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Wedding of Laertes & Anticlea
Greek vase depicting the wedding of Laertes and Anticlea, the parents of the mythological hero Odysseus. An Ionic column splits the scene into two parts. On the left register, Laertes takes the hand of his bride, Anticlea. On the right register...
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Odysseus
A 2nd century CE Roman statuette of the Greek hero Odysseus. Here he holds a cup of wine in offering to the Cyclops Polyphemus. By getting him drunk the hero was able to blind Polyphemus and escape from the Cyclops' cave to continue his voyage...
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Siren
A funerary statue of a siren, 370 BCE. The Greek mythical creatures holds the soundbox of a lyre made from a tortoise shell. (National Archaeoloogical Museum, Athens)
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Head of Penelope
Head of Penelope (the faithful wife of Odysseus), from Rome, now on display in the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen. Hadrianic copy of a Greek original from the 5th century BCE.
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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...
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Literature
Literature (from the Latin Littera meaning 'letters' and referring to an acquaintance with the written word) is the written work of a specific culture, sub-culture, religion, philosophy or the study of such written work which may appear in...
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The Aeneid
The Aeneid, written by the Roman poet Virgil (70-19 BCE), is a twelve-book-long epic poem that describes the early mythology of the founding of Rome. The eponymous hero Aeneas, a Trojan prince and son of Venus, faces trials and tribulations...
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Circe
Circe (also spelt Kirké) is a powerful sorceress and goddess in Greek mythology with an exceptional talent for mixing drugs. She was the daughter of the sun god Helios and the Oceanid Perseis. Circe's home was found on the wooded island of...
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Siren
Sirens were creatures from Greek mythology that enticed sailors to their destruction with their irresistibly beautiful singing. The most famous appearance of sirens in literature is in Homer's Odyssey where the hero Odysseus, on his long...
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Harpy
A harpy, also known as a harpyia (pl. harpyiai), is a part-bird, part-woman monster in Greek mythology. Known as the 'Hounds of Zeus,' they were the personification of storm winds and were under the command of Zeus, who would send them out...