Muses
Inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses (Ancient Greek: Μοῦσαι, Moũsai, Modern Greek: Μούσες) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric songs, and myths that were related orally for centuries in ancient Greek culture. The word "muse" can refer in general to anyone or anything which inspires an artist, musician, or writer.[1] Etymology[edit]
Daedalus
Greek mythological figure Family[edit] Mythology[edit] The Labyrinth[edit] Daedalus is first mentioned by Homer as the creator of a wide dancing-ground for Ariadne.[14] He also created the Labyrinth on Crete, in which the Minotaur (part man, part bull) was kept.
Leucippus
Leucippus (; Greek: Λεύκιππος, Leúkippos; fl. 5th cent. BCE) is reported in some ancient sources to have been a philosopher who was the earliest Greek to develop the theory of atomism—the idea that everything is composed entirely of various imperishable, indivisible elements called atoms. Leucippus often appears as the master to his pupil Democritus, a philosopher also touted as the originator of the atomic theory.
Ptolemy III Euergetes
Ptolemy III Euergetes (Greek: Πτολεμαίος Εὐεργέτης Ptolemaios Euergetes "Ptolemy the Benefactor"; c. 280 – November/December 222 BC) was the third king of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt from 246 to 222 BC. The Ptolemaic Kingdom reached the height of its power during his reign. Ptolemy III was the eldest son of Ptolemy II Philadelphus and his first wife Arsinoe I. When Ptolemy III was young, his mother was disgraced and he was removed from the succession.
Homer
name ascribed by the ancient Greeks to the author of the Iliad and the Odyssey Homer (; Ancient Greek: Ὅμηρος Greek pronunciation: [hómɛːros], Hómēros) is the presumed author of the Iliad and the Odyssey, two epic poems that are the central works of ancient Greek literature. The Iliad is set during the Trojan War, the ten-year siege of the city of Troy by a coalition of Greek kingdoms. It focuses on a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles lasting a few weeks during the last year of the war.
Alcestis
Alcestis sacrifices herself for Admetus by Heinrich Füger (1804-1805). Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna. Family[edit] Mythology[edit] Many suitors appeared before King Pelias and tried to woo Alcestis when she came of age to marry.
Occam's razor
Philosophical principle of selecting the solution with the fewest assumptions Occam's razor, Ockham's razor, Ocham's razor (Latin: novacula Occami) or law of parsimony (Latin: lex parsimoniae) is the problem-solving principle that "entities should not be multiplied without necessity"[1][2] or, more simply, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. The idea is attributed to English Franciscan friar William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347), a scholastic philosopher and theologian who used a preference for simplicity to defend the idea of divine miracles. This philosophical razor advocates that when presented with competing hypotheses about the same prediction, one should select the solution with the fewest assumptions,[3] and that this is not meant to be a way of choosing between hypotheses that make different predictions. History[edit] Formulations before William of Ockham[edit]
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
Ptolemy II Philadelphus (Greek: Πτολεμαίος Φιλάδελφος, Ptolemaios Philadelphos "Ptolemy, lover of his sister"; 308/9 – 28 January 246 BCE) was the pharaoh of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 to 246 BCE. He was the son of Ptolemy I Soter, the Macedonian Greek general of Alexander the Great who founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom after the death of Alexander, and queen Berenice I, originally from Macedon in northern Greece. During Ptolemy II's reign, the material and literary splendour of the Alexandrian court was at its height. He promoted the Museum and Library of Alexandria. The magnificent and dissolute, intellectual and artificial atmosphere of the court has been compared[by whom?] with the Palace of Versailles of Louis XIV of France.
Empedocles
Empedocles (/ɛmˈpɛdəkliːz/; Ancient Greek: Ἐμπεδοκλῆς; Empedoklēs; Ancient Greek: [empedoklɛ̂ːs]; c. 490 – 430 BC) was a Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a citizen of Agrigentum, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is best known for being the originator of the cosmogenic theory of the four Classical elements. He also proposed powers called Love and Strife which would act as forces to bring about the mixture and separation of the elements. These physical speculations were part of a history of the universe which also dealt with the origin and development of life.
Alcestis
Alcestis' father is Admetus 1's uncle Admetus 1 wished to marry Alcestis, one of the daughters of King Pelias 1 of Iolcus, successor of Cretheus 1. This Pelias 1 is the same who bade Jason, captain of the ARGONAUTS, to go in quest of the Golden Fleece. About his daughters, it is told that they were persuaded by Medea (after the return of the ARGONAUTS to Iolcus) to make mincemeat of their father and boil him, promising to make him young again with her drugs. Since both Pelias 1 and Pheres 1 are sons of Cretheus 1, it results from it that Admetus 1 and Alcestis were cousins.
