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Joab
Joab , in the Bible, son of David's sister Zeruiah and commander of his uncle's armies. A trusted and skillful administrator, he was often vindictive and cruel, as in his killing of Abner, Absalom, and Amasa. David's dying curse on Joab is remarkable. For his support of Adonijah, Solomon had him put...
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Graham Sutherland
Graham Sutherland 1903-80, English painter. Sutherland began his career as a painter at 35 and gained international acclaim with his paintings of war devastation. Among his major religious works are a tapestry for Coventry Cathedral and a series of paintings entitled Thorns. Realistically painted...
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Procrustes
Procrustes , in Greek mythology, cruel highwayman. He forced passersby to lie on a very long bed and then stretched them to fit it. Some said that he also had a very short bed; to make passersby fit this he sawed off their legs. Using Procrustes' own villainous methods, Theseus killed him.
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Neoptolemus
Neoptolemus , in Greek legend, son of Achilles. In the Trojan War he proved himself brave but cruel. He killed Priam at the altar of Zeus and threw Astyanax, son of Hector, from the wall of Troy. After the war he took Andromache as a slave to his kingdom in Epirus. Later he abandoned her for Hermion...
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Caligula
Caligula , AD 12-AD 41, Roman emperor (AD 37-AD 41); son of Germanicus Caesar and Agrippina the Elder . His real name was Caius Caesar Germanicus. As a small child, he wore military boots, whence his nickname [ caligula =little boot]. On the death of Tiberius the army helped make Caligula emper...
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Punch and Judy
Punch and Judy famous English puppet play, very popular with children and given widely by strolling puppet players, especially during the Christmas season. It came to England in the 17th cent. by way of France from Italy and developed out of the commedia dell'arte character, Pulcinella. To this t...
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Tewodros II
Tewodros II or Theodore II, 1818-68, emperor of Ethiopia (1855-68), originally named Kasa or Lij Kasa. He was a commoner and a bold and clever warrior. He seized control of his native province, Kawara (in NW Ethiopia), in 1842 and steadily fought his way to the throne. At first he attempted to ...
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William Beckford
William Beckford 1760-1844, English author. A wealthy dilettante, Beckford had a great desire to ascend to the nobility. Unfortunately his erratic and strange behavior often worked against his ambitions. About 1796 he built in Wiltshire an extravagant Gothic castle, Fonthill Abbey, where he lived i...
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Eric Ambler
Eric Ambler 1909-98, English novelist. An advertising executive, he turned exclusively to writing after his realistic and innovative suspense novels became popular. Ambler has often been called the first thriller writer whose work succeeded as literature. His heroes are usually ordinary men who bec...
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Pedro López de Ayala
Pedro López de Ayala , 1332-1407, Spanish statesman, poet, and chronicler. As a royal official in Castile, he served Peter the Cruel, Henry II, John I, and Henry III, rising to become chancellor of Castile (1398-1407). He is best known for his chronicle of the reigns of the four kings he serv...
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