The Athenaeum was the temple of Athena or Minerva, at Athens. It was frequented by poets, learned men, and orators. The same name was given at Rome to the school which Hadrian established on the Capitoline Mount for the promotion of literary and scientific studies. In modern times the same name is given to literary clubs and establishments connected with the sciences. Research Athenaeum
Chryselephantine is a term meaning made of gold and ivory combined. The term is applied to statues executed in these two substances by the ancient Greeks, such as Pheidias's great statue of Athena. Research Chryselephantine
In sculpture, a colossus is a statue of enormous magnitude. The Asiatics, the Egyptians, and in particular the Greeks, have excelled in these works. The most celebrated Egyptian colossus was the vocal statue of Memnon in the plain of Thebes, supposed to be identical with the most northerly of two existing colossi (60 feet high) on the west bank of the Nile.
Among the colossi of Greece the most celebrated was the Colossus of Rhodes, a brass statue of Apollo 70 cubits high, esteemed one of the wonders of the world, erected at the port of Rhodes by Chares, 290 or 288 BC. It was knocked down by an earthquake about 224 BC. The statue was in ruins for nearly nine centuries, when the Saracens, taking Rhodes, sold the metal, weighing 720,900 lbs, to a Jew, about 653. There is no authority for the popularly-received statement that it bestrode the harbour mouth, and that the Rhodian vessels could pass under its legs.
Among the colossi of Phidias were the Olympian Zeus and the Athena of the Parthenon; the former 60 feet high and the latter 40 feet.
The most famous of the Roman colossi were the Jupiter of the Capitol, the Apollo of the Palatine Library, and the statue of Nero, 110 or 120 feet high, and from which the contiguous amphitheatre derived its name of Colosseum.
Among modern works of this nature is the colossus of San Carlo Borromeo, at Arona, in the Milanese territory, 60 feet in height; the 'Bavaria' at Munich, 65 feet high; the statue of Hermann or Arminius near Detmold, erected in 1875, 90 feet in height to the point of the upraised sword, which itself is 24 feet in length; the height of the figure to the point of the helmet being 55 feet;
the statue of Germania, erected in 1883 near Rudesheim, a figure 34 feet high, placed on an elaborately-sculptured pedestal over 81 feet high; and Bartholdi's statue of Liberty presented to the United States by the French nation, and which measures 104 feet or to the extremity of the torch in the hand of the figure 138 feet. It is erected at New York harbour on a pedestal 114 feet, is constructed for a lighthouse with what was at one time was one of the most powerful fixed lights in the world, and stands 317 feet above mean tide. Research Colossus
The Burrowing-Owl (Athena cunicularia) is an American owl which dwells in holes in the ground either made by itself or by some other animal, such as the marmot. It feeds on insects and seeks its food by day. Research Burrowing-Owl
In Greek mythology, Arachne was a Lydian woman who was so skilful a weaver that she challenged the goddess Athena to a contest. Athenatore Arachne's beautiful tapestries to pieces and Arachne hanged herself. She was transformed into a spider, and her weaving became a cobweb. She was therefore related to the textile industries. The matron of spinning, weaving and dyeing and the weaver of destiny. Research Arachne
Athena, or Athene was a Greek goddess, identified by the Romans with Minerva, the representative of the intellectual powers. She was the daughter of Zeus and Metis (that is, wisdom or cleverness). According to the legend, which is perhaps allegorical, before her birth Zeus swallowed her mother, and Athena afterwards sprang from the head of Zeus with a mighty war shout and in complete armour. In her character of a wise and prudent warrior she was contrasted with the fierce Ares. In the wars of the giants she slew Pallas and Enceladus. In the wars of the mortals she aided and protected heroes. She is also represented as the patroness of the arts of peace. The sculptor, the architect, and the painter, as well as the philosopher, the orator, and the poet, considered her their tutelar deity. She is also represented among the healing gods. In all these representations she is the symbol of the thinking faculty, the goddess of wisdom, science, and art; the latter, however, only in so far as invention and thought are comprehended. In the images of the goddess a manlygravity and an air of reflection are united with female beauty in her features. As a warrior she is represented completely armed, her head covered with a gold helmet. As the goddess of peaceful arts she appears in the dress of a Grecian matron. To her insignia belong the AEgis, the Gorgon's head, the round Argive buckler; and the owl, the cock, the serpent, an olive branch, and a lance were sacred to her. All Attica, but particularly Athens, was sacred to her, and she had numerous temples there. Her most brilliant festival at Athens was the Panathenaea. Research Athena
In Greek mythology, Bellerophon was a hero who, having accidentally killed his brother, fled to Proetus, king of Argos, whose wife, Antsea, fell in love with him. Being slighted, she instigated her husband to send him to her father Iobates, king of Lycia, with a letter urging him to put to death the insulter of his daughter. That king, not wishing to do so directly, imposed on him the dangerous task of conquering the Chimaera, which Bellerophon, mounted on Pegasus, a gift from Athena, overpowered. Iobates afterwards gave him his daughter in marriage, and shared his kingdom with him. He attempted to soar to heaven on the winged horsePegasus, but fell to the earth, where he wandered about blind, until he died. Research Bellerophon
In Greek mythology, Erechtheus (Erichthonius) was an Attic hero, said to have been the son of Hephaestus and Atthis. He was brought up by Athena. Research Erechtheus
In Greek mythology, Marsyas was a satyr who took up the pipes thrown down by the goddess Athena and challenged the god Apollo to a musical contest. On losing, he was flayed alive. Research Marsyas
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Athenaeum
