1.
Hero and Leander (poem)
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Hero and Leander is a poem by Christopher Marlowe that retells the Greek myth of Hero and Leander. After Marlowes untimely death it was completed by George Chapman, the minor poet Henry Petowe published an alternative completion to the poem. The poem was first published posthumously, five years after Marlowes demise, Hero is a priestess or devotee of Venus in Sestos, who lives in chastity despite being devoted to the goddess of love. At a festival in honour of her deity, Venus and Adonis, she is seen by Leander, Leander falls in love with her, and she reciprocates, although cautiously, as she has made a vow of chastity to Venus. Leander convinces her to abandon her fears, Hero lives in a high tower overlooking the water, he asks her to light a lamp in her window, and he promises to swim the Hellespont each night to be with her. On his first nights swim, Leander is spotted by Neptune, discovering his mistake, the god returns him to shore with a bracelet supposed to keep him safe from drowning. Leander emerges from the Hellespont, finds Heros tower and knocks on the door, which Hero then opens to find him standing stark naked. She lets him whisper in her ear, / Flatter, entreat, promise, protest, and swear, the poem breaks off as dawn is breaking. No critical consensus exists on the issue of how Marlowe, had he lived, would have finished the poem, Marlowe certainly knew the story as told by both Ovid and by the Byzantine poet Musæus Grammaticus, Musaeus appears to have been his chief source. Yet if Musaeus and Ovid gave it impetus, the poem is marked by Marlowes unique style of extravagant fancy, the final encounter of the two lovers is even more frenzied, with the two at times appearing closer to blows than to embraces. In Bartholomew Fair, Ben Jonson lampoons the poem in the puppet show, his Hellespont is the Thames. A poem based to some extent on Marlowes text was set to music around 1628 by the composer Nicholas Lanier, this may have been one of the earliest works in recitative in English. King Charles I was fond of the work, and had Lanier perform it repeatedly, Samuel Pepys also admired it, Hero and Leander is also the only identifiable work of a contemporary writer quoted in any of the plays of William Shakespeare, specifically in As You Like It
2.
Frederic Leighton
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Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton PRA, known as Sir Frederic Leighton between 1878 and 1896, was an English painter and sculptor. His works depicted historical, biblical, and classical subject matter, Leighton was bearer of the shortest-lived peerage in history, after only one day his hereditary peerage ended with his death. Leighton was born in Scarborough to a family in the import and export business and he was educated at University College School, London. He then received his training on the European continent, first from Eduard von Steinle. When he was 24 he was in Florence, he studied at the Accademia di Belle Arti, from 1855 to 1859 he lived in Paris, where he met Ingres, Delacroix, Corot and Millet. In 1860, he moved to London, where he associated with the Pre-Raphaelites and he designed Elizabeth Barrett Brownings tomb for Robert Browning in the English Cemetery, Florence in 1861. In 1864 he became an associate of the Royal Academy and in 1878 he became its President and his 1877 sculpture, Athlete Wrestling with a Python, was considered at its time to inaugurate a renaissance in contemporary British sculpture, referred to as the New Sculpture. American art critic Earl Shinn claimed at the time that Except Leighton and his paintings represented Britain at the great 1900 Paris Exhibition. Leighton was knighted at Windsor in 1878, and was created a baronet, of Holland Park Road in the Parish of St Mary Abbots, Kensington, in the County of Middlesex, eight years later. He was the first painter to be given a peerage, in the New Year Honours List of 1896, the patent creating him Baron Leighton, of Stretton in the County of Shropshire, was issued on 24 January 1896, Leighton died the next day of angina pectoris. Leighton remained a bachelor and rumours of his having a child with one of his models in addition to the supposition that Leighton may have been homosexual continue to be debated today. He certainly enjoyed an intense and romantically tinged relationship with the poet Henry William Greville whom he met in Florence in 1856, the older man showered Leighton in letters, but the romantic affection seems not to have been reciprocated. Enquiry is furthermore hindered by the fact that Leighton left no diaries, after his death his Barony was extinguished after existing for only a day, this is a record in the Peerage. His house in Holland Park, London has been turned into a museum, the house also features many of Leightons inspirations, including his collection of Iznik tiles. Its centrepiece is the magnificent Arab Hall, the Hall is featured in issue ten of Cornucopia. A blue plaque commemorates Leighton at Leighton House Museum, Leighton was an enthusiastic volunteer soldier, enrolling with the first group to join the 38th Middlesex Rifle volunteers on 5 October 1860. His qualities of leadership were identified, and he was promoted to command A Company within a few months. On 6 January 1869 Captain Leighton was elected to command The Artists Rifles by a meeting of the corps
3.
Greek mythology
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It was a part of the religion in ancient Greece. Greek mythology is explicitly embodied in a collection of narratives. Greek myth attempts to explain the origins of the world, and details the lives and adventures of a variety of gods, goddesses, heroes, heroines. These accounts initially were disseminated in a tradition, today the Greek myths are known primarily from ancient Greek literature. The oldest known Greek literary sources, Homers epic poems Iliad and Odyssey, focus on the Trojan War, archaeological findings provide a principal source of detail about Greek mythology, with gods and heroes featured prominently in the decoration of many artifacts. Geometric designs on pottery of the eighth century BC depict scenes from the Trojan cycle as well as the adventures of Heracles, in the succeeding Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods, Homeric and various other mythological scenes appear, supplementing the existing literary evidence. Greek mythology has had an influence on the culture, arts. Poets and artists from ancient times to the present have derived inspiration from Greek mythology and have discovered contemporary significance and relevance in the themes, Greek mythology is known today primarily from Greek literature and representations on visual media dating from the Geometric period from c. Mythical narration plays an important role in every genre of Greek literature. Nevertheless, the only general mythographical handbook to survive from Greek antiquity was the Library of Pseudo-Apollodorus and this work attempts to reconcile the contradictory tales of the poets and provides a grand summary of traditional Greek mythology and heroic legends. Apollodorus of Athens lived from c, 180–125 BC and wrote on many of these topics. His writings may have formed the basis for the collection, however the Library discusses events that occurred long after his death, among the earliest literary sources are Homers two epic poems, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Other poets completed the cycle, but these later and lesser poems now are lost almost entirely. Despite their traditional name, the Homeric Hymns have no connection with Homer. They are choral hymns from the part of the so-called Lyric age. Hesiods Works and Days, a poem about farming life, also includes the myths of Prometheus, Pandora. The poet gives advice on the best way to succeed in a dangerous world, lyrical poets often took their subjects from myth, but their treatment became gradually less narrative and more allusive. Greek lyric poets, including Pindar, Bacchylides and Simonides, and bucolic poets such as Theocritus and Bion, additionally, myth was central to classical Athenian drama
4.
Ancient Greek
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Ancient Greek includes the forms of Greek used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. It is often divided into the Archaic period, Classical period. It is antedated in the second millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Hellenistic phase is known as Koine. Koine is regarded as a historical stage of its own, although in its earliest form it closely resembled Attic Greek. Prior to the Koine period, Greek of the classic and earlier periods included several regional dialects, Ancient Greek was the language of Homer and of fifth-century Athenian historians, playwrights, and philosophers. It has contributed many words to English vocabulary and has been a subject of study in educational institutions of the Western world since the Renaissance. This article primarily contains information about the Epic and Classical phases of the language, Ancient Greek was a pluricentric language, divided into many dialects. The main dialect groups are Attic and Ionic, Aeolic, Arcadocypriot, some dialects are found in standardized literary forms used in literature, while others are attested only in inscriptions. There are also several historical forms, homeric Greek is a literary form of Archaic Greek used in the epic poems, the Iliad and Odyssey, and in later poems by other authors. Homeric Greek had significant differences in grammar and pronunciation from Classical Attic, the origins, early form and development of the Hellenic language family are not well understood because of a lack of contemporaneous evidence. Several theories exist about what Hellenic dialect groups may have existed between the divergence of early Greek-like speech from the common Proto-Indo-European language and the Classical period and they have the same general outline, but differ in some of the detail. The invasion would not be Dorian unless the invaders had some relationship to the historical Dorians. The invasion is known to have displaced population to the later Attic-Ionic regions, the Greeks of this period believed there were three major divisions of all Greek people—Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians, each with their own defining and distinctive dialects. Often non-west is called East Greek, Arcadocypriot apparently descended more closely from the Mycenaean Greek of the Bronze Age. Boeotian had come under a strong Northwest Greek influence, and can in some respects be considered a transitional dialect, thessalian likewise had come under Northwest Greek influence, though to a lesser degree. Most of the dialect sub-groups listed above had further subdivisions, generally equivalent to a city-state and its surrounding territory, Doric notably had several intermediate divisions as well, into Island Doric, Southern Peloponnesus Doric, and Northern Peloponnesus Doric. The Lesbian dialect was Aeolic Greek and this dialect slowly replaced most of the older dialects, although Doric dialect has survived in the Tsakonian language, which is spoken in the region of modern Sparta. Doric has also passed down its aorist terminations into most verbs of Demotic Greek, by about the 6th century AD, the Koine had slowly metamorphosized into Medieval Greek
5.
Aphrodite
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Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation. She is identified with the planet Venus, and her Roman equivalent is the goddess Venus, as with many ancient Greek deities, there is more than one story about her origins. According to Hesiods Theogony, she was born when Cronus cut off Uranuss genitals and threw them into the sea, according to Homers Iliad, she is the daughter of Zeus and Dione. In Plato, these two origins are said to be of hitherto separate entities, Aphrodite Ourania and Aphrodite Pandemos, Aphrodite had many lovers—both gods, such as Ares, and men, such as Anchises. She played a role in the Eros and Psyche legend, and was lover and surrogate mother of Adonis. Many lesser beings were said to be children of Aphrodite, Aphrodite is also known as Cytherea and Cypris after the two cult sites, Cythera and Cyprus, which claimed to be her place of birth. Myrtle, roses, doves, sparrows and swans were sacred to her, the ancient Greeks identified her with the Ancient Egyptian goddess Hathor. Aphrodite had many names such as Acidalia and Cerigo, each used by a different local cult of the goddess in Greece. The Greeks recognized all of these names as referring to the single goddess Aphrodite, despite the differences in what these local cults believed the goddess demanded of them. The Attic philosophers of the 4th century, however, drew a distinction between a celestial Aphrodite of transcendent principles, and a separate, common Aphrodite who was the goddess of the people, hesiod derives Aphrodite from aphrós sea-foam, interpreting the name as risen from the foam. Michael Janda, accepting this as genuine, claims the birth myth as an Indo-European mytheme. Likewise, Witczak proposes an Indo-European compound *abʰor- very and *dʰei- to shine and it has been argued that etymologies based on comparison with Eos are unlikely since Aphrodites attributes are entirely different from those of Eos or the Vedic deity Ushas. A number of improbable non-Greek etymologies have suggested in scholarship. One Semitic etymology compares Aphrodite to the Assyrian barīrītu, the name of a demon that appears in Middle Babylonian. Hammarström looks to Etruscan, comparing prϑni lord, an Etruscan honorific loaned into Greek as πρύτανις and this would make the theonym in origin an honorific, the lady. Hjalmar Frisk and Robert Beekes reject this etymology as implausible, especially since Aphrodite actually appears in Etruscan in the borrowed form Apru, the medieval Etymologicum Magnum offers a highly contrived etymology, deriving Aphrodite from the compound habrodíaitos, she who lives delicately, from habrós and díaita. The alteration from b to ph is explained as a characteristic of Greek obvious from the Macedonians. Aphrodite is usually said to have been born near her chief center of worship, Paphos, on the island of Cyprus, however, other versions of her myth have her born near the island of Cythera, hence another of her names, Cytherea
6.
