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ENIGMA (Gr. aTvcyµa)

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Originally appearing in Volume V09, Page 647 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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ENIGMA (Gr. aTvcyµa) , a riddle or See also:puzzle, especially a See also:form of See also:verse or See also:prose See also:composition in which the See also:answer is concealed by means of metaphors. Such were the famous riddle of the See also:Sphinx and the riddling answers of the See also:ancient oracles. The composition of enigmas was a favourite amusement in See also:Greece and prizes were often given at banquets for the best See also:solution of them (Athen. x. 457). In See also:France during the 17th See also:century enigma-making became fashionable. Boileau, See also:Charles See also:Riviere See also:Dufresny and J. J. See also:Rousseau did not consider it beneath their See also:literary dignity. In 1646 the See also:abbe Charles Cotier (1604—1682) published a Recueil See also:des enigmes de ce temps. The word is applied figuratively to anything inexplicable or difficult of understanding.

End of Article: ENIGMA (Gr. aTvcyµa)

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