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brief, basic information laid out in an easy-to-read format. May use informal language. (Includes most news articles)
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provides additional background information and further reading. Introduces some subject-specific language.
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lengthy, detailed information. Frequently uses technical/subject-specific language. (Includes most analytical articles)
Databases
Start your research by typing the name of your significant individual into the following databases. Remember to check the 'Best Websites' section of Encyclopaedia Britannica whilst you are in the database.
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- Britannica Schools This link opens in a new window
Britannica School covers the core subject areas of English, Maths, Science and History. Interactive lessons, activities, games, stories, worksheets, manipulatives, study guides and research tools.
- World Book Encyclopedia This link opens in a new window
Online version of the complete reference work along with dictionary, atlas, links, magazines, historical documents, audio, video, images, and 3D photograph
Websites
Type the name of your significant individual into the following websites.
- Encyclopedia.comEncyclopedia.com has more than 100 trusted sources, including encyclopedias, dictionaries, and thesauruses with facts, definitions, biographies, synonyms, pronunciation keys, word origins, and abbreviations.
- The Famous PeopleThefamouspeople.com chronicles the life history of some of the world's most famous people and achievers. The biographies of these people feature the achievements and works that have influenced the course of history.
Read more at http://www.thefamouspeople.com/#7eLPQJJ0kJQGe5ih.99 - Your DictionaryAs a supplement to the over 7,000 biographies included in the Encyclopedia of World Biography, YourDictionary has a team of writers creating additional biographies on other notable current and historical figures. Our bios are great for school research projects or just for the casual reader who wants to learn more about the history of the world she lives in.
Greek Women
- Ancient History.com (2009-2015). Ten Noble and Notorious Women of Ancient Greece. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/article/737/Hydna of Scione was trained to swim by her father, Scyllis of Scione, a diving instructor and expert swimmer who taught the art of swimming for a living. He instructed his daughter from a young age, and she became well known for her ability to dive deeply and swim long distances. When the Persians invaded Greece in 480 BCE, they sacked Athens and marched across the mainland after defeating the Greeks at Thermopylae. The Persian navy then sought to destroy the rest of the Greek force in the naval battle at Salamis. If the Persians won at Salamis, Greece would be lost. Hydna and her father dove beneath the Persian ships and cut their moorings, causing these ships to drift and run aground or damage other vessels. This feat is even more impressive when one considers that, in order to perform it, Hydna and Scyllis had to swim ten miles into the sea in the middle of a storm. Their story comes from the Greek historian Pausanius in his Description of Greece, 10.19.1, and he further relates that, for their heroism, statues of them were erected at Delphi following the Persian defeat.
- AncientHistory.com (2009-2015). Ten Noble and Notorious Women of Ancient Greece. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/article/737/Anyte of Tegea (3rd century BCE) was one of the female poets listed by Antipater of Thessalonica as one of the Nine Earthly Muses (with others such as Sappho of Lesbos and Telesilla of Argos). Anyte was among the first poets of Greece to emphasize the natural world in her work (as opposed to supernatural subjects such as the gods) and to write the epigram. She was best known for her epitaphs, especially those for animals. These were not her only artistic contributions, however, and her poetry was so impressive that it was compared in ancient Greece to the works of Homer.
- AncientHistory.com (2009-2015). Gorgo of Sparta. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://www.ancient.eu/Gorgo_of_Sparta/Gorgo was the queen of the Greek city-state of Sparta, daughter of the king Cleomenes (reigned 520-490 BCE), wife of King Leonidas (reigned 490-480 BCE), and mother of King Pleistarchus (reigned 480-458 BCE). Her birth and death dates are unknown but it is generally believed, based on inferences from Herodotus, that she was born in either 518 or 508 BCE, was already married to King Leonidas by 490 BCE, and survived his death at Thermopylae in 480 BCE. She was most likely still alive during the reign of her son Pleistarchus, but for how long and what role she played at his court are not known. She is a figure of note for her wisdom, cleverness, and the apparent authority she assumed in the lives of those around her. Both her father and her husband listened to her counsel, and she is one of the few women mentioned by Herodotus in his Histories.
- Leonidas of Sparta. (2012). The bride of Leonidas. Retrieved 5 November, 2015, from http://sparta-leonidas-gorgo.com/index.htmlThe most remarkable thing about Gorgo, wife of King Leonidas I of Sparta, is that we know anything about her at all. Herodotus and other ancient Greek historians are far more likely to mention Persian queens than the wives of Greeks – not because Persian women were more powerful than their Greek counterparts, but because Persians had several wives, and so it was sometimes useful to record by which of them a certain Persian figure had been born. Since Greeks had only one legitimate wife, there was no need for such clarification when it came to prominent Greek citizens. Even the names of Spartan queens are rarely mentioned. We do not know, for example, the names of either Leonidas' mother or his stepmother, the "second wife" who caused all the trouble in the Agiad family in the second half of the 6th century BC.