No, not like that. We’re talking about actual, blazing, burning heat, which shouldn’t be that surprising, because if you’ve been on the East coast for the past few days, you probably haven’t been able to talk — or think — about much else. This past Friday, the heat in New York City was measured at the highest its been since 1977 (and only two degrees lower than the all-time record), hitting 104 degrees at the hottest part of the day. This weekend hasn’t been much better, and Americans all over the country are suffering from absurd temperatures and growing addictions to air conditioning. So to celebrate the hottest part of the summer, or maybe just to find a little commiseration in prose, we’ve collected some of the hottest scenes in literature, from Dante exploring the fiery pits of hell to Gatsby and Tom sweating bullets in their white linen shirts. Click through to see our list, and let us know which of your favorite sweaty scenes we’ve missed in the comments!

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A death mask, as the name suggests, is a wax or plaster cast made of a person’s face following death. While the Ancient Egyptians used them as part of the mummification process, Westerners adopted the tradition as a way to document what a person looked like, before photography became more popular. Life Magazine just posted a slideshow of 12 rather famous ones, and we’ve picked five of our favorites for you to ID after the jump. But don’t get cocky. Thanks to slight distortions caused by the weight of the plaster during the making of the mold, subjects can sometimes be hard to recognize. So we’ll give you a few hints. There are two famous poets (one Italian, one English), one American president, an Austrian painter, and one playwright who you probably read in high school more than once. Good luck!

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