de Laet Jean (1593–1649)
:
Flemish geographer and naturalist
della Porta, Giovanni Battista (1538?–1615)
:
Italian natural philosopher (
Villa
, 1592)
Demetrius
:
the silversmith of Ephesus (see Acts 19.23 ff.)
Demetrius I Poliorcetes
:
king of Macedon (294–283
B
.
C
.)
Democritus (late 5th/early 4th cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
the Greek ‘laughing philosopher’, proverbially a mocker of human follies
Demosthenes (
c
. 385–322
B
.
C
.)
:
Athenian statesman, the greatest of Greek orators
Deucalion
:
the only survivor, with his wife Pyrrha, of the flood sent by Jupiter
Diana
:
Olympian goddess of hunting and virginity; also her great temple at Ephesus
Didymus (
c
. 65
B
.
C
.-
A
.
D
. 10)
:
Alexandrian scholar and commentator on Homer
Digby, Sir Kenelm (1603–1665)
:
English author and diplomat
Diocletian
:
Roman emperor (284–305)
Diodorus Siculus (late 1st cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek historian
Diogenes (412?–323
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek Cynic philosopher
Diogenes Laertius (2nd cent.)
:
Greek author of
Lives of the Philosophers
Diomedes
:
son of Tydeus, leader of Argos and Tiryns in the Trojan War
Dion Cassius (
c
.155–
c
.235)
:
Greek historian.
Dionysius the Elder
:
tyrant of Syracuse (405–367
B
.
C
.)
Dionysius the Younger
:
tyrant of Syracuse (367–356 and 347–344
B
.
C
.)
Dionysius the Pseudo-Areopagite (
c
. 500)
:
mystical theologian, often confused with St Paul’s convert in Athens (Acts 17.34)
Dionysus
:
see previous entries
Dioscorides (4th cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek historian and moralist
Dioscorides Pedanius (fl. 1st cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek medical writer
Domitian
:
Roman emperor (81–96)
Doria, Andrea (1468?–1560)
:
Genoese admiral and statesman
Du Bellay, Joachim (1522?–1560)
:
French poet and critic
Dugdale, Sir William (1605–1686)
:
English antiquary and historian
Du Loir (fl. 1639–1654)
:
French traveller and writer
Duns Scotus, Johannes (
c
. 1264–1308)
:
medieval philosopher, ‘Doctor of Subtlety’
Elias
:
see next entry
Elijah (9th cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
Hebrew prophet, ‘translated’ into heaven (2 Kings 2.1–18) and so a type of the Resurrection
Elysium
:
abode of the blessed after death
Emanuel I the Great
:
king of Portugal (1495–1521)
Enoch
:
Hebrew patriarch, ‘translated’ into heaven (Genesis 5.24) and so a type of the Resurrection
Epaminondas (
c
. 418–362
B
.
C
.)
:
Theban statesman and general
Ephraim
:
the youngest son of Jacob (q.v.)
Epictetus (
c
. 60 –
post
118)
:
Greek Stoic philosopher
Epicurus (342?-270
B
.
C
.)
:
Greek philosopher
Epimenides (7th cent.
B
.
C
.)
:
Cretan philosopher and poet-prophet, quoted by St Paul (Titus 1.12)
Epiphanius, St (
c
. 315–403)
:
Bishop of Salamis, militant defender of orthodoxy
Erasmus, Desiderius (1467–1536)
:
Dutch scholar and humanist
Esarhaddon
:
king of Assyria and Babylonia (681–669
B
.
C
.), father of Ashurbanipal (q.v.)
Esdras
:
title of two books of the Septuagint (four of the Vulgate) in the Apocrypha; cf. Ezra
Esther
:
the Jewish wife of ‘Ahasuerus’ (q.v.); also the homonymous Biblical book
Euphorbus
:
the Trojan killed by Menelaus (see
Iliad
, XVII, 9 ff.)
Euripides (
c
. 480–406
B
.
C
.)
:
the last of the three greatest Attic tragedians
Eusebius (
c
. 260–340)
:
Bishop of Caesarea, ‘Father of Church History’
Eustathius
:
Bishop of Thessalonica (1175-
c
. 1192), commentator on Homer
Eve
:
according to tradition, the first woman
Evelyn, John (1620–1706)
:
English diarist
Ezekiel (early 6th cent.?
B
.
C
.)
:
Hebrew prophet; also the homonymous Biblical book
Ezra (5th/4th cent.?
B
.
C
.)
