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