What is "equus"

Equus \E"quus\, n. [L., horse.] (Zo["o]l.) A genus of mammals, including the horse, ass, etc.

"a horse," Latin, see equine.

Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses.

Shaffer was inspired to write Equus when he heard of a crime involving a 17-year-old who blinded six horses in a small town near Suffolk. He set out to construct a fictional account of what might have caused the incident, without knowing any of the details of the crime. The play's action is something of a detective story, involving the attempts of the child psychiatrist Dr. Martin Dysart, to understand the cause of the boy's actions while wrestling with his own sense of purpose. The stage show ran in London between 1973 and 1975, directed by John Dexter: later came the Broadway productions that starred Anthony Hopkins as Dysart (later played by Richard Burton, Leonard Nimoy, and Anthony Perkins), and from the London production, Peter Firth as Alan. Tom Hulce replaced Firth during the Broadway run. The Broadway production ran for 1,209 performances. Marian Seldes appeared in every single performance of the Broadway run, first in the role of Hesther and then as Dora.

Numerous other issues inform the narrative. Most important are religious and ritual sacrifice themes, and the manner in which character Alan Strang constructs a personal theology involving the horses and the supreme godhead, "Equus". Alan sees the horses as representative of God and confuses his adoration of his "God" with sexual attraction. Also important is Shaffer's examination of the conflict between personal values and satisfaction and societal mores, expectations and institutions. In reference to the play's classical structure, themes and characterisation, Shaffer has discussed the conflict between Apollonian and Dionysian values and systems in human life.

Equus may refer to:

• Equus (genus), a genus of animals including horses, donkeys, zebras and onagers
• Equus (play), a play by Peter Shaffer
• Equus (film), a film adaptation of the Peter Shaffer play
• Equus (comics), a comic book character; an opponent of Superman
• Equus (magazine), American monthly lifestyle magazine for horse enthusiasts

Equus is a genus of mammals in the family Equidae, which includes horses, asses, and zebras. Within Equidae, Equus is the only recognized extant genus, comprising seven living species. The term equine refers to any member of this genus, including horses. Like Equidae more broadly, Equus has numerous extinct species known only from fossils. The genus most likely originated in North America and spread quickly to the Old World. Equines are odd-toed ungulates with slender legs, long heads, relatively long necks, manes (erect in most subspecies) and long tails. All species are herbivorous, and mostly grazers with simpler digestive systems than ruminants but able to subsist on lower quality vegetation.

While the domestic horse and donkey (along with their feral descendants) exist worldwide, wild equine populations are limited to Africa and Asia. Wild equine social systems come in two forms; a harem system with tight-knit groups consisting of one adult male or stallion, several females or mares and their young or foals; and a territorial system where males establish territories with resources that attract females, which associate very fluidly. In both systems, females take care of their offspring but males may play a role as well. Equines communicate with each other both visually and vocally. Human activities have threatened wild equine populations and out of the seven living species, only the plains zebra remains widespread and abundant.

Equus is a fictional comic book supervillain, a cyborg mercenary in the DC Comics universe who serves as an opponent of Superman. Created by writer Brian Azzarello and artist Jim Lee, he first appeared in Superman #206 (August 2004), which was published in June 2004 as part of the "For Tomorrow" storyline.

Equus is a 1977 British-American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Richard Burton. Peter Shaffer wrote the screenplay based on his play Equus. The film also featured Peter Firth, Colin Blakely, Joan Plowright, Eileen Atkins, and Jenny Agutter.

Equus is a monthly magazine for horse owners that was first published in November 1977.

The intent of the magazine is succinctly stated by founding editor and publisher Ami Shinitzky's original working title: The Horseman's Veterinary Journal. In the editorial in the first issue Shinitzky wrote, "EQUUS serves as a bridge between the veterinarian and the horse owner, bringing to our readers the expertise of the nation's leading authorities on the care and maintenance of the animal through the talents of writers who are able to translate often technical information into a language easily understood and rapidly absorbed."

Carrying the slogan, "The horse owner's resource", Equus is meant to be collected by subscribers so they might use articles in past issues as a reference. Each issue has a prominent issue identification number on the cover (e.g., the June 2005 issue is "Equus 332"), and an index to articles is published annually.

After the June 1998 sale of Shinitzky's Fleet Street Publishing to PRIMEDIA, the magazine was published by the PRIMEDIA Equine Group. From 2007 to 2010, with the completion of the sale of the PRIMEDIA Enthusiast Media group, the publisher was Source Interlink. Since 2010, Equus has been owned by Active Interest Media and is based in Gaithersburg, Maryland.