:: wikimiki.org ::

Double Dactyl

Double dactyl

A dactyl is a poetic foot of the form >-- (ON-off-off). For example, matador, realize, cereal, limerick, etc. A double dactyl can therefore mean simply two dactyls in a row. A double dactyl is also a verse form, otherwise known as "Higgeldy piggeldy". Like a limerick, it has a rigid structure and is usually humorous, but the double dactyl is considerably more rigid and difficult to write. There must be two stanzas, each comprising three lines of dactylic dimeter followed by a line with a dactyl and a single accent. The two stanzas have to rhyme on their last line. The first line of the first stanza is repetitive nonsense. The second line of the first stanza is the subject of the poem, a proper noun (usually someone's name). Note that this name must itself be double-dactylic. There is also a requirement for at least one line of the second stanza to be entirely one double dactyl word, for example "va-le-dic-tor-i-an". A classic example by Theodore L. Drachman: :Small Problem :Higgamus Hoggamus :"Anton Von Leewenhoek :Has a small problem," con- :Fided his wife. :"Microbiology :Doesn't disturb me; his :Microanatomy's :Blighting my life!" A wonderful one by Paul Pascal on the subject of Antony and Cleopatra: :Tact :"Patty cake, patty cake, :Marcus Antonius, :What do you think of the :African queen?" :"Gubernatorial :Duties require my :Presence in Egypt. Ya :Know what I mean?" A similar verse form called a McWhirtle was invented in 1989 by American poet Bruce Newling.

External links

- [http://www.stinky.com/dactyl/dactyl.html Additional examples, links, and information.] Category:Poetic form

Dactyl (poetry)

A dactyl (Gr. δάκτυλος dáktulos, “finger”) is an element of meter in poetry. In quantitative verse, such as Greek or Latin, a dactyl is a long syllable followed by two short syllables. In accentual verse, such as English, it is a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed syllables. An example of dactylic meter is the first line of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Evangeline, which is in dactylic hexameter: :This is the / forest prim- / eval. The / murmuring / pines and the / hemlocks, The first five feet of the line are dactyls, and the sixth is a trochee. A more modern example is the Beatles song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds": :Picture your self in a boat on a river with :tangerine tree-ees and marmalade skii-ii-es. The song is in written in dactylic tetrameter, and has the rhythm of a waltz. The word "skies" takes up a full three beats. Category:Poetic form

Stanza

In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. The term means "room" in Italian. A stanza may have a self-contained rhyme scheme or be made up of a fixed number of lines (see distich/couplet, tercet, quatrain, cinquain/quintain, sestet) or, as in much modern poetry, may be an arbitrary unit defined by publishing conventions such as white space or punctuation. Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 can be broken into stanzas: Let me not to the marriage of true minds |\ Admit impediments. Love is not love | \ Which alters when it alteration finds, | / All one stanza Or bends with the remover to remove. |/ O no, it is an ever fixed mark |\ That looks on tempests and is never shaken; | \ It is the star to every wand'ring barque, | / All one stanza Whose worth's unknown although his height be taken. |/ Love's not time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks |\ Within his bending sickle's compass come; | \ Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks, | / All one stanza But bears it out even to the edge of doom. |/ If this be error and upon me proved,|\ I never writ, nor no man ever loved.|/ All one stanza Category:Poetic form

Rhyme

: This article is about the poetic technique. For the form of ice, see rime ice. For linguistic rime (or rhyme) see syllable rime. A rhyme is a repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words and is most often used in poetry. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a complete rhyming couplet or short poem that uses verses (see nursery rhyme).

Etymology

The word comes from the Old French rime, ultimately from the Greek ρυθμος from which "rhythm" also derives. In English, the spelling "rhyme" came to be adopted at the beginning of the Modern English period in order to reflect the Greek original, in the same way that a b was added to the words "dette" and "doute" to reflect the original Latin debitum and dubitum. The spelling "rime" survives in English however, as a rare alternative spelling. A distinction between the spellings is also sometimes made in the study of linguistics and phonology, where "rime/rhyme" is used to refer to the nucleus and coda of a syllable. In this context, some prefer to spell this "rime" to separate it from the poetic rhyme covered by this article (see syllable rime).

Examples

The term usually refers to the repetition of sounds at the end of rhymed words: in the following poem by A.E. Housman, the words or syllables in bold are rhymes: :Loveliest of trees, the cherry now :Is hung with bloom along the bough, :And stands about the woodland ride :Wearing white for Eastertide.

Types of rhyme

The concept of rhyme and its role in poetry vary considerably in different cultures. In modern English, and most European literary traditions, it is the final vowel/consonant combination found at the ends of lines that are repeated across the rhyming words. When words within a single line are rhymed, it is called an internal rhyme. Categories of rhyme include:
- tail rhyme: a rhyme in the final syllable(s) of a verse (the most common kind)
- masculine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the final syllable of the words. (rhyme, sublime, crime)
- feminine: a rhyme in which the stress is on the penultimate (second from last) syllable of the words. (picky, tricky, sticky)
- dactylic: a rhyme in which the stress is on the antepenultimate (third from last) syllable (hesitant, president)
- triple: a rhyme in which all three syllables of a three-syllable word are stressed equally.
- perfect: a rhyme between words that are identical in sound from the point of their first accented syllable forward. (sight and flight, deign and gain and quatrain)
- imperfect: a rhyme between a stressed and an unstressed syllable. (den, siren)
- identity: a rhyme that starts at a consonant instead of a vowel, or rhyming a word with itself. (gun, begun)
- semirhyme: a rhyme with an extra syllable on one word. (bend, ending)
- oblique (or slant): a rhyme with an imperfect match in sound.
- sight (or eye): a similarity in spelling but not in sound. (cough, bough, or love, move)
- consonance: matching consonants. (her, dark)
- half rhyme (or sprung rhyme) is consonance on the final consonants of the words involved
- assonance: matching vowels. (shake, hate) A rhyme scheme is the pattern of rhyming lines in a poem.

Rhyme in English

See English poetry Old English poetry is mostly alliterative verse. One of the earliest rhyming poems in English is The Rhyming Poem. Some words in English, such as orange, are commonly regarded as having no rhyme. Although a clever poet can get around this (for example, by rhyming "orange" with "door hinge"), it is generally easier to move the word out of rhyming position or replace it with a synonym ("orange" could become "amber").

