REFERENCES FROM HAMLET.
Caesar, (Caius) Julius, 102? B.C.–44 B.C., Roman statesman and general. Although he was born into the Julian
gens, one of the oldest patrician families in Rome, Caesar was always a member of the democratic or popular
party. In 82 B.C., SULLA proscribed Caesar, who fled from Rome (81 B.C.). On Sulla's death, Caesar returned
(78 B.C.) to Rome and began his political career as a member of the popular party. In 69 B.C. he helped
POMPEY to obtain the supreme command for the war in the East. He himself returned to Rome from Spain in
68 B.C. and continued to support the enactment of popular measures and to prosecute senatorial extortionists.
In 63 B.C., as pontifex maximus, he undertook the reform of the calendar with the help of Sosigenes; the result
was one of his greatest contributions to history, the Julian CALENDAR. In 60 B.C. he organized a coalition,
known as the First Triumvirate, made up of Pompey, commander in chief of the army; Marcus Licinius
Crassus (see CRASSUS, family), the wealthiest person in Rome; and Caesar himself. In the years 58 to 49
B.C. he firmly established his reputation in the GALLIC WARS. Caesar made explorations into Britain in 55
and 54 B.C. and defeated the Britons. By the end of the wars Caesar had reduced all Gaul to Roman control.
These campaigns proved him one of the greatest military commanders of all time and also developed the
personal devotion of the Roman legions to Caesar. Crassus's death (53 B.C.) ended the First Triumvirate and
set Pompey and Caesar at odds. In 50 B.C. the senate ordered Caesar to disband his army, but two tribunes
faithful to Caesar, Marc ANTONY and Quintus Cassius Longinus, vetoed the bill. They fled to Caesar, who
assembled his army and got the support of the soldiers against the senate. On Jan. 19, 49 B.C., Caesar crossed
the Rubicon, the stream bounding his province, to enter Italy, and civil war began. His march to Rome was a
triumphal progress. At Pharsala in 48 B.C., Caesar defeated Pompey, who fled to Egypt, where he was killed.
Caesar, having pursued Pompey to Egypt, remained there for some time, living with CLEOPATRA and
establishing her firmly on the Egyptian throne. On his return to Rome, he set about reforming the living
conditions of the people by passing AGRARIAN LAWS and by improving housing accommodations. In 44
B.C. he became dictator for life. His dictatorial powers had aroused great resentment in his enemies, but when
a conspiracy was formed against him, it was made up of his friends and protégés, among them Cimber, Casca,
Cassius, and Marcus Junius Brutus (see BRUTUS, family). On March 15 (the Ides of March), 44 B.C., he was
stabbed to death in the senate house. His will left everything to his 18-year-old grandnephew Octavian (later
AUGUSTUS). Caesar made the Roman Empire possible by uniting the state after a century of disorder, by
establishing an autocracy in place of the oligarchy, and by pacifying Italy and the provinces. He has always
been one of the most controversial characters of history, either considered the defender of the rights of the
people against an oligarchy or regarded as an ambitious demagogue who forced his way to power and
destroyed the republic. That he was gifted and versatile there can be little doubt. His commentaries on the
Gallic Wars (seven books) and on the civil war (three books) are literary masterpieces as well as classic
military documents. He was married three times: to Cornelia, to Pompeia, and to CALPURNIA.
Neptune, in Roman mythology, god of water. Probably an indigenous fertility god, he was later identified with
POSEIDON, the Greek god of the sea.ct
Apollo, in Greek mythology, one of the most important OLYMPIAN gods; son of ZEUS and Leto, twin brother of
ARTEMIS. He was concerned with prophecy, medicine (he was the father of ASCLEPIUS), music and poetry
(he was also the father of ORPHEUS and the patron of the MUSES), and the pastoral arts. A moral god of high
civilization, he was associated with law, philosophy, and the arts. He was widely known as a god of light,
Phoebus Apollo; after the 5th cent. B.C. he was often identified with the sun god HELIOS. Apollo's oracles
had great authority; his chief shrine was at DELPHI, where he was primarily a god of purification. In art he
was portrayed as the perfection of youth and beauty. The most celebrated statue of him is the Apollo
Belvedere , a marble copy of the original Greek bronze, now in the Vatican in Rome.
