Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Draco [Lat.,=the dragon], northern constellation lying SE of Ursa Minor and N of Lyra and Hercules. It is traditionally depicted as a dragon. Draco contains the bright star Eltanin (Gamma Draconis). T...

(Encyclopedia) Pirithoüs or Peirithoüs both: pīrĭthˈōəs [key], in Greek mythology, king of the Lapithae. He and Theseus swore an oath of eternal friendship. Together they went on the Calydonian hunt and invad...

(Encyclopedia) Alpheus älfēôsˈ [key], river, c.70 mi (110 km) long, rising in the Taygetus Mts., S Greece. The longest river in the Peloponnesus, it flows northwest through gorges, past Olympia, and onto the Oly...

(Encyclopedia) Bourdelle, Émile Antoine āmēlˈ äNtwänˈ bo͞ordĕlˈ [key], 1861–1929, French sculptor; son of a cabinetmaker of Montauban. He went to Paris in 1884, where he studied successively under Falgui...

(Encyclopedia) Bandinelli, Bartolomeo bätˈchō [key], 1493?–1560, Florentine sculptor and painter; son of a goldsmith. He attempted to emulate Michelangelo, and derived from him a strong interest in musculature....

(Encyclopedia) Commodus (Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus) kŏmˈədəs [key], 161–192, Roman emperor (180–192), son and successor of Marcus Aurelius. In 180, reversing his father's foreign policy, he concluded p...

(Encyclopedia) Gibraltar jĭbrôlˈtər [key], British overseas territory (2015 est. pop. 34,000), 2.5 sq mi (6.5 sq km), on a narrow, rocky peninsula extending into the Mediterranean Sea from SW Spain. Most of the ...

(Encyclopedia) Alcestis ălsĕsˈtĭs [key], in Greek mythology, daughter of Pelias. She was won in marriage by Admetus, who fulfilled her father's condition that her suitor come for her in a chariot pulled by a wil...

(Encyclopedia) Lyra līˈrə [key] [Lat.,=the lyre], northern constellation lying S of Draco, E of Hercules, and W of Cygnus. Although many civilizations represented it as a bird, it was also depicted as a tortoise....

(Encyclopedia) Fischer von Erlach, Johann Bernhard yōˈhän bĕrnˈhärt fĭshˈər fən ērˈläkh [key], 1656–1723, the leading Austrian baroque architect. After studying in Rome he returned to Vienna. In 1705 ...