1.
Rheasilvia
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Rheasilvia /ˌriːəˈsɪlviə/ is the most prominent surface feature on the asteroid Vesta and is thought to be an impact crater. It is 505 km in diameter, which is 90% the diameter of Vesta itself, however, the mean is affected by the crater itself. It is 89% the mean diameter of 569 km, making it one of the largest craters in the Solar System. The peak in the center of the crater rises 20–25 km from its base, Rheasilvia was discovered in Hubble Space Telescope images in 1997, but was not named until the arrival of the Dawn spacecraft in 2011. It is named after Rhea Silvia, a vestal virgin. The crater partially obscures an earlier crater, named Veneneia, that at 395 km is almost as large, Rheasilvia has an escarpment along part of its perimeter which rises 4–12 km above the surrounding terrain. The crater floor lies about 13 kilometres below the surrounding surface, Vesta has a series of troughs in an equatorial region concentric to Rheasilvia. These are thought to be large-scale fractures resulting from the impact, the largest is Divalia Fossa, approx. 22 km wide and 465 km long and it is estimated that the impact responsible excavated about 1% of the volume of Vesta, and it is likely that the Vesta family and V-type asteroids are the products of this collision. If this is the case, then the fact that 10-km fragments have survived bombardment until the present indicates that the crater is at most about 1 billion years old and it would also be the origin of the HED meteorites. List of largest craters in the Solar System List of tallest mountains in the Solar System
2.
Palazzo Mattei
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The Mattei owned a number of other palazzi that carried the family name including Palazzo Mattei di Trastevere across the Tiber as well as properties in Umbria, the Palazzo Mattei Paganica. Carlo Maderno designed the palace at the beginning of the 17th century for Asdrubale Mattei, Marquis di Giove and father of Girolamo Mattei and he was also the brother of Ciriaco Mattei and Cardinal Girolamo Mattei. For the interior of the palazzo, Pietro da Cortona was commissioned to execute the pair of compositions on the ceiling of the gallery, in the early 19th century, a group of paintings from the collection at the palazzo was purchased by William Hamilton Nisbet and removed to Scotland. Like others of the Mattei family, Asdrubale Mattei was a patron of the arts. Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is recorded as living at the palazzo in 1601
3.
Mars (mythology)
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In ancient Roman religion and myth, Mars was the god of war and also an agricultural guardian, a combination characteristic of early Rome. He was second in only to Jupiter and he was the most prominent of the military gods in the religion of the Roman army. Most of his festivals were held in March, the named for him, and in October. Under the influence of Greek culture, Mars was identified with the Greek god Ares, whose myths were reinterpreted in Roman literature and art under the name of Mars. But the character and dignity of Mars differed in fundamental ways from that of his Greek counterpart, Mars was a part of the Archaic Triad along with Jupiter and Quirinus, the latter of whom as a guardian of the Roman people had no Greek equivalent. Mars altar in the Campus Martius, the area of Rome that took its name from him, was supposed to have been dedicated by Numa, the peace-loving semi-legendary second king of Rome. Although Ares was viewed primarily as a destructive and destabilizing force, Mars represented military power as a way to secure peace, in the mythic genealogy and founding myths of Rome, Mars was the father of Romulus and Remus with Rhea Silvia. Like Ares who was the son of Zeus and Hera, Mars is usually considered to be the son of Jupiter, however, in a version of his birth given by Ovid, he was the son of Juno alone. Jupiter had usurped the mothers function when he gave birth to Minerva directly from his forehead, to restore the balance, Flora obtained a magic flower and tested it on a heifer who became fecund at once. She then plucked a flower ritually using her thumb, touched Junos belly, Juno withdrew to Thrace and the shore of Marmara for the birth. Ovid tells this story in the Fasti, his poetic work on the Roman calendar. In the earliest Roman calendar, March was the first month, Ovid is the only source for the story. The consort of Mars was Nerio or Nerine, Valor and she represents the vital force, power and majesty of Mars. Her name was regarded as Sabine in origin and is equivalent to Latin virtus, in the early 3rd century BC, the comic playwright Plautus has a reference to Mars greeting Nerio, his wife. A source from late antiquity says that Mars and Nerine were celebrated together at a festival held on March 23, in the later Roman Empire, Nerine came to be identified with Minerva. Nerio probably originates as a personification of Mars power, as such abstractions in Latin are generally feminine. Her name appears with that of Mars in an archaic prayer invoking a series of abstract qualities, the influence of Greek mythology and its anthropomorphic gods may have caused Roman writers to treat these pairs as marriages. The union of Venus and Mars held greater appeal for poets and philosophers, in Greek myth, the adultery of Ares and Aphrodite had been exposed to ridicule when her husband Hephaestus caught them in the act by means of a magical snare
4.
Hypnos
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In Greek mythology, Hypnos is the personification of sleep, the Roman equivalent is known as Somnus. In the Greek Mythology, Hypnos is the son of Nyx and his brother is Thanatos, both siblings live in the underworld or in Erebus, another valley of the Greek underworld. According to rumors, Hypnos lives in a big cave, which the river Lethe comes from and his bed is made of ebony, on the entrance of the cave grow a number of poppies and other hypnotic plants. No light and no sound would ever enter his grotto, according to Homer, he lives on the island Lemnos, which later on has been claimed to be his very own dream-island. His children Morpheus, Phobetor and Phantasos are the gods of the dream and it is claimed that he has many more children, which are also Oneiroi. He is said to be a calm and gentle god, as he helps humans in need and, due to their sleep, Hypnos lived next to his twin brother, Thanatos in the underworld. Hypnos mother was Nyx, the deity of Night, and his father was Erebus, Nyx was a dreadful and powerful goddess, and even Zeus feared entering her realm. His wife, Pasithea, was one of the youngest of the Graces and was promised to him by Hera, Pasithea is the deity of hallucination or relaxation. Hypnos three brothers or sons were known as the Oneiroi, which is Greek for dreams, Morpheus is the Winged God of Dreams and can take human form in dreams. Phobetor is the personification of nightmares and created frightening dreams, he could take the shape of any animal including bears and tigers, Phantasos was known for creating fake dreams full of illusions. Morpheus, Phobetor, and Phantasos appeared in the dreams of kings, the Oneiroi lived in a cave at the shores of the Ocean in the West. The cave had two gates with which to send people dreams, one made from ivory and the other from buckhorn, however, before they could do their work and send out the dreams, first Hypnos had to put the recipient to sleep. Hypnos used his powers to trick Zeus, Hypnos was able to trick him and help the Danaans win the Trojan war. During the war, Hera loathed her brother and husband, Zeus and she decided that in order to trick him she needed to make him so enamoured with her that he would fall for the trick. So she washed herself with ambrosia and anointed herself with oil and she wove flowers through her hair, put on three brilliant pendants for earrings, and donned a wondrous robe. She then called for Aphrodite, the goddess of love, in order to procure the charm, however, she lied to Aphrodite because they sided on opposites sides of the war. She told Aphrodite that she wanted the charm to help herself, Hera was almost ready to trick Zeus, but she needed the help of Hypnos, who had tricked Zeus once before. Hera called on Hypnos and asked him to help her by putting Zeus to sleep, Hypnos was reluctant because the last time he had put the god to sleep, he was furious when he awoke
5.
Vesta (mythology)
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Vesta is the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. She was rarely depicted in form, and was often personified by the fire of her temple in the Forum Romanum. Entry to her temple was permitted only to her priestesses, the Vestals, as she was considered a guardian of the Roman people, her festival, the Vestalia, was regarded as one of the most important Roman holidays. During the Vestalia matrons of the city walked barefoot to the sanctuary of the goddess, the myths depicting Vesta and her priestesses were few, and were limited to tales of miraculous impregnation by a phallus appearing in the flames of the hearth - the manifestation of the goddess. Vesta was among the Dii Consentes, twelve of the most honored gods in the Roman pantheon and she was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, and sister of, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, and Ceres. Her closest Greek equivalent is Hestia, Ovid derived Vesta from Latin vi stando - standing by power. Cicero supposed that the Latin name Vesta derives from the Greek Hestia and this etymology is offered by Servius as well. Another etymology is that Vesta derives from Latin uestio, as well as from Greek έστἰα, georges Dumézil, a French comparative philologist, surmised that the name of the goddess derives from Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eu-, via the derivative form *h₁eu-s- which alternates with *h₁w-es-. The former is found in Greek εὕειν heuein, Latin urit, ustio and Vedic osathi all conveying burning, see also Gallic Celtic visc fire. According to tradition, worship of Vesta in Italy began in Lavinium, the mother-city of Alba Longa, from Lavinium worship of Vesta was transferred to Alba Longa. Upon entering higher office, Roman magistrates would go to Lavinium to offer sacrifice to Vesta, the Penates were Trojan gods first introduced to Italy by Aeneas. Alongside those household gods was Vesta, who has referred to as Vesta Iliaca. Worship of Vesta, like the worship of gods, originated in the home. The priestesses of Vesta, known as Vestal Virgins, administered her temple and their existence in Alba Longa is connected with the early Roman traditions, for Romulus mother Silvia was a priestess. After assuming the office of pontifex maximus in 12 BC, Augustus converted part of his house into public property. The old shrine remained in the Forum Romanum, but this one linked the public hearth of the state and this strengthened the connection between the office of pontifex maximus and the cult of Vesta. Henceforth, the office of pontifex maximus was tied to the title of emperor, now the emperor was technically a priest of Vesta, and the pontifices were sometimes referred to as pontifices Vestae. In 12 BC,28 April was chosen ex senatus consultum to commemorate the new shrine of Vesta in Augustus home on the Palatine, Vestas cult would continue to dominate the ancient cults with religious observances persisting into the 4th century
6.
