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Aoidos
The Greek word ' (; plural: , ) referred to a classical Greek singer. In modern Homeric scholarship, it is used by some as the technical term for a skilled oral epic poet in the tradition to which the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' are believed to belong (compare rhapsode). Song and poetry in the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' In classical Greek, the word , is an agent noun derived from the verb () or () . It occurs several times in varying forms in the ''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'' in relation to poetry: * ''Iliad'' 18.490–496 (on the Shield of Achilles): a wedding song, ''hymenaios'', with pipes, lyres, and dancing * ''Odyssey'' 23.133–135: a wedding song with dancing, led by the singer Phemius: there is no wedding but Odysseus wants to create the impression of festivity while he is killing the suitors * ''Iliad'' 18.567–572 (on the Shield of Achilles): a child sings and plays the lyre to accompany the vintage. The song is the '' linos'' * ''Iliad'' 18.593–606 (on the Shiel ...
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Odyssey
The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divided into 24 books. It follows the heroic king of Ithaca, Odysseus, also known by the Latin variant Ulysses, and his homecoming journey after the ten-year long Trojan War. His journey from Troy to Ithaca lasts an additional ten years, during which time he encounters many perils and all of his crewmates are killed. In Odysseus's long absence, he is presumed dead, leaving his wife Penelope and son Telemachus to contend with a group of unruly suitors competing for Penelope's hand in marriage. The ''Odyssey'' was first written down in Homeric Greek around the 8th or 7th century BC; by the mid-6th century BC, it had become part of the Greek literary canon. In antiquity, Homer's authorship was taken as true, but contemporary sch ...
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Rhapsode
A rhapsode () or, in modern usage, rhapsodist, refers to a classical Greek professional performer of epic poetry in the fifth and fourth centuries BC (and perhaps earlier). Rhapsodes notably performed the epics of Homer (''Iliad'' and ''Odyssey'') but also the wisdom and catalogue poetry of Hesiod and the satires of Archilochus and others. Plato's dialogue '' Ion'', in which Socrates confronts a star player rhapsode, remains the most coherent source of information on these artists. Often, rhapsodes are depicted in Greek art, wearing their signature cloak and carrying a staff. This equipment is also characteristic of travellers in general, implying that rhapsodes were itinerant performers, moving from town to town. Rhapsodes originated in Ionia, which has been sometimes regarded as Homer's birthplace, and were also known as Homeridai, disciples of Homer, or "singers of stitched lays." Etymology and usage The term ''rhapsode'' is derived from ''rhapsōidein'' (ῥαψῳδεῖ� ...
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И звезда с звездою Фронтиспис
I (И и; italics: ''И и'' or ; italics:  ) is a letter used in almost all modern Cyrillic alphabets with the exception of Belarusian. It commonly represents either the close front unrounded vowel (e.g., in Russian), like the pronunciation of in "machine", or the near-close near-front unrounded vowel , (e.g., in Ukrainian), like the pronunciation of in "bin". History Because the Cyrillic letter И was derived from the Greek letter Eta (Ηη), the Cyrillic had the shape of up to the 13th century. The name of the Cyrillic letter И in the Early Cyrillic alphabet was (''iže''), meaning "which". In the Cyrillic numeral system, the Cyrillic letter И had a value of 8, corresponding to the Greek letter Eta ( Ηη). In the Early Cyrillic alphabet, like in the Greek alphabet of the time (see Iotacism), there was little or no distinction between the letter / and the letter , the latter of which was derived from the Greek letter Iota (Ιι). Both remained i ...
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Andromache
In Greek mythology, Andromache (; , ) was the wife of Hector, daughter of Eetion, and sister to Podes. She was born and raised in the city of Cilician Thebe, over which her father ruled. The name means "man battler", "fighter of men" or "man's battle", i.e. "courage" or "manly virtue", from the Greek stem ("man"), the compound interfix and ("battle"). Following the Trojan War, after Achilles had killed Hector and Troy had been captured and sacked by the Greeks, the Greek herald Talthybius informed her of a plan to kill Astyanax, her son by Hector, by throwing him from the city walls. This act was carried out by Neoptolemus who then took Andromache as a concubine and Hector's brother, Helenus, as a slave.Euripides, ''Trojan Women'' By Neoptolemus, she was the mother of Molossus, and according to Pausanias,Pausanias, 1.11.1 of Pielus and Pergamus. When Neoptolemus died, Andromache married Helenus and became Queen of Epirus. Pausanias also implies that Helenus' son, ...
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Bellerophontes
Bellerophon or Bellerophontes (; ; lit. "slayer of Belleros") or Hipponous (; lit. "horse-knower"), was a divine Corinthian hero of Greek mythology, the son of Poseidon and Eurynome, and the foster son of Glaukos. He was "the greatest hero and slayer of monsters, alongside Cadmus and Perseus, before the days of Heracles". Among his greatest feats was killing the Chimera of the ''Iliad'', a monster that Homer depicted with a lion's head, a goat's body, and a serpent's tail: "her breath came out in terrible blasts of burning flame." Bellerophon was also known for capturing and taming the winged horse Pegasus with the help of Athena's charmed bridle, and earning the disfavour of the gods after attempting to ride Pegasus to Mount Olympus. Etymology One possible etymology that has been suggested is: Βελλεροφόντης (Bellerophóntēs) from Ancient Greek βέλεμνον (bélemnon), βελόνη (belóne) or βέλος (bélos, "projectile, dart, javelin, needle, arr ...
