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Orphic Mysteries

(Encyclopedia)Orphic Mysteries or Orphism, religious cult of ancient Greece, prominent in the 6th cent. b.c. According to legend Orpheus founded these mysteries and was the author of the sacred poems from which the...

Saint Marys, rivers, United States and Canada

(Encyclopedia)Saint Marys. 1 River, c.175 mi (280 km) long, rising in Okefenokee Swamp, SE Ga., and flowing, with a great southern bend, E to the Atlantic Ocean. It forms part of the Georgia–Florida line. The low...

John XXIII, Saint, pope

(Encyclopedia)John XXIII, Saint, 1881–1963, pope (1958–63), an Italian (b. Sotto il Monte, near Bergamo) named Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli; successor of Pius XII. He was of peasant stock. Educated at Bergamo and t...

Midas

(Encyclopedia)Midas mīˈdəs [key], in Greek mythology, king of Phrygia. Because he befriended Silenus, the oldest of the satyrs, Dionysus granted him the power to turn everything into gold by touch. But when even...

Stephen, Saint, duke and king of Hungary

(Encyclopedia)Stephen, Saint, or Stephen I, 975–1038, duke (997–1001) and first king (1001–38) of Hungary, called the Apostle of Hungary. The Hungarian state may be said to date from his reign. Because he con...

Martin I, Saint, d. 655?, pope

(Encyclopedia)Martin I, Saint, d. 655?, pope (649–55?), an Italian, b. Todi; successor of Theodore I. On his accession he summoned a great council at the Lateran, as St. Maximus had urged, to deal with Monothelet...

Saint Bartholomew's Day, massacre of

(Encyclopedia)Saint Bartholomew's Day, massacre of, murder of French Protestants, or Huguenots, that began in Paris on Aug. 24, 1572. It was preceded, on Aug. 22, by an attempt, ordered by Catherine de' Medici, on ...

Hyades, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Hyades, in Greek mythology, nymphs; daughters of Atlas and Aethra. They cared for both Zeus and Dionysus as infants. In recognition of these services, they were placed among the stars of the constella...

Melampus

(Encyclopedia)Melampus mĭlămˈpəs [key], in Greek mythology, seer who understood the speech of all creatures. It was said that he introduced the worship of Dionysus into Greece. ...

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