Romulus and Remus
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In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus are twin brothers, whose story tells the events that led to the founding of the city of Rome and the Roman Kingdom by Romulus. The killing of Remus by his brother, and other tales from their story, have inspired artists throughout the ages, since ancient times, the image of the twins being suckled by a she-wolf has been a symbol of the city of Rome and the Roman people. Although the tale takes place before the founding of Rome around 750 BC, whether the twins myth was an original part of Roman myth or a later development is a subject of ongoing debate. Romulus and Remus were born in Alba Longa, one of the ancient Latin cities near the site of Rome. Their mother, Rhea Silvia was a virgin and the daughter of the former king, Numitor. In some sources, Rhea Silvia conceived them when their father, through their mother, the twins were descended from Greek and Latin nobility. Seeing them as a threat to his rule, King Amulius ordered them to be killed. They were saved by the god Tiberinus, Father of the River and survived with the care of others, in the most well-known episode, the twins were suckled by a she-wolf, in a cave now known as the Lupercal. Eventually, they were adopted by Faustulus, a shepherd and they grew up tending flocks, unaware of their true identities. Over time, their leadership abilities attracted a company of supporters from the community. When they were adults, they became involved in a dispute between supporters of Numitor and Amulius. As a result, Remus was taken prisoner and brought to Alba Longa, both his grandfather and the king suspected his true identity. Romulus, meanwhile, had organized an effort to free his brother, during this time they learned of their past and joined forces with their grandfather to restore him to the throne. Amulius was killed and Numitor was reinstated as king of Alba, the twins set out to build a city of their own. After arriving back in the area of the seven hills, they disagreed about the hill upon which to build, Romulus preferred the Palatine Hill, above the Lupercal, Remus preferred the Aventine Hill. When they could not resolve the dispute, they agreed to seek the gods approval through a contest of augury, Remus first saw 6 auspicious birds but soon afterward, Romulus saw 12, and claimed to have won divine approval. The new dispute furthered the contention between them, in the aftermath, Remus was killed either by Romulus or by one of his supporters. Romulus then went on to found the city of Rome, its institutions, government, military and he reigned for many years as its first king
7.
Rome
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Rome is a special comune and the capital of Italy. Rome also serves as the capital of the Lazio region, with 2,873,598 residents in 1,285 km2, it is also the countrys largest and most populated comune and fourth-most populous city in the European Union by population within city limits. It is the center of the Metropolitan City of Rome, which has a population of 4.3 million residents, the city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, within Lazio, along the shores of the Tiber. Romes history spans more than 2,500 years, while Roman mythology dates the founding of Rome at only around 753 BC, the site has been inhabited for much longer, making it one of the oldest continuously occupied sites in Europe. The citys early population originated from a mix of Latins, Etruscans and it was first called The Eternal City by the Roman poet Tibullus in the 1st century BC, and the expression was also taken up by Ovid, Virgil, and Livy. Rome is also called the Caput Mundi, due to that, Rome became first one of the major centres of the Italian Renaissance, and then the birthplace of both the Baroque style and Neoclassicism. Famous artists, painters, sculptors and architects made Rome the centre of their activity, in 1871 Rome became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and in 1946 that of the Italian Republic. Rome has the status of a global city, Rome ranked in 2014 as the 14th-most-visited city in the world, 3rd most visited in the European Union, and the most popular tourist attraction in Italy. Its historic centre is listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, monuments and museums such as the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are among the worlds most visited tourist destinations with both locations receiving millions of tourists a year. Rome hosted the 1960 Summer Olympics and is the seat of United Nations Food, however, it is a possibility that the name Romulus was actually derived from Rome itself. As early as the 4th century, there have been alternate theories proposed on the origin of the name Roma. There is archaeological evidence of occupation of the Rome area from approximately 14,000 years ago. Evidence of stone tools, pottery and stone weapons attest to about 10,000 years of human presence, several excavations support the view that Rome grew from pastoral settlements on the Palatine Hill built above the area of the future Roman Forum. Between the end of the age and the beginning of the Iron age. However, none of them had yet an urban quality, nowadays, there is a wide consensus that the city was gradually born through the aggregation of several villages around the largest one, placed above the Palatine. All these happenings, which according to the excavations took place more or less around the mid of the 8th century BC. Despite recent excavations at the Palatine hill, the view that Rome has been indeed founded with an act of will as the legend suggests in the middle of the 8th century BC remains a fringe hypothesis. Traditional stories handed down by the ancient Romans themselves explain the earliest history of their city in terms of legend and myth
8.
Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)
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The last event covered by Livy is the death of Drusus in 9 BC. About 25% of the work survives, the History of Rome originally comprised 142 books, thirty-five of which — Books 1–10 with the Preface and Books 21–45 — still exist in reasonably complete form. Damage to a manuscript of the 5th century resulted in gaps in Books 41 and 43–45, that is. Livy was abridged, in antiquity, to an epitome, which survives for Book 1, but was itself abridged in the century into the so-called Periochae. The Periochae survive for the work, except for books 136 and 137. In Oxyrhynchus, a summary of books 37–40 and 48–55 was found on a roll of papyrus that is now in the British Museum classified as P. Oxy. IV0668. There is another fragment, named P. Oxy. XI1379, which represents a passage from the first book, however the Oxyrhynchus Epitome is damaged and incomplete. The entire work covers the periods, Books 1–5 – The legendary founding of Rome, the period of the kings. Books 6–10 – Wars with the Aequi, Volsci, Etruscans, Books 11–20 – The period from 292 to 218 BC, including the First Punic War. Books 21–30 – The Second Punic War, from 218 to 202 BC, Books 31–45 – The Macedonian and other eastern wars from 201 to 167 BC. Books 46 to 142 are all lost, Books 46–70 – The period from 167 to the outbreak of the Social War in 91 BC, Books 71–90 – The civil wars between Marius and Sulla, to the death of Sulla in 78 BC. Books 91–108 – From 78 BC through the end of the Gallic War, Books 109–116 – From the Civil War to the death of Caesar. Books 117-133 – The wars of the triumvirs down to the death of Antonius, Books 134-142 – The rule of Augustus down to the death of Drusus. The first book has one of the most significant sources of the various accounts of the traditional legend of Romulus and Remus. His version of the legend is told in chapters 3-7 of the first book, Livy states that the twins were born to a vestal named Rea Silvia. Proca, her grandfather had willed the throne to his son Numitor but he was deposed by her uncle. She was forced to take the Vestal oath to prevent her from producing a rival to his rule and she became pregnant after taking her vows and claimed that she had been raped by Mars, the roman god of war. Livy speculates that the claim may have made to conceal an earthly affair
9.
Livy
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Livy and Augustuss wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood. Livy was born as Titus Livius in Patavium in northern Italy, there is a debate about the year of Titus Livius birth,64 BC or more likely 59 BC. At the time of his birth, his city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula. Patavium was a part of the province of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, in his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection and pride for Patavium, and the city was well known for its conservative values in morality and politics. Livy’s teen years were during the 40s BC, a time that coincided with the wars that were occurring throughout the Roman world. The governor of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, a man called Asinius Pollio, had tried to bring Patavium into the camp of Marcus Antonius, the wealthier citizens of Patavium refused to contribute money and arms to Asinius Pollio, and went into hiding. Therefore, Livy and the residents of Patavium did not end up supporting Marcus Antonius in his campaign for control over Rome. Later on, Asinius Pollio made a jibe at Livys patavinity and his jibe at Livy and his patavinity, however, may have been said because the city of Patavium had rejected Asinius Pollio, and he still harboured harsh feelings toward the city as a whole. Titus Livius probably went to Rome in the 30s BC, and it is likely that he spent an amount of time in the city after this. During his time in Rome, he was never a senator nor held any other governmental position and his elementary mistakes in military matters show that he was never a soldier. However, he was educated in philosophy and rhetoric and it seems that Livy had the financial resources and means to live an independent life. He devoted a part of his life to his writings. Livy was known to give recitations to small audiences, but he was not heard of to engage in declamation and he was familiar with the emperor Augustus, formerly Octavian, and the imperial family. Octavian was one of the three men fighting for the control of Rome during the Civil Wars in the 40s BC, Octavian gained power after defeating Marcus Antonius and Cleopatra, and was later given the honorary name of Augustus. Considering that Augustus came to be known as the greatest Roman emperor in the eyes of the Romans and it is said that Livy was the one who encouraged the future emperor Claudius, who was born in 10 BC, to explore the writing of history during his childhood. Livy himself was married and had at least one daughter and one son, Livy’s most famous work was his history of Rome. In it he explains the history of the city of Rome. Because he was writing under the emperor Augustus, Livy’s history emphasizes the great triumphs of Rome and he wrote his history with embellished accounts of Roman heroism in order to promote the new type of government implemented by Augustus when he became emperor
10.
Ennius
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Quintus Ennius was a writer during the period of the Roman Republic, and is often considered the father of Roman poetry. He was an Oscan from Calabria, although only fragments of his works survive, his influence in Latin literature was significant, particularly in his use of Greek literary models. Ennius was born at Rudiae, a predominantly Oscan town historically founded by the Messapians. Here Oscan, Greek, and Latin languages were in contact with one another, according to Aulus Gellius 17.17.1, Ennius referred to this heritage by saying he had three hearts, Greek, Oscan and Latin. Ennius continued the nascent literary tradition by writing praetextae, tragedies, and palliatae, as well as his most famous work, other minor works include the Epicharmus, the Euhemerus, the Hedyphagetica, and Saturae. The Epicharmus presented an account of the gods and the operations of the universe. In it, the poet dreamed he had been transported after death to some place of heavenly enlightenment, the Euhemerus presented a theological doctrine of a vastly different type in a mock-simple prose style modelled on the Greek of Euhemerus of Messene and several other theological writers. The Hedyphagetica took much of its substance from the epic of Archestratus of Gela. The eleven extant hexameters have prosodical features avoided in the more serious Annales, the remains of six books of Saturae show a considerable variety of metres. There are signs that Ennius varied the metre sometimes even within a composition, a frequent theme was the social life of Ennius himself and his upper-class Roman friends and their intellectual conversation. The Annales was a poem in fifteen books, later expanded to eighteen. It was the first Latin poem to adopt the dactylic hexameter metre used in Greek epic and didactic poetry, the Annals became a school text for Roman schoolchildren, eventually supplanted by Virgils Aeneid. A copy of the work is among the Latin rolls of the Herculaneum library, Ennius was said to have considered himself a reincarnation of Homer. Early in the poem Homer appears to the narrator, claiming that Ennius now has Homers soul, quod est ante pedes nemo spectat, caeli scrutantur plagas. - No one regards what is before his feet, everyone gazes at the stars, fragment from the lost tragedy Iphigenia. Simia quam similis turpissima bestia nobis, - The ape, vilest of beasts, how like to us. As quoted by Cicero in De Natura Deorum, Book I, Chapter XXXV As quoted by Cicero in De Officiis, Book I, XVI Who kindly shows the way to one lost, No less shines his, when he the others has lit. More quotations at, Wikiquote, Ennius Prosody Quinto Ennio, brooks, Robert A. Ennius and Roman tragedy
11.
