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Electra

(Encyclopedia)Electra ĭlĕkˈtrə [key], in Greek mythology. 1 Daughter of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra. After her mother and Aegisthus murdered Agamemnon, Electra, eager for revenge, longed only for the return of h...

Penelope

(Encyclopedia)Penelope pənĕlˈəpē [key], in Greek mythology, wife of Odysseus and the mother of Telemachus. In Homer's Odyssey she is pictured as a chaste and faithful wife. When Odysseus was away, she was surr...

Lucian

(Encyclopedia)Lucian lo͞oˈshən [key], b. c.120, d. after 180, Greek writer, also called Lucianus, b. Samosata, Syria. In late life he held a government position in Egypt. Lucian wrote an easy, masterly Attic pro...

snake worship

(Encyclopedia)snake worship. The snake has been variously adored as a regenerative power, as a god of evil, as a god of good, as Christ (by the Gnostics), as a phallic deity, as a solar deity, and as a god of death...

Sarpedon

(Encyclopedia)Sarpedon särpēˈdən [key], in Greek mythology, son of Zeus and Laodamia, who was the daughter of Bellerophon. In the Iliad, as an ally of the Trojans, Sarpedon courageously led the Lycians against ...

Acastus

(Encyclopedia)Acastus əkăsˈtəs [key], in Greek mythology, son of Pelias, cousin of Jason. He accompanied Jason on the Argonaut expedition, but when Jason and Medea murdered Pelias and usurped the throne of Iolc...

Lycia

(Encyclopedia)Lycia lĭshˈə [key], ancient country, SW Asia Minor. Egyptian sources ally the Lycians to the Hittites at the time of Ramses II; the Lycians spoke an Anatolian language. Lycia was frequently mention...

Tapajós

(Encyclopedia)Tapajós täpäzhôsˈ [key], river, c.600 mi (970 km) long, formed at the border of Mato Grosso, Pará, and Amazonas states, central Brazil, by the confluence of the Juruena and Teles Pirez rivers. I...

Pará, state, Brazil

(Encyclopedia)Pará pəräˈ [key], state (1996 pop. 5,552,783), 474,896 sq mi (1,229,981 sq km), N Brazil, in the lower Amazon River basin bordering on the Guianas and the Atlantic Ocean. Belém is the capital. Mo...

Manaus

(Encyclopedia)Manaus mänousˈ [key], city (1996 pop. 1,158,265), capital of Amazonas state, NW Brazil, on the Rio Negro. It is the chief commercial and cultural center of the upper Amazon region and an important r...