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Xerxes I - king of Persia from 486-465 BCE; his military invasion of Greece, the Persian Wars (480-479 BCE), is chronicles in Herodotus' Histories; according to Herodotus, Xerxes led an immense army of Persians and mercenaries into Greece in order to conquer the territories; the Persians were beaten back by united Greek forces at the battle of Plataea; Xerxes I was murdered in 465 BCE.

Xenophon - (Perseus Encyclopedia entry 4) ancient Greek author; wrote the Anabasis, the Hellenica, the Cyropaedia, the Oeconomica and other works.

Xystos - a gymnasium at Elis where runners and pentathletes trained one month prior to the start of the ancient Olympic games.

• The Ancient Olympics

xystus - (Latin) a walkway decorated with trees or a walk through a colonnade.

Y

ymber - (Latin) rain storm, pouring rain.

Z

Zeno of Citium - (335 - 263 BCE) Greek philosopher and founder of Stoicism; arrived in Athens in 313 BCE; having lived and studied in Athens for about 12 years, he opened his Stoic school of philosophy at the Stoa Poikile there, which specialized in paradoxes in 300 BCE.

Zeus - son of Cronus and Rhea, brother and husband of Hera; defeated Cronus to become the greatest of the Olympian gods; read the Homeric Hymn to Zeus to learn more.

• Longman's Classical Mythology online: The Twelve Olympians: Zeus, Hera, and their Children