Roman theatre, Cartagena
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The Roman Theatre is an ancient Roman theatre in Cartagena, Spain. The theatre was built between 5 and 1 BC, as has been proven by the dedication of the edifice to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, grandsons of Augustus, who had designated them as his successors. In the 3rd century AD a market was built over the theatre, reusing its materials, the market was perhaps abandoned after a fire caused by the Vandals in 425. A market quarter of the Byzantines was established on the site in the 6th century AD, during the 13th century the Old Cathedral of the city was built over the upper cavea. In 1988 the first remains of the theatre were discovered during the construction of the Centro regional de artesanía, the archaeological excavations and the restorations were completed in 2003. In 2008 a museum, designed by Rafael Moneo, was opened, the cavea was carved directly on the rocks in its central part, and tops a series of vaulted galleries. It had a capacity of some 6,000 spectators and it was divided horizontally in three parts, in turn divided into radial sectors by the staircases. The public entered from two passages, where the dedications have been found. The orchestra had a plan and housed three rows of wooden seats for the authorities. The stage had a length of 43.60 m, the scaenae frons had three semicircular exedras and decorated by two orders of columns, with bases and capitals in Lunis marble, and shaft in pink travertine of Mula. The stage edifice had a height of 14.60 m. It have been found three round altars dedicated to the Capituline Triad and to the divinities of Apollo, as well as a statue of Apollo with lyre, behind the stage building was a portico with a double porticoed gallery revolving around a central room housing a garden
12.
Gray wolf
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The gray wolf or grey wolf, also known as the timber wolf or western wolf, is a canine native to the wilderness and remote areas of Eurasia and North America. It is the largest extant member of its family, with males averaging 43–45 kg, like the red wolf, it is distinguished from other Canis species by its larger size and less pointed features, particularly on the ears and muzzle. Its winter fur is long and bushy, and predominantly a mottled gray in color, although pure white, red. As of 2005,37 subspecies of C. lupus are recognised by MSW3 and it is nonetheless closely related enough to smaller Canis species, such as the eastern wolf, coyote, and golden jackal to produce fertile hybrids. It is an animal, travelling in nuclear families consisting of a mated pair. The gray wolf is typically an apex predator throughout its range, with only humans and it feeds primarily on large ungulates, though it also eats smaller animals, livestock, carrion, and garbage. The gray wolf is one of the worlds best known and well researched animals, although the fear of wolves is pervasive in many human societies, the majority of recorded attacks on people have been attributed to animals suffering from rabies. The English wolf stems from the Old English wulf, which is thought to be derived from the Proto-Germanic *wulfaz. The Latin lupus is a Sabine loanword, both derive from the Proto-Indo-European root *wlqwos/*lukwos. The species Canis lupus was first recorded by Carl Linnaeus in his publication Systema Naturae in 1758, the thirty-seven subspecies of Canis lupus are listed under the designated common name of wolf in Mammal Species of the World third edition that was published in 2005. The nominate subspecies is the Eurasian wolf, also known as the common wolf, the subspecies includes the domestic dog, dingo, eastern wolf and red wolf, but lists C. l. italicus and C. l. communis as synonyms of C. l. lupus. However, the classification of several as either species or subspecies has recently been challenged, ecological factors including habitat type, climate, prey specialization and predatory competition will greatly influence the wolfs genetic population structure and cranio-dental plasticity. The domestic dog is the most widely abundant large carnivore and a descendant from one of those now-extinct wolf populations, in 2013, a genetic study found that the wolf population in Europe was divided along a north-south axis and formed five major clusters. Three clusters were identified occupying southern and central Europe in Italy, the Carpathians, another two clusters were identified occupying north-central Europe and the Ukrainian steppe. The Italian wolf consisted of a population with low genetic diversity. Wolves from Croatia, Bulgaria, and Greece formed the Dinaric-Balkans cluster, the wolves from the Carpathians were more similar to the wolves from the Pontic-Caspian Steppe than they were to wolves from north-central Europe. These clusters may have been the result of expansion from glacial refugia, an adaptation to environments, and landscape fragmentation. These six wolf ecotypes were named West Forest, Boreal Forest, Arctic, High Arctic, Baffin, the studies found that precipitation and mean diurnal temperature range were the most influential variables
13.
Fonte Gaia
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The Fonte Gaia is a monumental fountain located in the Piazza del Campo in the center of Siena, Italy. The first fountain in the Piazza del Campo was completed in 1342, underground pipes brought water to the site from 25 kilometers away. Legend holds that the fountain was met with joy, thus it was given the name Gaia or joyous. Others suggest the term Gaia refers to the Latin term for bride, and that the fountain was dedicated to the bride of God and patron of Siena, the Virgin Mary. The fountains, plates, and statues conflate Roman matrons cardinal virtues, with a depiction of Mary. In 1419, the fountain had the present decorative frame constructed by Jacopo della Quercia, in 1858, the original marble panels were replaced by copies sculpted by Tito Sarrocchi, under the supervision of architect Giuseppe Partini. The side reliefs depict episodes from Genesis, The Creation of Adam, the wolves spouting water, representing the mother-wolf of Remus and Romulus, form part of the reconstructed fountain. Two nude female figures once adorned the front two columns, traditionally believed to represent Rea Silvia and Acca Larentia, in celebration of Siena’s supposed links to ancient Rome. These were not added in the reconstruction but can be viewed along with the panels at a museum at Santa Maria della Scala. The long section of the fountain is adorned at the centre with a Madonna and Child, description on Siena on line website. La Fonte Gaia di Jacopo della Quercia, Storia e restauro di un capolavoro dellarte senese, Sara Dei, Enrico Toti Media related to Fonte Gaia at Wikimedia Commons
14.
Alba Longa
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Alba Longa was an ancient city of Latium in central Italy,19 kilometres southeast of Rome, in the Alban Hills. Founder and head of the Latin League, it was destroyed by Rome around the middle of the 7th century BC. In legend, Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome, had come from the dynasty of Alba Longa, which in Virgils Aeneid had been the bloodline of Aeneas. Livy said of Alba Longa that it was founded by Ascanius to relieve crowding at Lavinium and he placed it at the foot of the Alban Mount and said that it took its name from being extended along a ridge. Dionysius of Halicarnassus repeated the story, but added that Ascanius, following a given to his father. Noting that alba means white he translated the name into Greek as long white town, Dionysius placed the town between the Alban Mount and the Alban Lake, thus beginning a long controversy about its location. Since the 16th century, the site has been at times identified as that of the Convent of St. Paul at Palazzola near Albano, Coste Caselle near Marino. The last named of these places in fact occupies the site of Domitians villa which, archaeological data show the existence of a string of villages in the Iron Age, each with its own necropolis, along the south-western shore of Lake Albano. In the later period the territory of Alba was settled once again with many residential villas. According to Roman legend, after the fall of Troy in 1184 BC, Aeneas led a group of surviving Trojans through the Mediterranean to Sicily, Carthage, upon landing in Italy he was welcomed by Latinus, king of the early Latins. Soon, Aeneas married king Latinus daughter, Lavinia, and would found the city Lavinium in her name, Latinus later fell in war making Aeneas king and his son, Ascanius, his successor. A few years later Aeneas was killed in battle like Latinus, Ascanius reportedly built Alba Longa at the slope of Mount Alba with six hundred families as a colony of Lavinium. The city was founded thirty years after Lavinium and his descendants would rule the Latins for another five hundred years. Alba Longa was the city of the roughly thirty cities that made up the Latin League. The leagues conferences were held by the Ferentine spring, in the part of the valley between Albano and Marino, Italy. The sacrifices of the league were offered on the Alban mountain from which all the country of Latium might be seen, after the rise of its colony, Rome, Alba Longa appeared as Romes rival and was destroyed in the mid-seventh century BC by Rome. The colonies of Alba Longa were distinct from the Alban townships which must have consisted of Albani plebs, among the Alban colonies some become part of the plebs, others become Latin cities. The others were ceded to the Latins to maintain a consistent thirty townships, accordingly, the Latin kingdom of Latinus, and the Rutulian kingdom of Turnus must have had thirty cities each with Laurentum as the Latin capital prior to the arrival of Aeneas
15.
Aeneas
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In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas was a Trojan hero, the son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Venus. His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy and he is a character in Greek mythology and is mentioned in Homers Iliad. Aeneas receives full treatment in Roman mythology, most extensively in Virgils Aeneid and he became the first true hero of Rome. Snorri Sturluson identifies him with the Norse Æsir Vidarr, Aeneas is the Latin spelling of Greek Αἰνείας. In the Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite, Aeneas is first introduced with Aphrodite naming him Αἰνείας for the αὶνóν ἄχος he caused her and it is a popular etymology for the name, apparently exploited by Homer in the Iliad. Later in the Medieval period there were writers who held that, as such, in the natural order, the meaning of Aeneas name combines Greek ennos and demas, which becomes ennaios, meaning in-dweller. However, there is no certainty regarding the origin of his name, in imitation of the Iliad, Virgil borrows epithets of Homer, including, Anchisiades, magnanimum, magnus, heros, and bonus. Though he borrows many, Virgil gives Aeneas two epithets of his own in the Aeneid, pater and pius. The epithets applied by Virgil are an example of a different from that of Homer, for whilst Odysseus is poikilios, Aeneas is described as pius. Likewise, Aeneas is called pater when acting in the interest of his men, the story of the birth of Aeneas is told in the Hymn to Aphrodite, one of the major Homeric Hymns. Aphrodite has caused the other gods Zeus, to fall in love with mortal women, in retaliation, Zeus puts desire in her heart for Anchises, who is tending his cattle among the hills near Mount Ida. When Aphrodite sees him she is smitten and she adorns herself as if for a wedding among the gods and appears before him. He is overcome by her beauty, believing that she is a goddess, after they make love, Aphrodite reveals her true identity to him and Anchises fears what might happen to him as a result of their liaison. Aphrodite assures him that he will be protected, and tells him that she bear him a son to be called Aeneas. However, she warns him that he must never tell anyone that he has lain with a goddess, when Aeneas is born, Aphrodite takes him to the nymphs of Mount Ida. She directs them to raise the child to age five, then take him to Anchises, according to other sources, Anchises later brags about his encounter with Aphrodite, and as a result is struck in the foot with a thunderbolt by Zeus. Thereafter he is lame in that foot, so that Aeneas has to carry him from the flames of Troy. Aeneas is a character in the Iliad, where he is twice saved from death by the gods as if for an as-yet-unknown destiny
16.
