What is the Epic of Gilgamesh? The oldest great story
The Epic of Gilgamesh is a Mesopotamian poem, first written down about 4,000 years ago, about a king who loses his friend and searches for a way not to die.
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Arts and culture
The stories, paintings and music people keep coming back to, and the ideas behind them. Start with what art is, then follow the works through time, from the oldest story we have to Japanese animation.
12 notes from Graphite. Free to read, with no account. Nothing here is for sale.
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Where to begin.
The note that answers the topic’s biggest question, then the two it leads to most directly.
Start here
What is art? How people have tried to define it
Art has no agreed definition. Thinkers have called it imitation, the passing on of feeling, form, or whatever the art world presents, and each fails on some works.
Graphite8 min read
Then
What is the Odyssey about? Homer's story, book by book
The Odyssey is Homer's Greek epic about Odysseus's ten-year journey home from the Trojan War, and what he finds when he gets there: suitors in his house and a wife who waited.
Graphite7 min read
And then
Why is the Mona Lisa famous? Skill, mystery and a theft
The Mona Lisa is famous for Leonardo's lifelike technique, centuries in royal and museum collections, and above all its theft from the Louvre in 1911, which made it a global celebrity.
Graphite7 min read
Every note
All 12 notes in Arts and culture.
The three above, then the rest. Each answers one question and links to the notes it leads to.
What was the Renaissance? Europe's rebirth of art and ideas
The Renaissance was a European movement of about the 14th to the 17th century, born in Italy, that revived ancient Greek and Roman learning and remade art, scholarship and ideas.
Graphite7 min read
Who was William Shakespeare? His life, plays and legacy
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor from Stratford-upon-Avon who wrote about 39 plays and 154 sonnets. What the records show, and what is legend.
Graphite7 min read
Who was Mozart? The prodigy and his music, explained
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) was an Austrian composer who toured Europe as a child prodigy and wrote over 600 works before dying at 35. His life, five works to hear, and two myths.
Graphite7 min read
What is Frankenstein about? Mary Shelley's novel, explained
Frankenstein is Mary Shelley's 1818 novel about a young scientist who makes a living being and abandons it. It's about ambition, responsibility for what people create, and loneliness.
Graphite7 min read
Who was Vincent van Gogh? His life, art and The Starry Night
Vincent van Gogh (1853–1890) was a Dutch painter who made about 860 oil paintings in a ten-year career and died almost unknown. How he worked, and how he became famous.
Graphite7 min read
Who was Pablo Picasso? His periods, Cubism and Guernica
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973) was a Spanish artist in France who co-invented Cubism with Georges Braque and painted Guernica. His periods, how Cubism works, and how to read Guernica.
Graphite7 min read
What is 1984 about? Orwell's novel and its ideas, explained
1984 is George Orwell's 1949 novel about Winston Smith, a clerk who rebels against a one-party state that controls the news, the past and even thought. Its plot, its ideas and what Orwell meant.
Graphite8 min read
What is anime? Japanese animation and how it differs
Anime is animation made in Japan, for every age and in every genre. Where it came from, why it looks the way it does, and what shonen, shojo, seinen and josei really mean.
Graphite7 min read
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