Arts & Culture
Homer's Odyssey
Read about the epic poem that inspired the blockbuster movie.
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; Purchased with the support of the F.G. Waller-Fonds
Who's Who in Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey
Meet the cast and characters of the 2026 film adaptation.
© 2026 Universal Pictures/Syncopy
Editor's Picks
List of Day Jobs of Famous Writers
The life of a writer is often stereotyped as one of self-imposed seclusion, bottomless cups of coffee (or something that comes in a bottle), and thunderous bolts of inspiration. In reality, writing is a job like any other. It takes effort, dedication, and skill to produce a solid piece of writing,
Norval Morrisseau
Also known by the spirit name Miskwaabik Animiiki (meaning “Copper Thunderbird”) in Anishinaabemowin, Norval Morrisseau is widely considered to be the grandfather of modern Indigenous art in Canada. He is credited with pioneering the contemporary Indigenous pictographic style popularly referred to
Freida McFadden
Freida McFadden American psychological thriller novelist who is also a practicing physician specializing in brain disorders and injuries. She disclosed her real name as Sara Cohen in April 2026; Freida McFadden is a pseudonym she had adopted to keep her career as an author distinct from her
coloratura
Coloratura, in opera, an embellished style of singing noted for its dazzling vocal acrobatics, such as fast-moving runs, trills, and leaps, that showcase the performer’s agility and range. The style is used to express heightened emotions, such as excitement, joy, or rage. Coloratura soprano refers
What’s the Difference Between Blues and Jazz?
Blues and jazz are both profoundly influential African American music styles that developed in the South about the turn of the 20th century. So closely are they related that jazz great Billie Holiday titled her 1956 autobiography Lady Sings the Blues. Yet there are key differences between the two
d4vd
D4vd is an American singer and songwriter who fused R&B and indie pop in such hit singles as “Romantic Homicide” (2022) and “Locked & Loaded” (2025), the official anthem of the electronic game Fortnite. His rising music career was derailed in 2025, however, when the decomposed and dismembered
Wordle
• Do you start with the same word every day, or do you vary your opening words? • How long is your streak? • Have you ever solved it in one? If those questions confound you, then you probably are not a regular player of Wordle, a popular web-based word game in which users have six tries to guess a
Haunted Summer of 1816
It was a cold and stormy summer. In 1816 Switzerland, near Geneva, violent storms lit up the sky for weeks in June and July. Lake Geneva flooded the region, and animal corpses filled the area’s swollen rivers. Some would call it the “year without a summer,” while others called it the “haunted
Spotlight: Impressionism
Impressionism comprises the work produced between about 1867 and 1886 by a group of artists, headlined by Claude Monet and Pierre Auguste Renoir, who shared a set of related approaches and techniques. The most conspicuous characteristic was an attempt to accurately and objectively record visual reality in terms of transient effects of light and color.
Quizzes
Name That Hat! Quiz
Time to put on your thinking cap.
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz
Needless to say, spoiler alert.
Guess the Game Quiz
Roll the dice and go all in.
Iconic Pop Culture Villains Quiz
Do you know what famous villain’s costume was inspired by samurai? What bad guy’s middle name is Marvolo? Test your knowledge about pop culture’s dark side with this quiz about iconic villains!
Videos
How Fred Astaire Became a Dancer
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
-
Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
Galleries
Vincent van Gogh
Paris
Leonardo da Vinci
Featured Categories
Art
5 Revealing Paintings by Caravaggio
The art critic Andrew Graham-Dixon writes of Caravaggio that “[h]e was a violent man, but he lived in violent times, and he was as much sinned against as sinning.” That may be an excuse for a man who was a murderer as well as a hugely influential artist of the late 16th and early 17th centuries,
The Group of Seven Remembered
Say “Group of Seven,” and most folks will assume you are referring to the organization of the world’s leading industrialized countries, whose annual summit provides the mother of all photo opportunities for the leaders of the U.S., the U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, and, until its
5 Incredible Native American Artists
These five artists have combined their Indigenous roots with revolutionary artistic techniques to preserve their cultures in the face of adversity. Through their various media, they represent themselves, their identity, their families, and their tribes. list, Native American, art, pottery,
10 Modernist Art Movements
The turn of the 20th century was a time rife with change, chiefly in the way in which people began to perceive civilization as a whole and its overall goal. The outbreak of World War I, or the supposed War to End All Wars, and the unprecedented devastation that ensued challenged the foundations of
Dance
Katherine Dunham
Katherine Dunham was an American dancer and choreographer who was a pioneer in the field of dance anthropology. Her fieldwork inspired her innovative interpretations of dance in the Caribbean, South America, and Africa. Dunham early became interested in dance. While a student at the University of
Savion Glover
Savion Glover is an American dancer and choreographer who became known for his unique pounding style of tap dancing, called “hitting.” He brought renewed interest in dance, particularly among youths and minorities. As a young child, Glover displayed an affinity for rhythms, and at age four he began
Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer who further developed the narrative aspect of dance and made innovative use of American themes, folk dances, and physical idioms in her choreography of musical plays and ballets. Her father was the playwright William Churchill DeMille, her
Mallika Sarabhai
Mallika Sarabhai is an Indian classical dancer and choreographer, actress, writer, and social activist known for her promotion of the arts as a vehicle for social change. The daughter of renowned physicist Vikram Sarabhai and dancer and choreographer Mrinalini Sarabhai, she was brought up in a
Film
Federico Fellini
Federico Fellini was an Italian film director who was one of the most celebrated and singular filmmakers of the period after World War II. Influenced early in his career by the Neorealist movement, he developed his own distinctive methods that superimposed dreamlike or hallucinatory imagery upon
Ava DuVernay
Ava DuVernay is an American director, producer, and writer whose film and television projects explore the African American experience. Among her best-known works are the film Selma (2014), the documentary 13th (2016), and the miniseries When They See Us (2019). DuVernay was the first African
David Lynch
David Lynch was an American filmmaker and screenwriter who is known for his uniquely disturbing and mind-bending visual work. His films juxtapose the cheerfully mundane with the shockingly macabre and often defy explanation. Lynch’s father was a research scientist with the U.S. Forest Service, and
Sofia Coppola
Sofia Coppola is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and fashion designer known best for her films The Virgin Suicides (1999) and Lost in Translation (2003). In 2004 she was the first American woman to be nominated for an Academy Award in the category of best director. Coppola is the