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SOME LISTS
Compiled by Alan Anderson
Largely from Benet's The Reader's Encyclopedia and The Brewer Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
These lists are far from exhaustive of items grouped according to their number, but are of importance in gaining an acquaintance with some of the major features of civilization. To have at least modest familiarity with most of them is to be in a significant degree educated.
10 COMMANDMENTS
(differently divided and numbered in various traditions)
1. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
2. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image . . .
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain . . .
4. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . .
5. Honour thy father and thy mother . . .
6. Thou shalt not kill.
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery.
8. Thou shalt not steal.
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, . . . wife, . . . nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.
9 MUSES, sister goddesses (daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne [Memory]), patronesses of arts,
originally only three, goddesses of memory, but later nine identified with individual arts:
Calliope: Muse of epic poetry (often holding a writing tablet and stylus, sometimes a scroll).
Clio: Muse of history (often holding a scroll or symbolized by an open chest of books).
Erato: Muse of lyric and love poetry (often playing a lyre).
Euterpe: Muse of music or flutes (often playing flutes).
Melpomene: Muse of tragedy (often holding a tragic mask or the club of Heracles, and a sword; she
wears the cothurnus, a boot worn by tragic actors, and her head is wreathed with vine leaves).
Polyhymnia: Muse of sacred poetry, hymns, or of the mimic art (often shown with a pensive look).
Terpsichore: Muse of dancing and choral song (often shown dancing and holding a lyre).
Thalia: Muse of comedy (often holding a comic mask, a hepherd's crook, and a wreath of ivy).
Urania: Muse of astronomy (often holding a staff pointing to a globe).
EIGHTFOLD PATH OF BUDDHISM
1. right knowledge or viewpoint
2. right aspiration
3. right speech
4. right action, conduct
(including the Five Precepts do not kill, steal, lie, be unchaste, nor take intoxicants or other drugs)
5. right livelihood
6. right effort
7. right mindfulness
8. right meditation or contemplation or
absorption. See Four Noble Truths below.
7 CARDINAL VIRTUES (first four Greek, last three Christian, "theological")
wisdom (prudence)
courage (fortitude)
temperance
justice
faith
hope
love (charity)
7 DEADLY SINS
pride
envy
anger
sloth (laziness)
avarice (greed)
gluttony
lust
7 SAGES (WISE MEN) OF GREECE, AND THEIR WATCHWORDS
1. Solon of Athens: Know thyself.
2. Chilo of Sparta: Consider the end
3. Thales of Miletus (founder of philosophy): Who hateth suretyship is sure.
4. Bias of Priene: Most men are bad.
5. Cleobulus of Lindos: Golden mean or Avoid extremes.
6. Pittacus of Mitylenc: Seize time by the forelock.
7. Periander of Corinth: Nothing is impossible to industry.
7 SISTERS
(a) The Pleiades, in Greek mythology, seven daughters, (Maia, Merope, Electra, Celaeno, Taygete, Sterope [or Asterope], and Alcyone) of Atlas and the nymph Pleione. According to one version, they were the attendants of Artemis and were changed into stars by the gods when they were pursued by the amorous hunter Orion.
(b) A cluster of bright stars in the constellation Taurus.
(c) Seven prominent women's colleges: Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Mt. Holyoke, Radcliffe, Smith, Vassar, and Wellesley, comparable to the Ivy League institutions: Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, and Yale.
7 HEBREW NAMES OF GOD
El
Elohim
Adonai
YHWH
Ehyeh-Asher-Ehyeh
Shaddai
Zebaot
7 WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD
1. pyramids of Egypt, especially the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops)
2. hanging gardens of Babylon
3. statue of Zeus at Olympia, by Phidias
4. temple of Artemis (Diana, in Roman terminology) at Ephesis
5. tomb (Mausoleum) of king Mausolus at Halicarnassus
6. Colossus of Rhodes, bronze statue of sun god Helios, perhaps 120 feet tall, built over 12 years by
sculptor Chares
7. the Pharos (on the island of the same name) lighthouse of Alexandria, or the walls ofBabylon, or the
palace of Cyrus
As put by E. Cobham Brewer:
The Pyramids first, which in Egypt were laid;
Then Babylon's Gardens for Amytis made;
Third, Mausolus's Tomb of affection and guilt;
Fourth, the Temple of Dian, in Ephesus built;
Fifth, Colossus of Rhodes, cast in brass, to the Sun;
Sixth, Jupiter's Statue, by Phidias done;
The Pharos of Egypt, last wonder of old,
Or the Palace of Cyrus, cemented with gold.
