1.
Pushkin Museum
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The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts is the largest museum of European art in Moscow, located in Volkhonka street, just opposite the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour. The International musical festival Svyatoslav Richters December nights has been held in the Pushkin museum since 1981. The museums current name is misleading, in that it has no direct associations with the famous Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. The facility was founded by professor Ivan Tsvetaev, Tsvetaev persuaded the millionaire and philanthropist Yuriy Nechaev-Maltsov and the fashionable architect Roman Klein of the urgent need to give Moscow a fine arts museum. The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts building was designed by Roman Klein and Vladimir Shukhov, construction work began in 1898 and continued till 1912. Ivan Rerberg headed structural engineering effort on the site for 12 years. In 2008, President Dmitri A. Medvedev announced plans for a $177 million restoration, in 2014, Russian architect Yuri Grigoryan, and his firm Project Meganom, were chosen to take over the project. Tsvetaevs dream was realised in May 1912, when the museum opened its doors to the public, the museum was originally named after Alexander III, although the government provided only 200,000 rubles toward its construction, in comparison with over 2 million from Nechaev-Maltsev. Its first exhibits were copies of ancient statuary, thought indispensable for the education of art students, the only genuinely ancient items - Moscow Mathematical Papyrus and Story of Wenamun - had been contributed by Vladimir Golenishchev three years earlier. After the Russian capital was moved to Moscow in 1918, the Soviet government decided to transfer thousands of works from St Petersburgs Hermitage Museum to the new capital, the entire collection of Western art from the Museum Roumjantsev was added too. These paintings formed a nucleus of the Pushkin museums collections of Western art, but the most important paintings were added later from the State Museum of New Western Art. These comprised Impressionist and Post-Impressionist artwork, including top works by Van Gogh, Gauguin, Picasso, Dufrénoy, Derain, among them, Van Goghs La Vigne Rouge, apparently the only painting sold during the artists lifetime. In 1937, Pushkins name was appended to the museum, because the Soviet Union marked the centenary of the death that year. After World War II the evacuated Dresden Gallery had been stored in Moscow for 10 years, the Pushkin Museum has a numismatic collection which is unpublished. It includes archaeological material from Central Asia, such as a hoard of Kushano-Sasanian coins acquired in 2002 William Craft Brumfield
2.
Greek language
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Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece and other parts of the Eastern Mediterranean. It has the longest documented history of any living language, spanning 34 centuries of written records and its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the major part of its history, other systems, such as Linear B and the Cypriot syllabary, were used previously. The alphabet arose from the Phoenician script and was in turn the basis of the Latin, Cyrillic, Armenian, Coptic, Gothic and many other writing systems. Together with the Latin texts and traditions of the Roman world, during antiquity, Greek was a widely spoken lingua franca in the Mediterranean world and many places beyond. It would eventually become the official parlance of the Byzantine Empire, the language is spoken by at least 13.2 million people today in Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Albania, Turkey, and the Greek diaspora. Greek roots are used to coin new words for other languages, Greek. Greek has been spoken in the Balkan peninsula since around the 3rd millennium BC, the earliest written evidence is a Linear B clay tablet found in Messenia that dates to between 1450 and 1350 BC, making Greek the worlds oldest recorded living language. Among the Indo-European languages, its date of earliest written attestation is matched only by the now extinct Anatolian languages, the Greek language is conventionally divided into the following periods, Proto-Greek, the unrecorded but assumed last ancestor of all known varieties of Greek. The unity of Proto-Greek would have ended as Hellenic migrants entered the Greek peninsula sometime in the Neolithic era or the Bronze Age, Mycenaean Greek, the language of the Mycenaean civilisation. It is recorded in the Linear B script on tablets dating from the 15th century BC onwards, Ancient Greek, in its various dialects, the language of the Archaic and Classical periods of the ancient Greek civilisation. It was widely known throughout the Roman Empire, after the Roman conquest of Greece, an unofficial bilingualism of Greek and Latin was established in the city of Rome and Koine Greek became a first or second language in the Roman Empire. The origin of Christianity can also be traced through Koine Greek, Medieval Greek, also known as Byzantine Greek, the continuation of Koine Greek in Byzantine Greece, up to the demise of the Byzantine Empire in the 15th century. Much of the written Greek that was used as the language of the Byzantine Empire was an eclectic middle-ground variety based on the tradition of written Koine. Modern Greek, Stemming from Medieval Greek, Modern Greek usages can be traced in the Byzantine period and it is the language used by the modern Greeks, and, apart from Standard Modern Greek, there are several dialects of it. In the modern era, the Greek language entered a state of diglossia, the historical unity and continuing identity between the various stages of the Greek language is often emphasised. Greek speakers today still tend to regard literary works of ancient Greek as part of their own rather than a foreign language and it is also often stated that the historical changes have been relatively slight compared with some other languages. According to one estimation, Homeric Greek is probably closer to demotic than 12-century Middle English is to modern spoken English, Greek is spoken by about 13 million people, mainly in Greece, Albania and Cyprus, but also worldwide by the large Greek diaspora. Greek is the language of Greece, where it is spoken by almost the entire population
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.
Muses
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The Muses are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts in Greek mythology. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs and they were later adopted by the Romans as a part of their pantheon. In current English usage, muse can refer in general to a person who inspires an artist, writer, the earliest known records of the Nine Muses are from Boeotia, the homeland of Hesiod. Some ancient authorities thought that the Nine Muses were of Thracian origin, there, a tradition persisted that the Muses had once been three in number. They were again called Melete or Practice, Mneme or Memory, three ancient Muses were also reported in Plutarchs Quaestiones Convivales. According to Pausanias in the second century AD, there were three original Muses, worshiped on Mount Helicon in Boeotia, Aoidḗ, Melétē, and Mnḗmē. Together, these three form the picture of the preconditions of poetic art in cult practice. In Delphi three Muses were worshiped as well, but with other names, Nḗtē, Mésē, and Hýpatē, alternatively they later were called Kēphisṓ, Apollōnís, and Borysthenís, which names characterize them as daughters of Apollo. In later tradition, a set of four Muses were recognized, Thelxinóē, Aoidḗ Archē, one of the people frequently associated with the Muses was Pierus. By some he was called the father of a total of seven Muses, called Neilṓ, Tritṓnē, Asōpṓ, Heptápora, Achelōís, Tipoplṓ, and Rhodía. According to Hesiods Theogony, they were daughters of Zeus, the second king of the gods. For Alcman and Mimnermus, they were even more primordial, springing from the deities, Uranus. Sometimes the Muses are referred to as water nymphs, associated with the springs of Helicon and it was said that the winged horse Pegasus touched his hooves to the ground on Helicon, causing four sacred springs to burst forth, from which the muses were born. Athena later tamed the horse and presented him to the muses, classical writers set Apollo as their leader, Apollon Mousagetēs. In one myth, the Muses judged a contest between Apollo and Marsyas and they also gathered the pieces of the dead body of Orpheus, son of Calliope, and buried them. In a later myth, Thamyris challenged them to a singing contest and they won and punished Thamyris by blinding him and robbing him of his singing ability. He thus challenged the Muses to a match, resulting in his daughters, Pausanias records a tradition of two generations of Muses, the first are the daughters of Uranus and Gaia, the second of Zeus and Mnemosyne. Another, rarer genealogy is that they are daughters of Harmonia, some Greek writers give the names of the nine Muses as Kallichore, Helike, Eunike, Thelxinoë, Terpsichore, Euterpe, Eukelade, Dia, and Enope
5.
