Literary notes about hieroglyphics (AI summary)
The term "hieroglyphics" has been embraced by authors both as a literal reference to ancient Egyptian script and as a potent metaphor for the mysterious or unreadable. In some works, it denotes actual inscriptions—for example, Rabelais playfully claims ownership of all Egyptian hieroglyphics [1], and Strabo provides a historical account of a pillar inscribed with them [2]. At other times, the word is employed metaphorically to describe encounters with the enigmatic or the inscrutable, as Schopenhauer likens complex ideas to hieroglyphics [3] and Coleridge portrays an entire book of judgment rendered in mysterious symbols [4]. This dual usage further extends to capturing the decorative and symbolic nuances in art and nature, seen in works where hieroglyphics adorn walls [5] or even the very features of a face [6]. Together, these examples underscore how "hieroglyphics" serves as a versatile literary device, evoking the allure of ancient mystery while symbolizing the broader challenges of interpretation.
- By the Queen of the Chitterlings, quoth Panurge, all the hieroglyphics of Egypt are mine a— to this jargon.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais - Here it is said is a pillar of Sesostris the Egyptian, on which is inscribed, in hieroglyphics, an account of his passage (across the Arabian Gulf).
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) by Strabo - [pg 126] and stand before us like hieroglyphics which we do not understand.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer - And this, this, perchance, is the dread book of judgment, in the mysterious hieroglyphics of which every idle word is recorded!
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Its walls were richly painted all over, within and without, with hieroglyphics.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition by Edgar Allan Poe - Clare regarded her attentively, conned the characters of her face as if they had been hieroglyphics.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy
