Dante Alighieri (1265-1321) The Italian poet renowned for The Divine Comedy, completed in 1321.
David (d. 962 B.C.) The second king of Judah and Israel, David is the reputed author of many of the Psalms; the most famous stories about David concern his success as a young shepherd boy over the great Philistine warrior Goliath, and his love for the king's son, Jonathan, who loved David with a love that "was wonderful, surpassing the love of women" (I Samuel 17:48; 11 Samuel 1:26-27).
Davy, Sir Humphry (1778-1829) English chemist.
de Stael Madame (1766-1817) The French author of De l'Allemagne (1810), in which she compared French literature and society unfavorably with German literature and society.
de Witt, John (1625-72) Political leader of Holland (1653-72).
Desdemona The wife of Othello, who, in a jealous frenzy, smothers and kills her in her bed.
despotic Having absolute power and behaving arrogantly.
despotism Tyranny.
Diogenes of Sinope (c. fourth century B.C.) Diogenes was the most famous of the Cynics, a group of Greek philosophers who considered virtue to be the only good and esteemed self-sufficiency.
doctor In the Latin sense, "a teacher."
Doric The earliest and simplest of Greek architecture, characterized by fluted pillars with plain, square tops.
droll Amusing or farcical.
Druids Prehistoric Celtic priests.
Dryden, John (1631-1700) English poet, dramatist, and essayist.
ecclesiastical Pertaining to the church; concerned with the affairs of the church.
eclat A dazzling display.
efflux To flow outwardly.
elements Here, the basic principles of a subject.
emendators Those who make textual corrections.
Empedocles Fifth-century B.C. Greek philosopher and statesman.
Empirical Science experimental, based on systematized observation.
empyrean The highest reaches of heaven; paradise.
ennui Boredom.
Ens "Being" in the most general sense of the term.
Eolus In Greek mythology, the god of the winds; in Homer's Odyssey, Eolus tries to aid Odysseus by giving him a bag in which unfavorable winds are confined.
Epaminondas (418-362 B.C.) Greek Theban general.
ephemera Something that has a transitory existence.
ephemeral Short-lived; transitory.
equinox The two times during the year when the sun crosses the celestial equator, and day and night are of equal length.
Essenes An ascetic Jewish sect of the first century B.C. and first century A.D.; authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, they lived communally and are often associated with the Jews who first followed Jesus.
Euler, Leonhard (1707-83) A Swiss mathematician, he is noted for developing integral calculus.
Exchange Stock exchange.
faerie Fairyland.
ferules Sticks used for punishing children.
fetish An obsessive preoccupation.
Fichte, Johann Gottlieb (1762-1814) A German idealist who held that the ego is neither subjective nor personal, but is the universal and "absolute ego" from which all objective reality is derived; he believed that if all people were fully developed morally, laws would be unnecessary.
fig tree A Mediterranean tree or shrub, widely cultivated for its edible fruit.
firmament The expanse of the heavens; the sky; poetically, a symbol of strength.
Flamsteed, John (1646-1719) English astronomer.
Fletcher, John (1579-1625) An English dramatist best known for his collaboration with Francis Beaumont; Fletcher was the sole author of at least fifteen plays.
Foreworld The primeval world.
Fourier, Francois Marie (1772-1837) French social theorist.
Fox, George (1624-91) The founder of the Society of Friends (1647), popularly called the Quakers, Fox preached equality between men and women, and pacifism. The Quaker doctrine of inner enlightenment belongs in the religious tradition called quietism; the emphasis on inner enlightenment is similar to transcendentalists' emphasis on intuitive knowledge.
Franklin, Benjamin (1706-90) An American scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, and philosopher; one of the most important figures in the transformation of the American colonies into the United States of America.
Franklin, Sir John (1786-1847) An Arctic explorer from England.
frigate A fast, multi-sailed naval ship.
