The Piazza Tales Allusions & Cultural References

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.