Part 6

PIRITH′OUS. A son of Ixion and great friend of Theseus, King of Athens. The marriage of Pirithous and Hippodamia became famous for the quarrel between the drunken Centaurs and the Lapithæ, who, with the help of Theseus, Pirithous, and Hercules, attacked and overcame the Centaurs, many of whom were killed, and the rest took to flight.

PI′THO, the goddess of Persuasion, daughter of Mercury and Venus. She is sometimes referred to under the name of Suada.

PLANTS, see Demogorgon.

PLEASURE, see Rembha.

PLEI′ADES, THE. Seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Their names were Electra, Alcyone, Celæno, Maia, Sterope, Taygete, and Merope. They were made a constellation, but as there are only six stars to be seen, the ancients believed that one of the sisters, Merope, married a mortal, and was ashamed to show herself amongst her sisters, who had all been married to gods.

“... The gray Dawn and the Pleiades before him danced, Shedding sweet influence.”

MILTON.

PLU′TO. King of the infernal regions. He was a son of Saturn and Ops, and husband of Proserpine, daughter of Ceres. He is sometimes referred to under the name Dis, and he personifies hell. His principal attendant was the three-headed dog Cerberus, and about his throne were the Eumenides, the Harpies, and the Furies.

“With equal foot, rich friend, impartial fate Knocks at the cottage and the palace gate. . . . . . . . Night soon will seize, and you must go below, To story’d ghosts and Pluto’s house below.”

CREECH.

PLU′TUS, the god of riches, was son of Jason and Ceres. He is described as being blind and lame; blind because he so often injudiciously bestows his riches, and lame because fortunes come so slowly.

PLU′VIUS. A name of Jupiter, because he had the rain in his control.

PODALIR′IUS. A famous surgeon, a son of Æsculapius, who was very serviceable amongst the soldiers in the Trojan war.

POET, see Parnassus.

POETRY, see Apollo, Calliope, The Muses.

POISONOUS HERBS, see Circe.

POISONOUS LAKE, see Avernus.

POLL′EAR. Son of Siva, the Hindoo god of wisdom.

POL′LUX. Twin brother of Castor. Their father was Jupiter and their mother Leda. He and his brother form the constellation Gemini. His Greek name was Polydeuces. See Ædepol.

POLYBO′TES. One of the giants who made war against Jupiter.

POLYDEC′TES was turned into stone when Perseus showed him Medusa’s head. See Perseus.

POLYDEU′CES. The Greek name of Pollux.

POLYHYM′NIA. Daughter of Jupiter and Mnemosyne. One of the Muses who presided over singing and rhetoric.

POLYPHE′MUS, one of the most celebrated of the Cyclopes, a son of Neptune. He captured Ulysses and twelve of his companions, and it is said that six of them were eaten. The rest escaped by the ingenuity of Ulysses, who destroyed the Cyclop’s one eye with a firebrand.

“Charybdis barks and Polyphemus roars.”

FRANCIS.

POLYX′ENA. Daughter of Priam, king of Troy. It was by her treachery that Achilles was shot in the heel.

POMO′NA. The Roman goddess of fruits and gardens.

“So to the sylvan lodge They came, that like Pomona’s arbour smiled With flowerets decked and fragrant smells.”

MILTON.

POPLAR-TREE, see Heliades.

PORTU′NUS (Palæmon), son of Ino, was god of harbours.

POSEI′DON. A name of Neptune.

PRAC′RITI. The Hindoo goddess of nature.

PREDICTIONS, see Cassandra.

PRI′AM. The last king of Troy. See Paris.

PRIA′PUS, the guardian of gardens and god of natural reproduction, was son of Venus and Bacchus.

“Priapus could not half describe the grace (Though god of gardens) of this charming place.”

POPE.

PRIS′CA. Another name of Vesta.

PRO′CRIS. Daughter of the king of Athens. See Cephalus.

PROG′NE, wife of Tereus. See Itys and Tereus.

“Complaining oft gives respite to our grief, From hence the wretched Progne sought relief.”