Hymn
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A hymn is a type of song, usually religious, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word hymn derives from Greek ὕμνος, which means a song of praise, a writer of hymns is known as a hymnodist. The singing of hymns is called hymnody, collections of hymns are known as hymnals or hymn books. Hymns may or may not include instrumental accompaniment, although most familiar to speakers of English in the context of Christianity, hymns are also a fixture of other world religions, especially on the Indian subcontinent. Hymns also survive from antiquity, especially from Egyptian and Greek cultures, some of the oldest surviving examples of notated music are hymns with Greek texts. Surviving from the 3rd century BC is a collection of six literary hymns by the Alexandrian poet Callimachus, patristic writers began applying the term ὕμνος, or hymnus in Latin, to Christian songs of praise, and frequently used the word as a synonym for psalm. Originally modeled on the Psalms and other passages in the Scriptures. Many refer to Jesus Christ either directly or indirectly, since the earliest times, Christians have sung psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, both in private devotions and in corporate worship. One definition of a hymn is. a lyric poem, reverently and devotionally conceived, which is designed to be sung, others are used to encourage reverence for the Holy Bible or to celebrate Christian practices such as the eucharist or baptism. A writer of hymns is known as a hymnodist, and the practice of singing hymns is called hymnody, a collection of hymns is called a hymnal or hymnary. These may or may not include music, a student of hymnody is called a hymnologist, and the scholarly study of hymns, hymnists and hymnody is hymnology. The music to which a hymn may be sung is a hymn tune, in many Evangelical churches, traditional songs are classified as hymns while more contemporary worship songs are not considered hymns. The reason for this distinction is unclear, but according to some it is due to the shift of style and devotional thinking that began with the Jesus movement. In ancient and medieval times, stringed instruments such as the harp, lyre and lute were used with psalms, since there is a lack of musical notation in early writings, the actual musical forms in the early church can only be surmised. During the Middle Ages a rich hymnody developed in the form of Gregorian chant or plainsong and this type was sung in unison, in one of eight church modes, and most often by monastic choirs. While they were originally in Latin, many have been translated. Later hymnody in the Western church introduced four-part vocal harmony as the norm, adopting major and minor keys and it shares many elements with classical music. Today, except for choirs, more musically inclined congregations and a cappella congregations, hymns are sung in unison
6.
Eloquence
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Eloquence is fluent, forcible, elegant or persuasive speaking. It is primarily the power of expressing emotions in striking and appropriate language. The term is used for writing in a fluent style. The concept of eloquence dates to the ancient Greeks, Calliope being the Muse of epic poetry, the Greek god Hermes was patron of eloquence. Cicero is considered as one of the most eloquent orators of Antiquity, fr. Louis Bourdaloue is regarded as one of the founders of French eloquence. Eloquence derives from the Latin roots, ē, meaning out, and loqui, petrarch, in his study program of the classics and antiquity focused attention on language and communication. After mastering language, the goal was to reach a level of eloquence, to be able to present gracefully, combine thought and reason in a powerful way, so as to persuade others to a point of view. Petrarch encouraged students to imitate the ancient writers, from a perspective, combining clear. The Renaissance humanists focused on the correlation of speech and political principles as a tool to present. At the core of presentations was the use of style, clear concise grammar and usage. In modern times, colloquial speech entered into presentation styles deemed eloquent, true eloquence, Oliver Goldsmith says, Does not consist. Many famous political leaders, from Pericles to Winston Churchill, and dictators such as Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, rose to prominence in large part through their eloquence. In the Iranian Revolution, Ruhollah Khomeini came to power in part through the eloquence of his speeches, smuggled into the country on audio cassettes while he was still in exile
7.
Agriculture
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Agriculture is the cultivation and breeding of animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuel, medicinal plants and other products used to sustain and enhance human life. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of human civilization. The study of agriculture is known as agricultural science, the history of agriculture dates back thousands of years, and its development has been driven and defined by greatly different climates, cultures, and technologies. Industrial agriculture based on large-scale monoculture farming has become the dominant agricultural methodology, genetically modified organisms are an increasing component of agriculture, although they are banned in several countries. Agricultural food production and water management are increasingly becoming global issues that are fostering debate on a number of fronts, the major agricultural products can be broadly grouped into foods, fibers, fuels, and raw materials. Specific foods include cereals, vegetables, fruits, oils, meats, fibers include cotton, wool, hemp, silk and flax. Raw materials include lumber and bamboo, other useful materials are also produced by plants, such as resins, dyes, drugs, perfumes, biofuels and ornamental products such as cut flowers and nursery plants. The word agriculture is a late Middle English adaptation of Latin agricultūra, from ager, field, Agriculture usually refers to human activities, although it is also observed in certain species of ant, termite and ambrosia beetle. To practice agriculture means to use resources to produce commodities which maintain life, including food, fiber, forest products, horticultural crops. This definition includes arable farming or agronomy, and horticulture, all terms for the growing of plants, even then, it is acknowledged that there is a large amount of knowledge transfer and overlap between silviculture and agriculture. In traditional farming, the two are often combined even on small landholdings, leading to the term agroforestry, Agriculture began independently in different parts of the globe, and included a diverse range of taxa. At least 11 separate regions of the Old and New World were involved as independent centers of origin, wild grains were collected and eaten from at least 105,000 years ago. Pigs were domesticated in Mesopotamia around 15,000 years ago, rice was domesticated in China between 13,500 and 8,200 years ago, followed by mung, soy and azuki beans. Sheep were domesticated in Mesopotamia between 13,000 and 11,000 years ago. From around 11,500 years ago, the eight Neolithic founder crops, emmer and einkorn wheat, hulled barley, peas, lentils, bitter vetch, chick peas and flax were cultivated in the Levant. Cattle were domesticated from the aurochs in the areas of modern Turkey. In the Andes of South America, the potato was domesticated between 10,000 and 7,000 years ago, along with beans, coca, llamas, alpacas, sugarcane and some root vegetables were domesticated in New Guinea around 9,000 years ago. Sorghum was domesticated in the Sahel region of Africa by 7,000 years ago, cotton was domesticated in Peru by 5,600 years ago, and was independently domesticated in Eurasia at an unknown time
8.
