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Adonis, in Greek mythology

(Encyclopedia)Adonis ədōˈnĭs, ədŏnˈĭs [key], in Greek mythology, beautiful youth beloved by Aphrodite and Persephone. He was born of the incestuous union of Myrrha (or Smyrna) and Cinyras, king of Cyprus. A...

Aphrodite

(Encyclopedia)Aphrodite ăfrədīˈtē [key], in Greek religion and mythology, goddess of fertility, love, and beauty. Homer designated her the child of Zeus and Dione. Hesiod's account of her birth is more popular...

Tammuz

(Encyclopedia)Tammuz täˈməz [key], ancient nature deity worshiped in Babylonia. A god of agriculture and flocks, he personified the creative powers of spring. He was loved by the fertility goddess Ishtar, who, a...

Bion

(Encyclopedia)Bion bīˈən [key], fl. 2d cent.? b.c., Greek bucolic poet, an imitator of Theocritus, b. Phlossa, near Smyrna. Only fragments of his work survive. The Lament for Adonis, attributed to him, was the m...

Selene

(Encyclopedia)Selene səlēˈnē [key], in Greek mythology and mythology, moon goddess; daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia and sister of the sun god Helios. There was no known moon cult among the Greeks, but...

Eurynome

(Encyclopedia)Eurynome yo͞orĭnˈəmē [key], in Greek mythology, daughter of Oceanus and Tethys and mother, by Zeus, of the Graces. In the mythology of the Pelasgians, an aboriginal non-Greek people living in Gre...

Adunis

(Encyclopedia)Adunis: see Adonis, Syrian poet. ...

Thetis

(Encyclopedia)Thetis thēˈtĭs [key], in Greek mythology, a nereid, mother of Achilles. She was loved by both Zeus and Poseidon, but because of a prophecy that her son would be greater than his father, the gods ga...

Byblos

(Encyclopedia)Byblos bĭbˈləs [key], ancient city, Phoenicia, a port 17 mi (27 km) NNE of modern Beirut, Lebanon. The principal city of Phoenicia during the 2d millennium b.c., it long retained importance as an a...
 

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