Abstract

Palindromes as a form of wordplay have been created for many centuries. For example, the ancient Greeks are known to have often inscribed the following onto their fountains: Nipson anomemata me monan opsin. The third century BCE Greek poet Sotades was said to have written such vulgar satires that King Ptolemy II had him sewn up in a sack and thrown into the sea, for insulting the king in one of his verses. But his coarse, vile verses must have been clever, for Sotades is reputed to have invented palindromes, which are sometimes called Sotadics in his honor.

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