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Artaxerxes II

(Encyclopedia)Artaxerxes II, d. 358 b.c., king of ancient Persia (404–358 b.c.), son and successor of Darius II. He is sometimes called in Greek Artaxerxes Mnemon [the thoughtful]. Early in his reign Cyrus the Yo...

Hierapolis

(Encyclopedia)Hierapolis hīərăpˈəlĭs [key], ancient city of Phrygia, W Asia Minor, 7 mi (11.3 km) N of Laodicea and on a plateau 500 ft (152 m) above the Lycus valley (in present-day Turkey). Devoted to the w...

Berenice, c.273–21 b.c., queen of ancient Cyrene and Egypt

(Encyclopedia)Berenice, c.273–21 b.c., queen of ancient Cyrene and Egypt. She was the daughter and successor of King Magas of Cyrene. In 247 b.c. she married Ptolemy III, thereby effectively annexing Cyrene to Eg...

infanticide

(Encyclopedia)infanticide ĭnfănˈtəsīd [key] [Lat.,=child murder], the putting to death of the newborn with the consent of the parent, family, or community. Infanticide often occurs among peoples whose food sup...

Eleusinian Mysteries

(Encyclopedia)Eleusinian Mysteries ĕlyo͞osĭnˈēən [key], principal religious mysteries of ancient Greece. The mysteries may have originated as part of an early agrarian festival peculiar to certain families in...

Elgin Marbles

(Encyclopedia)Elgin Marbles ĕlˈgĭn [key], ancient sculptures taken from Athens to England in 1806 by Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin; other fragments exist in several European museums. Consisting of much of the ...

chorus, in Greek drama

(Encyclopedia)chorus, in the drama of ancient Greece. Originally the chorus seems to have arisen from the singing of the dithyramb, and the dithyrambic chorus allegedly became a true dramatic chorus when Thespis in...

dithyramb

(Encyclopedia)dithyramb dĭthˈĭrăm [key], in ancient Greece, hymn to the god Dionysus, choral lyric with exchanges between the leader and the chorus. It arose, probably, in the extemporaneous songs of the Dionys...

Thíra

(Encyclopedia)Thíra or Thera both: thērˈə [key], volcanic island (1991 pop. 9,360), c.30 sq mi (80 sq km), SE Greece, in the Aegean Sea. One of the Cyclades, Thíra is also known as Santorini, for St. Irene, th...

Reggio di Calabria

(Encyclopedia)Reggio di Calabria rĕdˈjō dē käläˈbrēä [key], city (1991 pop. 177,580), capital of Reggio di Calabria prov., Calabria, extreme S Italy, on the Strait of Messina opposite Sicily. An impoverish...