Pantomime
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Pantomime, is a type of musical comedy stage production, designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, generally during the Christmas and New Year season and, to a lesser extent. It is a form of theatre, in which the audience is expected to sing along with certain parts of the music. Pantomime has a theatrical history in Western culture dating back to classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th century commedia dellarte tradition of Italy, as well as other European and British stage traditions, such as 17th-century masques, an important part of the pantomime, until the late 19th century, was the harlequinade. Outside Britain the word pantomime is used to mean miming. The Roman pantomime drew upon the Greek tragedy and other Greek genres from its inception, although the art was instituted in Rome, the English word came to be applied to the performance itself. Music was supplied by flute and the pulse of an iron-shod shoe, performances might be in a private household, with minimal personnel, or else lavish theatrical productions involving a large orchestra and chorus and sometimes an ancillary actor. The dancer danced all the roles, relying on masks, stock poses and gestures, Pantomime differed from mime by its more artistic nature and relative lack of farce and coarse humour, though these were not absent from some productions. Precursors of pantomime also included the masque, which grew in pomp, the development of English pantomime was also strongly influenced by the continental commedia dellarte, a form of popular theatre that arose in Italy in the Early Modern Period. Each scenario used some of the stock characters. These included the innamorati, the vecchi such as Pantalone, and zanni such as Arlecchino, Colombina, Scaramouche, Italian masque performances in the 17th century sometimes included the Harlequin character. In the 17th century, adaptations of the characters became familiar in English entertainments. From these, the standard English harlequinade developed, depicting the eloping lovers Harlequin and Columbine, pursued by the girls father Pantaloon and his comic servants Clown, in English versions, by the 18th century, Harlequin became the central figure and romantic lead. The basic plot of the harlequinade remained essentially the same for more than 150 years, tavern Bilkers, by John Weaver, the dancing master at Drury Lane, is cited as the first pantomime produced on the English stage. The same year he produced a pantomime on the subject of Perseus, after this, pantomime was regular feature at Drury Lane. In 1717 at Lincolns Inn, actor and manager John Rich introduced Harlequin into the theatres pantomimes under the name of Lun and he gained great popularity for his pantomimes, especially beginning with his 1724 production of The Necromancer, or, History of Dr. Faustus. These early pantomimes were silent, or dumb show, performances consisting of only dancing, spoken drama was only allowed in London only in the two patent theatres until Parliament changed this restriction in 1843
9.
Cloak
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Cloaks have been used by myriad historic societies, many climates favor wearing a full-body garment which is easily removed and does not constrain the wearer with sleeves. Over time cloak designs have changed to match fashion and available textiles. Cloaks generally fasten at the neck or over the shoulder, vary in length, from hip all the way down to the ankle, mid-calf being the normal length. They may have a hood, and may cover and fasten down the front. However, cloaks are almost always sleeveless, the word cloak comes from Old North French cloque meaning travelling cloak, from Medieval Latin clocca travelers cape, literally a bell, so called from the garments bell-like shape. Thus the word is related to the word clock, ancient Greeks and Romans were known to wear cloaks. Greek men and women wore the himation, from the Archaic through the Hellenistic periods, Romans would later wear the Greek-styled cloak, the pallium. The pallium was quadrangular, shaped like a square, and sat on the shoulders, Romans of the Republic would wear the toga as a formal display of their citizenship. It was denied to foreigners and was worn by magistrates on all occasions as a badge of office, the toga was claimed to have originated with Numa Pompilius, the second king of Rome. Opera cloaks are made of quality materials such as wool or cashmere, velvet, ladies may wear a long cloak usually called a cape, or a full-length cloak. Gentlemen wear an ankle-length or full-length cloak, formal cloaks often have expensive, colored linings and trimmings such as silk, satin, velvet and fur. For example, they may grant the person wearing it invisibility as in the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, alternatively, they may nullify magical projectiles, as the cloak of magic resistance in NetHack. In addition, the magical hide armor that Hercules made for himself from the skin of the Nemean Lion, at the end of Hercules first labor and this latter was notable because it was said to be impervious to all cutting and impact weapons. Figuratively, a cloak may be anything that disguises or conceals something, in many science fiction worlds such as Star Trek, there are cloaking devices, which provide a way to avoid detection or to make objects appear invisible. Because they keep a person hidden and conceal a weapon, the cloak and dagger has come to refer to espionage and secretive crimes. Cloak and dagger stories are thus mystery, detective, and crime stories of this, the vigilante duo of Marvel comics Cloak and Dagger is a reference to this. ISBN 0-8109-6317-5 Baumgarten, Linda, What Clothes Reveal, The Language of Clothing in Colonial and Federal America, ISBN 0-300-09580-5 Payne, Blanche, History of Costume from the Stone Age to the Twentysecond Century, Harper & Row,2965. No ISBN for this edition, ASIN B0006BMNFS Picken, Mary Brooks, The Fashion Dictionary, Funk and Bagnalls,1957
10.
Veil
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A veil is an article of clothing or cloth hanging that is intended to cover some part of the head or face, or an object of some significance. It is especially associated with women and sacred objects, one view is that as a religious item, it is intended to show honor to an object or space. The first recorded instance of veiling for women is recorded in the Bible in Genesis, chapter 24, verse 65, when Rebecca first sees Isaac, and veils herself. Another is found later from an Assyrian legal text from the 13th century BC, the Mycenaean Greek term
11.
Geometry
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Geometry is a branch of mathematics concerned with questions of shape, size, relative position of figures, and the properties of space. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a geometer, Geometry arose independently in a number of early cultures as a practical way for dealing with lengths, areas, and volumes. Geometry began to see elements of mathematical science emerging in the West as early as the 6th century BC. By the 3rd century BC, geometry was put into a form by Euclid, whose treatment, Euclids Elements. Geometry arose independently in India, with texts providing rules for geometric constructions appearing as early as the 3rd century BC, islamic scientists preserved Greek ideas and expanded on them during the Middle Ages. By the early 17th century, geometry had been put on a solid footing by mathematicians such as René Descartes. Since then, and into modern times, geometry has expanded into non-Euclidean geometry and manifolds, while geometry has evolved significantly throughout the years, there are some general concepts that are more or less fundamental to geometry. These include the concepts of points, lines, planes, surfaces, angles, contemporary geometry has many subfields, Euclidean geometry is geometry in its classical sense. The mandatory educational curriculum of the majority of nations includes the study of points, lines, planes, angles, triangles, congruence, similarity, solid figures, circles, Euclidean geometry also has applications in computer science, crystallography, and various branches of modern mathematics. Differential geometry uses techniques of calculus and linear algebra to problems in geometry. It has applications in physics, including in general relativity, topology is the field concerned with the properties of geometric objects that are unchanged by continuous mappings. In practice, this often means dealing with large-scale properties of spaces, convex geometry investigates convex shapes in the Euclidean space and its more abstract analogues, often using techniques of real analysis. It has close connections to convex analysis, optimization and functional analysis, algebraic geometry studies geometry through the use of multivariate polynomials and other algebraic techniques. It has applications in areas, including cryptography and string theory. Discrete geometry is concerned mainly with questions of relative position of simple objects, such as points. It shares many methods and principles with combinatorics, Geometry has applications to many fields, including art, architecture, physics, as well as to other branches of mathematics. The earliest recorded beginnings of geometry can be traced to ancient Mesopotamia, the earliest known texts on geometry are the Egyptian Rhind Papyrus and Moscow Papyrus, the Babylonian clay tablets such as Plimpton 322. For example, the Moscow Papyrus gives a formula for calculating the volume of a truncated pyramid, later clay tablets demonstrate that Babylonian astronomers implemented trapezoid procedures for computing Jupiters position and motion within time-velocity space
12.
