Board Games in Ancient Fiction: Egypt, Iran, Greece
6 days ago
- #literary narrative
- #ancient literature
- #board games
- Board games are used as plot motifs in modern genre fiction, especially in detective and adventure stories.
- Ancient literary practices incorporate board games, such as the Demotic Egyptian Tale of Setne Khaemwaset where Setne plays senet with a mummy to gain a book of spells.
- A late Hellenistic Greek novella reimagines Penelope’s suitors playing marbles (petteia) to decide who will marry her, replacing the Homeric bow contest.
- The Sasanian work Wizārišn �� čatrang replaces riddles with board games (chess and backgammon) in a riddle contest of kings.
- Board games symbolize the transformative and innovative power of literary narrative in these texts.