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Arethusa, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Arethusa ărĭtho͞oˈsə [key], in Greek mythology, nymph favored by Artemis and loved by the river god Alpheus. While Arethusa was bathing in his stream, Alpheus rose up and tried to abduct her, but...

Parrhasius

(Encyclopedia)Parrhasius pərāˈshēəs [key], fl. c.400 b.c., Greek painter. He was born in Ephesus but settled in Athens and is classed with the Attic painters. One of the greatest painters of Greece, a contempo...

Callas, Maria Meneghini

(Encyclopedia)Callas, Maria Meneghini märēˈä mĕnĕgēˈnē käˈläs [key], 1923–77, Greek-American soprano, b. New York City. At 13, Callas moved to Greece, where she studied at the Royal Conservatory in At...

Sporades

(Encyclopedia)Sporades spôrˈədēz, spŏrˈ– [key], islands, E and SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea. They have been grouped variously at different times. The Northern Sporades are generally understood to include Sk...

Serapis

(Encyclopedia)Serapis säräˈpĭs [key], Egyptian god whose devotees united the worship of the Apis bull and the god Osiris. His cult, which originated at Memphis, rose to its greatest significance at Alexandria d...

Phigalia

(Encyclopedia)Phigalia fĭgāˈlēə [key], ancient city of Greece, in SW Arcadia (now Arkadhía). It gives its name to the Phigalian Marbles, a frieze c.100 ft (30 m) long and 2 ft (61 cm) high, in high relief, re...

Actium

(Encyclopedia)Actium ăkˈtēəm, –shē– [key], promontory, NW Acarnania, Greece, at the mouth of the Ambracian Gulf. There are vestiges of several temples and an ancient town. At Actium was fought the naval ba...

Mahmud II

(Encyclopedia)Mahmud II, 1784–1839, Ottoman sultan (1808–39), younger son of Abd al-Hamid I. He was raised to the throne of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) upon the deposition of his brother, Mustafa IV, and contin...

isthmus

(Encyclopedia)isthmus ĭsˈməs [key], narrow neck of land connecting two larger land areas. Since it commands the only land route between two large areas and is on two seas, an isthmus has great strategical and co...

Kalamata

(Encyclopedia)Kalamata käläˈmā [key], city (1991 pop. 44,052), capital of Messinia prefecture, S Greece, in the Peloponnesus; a port on the Gulf of Messinia. It is an agricultural trade center and ships olive o...