''Tarzan and the City of Gold'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the sixteenth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

. The novel was originally serialized in the magazine '' Argosy'' from March through April 1932.

Plot summary

After encountering and befriending Valthor, a warrior of the lost city of Athne (whom he rescues from a group of bandits known as ''shiftas''), the City of Ivory and capital of the land of Thenar, Tarzan is captured by the insane yet beautiful queen Nemone of its hereditary enemy, Cathne, the City of Gold, capital of the land of Onthar. This novel is perhaps best known for two scenes; in the first, Tarzan is forced to fight Cathne's strongest man Phobeg in its arena. While an ordinary man might have been in trouble, Tarzan easily overpowers Phobeg. The second scene, in which Tarzan is forced to fight a lion, starts with the ape man being forced to run away from a hunting lion, Belthar, which will hunt him down and kill him. Tarzan at first believes he can outrun the beast (lions tire after the first 100 yards at top speed). This lion, however, is of a breed specifically selected for endurance, and ultimately Tarzan must turn to face him, though aware that without a knife he can do little but delay the inevitable. His own lion ally,

Jad-bal-ja Jad-bal-ja, the Golden Lion is a fictional character in Edgar Rice Burroughs's Tarzan novels, and in adaptations of the saga to other media, particularly comics. Character Jad-bal-ja serves as a companion to Tarzan, to whom he is attached as a do ...

, whom he had raised from a cub, arrives and intervenes, killing Belthar and saving Tarzan. Nemone, who believes her life is linked to that of her pet, kills herself when it dies. Unusually for lost cities in Burroughs' Tarzan series, which are typically visited but once, Cathne and Athne reappear in a later Tarzan adventure, ''

Tarzan the Magnificent ''Tarzan the Magnificent'' is a 1960 British Eastmancolor film, the follow-up to ''Tarzan's Greatest Adventure'' (1959). Its plot bears no relation to that of the 1939 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel of the same name. The film was directed by R ...

''. (The only other lost city that Tarzan visits more than once is Opar, which appears in four novels and is referenced in a juvenile story).

Comic adaptations

The book has been adapted into comic form by

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

in ''Tarzan'' nos. 186-187, dated June–July 1970, with a script by

Gaylord DuBois Gaylord McIlvaine Du Bois (sometimes written DuBois) (August 24, 1899 – October 20, 1993) was an American writer of comic book stories and comic strips, as well as Big Little Books and juvenile adventure novels. Du Bois wrote ''Tarzan'' for Del ...

and art by

Doug Wildey Douglas S. Wildey He recalled his professional start as freelancing for the magazine and comic book company Street & Smith in 1947. Because comic-book writer and artist credits were not routinely given during this era, the earliest confirmed Wilde ...

Popular culture

* In the cartoon series ''

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle ''Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle'' is an American animated series created by the Filmation studio for Saturday mornings on CBS, starting in 1976. This was the first animated series about the jungle hero. There are 36 episodes produced over four sea ...

'', elements from this story were used in "Tarzan and the City of Gold," "Tarzan's Return to the City of Gold," and "Tarzan and the Soul Stealer." A big difference is that the City of Gold was renamed Zandor and had been at war with Athne. In all three episodes, Tarzan had to deal with Queen Nemone (voiced by Joan Gerber in the first two appearances, Hettie Lynn Hurtes in the third appearance) and Tomos (voiced by

Alan Oppenheimer Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s, and he has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s. Early life Oppenheimer was born in New Yor ...

). Another difference is that Phobeg (voiced by

Ted Cassidy Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor noted for his tall stature at and deep voice. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as ''Star Trek'' and ''I Dream of ...

in the first two appearances,

in the third appearance) becomes Tarzan's ally in those episodes.

Sources

* *

External links

*
Edgar Rice Burroughs Illustrated Bibliography from ERBzine.com: ''Tarzan and the City of Gold''

* ttps://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks05/0500241h.html Text of the novel at Project Gutenberg Australia {{Tarzan 1933 American novels 1933 fantasy novels Books about lions Novels first published in serial form Tarzan novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs Works originally published in Argosy (magazine)