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X

(Encyclopedia)X, 24th letter of the alphabet. In English it has no peculiar sound, but stands for the combination ks as in fox, or gz as in exempt, or, initially, for the sound of z as in xenia. In words from Greek...

symbol

(Encyclopedia)symbol, sign representing something that has an independent existence. The most important use of symbols is in language. To say so, however, does not solve the perennial philosophical questions as to ...

Apollonius of Perga

(Encyclopedia)Apollonius of Perga, fl. 247–205 b.c., Greek mathematician of the Alexandrian school. He produced a treatise on conic sections that included, as well as his own work, much of the work of his predece...

Thersites

(Encyclopedia)Thersites thərsīˈtēz [key], in Greek legend, member of the Greek army in the Trojan War. He was famous for his ugliness, his unpleasant temper, and his love of argument. When he mocked Achilles fo...

Kolokotronis, Theodore

(Encyclopedia)Kolokotronis, Theodore kôlôkôtrôˈnyēs [key], 1770–1843, Greek patriot and general. A leader in the Greek War of Independence against Ottoman rule in the 1820s, he was instrumental in the captu...

Tsipras, Alexis

(Encyclopedia)Tsipras, Alexis, 1974–, Greek political leader. A civil engineer by training, he was the head (2008–13) of Snyaspismos, a leftist party that was part of the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza);...

Clerides, Glafkos John

(Encyclopedia)Clerides, Glafkos John gläfˈkōs, klārēˈᵺēs [key], 1919–2013, Greek Cypriot political leader. A pilot in Britain's Royal Air Force in World War II, Clerides was shot down (1942) and held in ...

Gros Ventre

(Encyclopedia)Gros Ventre grō văNˈtrə [key] [Fr.,=big belly], name used by the French for two quite distinct Native North American groups. One was the Atsina, a detached band of the Arapaho, whose language belo...

Mycenaean civilization

(Encyclopedia)Mycenaean civilization mīsēnēˈən [key], an ancient Aegean civilization known from the excavations at Mycenae and other sites. They were first undertaken by Heinrich Schliemann and others after 18...

Ate

(Encyclopedia)Ate āˈtē [key], in Greek mythology, personification of the rash temper that leads men to folly and misfortune. She was the daughter of Zeus, who, angered by her mischief, cast her from Olympus. In ...