Rhyme in French

In French, the typical two-phoneme rhyme common in English poetry is called rime suffisante. The rime riche ("rich rhyme") of three phonemes is classically more admired. To an Anglophone ear, by contrast, this often sounds like a very weak rhyme. For example, an English perfect or identity rhyme, such as homophones flour and flower, would seem weak, whereas a French rhyme of homophones doigt and doit qualifies as rime riche. Rime richissime ("very rich rhyme") is a rhyme of more than three phonemes. Here is a holorime (an extreme example of rime richissime spanning an entire verse): :Gall, amant de la Reine, alla (tour magnanime) :Gallamant de l'Arène à la Tour Magne, à Nîmes. :Gallus, the Queen's lover, went (a magnanimous gesture) :Gallantly from the Arena to the Great Tower, at Nîmes. Alphonse Allais was a notable exponent of holorime. Classical French poetry also used to have a complex set of rules for rhymes that goes beyond how words merely sound. It include whether the unsounded letter s, x, z and e are present at the end of each line and are often considered part of the meter of the poem.
- A line that ends with a silent e is a feminine rhyme, even if the word itself is a masculine.
- A line that ends with a silent s, x or z is a plural rhyme, even if the word itself is a singular.
- A line that ends with a silent es is a feminine plural rhyme, even the word itself is not a feminine plural. For example the singular feminine "une souris", which means "a mouse", would be a masculine plural rhyme. A set of rhymes is only valid if the sound, number and gender all match. In the 19th century, Baudelaire made some poems that dropped the sound requirement. In those poems, words that ended in the same spelling were considered as valid rhymes even if they sounded different. He called those "rhymes for the eye", "rimes pour l'œil." A feminine rhyme cannot follow a different feminine rhyme and a masculine rhyme cannot follow a different masculine rhyme. Masculine and feminine rhymes must alternate. If these rules were to be applied to English "there" and "fair" would not rhyme; and "lean" and "cuisine" would not rhyme either. Furthermore, a couplet rhyming in "-er", like "better" and "after", could not be followed by a couplet rhyming in "-ight", like "right" and "fight". These would be two different masculine rhymes "touching" each other. There must be a feminine rhyme in between. That is why, in French sonnets, the first four lines (1 to 4) and the second four lines (5 to 8) often have the exact same rhymes, with the structure abba abba: it allows for a mirror gender structure. The edge lines of both quatrains (lines 1, 4, 5 and 8) can be of one gender and the middle lines (lines 2, 3, 6 and 7) can be of the other. The trick is that the fourth and fifth lines of the sonnet must be the same, or else the fourth and fifth lines would have to alternate gender. Of course, a structure like abba acca would technically follow the rules, but it would be very ugly. All this comes from the fact that the marks for the plural and the gender of words that are now silent used to be sounded, but they did not count as being part of the meter. These rhyming rules are almost never taken into account from the 20th century on. Still, they are in almost all of the pre-20th century French verse texts. For example all of the French plays in verse of 17th century alternate masculine and feminine alexandrine couplets.

Rhyme in Hebrew

Ancient Hebrew verse did not generally rhyme. However, many Jewish liturgical poems rhyme today, because they were mostly written in medieval Europe, where rhymes were in vogue.

Rhyme in Greek

See Homoioteleuton

Rhyme in Latin

Rhyme was unknown in Latin poetry until it was introduced under the influence of local vernacular traditions in the early Middle Ages. This is the Latin hymn Dies Irae: :Dies irae, dies illa :Solvet saeclum in favilla :Teste David cum Sybilla Medieval poetry may mix Latin and vernacular languages. Mixing languages in verse or rhyming words in different languages is termed macaronic.

Rhyme in Welsh

See cynghanedd

External links

- [http://www.bryantmcgill.com/Free_Rhyming_Dictionary/ Free Software Rhyming Dictionary download]
- [http://www.mcgilldictionary.com/ McGill English Dictionary of Rhyme]
- [http://www.rhymer.com/ Online Rhyming Dictionary]
- [http://www.rhymezone.com/ RhymeZone] Category:Poetic form ja:韻文

Microbiology

Microbiology (in Greek micron = small and biologia = studying life) is the study of microorganisms, including viruses, prokaryotes and simple eukaryotes. Today, most of the work in microbiology is done using methods from biochemistry and genetics. It is also related to pathology, immunology, and epidemiology as a few microorganisms are pathogens. Microbiologists have made many fundamental contributions to biology and medicine, especially in the fields of biochemistry, genetics, and cell biology. Microbes have many traits that make them ideal model organisms:
- They are small, therefore they do not consume many resources
- Some have very short generation times (the time needed for division of a bacterial cell in two in optimal conditions; ~30 minutes for E. coli, but 12 to 24 hours for Mycobacterium tuberculosis)
- Cells can easily survive in isolation from other cells
- Unicellular eukaryotes reproduce by mitotic division and prokaryotes by binary fission. This allows for the propagation of genetically identical (clonal) populations.
- They may be frozen for long periods of time. Even if 90% of the cells are killed by the freezing process, there are millions of cells in a milliliter of liquid culture. These traits allowed Joshua and Esther Lederberg to devise an elegant experiment in 1951 demonstrating that adaptive mutations arise from preadaptation rather than directed mutation. For this purpose, they invented replica plating, which allowed them to transfer numerous bacterial colonies from their specific locations on one agar-filled petri dish to analogous locations on several other petri dishes. After replicating a plate of E. coli, they exposed each of the new plates to a bacteriophage (also called phage). They observed that phage-resistant colonies were present at analogous locations on each of the plates, allowing them to conclude that the phage resistance trait had existed in the original colony, which had never been exposed to phage, instead of arising after the bacteria had been exposed to the virus. The extensive characterization of microbes has allowed them to be used in industry and as experimental tools in different branches of biology:
- Bacteria and simple eukaryotes contain small circular DNAs, called plasmids. Plasmids can be genetically modified in vitro then inserted into bacteria that are grown in a culture to produce large amounts of protein using genes encoded on a plasmid. The proteins produced vary widely, some of them are for example antibiotics.
- Many microbes exploit energy by the process of anaerobic fermentation, in which different simple organic molecules are produced. This gave rise to the science of industrial fermentation. In this way it is possible to produce different antibiotics, beer, vinegar and other substances.
- Bacterial genes have been inserted into other organisms as reporter genes.
- The yeast two-hybrid system combines bacterial genes with genes from the organism being studied and inserts them into yeast cells to study protein-protein interactions within a cellular environment.

External links

- [http://www.GIDEONonline.com/tutorial/microbiology.htm GIDEON Microbiology tutorial] - Using GIDEON's Microbiology module
- [http://www.bact.wisc.edu/Microtextbook Online Microbiology textbook]
- Nature Reviews Microbiology ([http://www.nature.com/nrmicro/index.html journal home])
- [http://www.textbookofbacteriology.net/ Text Book of Bacteriology]
- microbiology ko:미생물학 ja:微生物学 th:จุลชีววิทยา

Koro

---- Koro is a Japanese incense burner or censer often used for the Tea ceremony. Examples are usually of globular form with three feet, made in pottery, Imari porcelain, Kakiemon, Satsuma, enamel or bronze. Category:Japanese tools Category:Tea ceremony Category:Incense

Mark Antony

:For his relatives and other people with similar names, see Marcus Antonius (disambiguation). Marcus Antonius (disambiguation) Marcus Antonius (Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N¹) (ca. 83 BC – August 30 BC), known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. He was an important supporter of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator. After Caesar's assassination, Antony allied with Octavian and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to form the second triumvirate. The triumvirate broke up in 33 BC and the disagreement turned to civil war in 31 BC, in which Antony was defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium and then at Alexandria. Antony committed suicide with Cleopatra in 30 BC.

Early life

Antony was born in Rome around 83 BC. His father was his namesake, Marcus Antonius Creticus, the son of the great rhetorician Marcus Antonius Orator executed by Gaius Marius' supporters in 86 BC. Through his mother Julia Caesaris, he was a distant cousin of Julius Caesar. His father died at a young age, leaving him and his brothers, Lucius and Gaius, to the care of his mother. Julia Antonia (known in sources by her married name, to distinguish her from the other Julias) then married Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, a politician involved in and executed during the Catiline conspiracy of 63 BC. Antony's early life was characterized by a lack of parental guidance. According to historians like Plutarch, he spent his teenage years roaming through Rome with his brothers and friends (Publius Clodius Pulcher among them - probably out of hostility to Cicero, who had caused Lentulus Sura to be put to death as a Catilinarian; the connection was severed by a disagreement arising from his relations with Clodius's wife, Fulvia). Together, they embarked on a rather wild sort of life, frequenting gambling houses, drinking too much, and involving themselves in scandalous love affairs. Plutarch mentions the rumour that before Antony reached twenty years of age, he was already indebted the sum of 250 talents (equivalent to several million dollars). After this period of recklessness, Antony fled to Greece to escape his creditors and to study rhetoric. After a short time spent in attendance on the philosophers at Athens, he was summoned by Aulus Gabinius, proconsul of Syria, to take part in the campaigns against Aristobulus in Judea, and in support of Ptolemy Auletes in Egypt. In the ensuing campaign, he demonstrated his talents as a cavalry commander and distinguished himself with bravery and courage. It was during this campaign that he first visited Egypt and Alexandria.