Meditation
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The word meditation carries different meanings in different contexts. Meditation has been practiced since antiquity as a component of religious traditions. Meditation often involves an internal effort to self-regulate the mind in some way, Meditation is often used to clear the mind and ease many health concerns, such as high blood pressure, depression, and anxiety. It may be sitting, or in an active way—for instance. Prayer beads or other objects are commonly used during meditation in order to keep track of or remind the practitioner about some aspect of that training. The term meditation can refer to the state itself, as well as to practices or techniques employed to cultivate the state, Meditation may also involve repeating a mantra and closing the eyes. The mantra is chosen based on its suitability to the individual meditator, Meditation has a calming effect and directs awareness inward until pure awareness is achieved, described as being awake inside without being aware of anything except awareness itself. In brief, there are dozens of styles of meditation practice. The English meditation is derived from the Latin meditatio, from a verb meditari, meaning to think, contemplate, devise, in the Old Testament, hāgâ means to sigh or murmur, and also, to meditate. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, hāgâ became the Greek melete, the Latin Bible then translated hāgâ/melete into meditatio. The use of the term meditatio as part of a formal, the term meditation in English may also refer to practices from Islamic Sufism, or other traditions such as Jewish Kabbalah and Christian Hesychasm. An edited book about meditation published in 2003, for example, included contributions by authors describing Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Jewish, Christian. Christian, Judaic, and Islamic forms of meditation are typically devotional, scriptural or thematic, the history of meditation is intimately bound up with the religious context within which it was practiced. Some of the earliest references to meditation are found in the Hindu Vedas of Nepal, wilson translates the most famous Vedic mantra Gayatri thus, We meditate on that desirable light of the divine Savitri, who influences our pious rites. Around the 6th to 5th centuries BC, other forms of meditation developed via Confucianism and Taoism in China as well as Hinduism, Jainism, and early Buddhism in Nepal and India. In the west, by 20 BC Philo of Alexandria had written on some form of exercises involving attention and concentration. The Pāli Canon, which dates to 1st century BC considers Indian Buddhist meditation as a step towards liberation, by the time Buddhism was spreading in China, the Vimalakirti Sutra which dates to 100 AD included a number of passages on meditation, clearly pointing to Zen. The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism introduced meditation to other Asian countries, returning from China around 1227, Dōgen wrote the instructions for zazen
13.
Bibliotheca historica
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Bibliotheca historica, is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections, the first six books are geographical in theme, and describe the history and culture of Egypt, of Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia, of North Africa, and of Greece and Europe. In the next section, he recounts the history of the world starting with the Trojan War, the last section concern the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Caesars Gallic War in 59 BC. He selected the name Bibliotheca in acknowledgement that he was assembling a composite work from many sources, Diodorus immense work has not survived intact, we have the first five books and books 11 through 20. The rest exists only in fragments preserved in Photius and the excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, the earliest date Diodorus mentions is his visit to Egypt in the 180th Olympiad. This visit was marked by his witnessing an angry mob demand the death of a Roman citizen who had killed a cat. The latest event Diodorus mentions is Octavians vengeance on the city of Tauromenium, Diodorus shows no knowledge that Egypt became a Roman province—which transpired in 30 BC—so presumably he published his completed work before that event. Modern critics have called this claim into question, noting several surprising mistakes that an eye-witness would not be expected to have made, in the Bibliotheca historica, Diodorus sets out to write a universal history, covering the entire world and all periods of time. Each book opens with a table of its contents and a preface discussing the relevance of history and these are now generally agreed to be entirely Diodorus own work. The degree to which the text that follows is derived from earlier works is debated. The first five books describe the history and culture of different regions, Diodorus expresses serious doubts that such chronology is possible for barbarian lands and the distant past. The resulting books have affinities with the genre of geography, Books six to ten, which covered the transition from mythical times to the archaic period, are almost entirely lost. By book ten he had taken up a structure, narrating all the events throughout the world in each year before moving on to the next one. Books eleven to twenty, which are intact and cover events between 480 BC and 302 BC, maintain this annalistic structure. Books twenty-one to forty, which brought the work down to Diodorus own lifetime, Book one opens with a prologue on the work as a whole, arguing for the importance of history generally and universal history in particular. The rest of the book is devoted to Egypt and is divided into two halves, in the first half he covers the origin of the world and the development of civilisation in Egypt. A long discussion of the theories offered by different Greek scholars to explain the annual floods of the River Nile serves to showcase Diodorus wide-reading, in the second half he presents the history of the country, its customs and religion, in a highly respectful tone. His main sources are believed to be Hecataeus of Abdera and Agatharchides of Cnidus and this book has only a short prologue outlining its contents
14.
Diodorus Siculus
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Diodorus Siculus or Diodorus of Sicily was a Greek historian. He is known for writing the monumental universal history Bibliotheca historica, much of which survives and it is arranged in three parts. The first covers mythic history up to the destruction of Troy, arranged geographically, describing regions around the world from Egypt, India and Arabia to Greece, the second covers the Trojan War to the death of Alexander the Great. The third covers the period to about 60 BC, Bibliotheca, meaning library, acknowledges that he was drawing on the work of many other authors. According to his own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily, with one exception, antiquity affords no further information about his life and doings beyond in his work. Only Jerome, in his Chronicon under the year of Abraham 1968, writes, Diodorus of Sicily and it was divided into three sections. In the next section, he recounts the history of the world from the Trojan War down to the death of Alexander the Great, the last section concerns the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Julius Caesars Gallic Wars. He selected the name Bibliotheca in acknowledgment that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. His account of gold mining in Nubia in eastern Egypt is one of the earliest extant texts on the topic, pappus of Alexandria wrote a Commentary on Diodoruss Analemma. The now lost Analemma applied geometrical constructions in a plane to solve some astronomy related problems of spherical geometry and it contained, for example, a discussion of sundial theory. They are also boasters and threateners and are fond of pompous language, pliny the Elder Strabo Acadine Ambaglio, Dino, Franca Landucci Gattinoni and Luigi Bravi. Diodoro Siculo, Biblioteca storica, commento storico, introduzione generale, aspects of Greek History 750-323 BC, A Source-based Approach. Library of History, Loeb Classical Library, Siculus, Diodorus, G. Booth, H. Valesius, I. The Historical Library of Diodorus the Sicilian in Fifteen Books to which are added the Fragments of Diodorus, siculi, Diodori, Peter Wesseling, L. Rhodoman, G. Heyn, N. Eyring. Bibliothecae Historicae Libri Qui Supersunt, Nova Editio, Diodorus Siculus, the manuscripts of the Bibliotheca Historica
15.
