A Canticle for Leibowitz Allusions & Cultural References

Paul Brians's excellent translation of A Canticle's Latinate phrases helped us to find some of these more obscure shout-outs. Thank you, Professor Brians.

Literary and Philosophical References

• William Shakespeare, Hamlet (5.16)
• Albertus Magnus or Albert the Great (6.16)
• St. Thomas Aquinas (6.16, 7.35)
• The Psalms (14.80)
• Dante Alighieri, Inferno Canto XXXIV (14.92)
• St. Augustine (18.9, 20.112)
• William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar (20.102)
• The Book of Genesis (22.55, 22.57)
• Pope Pius XI, Mit brennender sorge (26.13)
• Descartes (27.83)
• Dante Alighieri, Inferno Canto III (28.91)

Bible Verse References

• Matthew 4:1-4 (1.40)
• Matthew 3:13-17 (1.78)
• John 13:34 (5.17)
• Micah 6:3 (5.18)
• Psalms 133:1 (7.31)
• Psalms 51:1-3 (7.88)
• 1 Corinthians 13:11 (8.23)
• Genesis 32:22-33 (10.55)
• Genesis 28:16-17 (11.2)
• John 21:16 (11.9)
• Matthew 26:42 (13.23, 14.95)
• Isaiah 9:7 (16.3)
• Isaiah 9:6 (16.7)
• Revelation 17:3-5 (16.13)
• Isaiah 11:6 (17.51)
• Genesis 1:1-5 (18.23-36)
• Genesis 1:27 (22.64)
• Luke 23:34 (22.68)
• Luke 2:29-30 (22.132)
• Genesis 3:5 (22.150)
• Matthew 6:30 (24.96)
• Mark 14:30 (24.98)
• Joshua 10:12-14 (24.184)
• John 19:15 (26.13)
• Psalms 35:23 (26.55)
• Matthew 4:10 (26.56)
• Psalms 91:6 (26.65)
• Psalms 22:27 (26.67)
• 1 Corinthians 10:17 (26.72)
• Psalms 22:31 (26.74)
• Mark 12:17 (27.35)
• Genesis 3:13 (27.69)
• Luke 18:16 (28.93)
• Matthew 25:41 (28.93)
• Matthew 21:12 (28.93)
• Matthew 8:8 (29.96)
• Luke 1:46-56 (29.100, 29.101)

Religious (Mostly Catholic) References

• Ash Wednesday (1.26, 5.2)
• The Holy Trinity (1.28, 7.92, 16.98)
• Ex opera operator (1.29)
• The Lord's Prayer (1.39)
• Pagan Cabals (1.71)
• The Devil's Advocate (2.40, 7.14)
• Angelus (2.42)
• Matins and Lauds (4.2)
• Good Friday (5.17)
• Holy Saturday (5.19)
• Missals (7.35)
• Breviaries (7.35)
• Feast of Fools (9.38)
• Calendar of Saints (9.38, 11.16)
• Litany of the Saints (11.14)
• Veni, Creator Spiritus (11.16)
• Te Deum (11.21)
• Mystici Corporis Christi (11.33)
• The Glorious Mysteries (11.81)
• The Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (13.11)
• Veronica's Veil (14.3)
• Feast of St. Bernard (17.29)
• St. Maisie (25.109)
• The Chair of Peter (26.86)
• College of Cardinals (26.87)
• Mass in Time of War (28.40)
• Mass against the Heathen (28.40)
• St. Christopher (28.82)
• Act of Contrition (29.29)
• Absolution (29.30)
• Eucharist (29.38)
• Vesting Prayers (29.45)
• Dies Irae (29.57)

Biblical Character and Place References

• Job (1.81, 18.1)
• Noah (6.7)
• Moses (6.21)
• King David (7.88)
• Sheba and Solomon (12.109, 13.10)
• Ezekiel (13.2)
• Abraham (14.95)
• The Prodigal Son (16.10)
• Methuselah (16.37)
• Adam (16.96, 22.63, 22.72, 26.13, 28.104, 29.59)
• Manasses (16.152)
• Nebuchadnezzar (16.152)
• Pharaoh (16.152, 18.9)
• Caesar (16.152, 24.16, 26.13, 28.177)
• Samuel the Prophet (16.152)
• Sodom and Gomorrah (18.9, 26.56)
• Legion (18.13)
• Jesus' Crown of Thorns (20.50)
• Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (22.90)
• Eve (24.19, 24.24, 29.25)
• Eden (24.24, 26.57, 26.59, 28.104, 29.66)
• Lazarus (25.162)
• Cain (26.9)
• Jacob (26.9)
• King Herod (26.13)
• Judas Iscariot (18.9, 26.13)
• The Burning Bush (26.58)
• The Exodus of Egypt (26.89)
• Golgotha (28.93)

Mythology References

• Beelzebub (1.29)
• Angelology (2.11)
• Succubus (3.39)
• Satan (10.9)
• Dryad (14.79)
• Archangel (18.9, 26.88)
• Lucifer (18.9, 24.20, 28.49, 30.3)
• Merlin (24.24)
• St. George (24.62)
• Gaia (24.184)
• Phoenix (25.27)
• Cockatrice (25.111)
• The River Styx (29.56)

Historical References

• The White House (6.4)
• Magi (6.7)
• Hitler (6.21)
• Cyrus the Great (16.152)
• Pikadon (18.9)
• Manifest Destiny (24.2)
• Nazi Marching Song (24.15)
• Babylon (24.16, 25.27)
• Pompeii (24.16)
• Hiroshima (24.17)
• Assyria (25.27)
• Egypt (25.27)
• Greece (25.27)
• Carthage (25.27)
• Rome (25.27)
• The Empires of Charlemagne (25.27)
• The Turks (25.27)

Science References

• Cobalt, Strontium, Cesium (2.2)
• Laplace (12.62)
• Maxwell (12.62)
• Einstein (12.62)
• Normal Distribution Curve (19.10)
• Atrophy (24.18)
• Entropy (24.18)
• Microfilm (25.65)
• Fission (26.51)
• Martyr Complex (27.102)
• Radiation Sickness and Flash Burns (28.13)