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Tag Archives: alexander the great

Famous Monsters of Bookland

The Folded World, by Catherynne M. Valente – The sequel to The Habitation of the Blessed has John‘s daughter arrive in Pentexore to tell the inhabitants about the Crusades, and John’s subjects go off to fight in Jerusalem for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Catherynne M. Valente, Christianity, Crusades, Families, Greek Mythology, Hinduism, History, incryptid, Islam, Magic, Monsters, Music, Mythology, Poetry, Relationships, Religion, Rick Riordan, Russian, seanan mcguire, Television | Tagged a dance with dragons, a dirge for prester john, a drop of venom, a song of ice and fire, abuse, aftermarket afterlife, alexander the great, antimony price, arthur harrington, baba yaga, bran stark, cryptids, dragons, dreaming of you in freefall, finding baba yaga, george r.r. martin, ghosts, jane yolen, john de mandeville, koschei the deathless, mary dunlavy, medusa, moxy früvous, nagas, pentexore, perseus, prester john, rick riordan presents, sajni patel, saladin, sarah zellaby, the folded world, the habitation of the blessed, vasilisa the fair, verity price, witches |

Tying Knots and Killing Tots

I’ve been thinking a bit recently about the Gordian Knot. The basic story is that, in 333 BCE, Alexander the Great came to Gordion, the capital of Phrygia in modern-day Turkey, a place famous for its Smurf hats. He’d heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Greek Mythology, History, Music, Mythology, Names | Tagged adrastus, agamemnon, alexander the great, apollo, artemis, athena, atreus, cannibalism, cimmerians, clytemnestra, croesus, cybele, delphi, gordian knot, gordias, gyges of lydia, herodotus, hippodamia, hollies, iphigenia, king midas, lycophron of chalcis, nathaniel hawthorne, oenomaus, orestes, pelops, phrygia, sabazios, tantalus, thyestes, trojan war, zeus |

Anthony’s Animals, Part 2: Plus Plants

Continuing from my earlier post on fantastic beings in Gustave Flaubert’s The Temptation of Saint Anthony, here are a few other sorts of mythical animals who appear but don’t get lines: a Tragelaphus, Myrmecoles, Askar, Pastincaca, Presteros, Mirag, Phalamant, Senad, … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Animals, Arabian, Art, Chinese, Dragon Quest, Egyptian, Final Fantasy, Islam, Japanese, L. Frank Baum, Monsters, Mythology, Oz, Oz Authors, Poetry, Pokémon, Religion, Video Games | Tagged aksar, alexander the great, antelopes, antlions, apocalypse, askar, asps, bears, bestiaries, bunicorns, cebus, cecil harvey, cepub, cepus, clark ashton smith, dabbat al-ardd, dedaim trees, diodorus siculus, dipsas, dorothy and the wizard in oz, dragons, eggsecutor, exeggcute, final fantasy iv, gustave flaubert, hell, horned rabbits, jimenju, kesrick, king solomon, lin carter, mangaboos, miraj, monkeys, moses, muhammad, myrmecoleons, pastinaca, phalmant, pliny the elder, presteros, quran, rabbits, ring of solomon, rosa joanna farrell, samuel bochart, senad, sinad, snakes, the garden of adompha, the temptation of saint anthony, tragelaphus, waq-waq tree, weasels, yokai, zabraq, zaqqum tree |

Idris Lives

It’s a common theme in many mythologies to have a figure who is regarded as the inventor of writing, and often also a keeper of esoteric knowledge. Greek mythology had Hermes, the Egyptians had Thoth, Babylon had Nabu, and Judaism … Continue reading →

Posted in African, Arabian, Babylonian, Egyptian, Greek Mythology, Islam, Judaism, Language, Magic, Mathematics, Mythology, Names, Norse, Philosophy, Poetry, Religion, Technology | Tagged alexander romances, alexander the great, andreas, angels, azrael, babylon, bible, death, enoch, genesis, heaven, heimdall, hell, hermes, hermes trismegistus, idris, idris elba, immortality, Marvel Cinematic Universe, muhammad, nabu, noah, prophets, pyramids, quran, rigspala, seth, thoth, writing |

