Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Olympus

(Encyclopedia)Olympus ōlĭmˈpəs [key], Gr. Ólimbos, mountain range, c.25 mi (40 km) long, N Greece, on the border of Thessaly and Macedonia, near the Aegean coast. It rises to c.9,570 ft (2,920 m) at Mt. Olympu...

February Revolution, in French history

(Encyclopedia)February Revolution, 1848, French revolution that overthrew the monarchy of Louis Philippe and established the Second Republic. General dissatisfaction resulted partly from the king's increasingly rea...

Marsyas

(Encyclopedia)Marsyas märˈsēəs [key], in Greek mythology, Phrygian satyr. He found the flute that Athena had invented but had thrown away. He became so skillful with the instrument that he challenged the lyre-p...

satyr

(Encyclopedia)satyr sāˈtər, sătˈər [key], in Greek mythology, part bestial, part human creature of the forests and mountains. Satyrs were usually represented as being very hairy and having the tails and ears ...

centaur

(Encyclopedia)centaur sĕnˈtôr [key], in Greek mythology, creature, half man and half horse. The centaurs were fathered by Ixion or by Centaurus, who was Ixion's son. Followers of Dionysus, they were uncouth and ...

Longinus, fl. 1st cent.? a.d., Greek literary critic

(Encyclopedia)Longinus lŏnjīˈnəs [key], fl. 1st cent.? a.d., Greek literary critic; writer of the famous treatise On the Sublime. Nothing is known of his life, and for a long time his work was attributed to Cas...

Fogelberg, Bengt Erland

(Encyclopedia)Fogelberg, Bengt Erland bĕngt ĕrˈländ fo͞oˈgəlbĕrˌyə [key], 1786–1854, Swedish sculptor. He studied in Stockholm, in Paris, and in Rome, where he lived for many years. His statues of Greek...

illumination, in art

(Encyclopedia)illumination, in art, decoration of manuscripts and books with colored, gilded pictures, often referred to as miniatures (see miniature painting); historiated and decorated initials; and ornamental bo...

Pygmalion

(Encyclopedia)Pygmalion pĭgmālˈyən [key]. 1 In Greek mythology, king of Cyprus. He fell in love with a beautiful statue of a woman. When he prayed to Aphrodite for a wife like it, the goddess brought the statue...

Migne, Jacques Paul

(Encyclopedia)Migne, Jacques Paul zhäk pôl mēˈnyə [key], 1800–1875, French publisher of theological works, a Roman Catholic priest (ordained 1824). He set up a printing press in Paris and printed many religi...