Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Norse religion: see Germanic religion. ...

(Encyclopedia) Teutonic religion: see Germanic religion. ...

(Encyclopedia) Janus jāˈnəs [key], in Roman religion, god of beginnings. He was one of the principal Roman gods, the custodian of the universe. The first hour of the day, the first day of the month, the first mon...

(Encyclopedia) dwarf planet, a nonluminous body of rock or gas that orbits the sun and has a rounded shape due to its gravity. Unlike a planet, a dwarf planet is not capable of clearing its orbit of smaller objects ...

(Encyclopedia) Harrison, Jane Ellen, 1850–1928, English classical scholar. She applied archaeological discoveries in the interpretation of Greek religion. Her works include Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religi...

(Encyclopedia) Pegasus, in Greek mythology, winged horse that carries the thunderbolt of Zeus. He sprang full-grown from the neck of the dying Gorgon Medusa. With a slash of his hoof, he created the Hippocrene, a sa...

(Encyclopedia) Slavic religion, pre-Christian religious practices among the Slavs of Eastern Europe. There is only fragmentary and scattered information about the myths and legends of the pagan Slavs, and it is not ...

(Encyclopedia) Harpy, in Greek mythology, winged women with sharp claws who snatched food, objects, or people.

(Encyclopedia) Iapetus, in Greek mythology, a Titan. By the nymph Clymene he fathered Atlas, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoetius.

(Encyclopedia) Ra rā [key], in Egyptian religion, sun god, one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt. Ra was chief of the cosmic deities and was sometimes called the creator and father of all things. Early Eg...