A ball is a round object with several uses. It is used in ball games, where the play of the game follows the state of the ball as it is hit, kicked or thrown by players. Balls can also be used for simpler activities, such as catch or juggling. Balls made from hard-wearing materials are used in engineering applications to provide very low friction bearings, known as ball bearings. Black-powder weapons use stone and metal balls as projectiles.
Henry George Liddell was dean (1855–1891) of Christ Church, Oxford, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1870–1874), headmaster (1846–1855) of Westminster School, author of A History of Rome (1855), and co-author of the monumental work A Greek–English Lexicon, known as "Liddell and Scott", which is still widely used by students of Greek. Lewis Carroll wrote Alice's Adventures in Wonderland for Henry Liddell's daughter Alice.
The gymnasium in Ancient Greece functioned as a training facility for competitors in public games. It was also a place for socializing and engaging in intellectual pursuits. The name comes from the Ancient Greek term gymnós, meaning "naked" or "nude". Only adult male citizens were allowed to use the gymnasia.
Ancient Greek philosophy differentiates main conceptual forms and distinct words for the Modern English word love: agápē, érōs, philía, philautía, storgē, and xenía.
A Greek–English Lexicon, often referred to as Liddell & Scott or Liddell–Scott–Jones (LSJ), is a standard lexicographical work of the Ancient Greek language originally edited by Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, Henry Stuart Jones, and Roderick McKenzie and published in 1843 by the Oxford University Press.
Calcio storico fiorentino is an early form of football that originated during the Middle Ages in Italy. Once played, the sport is thought to have started in the Piazza Santa Croce in Florence. There it became known as the giuoco del calcio fiorentino or simply calcio, which is now also the name for association football in the Italian language. The game may have started as a revival of the Roman sport of harpastum.
Ancient Greek units of measurement varied according to location and epoch. Systems of ancient weights and measures evolved as needs changed; Solon and other lawgivers also reformed them en bloc. Some units of measurement were found to be convenient for trade within the Mediterranean region and these units became increasingly common to different city states. The calibration and use of measuring devices became more sophisticated. By about 500 BC, Athens had a central depository of official weights and measures, the Tholos, where merchants were required to test their measuring devices against official standards.
Halteres were a type of dumbbells used in Ancient Greece. In Ancient Greek sports, halteres were used as lifting weights, and also as weights in their version of the long jump. Halteres were held in both hands to allow an athlete to jump a greater distance; they may have been dropped after the first or second jump.
Volata ("flow") is a code of football developed and promoted by Italian fascists for a brief period during the late 1920s and early 1930s, in an attempt to displace sports with non-Italian origins, such as association football and rugby union.
Knattleikr was an ancient ball game played by the Vikings of Iceland. The term is also applied to a modern sport created by re-enactors, and now played at a few United States institutions as a college club sport, based on what is known about the historical game.
Trigon was a form of ball game played by the ancient Romans. The name derives from the Greek τρίγωνος, and may have been a romanized version of a Greek game called τρίγων. It was a type of juggling game, probably involved three players standing in a triangle and passing a hard ball back and forth, catching with the left and throwing with the right hand. Besides the three players, called trigonali, there were also assistants called pilecripi, who kept score and retrieved runaway balls.
Tarhana is a dried food ingredient, based on a fermented mixture of grain and yogurt or fermented milk, found in the cuisines of Central Asia, Southeast Europe and the Middle East. Dry tarhana has a texture of coarse, uneven crumbs, and it is usually made into a thick soup with water, stock, or milk. As it is both acidic and low in moisture, the milk proteins keep for long periods. Tarhana is very similar to some kinds of kashk.
Football is the most popular sport in Greece, followed by basketball.
In ancient Greek geometry, the Ostomachion, also known as loculus Archimedius or syntomachion, is a mathematical treatise attributed to Archimedes. This work has survived fragmentarily in an Arabic version and a copy, the Archimedes Palimpsest, of the original ancient Greek text made in Byzantine times.
Antiphanes of Berge was a Greek writer of the book Ἄπιστα, and was born in Berge, a town in ancient Macedonia near Amphipolis. In his Geographica, Strabo refers to him as an impostor, because Antiphanes wished the reader to believe everything in his book, which actually contained falsehoods. Strabo also attacked the credibility of the writers Pytheas and Euhemerus in the same chapter. The Attic verb βεργαΐζειν (bergaizein) was used in reference to Antiphanes. βεργαΐζειν (bergaizein) refers to the telling of unbelievable stories. He also wrote a work on courtesans. He is not to be confused with Antiphanes of Argos, as was done by some ancient writers.
Arura is a Homeric Greek word with original meaning "arable land", derived from the verb ἀρόω (aroō), "plough". The word was also used generally for earth, land and father-land and in plural to describe corn-lands and fields. The term arura was also used to describe a measure of land in ancient Egypt, a square of 100 Egyptian cubits each way. This measures 2700m² or 2/3 of an acre. The oldest attested form of the word is the Mycenaean Greek a-ro-u-ra, written in Linear B syllabic script, originally meant "plough".
Episkyros, or episcyrus was an Ancient Greek ball game. The game was typically played between two teams of 12 to 14 players each, being highly teamwork-oriented. The game allowed full contact and usage of the hands. While it was typically men who played, women also occasionally participated.
Balloon, baloun, balloon-ball or wind-ball is a game similar to the modern game of volleyball, in which a leather ball is batted by the fist or forearm to prevent it from touching the ground. The game was played in ancient Rome where it was known as follis, the Latin word for a leather bag. Such a ball made of leather was quite heavy and so protection might be used such as a leather gauntlet or wooden bracer. The Roman game was considered a sport for boys and old men, as Martial wrote:
Asterope was a Hesperid in Greek mythology.
In Greek and Roman mythology, Peristera is a nymph who was transformed into a dove, one of Aphrodite's sacred birds and symbols, explaining the bird's connection to the goddess. This myth survives in the works of the first of the three anonymous Vatican Mythographers, whose works were discovered in a single manuscript in 1401.