Divine Comedy
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The Divine Comedy is a long narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun c.1308 and completed in 1320, a year before his death in 1321. It is widely considered the preeminent work in Italian literature, and is seen as one of the greatest works of world literature, the poems imaginative vision of the afterlife is representative of the medieval world-view as it had developed in the Western Church by the 14th century. It helped establish the Tuscan language, in which it is written and it is divided into three parts, Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. On the surface, the poem describes Dantes travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise or Heaven, but at a level, it represents, allegorically. At this deeper level, Dante draws on medieval Christian theology and philosophy, especially Thomistic philosophy, consequently, the Divine Comedy has been called the Summa in verse. The work was simply titled Comedìa and the word Divina was added by Giovanni Boccaccio. The first printed edition to add the word divina to the title was that of the Venetian humanist Lodovico Dolce, the Divine Comedy is composed of 14,233 lines that are divided into three canticas – Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso – each consisting of 33 cantos. An initial canto, serving as an introduction to the poem and generally considered to be part of the first cantica, the number three is prominent in the work, represented in part by the number of canticas and their lengths. Additionally, the scheme used, terza rima, is hendecasyllabic, with the lines composing tercets according to the rhyme scheme aba, bcb, cdc. Written in the first person, the tells of Dantes journey through the three realms of the dead, lasting from the night before Good Friday to the Wednesday after Easter in the spring of 1300. The Roman poet Virgil guides him through Hell and Purgatory, Beatrice, Dantes ideal woman, within each group of 9,7 elements correspond to a specific moral scheme, subdivided into three subcategories, while 2 others of greater particularity are added to total nine. For example, the seven sins of the Catholic Church that are cleansed in Purgatory are joined by special realms for the Late repentant. The core seven sins within Purgatory correspond to a scheme of love perverted, subdivided into three groups corresponding to excessive love, deficient love, and malicious love. In central Italys political struggle between Guelphs and Ghibellines, Dante was part of the Guelphs, who in general favored the Papacy over the Holy Roman Emperor, florences Guelphs split into factions around 1300, the White Guelphs and the Black Guelphs. The last word in each of the three canticas is stelle, the poem begins on the night before Good Friday in the year 1300, halfway along our lifes path. Conscious that he is ruining himself and that he is falling into a low place where the sun is silent, Dante is at last rescued by Virgil, the circles number 9, with the addition of Satan completing the structure of 9 +1 =10. Having survived the depths of Hell, Dante and Virgil ascend out of the undergloom to the Mountain of Purgatory on the far side of the world. The Mountain is on an island, the land in the Southern Hemisphere
16.
Astronomy
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Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It applies mathematics, physics, and chemistry, in an effort to explain the origin of those objects and phenomena and their evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, galaxies, and comets, while the phenomena include supernovae explosions, gamma ray bursts, more generally, all astronomical phenomena that originate outside Earths atmosphere are within the purview of astronomy. A related but distinct subject, physical cosmology, is concerned with the study of the Universe as a whole, Astronomy is the oldest of the natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history, such as the Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Egyptians, Nubians, Iranians, Chinese, during the 20th century, the field of professional astronomy split into observational and theoretical branches. Observational astronomy is focused on acquiring data from observations of astronomical objects, theoretical astronomy is oriented toward the development of computer or analytical models to describe astronomical objects and phenomena. The two fields complement each other, with theoretical astronomy seeking to explain the results and observations being used to confirm theoretical results. Astronomy is one of the few sciences where amateurs can play an active role, especially in the discovery. Amateur astronomers have made and contributed to many important astronomical discoveries, Astronomy means law of the stars. Astronomy should not be confused with astrology, the system which claims that human affairs are correlated with the positions of celestial objects. Although the two share a common origin, they are now entirely distinct. Generally, either the term astronomy or astrophysics may be used to refer to this subject, however, since most modern astronomical research deals with subjects related to physics, modern astronomy could actually be called astrophysics. Few fields, such as astrometry, are purely astronomy rather than also astrophysics, some titles of the leading scientific journals in this field includeThe Astronomical Journal, The Astrophysical Journal and Astronomy and Astrophysics. In early times, astronomy only comprised the observation and predictions of the motions of objects visible to the naked eye, in some locations, early cultures assembled massive artifacts that possibly had some astronomical purpose. Before tools such as the telescope were invented, early study of the stars was conducted using the naked eye, most of early astronomy actually consisted of mapping the positions of the stars and planets, a science now referred to as astrometry. From these observations, early ideas about the motions of the planets were formed, and the nature of the Sun, Moon, the Earth was believed to be the center of the Universe with the Sun, the Moon and the stars rotating around it. This is known as the model of the Universe, or the Ptolemaic system. The Babylonians discovered that lunar eclipses recurred in a cycle known as a saros
17.
Jean Chacornac
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Jean Chacornac was a French astronomer and discoverer of a comet and several asteroids. He was born in Lyon and died in Saint-Jean-en-Royans, southeastern France, working in Marseille and Paris, he discovered six asteroids in the asteroid belt and C/1852 K1, a parabolic comet in 1852. This comet is thought to be the source of the current Eta Eridanids meteors and he also independently discovered 20 Massalia, which discovery is credited to the Italian astronomer Annibale de Gasparis, however. Jean Chacornac was awarded the Lalande Prize in 1855 and 1856, the asteroid 1622 Chacornac and the lunar crater Chacornac are named in his honour. J. Chacornac @ Astrophysics Data System
18.
Giovanni Baglione
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Giovanni Baglione was an Italian Late Mannerist and Early Baroque painter and art historian. He was born and died in Rome, but from his own account came from a family of Perugia. A pupil of the obscure Florentine artist working in Rome, Francesco Morelli, he worked mainly in Rome, to Rudolf Wittkower, his style vacillated between progressive trends, without absorbing them fully. He spent 1621–1622 in Mantua as the court artist of Duke Ferdinando Gonzaga, otherwise he remained in Rome, where he was long successful in attracting commissions from the Papal court and aristocracy. His paintings have been described by the art historian Steven F, the quality of his work declined sharply in the 1630s, by which time he was in his late sixties. He was a member of the Accademia from 1593 until his death, apart from the regular later title of first historian of the Roman Baroque, in his lifetime he was also nicknamed Il Sordo del Barozzo as he suffered from deafness. He died in Rome on 30 December 1643 at the age of 77 and he published two books, The nine churches of Rome, and The Lives of Painters, Sculptors, Architects and Engravers, active from 1572–1642. The latter is seen as an important historical source for artists living in Rome during the lifetime of Baglione. It marks a watershed in the literature of Rome-the turning point between the older tradition of devotional guidebooks. and the modern tradition of artistic guides. His biographies cover over two hundred artists in various media, all of whom had worked in Rome and were dead by the time he published. He carefully notes information about the status and progress of his subjects. He recorded all signs of status, including houses, dress, collections, permission to wear a sword, splendid funerals. Running throughout Le vite, in words, is an abiding concern with the honor of the profession-with the elevated status. As far as possible, his descriptions of works concentrated on those accessible to the public, bagliones best known painting, Sacred Love and Profane Love, was a direct response to Caravaggios Amor Vincit Omnia. Bagliones painting exists in two versions, the earlier in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin and the later in the Galleria Nazionale dArte Antica at Palazzo Barberini in Rome. Both show Sacred Love as a winged figure interrupting a meeting between Cupid, shown as in the Caravaggio as a smaller and naked winged figure. In the later Rome version the devil is portrayed with the features of Caravaggio. What in the two brothers was probably a family joke reflected serious rivalry between the artists concerned
19.
