Theseum \thi-'se-9m\ Temple in Athens dedicated to Hephaestus and Athena as patrons of the arts and crafts. Built c. 450 bc, it is slightly older than the Parthenon. Some of its sculptures represent the exploits of The¬ seus (the source of its traditional name), though reconstructed fragments of its ornamentation reveal that its theme was actually the apotheosis of Heracles. It is surrounded by a single row of Doric columns, with 13 at the sides and six at the ends. It is the world’s best-preserved ancient Greek temple, largely because of its medieval conversion to a Christian church.
Theseus Vthe-se-ss, 'thes-,yus\ Hero of ancient Greek legend. He was the son of Aegeus, king of Athens.
On his journey to Athens, he slew many legendary villains, including Sinis, Sciron, and Procrustes. In Ath¬ ens he found Aegeus married to Medea; she recognized him before her husband did and tried to poison him but failed, and Aegeus declared him heir to the throne. In Crete The¬ seus met Ariadne and slew the Mino¬ taur; on returning to Athens, he forgot to replace the ship’s black sail with a white one signaling his vic¬ tory, and Aegeus threw himself from the Acropolis in grief. Theseus went on to unite and extend the borders of Attica. He captured the Amazon prin¬ cess Antiope (Hippolyte), with the result that the Amazons attacked Athens and Antiope was killed while defending it. He abducted the child Helen and attempted to steal Persephone from Hades, but he was confined in the underworld until his rescue by Heracles. He died when the king of Scyros threw him from a cliff.
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Thesmophoria V.thez-ms-'for-e-sX In Greek reugion, a festival held in honor of Demeter Thesmophoros. The celebrants were free married women who had observed chastity for several days and abstained from certain foods. Pigs were thrown into an underground chamber, where they were eaten by snakes. The uneaten, rotted remains were brought up and laid on an altar; if mixed with seeds they were believed to ensure a good crop.
Thespiae \'thes-pe-,e\ Ancient town, Boeotia, eastern central Greece. It was the site of temples and festivals of the Muses and of Praxiteles' famous statue of Eros. It is important in Greek history chiefly as an enemy of nearby Thebes. Its citizens fought the Persians with Spartan forces under Leonidas at the battles of Thermopylae in 480 bc and Plataea in 479. It served Sparta as a base against Thebes 379-372 bc. The Thebans destroyed it in 371 bc, but it was soon rebuilt. It was an important Boeotian town under the Roman empire.
Thespis \thes-pds\ (fl. 6th century bc, Athens) Greek poet, often con¬ sidered the “inventor of tragedy.” He is the first recorded winner (c. 534
Theseus killing the Minotaur, detail of a vase painting by the Cleophrades Painter, 6th century bc; in the British Museum.
COURTESY OF THE TRUSTEES OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM
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Thessaloniki ► Third Republic I 1899
bc) of a prize for tragedy at the Great Dionysia, a drama festival. Accord¬ ing to the rhetorician Themistius, Aristotle said that tragedy in its earliest stage was entirely choral until the prologue and speeches were first intro¬ duced by Thespis. Thespis, according to Themistius’s account, was thus the first “actor,” and tragic dialogue began when he exchanged words with the leader of the chorus.
Thessaloniki \,the-sa-lo-'ne-ke\ formerly Salonika \s3-Ta-ni-ka\ Seaport (pop., 2001: 363,987), Macedonia, Greece. Founded in 316 bc, it became the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia in 146 bc and grew to great importance. The apostle Paul (see St. Paul) visited c. ad 49-50, and he later addressed epistles to converts there. During the time of the Byzantine Empire, it prospered despite repeated attacks by Avars and Slavs. It was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1430 to 1912. Thes¬ saloniki was the headquarters of the Young Turk movement in 1908 and was returned to Greece in 1913. It was an important Allied base in World War I and was occupied by the Germans in World War II. It is Greece’s second largest city.
