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Manticore
The manticore or mantichore (Latin: ''mantichorās''; reconstructed Old Persian: ; Modern ) is a legendary creature from ancient Persian mythology, similar to the Egyptian sphinx that proliferated in Western European medieval art as well. It has the face of a human, the body of a lion, and the tail of a scorpion or a tail covered in venomous spines similar to porcupine quills. There are some accounts that the spines can be launched like arrows. It eats its victims whole, using its three rows of teeth, and leaves no bones behind. Other accounts also have it sporting the wings of a dragon. Etymology The English-language term ''manticore'' comes via Latin ''mantichorās'' from Ancient Greek (martikhórās).Cf. Henry Liddell, Henry George Liddell & Robert Scott (philologist), Robert Scott, ''A Greek-English Lexicon'', This in turn is a transliteration of an Old Persian compound word consisting of ''martīya'' 'man' and ''xuar-'' stem, 'to eat' (Mod. ; ''mard'' + ; ''khordan''); i. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sphinx
A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. According to Greek myth, she challenges those who encounter her to answer a riddle, and kills and eats them when they fail to solve the riddle. This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus. In Egyptian mythology, in contrast, the sphinx is typically depicted as a man (an androsphinx ()), and is seen as a benevolent representation of strength and ferocity, usually of a pharaoh. Unlike Greek or Levantine/Mesopotamian ones, Egyptian sphinxes were not winged. Both the Greek and Egyptian sphinxes were thought of as guardians, and statues of them often flank the entrances to temples. During the Renaissance, the sphinx enjoyed a major revival in European decorative art. D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Persian Mythology
Iranian mythology, or Persian mythology in western term (), is the body of the myths originally told by ancient Persians and other Iranian peoples and a genre of ancient Persian folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities of deities, heroes, and mythological creatures, and the origins and significance of the ancient Persians' own cult and ritual practices. Modern scholars study the myths to shed light on the religious and political institutions of not only Iran but of the Greater Iran, Persosphere, which includes regions of West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, and Transcaucasia where the culture of Iran has had significant influence. Historically, these were regions long ruled by dynasties of various Iranian empires, that incorporated considerable aspects of Persian culture through extensive contact with them, or where sufficient Iranian peoples settled to still maintain communities who patronize their respective cultures. It roug ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Topsell
Edward Topsell (''circa'' 1572 – 1625) was an English cleric and author best remembered for his bestiary. Topsell was born and educated in Sevenoaks, Kent. He attended Christ's College, Cambridge, earned his B.A. and probably an M.A., as well, before beginning a career in the Church of England. He served as the first rector of East Hoathly in Sussex, and subsequently became the perpetual curate of St Botolph's, Aldersgate (1604). He was the author of books on religious and moral themes, including ''The Reward of Religion'' (1596) and ''Time's Lamentation'' (1599), among others. Topsell's ''The History of Four-footed Beasts'' (1607) and ''The History of Serpents'' (1608), both published by William Jaggard, were reprinted together as ''The History of Four-Footed Beasts and Serpents'' in 1658. An 1100-page treatise on zoology, Topsell's work repeats ancient and fantastic legends about actual animals, as well as reports of mythical animals. Topsell, not a naturalist himself, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
New English Dictionary
The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first edition in 1884, traces the historical development of the English language, providing a comprehensive resource to scholars and academic researchers, and provides ongoing descriptions of English language usage in its variations around the world. In 1857, work first began on the dictionary, though the first edition was not published until 1884. It began to be published in unbound fascicles as work continued on the project, under the name of ''A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles; Founded Mainly on the Materials Collected by The Philological Society''. In 1895, the title ''The Oxford English Dictionary'' was first used unofficially on the covers of the series, and in 1928 the full dictionary was republished in 10 bound volumes. In 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus (; ), commonly Aelian (), born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222. He spoke Greek so fluently that he was called "honey-tongued" ( ); Roman-born, he preferred Greek authors, and wrote in a slightly archaizing Greek himself. This cites: * ''Editio princeps'' of complete works by Gesner, 1556; Hercher, 1864-1866. * English translation of the ''Various History'' only by Fleming, 1576, and Stanley, 1665 * Translation of the ''Letters'' by Quillard (French), 1895 His two chief works are valuable for the numerous quotations from the works of earlier authors, which are otherwise lost, and for the surprising lore, which offers unexpected glimpses into the Greco-Roman world-view. ''De Natura Animalium'' is also the only Greco-Roman work to mention Gilgamesh. ''De Natura Animalium'' ''On the Nature of Animals'' (alternatively "On the Characteristics of Anima ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bibliotheca (Photius)
