A history of cultural knowledge is not congruent with a history of abstract concepts or rational ideas. As a consequence this essay presents a new and fascinating cross-cultural approach for analysing the powers of literature and art to form aesthetic ideas of lasting cultural impact, for analysing the interrelation between the formative forces of the imagination and the form-giving material or medium. Its focus is on Figurations of Death and Figurations of Creativity. Both of these topics raise questions relevant to all cultures: how does innovation enter the world; how does a society come to terms with the deepest and most basic uncertainty of human existence, the awareness of mortality.