Thessaly Vthe-S9-Ie\ Historical region and current administrative region (pop., 2001: 754,893), east-central Greece. The ancient region corre¬ sponded roughly to the modern one. Mount Olympus rises in the northeast. Thessaly is drained by the Pinios River. It was the site of many cultures in the 3rd-2nd millennia bc; by c. 1000 bc Greeks had established power there. Incorporated into the Roman province of Macedon in the 2nd cen¬ tury bc, it was made a separate Roman province in the 4th century ad. In the 7th—13th centuries it was controlled by Slavs, Saracens, Bulgars, and Normans. In the late 14th century it passed to the Turks; it was returned to Greece in 1881. It saw heavy fighting between Allied and Axis forces in 1941.
Thetis \'the-tas\ In Greek mythology, a Nereid loved by both Zeus and Poseidon. When it was revealed that Thetis was destined to bear a son who would be mightier than his father, the two gods gave her to Peleus, king of the Myrmidons. Unwilling to wed a mortal, Thetis resisted Peleus’ advances by changing into various shapes, but Peleus finally captured and married her. Their child was Achilles. Some legends relate that she bore seven children, all of whom perished either when she tried to render them immortal or when she killed them as the offspring of a forced marriage.
thiamin Vthl-o-moM or vitamin B| Organic compound, part of the vitamin B complex, necessary in carbohydrate metabolism. It carries out these functions in its active form, as a component of the coenzyme thia¬ min pyrophosphate. Its molecular structure includes a substituted pyridine ring and a thiazole ring. Thiamin is found most abundantly in whole cereal grains and certain other seeds. Deficiency leads to beriberi.
Thiers \te-'er\, (Louis-) Adolphe (b. April 18, 1797, Marseille, France—d. Sept. 3, 1877, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris) French politician and historian. He went to Paris in 1821 as a journalist and cofounded the opposition newspaper National in 1830. In the July Revo¬ lution he supported Louis- Philippe and served as minister of the interior (1832, 1834-36) and premier and foreign minister (1836, 1840). A leader of the conservative moderates, he crushed all insurrections. Following the February Revolution, he helped elect Louis-Napoleon (later Napoleon III) president of the Second Republic. As a leader of the opposition (1863-70), he attacked Napoleon Ill’s imperial policies. As president of the Third Republic (1871-73), he negotiated the end of the Franco-Prussian War and restored domestic order by crushing the Paris Commune. He also wrote major historical works, most importantly the huge History of the French Revolution (10 vol., 1823-27) and History of the Consulate and the Empire (20 vol., 1845-62).
Thimann Vthl-monV, Kenneth V(ivian) (b. Aug. 5, 1904, Ashford, Kent, Eng.—d. Jan. 15,1997, Haverford, Pa., U.S.) British-born U.S. plant physiologist. He received his Ph.D. from Imperial College in London. In 1934 he obtained and isolated pure auxin, an important plant-growth hor¬ mone and, with several coworkers, proved that auxin promotes cell elon¬ gation, formation of roots, and growth of buds, discoveries that led to the development of a widely used synthetic auxin, 2,4-D. Use of this and simi¬ lar chemicals can prevent the premature falling of fruit and stimulate cut stems to grow abundant roots; because high concentrations of auxins are toxic to most plants, synthetic auxins are also effective weed killers.
Thimphu \thim-'pu\ Town (pop., 1999 est.: 28,000), capital of Bhutan. It lies on the Raidak River in the Himalayas. It was designated the official seat of government in 1962. The Tashi Chho castle, a traditional fortified
monastery and one of the finest examples of traditional Bhutanese archi¬ tecture, houses the offices of the royal government. The local economy is based on agriculture and lumbering.
thin-layer chromatography (TLC) Type of chromatography using as the stationary phase a thin layer (0.01 inch [0.25 mm]) of a special finely ground matrix (silica gel, alumina, or similar material) coated on a glass plate or incorporated in a plastic film. Solutions of the mixtures to be analyzed are spotted near one edge. Solutions of reference compounds are similarly applied. The edge of the plate is then dipped in a solvent. The solvent travels up the matrix by capillarity, moving the components of the samples at various rates because of their different degrees of attach¬ ment to the matrix and solubility in the developing solvent. The compo¬ nents, visible as separated spots, are identified by comparing the distances they have traveled with those of the known reference materials. TLC is useful for biological mixtures, especially lipids in animal or vegetable tis¬ sues and isoprenoids and essential oils found in flowers and other parts of plants. The matrices withstand strong solvents and developers better than the paper used in paper chromatography.