Playful Philatelic Puzzlers

 

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content: Frederick Highland
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2. TOPICAL stamp-whys from Hungary

Why would we find Pegasus on this 1959 Hungarian stamp honoring Friedrich Schiller? Most likely, the famous man worked as a:

a) mail carrier
b) petroleum engineer
c) poet
d) soldier

answer

 (c) By tradition, Pegasus is a symbol of poetic inspiration.

The Roman poet Ovid (43 BC - AD 17) is the likely source for the legend that Pegasus created, with a stroke of his hoof, a fountain sacred to the Muses. The Muses were the caretakers of the arts and sciences of the ancient world. Those fortunate mortals who drank from their fountain were destined to be great poets. Pegasus is found on numerous stamps of the world, most often in connection with an airmail theme. A 19th century German poet, Schiller has also been honored by his own country on postal issues of 1955 and 1962.  The stamp is Scott 1251.

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