Francesco del Cossa
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Francesco del Cossa was an Italian Renaissance painter of the School of Ferrara. The son of a stonemason in Ferrara, little is known about his early works, Cossa is best known for his frescoes. One of his followers was Leonardo Scaletti of Faenza, in conjunction with Cosimo Tura, Cossa is now known for fresco decoration of the summer pleasure villa/palazzo known as the Palazzo Schifanoia, located just outside the city gates. Together, they painted a series of the elaborate allegories around the themes of zodiacal signs and these were only partially restored in the 20th century, and there are three that are reasonably assigned to Cossa. Of these, one of the most remarkable images is the horde of naked toddlers in the Allegory of May – Triumph of Apollo, apparently a sign of springtimes prolific blossoming, the crowded rows of babies mass like a phalanx of infantile Rockettes. The Allegory of April has a depiction of the trio of Graces, sandro Botticellis version in Primavera dates from 1482. See the 1501 version of the Three Graces, assuming the date of death of Cossa is correct, this one must have been completed prior to the others. Unhappy that he had paid by the square foot for his work for Duke Borso and complaining he was being paid the same as the worst dauber in Ferrara. In Bologna he obtained many commissions under the patronage of the Bentivoglio family and he executed stained glass windows in Bologna, the best of which is a circular window, in the church of San Giovanni in Monte, representing St. John in Patmos. In the National Gallery of London there is a picture by him representing St. Vincent Ferrer, there is a fine profile portrait at Locko Park near Derby, said to represent Duke Ercole I of Ferrara. In the Dresden collection there is also an Annunciation that has, however, del Cossa features as one of the two protagonists in Ali Smiths novel How to Be Both, short-listed for the 2014 Man Booker Prize. Encyclopedia of Artists, volume 2, edited by William H. T. Vaughan, ISBN 0-19-521572-9,2000 Web Gallery of Art
20.
Delphi
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Delphi is famous as the ancient sanctuary that grew rich as the seat of the oracle that was consulted on important decisions throughout the ancient classical world. Moreover, it was considered as the navel of the world by the Greeks as represented by the Omphalos and it occupies an impressive site on the south-western slope of Mount Parnassus overlooking the coastal plain to the south and the valley of Phocis. It is now an archaeological site and the modern town is nearby. The site of Delphi is located in upper central Greece, on multiple plateaux/terraces along the slope of Mount Parnassus, and includes the Sanctuary of Apollo and this semicircular spur is known as Phaedriades, and overlooks the Pleistos Valley. In myths dating to the period of Ancient Greece, the site of Delphi was believed to be determined by Zeus when he sought to find the centre of his Grandmother Earth. He sent two eagles flying from the eastern and western extremities, and the path of the eagles crossed over Delphi where the omphalos, Apollo was said to have slain Python, a drako a serpent or a dragon who lived there and protected the navel of the Earth. Python is claimed by some to be the name of the site in recognition of Python which Apollo defeated. The Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo recalled that the ancient name of this site had been Krisa, others relate that it was named Pytho and that Pythia, the priestess serving as the oracle, was chosen from their ranks by a group of priestesses who officiated at the temple. At the settlement site in Delphi, which was a settlement of the late 9th century. Pottery and bronze work as well as tripod dedications continue in a steady stream, the victors at Delphi were presented with a laurel crown which was ceremonially cut from a tree by a boy who re-enacted the slaying of the Python. Delphi was set apart from the other sites because it hosted the mousikos agon. These Pythian Games rank second among the four stephanitic games chronologically and these games, though, were different from the games at Olympia in that they were not of such vast importance to the city of Delphi as the games at Olympia were to the area surrounding Olympia. Delphi would have been a renowned city whether or not it hosted these games, it had other attractions that led to it being labeled the omphalos of the earth, in other words, in the inner hestia of the Temple of Apollo, an eternal flame burned. The name Delphoi comes from the root as δελφύς delphys, womb. Apollo is connected with the site by his epithet Δελφίνιος Delphinios, the epithet is connected with dolphins in the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, recounting the legend of how Apollo first came to Delphi in the shape of a dolphin, carrying Cretan priests on his back. The Homeric name of the oracle is Pytho, another legend held that Apollo walked to Delphi from the north and stopped at Tempe, a city in Thessaly, to pick laurel which he considered to be a sacred plant. In commemoration of this legend, the winners at the Pythian Games received a wreath of laurel picked in the Temple, Delphi became the site of a major temple to Phoebus Apollo, as well as the Pythian Games and the famous prehistoric oracle. Even in Roman times, hundreds of votive statues remained, described by Pliny the Younger, additionally, according to Plutarchs essay on the meaning of the E at Delphi—the only literary source for the inscription—there was also inscribed at the temple a large letter E
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Pythia
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The Pythia, was the name of the High Priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi who also served as the oracle, commonly known as the Oracle of Delphi. The name Pythia is derived from Pytho, which in myth was the name of Delphi. Pythia was the House of Snakes, the Pythia was established at the latest in the 8th century BC, and was widely credited for her prophecies inspired by being filled by the spirit of the god, in this case Apollo. The Pythian priestess emerged pre-eminent by the end of 7th century BC, during this period the Delphic Oracle was the most prestigious and authoritative oracle among the Greeks, and she was without doubt the most powerful woman of the classical world. The oracle is one of the religious institutions of the classical Greeks. Nevertheless, details of how the Pythia operated are missing as authors from the classical period treat the process as common knowledge with no need to explain and those who discussed the oracle in any detail are from 1st century BC to 4th century AD and give conflicting stories. Herodotus, writing in the fifth century BC describes the Pythia speaking in dactylic hexameters, the 8th-century reformulation of the Oracle at Delphi as a shrine to Apollo seems associated with the rise in importance of the city of Corinth and the importance of sites in the Corinthian Gulf. The earliest account of the origin of the Delphic oracle is provided in the Homeric Hymn to Delphic Apollo, which recent scholarship dates within a narrow range, c. It describes in detail how Apollo chose his first priests, whom he selected in their swift ship, but Apollo, who had Delphinios as one of his cult epithets, leapt into the ship in the form of a dolphin. Dolphin-Apollo revealed himself to the terrified Cretans, and bade them follow him up to the place where you will have rich offerings. The Cretans danced in time and followed, singing Iē Paiēon, paean seems to have been the name by which Apollo was known in Mycenaean times. G. L. Huxley observes, If the hymn to Apollo conveys a historical message, an early visitor to these dells of Parnassus, at the end of the eighth century, was Hesiod, who was shown the omphalos. There are also many stories of the origins of the Delphic Oracle. On entering the chasm, he found himself filled with a presence and could see outside of the present into the past. Excited by his discovery he shared it with nearby villagers, many started visiting the site to experience the convulsions and inspirational trances, though some were said to disappear into the cleft due to their frenzied state. A shrine was erected at the site, where people began worshiping in the late Bronze Age, after the deaths of a number of men, the villagers chose a single young woman as the liaison for the divine inspirations. Eventually she spoke on behalf of gods, according to earlier myths, the office of the oracle was initially possessed by the goddesses Themis and Phoebe, and the site was initially sacred to Gaia. Subsequently, it was believed to be sacred to Poseidon, the Earth-shaker god of earthquakes, apparently Poseidon was mollified by the gift of a new site in Troizen
22.
