Greek and Roman

The Origin of Suffering

“Zeus bade famous Hephaestus make haste and mix earth with water and to put in it the voice and strength of human kind, and fashion a sweet, lovely maiden-shape, like to the immortal goddesses in face; and Athene to teach her needlework and the weaving of the varied web; and golden Aphrodite to shed grace upon her head and cruel longing and cares that weary the limbs.” […]

Britons and Celts

A Respectful Difference of Opinion

“It appears that whatever Geoffrey has written either of Arthur, or his successors, or predecessors, is a fiction, invented either by himself or by others, and promulgated either through an unchecked propensity to falsehood, or a desire to please the Britons, of whom vast numbers are said to be so stupid as to assert that Arthur is yet to come.” […]

Eastern Europe

Dracula’s Breakfast

“And as the day came, in early morning, he had women and men, young and old, impaled near the chapel and around the hill, and he sat amidst them, and at his morning meal with joy.” […]

Britons and Celts

A Heroic Last Gamble

“. The duke spurred on his horse, and aimed a blow at him, but he stooped, and so escaped the stroke; then jumping on one side, he lifted his hatchet aloft, and as the duke bent to avoid the blow, the Englishman boldly struck him on the head, and beat in his helmet, though without doing much injury.” […]

Eastern Europe

Kill or Be Killed

“But this captain was not able to burn it on account of resistance from the villagers, and then he came back to Dracula and said: ‘I wasn’t able to carry out what you ordered me to do.'” […]

Greek and Roman

The Wrath of Odysseus

“Incensed for the dead Odysseus speared him straight through one temple and out the other; punched the sharp bronze point and the dark came swirling thick across his eyes – down he crashed, armor clanging against his chest.” […]

History

Portrait of a Great King

“In hunting he was most keen, and on one occasion he caught forty or more wild animals; and although at the banquet he was jovial enough, he never diminished anything of his regal demeanor.” […]

Britons and Celts

Opening Arthur’s Tomb

“Beneath it there was a stone slab, with a leaden cross attached to its underside. I have seen this cross myself and I have traced the lettering which read as follows: HERE IN THE ISLE OF AVALON LIES BURIED THE RENOWNED KING ARTHUR, WITH GUINERERE, HIS SECOND WIFE.” […]

Britons and Celts

The Last King of the Angles

“Gurth saw the English falling around, and that there was no remedy. He saw his race hastening to ruin, and despaired of any aid; he would have fled, but could not, for the throng continually increased.” […]