Since its publication, The Da Vinci Code, though a work of fiction, has roused scholars’ imaginations to a point where many of them are reexamining – and in some cases challenging – prevailing opinions on a wide variety of historic topics.
One new view currently being considered is the notion that the Arthurian Lady of the Lake was an illusion conjured up by Merlin for the purpose of not just giving King Arthur the Excalibur but also with the ulterior motive of having the Lady seduce the King and get him into trouble with Guinevere. The theory goes on to suggest that the wizard wanted to punish Arthur because he was unhappy with the way he was being treated at court, feeling that he was making as much of a contribution as any of the knights and should sit at the roundtable with them, at least for Sunday dinner.
Speculation continues about the original purpose of Stonehenge, Britain’s 4,000 year old national icon. Some authorities have felt that it was a temple made for the worship of earth deities, while others have called it an astronomical observatory for marking significant events on the prehistoric calendar. However, several scholars are now theorizing that it was none of those things, but simply a playground for an ancient civilization with lots of time on its hands and not much to do.
Ever since the 1922 discovery of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamen, there has been great controversy surrounding the Boy King’s death. X-rays taken in 1968 seem to indicate that he may have been killed by a blow to his head, possibly to pave the way for Ay, the pharaoh’s second in command and the man who succeeded him. However, a 21st-century CT scan of the king’s 3,300 year-old mummified body indicates that he may have died of complications – an infection, perhaps – from a broken leg, now believed to have been possibly inflicted, at Ay’s request, by ancient mafia goons brought in from Sicily.
Literary experts are once again examining the age-old question of the true authorship of the works of William Shakespeare. In the past, there has been theorizing that his output was so great, that possibly someone else – Christopher Marlowe, Edward de Vere – had written many of his plays. New evidence, however, suggests that the Bard did indeed write every word himself, based on accounts of him throwing temper tantrums, stamping his feet and yelling “Get thee to hell!” whenever an actor suggested the slightest change.
Plato’s 360 BC dialogues Timaeus and Critias, where he talks of the lost continent of Atlantis being swallowed into the sea, have prompted debate for over two thousand years. Some believe Plato’s account is based on a conflict between the ancient Athenians and the Atlantians, which caused Atlantis to sink into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The latest theory, however, suggests that Plato was actually telling a sad tale of an ancient elder called Atlantis who lost his continence.
Irony of ironies, The Da Vinci Code has also focused attention on Leonardo da Vinci himself, specifically the Mona Lisa, whose mysterious smile has intrigued generations of viewers and whose true identity remains unknown despite exhaustive research by art historians. Many believe the Mona Lisa to be a portrait of a mistress of da Vinci, or even a self-portrait, with Leonardo imagining himself as a woman. Recently, though, several art experts noticed that if you look at the portrait through a mirror, so that the Mona Lisa is reversed, the smile appears to be more of a smirk, or a sneer, leading them to believe that perhaps the subject was one of da Vinci’s many underpaid models who was thoroughly fed up with him and his penny-pinching ways.