Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Athena pălˈəs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, one of the most important Olympian deities. According to myth, after Zeus seduced Metis he learned that any son she bore would overthrow him, s...

(Encyclopedia) Trojan War, in Greek mythology, war between the Greeks and the people of Troy. The strife began after the Trojan prince Paris abducted Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. When Menelaus demanded her ret...

(Encyclopedia) Callimachus kəlĭmˈəkəs [key], fl. 2d half of 5th cent. b.c., Greek sculptor from Athens. He was famous as the maker of the gold lamp in the Erechtheum and a seated image of Hera for a temple at P...

(Encyclopedia) Osiris ōsīˈrĭs [key], in Egyptian religion, legendary ruler of predynastic Egypt and god of the underworld. He was the son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. The great benefactor of man...

(Encyclopedia) Etzel ĕtˈsəl [key], in Germanic mythology, king who corresponds to the historic Attila. In the Nibelungenlied he appears as Etzel and in the Volsungasaga as Atli. ...

(Encyclopedia) Church, Sir Richard, 1784–1873, British army officer. After varied service, he organized a Greek regiment to defend (1812–15) the Ionian Islands, and in 1827 he was made generalissimo of the Greek...

(Encyclopedia) Jónsson, Einar āˈnär yōnˈsôn [key], 1874–1954, Icelandic sculptor and painter. His subjects were drawn from Nordic mythology, Icelandic folklore, and the Bible. His statue of the explorer Tho...

(Encyclopedia) Lascaris, Constantine kŏnˈstəntēn lăsˈkərĭs [key], d. 1501?, Greek grammarian. After the fall of Constantinople, Lascaris went to Italy and in Milan obtained the patronage of Francesco Sforza....

(Encyclopedia) Mimir mēˈmĭr [key], in Norse mythology, giant who guarded the well of wisdom. According to one legend Mimir was beheaded by the enemies of the gods of Asgard; his head was then preserved by Odin, w...

(Encyclopedia) Ymir ēˈmĕr [key], in Norse mythology, primeval giant and progenitor of a race of giants. Odin and his brothers slew Ymir; from his skull they fashioned the sky, from his flesh the earth, from his b...