:
Jewish reformer; also the homonymous Biblical book (cf. Esdras)
Favorinus (2nd cent.)
:
Greek philosopher
Ferdinand II
:
German emperor (1619–1637)
Fernel, Jean (1497–15 5 8)
:
French physician, author of
De abditis rerum causis
(1548): see
p. 77, note 85
Ferrarius, Omnibonus
:
German author of
De arte medica infantium
(1605)
Ficino, Marsilio (1433–1499)
:
Florentine Neoplatonist and humanist
Fletcher, John (1579–1625)
:
English dramatist
Francis I
:
king of France (1515–1547)
Frontinus, Sextus Julius (40?–104)
:
praetor urbanus of Rome, soldier and author
Frotho the Great
:
legendary Danish king, probably the same as Unguinus (q.v.)
Fuchs(ius), Leonhard (1501–1566)
:
German physician and botanist
Gad
:
a son of Jacob (see Genesis 30.9 ff.); also the tribe
Gaffarel, Jacques (1601–1681)
:
French Hebraist and astrologer
Galba
:
Roman emperor (68–69)
Galileo Galilei (1564–1642)
:
the great Italian astronomer
Gallienus
:
Roman emperor (253–268)
Gamaliel
:
Jewish rabbi, teacher of St Paul in his pre-Christian days (Acts 5.34, 22.3)
Gassendus (Pierre Gassend, 1592–165 5)
:
French philospher, mathematician, and physician
Gauricus, Lucas (1476–1558)
:
Italian mathematician and astrologer
Geber (fl. 721–776)
:
Arabian alchemist
Gemistus Plethon (
c
. 1355–
c
. 1450)
:
Byzantine Platonist, influential in Renaissance Florence
Geoffrey of Monmouth (
c
. 1100–1154)
:
British inventive historian
George, St
:
patron saint of England
Germanicus (15
B
.
C
.-
A
.
D
. 19)
:
Roman general, adopted son of Tiberius (q.v.)
Gesner(us), Konrad (1516–1565)
:
Swiss naturalist, author of
History of Animals
Geta
:
Roman emperor (211–212)
Gigas
:
see next entry
Giggei, Antonio (d. 1632)
:
Italian orientalist, gave Aldrovandi (q.v.) a piece of peacock’s flesh that was six years old
Giovio, Paolo (1530?5–1585?)
:
Italian Latin poet
Giraldi, Giglio (1479–1552)
:
Italian poet and archaeologist
Giraldus Cambrensis (1147–
c
. 1223)
:
Welsh historian
Goliah
:
see next entry
Goliath
:
the Philistine giant killed by David (see 1 Samuel 17)
Gomesius, Bernardinus
:
author of
Diascepseon de sale
(1605)
Gordianus
:
Roman emperor (238–244)
Gregory XV
:
Pope (1621–1623)
Grotius, Hugo (1563–1645)
:
Dutch scholar, statesman, authority on international law
Gruterus, Janus (d. 1607)
:
Dutch scholar and educator
Guagninus, Alexander (1548?–1614)
:
Italian historian
Guellius, Valentinus
:
annotator of Virgil (1575)
Guevara, Antonio de (1490–1544)
:
Spanish chronicler and moralist
Habakkuk (Habbacuc)
:
Hebrew prophet who also figures in the apocryphal Bel and the Dragon (33–39); also the homonymous Biblical book
Hades
:
the abode of the dead; also the ruler of the underworld (cf. Pluto)
Hadrian
:
Roman emperor (117–138)
Ham
:
the youngest son of Noah (q.v.), regarded as forefather of the Egyptians
Hannibal (247–183
B
.
C
.)
:
the Carthaginian general who invaded Italy
Harald
:
i.e. Haraldr Hilditöhn(Wartooth), the semi-historical Danish king killed
c
. 775 by Ringo (q.v.)
Harpalus (d. 324?
B
.
C
.)
:
Macedonian general and satrap of Babylonia
Harvey, William (1578–1657)
:
English physician and naturalist, discovered the circulation of the blood
Hector
:
the foremost Trojan warrior, killed by Achilles (q.v.)
Hecuba
:
queen of Troy, mother of Hector
Helena, St (
c
. 255–
c
. 330)
:
mother of Constantine the Great, reputed to have discovered the Cross
Heliogabalus
:
Roman emperor (218–222)
Helmont, Jean Baptiste van (1577–1644)
:
Flemish physician and chemist
Henry II
:
king of England (1154–1189)