Curated playlist
Works of unknown authorship
- Chandos portraitThe Chandos portrait is an oil painting thought to show William Shakespeare, who lived from 1564-1616. It dates from somewhere between 1600 and 1610. The National Portrait Gallery in London now owns it, yet the gallery will go no further…
- Katsudō ShashinA three-second Japanese filmstrip shows a boy in a sailor suit bowing. Nobody knows who made Katsudō Shashin.
- Pyramid TextsThe Pyramid Texts were spells carved inside pyramids to carry a dead pharaoh into the sky.
- UpanishadsThe Upanishads open with dogs chanting to mock priests. The ancient Sanskrit texts challenge sacred ritual.
- Prometheus BoundPrometheus Bound opens with its hero chained and silent. No other surviving Greek tragedy opens with four actors.
- The BackroomsThe Backrooms promise a visitor "approximately six hundred million square miles of randomly segmented empty rooms to be trapped in." That line comes from an early forum description of a place that does not exist. The same description lists…
- Spanish ChronicleThe Spanish Chronicle of Henry VIII's court has no known author. Historians still argue over how much of it is true.
- Bhagavad GitaIn the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna drops his bow when he sees relatives and teachers among the enemy.
- Book of EnochThe Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish apocalyptic text, tells of two hundred angels who swore a binding oath on Mount Hermon. Their leader, Semjaza, wanted them to take human wives and father children. He was afraid of the cost. In the text…
- Book of the DeadIn Egyptian belief, a heart heavier than a feather was eaten by a monster. The Book of the Dead described this judgment.