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marathon race

(Encyclopedia)marathon race, long-distance foot race deriving its name from Marathon, Greece. According to legend, in 490 b.c., Pheidippides, a runner from Marathon, carried news of victory over the Persians to Ath...

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...

Benson, Edward Frederic

(Encyclopedia)Benson, Edward Frederic, 1867–1940, English author; 3d son of Archbishop Benson. He wrote several biographies and reflections on contemporary society, but he is chiefly remembered for his lightly sa...

Magna Graecia

(Encyclopedia)Magna Graecia măgˈnə grēˈshə [key] [Lat.,=great Greece], Greek colonies of S Italy. The Greek overseas expansion of the 8th cent. b.c. founded a number of towns that became the centers of a new,...

Samaras, Antonis

(Encyclopedia)Samaras, Antonis äntōˈnēs sämäräsˈ [key], 1951–, Greek political leader, premier of Greece (2012–15), b. Athens, grad. Amherst (1974), Harvard (M.B.A., 1976). He was first elected to parli...

Rome, city, Italy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Roman Empire (a.d. 117) CE5 Rome, Ital. Roma, city (1991 pop. 2,775,250), capital of Italy and see of the pope, whose residence, Vatican City, is a sovereign state within the city of Rome. R...

Hephaestus

(Encyclopedia)Hephaestus hĕfĕsˈtəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, Olympian god. According to Homer he was the son of Hera and Zeus, but Hesiod states that he was conceived and borne by Hera alone. Orig...

Gardner, Percy

(Encyclopedia)Gardner, Percy, 1846–1937, English classical archaeologist. He served as field assistant to W. M. Flinders Petrie, helping him excavate Naucritus, a Greek settlement in Egypt. From 1887 to 1925 he w...

Boston, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Boston, city (2020 pop. 692,600), state capital and seat of Suffolk co., E Mass., on Boston Bay, an arm of Massachusetts Bay; inc. 1822. The city includ...

Alexander, king of Greece

(Encyclopedia)Alexander, 1893–1920, king of the Hellenes (1917–20), second son of Constantine I. After his father's forced abdication, he succeeded to the Greek throne with the support of the Allies, who distru...