Vestal Virgin
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In ancient Rome, the Vestals or Vestal Virgins were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being were regarded as fundamental to the continuance and they cultivated the sacred fire that was not allowed to go out. Livy, Plutarch, and Aulus Gellius attribute the creation of the Vestals as a state-supported priestesshood to king Numa Pompilius, according to Livy, Numa introduced the Vestals and assigned them salaries from the public treasury. Livy also says that the priestesshood of Vesta had its origins at Alba Longa, the 2nd century antiquarian Aulus Gellius writes that the first Vestal taken from her parents was led away in hand by Numa. Plutarch attributes the founding of the Temple of Vesta to Numa, ambrose alludes to a seventh in late antiquity. Numa also appointed the pontifex maximus to watch over the Vestals, the first Vestals, according to Varro, were named Gegania, Veneneia, Canuleia, and Tarpeia. In myth, Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, was portrayed as traitorous, the Vestals became a powerful and influential force in the Roman state. When Sulla included the young Julius Caesar in his proscriptions, the Vestals interceded on Caesars behalf, augustus included the Vestals in all major dedications and ceremonies. They were held in awe, and attributed certain magical powers and this gift was preserved inviolate till the time of the degenerate moneychangers, who diverted the maintenance of sacred chastity into a fund for the payment of base porters. A public famine ensued on this act, and a bad harvest disappointed the hopes of all the provinces and it was sacrilege which rendered the year barren, for it was necessary that all should lose that which they had denied to religion. The College of the Vestals was disbanded and the fire extinguished in 394. Zosimus records how the Christian noblewoman Serena, niece of Theodosius, entered the temple and took from the statue of the goddess a necklace and placed it on her own neck. An old woman appeared, the last of the Vestals, who proceeded to rebuke Serena, according to Zosimus, Serena was then subject to dreadful dreams predicting her own untimely death. The chief Vestal oversaw the efforts of the Vestals, and was present in the College of Pontiffs, the Vestalis Maxima Occia presided over the Vestals for 57 years, according to Tacitus. The last known chief vestal was Coelia Concordia, who stepped down in 394 with the disbanding of the College of the Vestals, the Vestalium Maxima was the most important of Romes high priestesses. The Flaminica Dialis and the regina sacrorum each held unique responsibility for religious rites. According to Plutarch, there were only two Vestal Virgins when Numa began the College of the Vestals and this number later increased to four, and then to six. It has been suggested by some authorities that a seventh was added later, the Vestals were committed to the priestesshood before puberty and sworn to celibacy for a period of 30 years
17.
Tiber
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It drains a basin estimated at 17,375 square kilometres. The river has achieved lasting fame as the watercourse of the city of Rome. The river rises at Mount Fumaiolo in central Italy and flows in a southerly direction past Perugia. However, it does not form a delta, owing to a strong north-flowing sea current close to the shore, to the steep shelving of the coast. The source of the Tiber consists of two springs 10 metres away from each other on Mount Fumaiolo and these springs are called Le Vene. The springs are in a beech forest 1,268 metres above sea level, during the 1930s, Benito Mussolini placed an antique marble Roman column at the point where the river arises, inscribed QUI NASCE IL FIUME SACRO AI DESTINI DI ROMA. There is an eagle on the top of this column, the first miles of the Tiber run through Valtiberina before entering Umbria. It is probable that the genesis of the name Tiber was pre-Latin, like the Roman name of Tibur, the same root is found in the Latin praenomen Tiberius. There are also Etruscan variants of this praenomen in Thefarie and Teperie, the legendary king Tiberinus, ninth in the king-list of Alba Longa, was said to have drowned in the river Albula, which was afterward called Tiberis. Yet another etymology is from *dubri-, water, considered by Alessio as Sicel and this root *dubri- is widespread in Western Europe e. g. Dover, Portus Dubris. According to the legend, Jupiter made him a god and guardian spirit of the river and this gave rise to the standard Roman depiction of the river as a powerfully built reclining god, also named Tiberinus, with streams of water flowing from his hair and beard. The Tiber was also believed to be the river into which Romulus and Remus were thrown as infants, according to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of the Tiber about 25 kilometres from the sea at Ostia. The island Isola Tiberina in the centre of Rome, between Trastevere and the ancient center, was the site of an important ancient ford and was later bridged. Legend says Romes founders, the twin brothers Romulus and Remus, were abandoned on its waters, the river marked the boundary between the lands of the Etruscans to the west, the Sabines to the east and the Latins to the south. Benito Mussolini, born in Romagna, adjusted the boundary between Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna, so that the springs of the Tiber would lie in Romagna and it was later used to ship stone, timber and foodstuffs to Rome. During the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the harbour at Ostia became a key naval base and it later became Romes most important port, where wheat, olive oil, and wine were imported from Romes colonies around the Mediterranean. Wharves were also built along the riverside in Rome itself, lining the riverbanks around the Campus Martius area, the Romans connected the river with a sewer system and with an underground network of tunnels and other channels, to bring its water into the middle of the city. Wealthy Romans had garden-parks or horti on the banks of the river in Rome up through the first century BC and these may have been sold and developed about a century later
18.
Faustulus
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In Roman mythology, Faustulus was the shepherd who found the infants Romulus and Remus, who were being suckled by a she-wolf, known as Lupa, on the Palatine Hill. He, with his wife, Acca Larentia, raised the children, in some versions of the myth, Larentia was a prostitute. The name Faustulus was later claimed by a Roman family, one of whom minted a coin showing Faustulus with the twins, sextus Pompeius Fostlus issued a silver denarius in about 140 BCE that showed, on the twins and she-wolf with Faustulus to their left
19.
Tiberinus (god)
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Tiberinus is a figure in Roman mythology. He was added to the 3,000 rivers, as the genius of the river Tiber, with Manto, Tiberinus was the father of Ocnus. Tiberinus is also known as the god who found the twins Romulus and Remus. He later rescued and married Rhea Silvia, the mother of the twins and a Vestal Virgin who had been sentenced to death
20.
Romulus
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Romulus was the legendary founder and first king of Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Romes oldest legal, political, religious, Romulus and his twin brother, Remus, were the sons of Rhea Silvia, herself the daughter of Numitor, the former king of Alba Longa. Through them, the twins are descended from the Trojan hero Aeneas and Latinus, before the twins birth, Numitor had been usurped by his brother, Amulius. After seizing the throne, Amulius murdered Numitors son, and condemned Rhea to perpetual virginity by consecrating her a Vestal, Rhea, however, became pregnant, ostensibly by the god Mars. Amulius had her imprisoned, and upon the birth, ordered that they be thrown into the rain-swollen Tiber. Instead of carrying out the orders, his servants left the twins along the riverbank at the foot of Palatine Hill. In the traditional telling of the legend, a she-wolf happened upon the twins and she suckled and tended them by a cave until they were found by the herdsman Faustulus and his wife, Acca Larentia. The brothers grew to manhood among the shepherds and hill-folk, after becoming involved in a conflict between the followers of Amulius and those of their grandfather Numitor, they learned the truth of their origin. They overthrew and killed Amulius and restored Numitor to the throne, the princes set out to establish a city of their own. They returned to the hills overlooking the Tiber, the site where they had exposed as infants. They could not agree on which hill should house the new city, when an omen to resolve the controversy failed to provide a clear indication, the conflict escalated and Remus was killed by his brother or by his brothers follower. In a variant of the legend, the augurs favoured Romulus, when Remus derisively leapt over the walls to show how inadequate they were against invaders, he was struck down by Romulus. In another variant, Remus died during a melée along with Faustulus, the founding of the city by Romulus was commemorated annually on April 21, with the festival of the Parilia. His first act was to fortify the Palatine, in the course of which he made a sacrifice to the gods and he then laid out the citys boundaries with a furrow that he ploughed, performed another sacrifice, and with his followers set to work building the city itself. Romulus then sought the assent of the people to become their king, with Numitors help, he addressed them and received their approval. Romulus accepted the crown after he sacrificed and prayed to Jupiter, Romulus then divided the populace into three tribes, known as the Ramnes, Titienses, and Luceres, for taxation and military purposes. Each tribe was presided over by a known as a tribune. Romulus also allotted a portion of land to ward, for the benefit of the people
21.
Vatican Museums
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The Vatican Museums are the museums of the Vatican City and are located within the citys boundaries. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display, and currently employ 640 people who work in 40 different administrative, scholarly, Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century. The Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael, are on the route through the Vatican Museums. In 2013, they were visited by 6 million people, which combined makes it the 6th most visited art museum in the world, there are 54 galleries, or sale, in total, with the Sistine Chapel, notably, being the very last sala within the Museum. It is one of the largest museums in the world, in 2017, the Museums official website and social media presence was completely redone, in accord with current standards and appearances for modern websites. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, on their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture of Laocoön and his sons on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery, the Museum Christianum was founded by Benedict XIV, and some of the Vatican collections formed the Lateran Museum, which Pius IX founded by decree in 1854. The Museums celebrated their 500th anniversary in October 2006 by permanently opening the excavations of a Vatican Hill necropolis to the public, on 1 January 2017 Barbara Jatta became the Director of the Vatican Museums, replacing Antonio Paolucci who had been director since 2007. The art gallery was housed in the Borgia Apartment until Pope Pius XI ordered construction of a proper building, the new building, designed by Luca Beltrami, was inaugurated on 27 October 1932. The museum has paintings including, Giottos Stefaneschi Triptych Olivuccio di Ciccarello, Opere di Misericordia Raphaels Madonna of Foligno, Oddi Altarpiece, the group of museums includes several sculpture museums surrounding the Cortile del Belvedere. The museum takes its name from two popes, Clement XIV and Pius VI, the pope who brought the museum to completion, Clement XIV came up with the idea of creating a new museum in Innocent VIIIs Belvedere palace and started the refurbishment work. Pope Clement XIV founded the Pio-Clementino museum in 1771, and originally it contained the Renaissance, the museum and collection were enlarged by Clements successor Pius VI. Today, the museum works of Greek and Roman sculpture. Some notable galleries are, Greek Cross Gallery, with the porphyri sarcophagi of Constance and Saint Helen, daughter and mother of Constantine the Great. Sala Rotonda, shaped like a miniature Pantheon, the room has impressive ancient mosaics on the floors, Gallery of the Statues, as its name implies, holds various important statues, including Sleeping Ariadne and the bust of Menander. It also contains the Barberini Candelabra, Gallery of the Busts, Many ancient busts are displayed. Cabinet of the Masks, The name comes from the mosaic on the floor of the gallery, found in Villa Adriana, along the walls, several famous statues are shown including the Three Graces. One wove the thread of life, second nurtured it, third cut it. The center piece is Belvedere Torso, revered by Michelangelo and other Renaissance men, sala degli Animali, So named because of the many ancient statues of animals
22.
