Diodorus spent time in Egypt and Rome, and wrote a history that ranged from mythical Greek history to the time of Julius Caesar. The inspiration for Shelley’s poem was a description given by Diodorus Siculus, a Greek historian from the first century BCE. Shelley, however, did not invent Ozymandias, who was a real, historical person. The mighty one has literally fallen, and so has everything he accomplished. The giant legs are all that remains standing of what was once a statue of a king - “Ozymandias, King of Kings” - and there is no sign of the civilization he once ruled, although the inscription on the pedestal indicates that the stone king once surveyed great enough works to drive terror into the hearts of his enemies. The poem tells the story of a traveller who has seen an ancient monument in the desert. “Ozymandias” is best known as the title of a famous sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley, first published in January of 1818 you can hear Bryan Cranston recite it in full above (in a promo for Breaking Bad, natch) or read at the link included in TIME’s recap of the episode. The episode was called “Ozymandias” - but what’s an Ozymandias? Follow night wasn’t the first time Breaking Bad has used a ten-cent word for an episode title (see: last week’s mouthful, “To’hajiilee”) but, for those who didn’t pay attention during English Poetry 101, it may have been the most confusing.
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