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astronomy

(Encyclopedia)astronomy, branch of science that studies the motions and natures of celestial bodies, such as planets, stars, and galaxies; more generally, the study of matter and energy in the universe at large. ...

Byzantine music

(Encyclopedia)Byzantine music, the music of the Byzantine Empire composed to Greek texts as ceremonial, festival, or church music. Long thought to be only a further development of ancient Greek music, Byzantine mus...

Mitsotakis, Kyriakos

(Encyclopedia)Mitsotakis, Kyriakos, 1968–, Greek political leader. Son of Constantine Mitsotakis, he studied in the United States, worked as an economist in London (1990–91, 1995–97), then returned to Greece ...

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...

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 ...

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 ...