The Princess of Babylon
by Voltaire
On This Page
Description
The aged Belus, king of Babylon, thought himself the first man upon earth; for all his courtiers told him so, and his historians proved it. We know that his palace and his park, situated at a few parafangs from Babylon, extended between the Euphrates and the Tigris, which washed those enchanted banks. His vast house, three thousand feet in front, almost reached the clouds. The platform was surrounded with a balustrade of white marble, fifty feet high, which supported colossal statues of all show more the kings and great men of the empire. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Some say this is a work of philosophy, if so then so is every fairytale ever told and every Gulliver-esque satire ever penned.
It starts off like ancient myth or history, but aesthetically more akin to 'Gods of Egypt' than say 'Moses'. After a while it gives up on this and becomes more of a satire. Most of the satire is still understandable but some is a little hard to decipher.
The fairytale love story elements take a bit of an interesting turn towards the end but not enough. And then its all over, i can't quite tell whether the author got bored or just ran out of ideas.
Overall its mildly diverting, i'd have given it 3 stars in a void but comparing it to other satires, there's just so many more interesting things to read.
It starts off like ancient myth or history, but aesthetically more akin to 'Gods of Egypt' than say 'Moses'. After a while it gives up on this and becomes more of a satire. Most of the satire is still understandable but some is a little hard to decipher.
The fairytale love story elements take a bit of an interesting turn towards the end but not enough. And then its all over, i can't quite tell whether the author got bored or just ran out of ideas.
Overall its mildly diverting, i'd have given it 3 stars in a void but comparing it to other satires, there's just so many more interesting things to read.
« Ce qu'il y avait de plus admirable à Babylone, ce qui éclipsait tout le reste, était la fille unique du roi, nommée Formosante. Ce fut d'après ses portraits et ses statues que dans la suite des siècles, Praxitèle sculpta son Aphrodite et celle qu'on nomma la Vénus aux belles fesses. Que de différence, ô ciel! de l'original aux copies. Aussi Bélus était plus fier de sa fille que de son royaume. Elle avait dix-huit ans : il lui fallait un époux digne d'elle, mais où le trouver ? » ...
Nov 21, 2010French
A Princesa da Babilônia´ narra a história amorosa de Formosante, filha do rei Belus da Babilônia, e de Amazan, pastor de uma terra imaginária situada às margens do Ganges. Outra principal protagonista é uma fênix, maravilhosa ave, de plumagem belíssima o corpo é dourado e o pescoço ostenta todas as cores do arco-íris. O bico é cor-de-rosa e os pés, uma mescla de prata e púrpura. Tal como na lenda, é uma ave mágica, que renasce das próprias cinzas.
Aug 29, 2019Portuguese (Brazil)
« Ce qu'il y avait de plus admirable à Babylone, ce qui éclipsait tout le reste, était la fille unique du roi, nommée Formosante. Ce fut d'après ses portraits et ses statues que dans la suite des siècles, Praxitèle sculpta son Aphrodite et celle qu'on nomma la Vénus aux belles fesses. Que de différence, ô ciel! de l'original aux copies. Aussi Bélus était plus fier de sa fille que de son royaume. Elle avait dix-huit ans : il lui fallait un époux digne d'elle, mais où le trouver ? » ...
Nov 21, 2010French
JB-8
Dec 20, 2024Catalan
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Lists
Survey of Fantasy Classics
111 works; 23 members
Author Information
François-Marie Arouet known as Voltaire, was born in Paris in 1694. He was educated by the Jesuits at the Collège Louis-le-Grand (1704-1711), where he learned Latin and Greek; later in life he became fluent in Italian, Spanish, and English. By the time he left school, Voltaire had decided he wanted to be a writer. His father then obtained a job show more for him as a secretary to the French ambassador in the Netherlands. Most of Voltaire's early life revolved around Paris. From early on, Voltaire had trouble with the authorities for critiques of the government and religious intolerance. These activities were to result in two imprisonments and a temporary exile to England. The name "Voltaire", which the author adopted in 1718, is an anagram of "AROVET LI," the Latinized spelling of his surname, Arouet, and the initial letters of "le jeune" ("the young"). The name also echoes in reverse order the syllables of the name of a family château in the Poitou region: "Airvault". The adoption of the name "Voltaire" following his incarceration at the Bastille is seen by many to mark Voltaire's formal separation from his family and his past. Voltaire continued to write plays, such as Mérope (or La Mérope française) and began his long research into science and history. From 1762, he began to champion unjustly persecuted people, the case of Jean Calas being the most celebrated. This Huguenot merchant had been tortured to death in 1763, supposedly because he had murdered his son for wanting to convert to Catholicism. His possessions were confiscated and his remaining children were taken from his widow and were forced to become members of a monastery. Voltaire, seeing this as a clear case of religious persecution, managed to overturn the conviction in 1765. n February 1778, Voltaire returned for the first time in 20 years to Paris. He soon became ill again and died on 30 May 1778. show less
Some Editions
Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
Work Relationships
Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Princess of Babylon
- Original title
- La Princesse de Babylone
- Original publication date
- 1768
- First words*
- Il vecchio Belo, re di Babilonia, si considerava il primo uomo del mondo; perché glielo dicevano tutti i cortigiani, e gli storiografi glielo dimostravano.
- Last words*
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)...farete un bel piacere al mio libraio, al quale ho dato questa storiella per strenna.
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 114
- Popularity
- 286,421
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.47)
- Languages
- 7 — English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 24
- ASINs
- 8