F. LEWIS.

PROME′THEUS was son of Japetes and father of Deucalion. He presumed to make clay men, and animate them with fire which he had stolen from heaven. This so displeased Jupiter that he sent him a box full of evils, which Prometheus refused; but his brother Epimetheus, not so cautious, opened it, and the evils spread over all the earth. Jupiter then punished Prometheus by commanding Mercury to bind him to Mount Caucasus, where a vulture daily preyed upon his liver, which grew in the night as much as it had been reduced in the day, so that the punishment was a prolonged torture. Hercules at last killed the vulture and set Prometheus free.

PROPHECY, see Nereus.

PROSER′PINE. A daughter of Jupiter and Ceres. Pluto carried her off to the infernal regions and made her his wife. She was known by the names of “the Queen of Hell,” Hecate, Juno Inferna, and Libitina.

“He sung, and hell consented To hear the poet’s prayer, Stern Proserpine relented, And gave him back the fair.”

F. LEWIS.

PRO′TEUS. A marine deity, who could foretell events and convert himself at will into all sorts of shapes.

“The changeful Proteus, whose prophetic mind, The secret cause of Bacchus’ rage divined.”

_The Lusiad._

“What chain can hold this varying Proteus fast?”

BUDGELL.

PSY′CHE. The wife of Cupid. The name is Greek, signifying the soul or spirit.

PYGMA′LION. A famous sculptor who had resolved to remain unmarried, but he made such a beautiful statue of a goddess that he begged Venus to give it life. His request being granted, Pygmalion married the animated statue.

“Few, like Pygmalion, doat on lifeless charms, Or care to clasp a statue in their arms.”

PY′LADES.

“His wine Was better, Pylades, than thine. ... If you please To chuse me for your Pylades.”

F. LEWIS.

PYLO′TIS. A Greek name of Minerva.

PYR′ACMON, one of the chiefs of the Cyclopes.

PY′ROIS (luminous). One of the four chariot horses of Sol.

PY′THIA. The priestess of Apollo at Delphi, who delivered the answers of the oracle. Also the name of the games celebrated in honour of Apollo’s victory over the Pithon.

PY′THON. A famous serpent killed by Apollo. See Septerion.

QUADRA’TUS. A surname given to Mercury, because some of his statues were four-sided.

QUAD′RIFRON′TIS. Janus was sometimes depicted with four faces instead of the usual two, and he was then called Janus Quadrifrontis.

QUI′ES. The Roman goddess of rest; she had a temple just outside the Collini gate of Rome.

QUIE′TUS. One of the names of Pluto.

QUIRI′NUS. A name given to Mars during war time; and Virgil refers to Jupiter under the same name.

QUOIT, see Hyacinthus.

RACE, see Atalanta.

RADAMAN′THUS, see Rhadamanthus.

RAGE, see Furies.

RAINBOW, see Iris.

RA′MA. A Hindoo god, who was the terrestrial representative of Vishnu.

RAM’S HIDE, see Golden Fleece.

REEDS, see Pan and Syrinx.

REM′BHA. The Hindoo goddess of pleasure.

REPRODUCTION, see Priapus.

REST, see Quies.

REVENGE, see Ate.

RHADAMAN′THUS, a son of Jupiter and Europa, was the judge of the Asiatics in the infernal regions.

“These are the realms of unrelenting fate: And awful Rhadamanthus rules the state. He hears and judges each committed crime, Inquires into the manner, place, and time; The conscious wretch must all his acts reveal, Loth to confess, unable to conceal; From the first moment of his vital breath, To the last hour of unrepenting death.”

DRYDEN.

RHAMNU′SIA. A name of Nemesis, from Rhamnus, a town in Attica, where she had a temple in which was her statue, made of one stone ten cubits high.

RHE′A. The Greek name of Cybele.

RHETORIC, see Calliope, Polyhymnia.

RICHES, see Plutus.

RIDDLE, see Sphinx.

RIM′MON. A Phrygian god of whom Milton says--

“... Rimmon, whose delightful seat Was fair Damascus, on the fertile banks Of Abana and Pharpar, lucid streams.”

