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Homer

(Encyclopedia)Homer, principal figure of ancient Greek literature; the first European poet. The Odyssey is written in 24 books and begins nearly ten years after the fall of Troy. In the first part, Telemachus, Od...

Peleus

(Encyclopedia)Peleus pēˈlēəs, –ləs [key], in Greek mythology, son of Aeacus and the father of Achilles by Thetis. He and his brother Telamon killed their half-brother Phocus and were exiled from Aegina. Afte...

Thetis

(Encyclopedia)Thetis thēˈtĭs [key], in Greek mythology, a nereid, mother of Achilles. She was loved by both Zeus and Poseidon, but because of a prophecy that her son would be greater than his father, the gods ga...

Neoptolemus

(Encyclopedia)Neoptolemus nēˌŏptŏlˈĭməs [key], in Greek legend, son of Achilles. In the Trojan War he proved himself brave but cruel. He killed Priam at the altar of Zeus and threw Astyanax, son of Hector, f...

Agamemnon

(Encyclopedia)Agamemnon ăˌgəmĕmˈnŏn [key], in Greek mythology, leader of the Greek forces in the Trojan War; king of Mycenae (or Argos). He and Menelaus were sons of Atreus and suffered the curse laid upon Pe...

Skíros

(Encyclopedia)Skíros sīˈrəs [key], island (1991 pop. 2,901), c.80 sq mi (210 sq km), E Greece, in the Aegean Sea, largest of the N Sporades. It is a summer resort noted for its fine beaches and grottoes. Skíro...

Penthesilea

(Encyclopedia)Penthesilea pĕnˌthĕsəlēˈə [key], in Greek mythology, an Amazon queen. In the Trojan War, she led a troop of Amazons against the Greeks. She was killed by Achilles, who then fell in love with he...

Edgeworth, Richard Lovell

(Encyclopedia)Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, 1744–1817, Anglo-Irish educational theorist, b. Bath, England, educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at Oxford; father of Maria Edgeworth. A member of the literary cote...

Drew, Charles Richard

(Encyclopedia)Drew, Charles Richard, 1904–50, African-American physician, b. Washington, D.C. A surgeon and a professor at Howard Univ. (1935–36; 1942–50), he developed a means of preserving blood plasma for ...

Dugdale, Richard Louis

(Encyclopedia)Dugdale, Richard Louis dŭgˈdāl [key], 1841–83, American social investigator, b. Paris. While inspecting (1874) county jails for the New York Prison Association, he developed data for his famous s...