This card shows Alexander the Great, and he was the first to use a form of submarine, or so says Aristotle, who speaks of Alexander descending beneath the ocean in a barrel of white glass during the siege of Tyre in 322 BC.
We would call his craft a "diving bell", from its shape, or a "bathysphere", which has a Greek root, the "bathy" meaning deep and the "sphere" meaning a circle. Alexandra the Great`s is therefore presumed to be round, and perhaps even blown glass, but this would have been a huge undertaking, when you compare the blowing of a bottle for wine to the blowing of a circular craft large enough to fit a man.
As to why Alexandra the Great descended beneath the ocean, that was to spy on the opposing side. We do not think that the other side, as is often said, actually had submarines, but he could have easily seen the hulls of any ships as they approached.
Now Alexander the Great was not the first person to go beneath the water, for we know that prehistoric man often cut hollow reeds and used them like a cross between a periscope and a snorkel to enable him to breathe the air above the water. There are also pictures carved into Ancient Egyptian tombs that show this happening during duck hunting.
The "diving bell" idea had first appeared in the fourteenth century, often using barrels. As usual, it was not long before a pleasure craft was spotted and the idea of how to use it against another nation in war came to mind, but this was not actually written down until the sixteenth century, though the way it is written proves that such had been long debated and improved upon.
This card actually celebrates Alexander the Great`s horse, and not the man, but he is seen riding him. The set is quite scarce, but so far it comprises :
- Le Bouef Apis
- Bucephale dompte par Alexandre le Grand
- Les Oies du Capitole
- L`Aspic de Cleopatre
- Le Cheval de Mazeppa
- Les Pigeons des Venise
- Les Chiens du St.Bernard
I have to say that I was rather surprised when I was trying to find the rest of the set, that my search engine gave me the following AI overview suggestion -
"The phrase "Sochard Animaux Celebres" translates to "Suchard Famous Animals." It refers to a series of chocolate wrappers featuring famous animals, which was likely a marketing campaign or collectible item from the Swiss chocolate company Suchard. The phrase appeared as a clue in a Cardworld theme of the week solution, specifically mentioning the "Animaux Celebres" series 144."