RIOT, see Saturnalia.

RIVER OF FIRE, see Phlegethon.

ROADS, see Vialis.

ROBBER, see Cacus, Cœculus.

ROM′ULUS. The traditional founder of Rome. He was a son of Mars and Ilia, and twin brother of Remus. The infants were thrown into the Tiber, but were miraculously saved and suckled by a she-wolf, till they were found by Faustulus, a shepherd, who brought them up. Remus was killed in a quarrel with his brother, and Romulus became the famous emperor.

RUMI′A DEA. The Roman goddess of babes in arms.

RUNCI′A. The goddess of weeding or cleansing the ground.

SACRIFICES were ceremonious offerings made to the gods. To every deity a distinct victim was allotted, and the greatest care was always taken in the selection of them. Anything in any way blemished was considered as an insult to the god. At the time of the sacrifice the people were called together by heralds led by a procession of musicians. The priest, clothed in white, was crowned with a wreath made of the leaves of the tree which was sacred to the particular god to whom the sacrifice was offered. The victim had its horns gilt, and was adorned with a chaplet similar to that of the priest, and was decorated with bright-coloured ribbons. The priest then said, “Who is here?” to which the spectators replied, “Many good people.” “Begone all ye who are profane,” said the priest; and he then began a prayer addressed to all the gods. The sacrifice was begun by putting corn, frankincense, flour, salt, cakes, and fruit on the head of the victim. This was called the Immolation. The priest then took a cup of wine, tasted it, and handed it to the bystanders to taste also; some of it was then poured between the horns of the victim, and a few of the saturated hairs were pulled off and put in the fire which was burning on the altar. Then, turning to the east, the priest drew with his knife a crooked line along the back of the beast from the head to the tail, and told the assistants to kill the animal. This was done directly, and the entrails of the victim taken out and carefully examined by the Aruspices to find out what was prognosticated. The carcase was then divided, and the thighs, covered with fat, were put in the fire, and the rest of the animal was cut up, cooked, and eaten. This feast was celebrated with dancing, music, and hymns, in praise of the god in whose honour the sacrifice was made. On great occasions as many as a hundred bullocks were offered at one time; and it is said that Pythagoras made this offering when he found out the demonstration of the forty-seventh proposition of the book of Euclid.

SA′GA. The Scandinavian goddess of history.

SAGGITA′RIUS, see Chiron.

SAILS, see Dædalus.

SAL′AMAN′DERS. The genii who, according to Plato, lived in fire.

“The sprites of fiery termagants in flame, Mount up and take a Salamander’s name.”

POPE.

SALA′TIA, see Amphitrite.

SAL′II. The priests of Mars who had charge of the sacred shields.

SALMO′NEUS. A king of Elis who, for trying to imitate Jupiter’s splendours, was sent by the god straight to the infernal regions.

SA′LUS. The Roman god of health.

SAP′PHO, a celebrated poetess, a native of Lesbos, who flourished B.C. 610. Her only connection with the goddesses of the time is that the Greeks called her “The tenth Muse.”

SARCASM, see Momus.

SA′RON, a sea-god.

SAT′URN, King of the Universe, was father of Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto. These gods quarrelled amongst themselves as to the division of their father’s kingdom, which ended in Jupiter having heaven and earth, Neptune the sea, and Pluto the infernal regions.

SATURNA′LIA. Festivals held in honour of Saturn about the 16th or 18th of December. Principally famous for the riotous disorder which generally attended them.

SATUR′NIUS. A name given to Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, as sons of Saturn.

SATYA′VRA′TA. The Hindoo god of law. The same as Menu.

SAT′YRS were the attendants of Silenus, and were similar in most respects to the fauns who attended Pan. See Silenus.

“Five satyrs of the woodland sort, . . . . . . Their ears prick’d up, their noses short, . . . . . . With asses’ hoofs, great goggle eyes, And double chins of monstrous size.”

YALDEN.

SCYL′LA. A beautiful nymph who excited the jealousy of Neptune’s wife, Amphitrite, and was changed by the goddess into a frightful sea-monster, which had six fearfully ugly heads and necks, and who, rising unexpectedly from the deep, used to take off as many as six sailors from a vessel, and carry them to the bottom of the sea. An alternative danger with Charybdis.