Supporter of Caesar

In 54 BC, Antony became a member of the staff of Caesar's armies in Gaul. He again proved to be a competent military leader in the Gallic wars, but his personality caused instability wherever he went. Caesar himself was said to be frequently irritated by his behaviour. Nevertheless, raised by Caesar's influence to the offices of quaestor, augur, and tribune of the plebs (50 BC), he supported the cause of his patron with great energy. Caesar's two proconsular commands, during a period of ten years, were expiring, and the general wanted to return to Rome for the consular elections. But resistance from the conservative faction of the Roman Senate, led by Pompey, demanded that Caesar resign his proconsulship and the command of his armies before being allowed to seek re-election to the consulship. This he could not do, as such an act would leave him a private citizen--and therefore open to prosecution for his acts while proconsul--in the interim between his proconsulship and his second consulship; it would also leave him at the mercy of Pompey's armies. Antony proposed that both generals lay down their commands. The idea was rejected, and Antony resorted to violence, ending up expelled from the Senate. He left Rome, joining Caesar, who had led his armies to the banks of the Rubicon, the river that marked the southern limit of his proconsular authority. With all hopes of a peaceful solution for the conflict with Pompey gone, Caesar led his armies across the river into Italy and marched on Rome, starting the last Republican civil war. During the civil war, Antony was Caesar's second in command. In all battles against the Pompeians, Antony led the left wing of the army, a proof of Caesar's confidence in him. When Caesar became dictator, Antony was made master of the horse, the dictator's right hand man, and in this capacity remained in Italy as the peninsula's administrator in 47 BC, while Caesar was fighting the last Pompeians, who had taken refuge in the African provinces. But Antony's skills as administrator were a poor match to those as general, and he seized the opportunity of indulging in the most extravagant excesses, depicted by Cicero in the Philippics. In 46 BC he seems to have taken offence because Caesar insisted on payment for the property of Pompey which Antony professedly had purchased, but had in fact simply appropriated. Conflict soon arose, and, as on other occasions, Antony resorted to violence. Hundreds of citizens were killed and Rome herself descended into a state of anarchy. Caesar was most displeased with the whole affair and removed Antony from all political responsibilities. The two men did not see each other for two years. The estrangement was not of long continuance; for we find Antony meeting the dictator at Narbo (45 BC), and rejecting the suggestion of Trebonius that he should join in the conspiracy that was already on foot. Reconciliation arrived in 44 BC, when Antony was chosen as partner for Caesar's fifth consulship. Whatever conflicts existed between the two men, Antony remained faithful to Caesar at all times. In February of 44 BC, during the Lupercalia festival (February 15), Antony publicly offered Caesar a diadem. This was an event fraught with meaning: a diadem was a symbol of a king, and in refusing it, Caesar demonstrated that he did not intend to assume the throne. On March 15 44 BC (the Ides of March), Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of Senators, led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Junius Brutus. In the turmoil that surrounded the event, Antony escaped Rome dressed as a slave, fearing that the dictator's assassination would be the start of a bloodbath among his supporters. When this did not occur, he soon returned to Rome, discussing a truce with the assassins' faction. For a while, Antony, as consul of the year, seemed to pursue peace and the end of the political tension. Following a speech by Marcus Tullius Cicero in the Senate, an amnesty was agreed for the assassins. Then came the day of Caesar's funeral. As Caesar's ever-present second in command, partner in consulship and cousin, Antony was the natural choice to make the funeral eulogy. In his speech, he sprang his accusations of murder and ensured a permanent breach with the conspirators. Showing a talent for rhetoric and dramatic interpretation, Antony snatched the toga from Caesar's body to show the crowd the scars from his wounds. That night, the Roman populace attacked the assassins' houses, forcing them to flee for their lives. Antony surrounded himself with a bodyguard of Caesar's veterans, and forced the senate to transfer to him the province of Cisalpine Gaul, which was then administered by Decimus Junius Brutus, one of the conspirators. Brutus refused to surrender the province, and Antony set out to attack him in October 44 BC.

The second triumvirate

44 BC.]] The death of Caesar had left an open space in Rome's politics. The Republic was dying, and yet another civil war was starting. It was then that Octavian, Caesar's great-nephew and adopted son, arrived from Illyria, and claimed the inheritance of his "father." Octavian obtained the support of the senate and of Cicero; and the veteran troops of the dictator flocked to his standard. He was also very willing to fight for power with the other two main contestants: Antony himself and Lepidus. Antony was denounced as a public enemy, and Octavian was entrusted with the command of the war against him. Antony was defeated at Mutina (43 BC) where he was besieging Brutus. The consuls Aulus Hirtius and C. Vibius Pansa, however, fell in the battle, and the senate became suspicious of Octavian, who, irritated at the refusal of a triumph and the appointment of Brutus to the command over his head, entered Rome at the head of his troops, and forced the senate to bestow the consulship upon him (August 19). Meanwhile, Antony escaped to Cisalpine Gaul, effected a junction with Lepidus and marched towards Rome with a large force of infantry and cavalry. Octavian betrayed his party, and came to terms with Antony and Lepidus. The three leaders met at Bononia and adopted the title of Triumviri reipublicae constituendae as joint rulers. Gaul was to belong to Antony, Hispania to Lepidus, and Africa, Sardinia and Sicily to Octavian. The Triumvirs for the Organization of the People gained official recognition by the Lex Titia, a law passed by the Assembly in 43 BC, which granted them virtually all powers for a period of five years. To solidify the alliance, Octavian married Clodia, Antony's step-daughter. The triumvirs then set to pursue the assassins' faction, who had fled to the East, and to murder the conspirators' supporters who remained in Rome. A reign of terror followed; proscriptions, confiscations, and executions became general; some of the noblest citizens were put to death. Cicero was the most famous victim of these violent days, having been executed during his attempt to flee, according to Anthony Everitt's recent biography. Antony and his wife Fulvia did not spare the body: Cicero's head and hands were posted in the Rostra, with his tongue pierced by Fulvia's golden hairpins. After the twin battles at Philippi and the suicides of Brutus and Cassius, the senatorial and republican parties had been annihilated; no one else would defy the triumvirate's power. With the political and military situations resolved, the triumvirs divided the Roman world among themselves. Lepidus took control of the Western provinces, and Octavian remained in Italy with the responsibility of securing lands for the veteran soldiers—an important task, since the loyalty of the legions depended heavily on this promise. As for Antony, he went to the Eastern provinces, to pacify yet another rebellion in Judaea and attempt to conquer the Parthian Empire. During this trip, he met Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt in Tarsus, in 41 BC, and became her lover, spending the winter in her company at Alexandria. Meanwhile, in Italy, the situation was not pacified. Octavian's administration was not appeasing, and a revolt was about to occur. Moreover, he divorced Clodia, giving a curious explanation: she was annoying. The leader of this revolt was Fulvia, the wife of Antony, a woman known to history for her political ambition and tempestuous character. She feared for her husband's political position and was not keen to see her daughter put aside. Assisted by Lucius Antonius, her brother-in-law, Fulvia raised eight legions with her own money. Her army invaded Rome, and for a while managed to create problems for Octavian. However, in the winter of 41–40 BC, Fulvia was besieged in Perusia and forced to surrender by starvation. Fulvia was exiled to Sicyon, where she died while waiting for Antony's arrival. Fulvia's death was providential. A reconciliation was effected between the triumvirs, and cemented by the marriage of Antony with Octavia in October 40 BC, Octavian's beloved sister. A new division of the Roman world was made, Lepidus receiving Africa, Octavian the west, and Antony the east. This peace, known as the Treaty of Brundisium, reinforced the triumvirate and allowed Antony to finally prepare his long-awaited campaign against the Parthians.