Portland Vase
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The Portland Vase is a Roman cameo glass vase, which is dated to between AD1 and AD25, though low BC dates have some scholarly support. It is the best known piece of Roman cameo glass and has served as an inspiration to many glass and it is first recorded in Rome in 1600-1601, and since 1810 has been in the British Museum in London. It was bought by the museum in 1945 and is normally on display in Room 70, the vase is about 25 centimetres high and 56 in circumference. The bottom of the vase was a glass disc, also in blue and white, showing a head. This roundel clearly does not belong to the vase, and has been displayed separately since 1845. It may have added to mend a break in antiquity or after. The meaning of the images on the vase is unclear and none of the theories put forward have been found generally satisfactory. They fall into two groups, mythological and historical, though a historical interpretation of a myth is also a possibility. Interpretations of the portrayals have included that of a marine setting, many scholars have concluded that the figures do not fit into a single iconographic set. Interpretations include, The marriage of the sea-gods Peleus and Thetis, the dream of Olympias, mother of Alexander the Great, who is emerging from the building to greet her, with his father Apollo as the serpent. This was the first theory, dating to 1633, and connected to Severus Alexander and his mother, on the reverse is Octavian, Octavia his sister, widow of Mark Anthony and Livia, Octavians third wife who outlived him. These two are looking directly at each other, Octavian commanded she divorce her then husband and marry him with a few weeks of meeting, she was mother to the future Emperor Tiberius. All the pieces and people fit in this theory and it explains most mysteries and it would have been a fabulously expensive piece to commission, so that few men of the period could have afforded it. Several attempts at creating the vase must have made, as modern reproduction trials show today. Cameo-glass vessels were all made within about two generations, as experiments when the blowing technique was still in its infancy. After cooling the white layer was cut away to form the design, the cutting was probably performed by a skilled gem-cutter. It is believed that the cutter may have been Dioskourides, as engraved gems thought to be cut by him of a similar period and this is confirmed by the Corning Museum in their 190-page study of the vase—see above. According to a theory by Rosemarie Lierke, the vase, along with the rest of Roman cameo glass, was moulded rather than cold-cut
23.
British Museum
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The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
24.
Ariadne
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Ariadne, in Greek mythology, was the daughter of Minos, King of Crete, Son of Zeus and his queen Pasiphaë, daughter of Helios. She is mostly associated with mazes and labyrinths because of her involvement in the myths of the Minotaur and her father put her in charge of the labyrinth where sacrifices were made as part of reparations, later, she helped Theseus overcome the Minotaur and save the potential sacrificial victims. In other stories, she became the bride of the god Dionysus, since ancient Greek myths are passed down through oral tradition, many variations of this and other myths exist. According to an Athenian version of the legend, Minos attacked Athens after his son was killed there, the Athenians asked for terms, and were required to sacrifice seven young men and seven maidens to the Minotaur every seven or nine years. One year, the party included Theseus, the son of King Aegeus. Ariadne fell in love at first sight, and helped him by giving him a sword and a ball of thread, so that he could find his way out of the Minotaurs labyrinth. She eloped with Theseus after he achieved his goal, but according to Homer he had no joy of her, for ere that, Artemis slew her in seagirt Dia because of the witness of Dionysus. Homer does not expand on the nature of Dionysuss accusation, in Hesiod and most other accounts, Theseus abandoned Ariadne sleeping on Naxos, and Dionysus rediscovered and wedded her. The vase-painters of Athens often showed Athena leading Theseus from the sleeping Ariadne to his ship. With Dionysus, she was the mother of Oenopion, the personification of wine, Staphylus, Thoas, Peparethus, Phanus, Eurymedon, Enyeus, Ceramus, Maron, Euanthes, Latramys and her wedding diadem was set in the heavens as the constellation Corona Borealis. Ariadne remained faithful to Dionysus but was killed by Perseus at Argos. In other myths she hanged herself from a tree, like Erigone and the hanging Artemis, some scholars have posited, due to her thread-spinning and winding associations, that she was a weaving goddess, like Arachne, supporting this theory with the mytheme of the Hanged Nymph. Dionysus descended into Hades and brought her and his mother Semele back and they then joined the gods in Olympus. Karl Kerenyi and Robert Graves theorize that Ariadne was a Great Goddess of Crete, Kerenyi notes a Linear B inscription from Knossos, to all the gods, honey. To the mistress of the honey in equal amounts, suggesting to him that the Mistress of the Labyrinth was a Great Goddess in her own right. Professor Barry Powell has suggested she was Minoan Cretes Snake Goddess, in a kylix by the painter Aison Theseus drags the Minotaur from a temple-like labyrinth, but the goddess who attends him, in this Attic representation, is Athena. Theseus, attempting to secure the ship, was swept out to sea. The Cypriote women cared for Ariadne, who died in childbirth and was memorialized in a shrine, Theseus, overcome with grief upon his return, left money for sacrifices to Ariadne and ordered two cult images, one of silver and one of bronze, set up
25.
Endymion (mythology)
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Apollonius of Rhodes is one of the many poets who tell how Selene, the Titan goddess of the moon, loved the mortal. She believed him to be so beautiful that she asked Endymions father, Zeus, alternatively, Selene so loved how Endymion looked when he was asleep in the cave on Mount Latmus, near Miletus in Caria, that she entreated Zeus that he might remain that way. In either case, Zeus granted her wish and put him into an eternal sleep, every night, Selene visited him where he slept. Selene and Endymion had fifty daughters who are equated by some scholars with the fifty months of the Olympiad, the Bibliotheke claims that, Calyce and Aethlius had a son Endymion who led Aeolians from Thessaly and founded Elis. But some say that he was a son of Zeus, as he was of unsurpassed beauty, the Moon fell in love with him, and Zeus allowed him to choose what he would, and he chose to sleep for ever, remaining deathless and ageless. Endymion had by a Naiad nymph or, as say, by Iphianassa, a son Aetolus, who slew Apis, son of Phoroneus. There he killed his hosts, Dorus and Laodocus and Polypoetes, the sons of Phthia and Apollo, according to Pausanias, Endymion deposed Clymenus, son of Cardys, at Olympia. The Moon, they say, fell in love with this Endymion, Endymion set his sons to run a race at Olympia for the throne, Epeius won, and obtained the kingdom, and his subjects were then named Epeans for the first time. Pausanias also reports seeing a statue of Endymion in the treasury of Metapontines at Olympia, propertius, Ciceros Tusculanae Quaestiones, and Theocritus discuss the Endymion myth to some length, but reiterate the above to varying degrees. The myth surrounding Endymion has been expanded and reworked during the period by figures like Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. But now you yourself it would seem, are a victim of a madness like mine, the Louvre example, discovered at Saint-Médard-dEyrans, France, is one of this class. Latin writers explained the name from somnum ei inductum, the put upon him. The myth of Endymion was never transferred to ever-chaste Artemis. In the Renaissance, the moon goddess Diana had the Endymion myth attached to her. Apollodorus, The Library, with an English Translation by Sir James George Frazer, cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1921. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd, plato in Twelve Volumes, Vol.1 translated by Harold North Fowler, Introduction by W. R. M. Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, London, William Heinemann Ltd.1966, la fortune littéraire et artistique du mythe d’Endymion à l’aube de l’ère moderne, ISBN 3-7861-2499-X. Diana and Endymion circa 1700-1730, by Francesco Solimena, national Museums Liverpool, Walker Art Gallery
26.
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
27.
Deity
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A deity is a concept conceived in diverse ways in various cultures, typically as a natural or supernatural being considered divine or sacred. A male deity is a god, while a female deity is a goddess, the Oxford reference defines deity as a god or goddess, or anything revered as divine. Various cultures have conceptualized a deity differently than a monotheistic God, a plain deity need not be omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, or eternal, however an almighty monotheistic God generally does have these attributes. Monotheistic religions typically refer to God in masculine terms, while other religions refer to their deities in a variety of ways – masculine, feminine, androgynous, some Avestan and Vedic deities were viewed as ethical concepts. In Indian religions, deities have been envisioned as manifesting within the temple of every living beings body, as sensory organs, but in Indian religions, all deities are also subject to death when their merit runs out. The English language word deity derives from Old French deité, the Latin deitatem or divine nature, deus is related through a common Proto-Indo-European language origin to *deiwos. Deva is masculine, and the feminine equivalent is devi. Etymologically, the cognates of Devi are Latin dea and Greek thea, in Old Persian, daiva- means demon, evil god, while in Sanskrit it means the opposite, referring to the heavenly, divine, terrestrial things of high excellence, exalted, shining ones. The closely linked term god refers to supreme being, deity, which states Douglas Harper, is derived from Proto-Germanic *guthan, from PIE *ghut-, guth in the Irish language means voice. The term *ghut- is also the source of Old Church Slavonic zovo, Sanskrit huta-, from the root *gheu- An alternate etymology for the term god traces it to the PIE root *ghu-to-, the term *gheu- is also the source of the Greek khein to pour. Originally the German root was a noun, but the gender of the monotheistic God shifted to masculine under the influence of Christianity. In contrast, all ancient Indo-European cultures and mythologies recognized both masculine and feminine deities, the term deity often connotes the concept of sacred or divine, as a god or goddess, in a polytheistic religion. However, there is no accepted consensus concept of deity across religions and cultures. Huw Owen states that the deity or god or its equivalent in other languages has a bewildering range of meanings. Some engravings or sketches show animals, hunters or rituals, the Venus of Willendorf, a female figurine found in Europe and dated to about 25,000 BCE has been interpreted as an exemplar of a prehistoric divine feminine. In Buddhist mythology, devas are beings inhabiting certain happily placed worlds of Buddhist cosmology and these beings are mortal and numerous. It is also common for iṣṭadevatās to be called deities, although the nature of Yidams is distinct from what is meant by the term. Buddhism does not believe in a creator deity, however, deities are an essential part of Buddhist cosmology, rebirth and Saṃsāra doctrines
28.
Forest
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A forest is a large area dominated by trees. Hundreds of more precise definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as density, tree height, land use, legal standing. According to the widely used Food and Agriculture Organization definition, forests covered four billion hectares or approximately 30 percent of the land area in 2006. Forests are the dominant terrestrial ecosystem of Earth, and are distributed across the globe, Forests account for 75% of the gross primary productivity of the Earths biosphere, and contain 80% of the Earths plant biomass. Forests at different latitudes and elevations form distinctly different ecozones, boreal forests near the poles, tropical forests near the equator, higher elevation areas tend to support forests similar to those at higher latitudes, and amount of precipitation also affects forest composition. Human society and forests influence each other in both positive and negative ways, Forests provide ecosystem services to humans and serve as tourist attractions. Forests can also affect peoples health, human activities, including harvesting forest resources, can negatively affect forest ecosystems. Although forest is a term of common parlance, there is no universally recognised precise definition, there are three broad categories of forest definitions in use, administrative, land use, and land cover. Land use definitions are based upon the purpose that the land serves. For example, a forest may be defined as any land that is used primarily for production of timber, land cover definitions define forests based upon the type and density of vegetation growing on the land. Such definitions typically define a forest as an area growing trees above some threshold and these thresholds are typically the number of trees per area, the area of ground under the tree canopy or the section of land that is occupied by the cross-section of tree trunks. Under such land cover definitions, and area of land only be defined as forest if it is growing trees, areas that fail to meet the land cover definition may be still included under while immature trees are establishing if they are expected to meet the definition at maturity. Under land use definitions, there is variation on where the cutoff points are between a forest, woodland, and savanna. Under some definitions, forests require high levels of tree canopy cover, from 60% to 100%, excluding savannas. Other definitions consider savannas to be a type of forest, the term was not endemic to Romance languages, and cognates in Romance languages, such as Italian foresta, Spanish and Portuguese floresta, etc. are all ultimately borrowings of the French word. The exact origin of Medieval Latin foresta is obscure, uses of the word forest in English to denote any uninhabited area of non-enclosure are now considered archaic. The word was introduced by the Norman rulers of England as a term denoting an uncultivated area legally set aside for hunting by feudal nobility. These hunting forests were not necessarily wooded much, if at all, however, as hunting forests did often include considerable areas of woodland, the word forest eventually came to mean wooded land more generally
29.