The ''Bibliotheca'' () or ''Myriobiblos'' (Μυριόβιβλος, "Ten Thousand Books") was a ninth-century work of Byzantine Empire, Byzantine Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Patriarch of Constantinople Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople, Photius, dedicated to his brother and composed of 279 reviews of books which he had read. Overview ''Bibliotheca'' was not meant to be a reference work, but was widely used as such in the 9th century, and is one of the Byzantine encyclopaedism, first Byzantine works that could be called an encyclopedia. Leighton Durham Reynolds, Reynolds and Wilson call it "a fascinating production, in which Photius shows himself the inventor of the Book review, book-review," and say its "280 sections... vary in length from a single sentence to several pages". The works he notes are mainly Christian and pagan authors from the 5th century BC to his own time in the 9th century AD. Almost half the books mentioned no longer survive. These would have disa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Photios I Of Constantinople
Photius I of Constantinople (, ''Phōtios''; 815 – 6 February 893), also spelled ''Photius''Fr. Justin Taylor, essay "Canon Law in the Age of the Fathers" (published in Jordan Hite, T.O.R., and Daniel J. Ward, O.S.B., "Readings, Cases, Materials in Canon Law - A Textbook for Ministerial Students, Revised Edition" ollegeville, Minn., The Liturgical Press, 1990, p. 61 (), was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 858 to 867 and from 877 to 886. He is recognized in the Eastern Orthodox Church as Saint Photius the Great. Photius I is widely regarded as the most powerful and influential church leader of Constantinople subsequent to John Chrysostom's archbishopric around the turn of the fifth century. He is also viewed as the most important intellectual of his time – "the leading light of the ninth-century renaissance". He was a central figure in both the conversion of the Slavs to Christianity and the Photian schism, and is considered " e great systematic compiler ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Epitome
An epitome (; , from ἐπιτέμνειν ''epitemnein'' meaning "to cut short") is a summary or miniature form, or an instance that represents a larger reality, also used as a synonym for embodiment. Epitomacy represents "to the degree of." An abridgment differs from an epitome in that an abridgment is made of selected quotations of a larger work; no new writing is composed, as opposed to the epitome, which is an original summation of a work, at least in part. Many documents from the Ancient Greek and Roman worlds survive now only "in epitome," referring to the practice of some later authors (epitomators) who wrote distilled versions of larger works now lost. Some writers attempted to convey the stance and spirit of the original, while others added further details or anecdotes regarding the general subject. As with all secondary historical sources, a different bias not present in the original may creep in. Documents surviving in epitome differ from those surviving only as f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indica (Ctesias)
''Indica'' ( ''Indika'') is a book by the classical Greek physician Ctesias purporting to describe the Indian subcontinent. Written in the fifth century BC, it is the first known Greek reference to that distant land. Ctesias was the court physician to king Artaxerxes II of Persia, and the book is not based on his own experiences, but on stories brought to Persia by traders, along the Silk Road from Serica, a land north of China and India where domesticated silk originated. Contents The book contains the first known reference to the unicorn, ostensibly an ass in India that had a single 1.5 cubit (27 inch) horn on its head, and introduces the European world to the talking parrot as well as falconry, which was not yet practiced in Europe. Among the information apparently conveyed in the book (mostly according to second-hand accounts of its contents): * The Indus river is identified, and described as being up to twenty miles across. * India is heavily populated, more than the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Androphagi
The Androphagi were an ancient Scythians, Scythian tribe whose existence was recorded by ancient Greco-Roman world, Greco-Roman authors. The Androphagi were closely related to the Melanchlaeni and the Budini. Name The name is a Latinisation of the ancient Greek name (), which meant "Man-Eaters." This name is a descriptive one based on this tribe's practice of human cannibalism, cannibalism, and their own tribal name is unknown. Location The Androphagi lived in the region to the east of the middle Dnieper, Dnipro river, especially in the valley of the Sula (Dnieper), Sula and some smaller rivers. The neighbours of the Androphagi were the Neuri to the west and the Scythians to the south. History Origin The Scythians originated in the region of the Volga-Ural steppes of Central Asia, possibly around the 9th century BC, as a section of the population of the Srubnaya culture containing a significant element originating from the Siberian Andronovo culture. The population of the S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pausanias (geographer)
Pausanias ( ; ; ) was a Greek traveler and geographer of the second century AD. He is famous for his '' Description of Greece'' (, ), a lengthy work that describes ancient Greece from his firsthand observations. ''Description of Greece'' provides crucial information for making links between classical literature and modern archaeology, which is providing evidence of the sites and cultural details he mentions although knowledge of their existence may have become lost or relegated to myth or legend. Biography Nothing is known about Pausanias apart from what historians can piece together from his own writing. However, it is probable that he was born into a Greek family and was probably a native of Lydia in Asia Minor. From until his death around 180, Pausanias travelled throughout the mainland of Greece, writing about various monuments, sacred spaces, and significant geographical sites along the way. In writing his '' Description of Greece'', Pausanias sought to put together ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