Sestos
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Sestos or Sestus was an ancient Greek town of the Thracian Chersonese, the modern Gallipoli peninsula in European Turkey. Situated on the Hellespont opposite Abydos, it was the home of Hero in the legend of Hero and Leander, Sestos was an Aeolian colony, as it was founded by settlers from Lesbos. The ruins of the town are near to the settlement of Eceabat. In 480 BC, Xerxes army crossed at this point on two pontoon bridges later known as Xerxes Pontoon Bridges, and most of Alexander the Greats forces went the other way here by boat in 334 BC. In 1810 Lord Byron swam from Sestos to Abydos in four hours, recreating Leanders feat and this event is commemorated every year with an annual swim event that recreates the crossing. Little now remains of the ancient town of Sestos, Sestos is central to Christopher Marlowes poem Hero and Leander, and is referred to in its opening lines, The poems two parts are called Sestiads. In 479BC-478BC, after the Greek victories at Plataea and Mycale, the Athenians attacked the Persian forces, and defeated the Persians. Since the Persians were defeated, the Persian garrison at Sestos allowed the Greeks to conquer the city, as a result, Persian influence along the Hellespont was significantly reduced. This served the dual goal of denying Persian land forces access to the Greek mainland, while restoring Athenian trade to Black Sea ports such as Byzantium
7.
Dardanelles
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Together with the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles forms the Turkish Straits. The English name Dardanelles derives from Dardanus, an ancient city on the Asian shore of the strait which in turn takes its name from Dardanus, the ancient Greek name Ἑλλήσποντος means Sea of Helle, and was the ancient name of the narrow strait. It was variously named in classical literature Hellespontium Pelagus, Rectum Hellesponticum and it was so called from Helle, the daughter of Athamas, who was drowned here in the mythology of the Golden Fleece. The Marmara further connects to the Black Sea via the Bosphorus, the strait is located at approximately 40°13′N 26°26′E. The strait is 61 kilometres long, and 1.2 to 6 kilometres wide, water flows in both directions along the strait, from the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean via a surface current, and in the opposite direction via an undercurrent. The Dardanelles is unique in many respects, the very narrow and winding shape of the strait is more akin to that of a river. It is considered one of the most hazardous, crowded, difficult, the currents produced by the tidal action in the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara are such that ships under sail must await at anchorage for the right conditions before entering the Dardanelles. It is a sea access route for numerous countries, including Russia. The ancient city of Troy was located near the entrance of the strait. Troy was able to control the traffic entering this vital waterway. Herodotus tells us that, circa 482 BC, Xerxes I had two bridges built across the width of the Hellespont at Abydos, in order that his huge army could cross from Persia into Greece. This crossing was named by Aeschylus in his tragedy The Persians as the cause of divine intervention against Xerxes, according to Herodotus, both bridges were destroyed by a storm and Xerxes had those responsible for building the bridges beheaded and the strait itself whipped. The Histories of Herodotus vii. 33–37 and vii. 54–58 give details of building and crossing of Xerxes Pontoon Bridges. Xerxes is then said to have thrown fetters into the strait, Herodotus commented that this was a highly presumptuous way to address the Hellespont but in no way atypical of Xerxes. Harpalus the engineer eventually helped the invading armies to cross by lashing the ships together with their bows facing the current and, so it is said, two additional anchors. From the perspective of ancient Greek mythology, it was said that Helle, the Dardanelles were vital to the defence of Constantinople during the Byzantine period. Also, the Dardanelles was an important source of income for the ruler of the region, at the Istanbul Archaeological Museum a marble plate contains a law by the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius I, that regulated fees for passage through the customs office of the Dardanelles. Whoever dares to violate these regulations shall no longer be regarded as a friend, besides, the administrator of the Dardanelles must have the right to receive 50 golden Litrons, so that these rules, which we make out of piety, shall never ever be violated
8.
Abydos, Hellespont
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The acropolis of Abydos stood on the hill of Mal Tepe. Sestus lies north across from Abydos, on the European side of one of the narrowest points of the Dardanelles, slightly more than a mile broad. The site is enclosed in a military zone considered to be of strategic importance, Abydos was first mentioned in the catalogue of Trojan allies. Strabo, noting that earlier the area was Thracian, states that the city itself was founded by Milesian colonists with the consent of Gyges, king of Lydia and it was occupied by the Persians in 514 BC, and Darius the Great burnt it in 512 BC. Here Xerxes built two bridges and crossed the strait in 480 BC, when he invaded Greece. It later was a member of the Delian League, Abydos is celebrated for the vigorous resistance it made against Philip V of Macedon in 200 BC. In literature, it is famous for the home of Leander. Lord Byron memorably adopted its name in his The Bride of Abydos and it minted coins from the early 5th century BC to the mid-3rd century AD. A letter of Peter the Fuller mentions a bishop of Abydus called Pamphilus, ammonius signed the decretal letter of the Council of Constantinople in 518 against Severus of Antioch and others. Isidorus was at the Third Council of Constantinople, Ioannes at the Trullan Council, an unnamed bishop of Abydus was a counsellor of Emperor Nicephorus II in 969. No longer a residential bishopric, Abydus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see, richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites,1976, Abydos, Turkey
9.
Love goddess
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A love deity is a deity in mythology associated with sexual love, lust or sexuality. Love deities are common in mythology and may be found in many polytheistic religions, tu Er Shen, a deity who oversees the love between homosexual men. White Peony, a goddess who tempts men, especially ascetics, wutong Shen, a group of five wanton deities from Southern China. They ravished and possessed beautiful women, Pan Jinlian or Pan Chin-Lien, goddess of fornication and prostitution Baimei Shen, Chinese god for prostitution and brothel. On her first assignment with a client, a prostitute was supposed to sacrifice to him Qian Keng. Nüwa, Goddess of the band and wedding jewelry. Represents Heaven and the never ending sexual desire between married couples, chuangmu, Chinese goddess of the bedchamber. She and her husband Chuanggong look after everything that may happen in the bed room, including sex, sleep, king Zhou, one of worst tyrants in Chinese history. Hermaphroditus, god of hermaphrodites and of effeminate men, famous for his sexual powers and is often depicted with an erect phallus. Diogenes of Sinope, speaking in jest, related a myth of Pan learning masturbation from his father, Hermes, pans greatest conquest was that of the moon goddess Selene. He accomplished this by wrapping himself in a sheepskin to hide his hairy black goat form, philotes, either Goddess of Affection or a Daimon of sexual intercourse
10.
Abydos (Hellespont)
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The acropolis of Abydos stood on the hill of Mal Tepe. Sestus lies north across from Abydos, on the European side of one of the narrowest points of the Dardanelles, slightly more than a mile broad. The site is enclosed in a military zone considered to be of strategic importance, Abydos was first mentioned in the catalogue of Trojan allies. Strabo, noting that earlier the area was Thracian, states that the city itself was founded by Milesian colonists with the consent of Gyges, king of Lydia and it was occupied by the Persians in 514 BC, and Darius the Great burnt it in 512 BC. Here Xerxes built two bridges and crossed the strait in 480 BC, when he invaded Greece. It later was a member of the Delian League, Abydos is celebrated for the vigorous resistance it made against Philip V of Macedon in 200 BC. In literature, it is famous for the home of Leander. Lord Byron memorably adopted its name in his The Bride of Abydos and it minted coins from the early 5th century BC to the mid-3rd century AD. A letter of Peter the Fuller mentions a bishop of Abydus called Pamphilus, ammonius signed the decretal letter of the Council of Constantinople in 518 against Severus of Antioch and others. Isidorus was at the Third Council of Constantinople, Ioannes at the Trullan Council, an unnamed bishop of Abydus was a counsellor of Emperor Nicephorus II in 969. No longer a residential bishopric, Abydus is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see, richard Stillwell, ed. Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites,1976, Abydos, Turkey
11.
Septimius Severus
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Septimius Severus, also known as Severus, was Roman emperor from 193 to 211. Severus was born in Leptis Magna in the Roman province of Africa, as a young man he advanced through the cursus honorum—the customary succession of offices—under the reigns of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus. Severus seized power after the death of Emperor Pertinax in 193 during the Year of the Five Emperors, after deposing and killing the incumbent emperor Didius Julianus, Severus fought his rival claimants, the generals Pescennius Niger and Clodius Albinus. Niger was defeated in 194 at the Battle of Issus in Cilicia, later that year Severus waged a short punitive campaign beyond the eastern frontier, annexing the Kingdom of Osroene as a new province. Severus defeated Albinus three years later at the Battle of Lugdunum in Gaul, furthermore, he enlarged and fortified the Limes Arabicus in Arabia Petraea. In 202, he campaigned in Africa and Mauretania against the Garamantes, capturing their capital Garama, late in his reign he travelled to Britain, strengthening Hadrians Wall and reoccupying the Antonine Wall. In 208 he invaded Caledonia, but his ambitions were cut short when he fell ill in late 210. Severus died in early 211 at Eboracum, succeeded by his sons Caracalla, with the succession of his sons, Severus founded the Severan dynasty, the last dynasty of the empire before the Crisis of the Third Century. Born on 11 April 145 at Leptis Magna as the son of Publius Septimius Geta and Fulvia Pia, Septimius Severus came from a wealthy and he had Italian Roman ancestry on his mothers side and descended from Punic - and perhaps also Libyan - forebears on his fathers side. His mothers ancestors had moved from Italy to North Africa, they belonged to the gens Fulvia, Septimius Severus had two siblings, an older brother, Publius Septimius Geta, and a younger sister, Septimia Octavilla. Severuss maternal cousin was Praetorian prefect and consul Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, Septimius Severus grew up in the town of Leptis Magna. He spoke the local Punic language fluently, but he was educated in Latin and Greek. Little else is known of the young Severus education, but according to Cassius Dio the boy had been eager for education than he had actually got. Presumably Severus received lessons in oratory, at age 17 he gave his first public speech, sometime around 162 Septimius Severus set out for Rome seeking a public career. At the recommendation of his relative Gaius Septimius Severus, the emperor Marcus Aurelius granted him entry into the senatorial ranks, membership of the senatorial order was a prerequisite to attain positions within the cursus honorum and to gain entry into the Roman Senate. Nevertheless, it appears that Severus career during the 160s met with some difficulties and it is likely that he served as a vigintivir in Rome, overseeing road maintenance in or near the city, and he may have appeared in court as an advocate. At the time of Emperor Marcus Aurelius he was the State Attorney, however, he omitted the military tribunate from the cursus honorum and had to delay his quaestorship until he had reached the required minimum age of 25. To make matters worse, the Antonine Plague swept through the capital in 166, with his career at a halt, Severus decided to temporarily return to Leptis, where the climate was healthier
12.
