It is doubtful that there is anyone who has not heard, even by minimal references, of The Lord of the Rings; some by his literary version, others by the cinematographic ones, many by both. The work of J.R.R. Tolkien is a fantastic story of epic tone that has captivated generation after generation with the heroic […]
Culture
Culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (E.B. Tylor)
Posted inCulture
Mellification, the process of dissolving a human body in honey to create a healing confection
Traditional medicine in Asia and the Middle East is truffled in miracle remedies based on products that, in reality, lack the slightest healing property. Cases such as the false aphrodisiac faculty of the rhinoceros horn or the use of tiger bones, in both cases endangering the respective species, are well known, but surely the most […]
Posted inCulture
Albinoni’s Adagio was composed by the Italian musicologist Remo Giazotto in 1945.
Surely this is surprising because, after all, the famous Adagio in G minor is not only one of the best-known pieces of classical music but also one of the most popular among music lovers with a closely linked name of title and author: “Albinoni’s Adagio”. It is ironic, therefore, that in reality the work is […]
Posted inCulture
The controversial right of the prisoner to escape, which is not a crime in countries such as Germany or Belgium
Recently, reviewing the cinematographic subgenre of prison escapes, a handful of interesting titles came out. Some are set in civil prisons, such as Escape from Alcatraz or the television series Prison Break; others take place in the context of world wars, case of The Great Escape, The Mckenzie Break or La Grande Illusion. In all […]
Posted inCulture, Middle Ages
The curious case of Maltese, the only Semitic language in the European Union
The special location of Malta, in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea and halfway between Africa and Europe, gave the country (which are actually three islands: Gozo, Comino and Malta itself) unique cultural characteristics within the European environment. There are megalithic temples built in the fourth millennium BC by a culture that disappeared a millennium […]