Columbia Encyclopedia
Search results
24 results found
Atreus
(Encyclopedia)Atreus āˈtrēəs [key], in Greek mythology, the son of Pelops and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He vied with his brother Thyestes for the throne of Mycenae. When Thyestes seduced Atreus' wif...Cassandra
(Encyclopedia)Cassandra kəsănˈdrə [key], in Greek legend, Trojan princess, daughter of Priam and Hecuba. She was given the power of prophecy by Apollo, but because she would not accept him as a lover, he change...Trojan War
(Encyclopedia)Trojan War, in Greek mythology, war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. When Menelaus demanded her ret...Field, Cyrus West
(Encyclopedia)Field, Cyrus West, 1819–92, American merchant, promoter of the first Atlantic cable, b. Stockbridge, Mass.; brother of David Dudley Field and Stephen J. Field. As head of a paper business, he accumu...Alfieri, Vittorio, Conte
(Encyclopedia)Alfieri, Vittorio, Conte vēt-tōˈrēō kōnˈtā älfyĕˈrē [key], 1749–1803, Italian tragic poet. A Piedmontese, born to wealth and social position, he spent his youth in dissipation and advent...MacNeice, Louis
(Encyclopedia)MacNeice, Louis məknēsˈ [key], 1907–63, Irish poet b. Belfast. Educated at Oxford, he became a classical scholar and teacher and later was a producer and traveled the world for the British Broadc...Achilles
(Encyclopedia)Achilles əkĭlˈēz [key], in Greek mythology, foremost Greek hero of the Trojan War, son of Peleus and Thetis. He was a formidable warrior, possessing fierce and uncontrollable anger. Thetis, knowin...Aeschylus
(Encyclopedia)Aeschylus ĕsˈkĭləs, ēsˈ– [key], 525–456 b.c., Athenian tragic dramatist, b. Eleusis. The first of the three great Greek writers of tragedy, Aeschylus was the predecessor of Sophocles and Eur...Kadare, Ismail
(Encyclopedia)Kadare, Ismail ēsmäēlˈ kädärĕˈ [key], 1936–, Albanian novelist and poet, widely regarded as his country's most important contemporary writer, b. Gjirokastër, studied Univ. of Tiranë, Gorky...Homer
(Encyclopedia)Homer, principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. The Odyssey is written in 24 books and begins nearly ten years after the fall of Troy. In the first part, Telemachus, Od...Browse by Subject
- Earth and the Environment +-
- History +-
- Literature and the Arts +-
- Medicine +-
- People +-
- Philosophy and Religion +-
- Places +-
- Africa
- Asia
- Australia and Oceania
- Britain, Ireland, France, and the Low Countries
- Commonwealth of Independent States and the Baltic Nations
- Germany, Scandinavia, and Central Europe
- Latin America and the Caribbean
- Oceans, Continents, and Polar Regions
- Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, and the Balkans
- United States, Canada, and Greenland
- Plants and Animals +-
- Science and Technology +-
- Social Sciences and the Law +-
- Sports and Everyday Life +-
