APOD and General Astronomy Discussion Forum
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_II_of_Bavaria wrote:<<Ludwig II (25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886) was king of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. Ludwig is best known as an eccentric who commissioned the construction of Schloss Neuschwanstein or "New Swanstone Castle." The walls of Neuschwanstein are decorated with frescoes depicting scenes from the legends used in Wagner's operas, including the somewhat less than mystic Meistersinger.
Ludwig is sometimes referred to as the Swan King, the Fairy tale King and "Mad King Ludwig." Most historians believe that Ludwig was deeply peculiar and irresponsible, but the question of clinical insanity remains unresolved. Ludwig was deposed on grounds of mental illness without any medical examination, and died a day later under mysterious circumstances. The King was succeeded by his brother Otto, but since Otto was genuinely incapacitated by mental illness, the king’s uncle Luitpold remained regent.
One of Ludwig's most quoted sayings was:
"I wish to remain an eternal enigma to myself and to others.">>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_breaks_a_butterfly_upon_a_wheel%3F wrote:
<<"Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" can be taken as referring to putting massive effort into achieving something minor or unimportant. It alludes to "breaking on the wheel", a form of torture in which victims had their long bones broken by an iron bar while tied to a Catherine wheel.The line "Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?" forms line 308 of the "Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot" (1735) in which Alexander Pope responded to his physician's word of caution about making satirical attacks on powerful people by sending him a selection of such attacks. It appears in a section on the courtier John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey, who was close to Queen Caroline and was one of Pope's bitterest enemies. The section opens as follows:
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?
- Let Sporus tremble –"What? that thing of silk,
Sporus, that mere white curd of ass's milk?
Satire or sense, alas! can Sporus feel?
Who breaks a butterfly upon a wheel?"
Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings,
This painted child of dirt that stinks and stings;
Whose buzz the witty and the fair annoys,
Yet wit ne'er tastes, and beauty ne'r enjoys,>>
