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Apuleius, Lucius

(Encyclopedia)Apuleius, Lucius ăˌpyo͝olēˈəs [key], c.124–c.170, Latin writer, satirist, rhetorician, b. Hippo (now Bône, Algeria). His narrative romance The Golden Ass or Metamorphoses is the only Latin wo...

Parmenides

(Encyclopedia)Parmenides pärmĕnˈĭdēz [key], b. c.515 b.c., Greek philosopher of Elea, leading figure of the Eleatic school. Parmenides' great contribution to philosophy was the method of reasoned proof for ass...

track and field athletics

(Encyclopedia)track and field athletics or athletics, sports of foot racing, hurdling, jumping, vaulting, and throwing varied weights and objects. They are usually separated into two categories: track, the running ...

Delmedigo, Elijah ben Moses Abba

(Encyclopedia)Delmedigo, Elijah ben Moses Abba dālmĕˈdēgō [key], c.1460–1497, Jewish philosopher and Talmudist, b. Crete, known also as Elijah Cretensis. He emigrated to Italy as a young man. He studied the ...

Xenophanes

(Encyclopedia)Xenophanes zĕnŏfˈənēz [key], c.570–c.480 b.c., pre-Socratic Greek philosopher of Colophon. Although thought by some to be the founder of the Eleatic school, his thought is only superficially si...

Persian art and architecture

(Encyclopedia)Persian art and architecture, works of art and structures produced in the region of Asia traditionally known as Persia and now called Iran. Bounded by fierce mountains and deserts, the high plateau of...

Callimachus, fl. 2d half of 5th cent. b.c., Greek sculptor from Athens

(Encyclopedia)Callimachus kəlĭmˈəkəs [key], fl. 2d half of 5th cent. b.c., Greek sculptor from Athens. He was famous as the maker of the gold lamp in the Erechtheum and a seated image of Hera for a temple at P...

Empedocles

(Encyclopedia)Empedocles ĕmpĕdˈəklēz [key], c.495–c.435 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Acragas (present Agrigento), Sicily. Leader of the democratic faction in his native city, he was offered the crown, which h...

earth, in chemistry

(Encyclopedia)earth, in chemistry, metallic oxide not readily reducible by chemical means, e.g., alkaline earths, rare earths, and alumina. The name is also applied to certain absorbent clays, e.g., fuller's earth,...

stoa

(Encyclopedia)stoa stōˈə [key], in ancient Greek architecture, an extended, roofed colonnade on a street or square. Early examples consisted of a simple open-fronted shed or porch with a roof sloping from the ba...