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Hebbel, Christian Friedrich

(Encyclopedia)Hebbel, Christian Friedrich krĭsˈtyän frēˈdrĭkh hĕbˈəl [key], 1813–63, German tragic dramatist. Born poor, he was largely self-educated. Hegel's historical theories influenced his work, whi...

Sophocles

(Encyclopedia)Sophocles sŏfˈəklēz [key], c.496 b.c.–406 b.c., Greek tragic dramatist, younger contemporary of Aeschylus and older contemporary of Euripides, b. Colonus, near Athens. A man of wealth, charm, an...

Ennius, Quintus

(Encyclopedia)Ennius, Quintus kwĭnˈtəs ĕnˈēəs [key], 239–169? b.c., Latin poet, regarded by the Romans as the father of Latin poetry, b. Calabria. His birthplace was the meeting point of three civilization...

Ritsos, Yannis

(Encyclopedia)Ritsos, Yannis, 1909–90, Greek poet. One of modern Greece's most widely translated poets, Ritsos moved from an early concern with classical themes and style to a more deeply personal lyricism. His w...

Field, Michael

(Encyclopedia)Field, Michael, pseud. used by two English authors, Katherine Harris Bradley, 1846–1914, and her niece Edith Emma Cooper, 1862–1913, who collaborated on numerous literary works, including lyrics a...

Rotrou, Jean de

(Encyclopedia)Rotrou, Jean de zhäN də rôtro͞oˈ [key], 1609–50, French dramatist. One of the Cinq auteurs, five playwrights commissioned by Cardinal Richelieu, Rotrou wrote many plays, including the noble and...

Delavigne, Casimir

(Encyclopedia)Delavigne, Casimir käzēmērˈ dəlävēˈnyə [key], 1793–1843, French dramatist, poet, and satirist. His first publication, a verse diatribe against the Restoration, Les Messéniennes (1818), bro...

Agatharchus

(Encyclopedia)Agatharchus ăgˌəthärˈkəs [key], fl. 5th cent. b.c., Greek painter of the Athenian school, b. Samos. He is credited by Vitruvius with important discoveries in application of shading and perspecti...

Lycophron

(Encyclopedia)Lycophron lĭkˈəfrŏn [key], fl. early 3d cent. b.c., b. Chalcis, Alexandrian Greek poet, one of the Pleiad. His only extant poem Cassandra or Alexandra, is an obscure and difficult work in iambic v...

Mallet, David

(Encyclopedia)Mallet or Malloch, David mălˈĭt, –əkh [key], c.1705–1765, English poet and dramatist, b. Scotland. His best-known work is the ballad William and Margaret (1720). Although he wrote several trag...

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