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Steiner, Jakob

(Encyclopedia)Steiner, Jakob yäˈkôp shtīˈnər [key], 1796–1863, Swiss mathematician. He was largely self-taught and was professor of geometry at the Univ. of Berlin from 1834. A pioneer in the development of...

Eris, in Greek religion

(Encyclopedia)Eris ēˈrĭs [key], in Greek religion, goddess of strife. Angered at not being invited to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis, she threw the apple of discord among the wedding guests (see Paris, in Gree...

Timaeus , Greek historian

(Encyclopedia)Timaeus tīmēˈəs [key], c.356–c.260 b.c., Greek historian of Tauromenium (now Taormina), Sicily. Son of the tyrant of the city, he was banished by Agathocles either in 317 or 312 b.c. and lived f...

Pegasus, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Pegasus, in Greek mythology, winged horse that carries the thunderbolt of Zeus. He sprang full-grown from the neck of the dying Gorgon Medusa. With a slash of his hoof, he created the Hippocrene, a sa...

Porphyry, Greek scholar

(Encyclopedia)Porphyry pôrˈfĭrē [key], c.232–c.304, Greek scholar and Neoplatonic philosopher. He studied rhetoric under Cassius Longinus and philosophy under Plotinus. He later lectured in Rome on the philos...

Eubulides

(Encyclopedia)Eubulides yo͞obyo͞oˈlĭdēz [key], 4th cent. b.c., Greek philosopher, native of Miletus. He was a contemporary and adversary of Aristotle and was the successor of Euclid of Megara as head of the Me...

Harpy, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Harpy, in Greek mythology, winged women with sharp claws who snatched food, objects, or people.

Iapetus, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Iapetus, in Greek mythology, a Titan. By the nymph Clymene he fathered Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius.

Medusa, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Medusa mədo͞oˈsə [key], in Greek mythology, most famous of the three monstrous Gorgon sisters. She was once a beautiful woman, but she offended Athena, who changed her hair into snakes and made he...

Borelli, Giovanni Alfonso

(Encyclopedia)Borelli, Giovanni Alfonso jōvänˈnē älfônˈsō bôrĕlˈlē [key], 1608–79, Italian physiologist, physicist, astronomer, and mathematician; son of a Spanish infantryman. His wide interests led ...