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
30.
Rhea (mythology)
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Rhea is the Titaness daughter of the earth goddess Gaia and the sky god Uranus, in Greek mythology and sister and wife to Cronus. In early traditions, she is known as the mother of gods and therefore is associated with Gaia and Cybele. The classical Greeks saw her as the mother of the Olympian gods and goddesses, the Romans identified her with Magna Mater, and the Goddess Ops. Alternatively, the name Rhea may be connected with words for the pomegranate, ῥόα, the name Rhea may ultimately derive from a pre-Greek or Minoan source. Cronus sired six children by Rhea, Hestia, Hades, Demeter, Poseidon, Hera, and Zeus in that order. Apart from Zeus, he swallowed all as soon as they were born, because he had learned from Gaia and Uranus that, as he had overthrown his own father, he was destined to be overcome by his own child. When Zeus was about to be born, however, Rhea sought Uranus and Gaia to devise a plan to him, so that Cronus would get his retribution for his acts against Uranus. Rhea gave birth to Zeus in Crete, and saved him by handing Cronus a stone wrapped in swaddling clothes, Rhea hid Zeus in a cave on Mount Ida in Crete. Her attendants, the warrior-like Curetes and Dactyls, acted as a bodyguard for the infant Zeus, Rhea had no strong local cult or identifiable activity under her control. She was originally worshiped in the island of Crete, identified in mythology as the site of Zeuss infancy and her cults employed rhythmic, raucous chants and dances, accompanied by the tympanon, to provoke a religious ecstasy. Her priests impersonated her mythical attendants, the Curetes and Dactyls, with a clashing of bronze shields, in Roman religion, her counterpart Cybele was Magna Mater deorum Idaea, who was brought to Rome and was identified in Roman mythology as an ancestral Trojan deity. On a functional level, Rhea was thought equivalent to Roman Ops or Opis, the one at Mycenae is most characteristic, with a lioness placed on either side of a pillar that symbolizes the goddess. In Homer, Rhea is the mother of the gods, although not a mother like Cybele. In the Argonautica by Apollonius of Rhodes, the fusion of Rhea, for her temenos they wrought an image of the goddess, a xoanon, from a vine-stump. They leapt and danced in their armour, For this reason the Phrygians still worship Rhea with tambourines, the name of the bird species rhea is derived from the goddess name Rhea. The second largest moon of the planet Saturn is named after her, gantz, Timothy, Early Greek Myth, A Guide to Literary and Artistic Sources, Johns Hopkins University Press,1996, Two volumes, ISBN 978-0-8018-5360-9, ISBN 978-0-8018-5362-3. 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, Homer, The Iliad with an English Translation by A. T
31.
Carsten Niebuhr
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Carsten Niebuhr or Karsten Niebuhr a German mathematician, cartographer, and explorer in the service of Denmark, is renowned for his participation in the Royal Danish Arabia Expedition. He was the father of the Danish-German statesman and historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr, Niebuhr was born in Lüdingworth in what was then Bremen-Verden. His father Barthold Niebuhr was a farmer and owned his own property. Carsten and his sister were educated at home by a school teacher, then he attended the Latin School in Otterndorf. Originally Niebuhr had intended to become a surveyor, but in 1757 he went to the Georgia Augusta University of Göttingen, at this time Germanys most progressive institution of higher education. Niebuhr was probably a student because in 1760 Johann David Michaelis recommended him as a participant in the Royal Danish Arabia Expedition. Niebuhrs observations during the Arabia Expedition proved the accuracy and the practicality of this method for use by mariners at sea, the expedition sailed in January 1761 via Marseilles and Malta to Istanbul and Alexandria. Then the members of the expedition visited Cairo and Sinai, before traversing the Red Sea via Jiddah to Yemen, which was their main destination. In Mocha, on 25 May 1763, the expeditions philologist, Frederik Christian von Haven, died, and on 11 July 1763, on the way to Sana, the capital of Yemen, its naturalist Peter Forsskål also died. In Sana the remaining members of the expedition had an audience with the Imam of Yemen al-Mahdi Abbas, Niebuhr seems to have preserved his own life and restored his health by adopting native dress and eating native food. The surgeon Christian C. Kramer also died, soon after landing in Bombay, Niebuhr was now the only surviving member. He stayed in Bombay for fourteen months and then returned home by way of Muscat, Bushire, Shiraz and his copies of the cuneiform inscriptions at Persepolis proved to be a key turning-point in the decipherment of cuneiform, and the birth of Assyriology. He also visited the ruins of Babylon, Baghdad, Mosul and he seems also to have visited the Behistun Inscription in around 1764. After a visit to Cyprus he made a tour through Palestine, crossed the Taurus Mountains to Bursa, reached Constantinople in February 1767, Niebuhrs production during the expedition is indeed impressive. He completed 28 town plans of significant historical value because of their uniqueness for that period, in summary, Niebuhrs maps, charts and plans constitute the greatest single addition to the cartography of the region that was produced through field research and published in the 18th century. In 1773 Niebuhr married Christiane Sophia Blumenberg, the daughter of the physician, and for some years he held a post in the Danish military service. In 1776 he was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1778 he accepted a position in the service of Danish Holstein
32.
Goddess
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A goddess is a female deity in polytheistic religions. Goddesses most often have characteristics that are apotheosize in their pure form. However, in some cases goddesses may embody neutral forms personifying both male and female characteristics, or they may even exhibit traits that are associated with the male gender. In some faiths, a female figure holds a central place in religious prayer. For example, Shaktism, the worship of the force that animates the world, is one of the three major sects of Hinduism. Polytheist religions, including Polytheistic reconstructionists, honour multiple goddesses and gods and these deities may be part of a pantheon, or different regions may have tutelary deities. The reconstructionists, like their ancient forebears, honour the deities particular to their country of origin, the noun goddess is a secondary formation, combining the Germanic god with the Latinate -ess suffix. It first appeared in Middle English, from about 1350, the English word follows the linguistic precedent of a number of languages—including Egyptian, Classical Greek, and several Semitic languages—that add a feminine ending to the languages word for god. Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth, a 1988 interview with Bill Moyers, links the image of the Earth or Mother Goddess to symbols of fertility and reproduction. For example, Campbell states that, There have been systems of religion where the mother is the prime parent, and in Egypt you have the Mother Heavens, the Goddess Nut, who is represented as the whole heavenly sphere. Joseph Campbell, Well that was associated primarily with agriculture and the agricultural societies and it has to do with the earth. The human woman gives birth just as the earth gives birth to the plants. so woman magic, and the personification of the energy that gives birth to forms and nourishes forms is properly female. It is in the world of ancient Mesopotamia, the Egyptian Nile. Campbell also argues that the image of the Virgin Mary was derived from the image of Isis and her child Horus, other Mesopotamian goddesses include Ninhursag, Ninlil, Antu, Gaga Goddesses of the Canaanite religion, Baalat Gebal, Astarte, Anat. Cybele, Her Hittite name was Kubaba, but her name changed to Cybele in Phrygian and Roman culture and her effect can be also seen on Artemis as the Lady of Ephesus. Hebat, Mother Goddess of the Hittite pantheon and wife of the sky god. She was the origin of the Hurrian cult, arinniti, Hittite Goddess of the sun. She became patron of the Hittite Empire and monarchy, leto, A mother Goddess figure in Lykia
33.
Rick Riordan
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Richard Russell Rick Riordan, Jr. is an American author. He is known for writing the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series and his books have been translated into 42 languages and sold more than 30 million copies in the US. Twentieth Century Fox has adapted the first two books of his Percy Jackson series as part of a series of films and his books have spawned related media, such as graphic novels and short story collections. Riordans first full-length novel was Big Red Tequila, which became the first in a series and his big breakthrough was The Lightning Thief, the first novel in the five-volume Percy Jackson series, which placed a group of adolescents in a Greco-Roman mythological setting. Since then, Riordan has written The Kane Chronicles trilogy and The Heroes of Olympus series, the Kane Chronicles focused on Egyptian mythology, The Heroes of Olympus was the sequel to the Percy Jackson series. Riordan also helped Scholastic Press develop The 39 Clues series and its spinoffs and his most recent publications are two books in the Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series, based on Norse mythology. The first book of his The Trials of Apollo series based on Greek mythology, Riordan was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. He graduated from Alamo Heights High School, and first attended the program at North Texas State. He transferred to the University of Texas in Austin and studied English and History and he taught English and Social Studies for eight years at Presidio Hill School in San Francisco. Rick married Becky Riordan, originally from the East Coast, on June 5,1985, both had been born on June 5, she thirty minutes earlier. They moved from San Antonio to Boston in June 2013 when their two sons were of college and high school age, in conjunction with older son Patrick starting college in Boston, Haley Riordan inspired the Percy Jackson series as a bedtime story. Riordan has created several successful book series, Tres Navarre, an adult mystery series about a Texan private eye, won the Shamus, Anthony, and Edgar Awards. He conceived the idea for the Percy Jackson series as bedtime stories about ancient Greek heroes for his son Haley, Haley had been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia, inspiring Riordan to make the titular protagonist ADHD/dyslexic. Riordan published the first novel in the series, The Lightning Thief in 2005, four sequels followed, the last, The Last Olympian in 2009. Prior to Percy Jackson, Riordan had written the Tres Navarres series and his Percy Jackson and the Olympians series features the titular twelve-year-old who discovers he is the modern-day son of the ancient Greek god Poseidon. Twentieth Century Fox purchased the rights and released a feature film in 2010. Following the success of Percy Jackson, Riordan created The Kane Chronicles, Riordan also created a sequel series to Percy Jackson, The Heroes of Olympus. He also wrote the introduction to the Puffin Classics edition of Roger Lancelyn Greens Tales of the Greek Heroes, edited by Nan Cuba and Riley Robinson
34.
