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Olympia
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Olympia

Ancient Olympia was an ancient Greek sanctuary site dedicated to the worship of Zeus located in the western Peloponnese. The Pan-Hellenic Olympic Games were held at the site in honour of Zeus every four years from 776 BCE to 393 CE. Olympia...
Nero
Definition by Donald L. Wasson

Nero

Nero was Roman emperor from 54 to 68 CE. The last of the Julio-Claudian emperors to rule the Roman Empire, his 14-year reign represents everything decadent about that period in Roman history. He was self-indulgent, cruel, and violent as well...
Phaistos Disk
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Phaistos Disk

The Phaistos disk is a fired clay disk, probably of Minoan origin, measuring some 16cm in diameter and impressed on both sides with 242 symbols set in a spiral arrangement. As yet, this unique archaeological find remains an undeciphered enigma...
Kithara
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Kithara

The kithara (guitar) was a stringed musical instrument, related to the lyre, played by the ancient Greeks and closely associated with the god Apollo, although in mythology its invention is attributed to Hermes who manufactured the instrument...
Stadium
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Stadium

In the ancient Greek world, the word stadium or stadion referred to a measurement of distance, a foot-race, and the place where the race was held and observed by spectators. The Great Games Greek sporting events were closely connected...
Epidaurus
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Epidaurus

Epidaurus was an ancient religious site and settlement located on the fertile Argolid plain of the east Peloponnese in Greece. Blessed with a mild climate and natural springs, the sanctuary of Asclepius at Epidaurus was an important sacred...
Black Figure Pottery
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Black Figure Pottery

Black figure pottery is a type of Greek pottery named after the colour of the scenes painted on vessels. It was first produced in Corinth c. 700 BCE and then adopted by pottery painters in Attica, where it would become the dominant decorative...
Pan Flute
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Pan Flute

The pan flute or panpipes (syrinx) was a musical wind instrument first used by the ancient Greeks. Most commonly played by shepherds, the earliest use was in the Cycladic islands in the third millennium BCE, and representations of the instrument...
Zakros
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Zakros

Ideally situated in a sheltered gulf surrounded by mountains, Zakros (or Kato Zakros) in south-eastern Crete, was the fourth largest Minoan settlement after Knossos, Phaistos and Malia. The ancient name has been lost and the present one derives...
Aulos
Definition by Mark Cartwright

Aulos

The aulos was a musical wind instrument played by the ancient Greeks. It was also known as the kalamos or libykos lotos, which referred to the material from which part of the instrument was made: respectively, the reed and the Libyan lotus...
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