“There on the right her dogs foul Scylla hides, Charybdis roaring on the left presides.”

VIRGIL.

SCYL′LA. A daughter of Nysus, who was changed into a lark for cutting off a charmed lock of her father’s hair. See Nysus.

SEA, see Neptune.

SEASONS, see Vertumnus.

SEA-WEED, see Glaucus.

SEGES′TA. A rural divinity who protected corn during harvest-time.

SEM. The Egyptian Hercules.

SEM′ELE, the mother of Bacchus, was born in a miraculous manner after Jupiter had visited her, at her special request, in all his terrible splendour. She was deified after her death, and named Thyone.

SEMI-DEI were the demi-gods.

SEMO′NES. Roman gods of a class between the “immortal” and the “mortal,” such as the Satyrs and Fauns.

SEPTE′RION. A festival held in honour of Apollo, at which the victory of that god over the Python was grandly represented.

SERA′PIS. The Egyptian Jupiter, and generally considered to be the same as Osiris. See Apis.

SERPENT. The Greeks and Romans considered the serpent as symbolical of guardian spirits, and as such were often engraved on their altars. See Æsculapius, Apollo, Chimera, Eurydice, and Medusa.

“Pleasing was his shape, And lovely; never since of serpent kind, Lovelier; not those that in Illyria changed Hermione and Cadmus, or the god In Epidaurus, nor to which transformed Ammonian Jove, or Capitoline, was seen.”

MILTON.

SESH′ANAG′A. The Egyptian Pluto.

SEWERS, see Cloacina.

SHARP-SIGHTEDNESS, see Lynceus.

SHEPHERDS, see Pan.

SHIELDS, see Ancilia.

SHIPS, see Neptune.

SILENCE, see Harpocrates and Tacita.

SILE′NUS. A Bacchanalian demi-god, the chief of the Satyrs. He is generally represented as a fat, drunken old man, riding on an ass, and crowned with flowers.

“And there two Satyrs on the ground, Stretched at his ease, their sire Silenus found.”

SINGING, see Polyhymnia, Thanyris.

SI′RENS, THE. Sea nymphs, who by their music allured mariners to destruction. To avoid the snare when nearing their abode, Ulysses had the ears of his companions stopped with wax, and had himself tied to the mast of his ship. They thus sailed past in safety; but the Sirens, thinking that their charms had lost their powers, drowned themselves.

SIS′YPHUS, son of Æolus and Enaretta. He was condemned to roll a stone to the top of a hill in the infernal regions, and as it rolled down again when he reached the summit, his punishment was perpetual.

“I turned my eye, and as I turned, surveyed A mournful vision! The Sisyphian shade, With many a weary step and many a groan, Up the high hill he heaves a huge round stone, The huge round stone, resulting with a bound, Thunders impetuous down, and smokes along the ground.”

POPE.

“Thy stone, O Sisyphus, stands still, Ixion rests upon his wheel, And the pale spectres dance.”

F. LEWIS.

SI′VA. In Hindoo mythology the “changer of form.”

SLAUGHTER, see Furies.

SLAVES, see Feronia.

SLEEP, see Caduceus, Morpheus, and Somnus.

SLEIP′NER. The eight-legged horse of Odin the chief of the Scandinavian gods.

SOL. The sun. The worship of the god Sol is the oldest on record, and though he is sometimes referred to as being the same as the god Apollo, there is no doubt he was worshipped by the Egyptians, Persians, and other nations long before the Apollo of the Greeks was heard of. See Surya.

“Sol through white curtains shot a timorous ray, And oped those eyes that must eclipse the day.”

POPE.

SOM′NUS. The god of sleep, son of Nox (Night). He was one of the infernal deities, and resided in a gloomy cave, void of light and air.

SOS′PITA. A name of Juno, as the safeguard of women.

SO′TER. A Greek name of Jupiter, meaning deliverer.

SOUL, see Psyche.

