Definitions

Search Definitions

Browse Content (p. 141)

Ajax (Play)
Definition by Donald L. Wasson

Ajax (Play)

Ajax is a play written by the 5th-century BCE Greek poet and dramatist Sophocles. Although Sophocles wrote at least 120 plays, only seven have survived. Of his surviving plays, the best-known is Oedipus Rex (Oedipus the King) - part of a...
Geoffrey Chaucer
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Geoffrey Chaucer

Geoffrey Chaucer (l. c. 1343-1400 CE) was a medieval English poet, writer, and philosopher best known for his work The Canterbury Tales, a masterpiece of world literature. The Canterbury Tales is a work of poetry featuring a group of pilgrims...
Lancelot
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Lancelot

Lancelot, also known as Sir Lancelot and Lancelot du Lac (“Lancelot of the Lake”) is the greatest knight of King Arthur's court and lover of Arthur's wife, Queen Guinevere, best known from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur (1469 CE...
Merlin
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Merlin

Merlin (also known as Myrddin, Merlinus) is the great wizard of the Arthurian Legends best known from Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur (1469 CE). The character was created by Geoffrey of Monmouth in his History of the Kings of Britain...
Kingdom of Kanem
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Kingdom of Kanem

The Kingdom of Kanem (aka Kanim) was an ancient African state located in modern-day Chad, which flourished from the 9th to 14th century CE. With its heartland in the centre of the African continent on the eastern shores of Lake Chad, the...
Eros
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Eros

Eros was the Greek god of love, or more precisely, passionate and physical desire. Without warning Eros selects his targets and forcefully strikes at their hearts, bringing confusion and irrepressible feelings. In the words of Hesiod, he...
Grail Legend
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Grail Legend

The Grail Legend (also known as the Grail Quest, Quest for the Holy Grail) developed in Europe c. 1050-1485 CE. It most likely originated in Ireland as folklore before appearing in written form sometime before 1056 CE in The Prophetic Ecstasy...
Thomas Malory
Definition by Joshua J. Mark

Thomas Malory

Sir Thomas Malory (c. 1415-1471 CE) was an English knight during the War of the Roses (1455-1487 CE) best known for his highly influential work of medieval literature, Le Morte D'Arthur regarded as the first novel in English, the first in...
Djenne-Djenno
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Djenne-Djenno

Djenne-Djenno (aka Djenné-Jeno, Jenne-Jeno, or Old Jenne) was an ancient city located in modern Mali, West Africa which flourished between c. 250 BCE - 1100 CE, making it one of the oldest cities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prospering thanks to...
Bantu Migration
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Bantu Migration

The Bantu migration from their origins in southern West Africa saw a gradual population movement sweep through the central, eastern, and southern parts of the continent starting in the mid-2nd millennium BCE and finally ending before 1500...
Membership