Proetus, jealous of Bellerophon
Prometheus, creator of man, who stole fire from heaven for man’s use
Proserpine, the same as Persephone, goddess of all growing things, daughter of Ceres, carried off by Pluto
Protesilaus, slain by Hector the Trojan, allowed by the gods to return for three hours’ talk with his widow Laodomia
Proteus, the old man of the sea
Prudence (Metis), spouse of Jupiter
PRYDERI, son of Pwyll
Psyche, a beautiful maiden, personification of the human soul, sought by Cupid (Love), to whom she responded, lost him by curiosity to see him (as he came to her only by night), but finally through his prayers was made immortal and restored to him, a symbol of immortality
PURANAS, Hindu Scriptures
Pwyll, Prince of Dyved
Pygmalion, sculptor in love with a statue he had made, brought to life by Venus, brother of Queen Dido
Pygmies, nation of dwarfs, at war with the Cranes
Pylades, son of Straphius, friend of Orestes
Pyramus, who loved Thisbe, next door neighbor, and, their parents opposing, they talked through cracks in the house wall, agreeing to meet in the near by woods, where Pyramus, finding a bloody veil and thinking Thisbe slain, killed himself, and she, seeing his body, killed herself (Burlesqued in Shakespeare’s “Midsummer Night’s Dream”)
Pyrrha, wife of Deucalion
Pyrrhus (Neoptolemus), son of Achilles
Pythagoras, Greek philosopher (540 BC), who thought numbers to be the essence and principle of all things, and taught transmigration of souls of the dead into new life as human or animal beings
Pythia, priestess of Apollo at Delphi
PYTHIAN GAMES
PYTHIAN ORACLE
Python, serpent springing from Deluge slum, destroyed by Apollo
Q
Quirinus (from quiris, a lance or spear), a war
god, said to be
Romulus, founder of Rome
R
Rabican, noted horse
RAGNAROK, the twilight (or ending) of the gods
RAJPUTS, minor Hindu caste
Regan, daughter of Leir
REGILLUS, lake in Latium, noted for battle fought near by between the Romans and the Latins
Reggio, family from which Rogero sprang
Remus, brother of Romulus, founder of Rome
Rhadamanthus, son of Jupiter and Europa after his death one of the judges in the lower world
Rhapsodist, professional reciter of poems among the Greeks
Rhea, female Titan, wife of Saturn (Cronos), mother of the chief gods, worshipped in Greece and Rome