Caracalla
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Caracalla, formally Marcus Aurelius Severus Antoninus Augustus, was Roman emperor from AD198 to 217. A member of the Severan Dynasty, he was the eldest son of Septimius Severus, Caracalla reigned jointly with his father from 198 until Severus death in 211. Caracalla then ruled jointly with his younger brother Geta, with whom he had a fraught relationship, Caracallas reign was marked by domestic instability and external invasions from the Germanic people. Caracallas reign was notable for the Antonine Constitution, also known as the Edict of Caracalla, the edict gave all the enfranchised men Caracallas adopted praenomen and nomen, Marcus Aurelius. Towards the end of his rule, Caracalla began a campaign against the Parthian Empire and he did not see this campaign through to completion due to his assassination by a disaffected soldier in 217. He was succeeded as emperor by Macrinus after three days, Caracalla is presented in ancient sources as a tyrant and cruel leader, an image that has survived into modernity. Dio Cassius and Herodian present Caracalla as a soldier first and emperor second, in the 12th century, Geoffrey of Monmouth started the legend of Caracallas role as the king of Britain. Later, in the 18th century, Caracallas memory was revived in the works of French artists due to the parallels between Caracallas apparent tyranny and that of King Louis XVI, Modern works continue to portray Caracalla as a psychopathic and evil ruler. His rule is remembered as being one of the most tyrannical of all Roman emperors, Caracalla was born Lucius Septimius Bassianus. He was renamed Marcus Aurelius Antoninus at the age of seven as part of his fathers attempt at union with the families of Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius. According to Aurelius Victor in his Epitome de Caesaribus, he became known by the agnomen Caracalla after a Gallic hooded tunic that he habitually wore and he may have begun wearing it during his campaigns on the Rhine and Danube. Dio generally referred to him as Tarautas, after a famously diminutive, Caracalla was born in Lugdunum, Gaul, on 4 April 188 to Septimius Severus and Julia Domna. He had a younger brother, Geta, who would briefly rule as co-emperor alongside him. Caracallas father, Septimius Severus, appointed Caracalla joint Augustus and full emperor from the year 198 onwards and his brother Geta was granted the same title in 210. In 202 Caracalla was forced to marry the daughter of Gaius Fulvius Plautianus, Fulvia Plautilla, by 205 Caracalla had succeeded in having Plautianus executed for treason, though he had probably fabricated the evidence of the plot himself. It was then that he banished his wife, whose later killing might have carried out under Caracallas orders. Caracallas father, Septimius Severus, died on 4 February 211 at Eboracum while on campaign in Caledonia, Caracalla and his brother, Publius Septimius Antoninus Geta, jointly inherited the throne upon their fathers death. Caracalla and Geta ended the campaign in Caledonia after concluding a peace with the Caledonians that returned the border of Roman Britain to the line demarcated by Hadrians Wall
13.
Double Heroides
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These six poems present three separate exchanges of paired epistles, one each from a heroic lover from Greek or Roman mythology to his absent beloved, and one from the heroine in return. The single Heroides are not listed here, see the relevant section of article for the single epistles. The paired epistles are written as exchanges between the heroes and heroines, XVI. Paris to Helen, trying to persuade her to leave her husband, Menelaus, helen’s reply to Paris, revealing her readiness to leave Menelaus for him XVIII. Leander to Hero, on his love for her XIX, hero’s reply to Leander, on her love for him XX. Acontius to Cydippe, on his love for her, reminding her of her commitment to marry him XXI, cydippe’s reply to Acontius, agreeing to marry him For further references specifically relating to that subject, please see the single Heroides bibliography. “The Heroides”, in J. W. Binns Ovid, 49-83, review of Hintermeier, Journal of Roman Studies 85, 325-7. “Vers une histoire à rebours de lélégie latine, Les Héroides Doubles ”, in A. Deremetz and J. Fabre-Serris, Élégie et Épopée dans la Poésie ovidienne, En Hommage à Simone Viarre, 53–67. Beck, M. Die Epistulae Heroidum XVIII und XIX des Corpus Ovidianum, belfiore, E. “Ovid’s Encomium of Helen”, Classical Journal 76.2, 136-48. Bessone, F. “Discussione del mito e polifonia narrativa nelle Heroides. Enone, Paride ed Elena ”, in M. Guglielmo and E. Bona, Forme di communicazione nel mondo antico e metamorfosi del mito, dal teatro al romanzo, Culture antiche, studi e testi 17, 149-85. “The Authorship and the Date of the Double Letters in Ovid’s Heroides”, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 19, courtney, E. “Ovidian and Non-Ovidian Heroides”, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies of the University of London 12, 63-6. “Echtheitskritik, Ovidian and Non-Ovidian Heroides Again”, CJ93, 157-66, “‘Ma il giudice delle dee non era un pastore. ’ Reticenze e arte retorica di Paride ”, Materiali e discussioni per lanalisi dei testi classici 34, 135-152. Drinkwater, M. Epic and Elegy in Ovid’s Heroides, Paris, Helen, farrell, J. “Reading and Writing the Heroides”, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 98, 307-338. Hardie, P. R. Ovids Poetics of Illusion, allusion et fiction epistolaire dans Les Heroïdes, Recherches sur lintertextualité ovidienne, Collection de l École Française de Rome 289. “Two Disputed Passages in the Heroides”, Classical Quarterly 29, 394-431, “‘Dear Helen. ’, The Pithanotate Prophasis. ”, Papers of the Leeds Latin Seminar 8, 187-207. “Ut erat novator, Anomaly, Innovation and Genre in Ovid, Heroides 16-21”, in J. N. Adams and R. G. Mayer Aspects of the Language of Latin Poetry, Proceedings of the British Academy 93, 401-14. Knox, P. E. “Ovids Medea and the Authenticity of Heroides 12”, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 90, review of Beck, Gnomon 72, 405-8
14.
Ovid
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Publius Ovidius Naso, known as Ovid in the English-speaking world, was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is ranked as one of the three canonical poets of Latin literature. The Imperial scholar Quintilian considered him the last of the Latin love elegists and he enjoyed enormous popularity, but, in one of the mysteries of literary history, was sent by Augustus into exile in a remote province on the Black Sea, where he remained until his death. Ovid himself attributes his exile to carmen et error, a poem and a mistake and his poetry was much imitated during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and greatly influenced Western art and literature. The Metamorphoses remains one of the most important sources of classical mythology, Ovid talks more about his own life than most other Roman poets. Information about his biography is drawn primarily from his poetry, especially Tristia 4.10, other sources include Seneca the Elder and Quintilian. Ovid was born in Sulmo, in an Apennine valley east of Rome, to an important equestrian family and that was a significant year in Roman politics. He was educated in rhetoric in Rome under the teachers Arellius Fuscus and Porcius Latro with his brother who excelled at oratory and his father wanted him to study rhetoric toward the practice of law. According to Seneca the Elder, Ovid tended to the emotional, after the death of his brother at 20 years of age, Ovid renounced law and began travelling to Athens, Asia Minor, and Sicily. Ovids first recitation has been dated to around 25 BC, when he was eighteen and he was part of the circle centered on the patron Marcus Valerius Messalla Corvinus, and seems to have been a friend of poets in the circle of Maecenas. 4.10. 41–54, Ovid mentions friendships with Macer, Propertius, Horace, Ovid was very popular at the time of his early works, but was later exiled by Augustus in AD8. He married three times and divorced twice by the time he was thirty years old and he had one daughter, who eventually bore him grandchildren. His last wife was connected in some way to the influential gens Fabia, the first 25 years of Ovids literary career were spent primarily writing poetry in elegiac meter with erotic themes. The chronology of early works is not secure, tentative dates. 2.18. 19–26 that seems to describe the collection as a published work. The authenticity of some of these poems has been challenged, between the publications of the two editions of the Amores can be dated the premiere of his tragedy Medea, which was admired in antiquity but is no longer extant. Ovid may identify this work in his poetry as the carmen, or song. The Ars Amatoria was followed by the Remedia Amoris in the same year and this corpus of elegiac, erotic poetry earned Ovid a place among the chief Roman elegists Gallus, Tibullus, and Propertius, of whom he saw himself as the fourth member
15.
Francisco de Quevedo
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Francisco Gómez de Quevedo y Santibáñez Villegas was a Spanish nobleman, politician and writer of the Baroque era. Along with his rival, Luis de Góngora, Quevedo was one of the most prominent Spanish poets of the age. His style is characterized by what was called conceptismo and this style existed in stark contrast to Góngoras culteranismo. Quevedo was born in Madrid into a family of hidalgos from the village of Vejorís and his family was descended from the Castilian nobility. Quevedo matured surrounded by dignitaries and nobility at the royal court, intellectually gifted, Quevedo was physically handicapped with a club foot, and myopia. Since he always wore pince-nez, his name in the plural, quevedos, orphaned by the age of six, he was able to attend the Imperial School run by the Jesuits in Madrid. He then attended university at Alcalá de Henares from 1596 to 1600, by his own account, he made independent studies in philosophy, classical languages, Arabic, Hebrew, French and Italian. In 1601, Quevedo, as a member of the Court, moved to Valladolid, where the Court had been transferred by the Kings minister, the Duke of Lerma. There he studied theology, a subject that would become a lifelong interest, by this time, he was becoming noted as both a poet and a prose writer. Some of his poetry was collected in a 1605 generational anthology by Pedro Espinosa entitled Flores de Poetas Ilustres, around this time, he began a very erudite exchange of letters with the humanist Justus Lipsius, in which Quevedo deplored the wars that were ravaging Europe. The Court returned to Madrid in 1606, and Quevedo followed, by then, he was a well-known and accomplished man-of-letters. He befriended and was praised by Miguel de Cervantes and Lope de Vega, Quevedos enemies included, among others, the dramatist Juan Ruiz de Alarcón for, despite his own physical handicaps, Quevedo found Alarcóns redheaded and hunchbacked physique a source of amusement. Quevedo also attacked Juan Pérez de Montalbán, the son of a bookseller with whom he had quarrelled, satirizing him in La Perinola, in 1608, Quevedo dueled with the author and fencing master Luis Pacheco de Narváez as a result of Quevedo criticizing one of Pachecos works. Quevedo took off Pachecos hat in the first encounter and they remained enemies all their lives. In Quevedos Buscón, this duel was parodied with a fencer relying on mathematical calculations having to run away from a duel with an experienced soldier. He was present at the church of San Martín in Madrid when a woman praying there was slapped on the cheek by another man who had rushed up to her, Quevedo seized the man, dragging him outside the church. The two men drew swords, and Quevedo ran his opponent through, the man, who died of his wounds some time later, was someone of importance. Quevedo thus retired temporarily to the palace of his friend and patron, Pedro Téllez-Girón, 3rd Duke of Osuna
16.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
17.