Antony and Cleopatra

With this military purpose on his mind, Antony sailed to Greece with his new wife, where he behaved in a most extravagant manner, assuming the attributes of the god Dionysus (39 BC). But the rebellion in Sicily of Sextus Pompeius, the last of the Pompeians, kept the army promised to Antony in Italy. With his plans again severed, Antony and Octavian quarreled again. This time with the help of Octavia, a new treaty was signed in Tarentum in 38 BC. The triumvirate was renewed for a period of another five years (ending in 33 BC) and Octavian promised again to send legions to the East. But by now, Antony was skeptical of Octavian's true support of his Parthian cause. Leaving Octavia pregnant of her second Antonia in Rome, he sailed to Alexandria, where he expected funding from Cleopatra, the mother of his twins. The queen of Egypt loaned him the money he needed for the army, but the campaign proved a disaster. After a series of defeats in battle, Antony lost most of his Egyptian army during a retreat through Armenia in the peak of winter. Meanwhile in Rome, the triumvirate was no more. Lepidus was forced to resign after an ill-judged political move. Now in sole power, Octavian was occupied in wooing the traditional Republican aristocracy to his side. He married Livia and started to attack Antony in order to raise himself to power. He argued that Antony was a man of low morals to have left his faithful wife abandoned in Rome with the children to be with the promiscuous queen of Egypt. Antony was accused of everything, but most of all, of "becoming native", an unforgivable crime to the proud Romans. Several times Antony was summoned to Rome, but remained in Alexandria with Cleopatra and her funds. Again with Egyptian money, Antony invaded Armenia, this time successfully. In the return, a mock Roman triumph was celebrated in the streets of Alexandria. The parade through the city was a pastiche of Rome's most important military celebration. For the finale, the whole city was summoned to hear a very important political statement. Surrounded by Cleopatra and her children, Antony was about to put an end to his alliance with Octavian. He distributed kingdoms between his children: Alexander Helios was named king of Armenia and Parthia (not conquered yet), his twin Cleopatra Selene got Cyrenaica and Libya, and the young Ptolemy Philadelphus was awarded Syria and Cilicia. As for Cleopatra, she was proclaimed Queen of Kings and Queen of Egypt, to rule with Caesarion (Ptolemy Caesar, son of Julius Caesar), King of Kings and King of Egypt. Most important of all, Caesarion was declared legitimate son and heir of Julius Caesar. These proclamations were known as the Donations of Alexandria and caused a fatal breach in Antony's relations with Rome. Distributing insignificant lands among the children of Cleopatra was not a peace move, but it was not a serious problem either. What did seriously threaten Octavian's political position, however, was the acknowledgement of Caesarion as legitimate and heir to Julius Caesar's name. Octavian's base of power was his link with Caesar through adoption, which granted him much-needed popularity and loyalty of the legions. To see this convenient situation attacked by a child sired by the richest woman in the world was something Octavian could not accept. The triumvirate expired on the last day of 33 BC and was not renewed. Another civil war was beginning. During 33 and 32 BC, a propaganda war was fought in the political arena of Rome, with accusations flying between sides. Antony (in Egypt) divorced Octavia and accused Octavian of being a social upstart, of usurping power, and of forging the adoption papers by Julius Caesar. Octavian responded with treason charges: of illegally keeping provinces that should be given to other men by lots, as was Rome's tradition, and of starting wars against foreign nations (Armenia and Parthia) without the consent of the Senate. Antony was also held responsible for Sextus Pompeius' execution with no trial. In 32 BC, the senate deprived him of his powers and declared war against Cleopatra. Both consuls (Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Gaius Sosius) and a third of the Senate abandoned Rome to meet Antony and Cleopatra in Greece. In 31 BC, the war started. Octavian's loyal and talented general Agrippa captured the Greek city and naval port of Methone, loyal to Antony. The enormous popularity of Octavian with the legions secured the defection of the provinces of Cyrenaica and Greece to his side. On September 2, the naval Battle of Actium took place. Antony and Cleopatra's navy was destroyed, and they were forced to escape to Egypt with sixty ships. Octavian, now close to absolute power, did not intend to give them rest. In August 30 BC, assisted by Agrippa, he invaded Egypt. With no other refuge to escape to, Antony committed suicide in the mistaken belief that Cleopatra had already done so (30 BC). A few days later, Cleopatra herself followed his example. Antony had been married in succession to Fadia, Antonia, Fulvia and Octavia, and left behind him a number of children.

Aftermath and Legacy

With the death of Antony, Octavian became uncontested ruler of Rome: no one else attempted to take power from him. In the following years, Octavian, known as Augustus Caesar after 27 BC, managed to accumulate in his person all administrative, political, and military offices. When Augustus died in AD 14, his political powers passed to his adopted son Tiberius; the Roman Principate had begun. The rise of Caesar and the subsequent civil war between his two most powerful adherents effectively ended the credibility of the Roman oligarchy as a governing power and ensured that all future power struggles would centre upon which of two (or more) individuals would achieve supreme control of the government, rather than upon an individual in conflict with the Senate. Thus Antony, as Caesar's key adherent and one of the two men around whom power coalesced following his assassination, was one of the three men chiefly responsible for the fall of the Roman Republic.

Antony's marriages and descendants

#Marriage to Fadia #Marriage to Antonia Hybrida (his direct cousin) According to Plutarch, Antony threw his cousin out of his Roman House, because she slept with his friend the tribune Dolabella. However, it is not known whether they divorced or she died, before Antony married Fulvia. #Marriage to Fulvia #
- Marcus Antonius Antyllus, executed by Octavian in 31 BC #
- Iullus Antonius, married Claudia Marcella Major, daughter of Octavia #Marriage to Octavia #
- Antonia Major, married Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus #
- Antonia Minor, married Drusus, the son of Livia #Children with Cleopatra #
- The twins #
- Alexander Helios, the sun #
- Cleopatra Selene, the moon, married King Juba II of Numidia (and, later, Mauretania) #
- Ptolemy Philadelphus.

