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Ictinus

(Encyclopedia)Ictinus ĭktīˈnəs [key], fl. 2d half of 5th cent. b.c., one of the greatest architects of Greece. His celebrated work is the Parthenon (447–432 b.c.) upon the acropolis at Athens, which he built ...

Homeric Hymns

(Encyclopedia)Homeric Hymns hōmĕrˈĭk [key], name applied to a body of 34 hexameter poems falsely attributed to Homer by the ancients. Composed probably between 800 and 300 b.c., they are complimentary verses ad...

Shuster, George Nauman

(Encyclopedia)Shuster, George Nauman, 1894–1977, American educator, b. Lancaster, Wis., grad. Notre Dame (B.A., 1915; M.A., 1920) and Columbia (Ph.D., 1940). He was head of the department of English at Notre Dame...

Daiches, David

(Encyclopedia)Daiches, David dāˈchēz [key], 1912–2005, British critic, b. Sunderland. A graduate of Edinburgh Univ. and Oxford (M.A., 1934; Ph.D., 1939), Daiches taught at several English universities and wrot...

Bridges, Robert Seymour

(Encyclopedia)Bridges, Robert Seymour, 1844–1930, English poet. In 1882 he abandoned medical practice to devote himself to writing. An excellent metrist, he wrote many beautiful lyrics and longer poems, noted for...

Laocoön

(Encyclopedia)Laocoön lāŏkˈōŏn [key], in Greek mythology, priest of Apollo who warned the Trojans not to touch the wooden horse made by the Greeks during the Trojan War. While he and his two sons were sacrifi...

Asawa, Brian Laurence

(Encyclopedia)Asawa, Brian Laurence äsäˈwä [key], 1966–2016, American countertenor, b. Fullerton, Calif., B.A., Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles. Known for the the clear, silvery fluidity of his voice and his ele...

sanctuary

(Encyclopedia)sanctuary, sacred place, especially the most sacred part of a sacred place. In ancient times and in the Middle Ages, a sanctuary served as asylum, a place of refuge for persons fleeing from violence o...

Scopas

(Encyclopedia)Scopas skōˈpəs [key], Greek sculptor, fl. 4th cent. b.c., b. Paros. Although numbered among the Athenians, he wandered from place to place and did not attach himself to any school. He was the first...

closet drama

(Encyclopedia)closet drama, a play that is meant to be read rather than performed. Precursors of the form existed in classical times. Plato's Apology is often regarded as tragic drama rather than philosophic dialog...