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Orpheus

(Encyclopedia) OrpheusOrpheusôrˈfēəs, ôrˈfy&oomacr;s [key], in Greek mythology, celebrated Thracian musician. He was the son of Calliope by Apollo or, according to another legend, by Oeagrus, a…

Guaraní

(Encyclopedia) GuaraníGuaranígwäränēˈ [key], indigenous group living in the eastern lowland area of South America, related to the Tupí of the Rio São Francisco and the Tupinambá on the Atlantic coast…

Aphrodite

(Encyclopedia) AphroditeAphroditeăfrədīˈtē [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of fertility, love, and beauty. Homer designated her the child of Zeus and Dione. Hesiod's account of her…

Achilles

(Encyclopedia) AchillesAchillesəkĭlˈēz [key], in Greek mythology, foremost Greek hero of the Trojan War, son of Peleus and Thetis. He was a formidable warrior, possessing fierce and uncontrollable…

Edda

(Encyclopedia) EddaEddaĕdˈə [key], title applied to two distinct works in Old Icelandic. The Poetic Edda, or Elder Edda, is a collection (late 13th cent.) of 34 mythological and heroic lays, most of…

Herder, Johann Gottfried von

(Encyclopedia) Herder, Johann Gottfried vonHerder, Johann Gottfried vonyōˈhän gôtˈfrēt fən hĕrˈdər [key], 1744–1803, German philosopher, critic, and clergyman, b. East Prussia. Herder was an…

Beowulf

(Encyclopedia) BeowulfBeowulfbāˈəw&oobreve;lf [key], oldest English epic, probably composed in the early 8th cent. by an Anglian bard in the vicinity of Northumbria. It survives in only one…

Tupinambá

(Encyclopedia) Tupinambá, a people living in the eastern lowland area of South America, related to the Tupí of the Rio São Francisco and the Guaraní of Paraguay and adjacent portions of Brazil and…

sphinx

(Encyclopedia) sphinxsphinxsfĭngks [key], mythical beast of ancient Egypt, frequently symbolizing the pharaoh as an incarnation of the sun god Ra. The sphinx was represented in sculpture usually in a…

incest

(Encyclopedia) incest, sexual relations between persons to whom marriage is prohibited by custom or law because of their close kinship. Ideas of kinship, however, vary widely from group to group,…