Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Porson, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Porson, Richard, 1759–1808, English classical scholar, b. Norfolk. A poor boy, he showed such astonishing powers of memory that patrons sent him through Eton and Cambridge. He was appointed regius p...

Hermetic books

(Encyclopedia)Hermetic books, ancient metaphysical works dealing essentially with the idea of the complete community of all beings and objects. Authorship of the books was attributed to the Egyptian god of wisdom, ...

Herodes Atticus

(Encyclopedia)Herodes Atticus (Tiberius Claudius Atticus Herodes) ătˈĭkəs [key], c.101–c.177, Greek Sophist, rhetorician, and patron of learning, b. Marathon. A great public benefactor, he used his fortune to...

Heliodorus of Emesa

(Encyclopedia)Heliodorus of Emesa ĕmˈəsə [key], fl. 3d cent., Syrian Greek writer. He wrote the romance Aethiopica, one of the oldest and best of surviving Greek romances. Little is known of his life except tha...

Stobaeus, Joannes

(Encyclopedia)Stobaeus, Joannes jōănˈēz stōbēˈəs [key], fl. 5th cent.? a.d., Greek anthologist. He made a large collection of excerpts from poets and prose writers on a variety of subjects, originally for t...

Aelian

(Encyclopedia)Aelian ēˈlēən [key], fl. 2d cent. a.d., Greek rhetorician, b. Praenesta; his original name was Claudius Aelianus. He taught rhetoric in Rome c.220. His works, all in Greek, include Historical Misc...

Hellenism

(Encyclopedia)Hellenism, the culture, ideals, and pattern of life of ancient Greece in classical times. It usually means primarily the culture of Athens and the related cities during the Age of Pericles. The term i...

Arp, Jean

(Encyclopedia)Arp, Jean or Hans, 1887–1966, French sculptor and painter. Arp was connected with the Blaue Reiter in Munich, various avant-garde groups in Paris, including the surrealists, and the Dadaists in Zür...

Lorenzo di Pietro

(Encyclopedia)Lorenzo di Pietro pyāˈtrō [key], c.1412–1480, Sienese painter, sculptor, and goldsmith, called Il Vecchietta. He painted a group of frescoes and a relic press in the hospital at Siena; four ceili...

Mino da Fiesole

(Encyclopedia)Mino da Fiesole dē jōvänˈnē [key], 1429–84, Florentine sculptor of the early Renaissance. He produced many tombs and sculptures for churches. Among the best are the altar in the cathedral at Fi...