, but its imperial government apparatus really began to...
Diodorus Siculus (c. 1st century BCE) was an ancient scholar from Sicily who compiled, combined, and (for the most part) chronologically organized the content...
Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1342-1400)
"God has some secrets that we shouldn't know.
How blessed are the simple, aya, indeed,
That only know enough to say their creed!"
The...
Halfdan Egedius (c. 1877-1899), a Norwegian artist, illustrated this scene for an 1899 edition of the Heimskringla, an ambitious text by the medieval historian...
This painting, by the Italian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1696-1770), was inspired by ancient stories about the first meeting of Alexander the Great...
Aeschylus (c. 525-456 BCE)
"Neither the life of anarchy
nor the life enslaved by tyrants, no,
worship neither."
From The Eumenides (approximately between lines 508-549) by Aeschylus, translated...
In the Autumn of 48 BCE, the defeated Roman general, Pompey, arrived in Ptolemaic Egypt—a possible safe haven and potential ally—after being decisively beaten...
Titus Vestricius Spurinna (c. 24/25-101/102+) lived an accomplished life in imperial Rome. He was an admirable military commander, held the auspicious political office of...
William Shakespeare (c. 1564 - 1616)
"Things base and vile, holding no quantity,
Love can transpose to form and dignity.
Love looks not with the eyes,...
Two brothers, Hildir and Hallgeir, along with their sister, Ljot, journeyed to Iceland during the so-called Age of Settlement (c. 860-930). This trio reportedly...
Japan’s imperial dynasty, the Yamato Dynasty, traces its origins back to times of myth and legend, but its imperial government apparatus really began to...
Jacob Jordaens (c. 1593-1678), a Flemish artist, created this myth-inspired scene. It depicts an episode from Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey, in which the...
Titus Vestricius Spurinna (c. 24/25-101/102+) lived an accomplished life in imperial Rome. He was an admirable military commander, held the auspicious political office of...
Heracles, the legendary son of the Mycenaean princess Alcmene and the Greek god Zeus, was a wide-traveling warrior, adventurer, and a general slayer of...
This painting, by the Italian artist Girolamo Troppa (c. 1630?-1710+), was inspired by an ancient Greek myth involving the messenger god Hermes (or Mercury)...
Pliny the Younger (c. 61/62-113)
"Nothing is quite so attractive in our possession as it was when coveted."
The Letters of Pliny the Younger (2.15),...
This painting, by the Dutch artist Willem de Poorter (c. 1608-1648+), was inspired by the ancient historical figure, Queen Artemisia II of Caria (r....