Chronology

- 83 BC—born in Rome
- 54–50 BC—joins Caesar's staff in Gaul and fights in the Gallic wars
- 50 BC—Tribune of the Plebeians
- 48 BC—Serves as Caesar's Master of the Horse
- 47 BC—Ruinous administration of Italy: political exile
- 44 BC—First Consulship with Caesar
- 43 BC—Forms the Second Triumvirate with Octavian and Lepidus
- 42 BC—Defeats Cassius and Brutus in the Battle of Philippi; travels through the East
- 41 BC—Meets Cleopatra
- 40 BC—Returns to Rome, marries Octavia; treaty of Brundisium
- 38 BC—Treaty of Tarentum: Triumvirate renewed until 33 BC
- 36 BC—Disastrous campaign against the Parthians
- 35 BC—Conquers Armenia
- 34 BC—The Donations of Alexandria
- 33 BC—End of the triumvirate
- 32 BC—Exchange of accusations between Octavian and Antony
- 31 BC—Defeated by Octavian in the naval Battle of Actium
- 30 BC—Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide

References

- Caesar, De Bella Gallico, De Bella Civili
- Cicero, Letters and Philippics
- Appian, Bell. Civ. i.-v.
- Dio Cassius xli.-liii
- Antony section in Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans by Plutarch, of which the English translation is contained in the following Project Gutenberg e-text [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/674 Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans] - Note that parts of Antony's story are in Plutarch's life descriptions of Pompey, Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, all of these contained in that same e-text. In addition to the standard histories, see:
- V. Gardthausen, Augustus und seine Zeit (Leipzig, 1891-1904)
- W. Drumann, Geschichte Roms (2nd ed. P. Groebe, 1899), i. pp. 46-384
- article by Groebe in Pauly-Wissowa's Realencyclopadie
- and a short but vivid sketch by de Quincey in his Essay on the Caesars
-
- Antony and Cleopatra, William Haines Lytle (1826-1863)

Notes

1- Marcus Antonius Marci Filius Marci Nepos, in English "Mark Antony, son of Mark, grandson of Mark".

External links

Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark ms:Marcus Antonius ja:マルクス・アントニウス

Cleopatra VII of Egypt

Cleopatra VII Philopator (January 69 BC – August 12 30 BC) was queen of ancient Egypt, the last member of the Ptolemaic dynasty and hence the last Hellenistic ruler of Egypt. Although many other Egyptian Queens shared the name, she is usually known as simply Cleopatra, and all of her similarly named predecessors have been mostly forgotten. As co-ruler of Egypt with her father (Ptolemy XII Auletes), her brother/husband Ptolemy XIV, and later her son Caesarion, Cleopatra survived a coup engineered by her brother's courtiers, consummated a liaison with Julius Caesar that solidified her grip on the throne, and, after Caesar's assassination, aligned with Mark Antony, with whom she produced twins. She later married Mark Antony and gave birth to another son. After Antony's rival and Caesar's legal heir, Octavian, brought the might of Rome against Egypt, Cleopatra took her own life on August 12, 30 BC. Her legacy survives in the form of numerous dramatizations of her story, including William Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra and several modern films.

Early life and name

"Cleopatra" is Greek for "father's glory," and her full name, "Cleopatra Thea Philopator" means "the Goddess Cleopatra, the Beloved of Her Father." She was the third daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, a Graeco-Egyptian born in Alexandria, Egypt. She was first briefly co-ruler with her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes and on his death became co-ruler with her brother Ptolemy XIII in the spring of 51 BC. She was at the time the oldest child of Auletes, since two older sisters had died. She also had one younger sister whose name was Arsinoe IV. She was subsequently co-ruler with her brother, Ptolemy XIV. Following the deaths of her brothers she named her eldest son co-ruler as Ptolemy XV Caesarion (44–30 BC). At the age of 18, she was left the throne on the death of her father, Ptolemy XII Auletes, in spring 51 BC, to rule jointly with her 12 year old brother, Ptolemy XIII. However, by August she was dropping his name from official documents, which flew in the face of Ptolemaic tradition that female rulers be subordinate to male co-rulers. Furthermore, it was Cleopatra's face alone that appeared on coins. Perhaps because of her independent streak a cabal of courtiers led by the eunuch Pothinus, removed Cleopatra from power — possibly in 48 BC, possibly earlier — a decree exists with Ptolemy's name alone from 51 BC. She tried to raise a rebellion around Pelusium but she was soon forced to flee Egypt. Her sister Arsinoë accompanied her. In the autumn of 48, however, Ptolemy imperiled his own power by injudiciously meddling in the affairs of Rome. When Pompey, fleeing the victorious Julius Caesar, arrived in Alexandria seeking sanctuary, Ptolemy had him murdered in order to ingratiate himself with Caesar. Caesar was so repelled by this treachery that he seized the Egyptian capital and imposed himself as arbiter between the rival claims of Ptolemy and Cleopatra. (It should be noted that Pompey had been married to Caesar's daughter, who died giving birth to their son). After a short war, Ptolemy XIII was killed and Caesar restored Cleopatra to her throne, with Ptolemy XIV as new co-ruler. Caesar wintered in Egypt in 48 BC–47 BC, and Cleopatra shored up her political advantage by becoming his lover. Egypt remained independent, but three Roman legions were left to protect it. Cleopatra's winter liaison with Caesar produced a son whom they named Ptolemy Caesar (nicknamed Caesarion, little Caesar). However, Caesar refused to make the boy his heir, naming his grand-nephew Octavian instead. Cleopatra and Caesarion visited Rome between 46 BC and 44 BC and were present when Caesar was assassinated. Before or just after she returned to Egypt, Ptolemy XIV died mysteriously. Cleopatra then made Caesarion her co-regent. She may have poisoned her brother. In 42 BC, Mark Antony, one of the triumvirs who ruled Rome in the power vacuum following Caesar's death, summoned Cleopatra to meet him in Tarsus to answer questions about her loyalty. Cleopatra arrived in great state, and so charmed Antony that he chose to spend the winter of 42 BC–41 BC with her in Alexandria. During the winter, she became pregnant with twins, who were named Cleopatra Selene and Alexander Helios. Four years later, in 37 BC, Antony visited Alexandria again while on route to make war with the Parthians. He renewed his relationship with Cleopatra, and from this point on Alexandria would be his home. He may have married Cleopatra according to the Egyptian rite (a letter quoted in Suetonius suggests this), although he was at the time married to Octavia, sister of his fellow triumvir Octavian. He and Cleopatra had another child, Ptolemy Philadelphus. At the Donations of Alexandria in late 34 BC, following Antony's conquest of Armenia, Cleopatra and Caesarion were crowned co-rulers of Egypt and Cyprus; Alexander Helios was crowned ruler of Armenia, Media, and Parthia; Cleopatra Selene was crowned ruler of Cyrenaica and Libya; and Ptolemy Philadelphus was crowned ruler of Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. Cleopatra also took the title of Queen of Kings. There are a number of unverifiable but famous stories about Cleopatra, of which one of the best known is that, at one of the lavish dinners she shared with Antony, she playfully bet him that she could spend ten million sesterces on a dinner. He accepted the bet. The next night, she had a conventional, unspectacular meal served; he was ridiculing this, when she ordered the second course — only a cup of strong vinegar. She then removed one of her priceless pearl earrings, dropped it into the vinegar, allowed it to dissolve, and drank the mixture. Antony's behavior was considered outrageous by the Romans, and Octavian convinced the Senate to levy war against Egypt. In 31 BC Antony's forces faced the Romans in a naval action off the coast of Actium. Cleopatra was present with a fleet of her own, but when she saw that Antony's poorly equipped and manned ships were losing to the Romans' superior vessels, she took flight. Antony abandoned the battle to follow her. Actium] Following the Battle of Actium, Octavian invaded Egypt. As he approached Alexandria, Antony's armies deserted to Octavian. Cleopatra and Antony both committed suicide, Cleopatra by using a snake to poison herself on August 12 30 BC. Cleopatra's son by Caesar, Caesarion, was executed by Octavian. The three children of Cleopatra with Antony were spared and taken back to Rome where they were reared by Antony's wife, Octavia. It is often said that Cleopatra used an asp to kill herself. "Asp" technically refers to a variety of venomous snakes, but here, it refers to the Egyptian cobra, which was sometimes used to execute criminals. There is also a story that Cleopatra asked several of her servants to test out various forms of suicide, before choosing the method which she believed to be most effective. Other sources suggest that she experimented different forms of "suicide" on prisoners. A Graeco-Macedonian by language and culture, Cleopatra is reputed to have been the first member of her family in their 300-year reign in Egypt to have learnt the Egyptian language.