Aldus Manutius
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Aldus Pius Manutius was an Italian humanist who became a printer and publisher when he founded the Aldine Press at Venice. He is sometimes called the Elder to distinguish him from his grandson Aldus Manutius the Younger, Manutius was born in Bassiano, in the Papal States, in what is now the province of Latina, some 100 km south of Rome, during the Italian Renaissance period. His family was well off and Manutius was educated as a scholar, studying Latin in Rome, under Gasparino da Verona. In 1482 he went to reside at Mirandola with his old friend and fellow student, there he stayed two years, pursuing his studies in Greek literature. Before Pico moved to Florence, he procured for Manutius the post of tutor to his nephews, Alberto and Leonello Pio, Alberto Pio supplied Manutius with funds for starting his printing press and gave him lands at Carpi. Manutius became a tutor to some of the great Italian ducal families during his early career and he commissioned Francesco Griffo to cut a slanted type known today as italic. He and his grandson Aldus Manutius, the Younger, also a printer, are credited with introducing a system of punctuation. In 1501, Aldus began to use, as his publishers device and his editions of the classics were so highly respected that almost immediately the dolphin-and-anchor device was pirated by French and Italian publishers. More recently, the device has been used by the nineteenth-century London firm of William Pickering, Aldus adapted the image from the reverse of ancient Roman coins issued during the reigns of the Emperors Titus and Domitian, AD 80–82. The dolphin and anchor emblem is associated with Festina lente, a motto that Aldus had begun to use as early as 1499, after receiving a Roman coin from Pietro Bembo, which bore the emblem and motto. For his series of pocket-sized editions of the classics, Manutius designed a new font in which the letters were inclined which he called italic in reference to classical Italy. Despite trying to have the font patented, he could not stop printers outside Venice from copying it, type designs based on work designed by Francesco Griffo and commissioned by Aldus Manutius include Bembo, Poliphilus, and Garamond. Manutius desired to preserve ancient Greek literature by printing editions of its greatest books and he introduced personal or pocket editions of the classics in Greek and Latin that all could own. Scholars admired his editions and the work that he undertook to edit these ancient texts, of these works, only three, the Milanese Theocritus and Isocrates, and the Florentine Homer, were classics. Manutius settled in Venice in 1490, the city by this time was not only a major printing center but it also had a large library of Greek manuscripts from Constantinople and a population of Greeks who could assist with their translation. He soon afterward printed editions of Hero and Leander by Musaeus Grammaticus, the Galeomyomachia, and he called these Precursors of the Greek Library. He began gathering Greek scholars and compositors around him, employing as many as 30 Greeks in his print shop, instructions to typesetters and binders were given in Greek. The prefaces to his editions were written in Greek, Greeks from Crete collated manuscripts, read proofs, and gave samples of calligraphy for casts of Greek type
18.
Bernardo Tasso
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Bernardo Tasso, born in Venezia, was an Italian courtier and poet. He was, for years, secretary in the service of the prince of Salerno. Their son, the great poet Torquato Tasso, was born at Sorrento in 1544, during the boys childhood the prince of Salerno came into collision with the Spanish government of Naples, was outlawed, and was deprived of his hereditary fiefs. Tasso shared in this disaster of his patron and he and his son were proclaimed rebels to the state. Bernardo moved to Rome where his son joined him in about 1552, in 1556 news came that Porzia had died, and Bernardo suspected her brother of poisoning her with the object of getting control over her property. As it subsequently happened, Porzias estate never descended to her son, and he served various noblemen then, among them duke Guidobaldo II, in whose court his son Torquato was educated. When Bernardo was serving the duke of Milan, Guglielmo Gonzaga, when, therefore, an opening at the court of Urbino was offered in 1557, Bernardo Tasso gladly accepted it. He read cantos of his Amadigi to the duchess and her ladies, or discussed the merits of Homer and Virgil, Trissino and Ariosto, with the dukes librarians and he also traveled to Venice to superintend the printing of the Amadigi. Bernardo Tasso died in Ostiglia, then part of the Duchy of Mantua, an author of diverse works, Tasso wrote psalms, eclogues, sonnets and odes. The latter were the first Italian poems written in the manner of Horace and his lyric poems were published with the title Amori in Venice. His main work, LAmadigi, is an epic poem divided in 100 cantos, the Amadigi was left incomplete but was later completed by his son Torquato, who published the full text under the title Floridante in 1587
19.
George Chapman
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George Chapman was an English dramatist, translator, and poet. He was a scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman has been identified as the Rival Poet of Shakespeares sonnets by William Minto, Chapman is best remembered for his translations of Homers Iliad and Odyssey, and the Homeric Batrachomyomachia. Chapman was born at Hitchin in Hertfordshire, there is conjecture that he studied at Oxford but did not take a degree, though no reliable evidence affirms this. Very little is known about Chapmans early life, but Mark Eccles uncovered records that much about Chapmans difficulties. Chapmans courtly ambitions led him into a trap and he apparently never received any money, but he would be plagued for many years by the papers he had signed. As Sadler died in 1587, this gives Chapman little time to have trained under him and it seems more likely that he was in Sadlers household from 1577–83, as he dedicates all his Homerical translations to him. Chapman spent the early 1590s abroad, and saw action in the Low Countries fighting under renowned English general Sir Francis Vere. His earliest published works were the obscure philosophical poems The Shadow of Night, the latter has been taken as a response to the erotic poems of the age, such as Philip Sidneys Astrophil and Stella and Shakespeares Venus and Adonis. The former was executed for treason by Elizabeth I in 1601, Chapmans resultant poverty did not diminish his ability or his standing among his fellow Elizabethan poets and dramatists. Chapman died in London, having lived his latter years in poverty and he was buried at St Giles in the Fields. A monument to him designed by Inigo Jones marked his tomb, by the end of the 1590s, Chapman had become a successful playwright, working for Philip Henslowe and later for the Children of the Chapel. Among his comedies are The Blind Beggar of Alexandria, An Humorous Days Mirth, All Fools, Monsieur DOlive, The Gentleman Usher, May Day, and The Widows Tears. With The Widows Tears, he was one of the first writers to meld comedy with more serious themes, creating the tragicomedy later made famous by Beaumont. He also wrote one play in collaboration. Eastward Ho, written with Jonson and John Marston, contained references to the Scots which landed Chapman. Various of their letters to the king and noblemen survive in a manuscript in the Folger Library known as the Dobell MS, in the letters, both men renounced the offending line, implying that Marston was responsible for the injurious remark. Chapmans friendship with Jonson broke down, perhaps as a result of Jonsons public feud with Inigo Jones, some satiric, scathing lines, written sometime after the burning of Jonsons desk and papers, provide evidence of the rift
20.
Scaliger
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The noble family of the Scaliger were Lords of Verona. When Ezzelino III was elected podestà of the commune in 1226, in 1277 Mastino was killed by a faction of the nobles. The reign of his son Alberto as capitano was one incessant war against the counts of San Bonifacio, who were aided by the House of Este. Of his three sons, Cangrande I inherited the position in 1308, only the last shared the government and made a name as warrior, prince and patron of Dante, Petrarch. By war or treaty he brought under his control the cities of Padua, Treviso, Cangrande I was succeeded by his nephews Mastino II and Alberto. Mastino, the richest and most powerful prince of his generation in Italy, continued his uncles policy, conquering Brescia in 1332 and he too killed his other brother, Paolo Alboino. Having exhausted all his resources, he fled from Verona at midnight and his son Can Francesco attempted fruitlessly to recover Verona. Guglielmo, natural son of Cangrande II, was fortunate, with the support of the people, he drove out the Milanese, but he died ten days after. The last representatives of the Scaligeri lived at the imperial court and repeatedly attempted to recover Verona by the aid of popular risings
21.
Virgil
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Publius Vergilius Maro, usually called Virgil or Vergil /ˈvɜːrdʒᵻl/ in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He wrote three of the most famous poems in Latin literature, the Eclogues, the Georgics, a number of minor poems, collected in the Appendix Vergiliana, are sometimes attributed to him. Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Romes greatest poets and his Aeneid has been considered the national epic of ancient Rome from the time of its composition to the present day. Virgils work has had wide and deep influence on Western literature, most notably Dantes Divine Comedy, in which Virgil appears as Dantes guide through Hell, the tradition holds that Virgil was born in the village of Andes, near Mantua in Cisalpine Gaul. Analysis of his name has led to beliefs that he descended from earlier Roman colonists, modern speculation ultimately is not supported by narrative evidence either from his own writings or his later biographers. Macrobius says that Virgils father was of a background, however. He attended schools in Cremona, Mediolanum, Rome and Naples, after considering briefly a career in rhetoric and law, the young Virgil turned his talents to poetry. From Virgils admiring references to the neoteric writers Pollio and Cinna, it has been inferred that he was, for a time, according to Servius, schoolmates considered Virgil extremely shy and reserved, and he was nicknamed Parthenias or maiden because of his social aloofness. Virgil also seems to have suffered bad health throughout his life, according to the Catalepton, he began to write poetry while in the Epicurean school of Siro the Epicurean at Naples. A group of works attributed to the youthful Virgil by the commentators survive collected under the title Appendix Vergiliana. One, the Catalepton, consists of fourteen poems, some of which may be Virgils, and another. The biographical tradition asserts that Virgil began the hexameter Eclogues in 42 BC and it is thought that the collection was published around 39–38 BC, the Eclogues are a group of ten poems roughly modeled on the bucolic hexameter poetry of the Hellenistic poet Theocritus. The loss of his farm and the attempt through poetic petitions to regain his property have traditionally been seen as Virgils motives in the composition of the Eclogues. This is now thought to be an unsupported inference from interpretations of the Eclogues, the ten Eclogues present traditional pastoral themes with a fresh perspective. Eclogues 1 and 9 address the land confiscations and their effects on the Italian countryside,2 and 3 are pastoral and erotic, discussing both homosexual love and attraction toward people of any gender. Eclogue 4, addressed to Asinius Pollio, the so-called Messianic Eclogue uses the imagery of the age in connection with the birth of a child. Virgil came to many of the other leading literary figures of the time, including Horace, in whose poetry he is often mentioned, and Varius Rufus. At Maecenas insistence Virgil spent the years on the long didactic hexameter poem called the Georgics which he dedicated to Maecenas
22.
