Hermes
ancient Greek god of boundaries, roads, merchants, and thieves Hermes (; Greek: Ἑρμῆς) is a deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods, as well as the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves,[1] merchants, and orators.[2][3] He is able to move quickly and freely between the worlds of the mortal and the divine, aided by his winged sandals. Hermes plays the role of the psychopomp or "soul guide" — a conductor of souls into the afterlife.[4][5]
Mencius
A key belief of his was that humans are innately good, but that this quality requires cultivation and the right environment to flourish. He also taught that rulers must justify their position of power by acting benevolently towards their subjects, and in this sense they are subordinate to the masses. Life[edit] An image of Mencius in the sanctuary of the Mencius Temple, Zoucheng Mencius, also known by his birth name Meng Ke (孟軻), was born in the State of Zou, now forming the territory of the county-level city of Zoucheng (originally Zouxian), Shandong Province, only thirty kilometres (eighteen miles) south of Qufu, Confucius's birthplace.
Jesus
The central figure of Christianity Virtually all modern scholars of antiquity agree that Jesus existed historically,[g] although the quest for the historical Jesus has produced little agreement on the historical reliability of the Gospels and on how closely the Jesus portrayed in the Bible reflects the historical Jesus.[h][i] Jesus was a Galilean Jew[12] who was baptized by John the Baptist and began his own ministry. He preached orally[24] and was often referred to as "rabbi".[25] Jesus debated with fellow Jews on how to best follow God, engaged in healings, taught in parables and gathered followers.[27] He was arrested and tried by the Jewish authorities,[28] turned over to the Roman government, and crucified on the order of Pontius Pilate, the Roman prefect.
Zoroaster
Zoroaster (, UK also ; Greek: Ζωροάστρης Zōroastrēs), also known as Zarathustra (, UK also ; Avestan: 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀 Zaraθuštra), Zarathushtra Spitama or Ashu Zarathushtra (Persian: زرتشت), was an ancient Iranian spiritual leader who founded what is now known as Zoroastrianism. His teachings challenged the existing traditions of the Indo-Iranian religion and inaugurated a movement that eventually became the dominant religion in Ancient Persia. He was a native speaker of Old Avestan and lived in the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau, but his exact birthplace is uncertain.[6] There is no scholarly consensus on when he lived.[8] However, approximating using linguistic and socio-cultural evidence allows for dating to somewhere in the second millennium BCE. Name and etymology[edit]
Anaxagoras
Anaxagoras (; Greek: Ἀναξαγόρας, Anaxagoras, "lord of the assembly"; c. 510 – c. 428 BC) was a Pre-Socratic Greek philosopher. Born in Clazomenae at a time when Asia Minor was under the control of the Persian Empire, Anaxagoras came to Athens. According to Diogenes Laërtius and Plutarch, in later life he was charged with impiety and went into exile in Lampsacus; the charges may have been political, owing to his association with Pericles, if they were not fabricated by later ancient biographers.[2]
Anaximenes of Miletus
Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosopher Anaximenes of Miletus (; Greek: Ἀναξιμένης ὁ Μιλήσιος; c. 586 – c. 526 BC) was an Ancient Greek Pre-Socratic philosopher active in the latter half of the 6th century BC.[1][2] The details of his life are obscure because none of his work has been preserved. Anaximenes' ideas and philosophies are only known today because of comments made by Aristotle and other writers on the history of Greek philosophy.[3] Apollodorus of Damascus noted the dates Anaximander was alive in relation to well-known historical events, and estimated Anaximenes' lifespan as having occurred during the same time period in which Cyrus the Great defeated Croesus at the Battle of Thymbra in 546 BC.[2] Anaximenes was the last known Milesian philosopher, as Miletus was captured by the Persian army in 494 BC.[7]
Thales of Miletus
Thales of Miletus (; Greek: Θαλῆς (ὁ Μιλήσιος), Thalēs, THAY-lees or TAH-lays; c. 624/623 – c. 548/545 BC) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him as the first philosopher in the Greek tradition,[1][2] and he is otherwise historically recognized as the first individual in Western civilization known to have entertained and engaged in scientific philosophy.[3][4]
Minerva
Roman goddess of wisdom and sponsor of arts, trade, and defense Minerva ( min-UR-və, Latin: [mɪˈnɛrwa]; Etruscan: Menrva) is the Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. From the second century BC onward, the Romans equated her with the Greek goddess Athena,[1] though the Romans did not stress her relation to battle and warfare as the Greeks did.
John Milton
17th-century English poet and civil servant John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual, who served as a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under its Council of State and later under Oliver Cromwell. He wrote at a time of religious flux and political upheaval, and is best known for his epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), written in blank verse.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (/ˈʃeɪkspɪər/;[1] 26 April 1564 (baptised) – 23 April 1616)[nb 1] was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist.[2] He is often called England's national poet, and the "Bard of Avon".[3][nb 2] His extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,[nb 3] 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.[4] Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613.[6][nb 4] His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres.
Dante Alighieri
Italian poet Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri (Italian: [duˈrante deʎʎ aliˈɡjɛːri]; Latin: Dantes), commonly known by his pen name Dante Alighieri or simply as Dante (,[1][2] also ,[3] Italian: [ˈdante]; c. 1265 – 1321), was an Italian poet. His Divine Comedy, originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia) and later christened Divina by Giovanni Boccaccio, is widely considered the most important poem of the Middle Ages and the greatest literary work in the Italian language.[4][5] In the Late Middle Ages, most poetry was written in Latin, making it accessible only to the most educated readers. In De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence in the Vernacular), however, Dante defended the use of the vernacular in literature.
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.
Hamlet
tragedy by William Shakespeare Hamlet is considered among the most powerful and influential works of world literature, with a story capable of "seemingly endless retelling and adaptation by others". It was one of Shakespeare's most popular works during his lifetime and still ranks among his most performed, topping the performance list of the Royal Shakespeare Company and its predecessors in Stratford-upon-Avon since 1879.
