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Hipparchus, Greek astronomer

(Encyclopedia)Hipparchus, fl. 2d cent. b.c., Greek astronomer, b. Nicaea, Bithynia. He is the first systematic astronomer of whom there are records. He made his observations chiefly on the island of Rhodes. Ptolemy...

Bias, Greek sage

(Encyclopedia)Bias bīˈəs [key], fl. 6th cent. b.c., Greek sage, b. Priene. He is at best semilegendary but was called one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece. Many epigrams were attributed to him by ancient writers....

Eos

(Encyclopedia)Eos ēˈŏs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of dawn; daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Every morning she arose early and preceded her brother Helios into the heavens. Her husb...

Furies

(Encyclopedia)Furies or Erinyes ērĭnˈē-ēz [key], in Greek and Roman religion and mythology, three daughters of Mother Earth, conceived from the blood of Uranus, when Kronos castrated him. They were powerful di...

Ares

(Encyclopedia)Ares ârˈēz [key], in Greek religion and mythology, Olympian god of war. He is usually said to be the son of Zeus and Hera; but in some legends he and Eris, his twin sister, were born when Hera touc...

Hera

(Encyclopedia)Hera hĭrˈə, hērˈə [key], in Greek religion and mythology, queen of the Olympian gods, daughter of Kronos and Rhea. She was the wife and sister of Zeus and the mother of Ares and Hephaestus. A je...

Olympian

(Encyclopedia)Olympian, in Greek religion and mythology, one of the 12 important gods who succeeded the Titans as rulers of the universe. The divine family of the Olympians was headed by Zeus, who ruled the heavens...

Demeter

(Encyclopedia)Demeter dĭmēˈtər [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of harvest and fertility; daughter of Kronos and Rhea. She was the mother of Persephone by Zeus. When Pluto abducted Persephone, De...

fraternity and sorority

(Encyclopedia)fraternity and sorority, in American colleges, a student society formed for social purposes, into which members are initiated by invitation and occasionally by a period of trial known as hazing. Frate...

Callimachus, fl. c.280–45 b.c., Hellenistic Greek poet and critic

(Encyclopedia)Callimachus, fl. c.280–45 b.c., Hellenistic Greek poet and critic, b. Cyrene. Educated at Athens, he taught before obtaining work in the Alexandrian library. There he drew up a catalog, with such co...