Historical Significance

Event / Figure /
Vocabulary
1. 1896
Olympics
Spyros
Louis and
the
inaugural
modern
Olympic
games

Meaning / Significance

Questions

Spyros, was the first winner of the

marathon in the first modern Olympic
games which had not occurred for 1500
hundred years
During the conversation with the
patriarch of Athens comes the story of
Spyros Louis, this is told so that the
characters can advance in their quest to
find Paradeisios and complete another
trial of the Staurofilakes.

How did the Olympic games

serve to bring union to
Europe and the world during
times of strife, following wars
such as the Crimean and
world imperialism?

Dante Alighieri was the foremost writer

of the 14th century, with his work the
Divine Comedy. Still read today his epic
poem/ allegory illustrated world views
influenced by the catholic church during
the late medieval ages
An important and central figure although
he is never characterized in the novel, he
is mentioned many times to be a member
of the Staurofilakes and it is his work in
which the characters must follow in their
search for truth
Constantinople as the gateway to the
eastern world was first founded by
Emperor Constantine in 330 AD and
served as the capital of its empire the
great Byzantines. A center for the
Orthodox following the first great
schism, the strife and animosity between
east and west would eventually cumulate
in the fall of Constantinople in 1453 at
the hands of Sultan Mehmet II
Sultan Mehmet the II was the sultan of
the Ottoman Turks during the invasion
and subsequent sacking of
Constantinople. Under his rule the
Ottoman empire enjoyed expansion and
capture of Constantinople with whom he

How did the Divine Comedy

impact society in its time?

Asensi 234

2. Dante Alighieri
Asensi 101
.

3. Fall of
Constantinople
Asensi 314

4. Sultan Mehmet
II
Asensi 315

As an allegory what
controversies could Dantes
writing has induced as its
interpretations varied?

How did the fall of

Constantinople influence the
tri-part relationship with
between Orthodox, Catholic
and Islam?
How did the fall of
Constantinople influence the
western world
How did the shift in power of
the Byzantine empire affect
the western world?
What were the relationships
between the newly ruling
Ottomans and the West? Did

5. Dantes Divine
Comedy
Asensi 101

6. Cloaca Maxima
Asensi 181

created a flourishing dynasty. He is

responsible for building the Fatih Camii
and the mosque in modern day Istanbul
The Baedeker of the story, Dantes
Divine Comedy was an allegory piece
written in the late medieval ages. It was
responsible for displaying European
world views and is heavy influence by
the Church and was mass published in
the 16th century. The Divine Comedy also
created the written dialect of which
modern Italian is based upon
The Cloaca Maxima, was a marvel of
Roman engineering that allowed for the
city to grow and expand, namely it was
Romes sewage system and it was
important in the usage of draining the
nearby swamps to create Rome.

it affect trade?
How did the Divine Comedy
display medieval thinking to a
renaissance world?

With the rebirth of classical

roman ideas ideals and art
during the renaissance how
much of it also effected the
west in architecture and
design? How much of Roman
Architecture influenced the
west?
Why was the recipe for Greek
Fire lost to history? Of what
signifigant military
achievements did Greek Fire
lend?

7.Byzantine Greek
Fire
Asensi 191

Byzantine Greek fire was the foremost

powerful naval weapon in ancient times.
A marvel of Greek and Byzantine
chemistry. Greek fire was the key to
much of the Byzantines naval success
and had the legendary property of
ignition upon contact with water

8. Lodovico Dolce

Lodovico Dolce was an Italian theorist,

philosopher and naturalist who was the
publisher of Dantes work in 1555, he
believed in the allegory and various
interpretations that could be seen and
derived from Dantes work. Through his
work came he mass printing of the
Divine Comedy and the establishment of
it as a literary classic
The late capital of the Western Roman
empire, Ravenna is hailed as the place of
pride within the novel. Ravenna was
designated as a competitor for Rome and
as Rome declined Ravenna, under the
rule of both the Byzantines and
Ostrogoths on continued to flourish.

How did Dolces push to

publication affect the literary
world? How was the mass
printing of the work key to
European society?

Romanticism a philosophical and artistic

How did these artistic

Asensi 426

9. Ravenna
Asensi 213

10. Romanticism

Was the divide between

Ravenna and Rome as East
and West evident later in
history? How was this rivalry
manifested?

Asensi 238

movement that began in German in the

1800, very much a literary and also
intellectual movement, romanticism was
also a response to the large industrial
revolution and fostered a new ideal of
emotion and aesthetics

movements change ideals and

societies culture in Europe?
How is it seen in artwork
architecture music and ideas?