Search
Search Results

Article
Love, Sex, & Marriage in Ancient Greece
Love, sex, and marriage in ancient Greece are portrayed in Greek literature as distinct, yet closely intertwined, elements of life. For many upper-class men, marriages did not take place for love, and other relationships, be it with men or...

Definition
Andromache
Andromache is a Greek tragedy written by Euripides (c. 484-407 BCE), one of only 19 plays (out of 92) to survive. The play is actually in two parts, and like Sophocles' Women of Trachis, it has no central character. The first part of the...

Definition
The Anthesteria
The Anthesteria celebrated two seemingly disparate things: wine and the dead. Both Dionysos and Hermes Chthonios (Hermes of the Underworld) were celebrated as part of this festival. In many ways, the Anthesteria is similar to our modern Halloween...

Definition
Tophet
The tophet (also topheth) was a sacred precinct usually located outside cities where sacrifices and burials were made, especially of young children, in rituals of the Phoenician and then Carthaginian religion. The tophet is the most evident...

Definition
Electra by Sophocles
Electra is a play written by the 5th-century BCE Greek tragedian Sophocles. Similar to Aeschylus' Libation Bearers, Electra focuses on the return of Electra's brother Orestes from exile and the plot to murder their mother. Years earlier...

Definition
Ancient Greek Theatre
Greek theatre began in the 6th century BCE in Athens with the performance of tragedy plays at religious festivals. These, in turn, inspired the genre of Greek comedy plays. The two types of Greek drama would be hugely popular and performances...

Definition
Agamemnon (Person)
Agamemnon was the legendary king of Mycenae and leader of the Greek army in the Trojan War of Homer's Illiad. Agamemnon is a great warrior but also a selfish ruler who famously upset his invincible champion Achilles, a feud that prolonged...

Definition
Ancient Greek Tragedy
Greek tragedy was a popular and influential form of drama performed in theatres across ancient Greece from the late 6th century BCE. The most famous playwrights of the genre were Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides and many of their works...

Definition
Diana
Diana was the goddess of childbirth, the fertility goddess, the goddess of the moon as well as the patron goddess of wild beasts in Roman mythology. However, she is best known as the goddess of the hunt, with her sacred animal being the deer...

Definition
Eros
Eros was the Greek god of love, or more precisely, passionate and physical desire. Without warning Eros selects his targets and forcefully strikes at their hearts, bringing confusion and irrepressible feelings. In the words of Hesiod, he...