Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Eskimo art. The art of the Eskimo peoples arose some 2,000 years ago in the Bering Sea area and in Canada. Traditional art consisted of small utilitarian objects, such as weapons and tools, as well as...

(Encyclopedia) Laocoön lāŏkˈōŏn [key], in Greek mythology, priest of Apollo who warned the Trojans not to touch the wooden horse made by the Greeks during the Trojan War. While he and his two sons were sacrifi...

(Encyclopedia) Furies or Erinyes ērĭnˈē-ēz [key], in Greek and Roman religion and mythology, three daughters of Mother Earth, conceived from the blood of Uranus, when Kronos castrated him. They were powerful di...

(Encyclopedia) Heywood, Thomas, 1574?–1641, English dramatist. A prolific writer, he claimed to have written and collaborated on more than 200 plays, most of which are now lost. Although he wrote dramas based on E...

(Encyclopedia) Ewald, Johannes yōhänˈəs āˈväl [key], 1743–81, Danish poet. Ewald's elegant verse made him the leading poet of his time. He studied for the ministry but soon turned to writing. His lyrical tr...

(Encyclopedia) Medea mĭdēˈə [key], in Greek mythology, princess of Colchis, skilled in magic and sorcery. She fell in love with Jason and helped him, against the will of her father, Aeëtes, to obtain the Golden...

(Encyclopedia) Batavian Republic, name for the Netherlands in the years (1795–1806) following conquest by the French during the French Revolutionary Wars. The United Provinces of the Netherlands were reconstituted...

(Encyclopedia) Pelias pēˈlēăs [key], in Greek mythology, usurper of the throne of Iolcus. He was the son of Tyro and Poseidon and the twin brother of Neleus. After his birth his mother married Cretheus, king of ...

(Encyclopedia) Philoctetes fĭlŏktēˈtēz [key], in Greek mythology, son of Poias. He acquired, by gift, the bow and arrow of Hercules by lighting the pyre on which the hero was consumed alive. On his way to the T...

(Encyclopedia) Ino īˈnō [key], in Greek mythology, daughter of Cadmus. She was the wife of Athamas, to whom she bore Learchus and Melicertes. She plotted to kill her stepchildren, Phrixus and Helle, but their mot...