Epic CycleThe Epic Cycle (Epikòs Kýklos) was a collection of Ancient Greek epic poems, composed in dactylic hexameter and related to the story of the Trojan War, including the Cypria, the Aethiopis, the so-called Little Iliad, the Iliupersis, the Nostoi, and the Telegony. Scholars sometimes include the two Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, among the poems of the Epic Cycle, but the term is more often used to specify the non-Homeric poems as distinct from the Homeric ones.
PolizianoAgnolo (Angelo) Ambrogini (14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known by his nickname Poliziano (politˈtsjaːno; anglicized as Politian; Latin: Politianus), was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His scholarship was instrumental in the divergence of Renaissance (or Humanist) Latin from medieval norms and for developments in philology. His nickname, Poliziano, by which he is chiefly identified to the present day, was derived from the Latin name of his birthplace, Montepulciano (Mons Politianus).
Epic poetryAn epic poem, or simply an epic, is a lengthy narrative poem typically about the extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters who, in dealings with gods or other superhuman forces, gave shape to the mortal universe for their descendants. The English word epic comes from Latin epicus, which itself comes from the Ancient Greek adjective ἐπικός (epikos), from ἔπος (epos), "word, story, poem.
StatiusPublius Papinius Statius (Greek: Πόπλιος Παπίνιος Στάτιος; ˈsteɪʃiəs, ˈstaːtiʊs; 45 96) was a Greco-Roman poet of the 1st century CE. His surviving Latin poetry includes an epic in twelve books, the Thebaid; a collection of occasional poetry, the Silvae; and an unfinished epic, the Achilleid. He is also known for his appearance as a guide in the Purgatory section of Dante's epic poem, the Divine Comedy. Information about Statius's life is almost entirely drawn from his Silvae and a mention by the satirist Juvenal.
HectorIn Greek mythology, Hector (ˈhɛktər; Hektōr, héktɔːr) is a Trojan prince, hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's Iliad, where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing countless Greek warriors. He is ultimately killed in single combat by Achilles, who later drags his dead body around the city of Troy behind his chariot. In Greek, is a derivative of the verb ἔχειν ékhein, archaic form *hékhein ('to have' or 'to hold'), from Proto-Indo-European *seɡ́h- ('to hold').
DodonaDodona (doʊˈdoʊnə; Dōdṓnā, Ionic and Δωδώνη, Dōdṓnē) in Epirus in northwestern Greece was the oldest Hellenic oracle, possibly dating to the 2nd millennium BCE according to Herodotus. The earliest accounts in Homer describe Dodona as an oracle of Zeus. Situated in a remote region away from the main Greek poleis, it was considered second only to the Oracle of Delphi in prestige. Aristotle considered the region around Dodona to have been part of Hellas and the region where the Hellenes originated.
AssuwaAssuwa (𒀸𒋗𒉿; 𐀀𐀯𐀹𐀊) was a confederation of 22 states in western Anatolia around 1400 BC. The confederation formed to oppose the Hittite Empire, but was defeated under Tudhaliya I/II. The name was recorded in various centres in Mycenaean Greece as Asiwia, which later acquired the form Asia. Assuwa has been identified in Egyptian records as isy and a-si-ja and in the contemporary Greek Linear B script with the demonym a-si-ja. Assuwa appears in the historical record around 1400 BC.
OresteiaThe Oresteia (Ὀρέστεια) is a trilogy of Greek tragedies written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, concerning the murder of Agamemnon by Clytemnestra, the murder of Clytemnestra by Orestes, the trial of Orestes, the end of the curse on the House of Atreus and the pacification of the Furies (also called Erinyes or Eumenides). The trilogy—consisting of Agamemnon (Ἀγαμέμνων), The Libation Bearers (Χοηφόροι), and The Eumenides (Εὐμενίδες)—also shows how the Greek gods interacted with the characters and influenced their decisions pertaining to events and disputes.
Paris (mythology)Paris (Πάρις), also known as Alexander (Ἀλέξανδρος, Aléxandros) is a mythological figure in the story of the Trojan War. He appears in numerous Greek legends and works of Ancient Greek literature such as the Iliad. In myth, he is prince of Troy, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba, and younger brother of Prince Hector. His elopement with Helen sparks the Trojan War, during which he fatally wounds Achilles. The Ancient Greek name Πάρις is probably of Luwian origin, and comparable to Parizitis, attested as a Hittite scribe's name.
CalchasCalchas (ˈkælkəs; Κάλχας, Kalkhas) is an Argive mantis, or "seer," dated to the Age of Legend, which is an aspect of Greek mythology. Calchas appears in the opening scenes of the Iliad, which is believed to have been based on a war conducted by the Achaeans against the powerful city of Troy in the Late Bronze Age. Calchas, a seer in the service of the army before Troy, is portrayed as a skilled augur, Greek ionópolos ('bird-savant'): "as an augur, Calchas had no rival in the camp.
