Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Gaza, Theodore gāˈzə, gäˈ– [key], c.1398–c.1478, Greek scholar, b. Salonica. When the Turks attacked Constantinople, he went to Italy, where he became one of the greatest classical scholars a...

(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...

(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);...

(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 ...

(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...

(Encyclopedia) Amasis II, d. 525 b.c., king of ancient Egypt (569–525 b.c.), of the XXVI dynasty. In a military revolt he dethroned Apries. He erected temples and other buildings at Memphis and Saïs and encourage...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Cyprus sīˈprəs [key], Gr. Kypros, Turk. Kıbrıs, officially Republic of Cyprus...

(Encyclopedia) olive, common name for the Oleaceae, a family of trees and shrubs (including climbing forms) of warm temperate climates and of the Old World tropics, especially Asia and the East Indies. Many are popu...

(Encyclopedia) Celt kĕlt [key]. 1 One who speaks a Celtic language or who derives ancestry from an area where a Celtic language was spoken; i.e., one from Ireland, the Scottish Hebrides and Highlands, the Isle of M...

(Encyclopedia) Asgard ăsˈgärd [key], in Norse mythology, home of the gods, also known as Aesir. It consisted of luxurious palaces and halls, in which the gods (whose chief was Odin) dwelled, conferred, and banque...