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Eleusinian Mysteries

(Encyclopedia)Eleusinian Mysteries ĕlyo͞osĭnˈēən [key], principal religious mysteries of ancient Greece. The mysteries may have originated as part of an early agrarian festival peculiar to certain families in...

Elgin Marbles

(Encyclopedia)Elgin Marbles ĕlˈgĭn [key], ancient sculptures taken from Athens to England in 1806 by Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin; other fragments exist in several European museums. Consisting of much of the ...

handkerchief

(Encyclopedia)handkerchief. In classical Greece pieces of fine perfumed cotton, known as mouth or perspiration cloths, were often used by the wealthy. From the 1st cent. b.c., Roman men of rank used an oblong cloth...

Cassander

(Encyclopedia)Cassander kəsănˈdər [key], 358–297 b.c., king of Macedon, one of the chief figures in the wars of the Diadochi. The son of Antipater, he was an officer under Alexander the Great, but there was i...

Aetolian League

(Encyclopedia)Aetolian League, confederation centering in the cities of Aetolia. It was formed in the 4th cent. b.c. and began to gain power in the 3d cent. in opposing the Achaean League and the Macedonians. At it...

Greek language

(Encyclopedia)Greek language, member of the Indo-European family of languages (see Indo-European). It is the language of one of the major civilizations of the world and of one of the greatest literatures of all tim...

Peloponnesian War

(Encyclopedia)Peloponnesian War pĕlˈəpənēˈzhən [key], 431–404 b.c., decisive struggle in ancient Greece between Athens and Sparta. It ruined Athens, at least for a time. The rivalry between Athens' maritim...

lentil

(Encyclopedia)lentil, leguminous Old World annual plant (Lens culinaris) with whitish or pale blue flowers. Its pods contain two greenish-brown or dark-colored seeds, also called lentils, which when fully ripe are ...

Artaxerxes I

(Encyclopedia)Artaxerxes I ärˌtəzûrkˈsēz [key], d. 425 b.c., king of ancient Persia (464–425 b.c.), of the dynasty of the Achaemenis. Artaxerxes is the Greek form of “Ardashir the Persian.” He succeeded...

Lysander

(Encyclopedia)Lysander līsănˈdər [key], d. 395 b.c., Spartan naval commander and statesman. Toward the end of the Peloponnesian War he was made admiral and built up the Spartan fleet so that it defeated (407 b....