When authors refer to other great works, people, and events, it’s usually not accidental. Put on your super-sleuth hat and figure out why.
Literary and Philosophical References
- Abraham (1.16)
- Adam (2.90, 5.71)
- Anak (6.1)—A giant in the Old Testament.
- Aries (1.32)
- Tower of Babel (6.4)
- Francis Barber (3.251)—Samuel Johnson's Jamaican servant; he helped with revisions of Johnson's dictionary.
- Miguel de Cervantes, Don Quixote (1.31)
- Lord Byron (2.21, 3.251)
- Charon (5.176)—In Greek myth, a boatman who rows souls to the land of the dead.
- Cicero (2.27, first reference)—Roman orator.
- Circe (5.179)—A witch in Greek myth.
- Abraham Cowley (5.73, first mention)—English poet in the 1600s.
- Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon (5.87)—French poet of the 1700s.
- Damocles (1.5)
- Deborah the Prophetess (6.34, first mention)—Ancient Hebrew prophet.
- Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (5.126)
- Jonathan Edwards, "Freedom of the Will" (2.169)
- Eve (1.34)
- Book of Ezekiel, 37:1-14, "The Valley of Dry Bones" (3.9)
- William Fletcher (3.251)—Byron's servant, and possibly his lover.
- Jean Froissart (3.10) – A medieval French writer
- Good Samaritan (5.193)
- Thomas Gray (5.87)—English poet.
- Hecate (1.23)—Greek goddess of the moon.
- Hyades (1.32)—Greek goddesses who bring rain.
- Jael (6.69) – The heroine who kills Sisera in the Hebrew Bible.
- Book of Job 3:14, "with kings and counselors" (2.250)
- Job (5.43)
- Book of John 13: 34: " A new commandment do I give unto you, that ye love one another." (2.167)
- Samuel Johnson (3.251)—English essayist and critic in the 1700s.
- Jupiter Tonans (3.7)—Another name for the Roman God of thunder, Jupiter.
- Lazarus (1.16, 5.6)
- Lucifer (1.28)
- Angel Michael (1.28)
- Memnon (1.96)
- John Milton (5.52)
- Moses (1.25)
- Noah (6.4)
- Oberon (1.36)
- Olympus (4.7)
- Orion (1.5)
- Mount Pisgah (5.51)—Mountain from which Moses sees the Promised Land in the Bible.
- Pleiades (1.32)
- Pluto (5.9)—Roman God of the Underworld.
- Joseph Priestley, The Doctrine of Philosophical Necessity Illustrated (2.169)
- Prometheus (6.80)—A Titan who brought fire to humanity in Greek myth.
- Shadrach (6.14)—Biblical figure saved by a miracle from being burned in a fire.
- William Shakespeare, Cymbeline, Act 4, Scene 2, lines 218-219 (1.1-2)
- William Shakespeare, Macbeth, (1.23)
- William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (1.28)
- William Shakespeare, The Tempest (5.181)
- Shinar (6.4)—A place in the Middle East mentioned in the Bible.
- Sisera (6.53, first mention)—A commander defeated by the Israelis in the Bible.
- Sodom (5.13)
- Edmund Spenser, The Fairie Queen (mentioned, 1.30) (quoted 6.1-.2, 5.19-20, 5.31-35, 5.51, 5.73, 5.81-83, 5.91-92, 5.105-106, 5.175, 5.207)
- Sycorax (5.181, first mention)—A witch mentioned in Shakespeare's The Tempest.
- Tartarus (5.10)—In Greek mythology, a deep pit which imprisons the Titans.
- Titan (6.1)—Ancient giants in Greek myth.
- Titania (1.28)—A fairy queen in Shakespeare's Midsummer's Nights Dream.
- Vulcan (6.32)—Roman god of fire.
- Zethys, or Tethys (5.21) – A Greek sea goddess.
Historical References
- Acroceraunian (4.1)—A coastal mountain range in Albania; the name comes from the ancient Greek and means "thunder-split peaks."
