limestone ostracon depicting a cat, a boy, and a mouse magistrate
Limestone ostracon with a drawing of a cat bringing a boy before a mouse magistrate, New Kingdom Egypt, 20th dynasty (1200–1085 bce); in the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures Museum at the University of Chicago.
fable, parable, and allegory
literature
fable, parable, and allegory, any form of imaginative literature or spoken utterance constructed in such a way that readers or listeners are encouraged to look for meanings hidden beneath the literal surface of the fiction. A story is told or perhaps enacted whose details—when interpreted—are found to correspond to the details of some other system of relations (its hidden, allegorical sense). The poet, for example, may describe the ascent of a hill in such a way that each physical step corresponds to a new stage in the soul’s progress toward a higher level of existence. Many forms of literature elicit ...(100 of 8314 words)