In Greek myth, wife of Orpheus, who was killed by a snake. To rescue her, Orpheus descended into the underworld, but his efforts were foiled when he violated the conditions imposed on his success by looking back to reassure himself that his wife was still with him.

One of the three most important early Athenian tragic dramatists. Among the nineteen of his plays that have survived, the best known include The Bacchae (405), Iphigenia at Aulis (405), Orestes (408), Iphigenia at Tauris (414?), The Trojan Women (415), Electra (417), Andromache (426?), and Medea (431).

In Greek mythology, one of the Three Charites or Graces.

Dutch humanist, Catholic priest, and editor of the New Testament, Erasmus is considered one of the greatest scholars of the northern Renaissance.

A stoic philosopher who lived from ca. AD 50-125. He was born a slave in Phrygian, Hierapolis in the household of the freedman Epaphroditus in Rome; he later manumitted and started a school of philosophy in Nicopolis.

Living from approximately 420 B.C. to 362 B.C., Epaminondas was a Greek statesman, military strategist, and general who was credited with ending the military dominance of Sparta, thereby permanently shifting the power paradigm among Greek states.

Character in Samuel Richardson's The History of Sir Charles Grandison (1754).

The son of two actors, John Emery was initially schooled for a career as a stage musician. As an actor, he was well received in numerous roles, including that of Tyke in the Covent Garden premier of Thomas Morton’s School of Reform (1805).

Elliston was an actor and theater manager, working at many different locations throughout England. Duke Aranza in John Tobin’s The Honey Moon is considered one of his best performances.

The daughter of Edward IV, Elizabeth of York was married to Henry VII in 1486, thereby uniting the houses of York and Lancaster over the British throne and effectively ending The Wars of the Roses.