The race debate

Egyptian language There is often a debate between Egyptologists and Afrocentric historians as to what race Cleopatra belonged to. Egyptologists say that Cleopatra was descended from the Ptolemaic dynasty, a Macedonian family, whose patriach Ptolemy I Soter was once a general for Alexander the Great. Ptolemy I was the son of Arsinoe of Macedonia by either her husband Lagus, a Macedonian nobleman, or her lover Philip II of Macedon. Egyptologists say the Ptolemaic family tree indicates that there was a great deal of interbreeding in the family, and that because Cleopatra was the first monarch to learn Egyptian, that Cleopatra was Caucasian. Ancient busts and coins of Cleopatra also appear to point to her Caucasian ancestry. Contemporary descriptions of Cleopatra describe her as being short, slightly overweight, with a hawk-nose and red-brown hair. Afrocentric historians, however, claim that ancient Egypt was a predominately black civilization and that most ancient Egyptians were black people, considering that Egypt is an African country. Such a statement is however controversial; especially given that today's Egyptians are generally not black, and mummies from thousands of years of Egyptian history are generally not black. Even though they acknowledge Ptolemy was white, they believe there must have been sexual liaisons between the monarchs and the people of Egypt. Since Cleopatra's mother is not known (not identified on the Ptolemaic family tree), many believe she was a black concubine. However, a version that her mother was Auletes's sister, Cleopatra V Tryphaena (it was commonplace for members of the Ptolemaic dynasty to marry their siblings) exists. Significantly, the charge of illegitimacy was never made against Cleopatra, which is surprising considering the wealth of Roman propaganda against her, which adds credence to the latter theory regarding her mother. In light of the matrilinear nature of Egyptian succession, it is unlikely that her father would have named her as his heir had she been the offspring of a concubine considering she had a legitimate sister Arsinoe IV of Egypt. Further, no Roman historian ever describes Cleopatra as black, another odd omission from the propaganda against her if it was true. And finally, earlier known mistresses to the Ptolemaic family bore Greek names, so the presumed origin of an unknown mistress should not be a native Egyptian woman, but a member of the hellenistic population of Alexandria - or other Ptolemaic strongholds in the Mediterranean. The Ptolemies were not only Egyptian kings; there was a Ptolemaic court in the Greek city of Cyrene and another on Cyprus, where Cleopatra's ancestors spent much of their time.

Cleopatra in art, film, TV, and literature

Cleopatra's story has fascinated scores of writers and artists through the centuries. No doubt, much of her appeal lay in her legend as a great seductress who was able to ally herself with two of the most powerful men (Caesar and Antony) of her time. Among the more famous works on her:
- Cléopâtre by Jules-Émile-Frédéric Massenet
- Incipit Legenda Cleopatrie Martiris, Egipti Regine from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Legend of Good Women
- Antony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare
- All for Love by John Dryden
- Cléopatre by Victorien Sardou
- Cleopatra (1889) by H. Rider Haggard
- Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw
- The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George
- Clone High
- Rome

Films about Cleopatra

Rome The earliest Cleopatra-related motion picture was Antony and Cleopatra (1908) with Florence Lawrence as Cleopatra. The earliest film on Cleopatra as the main subject was Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, starring Helen Gardner (1912). Among the film/TV works inspired by the Queen of the Nile:
- (1917): Cleopatra: Theda Bara (Cleopatra), Fritz Leiber (Caesar), Thurston Hall (Antony). Directed by J. Gordon Edwards. Based on Émile Moreau's play Cléopatre, Sardou's play Cléopatre, and Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra.
- (1934): Cleopatra: Claudette Colbert (Cleopatra), Warren William (Caesar), Henry Wilcoxon (Antony). Oscar-winning Cecil B. DeMille epic.
- (1946): Caesar and Cleopatra: Vivien Leigh (Cleopatra), Claude Rains (Caesar), Stewart Granger, Flora Robson — Oscar-nominated version of George Bernard Shaw's play. Leigh also played Cleopatra opposite then-husband's Laurence Olivier's Caesar in a later London stage version.
- (1953): Serpent of the Nile: Rhonda Fleming (Cleopatra), Raymond Burr (Mark Antony), Michael Fox (Octavian).
- (1963): Cleopatra: Elizabeth Taylor (Cleopatra), Rex Harrison (Caesar), Richard Burton (Antony). Oscar-winning block-buster most (in)famously remembered for the off-screen affair between Taylor and Burton and the at-the-time massive $44 million cost.
- (1964): Carry On Cleo, a spoof of the 1963 film, with Amanda Barrie as Cleopatra, Sid James as Mark Antony, and Kenneth Williams as Caesar.
- (1974): Antony & Cleopatra: performed by London's Royal Shakespeare Company. Starred Janet Suzman (Cleopatra), Richard Johnson (Antony), and Patrick Stewart (Enobarbus).
- (1999): Cleopatra (movie): Leonor Varela (Cleopatra), Timothy Dalton (Caesar), Billy Zane (Antony). Based on the book Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George and closer to the facts than the others. Teresa Pavlinek portrayed Cleopatra in an episode of History Bites set during the Battle of Actium. A longer discussion of Cleopatra films is at: Cleopatra (movie).
Paintings of Cleopatra
The most famous painting of Cleopatra is one that almost certainly no longer exists now: because the queen died in Egypt well before Augustus' triumph could be put on in Rome, in which she would have walked in chains, he commissioned a large painting of her, which was carried in his triumphal procession, and which may have represented her being poisoned by an asp. The sources for the story are [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Antony
- .html#86 Plut. Ant. 86] and [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Appian/Civil_Wars/2
- .html App. Civ. II.102], although the latter may well refer to a statue, and [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/51
- .html#22.3 Cass. Dio LI.21.3] reports that the "image" was of gold, and thus not a painting at all. The purported painting was seen and engraved in the early 19th century: it was in a private collection near Sorrento. Since then, this painting is said to have formed part of a collection in Cortona, but there no longer appears to be any trace of it; its quiet disappearance is almost certainly due to its being a fake. For comprehensive details on the entire question, see the external links at the end of this article. Otherwise, Cleopatra and her death have inspired hundreds of paintings from the Renaissance to our own time, none of them of any historical value of course; the subject appealing in particular to French academic painters. A very partial chronological list follows:
- Suicide of Cleopatra. Oil on canvas. 46 x 36-3/4 in. (116.8 x 93.3 cm) painted by Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, also called Guercino. Painted in 1621 and which hangs in the collection in the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California. It shows Cleopatra and in her hand a snake that she prepares to use in her suicide.
- The Banquet of Cleopatra (1743–5). Oil on Canvas, 248.2 x 357.8cm. Painted by Giambattista Tiepolo (1696–1770), which hangs in the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia, depicting the banquet in which Cleopatra dissolves her pearl earring in a glass of vinegar.
- Cleopatra and the Peasant (1838). Oil on canvas. Painted by Eugène Delacroix. Hanging in the Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina. The work shows a man providing Cleopatra with the snake she uses to kill herself.
- Cleopatra and Caesar (Cléopâtre et César) (1866). Oil on canvas. Painted by Jean-Léon Gérôme (1824–1904). The original painting has been lost, and only copies remain. The work depicts Cleopatra standing before a seated Caesar, painted in the Orientalist style.
- The Death of Cleopatra, painted by Jean André Rixens, painted in 1874 and which hangs in the Musée des Augustins in Toulouse, France.
See also

