Edgar Rice Burroughs’ Tarzan was the very epitome of manliness. With his “straight and perfect figure, muscled as the best of the ancient Roman gladiators must have been muscled, and yet with the soft and sinuous curves of a Greek god, told at a glance the wondrous combination of enormous strength with suppleness and speed,” Burroughs was underlining the godliness of his creation. With long dark hair and steel-grey eyes, John Clayton, Lord Greystoke aka Tarzan is quite a hottie. Burroughs Tarzan of the Apes was published in a magazine in 1912 and in book form in 1914. The story tells of Tarzan’s parents marooned in the deepest Africa. His mother dies of natural causes when he is one year old and his father is killed by Kerchak an ape. Tarzan is brought up by a she-ape, Kala. The way he teaches himself to read is fascinating—referring to alphabets as black bugs!

Read the full story at: The Hindu