Mnemosyne
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Mnemosyne, source of the word mnemonic, was the personification of memory in Greek mythology. A Titanide, or Titaness, she was the daughter of the Titans Uranus, zeus and Mnemosyne slept together for nine consecutive nights, thus birthing the nine Muses. Mnemosyne also presided over a pool in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe, dead souls drank from Lethe so they would not remember their past lives when reincarnated. In Orphism, the initiated were taught to instead drink from the Mnemosyne, the river of memory, for more about the incriptions connection with Orphic poetry, see Zuntz,1971. Although she was categorized as one of the Titans in the Theogony, Titans were hardly worshiped in Ancient Greece, and were thought of as so archaic as to belong to the ancient past. They resembled historical figures more than anything else, later, once written literature overtook the oral recitation of epics, Plato made reference in his Euthydemus to the older tradition of invoking Mnemosyne. The character Socrates prepares to recount a story and says “ὥστ᾽ ἔγωγε, καθάπερ οἱ ποιηταί, δέομαι ἀρχόμενος τῆς διηγήσεως Μούσας τε καὶ Μνημοσύνην ἐπικαλεῖσθαι. ”Which translates to “Consequently, like the poets, I must needs begin my narrative with an invocation of the Muses and Memory”. Aristophanes also harked back to the tradition in his play Lysistrata when a drunken Spartan ambassador invokes her name while prancing around pretending to be a bard from times of yore. Mnemosyne was one of the deities worshiped in the cult of Asclepius that formed in Ancient Greece around the 5th century BC. Asclepius, a Greek hero and god of medicine, was said to have been able to cure maladies, the exact order of the offerings and prayers varied by location, and the supplicant often made an offering to Mnemosyne. After making an offering to Asclepius himself, in some locations, the hope was that a prayer to Mnemosyne would help the supplicant remember any visions had while sleeping there. Titans in popular culture, Mnemosyne Mnemonic Meme Moneta Aeschylus, Persians, edited and translated by Alan H. Sommerstein. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press,2009, online version at Harvard University Press. Apollodorus, Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1921. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, caldwell, Richard, Hesiods Theogony, Focus Publishing/R. Hesiod, Theogony, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1914. Online version at the Perseus Digital Library, hymn to Hermes, in The Homeric Hymns and Homerica with an English Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White, Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1914, online version at the Perseus Digital Library
23.
Calliope
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In Greek mythology, Calliope is the muse who presides over eloquence and epic poetry, so called from the ecstatic harmony of her voice. She is spoken of by Hesiod and Ovid as the Chief of all Muses and she is mostly stated to be the eldest of the Muses, sometimes vying with her sister Urania for the position. Calliope also had two sons, Orpheus and Linus, by either Apollo or the king Oeagrus of Thrace. She taught Orpheus verses for singing, according to Hesiod, she was also the wisest of the Muses, as well as the most assertive. Calliope married Oeagrus close to Pimpleia, Olympus and she is said to have defeated the daughters of Pierus, king of Thessaly, in a singing match, and then, to punish their presumption, turned them into magpies. She was sometimes believed to be Homers muse for the Iliad, the Roman epic poet, Virgil, invokes her in the Aeneid. Calliope is usually seen with a tablet in her hand. At times, she is depicted carrying a roll of paper or a book or wearing a gold crown and she would also be seen with her children. The Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, in his Divine Comedy, makes reference to Calliope, Media related to Calliope at Wikimedia Commons Theoi. com – Calliope Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
24.
Euterpe
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In Greek mythology, Euterpe was one of the Muses, the daughters of Mnemosyne, fathered by Zeus. Called the Giver of delight, when later poets assigned roles to each of the Muses, in late Classical times she was named muse of lyric poetry and depicted holding a flute. A few say she invented the aulos or double-flute, though most mythographers credit Marsyas with its invention, pindar and other sources, describe the Thracian king Rhesus, who appears in the Iliad, as son of Euterpe and the river-god Strymon, Homer calls him son of Eioneus. Muse Muses in popular culture Euterpe by Paul-Jacques-Aimé Baudry Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
25.
Erato
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In Greek mythology, Erato /ˈɛrətoʊ/ is one of the Greek Muses. The name would mean desired or lovely, if derived from the root as Eros. Erato is the Muse of lyric poetry, in the Orphic hymn to the Muses, it is Erato who charms the sight. Since the Renaissance she has mostly been shown with a wreath of myrtle and roses, holding a lyre, or a small kithara, in Simon Vouets representations, two turtle-doves are eating seeds at her feet. Other representations may show her holding an arrow, reminding one of the eros, the feeling that she inspires in everybody. Erato was named with the muses in Hesiods Theogony. She was also invoked at the beginning of a lost poem, Rhadine and this choice may express Virgils love for his native land, but in any case shows the need for a new creative force at this change in the direction of the poem. Facebook Page for Erato Theoi. com - Erato Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
26.
Melpomene
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Melpomene, initially the Muse of Chorus, she then became the Muse of Tragedy, for which she is best known now. Her name was derived from the Greek verb melpô or melpomai meaning to celebrate with dance and she is often represented with a tragic mask and wearing the cothurnus, boots traditionally worn by tragic actors. Often, she holds a knife or club in one hand. Melpomene is the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne and her sisters include Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Erato, Thalia, Polyhymnia, and Urania. She is also the mother of several of the Sirens, the divine handmaidens of Kore who were cursed by her mother, Demeter/Ceres, in Roman and Greek poetry, it was traditional to invoke the goddess Melpomene so that one might create beautiful lyrical phrases
27.
