0 The figures are from the deck ... "name"!

The word "deck", which means "stack of playing cards"

comes from the Italian word «trappola», which means "trap" and "deception." The deck consists of "cards" or "cards" or "paper" and ...



came from the Italian game "tarok" or "taroko" played with thick square or rectangular paper with numbered figures both for entertainment and for speculation.




The figures in the deck



Throughout history occurred several variations but eventually won the French "system» (french pak), which has its roots in France of the 16th century, which is why the figures depict costumes of the era. According to this figures are king, knight and servant, and later added the queen, so the third current figure, a jack, getting features and knight and his servant.



The figures are not accidental but refer to specific historical or mythical figures.



Thus kings are: Charlemagne (Kh), Julius Caesar (King of diamonds), Alexander (king of swords), David (king of clubs).



The four queens are: Pallas Athena (queen of spades), Judith (the courageous Jew who killed Holofernos), the Arzin (Argine, probably an anagram of regina = Queen) and Rachel (wife of Jacob).



Finally, the four jacks are: Hector (Jack of diamonds), the Lancelot, the Ozie and Lair.



Greek deck



The oldest known Greek deck dated to 1822 and in it the four kings represented in the forms of Alexander Ypsilanti, Ulysses Androutsos Olympian Georgakis and George Kantakouzenos.