Jan van den Hoecke
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Jan van den Hoecke was a Flemish painter, draughtsman and designer of wall tapestries. He was one of the assistants in Rubens’ studio in the 1630s, later traveled to Italy where he resided for a decade and subsequently worked as a court painter in Vienna. He was born in Antwerp in an artistic family and it is believed that, like his brother Robert van den Hoecke, he first apprenticed with his father, the painter Gaspar van den Hoecke. He then worked in the studio of Peter Paul Rubens in the 1630s, while he was at Rubens’ studio he was a frequent collaborator on various major projects of Rubens. He is believed to have collaborated with Rubens on the decorations for the Banqueting Hall. Jan painted monumental representations for this occasion after designs by Rubens, of these large-scale works some have been preserved such as the Triumphal Entrance of Cardinal Prince Ferdinand of Spain and The Battle of Nördlingen,1634. It is known that the work, which celebrates the Cardinal-Infant’s victory over a Swedish army at the Battle of Nördlingen of 1634 was painted by van den Hoecke after an oil sketch by Rubens. It was placed at a position in the centre of the front of the Arch of Ferdinand during the Joyous Entry. It remained outside for a few months after the event during which it was exposed to the natural elements, as van der Hoecke was in Italy by this time, Jacob Jordaens carried out some re-touching of the canvas in 1636 before it was offered to Cardinal-Infant Ferdinand in 1637. Jan van den Hoecke travelled to Italy where he resided likely from 1635 to 1644 although some extend the period of his stay to 1646, in Italy he seems to have become familiar with the paintings of Guido Reni and studied the antique. These influences explain the classicizing trends in his later work, in 1644, the artist was accepted in Rome as a member of a select club, the Virtuosi al Pantheon. Van den Hoecke moved to Austria and entered the service of Emperor Ferdinand III in 1644 and he also painted for Ferdinand’s brother, Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, including a Madonna and Child and a number of allegorical pieces. Van den Hoecke returned to his country with Archduke Leopold Wilhelm when the latter became the governor of the Southern Netherlands in 1647. He died in Antwerp or Brussels, van den Hoecke was a versatile artist producing historical paintings as well as portraits and designs for tapestries. His work combined the achievements of the art of Rubens with 17th-century Italian Classicism, the artist and his work have only started to attract renewed attention from art historians since the 1970s. Conversely, the knowledge of his unique style has also led to the attribution to other painters of works earlier given to van den Hoecke. His early style with its precise draughtsmanship and closeness to Rubens can be found in his oil sketch of The Triumph of David that was for a time regarded as a work by Rubens. His Hercules between Vice and Virtue shows the influence from both Rubens and Anthony van Dyck, the closeness of his style to that of Rubens may have led to the attribution in 1780 to van den Hoecke of the Massacre of the Innocents when it was in the Liechtenstein Collection
23.
Renaissance
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The Renaissance was a period in European history, from the 14th to the 17th century, regarded as the cultural bridge between the Middle Ages and modern history. It started as a movement in Italy in the Late Medieval period and later spread to the rest of Europe. This new thinking became manifest in art, architecture, politics, science, Early examples were the development of perspective in oil painting and the recycled knowledge of how to make concrete. Although the invention of movable type sped the dissemination of ideas from the later 15th century. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, the Renaissance began in Florence, in the 14th century. Other major centres were northern Italian city-states such as Venice, Genoa, Milan, Bologna, the word Renaissance, literally meaning Rebirth in French, first appeared in English in the 1830s. The word also occurs in Jules Michelets 1855 work, Histoire de France, the word Renaissance has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance and the Renaissance of the 12th century. The Renaissance was a movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the early modern period. Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for realism, however, a subtle shift took place in the way that intellectuals approached religion that was reflected in many other areas of cultural life. In addition, many Greek Christian works, including the Greek New Testament, were back from Byzantium to Western Europe. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe life as it really was. Others see more competition between artists and polymaths such as Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Donatello, and Masaccio for artistic commissions as sparking the creativity of the Renaissance. Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. During the Renaissance, money and art went hand in hand, Artists depended entirely on patrons while the patrons needed money to foster artistic talent. Wealth was brought to Italy in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries by expanding trade into Asia, silver mining in Tyrol increased the flow of money. Luxuries from the Eastern world, brought home during the Crusades, increased the prosperity of Genoa, unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. One of the greatest achievements of Renaissance scholars was to bring this entire class of Greek cultural works back into Western Europe for the first time since late antiquity, Arab logicians had inherited Greek ideas after they had invaded and conquered Egypt and the Levant. Their translations and commentaries on these ideas worked their way through the Arab West into Spain and Sicily and this work of translation from Islamic culture, though largely unplanned and disorganized, constituted one of the greatest transmissions of ideas in history
24.
Christopher Marlowe
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Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe was the foremost Elizabethan tragedian of his day and he greatly influenced William Shakespeare, who was born in the same year as Marlowe and who rose to become the pre-eminent Elizabethan playwright after Marlowes mysterious early death. Marlowes plays are known for the use of verse and their overreaching protagonists. A warrant was issued for Marlowes arrest on 18 May 1593, no reason was given for it, though it was thought to be connected to allegations of blasphemy—a manuscript believed to have been written by Marlowe was said to contain vile heretical conceipts. On 20 May, he was brought to the court to attend upon the Privy Council for questioning, there is no record of their having met that day, however, and he was commanded to attend upon them each day thereafter until licensed to the contrary. Ten days later, he was stabbed to death by Ingram Frizer, whether the stabbing was connected to his arrest has never been resolved. Marlowe was born in Canterbury to shoemaker John Marlowe and his wife Catherine and his date of birth is not known, but he was baptised on 26 February 1564, and is likely to have been born a few days before. Thus, he was just two months older than his contemporary William Shakespeare, who was baptised on 26 April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. Marlowe attended The Kings School in Canterbury and Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, however, his degree was awarded on schedule when the Privy Council intervened on his behalf, commending him for his faithful dealing and good service to the Queen. No direct evidence supports this theory, although the Councils letter is evidence that Marlowe had served the government in some secret capacity, of the dramas attributed to Marlowe, Dido, Queen of Carthage is believed to have been his first. It was performed by the Children of the Chapel, a company of boy actors, the play was first published in 1594, the title page attributes the play to Marlowe and Thomas Nashe. Marlowes first play performed on the stage in London, in 1587, was Tamburlaine the Great, about the conqueror Tamburlaine. It is among the first English plays in verse, and, with Thomas Kyds The Spanish Tragedy. Tamburlaine was a success, and was followed with Tamburlaine the Great, the two parts of Tamburlaine were published in 1590, all Marlowes other works were published posthumously. The sequence of the writing of his four plays is unknown. The Jew of Malta, about a Maltese Jews barbarous revenge against the city authorities, has a prologue delivered by a character representing Machiavelli and it was probably written in 1589 or 1590, and was first performed in 1592. It was a success, and remained popular for the fifty years. The play was entered in the Stationers Register on 17 May 1594, Edward the Second is an English history play about the deposition of King Edward II by his barons and the Queen, who resent the undue influence the kings favourites have in court and state affairs
25.
Walter Raleigh
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Sir Walter Raleigh was an English landed gentleman, writer, poet, soldier, politician, courtier, spy and explorer. He was cousin to Sir Richard Grenville and younger half-brother of Sir Humphrey Gilbert and he is also well known for popularising tobacco in England. Raleigh was born to a Protestant family in Devon, the son of Walter Raleigh, later, he became a landlord of property confiscated from the native Irish. He rose rapidly in the favour of Queen Elizabeth I and was knighted in 1585, Raleigh was instrumental in the English colonisation of North America and was granted a royal patent to explore Virginia, which paved the way for future English settlements. In 1591, he secretly married Elizabeth Throckmorton, one of the Queens ladies-in-waiting, without the Queens permission, for which he, after his release, they retired to his estate at Sherborne, Dorset. In 1594, Raleigh heard of a City of Gold in South America and sailed to find it, publishing an exaggerated account of his experiences in a book that contributed to the legend of El Dorado. After Queen Elizabeth died in 1603, Raleigh was again imprisoned in the Tower, this time for being involved in the Main Plot against King James I, in 1616, he was released to lead a second expedition in search of El Dorado. During the expedition, men led by his top commander ransacked a Spanish outpost and he returned to England and, to appease the Spanish, was arrested and executed in 1618. Raleigh was one of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, in 2002, he was featured in the BBC poll of the 100 Greatest Britons. Little is known about Raleighs birth, some historians believe that he was born on 22 January 1552, although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography currently favours a date of 1554. He grew up in the house of Hayes Barton, a farmhouse near the village of East Budleigh and he was the youngest of five sons born to Catherine Champernowne in two successive marriages. His half-brothers John Gilbert, Humphrey Gilbert, and Adrian Gilbert, Catherine Champernowne was a niece of Kat Ashley, Elizabeths governess, who introduced the young men at court. Raleighs family was highly Protestant in religious orientation and had a number of near escapes during the reign of Roman Catholic Queen Mary I of England, in the most notable of these, his father had to hide in a tower to avoid execution. As a result, Raleigh developed a hatred of Roman Catholicism during his childhood, in matters of religion, Elizabeth was more moderate than her half sister Mary. In 1569, Raleigh left for France to serve with the Huguenots in the French religious civil wars, in 1572, Raleigh was registered as an undergraduate at Oriel College, Oxford, but he left a year later without a degree. Raleigh proceeded to finish his education in the Inns of Court, in 1575, he was registered at the Middle Temple. At his trial in 1603, he stated that he had never studied law and his life is uncertain between 1569 and 1575, but in his History of the World he claimed to have been an eyewitness at the Battle of Moncontour in France. In 1575 or 1576, Raleigh returned to England, between 1579 and 1583, Raleigh took part in the suppression of the Desmond Rebellions
26.
Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
27.
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
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The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1589 and 1593. The play deals with the themes of friendship and infidelity, the conflict between friendship and love, and the behaviour of people in love. The highlight of the play is considered by some to be Launce, the servant of Proteus. Two Gentlemen is often regarded as one of Shakespeares weakest plays and it has the smallest named cast of any play by Shakespeare. As the play begins, Valentine is preparing to leave Verona for Milan so as to broaden his horizons and he begs his best friend, Proteus, to come with him, but Proteus is in love with Julia, and refuses to leave. Disappointed, Valentine bids Proteus farewell and goes on alone, meanwhile, Julia is discussing Proteus with her maid, Lucetta, who tells Julia that she thinks Proteus is fond of her. Julia, however, acts coyly, embarrassed to admit that she likes him, Lucetta then produces a letter, she will not say who gave it to her, but teases Julia that it was Valentines servant, Speed, who brought it from Proteus. Julia, still unwilling to reveal her love in front of Lucetta and she sends Lucetta away, but then, realising her own rashness, she picks up the fragments of the letter and kisses them, trying to piece them back together. Meanwhile, Proteus father has decided that Proteus should travel to Milan and he orders that Proteus must leave the next day, prompting a tearful farewell with Julia, to whom Proteus swears eternal love. The two exchange rings and vows and Proteus promises to return as soon as he can, in Milan, Proteus finds Valentine in love with the Dukes daughter, Silvia. Despite being in love with Julia, Proteus falls instantly in love with Silvia, unaware of Proteus feelings, Valentine tells him the Duke wants Silvia to marry the foppish but wealthy Thurio, against her wishes. Because the Duke suspects that his daughter and Valentine are in love, he locks her nightly in a tower, however, Valentine tells Proteus that he plans to free her by means of a corded ladder, and together, they will elope. Proteus immediately informs the Duke, who captures and banishes Valentine. While wandering outside Milan, Valentine runs afoul of a band of outlaws, Valentine lies, saying he was banished for killing a man in a fair fight, and the outlaws elect him their leader. Meanwhile, in Verona, Julia decides to join her lover in Milan and she convinces Lucetta to dress her in boys clothes and help her fix her hair so she will not be harmed on the journey. Once in Milan, Julia quickly discovers Proteus love for Silvia and she contrives to become his page boy – Sebastian – until she can decide upon a course of action. e. Silvia deeply mourns the loss of Valentine, who Proteus has told her is rumoured dead, not persuaded of Valentines death, Silvia determines to flee the city with the help of Sir Eglamour. They escape into the forest but when they are confronted by the outlaws, Eglamour flees, the outlaws head to their leader, but on the way, they encounter Proteus and Julia
28.
