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Thebes , city of ancient Greece

(Encyclopedia)Thebes, chief city of Boeotia, in ancient Greece. It was originally a Mycenaean city. Thebes is rich in associations with Greek legend and religion (see Oedipus; the Seven against Thebes; Epigoni). So...

Raphia, ancient town, Gaza Strip

(Encyclopedia)Raphia: see Rafa.

Veneti, people of ancient Gaul

(Encyclopedia)Veneti vĕnˈətī [key], Celtic people of ancient Gaul, who inhabited an area of NW France, now in Morbihan dept. Forming the most important of the Gallic maritime states, they rebelled in 57 b.c. ag...

Veneti, people of ancient Italy

(Encyclopedia)Veneti, people of ancient Italy. They occupied the shore of the Adriatic from Trieste to the mouth of the Po River and spoke an Illyrian language. Friendly toward Rome, they came under Roman rule in t...

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...

Lee, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Nathaniel, 1653–92, English dramatist. After failing as an actor, he turned to writing plays. Lee confined himself entirely to tragedy, turning often to the classical historians for the backgro...

Jodelle, Estienne

(Encyclopedia)Jodelle, Estienne ātyĕnˈ zhôdĕlˈ [key], 1532–73, French poet of the Pléiade (see under Pleiad). He was the author of Cléopatre captive (1553), the first French tragedy that departed from med...

Tourneur, Cyril

(Encyclopedia)Tourneur, Cyril tûrˈnər [key], 1575?–1626, English dramatist and poet. Little is known of his life. The Transformed Metamorphosis (1600), an allegorical satire, was his first published work. His ...

Kyd, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Kyd or Kid, Thomas, 1558–94, English dramatist, b. London. The son of a scrivener, he evidently followed his father's profession for a few years. In the 1580s he began writing plays. His literary fa...

Ritsos, Yannis

(Encyclopedia)Ritsos, Yannis, 1909–90, Greek poet. One of modern Greece's most widely translated poets, Ritsos moved from an early concern with classical themes and style to a more deeply personal lyricism. His w...