SOUTH WIND, see Auster.

SPEAR, see Pelias.

SPHINX, THE. A monster having the head and breasts of a woman, the body of a dog, the tail of a serpent, the wings of a bird, the paws of a lion, and a human voice. She lived in the country near Thebes, and proposed to every passer-by the following enigma:--“What animal is that which walks on four legs in the morning, two at noon, and three in the evening.” Œdipus solved the riddle thus:--Man is the animal; for, when an infant he crawls on his hands and feet, in the noontide of life he walks erect, and as the evening of his existence sets in, he supports himself with a stick. When the sphinx found her riddle solved she destroyed herself.

SPIDER, see Arachne.

SPINDLE, see Pallas.

SPINNING, see Arachne, Ergotis.

SPRING, see Vertumnus.

STABLE, see Augæas.

STARS, see Aurora.

STEREN′TIUS. The Roman god who invented the art of manuring lands. See also Picumnus.

STER′OPES. One of the Cyclopes.

STONE, see Medusa and Phlegyas.

STONE (rolling), see Sisyphus.

STREETS, see Apollo.

STYM′PHALI′DES. The carnivorous birds destroyed in the sixth labour of Hercules.

STYX. A noted river of hell, which was held in such high esteem by the gods that they always swore “By the Styx,” and such an oath was never violated. See Achilles and Thetis.

“To seal his sacred vow by Styx he swore:-- The lake with liquid pitch,--the dreary shore.”

DRYDEN.

“... Infernal rivers that disgorge Into the burning lake their baleful streams, Abhorréd Styx, the flood of deadly hate.”

MILTON.

SUA′DA, the goddess of Persuasion. See Pitho.

SUCCESS, see Bonus Eventus.

SUN, see Aurora, Belus, Sol, and Surya.

SUNFLOWER, see Clytie.

SURA′DE′VI. The Hindoo goddess of wine.

SUR′GEON, see Podalirius.

SU′RY′A. The Hindoo god corresponding to the Roman Sol, the sun.

SWALLOW, see Itys.

SWAN, see Cygnus and Leda.

SWIFTNESS, see Atalanta.

SWINE, see Circe.

SYLPHS. Genii who, according to Plato, lived in the air.

“The light coquettes as Sylphs aloft repair, And sport and flutter in the fields of air.”

POPE.

SYLVES′TER. The name of Mars when he was invoked to protect cultivated land from the ravages of war.

SYRINX. The name of the nymph who, to escape from the importunities of Pan, was by Diana changed into reeds, out of which he made his celebrated pipes, and named them “The Syrinx.”

TAC′ITA. The goddess of Silence. See Harpocrates.

TAN′TALUS. Father of Niobe and Pelops, who, as a punishment for serving up his son Pelops as meat at a feast given to the gods, was placed in a pool of water in the infernal regions; but the waters receded from him whenever he attempted to quench his burning thirst. Hence the word tantalising.

Speaking of this god, Homer’s Ulysses says, “I saw the severe punishment of Tantalus. In a lake, whose waters approached to his lips, he stood burning with thirst, without the power to drink. Whenever he inclined his head to the stream, some deity commanded it to be dry, and the dark earth appeared at his feet. Around him lofty trees spread their fruits to view; the pear, the pomegranate, and the apple, the green olive, and the luscious fig quivered before him, which, whenever he extended his hand to seize them, were snatched by the winds into clouds and obscurity.”

“There, Tantalus, along the Stygian bound, Pours out deep groans,--his groans through hell resound. E’en in the circling flood refreshment craves And pines with thirst amidst a sea of waves.”

“... And of itself the water flies All taste of living wight, as once it fled The lip of Tantalus.” MILTON.

TAR′TARUS. An inner region of hell, to which the gods sent the exceptionally depraved.

TELCHI′NES. Priests of Cybele, who were famous magicians.

TEL′LUS. A name of Cybele, wife of Saturn.

TEMPESTS, see Fro.

TEMPLE. An edifice erected to the honour of a god or goddess in which the sacrifices were offered.

TENTH MUSE. Sappho was so called.