Much Ado About Nothing
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Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599, as Shakespeare was approaching the middle of his career. The play was included in the First Folio, published in 1623, at the end, Benedick and Beatrice join forces to set things right, and the others join in a dance celebrating the marriages of the two couples. At Messina, a messenger brings news that Don Pedro, a prince from Aragon, will return that night from a successful battle, Beatrice, Leonatos niece, asks the messenger about Benedick and makes sarcastic remarks about his ineptitude as a soldier. Leonato explains that There is a kind of merry war betwixt Signior Benedick, upon the arrival of the soldiers, Leonato welcomes Don Pedro and invites him to stay for a month, Benedick and Beatrice resume their merry war, and Pedros illegitimate brother Don John is introduced. Claudios feelings for Hero, Leonatos only daughter, are rekindled upon seeing her, Benedick, who openly despises marriage, tries to dissuade his friend but Don Pedro encourages the marriage. Benedick swears that he will never get married, Don Pedro laughs at him and tells him that when he has found the right person he shall get married. A masquerade ball is planned in celebration of the end of the war, Don John uses this situation to get revenge on his brother Don Pedro by telling young Claudio that Don Pedro is wooing Hero for himself. A furious Claudio confronts Don Pedro, but the misunderstanding is quickly resolved, meanwhile, Benedick disguises himself and dances with Beatrice. Beatrice proceeds to tell this man that Benedick is the princes jester. Benedick, enraged by her words, swears he will have revenge, Don Pedro and his men, bored at the prospect of waiting a week for the wedding, harbour a plan to match-make between Benedick and Beatrice. They arrange for Benedick to overhear a conversation in which they declare that Beatrice is madly in love him but afraid to tell him. Meanwhile, Hero and her maid Ursula ensure Beatrice overhears them discuss Benedicks undying love for her, the tricks have the desired effect, both Benedick and Beatrice are delighted to think they are the object of unrequited love, and both accordingly resolve to mend their faults and reconcile. Meanwhile, Don Pedros brother Don John, the prince, plots to prevent the wedding, embarrass his brother and wreak misery on Leonato. He informs Don Pedro and Claudio that Hero is unfaithful, Claudio and Don Pedro are taken in, and Claudio vows to humiliate Hero publicly. At the wedding the day, Claudio denounces Hero before the stunned guests. Her humiliated father Leonato expresses the wish that she would die, the presiding friar intervenes, believing Hero to be innocent. He suggests the family fake Heros death in order to extract the truth, prompted by the days harrowing events, Benedick and Beatrice confess their love for each other. Beatrice then asks Benedick to slay Claudio as proof of his devotion, Benedick is horrified and at first, denies her request
29.
A Midsummer Night's Dream
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A Midsummer Nights Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare in 1595/96. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six actors who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeares most popular works for the stage and is performed across the world. The play opens with Hermia, who is in love with Lysander, resistant to her father Egeus demand that she wed Demetrius, Helena meanwhile pines unrequitedly for Demetrius. Enraged, Egeus invokes an ancient Athenian law before Duke Theseus, whereby a daughter must marry the suitor chosen by her father, Theseus offers her another choice, lifelong chastity while worshipping the goddess Artemis as a nun. Quince reads the names of characters and bestows them to the players, nick Bottom, who is playing the main role of Pyramus, is over-enthusiastic and wants to dominate others by suggesting himself for the characters of Thisbe, the Lion, and Pyramus at the same time. He would also rather be a tyrant and recites some lines of Ercles, Bottom is told by Quince that he would do the Lion so terribly as to frighten the duchess and ladies enough for the Duke and Lords to have the players hanged. Quince ends the meeting with at the Dukes oak we meet, in a parallel plot line, Oberon, king of the fairies, and Titania, his queen, have come to the forest outside Athens. Titania tells Oberon that she plans to stay there until she has attended Theseus, Oberon and Titania are estranged because Titania refuses to give her Indian changeling to Oberon for use as his knight or henchman, since the childs mother was one of Titanias worshippers. Oberon seeks to punish Titanias disobedience, when the concoction is applied to the eyelids of a sleeping person, that person, upon waking, falls in love with the first living thing they perceive. He instructs Puck to retrieve the flower with the hope that he might make Titania fall in love with an animal of the forest and thereby shame her into giving up the little Indian boy. He says, And ere I take this charm from off her sight, /As I can take it with another herb, Hermia and Lysander have escaped to the same forest in hopes of eloping. Helena, desperate to reclaim Demetriuss love, tells Demetrius about the plan, Helena continually makes advances towards Demetrius, promising to love him more than Hermia. However, he rebuffs her with cruel insults against her, observing this, Oberon orders Puck to spread some of the magical juice from the flower on the eyelids of the young Athenian man. Instead, Puck mistakes Lysander for Demetrius, not having seen either before. Helena, coming across him, wakes him while attempting to determine whether he is dead or asleep, upon this happening, Lysander immediately falls in love with Helena. Oberon sees Demetrius still following Hermia and is enraged, when Demetrius goes to sleep, Oberon sends Puck to get Helena while he charms Demetrius eyes
30.
Edward III (play)
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The Raigne of King Edward the Third, commonly shortened to Edward III, is an Elizabethan play printed anonymously in 1596. It has frequently claimed that it was at least partly written by William Shakespeare. The rest of the play was written by Thomas Kyd. This could explain why the play was not included in the First Folio of Shakespeares works, King Edward III is informed by The Count of Artois that he, Edward, was the true heir to the previous king of France. A French ambassador arrives to insist that Edward do homage to the new French king for his lands in Guyenne, Edward defies him, insisting he will invade to enforce his rights. A messenger arrives to say that the Scots are besieging a castle in the north of England, Edward decides to deal with this problem first. The castle is being held by the beautiful Countess of Salisbury, as Edwards army arrives, the rampaging Scots flee. Edward immediately falls for the Countess, and proceeds to woo her for himself and she rebuffs him, but he persists. In an attempted bluff, the Countess vows to take the life of her husband if Edward will take the life of his wife. However, when she sees that Edward finds the plan morally acceptable, finally, Edward expresses great shame, admits his fault and acquiesces. He dedicates himself to use his energies to pursue his rights, in the second part of the play, in several scenes reminiscent of Henry V, Edward joins his army in France, fighting a war to claim the French throne. He and the French king exchange arguments for their claims before the Battle of Crecy, King Edwards son, Edward, the Black Prince, is knighted and sent into battle. The king refuses to help to his son when it appears that the young mans life is in danger. Prince Edward proves himself in battle after defeating the king of Bohemia, the English win the battle and the French flee to Poitiers. Edward sends the prince to pursue them, while he besieges Calais, in Poitiers the prince finds himself outnumbered and apparently surrounded. The play switches between the French and English camps, where the apparent hopelessness of the English campaign is contrasted with the arrogance of the French, Prince Edward broods on the morality of war before achieving victory in the Battle of Poitiers against seemingly insurmountable odds. In Calais the citizens realise they will have to surrender to King Edward, Edward demands that six of the leading citizens be sent out to face punishment. Edwards wife, Queen Philippa, arrives and persuades him to pardon them, sir John Copland brings Edward the king of the Scots, captured in battle, and a messenger informs Edward that the English have secured Brittany
31.
Othello
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Othello is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro by Cinthio, Roderigo is upset because he loves Desdemona and had asked her father for her hand in marriage. Iago hates Othello for promoting a younger man named Cassio above him, whom Iago considers less capable a soldier than himself, Iago convinces Roderigo to wake Brabantio and tell him about his daughters elopement. Meanwhile, Iago sneaks away to find Othello and warns him that Brabantio is coming for him. Brabantio, provoked by Roderigo, is enraged and will not rest until he has beheaded Othello, but he finds Othellos residence full of the Duke of Venices guards, who prevent violence. News has arrived in Venice that the Turks are going to attack Cyprus, Brabantio has no option but to accompany Othello to the Dukes residence, where he accuses Othello of seducing Desdemona by witchcraft. Othello defends himself before the Duke of Venice, Brabantios kinsmen Lodovico and Gratiano, Othello explains that Desdemona became enamoured of him for the sad and compelling stories he told of his life before Venice, not because of any witchcraft. Iago, still in the room, takes note of Brabantios remark, the party arrives in Cyprus to find that a storm has destroyed the Turkish fleet. Othello orders a celebration and leaves to consummate his marriage with Desdemona. In his absence, Iago gets Cassio drunk, and then persuades Roderigo to draw Cassio into a fight, Montano tries to calm an angry and drunk Cassio down, but end up fighting one another. Montano is injured in the fight, Othello reenters and questions the men as to what happened. Othello blames Cassio for the disturbance and strips him of his rank, Iago persuades Cassio to importune Desdemona to convince her husband to reinstate Cassio. Iago now persuades Othello to be suspicious of Cassio and Desdemona, when Desdemona drops a handkerchief, Emilia finds it, and gives it to her husband Iago, at his request, unaware of what he plans to do with it. Othello reenters and vows with Iago for the death of Desdemona and Cassio, after which he makes Iago his lieutenant. Act III, scene iii, is considered to be the point of the play as it is the scene in which Iago successfully sows the seeds of doubt in Othellos mind. Iago plants the handkerchief in Cassios lodgings, then tells Othello to watch Cassios reactions while Iago questions him. Iago goads Cassio on to talk about his affair with Bianca, a local courtesan, later, Bianca accuses Cassio of giving her a second-hand gift which he had received from another lover. Othello sees this, and Iago convinces him that Cassio received the handkerchief from Desdemona, enraged and hurt, Othello resolves to kill his wife and asks Iago to kill Cassio
32.
Romeo and Juliet
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Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeares most popular plays during his lifetime and along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays, today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers. Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. The plot is based on an Italian tale translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562, Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but expanded the plot by developing a number of supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. The text of the first quarto version was of quality, however. Shakespeares use of his dramatic structure has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops, Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play. Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical, during the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garricks 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushmans, restored the original text and focused on greater realism. John Gielguds 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeares text and used Elizabethan costumes, the play, set in Verona, Italy, begins with a street brawl between Montague and Capulet servants who, like their masters, are sworn enemies. Prince Escalus of Verona intervenes and declares that further breach of the peace will be punishable by death, later, Count Paris talks to Capulet about marrying his daughter Juliet, but Capulet asks Paris to wait another two years and invites him to attend a planned Capulet ball. Lady Capulet and Juliets nurse try to persuade Juliet to accept Pariss courtship, meanwhile, Benvolio talks with his cousin Romeo, Montagues son, about Romeos recent depression. Benvolio discovers that it stems from unrequited infatuation for a girl named Rosaline, one of Capulets nieces, persuaded by Benvolio and Mercutio, Romeo attends the ball at the Capulet house in hopes of meeting Rosaline. However, Romeo instead meets and falls in love with Juliet, Juliets cousin, Tybalt, is enraged at Romeo for sneaking into the ball but is only stopped from killing Romeo by Juliets father, who does not wish to shed blood in his house. Romeo makes himself known to her and they agree to be married, with the help of Friar Laurence, who hopes to reconcile the two families through their childrens union, they are secretly married the next day. Tybalt, meanwhile, still incensed that Romeo had sneaked into the Capulet ball, Romeo, now considering Tybalt his kinsman, refuses to fight. Mercutio is offended by Tybalts insolence, as well as Romeos vile submission, Mercutio is fatally wounded when Romeo attempts to break up the fight
33.