- Samuel Adams (2.166)—A printer murdered by John C. Colt in 1842.
- Cornelius Agrippa (6.80)—A German magician and theologian in the late middle ages.
- Alsatia (5.102)—A high crime area in London in the 1600s and 1700s.
- John Jacob Astor (2.2, first reference)
- Barbary Coast (1.19)
- St. Bartholomew (3.433)
- Daniel Boone (5.52)
- King Canute (1.18)
- Cape Horn (1.17, first reference)
- Carthage (2.9)
- Charlemagne (1.5, 1.7)
- Prince (or King) Charming (1.49)
- Chili, or Chile (3.1, first reference)
- John C. Colt (2.166)— A bookkeeper who murdered the printer Samuel Adams in 1842.
- Christopher Columbus (3.403)
- Captain James Cook (1.41)
- Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Spain (3.26)
- James Colnett (5.80)—British naval officer in the 1700s.
- Coliseum, or Colosseum (5.24)—An ancient amphiteatre in Rome.
- William Ambrosia Cowley (5.72, first mention)—Buccaneer who surveyed the Galapagos in the 1600s; Cowley's Island is named after him.
- William Dampier (5.88)—English explorer of Australia.
- Dead Sea (5.5)
- Lake Erie (5.5)
- USS Essex (5.79, first mention)—An American frigate commanded by David Porter during the War of 1812.
- Juan Fernandez (5.54, first mention)—A Spanish explorer in the 1500s.
- St. Francis (3.50)
- Freemason (3.145)—A fraternal organization.
- Galapagos Isles, or Encantadas, or Enchanted Isles (all through Chapter 5)
- Vasco de Gama (5.56)—Portuguese explorer.
- Gibraltar (4.22)
- Mount Greylock (1.5, first mention)
- Helot (6.79)—A serf class in ancient Sparta.
- Himalayas (4.22)
- Hoosic, or Hoosac, Mountains (4.68)—Part of the Appalachian Mountain range.
- Idumea, or Edom (5.6)—Ancient name for a portion of the Middle East.
- James I, King of England (3.266)
- Kaaba (1.4)—A building at the center of a sacred mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is considered by Islam to be the most sacred location on earth.
- John Ledyard (3.183)—American explorer.
- Malay pirates (3.155)
- Gaius Marius (2.90)—Roman general and statesman.
- Gibraltar (4.21)
- Albert Magus, or Albertus Magnus (6.80)—A medieval theologian and saint.
- Newport Tower (5.36)—A stone tower in Rhode Island.
- Petra (2.90)—An ancient Middle Eastern city.
- Philistines (5.40)
- Captain David Porter (5.76, first mention)—An officer in the United States Navy in the early 1800s.
- Potosi , Bolivia (1.25)
- Praetorian Guard (5.100)—A force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors.
- Battle of Prestonpans (3.389)—Battle of the Jacobite Rising between England and Scotland.
- Rothschild Family (3.118)—A wealthy American family.
- Mount Sinai (1.25)
- Spitzenbergs (1.14)—A kind of apple.
- Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield (3.281)—British statesman and author in the 1700s.
- St. Mark's Campanile (5.37, 6.12)—Bell tower of a Basilica in Venice.
- Straits of Magellan (5.42)
- Henry Benedict Stuart, Duke of York (5.72)—A cardinal who unsuccessfully claimed the right to the throne of England.
- Taconic Mountains (4.68)—Part of the Appalchian Mountain range.
- Tahiti ((1.41)
- Teatro di San Carlo (1.96)
- Mount Teneriffe (5.72)—Mountain in Seattle, Washington.
- The Tombs (2.216)—A jail in Manhattan.
- Lionel Wafer (5.88)—Welsh explorer, pirate, and ship's surgeon in the 1600s.
- Wall Street (chapter 2 throughout)—The financial district of New York.
- Westminster Abbey (1.7)
Pop Culture References
- Punchinello (6.77)—An American satirical magazine in the 1800s.