The relationship between history and tradition has long been convoluted, just as any consensus on the definition of either term is difficult to achieve. The tongue-in-cheek comment by Jean Cocteau that “history is facts which become lies in the end; legends are lies which become history in the end” is only one of many quotable quips that glance lightly off the interstices of these two universes of discourse. Such humor, nevertheless, is not that far removed from the canons of serious discussion. The realities that these two terms represent, as well as their nature, their goals, and their points of contact, provide the framework for our reflections herein.