As You Like It
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As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio,1623. The plays first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility. As You Like It follows its heroine Rosalind as she flees persecution in her uncles court, accompanied by her cousin Celia to find safety and, eventually, love, in the Forest of Arden. In the forest, they encounter a variety of memorable characters, Jaques provides a sharp contrast to the other characters in the play, always observing and disputing the hardships of life in the country. Historically, critical response has varied, with critics finding the work of lesser quality than other Shakespearean works. The play remains a favourite among audiences and has adapted for radio, film. The play is set in a duchy in France, but most of the takes place in a location called the Forest of Arden. Frederick has usurped the Duchy and exiled his brother, Duke Senior. Duke Seniors daughter, Rosalind, has permitted to remain at court because she is the closest friend and cousin of Fredericks only child. Orlando, a gentleman of the kingdom who at first sight has fallen in love with Rosalind, is forced to flee his home after being persecuted by his older brother, Oliver. Frederick becomes angry and banishes Rosalind from court, Celia and Rosalind decide to flee together accompanied by the court fool, Touchstone, with Rosalind disguised as a young man and Celia disguised as a poor lady. Ganymede and Aliena do not immediately encounter the Duke and his companions, instead, they meet Corin, an impoverished tenant, and offer to buy his masters crude cottage. Orlando and his servant Adam, meanwhile, find the Duke and his men and are living with them. Rosalind, also in love with Orlando, meets him as Ganymede, Ganymede says that he will take Rosalinds place and that he and Orlando can act out their relationship. The shepherdess, Phoebe, with whom Silvius is in love, has fallen in love with Ganymede, Touchstone, meanwhile, has fallen in love with the dull-witted shepherdess, Audrey, and tries to woo her, but eventually is forced to be married first. William, another shepherd, attempts to marry Audrey as well, but is stopped by Touchstone, finally, Silvius, Phoebe, Ganymede, and Orlando are brought together in an argument with each other over who will get whom. Ganymede says he will solve the problem, having Orlando promise to marry Rosalind, Orlando sees Oliver in the forest and rescues him from a lioness, causing Oliver to repent for mistreating Orlando. Oliver meets Aliena and falls in love with her, and they agree to marry, Jaques, ever melancholic, declines their invitation to return to the court preferring to stay in the forest and to adopt a religious life as well
34.
Ben Jonson
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Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright, poet, actor, and literary critic of the 17th century, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours, Ben Jonson said that his family originally came from the folk of the Anglo-Scottish border country, which genealogy is attested by the three spindles in the Jonson family coat of arms. One spindle is a heraldic device shared with the Border-country Johnstone family of Annandale. Jonsons clergyman father died two months before his birth, his mother married a master bricklayer two years later, Jonson attended school in St. Martins Lane. Later, a family friend paid for his studies at Westminster School, on leaving Westminster School, Jonson was to have attended the University of Cambridge, to continue his book learning but did not, because of his unwilled apprenticeship to his bricklayer stepfather. According to the churchman and historian Thomas Fuller, Jonson at this time built a wall in Lincolns Inn. After having been a bricklayer, Ben Jonson went to the Netherlands. After his military activity on the Continent, Jonson returned to England and worked as an actor, as an actor, Jonson was the protagonist “Hieronimo” in the play The Spanish Tragedy, by Thomas Kyd, the first revenge tragedy in English literature. Regarding his marriage Jonson described his wife to William Drummond as a shrew, concerning the family of Anne Lewis and Ben Jonson, the St. Martins Church registers indicate that Mary Jonson, their eldest daughter, died in November 1593, at six months of age. Moreover,32 years later, a son, also named Benjamin Jonson. By summer 1597, Jonson had an engagement in the Admirals Men, then performing under Philip Henslowes management at The Rose. John Aubrey reports, on authority, that Jonson was not successful as an actor, whatever his skills as an actor. By this time Jonson had begun to write plays for the Admirals Men. None of his early tragedies survive, however, an undated comedy, The Case is Altered, may be his earliest surviving play. In 1597 a play which he co-wrote with Thomas Nashe, The Isle of Dogs, was suppressed after causing great offence, arrest warrants for Jonson and Nashe were issued by Queen Elizabeth Is so-called interrogator, Richard Topcliffe. Jonson was jailed in Marshalsea Prison and charged with Leude and mutynous behaviour, two of the actors, Gabriel Spenser and Robert Shaw, were also imprisoned. A year later, Jonson was again imprisoned, this time in Newgate Prison. While in jail Jonson converted to Catholicism, possibly through the influence of fellow-prisoner Father Thomas Wright, in 1598 Jonson produced his first great success, Every Man in His Humour, capitalising on the vogue for humorous plays which George Chapman had begun with An Humorous Days Mirth
35.
Bartholomew Fair (play)
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Bartholomew Fair is a Jacobean comedy in five acts by Ben Jonson. It was first staged on 31 October 1614 at the Hope Theatre by the Lady Elizabeths Men company, written four years after The Alchemist, five after Epicœne, or the Silent Woman, and nine after Volpone, it is in some respects the most experimental of these plays. Copies of the 1631 typecast were circulated, though whether they were sold publicly or distributed privately by Jonson is unclear, the play was published in the second folio of Jonsons works in 1640–41, published by Richard Meighen. The play is set at Bartholomew Fair, which from 1133 to 1855 was one of Londons preeminent summer fairs and it opened on 24 August each year at Smithfield, in the northwestern part of the city. Smithfield, a site of slaughterhouses and public executions, was a place for a fair that was part commerce. At once an event for cloth and other goods and a pleasure fair. Jonsons play uses this fair as the setting for an unusually detailed, Jonson also uses the characters that he creates as a way to comment on the social, religious and political conflicts of London society in Jacobean England. The play begins with a bit of metadrama, the companys stage-keeper enters, criticising the play about to be performed because it lacks romantic. He is then pushed from the stage by the book-keeper, who announces a contract between author and audience. Perhaps most important, they not to expect a throwback to the sword-and-buckler age of Smithfield, for Jonson has given them a picture of the present. This colloquy is interrupted by the entrance of Wasp, the servant of Cokes. Grace is the ward of Adam Overdo, a Justice of the Peace, all of these characters are at Littlewits to get a marriage license, having obtained it, they indulge Cokess wish to visit the fair. Littlewit and his friends plan to go to the fair to see a puppet-show Littlewit wrote. To overcome Busys likely objections, they pretend that Win has a pregnant craving for roast pork, the first act ends with both groups, the genteel Overdos and the raffish Littlewits, headed for the fair. The fair propels these characters through experiences that put their social identities under extreme strain, Quarlous and Winwife engage Edgeworth to steal the marriage license from Wasp, he does so when Wasp is arrested after starting a fight. Wasp, too, is put in the stocks, Winwife has abandoned his plan to marry Dame Purecraft, instead, he and Quarlous fight for Graces hand. Win Littlewit and Mistress Overdo are enlisted as prostitutes by the pimp Whit, Zeal-of-the-land Busy is arrested for preaching without license, Cokes is robbed several times by Edgeworth and other denizens of the fair. All the imprisoned characters escape when Trouble-All, a madman for whom Dame Purecraft has conceived a sudden passion
36.
Garcilaso de la Vega (poet)
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Garcilaso de la Vega was a Spanish soldier and poet. Although not the first or the one to do so, he was the most influential poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques. He was well known in poetic circles during his lifetime, and his poetry was published posthumously by Juan Boscán in 1543, and it has been the subject of several annotated editions, the first and most famous of which appeared in 1574. Garcilaso was born in the Spanish city of Toledo and his father, Pedro Suárez de Figueroa, was a nobleman in the royal court of the Catholic Monarchs. His mothers name was Sancha de Guzmán, Garcilaso was the second son which meant he did not receive the mayorazgo to his fathers estate. However, he spent his younger years receiving an education, mastered five languages, and learned how to play the zither, lute. When his father died in 1509, Garcilaso received an inheritance from his father. After his schooling, he joined the military in hopes of joining the royal guard and he was named contino of Charles V in 1520, and he was made a member of the Order of Santiago in 1523. There were a few women in the life of this poet and his first lover was Guiomar Carrillo, with whom he had an illegitimate child. He had another suspected lover named Isabel Freire, who was a lady-in-waiting of Isabel of Portugal, in 1525, Garcilaso married Elena de Zúñiga, who served as a lady-in-waiting for the Kings favorite sister, Leonor. Their marriage took place in Garcilasos hometown of Toledo in one of the familys estates and he had six children, Lorenzo, an illegitimate child with Guiomar Carrillo, Garcilaso, Íñigo de Zúñiga, Pedro de Guzmán, Sancha, and Francisco. Garcilasos military career meant that he took part in the numerous battles and his duties took him to Italy, Germany, Tunisia and France. In 1532 for a period he was exiled to a Danube island where he was the guest of the Count György Cseszneky. Later in France, he would fight his last battle, the King desired to take control of Marseille and eventually control of the Mediterranean Sea, but this goal was never realized. Garcilaso de la Vega died on 14 October 1536 in Nice and his body was first buried in the Church of St. Dominic in Nice, but two years later his wife had his body moved to the Church of San Pedro Martir in Toledo. Garcilaso de la Vega is best known for his love poetry that contrasts the playful poetry of his predecessors. He seemed to progress through three episodes of his life which are reflected in his works. Influenced by many Italian Renaissance poets, Garcilaso adapted the eleven-syllable line to the Spanish language in his sonetos, mostly written in the 1520s, increasing the number of syllables in the verse from eight to eleven allowed for greater flexibility
37.
Lafcadio Hearn
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In the United States, Hearn is also known for his writings about the city of New Orleans based on his ten-year stay in that city. Hearn was born in and named after the island of Lefkada, one of the Greek Ionian Islands and he was the son of Surgeon-Major Charles Bush Hearn and Rosa Antoniou Kassimatis, a Greek woman of noble Kytheran lineage through her father, Anthony Kassimatis. His father was stationed in Lefkada during the British occupation of the islands, Lafcadio was baptized Patricios Lefcadios Hearn in the Greek Orthodox Church, but he seems to have been called Patrick Lefcadio Kassimati Charles Hearn in English. George Hearn died on 17 August 1850, two months after Lafcadios birth, in 1850 Hearns father was promoted to Staff Surgeon Second Class and was reassigned from Lefkada to the British West Indies. In 1852, he arranged to send his son and wife to live with his family in Dublin, Ireland, Charles Hearns mother, Elizabeth Holmes Hearn, had difficulty accepting Rosa Hearns Catholicism and lack of education. Despite Sarah Brenanes efforts, Rosa suffered from homesickness, when her husband returned to Ireland on medical leave in 1853, it became clear that the couple had become estranged. Charles Hearn was assigned to the Crimean Peninsula, again leaving his pregnant wife, when he came back in 1856, severely wounded and traumatized, Rosa had returned to her home island of Cerigo in Greece, where she gave birth to their third son, Daniel James Hearn. Lafcadio had been left in the care of Sarah Brenane, Charles Hearn petitioned to have the marriage with Rosa annulled, on the basis of her lack of signature on the marriage contract, which made it invalid under English law. After being informed of the annulment, Rosa almost immediately married Giovanni Cavallini, Cavallini required as a condition of the marriage that Rosa give up custody of both Lafcadio and James. As a result, James was sent to his father in Dublin, neither Lafcadio nor James saw their mother again, who had four children with her second husband. Rosa was eventually committed to the National Mental Asylum on Corfu, Charles Hearn, who had left Lafcadio in the care of Sarah Brenane for the past 4 years, now appointed her as Lafcadios permanent guardian. He married his sweetheart, Alicia Goslin, in July 1857, and left with his new wife for a posting in Secunderabad. Lafcadio never saw his father again, Charles Hearn died of malaria in the Gulf of Suez in 1866, in 1857, at age seven and despite the fact that both his parents were still alive, Hearn became the permanent ward of his great aunt, Sarah Brenane. She divided her residency between Dublin in the months, her husbands estate at Tramore, County Waterford on the southern Irish coast. Brenane also engaged a tutor during the year to provide basic instruction. Hearn began exploring Brenanes library and read extensively in Greek literature, Hearn became fluent in French and would later translate into English the works of Guy de Maupassant, who coincidentally attended the school shortly after Hearns departure. In 1863, again at the suggestion of Molyneux, Hearn was enrolled at St. Cuthberts College, Ushaw, in this environment, Hearn adopted the nickname Paddy to try to fit in better, and was the top student in English composition for three years. At age 16, while at Ushaw, Hearn injured his eye in a schoolyard mishap
38.