Hy·pe·ri·on (hº-pîr“¶-…n)
n. 1.
Greek Mythology A Titan, the son of Gaea and Uranus and the father of Helios.. Top of Chain of Being
sa·tyr (s³“t…r, s²t“…r)
n. 1. Often Satyr
Greek Mythology A woodland creature depicted as having the pointed ears, legs, and short horns of a goat
and a fondness for unrestrained revelry.a fondness for unrestrained revelry.
Low on Chain of Being.
Ni·o·be (nº“…-b¶)
n.
Greek Mythology 1. The daughter of Tantalus who turned to stone while bewailing the loss of her children.
Hercules, Heracles, or Herakles, most popular Greek hero, famous for strength and courage. The son of Alcmene
and ZEUS, he was hated by HERA, who sent serpents to his cradle; he strangled them. Later Hera drove
Hercules, mad and he slew his wife and children. He sought purification at the court of King Eurystheus, who
set him 12 mighty labors: killing the Nemean lion and HYDRA; driving off the Stymphalian birds; cleaning
the Augean stables; capturing the Cerynean hind, Cretan bull, mares of Diomed, Erymanthian boar, cattle of
Geryon, and CERBERUS; and procuring the girdle of Hippolyte and the golden apples of the Hesperides. He
was later involved in the Calydonian hunt (see MELEAGER) and the Argonaut expedition (see JASON). At
his death he rose to OLYMPUS, where he was reconciled with Hera and married HEBE. Represented as a
powerful man cloaked with a lion's skin and carrying a club, he was widely worshiped. He is the hero of plays
by SOPHOCLES, EURIPIDES, and SENECA.
le·the (l¶“th¶)n.1. Lethe
Greek Mythology The river of forgetfulness, one of the five rivers in Hades.f the five rivers in Hades.
Seneca, (Lucius Annaeus Seneca), c.3 B.C.– A.D. c.65, Roman philosopher, dramatist, and statesman. A noted
orator, he tutored NERO and was virtual ruler in the first years of the emperor's reign. His suicide after
accusations of conspiracy was considered remarkably noble by the Romans. A Stoic, he wrote moral and
philosophical essays, but he is best known for his tragedies, written apparently for recitation. These, including
Hercules Furens and Medea, profoundly affected Renaissance TRAGEDY with their gloomy atmosphere,
bombastic rhetoric, and STOICISM.
Roscius- Gallus Quintus Roscius, the most famous of Roman actors.
Plautus, (Titus Maccius Plautus), c.254–184 B.C., Roman comic poet. His plays, adapted from Greek New
COMEDY, are popular and vigorous representations of middle-class and lower-class life. Writing in idiomatic
Latin and with a genius for situation and coarse humor, Plautus is famous for his stock comic figures, e.g., the
knavish, resourceful slave or the braggart soldier. His works were freely adapted by JONSON,
SHAKESPEARE, MOLIÈRE, and others.
d NERO and was virtual ruler in the first years of the emperor's reign. His suicide after accusations of conspiracy
was considered remarkably noble by the Romans.
Aeneas ¹n¶´…s, in classical legend, a Trojan; son of Anchises and VENUS. After Troy's fall he escaped, tarried
with DIDO at CARTHAGE, then went to Italy, where his descendants founded Rome. His deeds are celebrated
in VERGIL's Aeneid .
Dido dº´d½, in Roman mythology, founder and queen of CARTHAGE. Of the several versions of her story the
most famous is in VERGIL's Aeneid, in which she loves AENEAS. When he leaves her to continue his journey
to Italy, she destroys herself on a burning pyre.
Priam, in Greek mythology, king of Troy, husband of HECUBA.RE,een of CARTHAG
Pyrrhus p¹r´…s, c.318–272 B.C., king of EPIRUS. He invaded MACEDON (291) but was driven out (c.286). To
aid the Tarentines, he went to Italy (280), where he defeated the Romans at Heraclea and Asculum, but with
such heavy losses that he said: “One more such victory and I am lost”; thus the term “Pyrrhic victory.”
