Category: History
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Episodes of Covertness [in the spirit of secret signatures]
Antiquity and the classical world Literature and scholarship Art & design Espionage and resistance Erasure, cover-ups, and what time reveals A List of a Hundred Episodes Antiquity and the Middle Ages Early Modern, and Artful Disguises Literature and Wordcraft Music and Sonic Ciphers Maps, Encyclopedias and Traps Coins, Currency and Craft Espionage, War and Resistance…
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Hidden Names and Secret Signatures in History
Introduction History is full of secret signatures and hidden marks left by creators who longed to be remembered. Throughout the ages, artists, builders and even bystanders have embedded their names or symbols in their works—sometimes openly, but often in clever or concealed ways. In periods when open self-promotion was frowned upon or credit was officially…
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平家物語 Heike Monogatari: The Tale of the Heike
Prologue “The sound of the Gion Shōja bells echoes the impermanence of all things; the colour of the sala flowers reveals the truth that the prosperous must decline. The proud do not endure, like a passing dream on a spring night; the mighty fall at last, they are as dust before the wind.” In these…
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Icelandic Kings’, and Exploration Sagas
Chapter 1: Introduction Beyond the realm of legend, medieval Icelandic writers also turned their quills to history and real-life adventures. Two important genres in this regard are the kings’ sagas and what we might call the exploration sagas. These sagas draw upon actual events and personages, blending fact with narrative art to illuminate the deeds…
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Belling the Cat (The Mice in Council)
A community of mice is terrorized by a marauding house cat that pounces on them stealthily. Desperate to find a solution, the mice convene a council to discuss how to protect themselves. Many ideas are debated. Finally, a young mouse proposes a bold plan: hang a bell around the cat’s neck. That way, the bell…
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The Bundle of Sticks (The Old Man and His Sons)
An aging father with several quarrelsome sons seeks to teach them a final lesson before he dies. He gathers his sons and sets a bundle of sticks (or in some versions, a bundle of arrows) before them. He first asks each son to try to break the bundle when it’s tightly bound together. Despite their…
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The Phoenix: Mythical Bird of Immortality in History and Culture
Introduction Few mythical creatures have captured the human imagination as enduringly as the phoenix – the legendary bird that dies only to be reborn from its own ashes. Originating in classical antiquity but echoing themes from various world cultures, the phoenix has come to symbolize death and resurrection, cyclic renewal, and immortality. This in-depth exploration…
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Herodotus: The Gold-digging Ants of a far-away land called India
Hear then, O reader, a tale that the Persians who trade with the far-flung Indians relate, and that I, Herodotus of Halicarnassus, record as it was told to me—whether it be wholly true the gods alone may know, for I myself have not beheld these wonders with my own eyes. How the Gold Lies in…
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The story of the riddle of the twin winds breathing
Long after the moon had set over Eurotas and Sparta’s spears lay stacked in frustration, word rode south that the Arcadians of Tegea were laughing again—another Spartan expedition broken on their stony fields. Kings grew grim; elders clutched their cloaks as if war-rent cloth could hide the taste of failure. At last the two royal…