- History of Greek and Roman Egypt
Notes
# Alexander to Actium: Peter Green pp661-664
External links

General

- [http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/cleopatra/ Cleopatra on the Web] - Some 470 resources, including ancient and modern pictures.
- [http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Egypt/ptolemies/cleopatra_vii.htm Cleopatra VII Philopator ancient sources]
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Africa/Egypt/_Texts/BEVHOP/13
- .html Cleopatra VII (VI) at LacusCurtius] — (Chapter XIII of E. R. Bevan's House of Ptolemy, 1923)
- [http://www.gutenberg.net/browse/BIBREC/BR10992.HTM Cleopatra] - a Victorian children's book by Jacob Abbott, 1852, Project Gutenberg edition.
- [http://www.geocities.com/christopherjbennett/ptolemies/genealogy.htm Genealogy of Cleopatra VII]
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/miscellanea/cleopatra/cleopatra.html James Grout: Cleopatra, part of the Encyclopædia Romana]
- [http://cleopatra.music-is-magic.net Cleopatra VII fanlisting]
- [http://memoirs.music-is-magic.net Memoirs of Cleopatra book fanlisting]
Paintings of Cleopatra

- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/pseudodoxia/pseudo512.html Sir Thomas Browne: Of the Picture describing the death of Cleopatra] (1672)
- [http://penelope.uchicago.edu/oddnotes/cleoinencaustic/cleopatraencaustic.html John Sartain: On the Antique Portrait of Cleopatra] (1818) Category:1st century BC births Category:30 BC deaths Category:Ancient Egyptians Category:Ancient Roman enemies and allies Category:Pharaohs of the Ptolemaic dynasty Category:Queens regnant Category:Suicides Category:Women in war ja:クレオパトラ7世 ja:クレオパトラ7世 simple:Cleopatra th:คลีโอพัตรา

Coitus

:This article is about sexual intercourse in humans and its societal implications. For biological copulation in general, see copulation. copulation copulation copulation Sexual intercourse or coitus is the human form of copulation. The term sexual intercourse refers to a wider range of sexual activities than the term coitus, which only refers to male-female genital sex. See Human sexual behavior for a discussion of the broader sense of sexual intercourse and List of sexual positions for the wide variety of sexual activities that exist. See the terms frot for male-male genital sex and tribadism for female-female genital sex. Coitus may be preceded by foreplay which leads to sexual arousal of the partners, resulting in erection of the penis and natural lubrication of the vagina. To engage in sexual intercourse, the erect penis is inserted into the vagina and one or both of the partners move back and forth to repeatedly remove and reinsert the penis, usually without ever fully removing it. In this way, they stimulate themselves and each other usually until orgasm and ejaculation are achieved. A detailed description of the physiology of sexual arousal and orgasm can be found in the article Human sexual response cycle.

Sexual reproduction

Coitus is the basic reproductive method of humans. During ejaculation, which normally accompanies male orgasm, a series of muscular contractions delivers semen containing male gametes known as sperm cells or spermatozoa into the vault of the vagina. The subsequent route of the sperm from the vault of the vagina, is through the cervix and into the uterus, and thence into the fallopian tubes. Millions of sperm are present in each ejaculation, to increase the chances of one fertilizing an egg or ovum. Sperm cells can survive up to nine days in the female body. When a fertile ovum from the female is present in the fallopian tubes, the male gamete joins with the ovum resulting in fertilization and the formation of a new embryo. When a fertilized ovum reaches the uterus, it becomes implanted in the lining of the uterus known as endometrium and a pregnancy begins. Male-female genital sex should always be considered likely to result in pregnancy unless adequate contraceptive (birth control) measures are in force, or unless one (or both) of the partners is not fertile. For example a woman who has passed through the menopause cannot conceive, but can still participate in, and enjoy, intercourse. Where both participants are believed to be fertile pregnancy should still be considered as a possible outcome of intercourse since no birth control measure is 100% effective. Coitus interruptus, or withdrawal of the penis from the vagina just before the man's orgasm, typically has a high failure rate, but is reasonably effective when done correctly. Surgical sterilization (tubal ligation for women or vasectomy for men) is considered permanent birth control, although it can sometimes be reversed surgically, or, rarely, the body can repair itself. If both partners are fertile, abstinence from heterosexual sexual intercourse is the only 100% effective way to avoid pregnancy. Outercourse, and other sexual contact (such as mutual masturbation or oral sex), in which there is sexual activity without penis insertion, can be performed without resulting in pregnancy provided that semen does not come in contact with the vulva.

Sex evolving beyond reproduction

Humans, bonobos and notably dolphins are animals known to have non-reproduct sex, apparently for the sake of pleasure. All three animals have heterosex even when the female is not in estrus, that is, at a point in her reproductive cycle suitable for successful impregnation. Likewise, all three animals have homosex. In both humans and bonobos the female has hidden estrus, which does not evidence to the male whether she is fertile or not, to ensure sex at any time for social reasons rather than reproductive ones. Indeed, sex is often for social reasons and only occasionally for reproductive ones. Humans, bonobos and dolphins are all intelligent social animals, whose cooperative behavior proves far more successful than that of any individual alone. In these animals, the use of sex evolved beyond reproduction to serve additional social functions. Sex reinforces intimate social bonds between individuals to form larger social structures. The resulting cooperation encourages collective tasks that promote the group's survival.

Sexual drive

The urge of adult humans to have sexual intercourse is generally seen as being a physiological need similar to needs such as food, water and air. See, for example, Maslow's hierarchy of needs. At an emotional level sexual intercourse is often, though not always, the ultimate physical expression of feelings of romantic love between two humans (sometimes more). In many cultures, mutual romantic love often forms a formalized or informal partnership, a full sexual relationship within this partnership, procreation or adoption of children and parenting. Romantic partners can be differentsex or samesex. However sexual intercourse is also often decoupled from romantic love and/or from a wish for procreation. Casual sex often used to satisfy a physiological need is common although open to censure by some as being promiscuous and morally questionable. The sex industry is the commercialization of casual sex and prostitution may provide physiological satisfaction.

Sexual problems

Some males suffer from erectile dysfunction, or impotence, at least occasionally. For those whose impotence is caused by medical conditions, prescription drugs such as Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra are available. However, doctors caution against the unnecessary use of these drugs since they are accompanied by serious risks such as increased chance of heart attack. Also, as is too often the case, using a drug to counteract the symptom, impotence, masks the underlying problem causing the impotence, and does not fix the problem. A serious condition might be aggravated if left untreated. A more common sexual disorder in males is premature ejaculation (PE). Those afflicted with PE can perform intercourse for an average of 1.8 minutes before experiencing an orgasm. This compares with an average of 7.3 minutes for those not suffering from premature ejaculation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is currently examining the drug dapoxetine to treat premature ejaculation. In clinical trials those with PE who took dapoxetine experienced intercourse three to four times longer before orgasm than without the drug. The American Urological Association (AUA) estimates that premature ejaculation could affect 27 percent to 34 percent of men in the United States. The AUA also estimates that 10 percent to 12 percent of men in the United States are affected by erectile dysfunction. Inability to achieve orgasm is called anorgasmia. It is much more common in women than men and usually needs attention from both partners over a long time span to solve. Many women, especially younger women with little sexual experience, have difficulty achieving orgasm. Whether a woman considers anorgasmia a problem or not is highly individual; the popular but dubious notion that both partners should achieve orgasm in "normal" intercourse may contribute to a woman's concern over anorgasmia. Vaginismus is involuntary tensing of the pelvic floor musculature, making coitus distressing or impossible. Dyspareunia is painful or uncomfortable intercourse; it can be due to a variety of reasons.

