Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Protesilaus prōˌtĕsĭlāˈəs [key], in Greek mythology, Thessalian prince who was killed in the Trojan War. A prophecy foretold that the first man who touched Trojan soil would be the first to die...

(Encyclopedia) Semele sĕmˈĭlē [key], in Greek mythology, mother of Dionysus, daughter of Cadmus and Harmonia. Zeus, who loved her, appeared to her as a man. Semele asked him to come to her in his divine form, bu...

(Encyclopedia) Erichthonius ĕrĕkthōˈnēəs [key], in Greek mythology, son of Hephaestus and Athena, half man and half serpent. After his birth Athena concealed him in a chest that she gave to the daughters of Ce...

(Encyclopedia) Andromache ăndrŏˈməkē [key], in Greek mythology, Trojan princess, wife of Hector and mother of Astyanax. After the Trojan War she was carried away by Neoptolemus, whose father, Achilles, had slai...

(Encyclopedia) Smith, Sir William, 1813–93, English editor and lexicographer. He was editor of the Quarterly Review from 1867 until his death and also edited reference works esteemed for their accuracy and compreh...

(Encyclopedia) Leach, Edmund Ronald, 1910–89, British anthropologist, grad. Cambridge (B.A., 1932; M.A., 1938) and Univ. of London (Ph.D., 1947). He was (1957–72) university reader in social anthropology at Camb...

(Encyclopedia) Norns, the Norse Fates. Like the Fates of Greek religion and mythology, the Norns spun and wove the web of life. Belief in the Norns was of great importance in Germanic religion and life. It was said ...

(Encyclopedia) Atreus āˈtrēəs [key], in Greek mythology, the son of Pelops and the father of Agamemnon and Menelaus. He vied with his brother Thyestes for the throne of Mycenae. When Thyestes seduced Atreus' wif...

(Encyclopedia) flood, inundation of land by the rise and overflow of a body of water. Floods occur most commonly when water from heavy rainfall, from melting ice and snow, or from a combination of these exceeds the ...

(Encyclopedia) Memnon mĕmˈnŏn [key], in Greek mythology, king of Ethiopia, son of Tithonus and Eos. In the Trojan War he fought against the Greeks, and after he had killed Antilochus, he himself was killed by Ach...