Fantasy novel
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Fantasy literature is the body of written works that employ the motifs, themes, and stylistic approaches expected in the fantasy genre. Historically, most works of fantasy were written pieces of literature, since the 1960s, a growing segment of the fantasy genre has taken the form of films, television programs, graphic novels, video games, music and painting. Stories involving paranormal magic and terrible monsters have existed in spoken forms before the advent of printed literature, homers Odyssey satisfies the definition of the fantasy genre with its magic, gods, heroes, adventures and monsters. Fantasy literature as a distinct type emerged in Victorian times, with the works of such as Mary Shelley, William Morris. J. R. R. Tolkien played a role in the popularization and accessibility of the fantasy genre with his highly successful publications The Hobbit. Rarely does one consider modern fantasy without conjuring the memory and image of Tolkien, Tolkien was largely influenced by an ancient body of Anglo-Saxon myths, particularly Beowulf, as well as modern works such as The Worm Ouroboros by E. R. Eddison. Tolkiens close friend C. S. Lewis, author of The Chronicles of Narnia, the tradition established by these predecessors of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has continued to thrive and be adapted by new authors. Tolkiens fiction has—particularly over the genre of high fantasy—prompted backlash, at the turn of the millennium, the Harry Potter novels of J. K. Rowling achieved widespread popularity. R. Martin in 2005, and 2011, Neil Gaiman in 2005, authors often engage in worldbuilding, constructing a framework or entire world against which the narrative plays out. Symbolism often plays a significant role in literature, often through the use of archetypal figures inspired by earlier texts or folklore. Some argue that fantasy literature and its archetypes fulfill a function for individuals and society, le Guin, in her essay From Elfland to Poughkeepsie, presented the idea that language is the most crucial element of high fantasy, because it creates a sense of place. She analyzed the misuse of a formal, olden-day style, saying that it was a trap for fantasy writers because it was ridiculous when done wrong. Brian Peters writes that in various forms of fantasy, even the villains language might be inappropriate if vulgar. The fantastical details of the series fade away by the installment, revealing that the wizarding community of the Harry Potter books is just as bad, if not worse. Farah Mendlesohn argues the world of literature is broken up into four categories, the portal quest, the immersive, the intrusive. How the fantastic enters the world is what determines how a story fits into these categories. In a portal quest such as C. S. Lewis The Chronicles of Narnia, The Lion, The Witch, in the intrusion fantasies like Bram Stokers Dracula, the fantastic invades the fictional world. With liminal fantasy, for example Phillip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, The Subtle Knife, tolkiens The Hobbit for example, allows the reader no escape from the fantastic
35.
The Mark of Athena
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The Mark of Athena is the third book of The Heroes of Olympus series by Rick Riordan, released on October 2,2012. It is the sequel of The Son of Neptune. The Mark of Athena follows the stories of the Greek demigods, Annabeth Chase, Leo Valdez, Piper McLean, and Percy Jackson, and the Roman demigods Jason Grace, Hazel Levesque, and Frank Zhang. It is the first novel told from the each of the seven demigods mentioned in the second Great Prophecy. Rick Riordan had been working on The Mark of Athena since the completion of The Son of Neptune, during his tour to promote the last of The Kane Chronicles books, titled The Serpents Shadow, Riordan read part of the first chapter of The Mark of Athena. The cover and full first chapter were also released Disneys The Heroes of Olympus website, on September 27,2012, Riordan confirmed that there would be a first US printing of 3.5 million copies. Six months after the events of The Lost Hero, Leo Valdez has constructed a trireme, Argo II and he, Jason Grace, Piper McLean, and Annabeth Chase, accompanied by Coach Hedge, arrive at Camp Jupiter to rendezvous with Percy Jackson and the Roman demigods. At Percys request, Frank Zhang and Hazel Levesque are chosen as representatives of the Romans, alongside Jason, the statue can only be retrieved by the demigods of Athena through the help of the Mark of Athena, all of whom had died trying. The seven demigods escape from Camp Jupiter and briefly land near the Great Salt Lake to search for celestial bronze, during the search, Leo meets with Nemesis, who presents him with a fortune cookie that would help him later, but with consequences. Percy, Jason, and Piper meet with Bacchus at Kansas after hearing about his appointment with Ceres. With Gaeas directing, two Eidolons possess Percy and Jason, and later Leo, but both times they are repelled. Hazel is also upset with Jason and Leo because the two are hesitant in saving her half-brother, Nico di Angelo, who has been captured by the Giants during his travel to find the Doors of Death, the demigods resume the travel after regrouping and arrive at Europe. After managing to get around from Hercules at the Strait of Gibraltar, they sail through the Mediterranean Sea, confronting Chrysaor along the way, and finally reach Rome. There, the split up, with Hedge defending the ship, Percy, Jason, and Piper scouting the Colosseum, Frank, Hazel, and Leo searching for Nico. Percy and Jason are confronted by Ephialtes and Otis, the twin Giants who capture Nico, through tricks and deception, Annabeth manages to bind Arachne inside her own trap, and the other demigods use Argo II to push Arachne down towards Tartarus, located immediately below Arachnes lair. Before they both fall, Percy asks Nico to meet them at the side of the Doors of Death. While others are uncertain about Percy and Annabeths fate, Hazel and Nico, being the children of the god of the dead, assure them that the two are not yet dead. Leo, who realizes that Percy and Annabeths fall are the consequences mentioned by Nemesis, feels personally responsible, Annabeth Chase – Daughter of Athena tasked with recovering the Athena Parthenos
36.
Demigod
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The term demigod or demi-god can refer to a minor deity, a mortal or immortal who is the offspring of a god and a human being, or a figure who has attained divine status after death. The English term demigod is a calque of the Latin semideus, half-god, in the ancient Greek and Roman world, the word did not have a consistent definition and was rarely used. The earliest recorded use of the term is by the archaic Greek poets Homer, both describe dead heroes as hemitheoi, or half gods. In these cases, the word did not mean that these figures had one parent who was divine and one who was mortal. Instead, those who demonstrated strength, power, good family, and good behavior were termed heroes, and after death they could be called hemitheoi, pindar also used the term frequently as a synonym for hero. According to the Roman author Cassius Dio, Julius Caesar was declared a demigod by the Roman Senate after his victory at Thapsus. However, Dio was writing in the third century — centuries after the death of Caesar —, the first Roman to employ the term demigod may have been the poet Ovid, who used the Latin semideus several times in reference to minor deities. The poet Lucan also uses the term to speak of Pompey attaining divinity upon his death, the term demigod first appeared in English in the late sixteenth or early seventeenth century, when it was used to render the Greek and Roman concepts of semideus and daemon. Since then, it has frequently been applied figuratively to people of extraordinary ability, john Milton states in Paradise Lost that angels are demigods. Demigods are important figures in Rick Riordans Percy Jackson books, where many of the characters, in Riordans work, a demigod is defined as an individual born of one human and one divine parent. In Hinduism, the term demigod is used to refer to deities who were once human, there are three very notable demigods in Vedic Scriptures, Hanuman, Nandi, and Garuda. Examples of demigods worshiped in South India are Madurai Veeran and Karuppu Sami, the heroes of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, the five Pandava brothers, fit the Western definition of demigods though they are generally not referred to as such. Queen Kunti, the wife of King Pandu, was given a mantra that, when her husband was cursed to die if he ever engaged in sexual relations, Kunti used this mantra to provide her husband with children fathered by various deities. These children were Yudhishthira, Bhima and Arjuna and she taught this mantra to Madri, King Pandus other wife, and she immaculately conceived twin boys named Nakula and Sahadeva. Queen Kunti had previously conceived another son, Karna, when she had tested the mantra out, despite her protests, Surya the sun god was compelled by the mantra to impregnate her. Bhishma is another figures who fits the definition of demigod, as he was the son of king Shantanu. The Vaishnavites cite various verses that speak of the subordinate status. For example, the Rig Veda reads, oṃ tad viṣṇoḥ paramam padam sadā paśyanti sūrayaḥ, thus the Devas are stated to be subordinate to Vishnu, or God
37.
Audrey Hepburn
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Audrey Hepburn was a British actress, model, dancer and humanitarian. Recognized as a film and fashion icon, Hepburn was active during Hollywoods Golden Age and she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen legend in Golden Age Hollywood and was inducted into the International Best Dressed List Hall of Fame. Born in Ixelles, a district of Brussels, Hepburn spent her childhood between Belgium, England and the Netherlands, following minor appearances in several films, Hepburn starred in the 1951 Broadway play Gigi after being spotted by French novelist Colette, on whose work the play was based. She shot to stardom for playing the role in Roman Holiday, for which she was the first actress to win an Academy Award, a Golden Globe. The same year Hepburn won a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play for her performance in Ondine, Hepburn won a record three BAFTA Awards for Best British Actress in a Leading Role. In recognition of her career, she was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from BAFTA. DeMille Award, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award and the Special Tony Award and she remains one of the few people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy and Tony Awards. Hepburn appeared in films as her life went on, devoting much of her later life to UNICEF. She had contributed to the organisation since 1954, then worked in some of the poorest communities of Africa, South America and she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in December 1992. A month later, Hepburn died of cancer at her home in Switzerland at the age of 63. Hepburn was born Audrey Kathleen Ruston or Edda Kathleen Hepburn-Ruston on 4 May 1929 at number 48 Rue Keyenveld in Ixelles and her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, was a British subject born in Auschitz, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary. He was the son of Victor John George Ruston, of British and Austrian descent and Anna Wels, Hepburns mother, Ella van Heemstra, was a Dutch baroness. At age nineteen, Ella had married Jonkheer Hendrik Gustaaf Adolf Quarles van Ufford, an oil based in Batavia, Dutch East Indies. They had two sons, Jonkheer Arnoud Robert Alexander Quarles van Ufford and Jonkheer Ian Edgar Bruce Quarles van Ufford, Hepburns parents were married in Batavia in September 1926. At the time, Ruston worked for a company, but soon after the marriage, the couple relocated to Europe. After a year in London, they moved to Brussels, where he had assigned to open a branch office. After three years spent travelling between Brussels, Arnhem, The Hague and London, the family settled to the suburban Brussels municipality of Linkebeek in 1932, Hepburns early childhood was sheltered and privileged. In the mid-1930s, Hepburns parents recruited and collected donations for the British Union of Fascists, Joseph left the family abruptly in 1935, which Hepburn later professed was the most traumatic event of my life
38.
