Chapter Godiva to Golden Ass of G by Brewer's Phrase & Fable

Gojam A province of Abyssinia (Africa). Captain Speke traced it to Lake Victoria Nyanza, near the Mountains of the Moon (1861).

"The swelling Nile.
From his two springs in Gojam's sunny realm,
Pure-welling out." Thomson: Summer.

Golconda in Hindustan, famous for its diamond mines.

Gold By the ancient alchemists, gold represented the sun, and silver the moon. In heraldry, gold is expressed by dots.
   All he touches turns to gold. It is said of Midas that whatever he touched turned to gold. (See Rainbow.)

"In manu illius plumbum aurum flebat." - Petronius.

Gold All that glitters is not gold. (Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, ii. 7.)

"All thing which that schineth as the gold
is nought gold."
Chaucer: Canterbury Tales, 12,890.

"Non teneas aurum totum quod splendet ut aurum
Nec pulchrum pomum quodlibet esse bonum."
Alanus de Insulis: Parabolæ.

   He has got the gold of Tolosa. His ill gains will never prosper. Cæpio, the Roman consul, in his march to Gallia Narbonensis, stole from Tolosa (Toulouse) the gold and silver consecrated by the Cimbrian Druids to their gods. When he encountered the Cimbrians both he and Mallius, his brother-consul, were defeated, and 112,000 of their men were left upon the field (B.C. 106).
   The gold of Nibelungen. Brought ill-luck to every one who possessed it. (Icelandic Edda.) (See Fatal Gifts.)
   Mannheim gold. A sort of pinchbeck, made of copper and zinc, invented at Mannheim, in Germany.
   Mosaic gold is "aurum musivum, " a bi-sulphuret of tin used by the ancients in tesselating. (French, mosaique.)

Gold Purse of Spain Andalusia is so called because it is the city from which Spain derives its chief wealth.

Golden The Golden ("Auratus"). So Jean Dorat, one of the Pleiad poets of France, was called by a pun on his name. This pun may perhaps pass muster; not so the preposterous title given to him of "The French Pindar." (1507-1588.)
   Golden-tongued (Greek, Chrysologos). So St. Peter, Bishop of Ravenna, was called. (433-450.)
   The golden section of a line. Its division into two such parts that the rectangle contained by the smaller segment and the whole line equals the square on the larger segment. (Euclid, ii. 11.)

Golden Age The best age; as the golden age of innocence, the golden age of literature. Chronologers divide the time between Creation and the birth of Christ into ages; Hesiod describes five, and Lord Byron adds a sixth, "The Age of Bronze." (See Age, Augustan.)
   i. The Golden Age of Ancient Nations:
   (1) NEW ASSYRIAN EMPIRE. From the reign of Esar-haddon or Assur Adon (Assyria's prince), third son of Sennacherib, to the end of Sarac's reign (B.C. 691-606).
   (2) CHALDÆO - BABYLONIAN EMPIRE. From the reign of Nabopolassar or Nebo-pul-Assur (Nebo the great Assyrian) to that of Belshazzar or Bel- shah-Assur (Bel king-of Assyria) (B.C. 606-538).
   (3) CHINA. The Tang dynasty (626-684), and especially the reign of Tae-tsong (618-626).
   (4) EGYPT. The reigns of Sethos I. and Rameses II. (B.C. 1336-1224).
   (5) MEDIA. The reign of Cyaxares or Kai-ax-Arës (the-king son-of "Mars") (B.C. 634-594).
   (6) PERSIA. The reigns of Khosru I., and II. (531-628).
   ii. The Golden Age of Modern Nations.
   (1) ENGLAND. The reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603).
   (2) FRANCE. Part of the reigns of Louis XIV. and XV. (1640-1740).
   (3) GERMANY. The reign of Charles V. (1519-1558).
   (4) PORTUGAL. From John I. to the close of Sebastian's reign (1383-1578). In 1580 the crown was seized by Felipe II. of Spain.
   (5) PRUSSIA. The reign of Frederick the Great (1740-1780).
   (6) RUSSIA. The reign of Czar Peter the Great (1672-1725).
   (7) SPAIN. The reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, when the crowns of Castile and Aragon were united (1474-1516)
   (8) SWEDEN. From Gustavus Vasa to the close of the reign of Gustavus Adolphus (1523-1632).

Golden Apple "What female heart can gold despise? " (Gray) In allusion to the fable of Atalanta, the swiftest of all mortals. She vowed to marry only that man who could outstrip her in a race. Milanion threw down three golden apples, and Atalanta, stopping to pick them up, lost the race.