Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) world soul, Lat. anima mundi, in philosophy, term denoting a universal spirit or soul that functions as an organizing principle. While many early Greek philosophers saw the world as of one principle, ...

(Encyclopedia) Timotheus tĭmōˈthēəs [key], c.450–c.357 b.c., Greek poet and musician of Miletus. An innovator in music, he added a string to the kithara. Fragments of his dithyrambs and nomes remain. Euripide...

(Encyclopedia) Hales, John, 1584–1656, English clergyman and scholar, often alluded to as the Ever-Memorable. He won distinction by his lectures on Greek at Oxford, his preaching, and his writings. From 1613 to 16...

(Encyclopedia) Charon, in Greek mythology: see Hades. ...

(Encyclopedia) harvest customs, practices associated with the celebration of the gathering of agricultural crops. The gathering of the harvest—the climax of the year's labors wherever the soil is cultivated—has ...

(Encyclopedia) Furies or Erinyes ērĭnˈē-ēz [key], in Greek and Roman religion and mythology, three daughters of Mother Earth, conceived from the blood of Uranus, when Kronos castrated him. They were powerful di...

(Encyclopedia) Autolycus ôtŏlˈĭkəs [key], fl. 4th cent. b.c., astronomer and mathematician of Pitane in Aeolis. Of his two extant works, that on the revolving sphere is said to be the oldest completely preserve...

(Encyclopedia) Barlaam and Josaphat bärˈläəm, jōˈsəfăt [key], legend popular in medieval times. It corresponds in part to the legend of Buddha. Versions of the story have been found in nearly every language....

(Encyclopedia) Eos ēˈŏs [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of dawn; daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia. Every morning she arose early and preceded her brother Helios into the heavens. Her husb...

(Encyclopedia) Papandreou, George päˌpəndrāˈo͞o [key], 1888–1968, Greek political leader, father of Andreas Papandreou and grandfather of George Papandreou (b. 1952). As a young man he became involved in ant...