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celestial mechanics

(Encyclopedia)celestial mechanics, the study of the motions of astronomical bodies as they move under the influence of their mutual gravitation. Celestial mechanics analyzes the orbital motions of planets, dwarf pl...

mammon

(Encyclopedia)mammon mămˈən [key], Aramaic term, meaning worldly riches, retained in the New Testament Greek. “Ye cannot serve God and mammon” is one of the most noted biblical strictures. ...

Rhadamanthus

(Encyclopedia)Rhadamanthus rădˌəmănˈthəs [key], in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Europa. Renowned for his justice on earth, the gods made him one of the judges of the dead. ...

Urias

(Encyclopedia)Urias yo͞orīˈəs [key], Greek form of Uriah. ...

Polyaenus

(Encyclopedia)Polyaenus pŏlˌē-ēˈnəs [key], fl. c.153, Macedonian Greek writer. His Stratagems, anecdotes on the ruses of war, takes much from various ancient sources now lost. ...

Actaeon

(Encyclopedia)Actaeon ăktēˈən [key], in Greek mythology, son of Aristaeus and Autonoë. Because he saw Artemis bathing naked, she changed him into a stag, and his own dogs killed him. ...

Javan

(Encyclopedia)Javan jāˈvăn [key], in the Bible. 1 Japheth's son, eponymous ancestor of the Greeks. 2 Unidentified place engaged in trade with Tyre, perhaps a Greek colony. ...

Pherecrates

(Encyclopedia)Pherecrates fərĕkˈrətēz [key], fl. c.437 b.c., inventive and highly esteemed Greek poet of the Old Comedy. Fragments and titles of 15 of his plays are extant. ...

Cephas

(Encyclopedia)Cephas sēˈfəs [key], in the Gospels, Jesus' name for St. Peter. It is a transliteration of the Aramaic word for rock, and identical in meaning with “Peter” in Greek. ...

Roman art

(Encyclopedia)Roman art, works of art produced in ancient Rome and its far-flung provinces. The continued striving after three-dimensional illusionist effects revealed in the various phases of painting was dup...