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campaign, political

(Encyclopedia)campaign, political, organized effort to secure nomination and election of candidates for government offices. In the United States, the most important political campaigns are those for the nomination ...

apostrophe, figure of speech

(Encyclopedia)apostrophe, figure of speech in which an absent person, a personified inanimate being, or an abstraction is addressed as though present. The term is derived from a Greek word meaning “a turning away...

Pisistratus

(Encyclopedia)Pisistratus pīsĭsˈtrətəs [key], 605?–527 b.c., Greek statesman, tyrant of Athens. His power was founded on the cohesion of the rural citizens, whom he consolidated with farseeing land laws. His...

political action committee

(Encyclopedia)political action committee (PAC), U.S. organization formed by a corporation, labor union, or association to raise money for political activity. Funds can be gathered by voluntary contributions from me...

Miltiades

(Encyclopedia)Miltiades mĭltīˈədēz [key], d. 489 b.c., Athenian general who commanded at Marathon. He succeeded his uncle as ruler (c.524 b.c.) of an Athenian dependency in the Gallipoli Peninsula. He accompan...

Cleon

(Encyclopedia)Cleon klēˈən [key], d. 422 b.c., Athenian political leader. The son of a tanner, he had little education; nevertheless, he was a gifted speaker. He began his political career with a series of relen...

Aspasia

(Encyclopedia)Aspasia ăspāˈshə, –zhə [key], fl. mid-5th cent. b.c., Athenian courtesan. A woman of great beauty and intelligence, she became the mistress and, according to some poets, adviser of Pericles aft...

Hippias

(Encyclopedia)Hippias hĭpˈēəs [key], tyrant (527 b.c.–510 b.c.) of Athens, eldest son of Pisistratus. Hippias governed Athens after the death of his father. His younger brother Hipparchus was closely associat...

Themistocles

(Encyclopedia)Themistocles thəmĭsˈtəklēz [key], c.525–462 b.c., Athenian statesman and naval commander. He was elected one of the three archons in 493 b.c. In succeeding years many of his rivals were elimina...

Simonides of Ceos

(Encyclopedia)Simonides of Ceos sīmŏnˈĭdēz, sēˈŏs [key], c.556–468? b.c., Greek lyric poet, b. Ceos. At Athens for a time under the patronage of Hipparchus, he seems then to have gone to Thessaly, returni...