TER′EUS was a son of Mars. He married Progne, daughter of the king of Athens, but became enamoured of her sister Philomela, who, however, resented his attentions, which so enraged him that he cut out her tongue. When Progne heard of her husband’s unfaithfulness she took a terrible revenge (see Itys). Progne was turned into a swallow, Philomela into a nightingale, Itys into a pheasant, and Tereus into a hoopoo, a kind of vulture, some say an owl.

TERGEMI′NA. A name of Diana, alluding to her triform divinity as goddess of heaven, earth, and hell.

TER′MINUS. The Roman god of boundaries.

TERPSICH′ORE. One of the nine Muses; she presided over dancing.

TERRA. The earth; one of the most ancient of the Grecian goddesses.

THALES′TRIS. A queen of the Amazons.

THALI′A. One of the nine Muses; she presided over festivals and comedy.

THALI′A. One of the Graces.

THAN′YRIS. A skilful singer, who presumed to challenge the Muses to sing, upon condition that if he did not sing best they might inflict any penalty they pleased. He was, of course, defeated, and the Muses made him blind.

THE′IA. A daughter of Cœlus and Terra, wife of Hyperion.

THE′MIS, a daughter of Cœlus and Terra, and wife of Jupiter, was the Roman goddess of laws, ceremonies, and oracles.

THE′SEUS. One of the most famous of the Greek heroes. He was a son of Ægeus, King of Athens.

“Breasts that with sympathising ardour glowed, And holy friendship such as Theseus vowed.”

BUDGELL.

THESMONPHO′MUS. A name of Ceres.

THE′TIS. A sea-goddess, daughter of Nereus and Doris. Her husband was Peleus, King of Thessaly, and she was the mother of the famous Achilles, whom she rendered all but invulnerable by dipping him into the River Styx. See Achilles.

THIEF, see Laverna, Mercury.

THOR. The Scandinavian war god (son of Odin), who had rule over the aerial regions, and, like Jupiter, hurled thunder against his foes.

THOR’S BELT, is a girdle which doubles his strength whenever the war-god puts it on.

THOTH. The Mercury of the Egyptians.

THREAD OF LIFE, see Fates.

THUNDERBOLTS, see Cyclops.

THUNDERER, THE, Jupiter. See Tonitrualis.

“O king of gods and men, whose awful hand Disperses thunder on the seas and land, Disposing all with absolute command.”

VIRGIL.

“The eternal thunderer sat enthroned in gold.”

HOMER.

“So when thick clouds enwrap the mountain’s head, O’er heaven’s expanse like one black ceiling spread; Sudden the thunderer, with a flashing ray, Bursts through the darkness and lets down the day.”

POPE.

THY′A, a name of Ops.

THYA′DES. Priestesses of Bacchus, who ran wild in the hills, wearing tiger-skins and carrying torches.

THYR′SUS, a kind of javelin. See Bacchus.

TIDES, see Naryanan.

TIME (or Saturn). The husband of Virtue and father of Truth.

TISIPH′ONE. One of the Furies.

TI′TAN. Elder brother of Saturn, who made war against him, and was ultimately vanquished by Jupiter.

TI′TANS were the supporters of Titan in his war against Saturn and Jupiter.

TI′THO′NUS. The husband of Aurora. At the request of his wife the gods granted him immortality, but she forgot at the same time to ask that he should be granted perpetual youth. The consequence was that Tithonus grew old and decrepit, while Aurora remained as fresh as the morning. The gods, however, changed him into a grasshopper, which is supposed to moult as it gets old, and grows young again.

TIT′YUS. A son of Jupiter. A giant who was thrown into the innermost hell for insulting Diana. He, like Prometheus, has a vulture constantly feeding on his ever-growing liver.

TOIL, see Atlas.

TOMBS, see Manes.

TONGUE, see Tereus.

TONITRUA′LIS. The Thunderer; a name of Jupiter.

TOWERS, see Cybele.

TRAGEDY, see Melpomene.

TREES, see Aristæus.

TRIBULATION, see Echidna.

TRIFOR′MIS, see Tergemina.