10 INTRODUCTION
HEROES AND LEGENDS
3000 BCE–1300 CE20 Only the gods dwell forever
in sunlight
The Epic of Gilgamesh21 To nourish oneself on
ancient virtue induces
perseverance
Book of Changes, attributed
to King Wen of Zhou22 What is this crime I am
planning, O Krishna?
Mahabharata, attributed
to Vyasa26 Sing, O goddess, the anger
of Achilles
Iliad, attributed to Homer34 How dreadful knowledge
of the truth can be when
there’s no help in truth!
Oedipus the King, Sophocles40 The gates of hell are open
night and day; smooth the
descent, and easy is the way
Aeneid, Virgil42 Fate will unwind as it must
Beowulf44 So Scheherazade began...
One Thousand and One Nights46 Since life is but a dream,
why toil to no avail?
Quan Tangshi72 Laughter’s the property of
man. Live joyfully
Gargantua and Pantagruel,
François Rabelais74 As it did to this flower, the
doom of age will blight
your beauty
Les Amours de Cassandre,
Pierre de Ronsard75 He that loves pleasure must
for pleasure fall
Doctor Faustus, Christopher
Marlowe76 Every man is the child of
his own deeds
Don Quixote, Miguel de
Cervantes82 One man in his time plays
many parts
First Folio, William Shakespeare90 To esteem everything is to
esteem nothing
The Misanthrope, Molière91 But at my back I always hear
Time’s winged chariot
hurrying near
Miscellaneous Poems,
Andrew Marvell92 Sadly, I part from you; like a
clam torn from its shell, I go,
and autumn too
The Narrow Road to the Interior,
Matsuo Basho ̄93 None will hinder and none
be hindered on the journey
to the mountain of death
The Love Suicides at Sonezaki,
Chikamatsu Monzaemon47 Real things in the darkness
seem no realer than dreams
The Tale of Genji, Murasaki
Shikibu48 A man should suffer greatly
for his Lord
The Song of Roland49 Tandaradei, sweetly sang
the nightingale
“Under the Linden Tree,”
Walther von der Vogelweide50 He who dares not follow love’s
command errs greatly
Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart,
Chrétien de Troyes52 Let another’s wound be
my warning
Njal’s Saga54 Further readingRENAISSANCE TO
ENLIGHTENMENT
1300 –62 I found myself within a
shadowed forest
The Divine Comedy, Dante
Alighieri66 We three will swear
brotherhood and unity of
aims and sentiments
Romance of the Three
Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong68 Turn over the leef and
chese another tale
The Canterbury Tales,
Geoffrey ChaucerCONTENTS
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