Defeated by the Romans at Beneventum (275), he turned again to Macedon, defeating Antigonus II (273). He
was later killed in Argos. His sole accomplishment was the ruin of Epirus.
Troy, ancient city of Asia Minor, also called Ilion or, in Latin, Ilium; known from Homer's account of the
TROJAN WAR in the Iliad. Excavations by Heinrich SCHLIEMANN and others identified the site of the
ancient city as the mound called Hissarlik, in Asian Turkey. It was established as a Phrygian city, with a
culture dating from the BRONZE AGE.
Cyclops, plural Cyclopes sºkl½´p¶z, in Greek mythology, immense one-eyed beings. According to HESIOD,
they were smiths, sons of URANUS and GAEA, who gave ZEUS the lightning bolts that helped him defeat
CRONUS. In HOMER, they were a barbarous people, one of whom ( POLYPHEMUS) was encountered by
ODYSSEUS in his wanderings.
Hecuba, in Greek mythology, queen of TROY; wife of Priam, to whom she bore 19 children, including HECTOR,
PARIS, Troilus, and CASSANDRA. After the TROJAN WAR she was taken as a slave by ODYSSEUS. She
is an important character in EURIPIDES' plays Hecuba and The Trojan Women.
nymph, in Greek mythology, female divinity, immortal or long-lived, associated with various natural objects or
places. Some represented specific localities, e.g., the acheloids of the River Achelous; others were identified
with more general physiographic features, e.g., oreads with mountains, naiads with bodies of fresh water,
nereids with the Mediterranean, oceanids with the ocean, dryads with trees; and some were associated with a
function of nature, e.g., hamadryads, who lived and died with a particular tree. Nymphs were regarded as
young, beautiful, musical, and amorous.
Fortune A hypothetical, often personified force or power that favorably or unfavorably governs the events of one's
life
Phoe·bus (f¶“b…s)
n. 1.
Greek Mythology Apollo, the god of the sun.
2. The sun. Language
Hecate, in Greek mythology, goddess of ghosts and witchcraft. An attendant of PERSEPHONE, she was a spirit
of black magic, able to conjure up dreams and the spirits of the dead. She haunted graveyards and crossroads.
Damon and Pythias, two youths whose loyalty to each other symbolizes true friendship. When Pythias,
condemned to death by the Syracusan tyrant DIONYSIUS THE ELDER, was released to arrange his affairs,
Damon stayed on as pledge. On Pythias' return, Dionysius freed them both.e work inconsistent with U.S. and
applicable foreign copyright and related laws.
Jove, in Roman mythology, supreme god; also called Jupiter; son of SATURN and Ops; brother and husband of
JUNO. Originally an agricultural god, he developed into the prime protector of the state and was identified
with the Greek ZEUS.rm, making multiple printouts thereof, and other uses of the work inconsiste
Ne·ro (nîr“½, n¶“r½), A.D. 37-68
1. Emperor of Rome (54-68) whose early reign was dominated by his mother, Agrippina the Younger. He had
his mother and wife murdered, and he may have set the Great Fire of Rome (64). His cruelty and irresponsibility
provoked widespread revolts, which led to his suicidec version lic'd from and portions
Mars, in Roman mythology, god of war and of the state; originally an agricultural god; father of ROMULUS and
husband of Bellona. The martial Romans considered him second in importance only to JUPITER. His festivals
were held in March (named for him) and October. Mars was identified with the Greek ARES.
Mer·cu·ry (mûr“ky…-r¶)
n. 1.
Roman Mythology A god that served as messenger to the other gods and was himself the god of commerce,
travel, and thievery.
Olympus, mountain range, c.25 mi (40 km) long, N Greece. It rises to c.9,570 ft (2,920 m) at Mount Olympus,
described in Greek mythology as the home of the OLYMPIAN gods.
Pe·li·on (p¶“l¶-…n, -ôn”), Mount
1. A peak, 1,601.9 m (5,252 ft) high, of northeast Greece in eastern Thessaly. According to Greek legend, it was
the home of the centaurs, especially Chiron.readable form, making multiple
Os·sa (¼s“…), Mount
1. A peak, 1,979.1 m (6,489 ft) high, of the Olympus Mountains in northern Greece.ge, Third Edition