Terpsichore
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In Greek mythology, Terpsichore delight in dancing was one of the nine Muses and goddess of dance and chorus. She lends her name to the word terpsichorean which means of or relating to dance and she is usually depicted sitting down, holding a lyre, accompanying the ballerinas choirs with her music. Her name comes from the Greek words τέρπω and χoρός and she is also a mother of the sirens and Parthenope. The British 32-gun frigate HMS Terpsichore commanded by Captain Bowen participated in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Terpsichore is also the name of a street in New Orleans historic neighborhoods of Faubourg Lafayette and the Lower Garden District. It runs alongside Euterpe and Melpomene streets, also named for Greek muses, Terpsichorean is also the name of the Choreography Society of Hans Raj College, University of Delhi. Terpsichore figures among her sisters in Hesiods Theogony, when The Histories of Herodotus were divided by later editors into nine books, each book was named after a Muse. Terpsichore was the name of the fifth book, the character of Wilkins Micawber, Esq, Jr. is described as a votary of Terpsichore, in an Australian newspaper brought to London by Dan Peggotty in 1850 novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. T. S. Eliot in the poem Jellicle Cats from Old Possums Book of Practical Cats, terpischore Choral Dance is the name of a chapter in Theresa Chas Dictee. Some Terpsichore is the title of a story in a 2014 book, Thunderstruck and Other Stories. The Chaos is a poem where Terpsichore is mentioned in a line, Terpsichore is also found in François Couperins Second Ordre from the Pièces de clavecin, and in the third version of Handels opera Il pastor fido. This opera is sometimes referred to as Terpsicore and Il pastor fido, the Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn song Come Dance with Me includes the lyric what an evening for some Terpsichore. However it is sung as a word with the chore component pronounced like core rather than curry. The Russian singer Origa sings a song, Tersicore, canadian punk band Gob has a song called Terpsichore on their album Apt. The eighteenth century French dancer and courtesan Marie-Madeleine Guimard named the private theater in her private palace the Temple of Terpsichore, Terpsichore in Sneakers is the title of a 1980 study of postmodern dance by dance historian and critic Sally Banes. The song Terpsichora is included on J-Pop singer Akiko Shikatas 2007 album Istoria, the album Cool by Bob James and Earl Klugh features a track called Terpsichore. He then proceeds to take a lesson with Penny, culminating in a paired tap routine. In the 1947 film Down To Earth, Rita Hayworth plays Terpsichore, in the 1948 Musical Comedy film April Showers, starring Jack Carson and Ann Sothern, Carson plays a Victorian Era vaudevillian. While performing an act with his son, Buster, Buster asks Shall we dance Mr. Lovejoy, Carson replies by saying Terpsichore Mr. Gay
28.
Thalia (Muse)
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Thalia, also spelled Thaleia, was the goddess who presided over comedy and idyllic poetry. In this context her name means flourishing, because the praises in her songs flourish through time and she was the daughter of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the eighth-born of the nine Muses. According to pseudo-Apollodorus, she and Apollo were the parents of the Corybantes, other ancient sources, however, gave the Corybantes different parents. She was portrayed as a woman with a joyous air, crowned with ivy, wearing boots. Many of her statues also hold a bugle and a trumpet, Muses in popular culture Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell,1996, ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, media related to Thalia at Wikimedia Commons Theoi. com - Thaleia Warburg Institute Iconographic Database
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Urania
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Urania, also spelt Ourania, was, in Greek mythology, the muse of astronomy and a daughter of Zeus by Mnemosyne and also a great granddaughter of Uranus. Some accounts list her as the mother of the musician Linus by Apollo and she is often associated with Universal Love and the Holy Spirit. Sometimes identified as the eldest of the sisters, Urania inherited Zeus majesty and power. Those who are most concerned with philosophy and the heavens are dearest to her and those who have been instructed by her she raises aloft to heaven, for it is a fact that imagination and the power of thought lift mens souls to heavenly heights. —From An Ode To Music by James G. Percival During the Renaissance and she is usually represented with a celestial globe to which she points with a little staff. She is able to foretell the future by the arrangement of the stars, Urania is the namesake for astronomical observatories in Berlin, Budapest, Bucharest, Vienna, Zurich, Antwerp and Uraniborg on the island of Hven. The main belt asteroid 30 Urania was also named after her, there is Polish astronomical magazine Urania - Postępy Astronomii, which emerged from Urania and Postępy Astronomii magazines. In University of São Paulo, the logo of the Institute of Astronomy, Geophysics, the official seal of the U. S. Naval Observatory portrays Urania. Urania is a training vessel for the Royal Netherlands Naval College. Ms. Urania in the Royal Netherlands Navy since 1832, Urania is the name traditionally given to the eighth book of Herodotus Histories. Urania Cottage was a refuge for women established by the writer Charles Dickens in Lime Grove, Shepherd’s Bush. The funding was provided by millionaire and philanthropist Angela Burdett-Coutts, of the banking family. Some of the inmates may have provided inspiration for certain of the characters in Dickens novels. At Columbia University, toward the end of 18th century, the Urania Society was created for the improvement of oratory and literary skills, Urania Street is situated between Polymnia and Felicity streets in New Orleans. Urania is a name of the hall in Olsztyn. Muse magazine, until 2015 when the magazine was revamped, featured Urania as one of the characters in the Kokopelli and she was the only original muse who remained among the New Muses featured in the magazine. The other Old Muses were said to be living in a retirement home, Urania is the name of a popular female-fronted rock band in Honduras. Urania is used as the muse in Paradise Lost books 7 and 9, Urania is invoked in Shelleys Adonais
30.
Integrated Authority File
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The Integrated Authority File or GND is an international authority file for the organisation of personal names, subject headings and corporate bodies from catalogues. It is used mainly for documentation in libraries and increasingly also by archives, the GND is managed by the German National Library in cooperation with various regional library networks in German-speaking Europe and other partners. The GND falls under the Creative Commons Zero license, the GND specification provides a hierarchy of high-level entities and sub-classes, useful in library classification, and an approach to unambiguous identification of single elements. It also comprises an ontology intended for knowledge representation in the semantic web, available in the RDF format
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Virtual International Authority File
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The Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center. The project was initiated by the US Library of Congress, the German National Library, the National Library of France joined the project on October 5,2007. The project transitions to a service of the OCLC on April 4,2012, the aim is to link the national authority files to a single virtual authority file. In this file, identical records from the different data sets are linked together, a VIAF record receives a standard data number, contains the primary see and see also records from the original records, and refers to the original authority records. The data are available online and are available for research and data exchange. Reciprocal updating uses the Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting protocol, the file numbers are also being added to Wikipedia biographical articles and are incorporated into Wikidata. VIAFs clustering algorithm is run every month, as more data are added from participating libraries, clusters of authority records may coalesce or split, leading to some fluctuation in the VIAF identifier of certain authority records
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