Bulfinch’s Mythology by Thomas Bulfinch (best ebook reader for chromebook TXT) 📕

daughter of King Priam of Troy. Pomona

(Po-moˈna), goddess of fruit-trees. See Vertumnus.

Porrex and Ferrex

(Porˈrex and Ferˈrex), sons of Leir, King of Britain.

Portunus

(Por-tuˈnus), Roman name for Palaemon.

Poseidon

(Po-seiˈdon (Neptune)), ruler of the ocean.

Precipice

(Precˈi-pice), threshold of Helas hall.

Prester John

(Presˈter John), a rumored priest or presbyter, a Christian pontiff in Upper Asia, believed in but never found.

Priam

(Priˈam), king of Troy.

Priwen

(Priˈwen), Arthur’s shield.

Procris

(Proˈcris), beloved but jealous wife of Cephalus.

Procrustes

(Pro-crusˈtes), who seized travellers and bound them on his iron bed, stretching the short ones and cutting short the tall; thus also himself served by Theseus.

Proetus

(Proeˈtus), jealous of Bellerophon.

Prometheus

(Pro-meˈtheus), creator of man, who stole fire from heaven for man’s use.

Proserpine

(Prosˈer-pine), the same as Persephone, goddess of all growing things, daughter of Ceres, carried off by Pluto.

Protesilaus

(Pro-tes-i-laˈus), slain by Hector the Trojan, allowed by the gods to return for three hours’ talk with his widow Laodomia.

Proteus

(Proˈteus), the old man of the sea.

Prudence Metis

(Pruˈdence (Metis)), spouse of Jupiter.

Pryderi

(Pryˈderi), son of Pwyll.

Psyche

(Psyˈche), 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

(Pu-raˈnas), Hindu Scriptures.

Pwyll

(Pwyll), Prince of Dyved.

Pygmalion

(Pyg-maˈli-on), sculptor in love with a statue he had made, brought to life by Venus; also brother of Queen Dido.

Pygmies

(Pygˈmies), nation of dwarfs, at war with the Cranes.

Pylades

(Pyˈla-des), son of Straphius, friend of Orestes.

Pyramus

(Pyrˈa-mus), who loved Thisbe, next-door neighbor, and, their parents opposing, they talked through cracks in the house-wall, agreeing to meet in the nearby 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

(Pyrˈrha), wife of Deucalion.

Pyrrhus Neoptolemus

(Pyrˈrhus (Neoptolemus)), son of Achilles.

Pythagoras

(Py-thagˈo-ras), 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

(Pythˈi-a), priestess of Apollo at Delphi.

Python

(Pyˈthon), serpent springing from Deluge slum, destroyed by Apollo.

Q Quirinus from quiris

(Qui-riˈnus (from quiris), a lance or spear), a war god, said to be Romulus, founder of Rome.

R Rabican

(Rabˈi-can), noted horse.

Ragnarok

(Rag-na-rokˈ), the twilight (or ending) of the gods.

Rajputs

(Rajˈputs), minor Hindu caste.

Regan

(Reˈgan), daughter of Leir.

Regillus

(Re-gilˈlus), lake in Latium, noted for battle fought nearby between the Romans and the Latins.

Reggio

(Regˈgi-o), family from which Rogero sprang.

Remus

(Reˈmus), brother of Romulus, founder of Rome.

Rhadamanthus

(Rhad-a-manˈthus), son of Jupiter and Europa, after his death one of the judges in the lower world.

Rhapsodist

(Rhapˈso-dist), professional reciter of poems among the Greeks.

Rhea

(Rheˈa), female Titan, wife of Saturn (Cronos), mother of the chief gods, worshipped in Greece and Rome.

Rhine

(Rhine), river.

Rhinemaidens

(Rhine-maidens), or daughters, three water-nymphs, Flosshilda, Woglinda, and Wellgunda, set to guard the Nibelungen Hoard, buried in the Rhine.

Rhodes

(Rhodes), one of the seven cities claiming to be Homer’s birthplace.

Rhodope

(Rhoˈdo-pe), mountain in Thrace.

Rhongomyant

(Rhonˈgom-yant), Arthur’s lance.

Rhoecus

(Rhoeˈcus), a youth, beloved by a Dryad, but who brushed away a bee sent by her to call him to her, and she punished him with blindness.

Rhiannon

(Rhi-anˈnon), wife of Pwyll.

Rinaldo

(Ri-nalˈdo), one of the bravest knights of Charlemagne.

River Ocean

(River Ocean), flowing around the earth.

Robert de Beauvais

(Robert de Beau-vaisˈ), Norman poet (1257).

Robin Hood

(Robˈin Hood), famous outlaw in English legend, about time of Richard Coeur de Lion.

Rockingham

(Rockˈing-ham), forest of.

Rodomont

(Roˈdo-mont), king of Algiers.

Rogero

(Ro-geˈro), noted Saracen knight.

Romanus

(Ro-maˈnus), legendary great-grandson of Noah.

Romulus

(Romˈu-lus), founder of Rome.

Ron

(Ron), Arthur’s lance.

Roncesvalles

(Ronces-vallesˈ), battle of.

Round Table

(Round Table), King Arthur’s, instituted by Merlin the Sage for Pendragon, Arthur’s father, as a knightly order, continued and made famous by Arthur and his knights.

Runic characters

(Ruˈnic characters), or runes, alphabetic signs used by early Teutonic peoples, written or graved on metal or stone.

Rutulians

(Ru-tuˈli-ans), an ancient people in Italy, subdued at an early period by the Romans.

Ryence

(Ryˈence), king in Ireland.

S Sabra

(Saˈbra), maiden for whom Severn River was named, daughter of Locrine and Estrildis, thrown into river Severn by Locrine’s wife, transformed to a river-nymph, poetically named Sabrina.

Sacripant

(Sacˈri-pant), king of Circassia.

Saffire

(Safˈfire), Sir, knight of Arthur.

Sagas

(Saˈgas), Norse tales of heroism, composed by the Skalds.

Sagramour

(Sagˈra-mour), knight of Arthur.

St. Michaels Mount

(St. Michael’s Mount), precipitous pointed rock-hill on the coast of Brittany, opposite Cornwall.

Sakyasinha

(Sak-ya-sinˈha), the Lion, epithet applied to Buddha.

Salamander

(Salˈa-manˈder), a lizard-like animal, fabled to be able to live in fire.

Salamis

(Salˈa-mis), Grecian city.

Salmoneus

(Sal-moˈneus), son of Aeolus and Enarete, and brother of Sisyphus.

Salomon

(Salˈo-mon), king of Brittany, at Charlemagne’s court.

Samhin

(Samhˈin), or “fire of peace,” a Druidical festival.

Samian sage Pythagoras

(Saˈmi-an sage (Pythagoras)).

Samos

(Saˈmos), island in the Aegean Sea.

Samothracian gods

(Sam-o-thraˈcian gods), a group of agricultural divinities, worshipped in Samothrace.

Samson

(Samˈson), Hebrew hero, thought by some to be original of Hercules.

Sangreal

(San-greal), the Holy. See Graal.

Sappho

(Sapphˈo), Greek poetess, who leaped into the