Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Britomartis brĭtˈōmärˈtĭs [key], in ancient religion and mythology, Cretan goddess, sometimes identified with Artemis. To escape the amorous pursuit of Minos, she jumped into the sea, but fisher...

(Encyclopedia) Daphnis dăfˈnĭs [key], in Greek mythology, shepherd, the son of Hermes and a nymph. He was unfaithful to a nymph who loved him, and in revenge she blinded him. He tried to comfort himself by playin...

(Encyclopedia) Colby, William Egan, 1920–96, American public official, b. St. Paul, Minn., grad. Princeton, 1940. During World War II he served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and in 1944 was dropped by ...

(Encyclopedia) Procrustes prōkrŭsˈtēz [key], in Greek mythology, cruel highwayman. He forced passersby to lie on a very long bed and then stretched them to fit it. Some said that he also had a very short bed; to...

(Encyclopedia) Telamon tĕlˈəmŏn [key], in Greek mythology, son of Aeacus and father of Ajax. He and Peleus killed their half-brother Phocus and were banished from Aegina. Telamon fled to Salamis, where he became...

(Encyclopedia) Graeae or Graiae both: grēˈī [key], in Greek mythology, daughters of Ceto and Phorcus, called Deino, Enyo, and Pemphredo. The personifications of old age, they were born with gray hair and only one...

(Encyclopedia) Anchises ănkīˈsēz [key], in Greek mythology, member of the ruling family of Troy; father of Aeneas by Aphrodite. When Anchises boasted of the goddess's love, Zeus crippled or, in some versions of ...

(Encyclopedia) Oeneus ēˈnēəs [key], in Greek mythology, king of Calydon and father of Meleager. When Oeneus forgot to dedicate the fruits of his first crop to Artemis, she terrorized his kingdom with a wild boar...

(Encyclopedia) Aeolus ēˈələs [key], in Greek mythology. 1 The wind god. He lived on the island of Aeolia, where he kept the winds in a cave. 2 Son of Hellen and ancestor of the Aeolian branch of the Hellenic rac...

(Encyclopedia) Jotunheimen yōˈto͝onhāmən [key], mountain group, S central Norway; highest of Scandinavia. It culminates in Galdhøpiggen (8,098 ft/2,468 m high) and Glittertinden (8,104 ft/2,470 m). The Josteda...