Roman Holiday
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Roman Holiday is a 1953 American romantic comedy film directed and produced by William Wyler. It stars Gregory Peck as a reporter and Audrey Hepburn as a royal princess out to see Rome on her own, Hepburn won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance, the screenplay and costume design also won. It was written by John Dighton and Dalton Trumbo, though with Trumbo on the Hollywood blacklist, he did not receive a credit, instead, Trumbos credit was reinstated when the film was released on DVD in 2003. On December 19,2011, full credit for Trumbos work was restored, blacklisted director Bernard Vorhaus worked on the film as an assistant director under a pseudonym. It was shot at the Cinecittà studios and on location around Rome during the Hollywood on the Tiber era, the film was screened in the 14th Venice film festival within the official program. In 1999, Roman Holiday was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being culturally, historically and her doctor gives her a sedative to calm her and help her sleep, but she secretly leaves her countrys embassy. The sedative eventually makes her fall asleep on a bench, where Joe Bradley, not recognizing her, he offers her money so she can take a taxi home, but a woozy Anya Smith refuses to cooperate. Joe finally decides, for sake, to let her spend the night in his apartment. He is amused by her manner, but less so when she appropriates his bed. He transfers her to a couch, the next morning, Joe, having already slept through the interview Princess Ann was scheduled to give, hurries off to work, leaving her still asleep. When his editor, Mr. Hennessy, asks why Joe is late, Joe lies, Joe makes up details of the alleged interview until Hennessy informs him that the event had been canceled because the princess had suddenly fallen ill. Joe sees a picture of her and realizes who is in his apartment. Immediately seeing an opportunity, Joe proposes getting an exclusive interview, Hennessy, not knowing the circumstances, agrees to the deal and offers $5,000 if the interview is all Joe claims it will be, but bets Joe $500 that he will not succeed. Joe hurries home and, hiding the fact that he is a reporter and he also surreptitiously calls his photographer friend, Irving Radovich, to tag along to secretly take pictures. However, Ann declines Joes offer and leaves, Ann, enjoying her freedom, explores an outdoor market, buys a pair of shoes, and, on a whim, gets her long hair cut short. Joe follows and accidentally meets her on the Spanish Steps and this time he convinces her to spend the day with him. They see the sights, including the Mouth of Truth, a carved in marble which is said to bite off the hands of liars. When Joe shouts in pain and pulls his hand out of the mouth
39.
David Drake
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David Drake is an American author of science fiction and fantasy literature. A Vietnam War veteran who has worked as a lawyer, he is now one of the authors of the military science fiction genre. Drake graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa, majoring in history, with Karl Edward Wagner and Jim Groce, he was one of the initiators of Carcosa, a small press company. He now lives in Pittsboro, North Carolina and his best-known non-collaborative work is the Hammers Slammers series of military science fiction. His newer Republic of Cinnabar Navy series are space operas inspired by the Aubrey–Maturin novels, during 1997, Drake began his largest fantasy series, Lord of the Isles, using elements of Sumerian religion and medieval technology. During 2007, Drake finished the series with its ninth volume, in addition to his solo works, Drake has co-authored novels with authors such as Karl Edward Wagner, S. M. Typically Drake provides plot outlines and the co-author does the work of developing the outline into a novel. He doesnt consider involvement to be that of a real co-author, Drake also contributed to the Heroes in Hell series. Drakes plots often use his knowledge of history, literature. Starting with Northworld in 1990, he has explained the background of each book in an afterword or preface. Additionally, Drakes plots frequently involve a contest of political systems, as John Clute concluded in the entry on Drake in the 1993 edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Today there seems very little to stop from writing exactly what he wishes to write. Some of Drakes works are available for download in the Baen Free Library. Mayfair Games produced the licensed Hammers Slammers board game based on David Drakes novel Hammers Slammers, mongoose Publishing adapted Drakes novel as the licensed setting Hammers Slammers for the Traveller role-playing game. David Drakes web site David Drake at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database David Drake at Fantastic Fiction
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Time travel
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Some ancient myths depict skipping forward in time. The Buddhist Pāli Canon mentions the relativity of time, in the period of our century, one hundred years, only a single day, twenty four hours would have passed for them. The Japanese tale of Urashima Tarō, first described in the Nihongi tells of a fisherman named Urashima Taro who visits an undersea palace. After three days, he returns home to his village and finds himself 300 years in the future, where he has forgotten, his house is in ruins. Early science-fiction stories feature characters who sleep for years and awaken in a changed society. Among them LAn 2440, rêve sil en fût jamais by Louis-Sébastien Mercier, Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving, Looking Backward by Edward Bellamy, prolonged sleep, like the more familiar time machine, is used as a means of time travel in these stories. Decades-long and centuries-long sleep is featured in ancient myths. Like forward time travel, backward time travel has an uncertain origin, the narrator rides to ancient Greece on a hippogriff, meets Aristotle, and goes on a voyage with Alexander the Great before returning to the 19th century. While the narrator waits under a tree for a coach to take him out of Newcastle and he encounters the Venerable Bede in a monastery and explains to him the developments of the coming centuries. However, the story never makes it clear whether these events are real or a dream, charles Dickenss A Christmas Carol has early depictions of time travel in both directions, as the protagonist, Ebenezer Scrooge, is transported to Christmases past and future. However, these might be interpreted as visions rather than as time travel because Scrooge experiences the time periods as a rather than as a participant. A clearer example of time travel is found in the popular 1861 book Paris avant les hommes by the French botanist and geologist Pierre Boitard. This may have been the first story to feature an alternate history created as a result of time travel. Early time machines One of the first stories to feature time travel by means of a machine is The Clock that Went Backward by Edward Page Mitchell, however, the mechanism borders on fantasy. An unusual clock, when wound, runs backwards and transports people nearby back in time, the author does not explain the origin or properties of the clock. Enrique Gaspar y Rimbaus El Anacronópete may have been the first story to feature a vessel engineered to travel through time, H. G. Wellss The Time Machine popularized the concept of time travel by mechanical means. In technical papers, physicists generally avoid the language of moving or traveling through time. Movement normally refers only to a change in position as the time coordinate is varied
41.
Palatine Hill
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The Palatine Hill is the centremost of the Seven Hills of Rome and is one of the most ancient parts of the city. It stands 40 metres above the Roman Forum, looking down upon it on one side, from the time of Augustus Imperial palaces were built here and hence it became the etymological origin of the word palace and its cognates in other languages. According to Livy the Palatine hill got its name from the Arcadian settlement of Pallantium, more likely, it is derived from the noun palātum palate, Ennius uses it once for the heaven, and it may be connected with the Etruscan word for sky, falad. The term palace itself stems from Palatium, according to Roman mythology, the Palatine Hill was the location of the cave, known as the Lupercal, where Romulus and Remus were found by the she-wolf Lupa that kept them alive. Another legend occuring on the Palatine is Hercules defeat of Cacus after the monster had stolen some cattle. Hercules struck Cacus with his characteristic club so hard that it formed a cleft on the southeast corner of the hill, Rome has its origins on the Palatine. Excavations show that people have lived in the area since the 10th century BC, according to Livy, after the immigration of the Sabines and the Albans to Rome, the original Romans lived on the Palatine. The Palatine Hill was also the site of the ancient festival of the Lupercalia, many affluent Romans of the Republican period had their residences there. Augustus also built a temple to Apollo here, the Palace of Domitian which dominates the site and looks out over the Circus Maximus was rebuilt largely during the reign of Domitian over earlier buildings of Nero. Later emperors particularly the Severans made significant additions to the buildings, the House of Livia, the wife of Augustus, is conventially attributed to her based only on the generic name on a clay pipe and circumstantial factors such as proximity to the House of Augustus. The building is located near the Temple of Magna Mater at the end of the hill. It is notable for its beautiful frescoes, the House of Tiberius is located next to the Temple of Cybele, on the platform built by Nero and in the current Farnese Gardens. During Augustus reign, an area of the Palatine Hill was roped off for a sort of archaeological expedition and he declared this site the original town of Rome. Modern archaeology has identified evidence of Bronze Age settlement in the area which predates Romes founding, there is a museum on the Palatine in which artifacts dating from before the official foundation of the City are displayed. The museum also contains Roman statuary, an altar to an unknown deity, once thought to be Aius Locutius, was discovered here in 1820. In July 2006, archaeologists announced the discovery of the Palatine House, head archaeologist Clementina Panella uncovered a section of corridor and other fragments under Romes Palatine Hill, which she described on July 20 as a very ancient aristocratic house. On the ground floor, three shops opened onto the Via Sacra, the location of the domus is important because of its potential proximity to the Curiae Veteres, the earliest shrine of the curies of Rome. In January 2007, Italian archeologist Irene Iacopi announced that she had found the legendary Lupercal cave beneath the remains of Augustus residence
42.
Doctor Who
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Doctor Who is a British science-fiction television programme produced by the BBC since 1963. The programme depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called The Doctor and he explores the universe in a time-travelling space ship called the TARDIS. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Accompanied by a number of companions, the Doctor combats a variety of foes, while working to save civilisations, the show is a significant part of British popular culture, and elsewhere it has gained a cult following. It has influenced generations of British television professionals, many of whom grew up watching the series, the programme originally ran from 1963 to 1989. There was an attempt to revive regular production in 1996 with a backdoor pilot. The programme was relaunched in 2005, and since then has been produced in-house by BBC Wales in Cardiff, twelve actors have headlined the series as the Doctor. The conceit is that this is a Time Lord trait through which the character of the Doctor takes on a new body, each actors portrayal differs, but all represent stages in the life of the same character and form a single narrative. The time-travelling feature of the means that different incarnations of the Doctor occasionally meet. The current lead, Peter Capaldi, took on the role after Matt Smiths exit in the 2013 Christmas special The Time of the Doctor, in 2017, Capaldi confirmed he would be leaving at the end of the tenth series. Doctor Who follows the adventures of the character, a rogue Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey. He fled from Gallifrey in a stolen TARDIS – Time and Relative Dimension in Space – a machine which allows him to travel across time, the TARDIS has a chameleon circuit which normally allows the machine to take on the appearance of local objects as a disguise. However, the Doctors TARDIS remains fixed as a blue British police box due to a malfunction in the chameleon circuit, the Doctor rarely travels alone and often brings one or more companions to share these adventures. His companions are usually humans, as he has found a fascination with planet Earth, as a Time Lord, the Doctor has the ability to regenerate when his body is mortally damaged, taking on a new appearance and personality. The Doctor has gained numerous reoccurring enemies during his travels, including the Daleks, the Cybermen, and the Master, another renegade Time Lord. Doctor Who first appeared on BBC TV at 17,16,20 GMT, eighty seconds after the programme time,5,15 pm. It was to be a weekly programme, each episode 25 minutes of transmission length. Discussions and plans for the programme had been in progress for a year, writer Anthony Coburn, story editor David Whitaker and initial producer Verity Lambert also heavily contributed to the development of the series
