and raise you a dollar
As far as allegory goes (ugh) i will throw this one out: Plato
Do we see ME as one of the shadows that is cast upon the wall? Do some of us "see" that shadow, and others see other shadows, or just see the wall? Good and Evil, aesthetics (what is pleasing to the eye and what is not) - its all in the minds eye.
I wouldnt rule out history repeating itself. All we really know is from remnants of documentation that we happened to have found. We have been around for a long time. With us all that time is good and evil, beauty and ugliness...