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Ctesibius

(Encyclopedia)Ctesibius tĭsĭbˈēəs [key], fl. 2d cent. b.c., Alexandrian Greek inventor. He reputedly was the first to discover and apply the expansive power of air as a motive force. Among the inventions ascri...

Didymus of Alexandria

(Encyclopedia)Didymus of Alexandria, d. c.396, Greek grammarian and theologian, also called Didymus the Blind. His treatise On the Holy Ghost was translated by St. Jerome, who studied briefly with him. Although Did...

Antaeus

(Encyclopedia)Antaeus ăntēˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, giant; son of Poseidon and Gaea, the goddess of the earth. He became stronger whenever he touched the earth, his mother. He killed everyone with whom he ...

Hymen

(Encyclopedia)Hymen hīmənēˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, personification of marriage, represented as a beautiful youth carrying a bridal torch and wearing a veil. ...

Symplegades

(Encyclopedia)Symplegades sĭmplĕgˈədēz [key], in Greek mythology, two floating cliffs that swung together and crushed anything going between them until Jason's ship, the Argo, passed safely through them. They ...

Silvanus

(Encyclopedia)Silvanus, in Roman religion, ancient pastoral deity, protector of uncultivated lands. It was also said that he was the guardian of field boundaries, flocks, and herds. Like the Greek Pan, with whom he...

Smith, Sir William

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Sir William, 1813–93, English editor and lexicographer. He was editor of the Quarterly Review from 1867 until his death and also edited reference works esteemed for their accuracy and compreh...

Aganippe

(Encyclopedia)Aganippe ăgˌənĭpˈē [key], in Greek mythology, nymph. Her spring on Mt. Helicon, sacred to the Muses, gave poetic inspiration to all who drank from it. ...

Calchas

(Encyclopedia)Calchas kălˈkăs [key], in Greek legend, seer whose prophecies aided the Greeks in the Trojan War. In medieval romances, he is the father of Cressida. ...

Callinus

(Encyclopedia)Callinus kəlīˈnəs [key], fl. 7th cent. b.c., Greek poet. He is the earliest of the known elegiac poets. An excerpt from a patriotic exhortation to his fellow Ephesians is the longest of the few fr...