John Donne
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John Donne was an English poet and cleric in the Church of England. He is considered the pre-eminent representative of the metaphysical poets and his works are noted for their strong, sensual style and include sonnets, love poems, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs, satires and sermons. His poetry is noted for its vibrancy of language and inventiveness of metaphor, Donnes style is characterised by abrupt openings and various paradoxes, ironies and dislocations. His early career was marked by poetry that bore immense knowledge of English society, another important theme in Donnes poetry is the idea of true religion, something that he spent much time considering and about which he often theorized. He wrote secular poems as well as erotic and love poems and he is particularly famous for his mastery of metaphysical conceits. Despite his great education and poetic talents, Donne lived in poverty for several years and he spent much of the money he inherited during and after his education on womanising, literature, pastimes, and travel. In 1601, Donne secretly married Anne More, with whom he had twelve children, in 1615, he became an Anglican priest, although he did not want to take Anglican orders. He did so because King James I persistently ordered it, in 1621, he was appointed the Dean of St Pauls Cathedral in London. He also served as a member of Parliament in 1601 and in 1614, Donne was born in London, into a recusant Roman Catholic family when practice of that religion was illegal in England. Donne was the third of six children and his father, also named John Donne, was of Welsh descent and a warden of the Ironmongers Company in the City of London. Donnes father was a respected Roman Catholic who avoided unwelcome government attention out of fear of persecution and his father died in 1576, when Donne was four years old, leaving his son fatherless and his widow, Elizabeth Heywood, with the responsibility of raising their children alone. Heywood was also from a recusant Roman Catholic family, the daughter of John Heywood, the playwright, and sister of the Reverend Jasper Heywood and she was a great-niece of the Roman Catholic martyr Thomas More. This tradition of martyrdom would continue among Donnes closer relatives, many of whom were executed or exiled for religious reasons, Donne was educated privately, however, there is no evidence to support the popular claim that he was taught by Jesuits. Donnes mother married Dr. John Syminges, a widower with three children, a few months after Donnes father died. Two more of his sisters, Mary and Katherine, died in 1581, Donnes mother lived her last years in the Deanery after Donne became Dean of St Pauls, and died just two months before Donne, in January 1631. In 1583, the 11-year-old Donne began studies at Hart Hall, now Hertford College, after three years of studies there, Donne was admitted to the University of Cambridge, where he studied for another three years. However, Donne could not obtain a degree from either institution because of his Catholicism, in 1591 Donne was accepted as a student at the Thavies Inn legal school, one of the Inns of Chancery in London. On 6 May 1592 he was admitted to Lincolns Inn, one of the Inns of Court, Donnes brother Henry was also a university student prior to his arrest in 1593 for harbouring a Catholic priest, William Harrington, whom he betrayed under torture
39.
Epigram
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An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. Derived from the Greek, ἐπίγραμμα epigramma inscription from ἐπιγράφειν epigraphein to write on, to inscribe, the presence of wit or sarcasm tends to distinguish non-poetic epigrams from aphorisms and adages, which may lack them. These original epigrams did the job as a short prose text might have done. Epigram became a genre in the Hellenistic period, probably developing out of scholarly collections of inscriptional epigrams. Many of the types of literary epigram look back to inscriptional contexts, particularly funerary epigram. Many sympotic epigrams combine sympotic and funerary elements – they tell their readers to drink, epigrams are also thought of as having a point – that is, the poem ends in a punchline or satirical twist. By no means do all Greek epigrams behave this way, many are simply descriptive, Greek epigram was actually much more diverse, as the Milan Papyrus now indicates. A major source for Greek literary epigram is the Greek Anthology, the Anthology includes one book of Christian epigrams as well as one book of erotic and amorous epigrams called the Μουσα Παιδικη. Roman epigrams owe much to their Greek predecessors and contemporaries, Roman epigrams, however, were often more satirical than Greek ones, and at times used obscene language for effect. Its content, of course, makes it clear how popular such poems were, Admiror, O paries, Im astonished, wall, that you havent collapsed into ruins, since youre holding up the weary verse of so many poets. However, in the world, epigrams were most often gifts to patrons or entertaining verse to be published. Authors whose epigrams survive include Catullus, who wrote both invectives and love epigrams – his poem 85 is one of the latter, nescio, sed fieri sentio, et excrucior. Maybe youd like to know why I do, I dont know, but I feel it happening, and Im crucified. Martial, however, is considered to be the master of the Latin epigram and his technique relies heavily on the satirical poem with a joke in the last line, thus drawing him closer to the modern idea of epigram as a genre. Here he defines his genre against a critic, Disce quod ignoras, non sunt longa quibus nihil est quod demere possis, sed tu, Cosconi, disticha longa facis. Learn what you dont know, one work of Marsus or learned Pedo often stretches out over a doublesided page, a work isnt long if you cant take anything out of it, but you, Cosconius, write even a couplet too long. Poets known for their epigrams whose work has been lost include Cornificia, in early English literature the short couplet poem was dominated by the poetic epigram and proverb, especially in the translations of the Bible and the Greek and Roman poets. Since 1600, two lines of verse that rhyme with each other, known as a couplet featured as a part of the longer sonnet form
40.
Dion Boucicault
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Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot, commonly known as Dion Boucicault, was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the Atlantic as one of the most successful actor-playwright-managers then in the English-speaking theatre, the New York Times heralded him in his obituary as the most conspicuous English dramatist of the 19th century. Dionysius Lardner Boursiquot was born and educated in Dublin where he lived on Gardiner Street and his mother was Anne Darley, sister of the poet and mathematician George Darley. The Darleys were an important Dublin family influential in many fields, Anne was married to Samuel Smith Boursiquot, of Huguenot ancestry, but the identity of the boys father is questionable. He was probably Dionysius Lardner, a lodger at his mothers house at a time when she was separated from her husband. Dion went to London and was enrolled at University College School at the age of 13, after a year in London, Boursiquot/Boucicault left to pursue acting in Cheltenham. The young actor used the stage name Lee Morton and he joined William Charles Macready and made his first appearance upon the stage with Benjamin Webster at Bristol, England. Soon afterwards he began to write plays, occasionally in conjunction and his first play, A Legend of the Devils Dyke, opened in Brighton in 1838. Three years later he found success as a dramatist with London Assurance. Produced at Covent Garden on 4 March 1841, its cast included such actors as Charles Mathews, William Farren, Mrs Nesbitt. The last two plays were adaptations of French plays, in his play The Vampire, Boucicault made his début as a leading actor as the vampire Sir Alan Raby. Although the play itself had mixed reviews, Boucicaults characterisation was praised as a dreadful, in 1854 he wrote and played the title character in Andy Blake, or, The Irish Diamond. From 1854 to 1860, Boucicault resided in the United States, Boucicault and his actress wife, Agnes Robertson, toured America. He also wrote successful plays there, acting in most of them. These included the popular Jessie Brown, or, The Relief of Lucknow in 1858, in the summer of 1859, Boucicault took over as manager of Burtons New Theatre on Broadway just below Amity Street. After extensive remodelling, he renamed his new showplace the Winter Garden Theatre, there on 5 December 1859, he premiered his new sensation, the anti-slavery potboiler The Octoroon, in which he also starred. This was the first play to treat seriously the Black American population, on his return to England, he produced at the Adelphi Theatre a dramatic adaptation of Gerald Griffins novel, The Collegians, entitled The Colleen Bawn. This play, one of the most successful of the times, was performed in almost every city of the United Kingdom, although it made its author a handsome fortune, he lost it in the management of various London theatres
41.
John Keats
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John Keats was an English Romantic poet. He had a significant influence on a range of poets. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keatss work was the most significant literary experience of his life, the poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. This is typical of poets, as they aimed to accentuate extreme emotion through the emphasis of natural imagery. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular, John Keats was born in Moorgate, London, on 31 October 1795 to Thomas Keats and his wife, born Frances Jennings. There is no evidence of his exact birthplace. Although Keats and his family seem to have marked his birthday on 29 October and he was the eldest of four surviving children, his younger siblings were George, Thomas, and Frances Mary Fanny who eventually married Spanish author Valentín Llanos Gutiérrez. Another son was lost in infancy and his father first worked as a hostler at the stables attached to the Swan and Hoop Inn, an establishment he later managed, and where the growing family lived for some years. Keats believed that he was born at the inn, a birthplace of humble origins, the Globe pub now occupies the site, a few yards from the modern-day Moorgate station. He was baptised at St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate, and sent to a dame school as a child. His parents were unable to afford Eton or Harrow, so in the summer of 1803, he was sent to board at John Clarkes school in Enfield, the small school had a liberal outlook and a progressive curriculum more modern than the larger, more prestigious schools. In the family atmosphere at Clarkes, Keats developed an interest in classics and history, the headmasters son, Charles Cowden Clarke, also became an important mentor and friend, introducing Keats to Renaissance literature, including Tasso, Spenser, and Chapmans translations. The young Keats was described by his friend Edward Holmes as a character, always in extremes, given to indolence. However, at 13 he began focusing his energy on reading and study, in April 1804, when Keats was eight, his father died. The cause of death was a fracture, suffered when he fell from his horse while returning from a visit to Keats. Frances remarried two months later, but left her new husband soon afterwards, and the four went to live with their grandmother, Alice Jennings. In March 1810 when Keats was 14, his mother died of tuberculosis and she appointed two guardians, Richard Abbey and John Sandell, to take care of them. That autumn, Keats left Clarkes school to apprentice with Thomas Hammond, a surgeon and apothecary who was a neighbour, Keats lodged in the attic above the surgery at 7 Church Street until 1813
Media related to Hero and Leander at Wikimedia Commons
"Hero. A priestess of Aphrodite at Sestos.". New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
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