Sexual morality and legality

Various laws, moral rules, and taboos surround sexual intercourse. See sexual morality for a detailed discussion. Unlike some other sexual activities, sexual intercourse itself has rarely been made taboo on religious grounds or by government authorities. It is believed that all of the cultures that prohibited sexual intercourse entirely no longer exist, save the Shakers, a sect of Christianity which has very few adherents, although there are many communities within cultures that prohibit their members to engage in any form of sex, such as members of religious orders and the priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church and lamas in Buddhist monasteries. Within some ideologies, coitus has been considered the only "acceptable" sexual activity. Relatively strict designations of "appropriate" and "inappropriate" sexual intercourse have been almost universal in human societies. These have included prohibitions against specific positions, against intercourse among partners who are not married (this is called fornication) or at least one of whom is married, but not to each other (called adultery), against sexual intercourse with a close relative (called incest), and against intercourse during a woman’s menstrual period. Most countries have age of consent laws specifying the minimum legal age for engaging in sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse with a person against his or her will, or without their informed legal consent, is called rape and is considered a serious crime in most cultures. Religions have often established standards and mores for sexual intercourse, usually encouraging monogamy and marriage. In the Christian faith, sex outside marriage is officially condemned with varying degrees of severity. This prohibition on sex solely for pleasure has led to the Roman Catholic Church’s highly controversial condemnation of contraception. See (for example) http://www.catholic.net/rcc/Periodicals/Faith/11-12-98/Morality2.html There is a good deal of controversy about the kind of relationship one should have with someone else before engaging in sexual intercourse. This controversy is beyond the scope of this article; interested readers are encouraged to read the articles on chastity, evolutionary psychology, and sexual morality.

External links

- [http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~taflinge/biosex2.html Biology of sexual intercourse]
- [http://www.nvsh.nl/Website_Engels/Texts/Sexual_Information/Basics/Skills_1.htm Dutch Society for Sexual Reform]
- [http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/section7/index.html UK legal guidance for prosecutors concerning sexual acts]
- [http://www.abouthealth.com/parent_topic_dialogue.cfm?Parent_Excerpt_ID=23&Topic_Title=3 Resources for parents to talk about sexual intercourse to their children]
- [http://www.ppacca.org/site/pp.asp?c=kuJYJeO4F&b=139496 Planned Parenthood information on sexual intercourse]
- [http://www.healthcentral.com/mhc/top/003157.cfm Medical Resources related to sexual intercourse]
- [http://www.total-health-care.com/family-health/sexual-health.htm Sexual Health]
- [http://www.studentbmj.com/issues/00/01/papers/images/sex2.jpg Sexual intercourse diagram]
- [http://www.sex-project.com/ Sex Project - Information Guide and Forum Discussing All Aspects Of Sex and Relationships] Category:Biological reproduction Category:Human sexuality Category:Interpersonal relationships Category:Sex moves Category:Sex positions Category:Sexology Category:Sexual acts ko:성교 ja:性行為

McWhirtle

A McWhirtle is a light verse form similar to a double dactyl, invented in 1989 by American poet Bruce Newling. McWhirtles share essentially the same form as double dactyls, but without the strict requirements, making them easier to write. Specifically:
- McWhirtles do not require a nonsense phrase (e.g., "Higgeldy piggeldy") on the first line.
- There is no requirement for a double-dactylic word in the second stanza.
- There is an extra unstressed syllable added to the beginning of the first line of each stanza.
- Although the meter is the same as in a double-dactyl, syllables may move from the end of one line to the beginning of the next for readability. The looser form allows poets additional freedom to include additional rhymes and other stylistic devices. An example by American poet Kenn Nesbitt: :Fernando the Fearless :We're truly in awe of :Fernando the Fearless :who needed no net :for the flying trapeze. :Alas, what a shame :it's surprisingly difficult :catching a bar :in the midst of a sneeze. Category:Poetic form

Category:Poetic form

Poetic form refers to various sets of "rules" followed by poems of certain types. The rules may describe such aspects as the rhythm or meter (poetry) of the poem, its rhyme scheme, or its use of alliteration. Category:Poetry

1819

Fatte

Nate

Muorte

Category:Anne do seculo XIX ko:1819년 ms:1819

sylwester w g�rach tekst gry sportowe praca za granic� wynajem autokar�w

:: RELATED NEWS ::

Rugby union alternative numbering schemes
A rugby union team consists of 15 players plus up to seven replacements (depending on the competition). The starting players are normally numbered from 1 to 15 and the replacements 16 onwards. Traditionally, however, some clubs, notably Leicester Tigers and Bristol used alternative schemes consisting of letters, whilst others Bath and Richmond

World Game
World Game, sometimes called the World Peace Game, is an alternative to war games proposed by Buckminster Fuller. The idea was to "make the world work for 100% of humanity in the shortest possible time through spontaneous cooperation without ecological damage or disadvantage to anyone." He first proposed the concept in 1961 as the core curriculum at the (then new) gold coin that was used throughout Europe. It weighed 3.5 grams (0.1125 tr oz) of .986 pure gold, having a metal value of about €43.82 as of October 2005. The ducat was introduced by the Republic of Venice in 1284 under the doge (duke)

St John Ambulance
St. John Ambulance is a British, and international, charity dedicated to the teaching and practice of medical first aid. There are many groups (priories) across different countries, and the collective falls under the direction of the Order of St. John. The order's mottoes are Pro fide (For the faith) and Pro utilitate hominum (For the service of mankind). Order of St. John

The name "St. John Ambulance"

Thyrfing
:This page refers to the Thyrfing metal band. For the mythological sword see Tyrfing Thyrfing is a Viking Metal band from Sweden. The band is named for a royal sword of Norse mythology.

History

Thyrfing was formed in 1995 by Patrik Lindgren (guitar), Jocke Kristensson (Read More...

Huron Mountains
The Huron Mountains are in the U.S. state of Michigan, located mostly in Powell Township, Marquette County overlooking Lake Superior on the Upper Peninsula. The region is characterized by the boreal vegetation and

Concentric castle
A concentric castle (or multiple castle) is a castle within a castle, with two or more concentric rings of curtain walls and a keep in the centre. Generally, the outermost walls are lowest and the height of the walls increases towards the centre. The walls would include towers and bastions and would usually be crenellated.

Hue and Cry
Hue and Cry is a pop group formed in 1983 in Coatbridge, Scotland by brothers Pat Kane (vocals) and Greg Kane (keyboards). They had three UK chart hits in the late

Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute
Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute (PARI [pronounced Perry]) is a non-profit institution located inside Pisgah National Forest in Balsam Grove, North Carolina dedicated to providing education and research access to several radio as well as optical telescopes to students and researchers alike. The facility was origi

Sparc64
SPARC (Scalable Processor ARChitecture) is a pure big-endian RISC microprocessor architecture originally designed in 1985 by Sun Microsystems. SPARC is a registered trademark of SPARC International, Inc., an organisation esta