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Trojan Horse
In Greek mythology, the Trojan Horse () was a wooden horse said to have been used by the Greeks during the Trojan War to enter the city of Troy and win the war. The Trojan Horse is not mentioned in Homer, Homer's ''Iliad'', with the poem ending before the war is concluded, and it is only briefly mentioned in the ''Odyssey''. It is described at length in the ''Aeneid'', in which Virgil recounts how, after a fruitless ten-year siege, the Greeks constructed a huge wooden horse at the behest of Odysseus, and hid a select force of men inside, including Odysseus himself. The Greeks pretended to sail away, and the Trojans pulled the horse into their city as a victory trophy. That night, the Greek force crept out of the horse and opened the gates for the rest of the Greek army, which had sailed back under the cover of darkness. The Greeks entered and destroyed the city, ending the war. Metaphorically, a "Trojan horse" has come to mean any trick or stratagem that causes a target to invit ...
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Odysseus
In Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, Odysseus ( ; , ), also known by the Latin variant Ulysses ( , ; ), is a legendary Greeks, Greek king of Homeric Ithaca, Ithaca and the hero of Homer's Epic poetry, epic poem, the ''Odyssey''. Odysseus also plays a key role in Homer's ''Iliad'' and other works in that same epic cycle. As the son of Laertes (father of Odysseus), Laërtes and Anticlea, husband of Penelope, and father of Telemachus, Acusilaus, and Telegonus (son of Odysseus), Telegonus, Odysseus is renowned for his intellectual brilliance, guile, and versatility (''polytropos''), and he is thus known by the epithet Odysseus the Cunning (). He is most famous for his ''nostos'', or "homecoming", which took him ten eventful years after the decade-long Trojan War. Name, etymology, and epithets The form ''Odys(s)eus'' is used starting in the epic period and through the classical period, but various other forms are also found. In vase inscriptions, there are the varian ...
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Alcinous
In Greek mythology, Alcinous (also Alcinoüs; ; ''Alkínoos'' ) was a son of Nausithous and brother of Rhexenor. After the latter's death, he married his brother's daughter Arete who bore him Nausicaa, Halius, Clytoneus and Laodamas. In some accounts, Alcinous' father was Phaeax, son of Poseidon and Corcyra, and brother of Locrus. Conon3/ref> Mythology Argonautica In the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, Alcinous is represented as living with his wife Arete on Drépané island. The Argonauts, on their return from Colchis, came to his island, and were hospitably received. When the Colchians, in their pursuit of the Argonauts, likewise arrived in Drépané, and demanded that Jason's lover Medea should be delivered up to them, Alcinous declared that if she was still a virgin she should be restored to them, but if she was already the wife of Jason, he would protect her and her husband against the Colchians. The Colchians were obliged, by the contrivance of Aret ...
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Nostoi
The ''Nostoi'' ( ''Nóstoi'', '' nostos'' ), also known as ''Returns'' or ''Returns of the Greeks'', is a lost epic poem of ancient Greek literature. A part of the Epic Cycle, also known as Trojan cycle, it narrated the stories of the Achaean heroes returning to Greece after the end of the Trojan War. The story of the ''Nostoi'' comes chronologically after that of the '' Iliupersis'' (''Sack of Ilium''), and is followed by that of the ''Odyssey''. The author of the ''Nostoi'' is uncertain; ancient writers attributed the poem variously to Agias (8th century BC), Homer (8th century BC), and Eumelos of Corinth (8th century BC) (see Cyclic Poets). The poem comprised five books of verse in dactylic hexameter. Date Both the date of composition of the ''Nostoi'' and the date that it was set into writing are very uncertain. The text is most likely to have been finalized in the 7th or the 6th century BC. Contents The ''Nostoi'' relates the return home of the Greek heroes after th ...
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Muses
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture. The number and names of the Muses differed by region, but from the Classical Greece, Classical period the number of Muses was standardized to nine, and their names were generally given as Calliope, Clio, Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Erato, Melpomene, Thalia (Muse), Thalia, and Urania. In modern figurative usage, a muse is a Muse (source of inspiration), person who serves as someone's source of artistic inspiration. Etymology The word ''Muses'' () perhaps came from the Indo-European ablaut#Proto-Indo-European, o-grade of the Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European root (the basic meaning of which is 'put in mind' in verb formati ...
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Agamemnon
In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (; ''Agamémnōn'') was a king of Mycenae who commanded the Achaeans (Homer), Achaeans during the Trojan War. He was the son (or grandson) of King Atreus and Queen Aerope, the brother of Menelaus, the husband of Clytemnestra, and the father of Iphigenia, Iphianassa (daughter of Agamemnon), Iphianassa, Electra, Laodice (Greek myth), Laodike, Orestes and Chrysothemis. Legends make him the king of Mycenae or Argos, Peloponnese, Argos, thought to be different names for the same area. Agamemnon was killed upon his Returns from Troy, return from Troy by Clytemnestra, or in an older version of the story, by Clytemnestra's lover Aegisthus. Etymology Different etymologies have been proposed for the name ''Agamemnon'' (). According to one view, the name means 'very steadfast', 'unbowed' or 'resolute'. This is based on the interpretation of the name as a compound word comprising the elements 'very much' and 'to stay, wait; stand fast'. According to anothe ...
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