Nationalgeographic.com lists the following:
The Seven Medieval Wonders: The Colosseum, the Catacombs of Kour el Shoqafa, the Great Wall of China, the Hagia Sophia, Stonehenge, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and the Porcelain Tower of Nanjing
The Seven Natural Wonders of the World: The Grand Canyon, Mount Everest, the harbor of Rio de Janeiro, the aurora borealis (the northern lights), the Great Barrier Reef, Victoria Falls, and Paricutín Volcano
The Seven Modern Wonders: the Empire State Building, Itaipú Dam, the CN Tower, The Panama Canal, The Channel Tunnel, the North Sea Protection Works, and the Golden Gate Bridge
The Seven Underwater Wonders: Palau, the Belize Barrier Reef, the Galápagos Islands, the northern Red Sea, Lake Baikal, the Great Barrier Reef, and Deep-sea vents
7 DWARFS
Grumpy
Happy
Dopey
Doc
Sleepy
Sneezy
Bashful
7 HILLS OF ROME
Palatine (on which the original city traditionally of Romulus was built)
Capitoline
Quirinal
Viminal
Esquiline
Caelian
Aventine
7 LIBERAL ARTS, OF THE MIDDLE AGES
The quadrivium (literally, the place where four ways meet), the more advanced arts:
arithmetic
geometry
astronomy
music
The trivium:
grammar
logic
rhetoric (including oratory)
7 BODIES IN ALCHEMY
Sun (gold)
Moon (silver)
Mars (iron)
Mercury (quicksilver)
Saturn (lead)
Jupiter (tin)
Venus
(copper)
7 CHAMPIONS OF CHRISTENDOM IN MEDIEVAL TALES, AND THE COUNTRIES THAT
THEY REPRESENT
Saints George (England)
Andrew (Scotland)
Patrick (Ireland)
David (Wales)
Denis (France)
James
(Spain)
Anthony (Italy)
7 LAST WORDS OF JESUS
Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
Today shalt thou be with me in Paradise.
Woman, behold thy son . . .
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
I thirst.
It is
finished.
Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.
7 JOYS OF MARY
Annunciation
Visitation
Nativity
Adoration of the Magi
Presentation in the Temple
Finding Jesus
among the Doctors
Assumption
7 SORROWS OF MARY
Simeon's prophecy
the flight into Egypt
Jesus missed
the betrayal
the crucifixion
the taking down
from the cross
the ascension, when she was left alone
7 WORKS OF MERCY
tend the sick
feed the hungry
give drink to the thirsty
clothe the naked
house the
homeless
visit the fatherless and afflicted
bury the dead
7 GIFTS OF THE SPIRIT
wisdom
understanding
counsel
power (fortitude)
knowledge
righteousness
Godly fear
7 HEAVENS OF ISLAM
pure silver, Adam and Eve there
pure gold, with John the Baptist and Jesus there
pearl,
Joseph there, and the angel of death Azrael recording the names of those born and newly dead
white
gold, Enoch there, and the 500-days'-journey-tall Angel of Tears weaping over the sins of men
silver, Aaron there, and the Avenging Angel presiding over elemental fire
ruby and garnet, presided
over by Moses, there also the Guardian Angel of heaven and earth, half-snow and half-fire
divine
light beyond description, ruled by Abraham, each inhabitant bigger than the earth, each with 70,000
heads, each of which has 70,000 mouths, each of which has 70,000 tongues, each of which speaks
70,000 languages, all chanting the praises of the Most High.
5 PILLARS OF ISLAM
repetition of the creed, "There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his prophet."
prayer five times a day
almsgiving
fasting during the sacred month of Ramadan
pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca
5 RELATIONSHIPS OF CONFUCIUS
ruler and minister
father and son
husband and wife
elder and younger brothers
friends
4 ELEMENTS
earth
air
fire
water
4 NOBLE TRUTHS OF BUDDHISM
All life involves suffering.
The origin of suffering is desire, craving, attachment.
The way to get rid of it is to follow the Noble Eightfold Path. See above.
4 NATIVE AMERICAN COMMANDMENTS
1. Respect Mother Earth
2. Respect the Great Spirit
3. Respect fellow man and woman
4. Respect individual freedom (that does not threaten tribe, people, or Mother Earth)
4 ARCHANGELS
Michael
Gabriel
Raphael
Uriel
3 GRACES (IN ROMAN TERMINOLOGY; CHARITIES, IN GREEK); GODDESSES EMBODYING
AND BESTOWING BEAUTY AND CHARM
Aglaia (brilliance)
Thalia (the flowering)
Euphrosyne (joy)
3 UNIVERSAL VIRTUES OF CONFUCIUS
1. wisdom
2. humanity
3. courage
3 TYPES OF MEN, WHAT THEY SEEK, ACCORDING TO ARISTOTLE
1. vulgar: pleasure, enjoyment
2. political: honor
3. contemplative: virtue appropriate to men
3 TRADITIONAL NAMES OF THE MAGI OR, LITERALLY, WISE MEN, THE GIFTS THAT
THEY GAVE TO THE INFANT JESUS, AND THE SYMBOLIC SIGNIFICANCE OF THE GIFTS
1. Melchior: gold, royalty
2. Gaspar: frankincence, divinity
3. Balthazar: myrrh, persecution unto death
"The Other Wise Man"
2 GREAT COMMANDMENTS OF JESUS
1. Love God completely.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself.
1 GOLDEN RULE
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you (in most religions worded negatively: do not do
unto others you what you would not want them to do unto you).
Philosophcal and Other Resources, Version 2
URL of this site: http://websyte.com/alan/lists.htm
Created Feb. 29, 2000, by Alan Anderson, aanderso@curry.edu
Latest update Sept. 22, 2002
Visits since Feb. 29, 2000
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