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Phrynichus, fl. c.510–476 b.c., Athenian dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Phrynichus frĭnˈĭkəs [key], fl. c.510–476 b.c., Athenian dramatist, considered by some ancients (including Plato) to be the founder of tragedy. His historical play, The Taking of Miletus, which ...

Carlos, prince of the Asturias

(Encyclopedia)Carlos, 1545–68, prince of the Asturias, son of Philip II of Spain and Maria of Portugal. Don Carlos, who seems to have been mentally unbalanced and subject to fits of homicidal mania, was imprisone...

Weise, Christian

(Encyclopedia)Weise, Christian krĭsˈtyän vīˈzə [key], 1642–1708, German didactic poet and dramatist. He wrote more than 60 plays, many of them written for production in schools. Perhaps the best-known are t...

Sophocles

(Encyclopedia)Sophocles sŏfˈəklēz [key], c.496 b.c.–406 b.c., Greek tragic dramatist, younger contemporary of Aeschylus and older contemporary of Euripides, b. Colonus, near Athens. A man of wealth, charm, an...

Denham, Sir John

(Encyclopedia)Denham, Sir John dĕnˈəm [key], 1615–69, English poet and dramatist. His fame rests largely on two works: Cooper's Hill (1642), a topographical poem, combining descriptions of scenery with moral r...

Ferreira, António

(Encyclopedia)Ferreira, António äntôˈnyo͝o fərēˈrə [key], c.1528–69, Portuguese dramatist and poet. Ferreira served as a privy councillor and a magistrate. Influenced by the Italian Renaissance, he wrote...

Moore, Thomas Sturge

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Thomas Sturge, 1870–1944, English author. Although his themes were classical and conservative, his poetic technique was innovative. His first volume of poetry, The Vinedresser, appeared in 18...

Lohenstein, Daniel Caspar von

(Encyclopedia)Lohenstein, Daniel Caspar von däˈnēĕl käsˈpär fən lōˈənshtīn [key], 1635–83, German dramatist, novelist, and poet. Lohenstein is credited with having created baroque tragedy in Germany. ...

Kerr, Walter Francis

(Encyclopedia)Kerr, Walter Francis, 1913–96, American drama critic, b. Evanston, Ill. He wrote for the theater in the 1930s, and became drama critic for the New York Herald Tribune in 1951 and for the New York Ti...

Sophonisba

(Encyclopedia)Sophonisba sōfənĭzˈbə [key], fl. 3d cent. b.c., Carthaginian noblewoman, daughter of Hasdrubal. She was the Carthaginian wife of Syphax of Numidia, who after the marriage fought for Carthage. Whe...