Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Apelles əpĕlˈēz [key], fl. 330 b.c., Greek painter, the most celebrated in antiquity but now known only through descriptions of his works. He is thought to have studied under Ephorus of Ephesus an...

(Encyclopedia) passion music, choral music whose text depicts events immediately surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. The earliest passions, composed from the 9th to the 14th cent., were monophonic and employed the...

(Encyclopedia) elegy, in Greek and Roman poetry, a poem written in elegiac verse (i.e., couplets consisting of a hexameter line followed by a pentameter line). The form dates back to 7th cent. b.c. in Greece and poe...

(Encyclopedia) Lysimachus līsĭmˈəkəs [key], c.355–281 b.c., Thessalian general of Alexander the Great. He was a commander in Alexander's fleet on the Hydaspes as well as his bodyguard. On Alexander's death (3...

(Encyclopedia) Antipater ăntĭpˈətər [key], d. 319 b.c., Macedonian general. He was one of the ablest and most trusted lieutenants of Philip II and was a friend and supporter of Alexander the Great. When Alexand...

(Encyclopedia) Constantine (Konstantin Pavlovich) kənstəntyēnˈ pävˈləvĭch [key], 1779–1831, Russian grand duke, second son of Czar Paul I and brother of Alexander I and Nicholas I. On the death of Alexande...

(Encyclopedia) Leochares lēŏkˈərēz [key], fl. 4th cent. b.c., Greek sculptor, probably an Athenian. Leochares was associated in the decoration of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus. He is known to have made portrai...

(Encyclopedia) Margaret Maid of Norway, 1283–90, queen of Scotland (1286–90), daughter of Eric II of Norway and granddaughter of Alexander III of Scotland. In 1284 the nobles of Scotland recognized the infant No...

(Encyclopedia) Draga dräˈgä [key], 1867–1903, queen consort of King Alexander of Serbia. A widow and a lady in waiting to the king's mother, Draga Mašin (Mashin) was accused by general rumor of a shady and pro...

(Encyclopedia) Sodoma, Il ēl sôˈdōmä [key], c.1477–1549, Sienese painter, whose real name was Giovanni Antonio Bazzi. Born in Vercelli, Piedmont, he went to Rome c.1508. Commissioned by Pope Julius II, he pai...