Prester Change-O

I’d seen mentions of Prester John, but I wasn’t really sure who he was. I’ve since found out he was a mythical Christian king in or near India whom the European Church saw as a potential ally against the Muslims … Continue reading →

Posted in Catholicism, Christianity, Comics, Crusades, History, Islam, Maps, Middle Ages, Monsters, Mythology, Religion | Tagged abraham ortelius, alexander romances, alexander the great, arabian nights, bishop hugh of jabala, bishop jacques de vitri of acre, Byzantine Empire, emperor manuel commenus, fantastic four, genghis khan, jesus, john the apostle, john the baptist, john the presbyter, kara kitai, mongols, nestorian christianity, pope eugenius iii, prester john, seljuk empire, sinbad the sailor, st thomas the apostle, yeliu tashi |

House of Reptile-sentatives

The idea that the governments of the world are secretly controlled by lizard people is most prominently supported by David Icke, a former soccer player and sports broadcaster. That’s what comes of letting him hit the ball with his head. … Continue reading →

Posted in Animals, Authors, Chrono Trigger, Conspiracy Theories, Discworld, Douglas Adams, Greek Mythology, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Magic, Mario, Monsters, Mythology, Prejudice, Religion, Terry Pratchett, Theosophy, Video Games | Tagged alexander the great, aliens, antisemitism, apollo, caesar augustus, cecrops, david icke, draco, evil harry dread, king bowser koopa, kull of atlantis, lamia, lemuria, lizard people, nagas, olympias, protocols of the elders of zion, reptiles, reptilian humanoids, reptites, robert e. howard, serpent men, snakes, the last hero, the shadow kingdom, zeus |

Everybody Poops Genius Pieces

Little People, by Tom Holt – This fantasy story, rather less epic than many of Holt’s works, is narrated by a boy who sees elves in his garden. After being sent away to boarding school by his stepfather, he falls … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Greek Mythology, Greek Philosophy, History, Humor, Mythology, Oz, Philosophy, Tom Holt | Tagged alexander the great, barbara graziosi, betsy bobbin, dorothy gale, elves, euhemerus, euripides, homer, j.w. krych, little people, michael showalter, mr. funny pants, ozma, the flight to oz, the gods of olympus, trot griffiths |

Days of Wine and War

We all know Dionysus as the god associated with drinking and parties, but the story of his invasion of India isn’t quite as well known. Apparently, in order to secure a place in Olympus, the wine god was ordered by … Continue reading →

Posted in Greek Mythology, Mythology | Tagged alexander the great, deriades, dionysiaca, dionysus, hera, hercules, herodotus, hydaspes, india, maenads, nonnus, nysa, pillars of dionysus, satyrs, zeus |

Amazon Primer

While warfare has traditionally been considered a masculine pursuit, Greek legend contains accounts of the Amazons, an all-female tribe of powerful warriors. While they were often said to live in Asia Minor, they were sometimes located in Africa or modern-day … Continue reading →

Posted in Age of Exploration, Authors, Comics, Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, Gender, Greek Mythology, Heroes of Olympus, History, Mythology, Oz, Rick Riordan, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged achilles, alexander the great, amazons, bellerophon, dc comics, dragon quest iv, femiscyra, final fantasy iv, francisco de orellano, gargareans, gerudo, hercules, herodotus, hippolyte, penthesileia, priam, thalestris, themiscyra, theseus, troia, trojan war, troy, wonder woman |

Song of Serapis

I just finished reading The Staff of Serapis, by Rick Riordan, a follow-up to his The Son of Sobek. Like its predecessor, it’s a crossover between his Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus and Kane Chronicles series, featuring characters from both and … Continue reading →

Posted in Authors, Book Reviews, Egyptian, Greek Mythology, Heroes of Olympus, History, Kane Chronicles, Middle East, Mythology, Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan, Roman Empire | Tagged alexander the great, alexandria, amun, annabeth chase, apis, carter kane, cerberus, egypt, hades, osiris, ptolemy i, sadie kane, serapis, the lost hero, the son of sobek, the staff of serapis |