ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTU–Z

P to Peitho Pelasgians to Phaedrias Phaeo to Pitys Plataea to Polyphemos 2 Polyxena to Pyxis 2

Pelasgians to Phaedrias

Pelasgians

A prehistoric people inhabiting Greece, Asia Minor and the islands of the Mediterranean Sea as early as the third millennium BCE.

The historian Herodotus relates the story that when the Pelasgians were driven from Attika (Attica), they kidnapped a number of Athenian women and took them to the island of Lemnos; the women were defiant and taught their children to act and speak like Athenians; the Pelasgians killed the captive mothers and children and thus the term Lemnian Deeds became an enduring insult to the honor and manhood of the inhabitants of Lemnos.

Peleus
Peleos

The legendary king of the Myrmidons; one of the sons of Aeakus (Aeacus) and Endies; Peleus is most noted as the husband of Thetis and the father of Akhilleus (Achilles).

Peleus and his brother, Telamon, had killed their half-brother, Phokos (Phocos), and were driven from their home on the island of Aegina; the two brothers went their separate ways until they both answered the summons of Iason (Jason) and joined the crew of the Argo as Argonauts.

As a young man, Peleus sought refuge in Phthia and, after a dispute with the king’s wife, Hippolyte, the king, Akastos (Acastus), left Peleus on Mount Pelion to die; Peleus had been given a knife made by the hands of Hephaistos (Hephaestus) but Akastos took the knife so that Peleus’ would be defenseless; the Centaur, Kheiron (Chiron) restored the knife to Peleus and saved him from certain death; the name Peleus means Man of Pelion because he had been abandoned on Mount Pelion.

Peleus was married to the goddess, Thetis, because Zeus was afraid that her son would de-throne him, thus by having Thetis marry a mortal, like Peleus, her son would also be mortal and have no chance of threatening Zeus’ power; when Peleus accidentally caught Thetis bathing Akhilleus in fire, he renounced her and placed Akhilleus under the supervision of Phoinix (Phoenix).

Pelias

The son of Poseidon (lord of the Sea) and Tyro; he was the brother of Neleus and the step-brother of Aeson.

Pelias assumed the throne of Iolkos (Iolcos) and arranged for Aeson’s son, Iason (Jason) to go on the seemingly suicidal mission of retrieving the Golden Fleece; when Iason returned with the Fleece, Pelias convinced Aeson to kill himself; as a suitable revenge, Iason’s sorceress wife, Medea, used her powers to convince Pelias’ daughters that if they chopped their father into pieces and boiled him in a special potion he would regain his youth; Pelias did not survive the ordeal and died at the hands of his own children; Pelias’ son, Akastos (Acastus), assumed the throne after his father’s death and forced Iason and Medea to leave Iolkos.

Pelike

A storage jar with an oval body that is wider at the base than at the neck, it has a flat base and two handles extending from the shoulders to the lip.

Pelion

Mount Pelion; A wooded mountain in Thessaly; sometimes considered more of a hill than a mountain; located near the eastern coast of the mainland and having a height of 5,250 feet (1,600 meters).

The slopes of Pelion were the home of the Centaurs before the war with the Lapithae; during their war with the Immortals, the Gigantes (Giants) tried to pile Mount Ossa on top of Mount Pelion in order to reach the summit of Mount Olympos (Olympus).

Mount Pelion was the site of the marriage between Thetis and Peleus; as one of the wedding gifts; the Centaur, Kheiron (Chiron), presented an ashen spear which he had fashioned from wood cut from Mount Pelion; the spear was polished by the goddess, Athene (Athena) and, as finishing touch, Hephaistos (Hephaestus) fitted it with a head; eventually the spear was used by Akhilleus (Achilles) during the siege of the city of Troy; men from the area around Mount Pelion were part of the Greek forces and were called Magnesians, i.e. men from Magnesia.

The ship the Argonauts used, the Argo, was built below Mount Pelion.

When the Persians invaded Greece circa 480 BCE, their large naval fleet was wrecked by storms off the coast near Mount Pelion; also spelled Pelium.

Pella

The birthplace of Alexander the Great; a city in northern Greece and the capital of ancient Makedon (Macedon).

Pelopia

The daughter of Thyestes and, in union with Thyestes, the mother of Aigisthos (Aegisthus).

Pelopidas

A Greek general and statesman from the city of Thebes; he was responsible for bringing Thebes to prominence as the dominate power in northern Greece with his successful military and political achievements.

Pelopidas and his confederates ejected the Spartan tyrants from Thebes, circa 379 BCE, and restored democratic rule to the city; he was killed in battle in 364 BCE at the battle of Kynoskephalae (Cynoscephalae) against Alexander of Pherae.

Peloponnesian Peninsula

The Peloponnesian Peninsula is appropriately equal to one third of the land-mass of Greece with an area of 8,356 square miles (21,642 square kilometers) and is the most southwestern part of the country.

Greece can be divided into several geographical areas which might include: the Mainland, the Peloponnesian Peninsula, the Islands and the Colonies; the Peloponnesian Peninsula was the seat of the early Mykenaean (Mycenaean) civilization and the powerful city-states of Argos and Sparta; also called simply the Peloponnesus, i.e. the land of Pelops, named after the legendary king, Pelops.

Peloponnesian War

(431-404 BCE) The Peloponnesian War was a long and bloody conflict between Athens and Sparta for the domination of Greece.

Athens was the undisputed power in Greece before the war but after twenty-seven years of constant warfare, Sparta assumed hegemony (leadership) of all the Greek speaking people; the history of the Peloponnesian War is largely preserved by the works of Thukydides (Thucydides) and Xenophon with detailed, and often, confusing accounts of the battles and politics which perpetuated the war.

One interesting consequence of this long war was that an entire generation of men had no skill other than that of warfare and thus, after the war, Greece had thousands of men who had no practical contribution to make to a peaceful society.

Peloponnesus

Another name for the Peloponnesian Peninsula.

The Peloponnesian Peninsula is appropriately equal to one third of the land-mass of Greece with an area of 8,356 square miles (21,642 square kilometers) and is the most southwestern part of the country.

Greece can be divided into several geographical areas which might include: the Mainland, the Peloponnesian Peninsula, the Islands and the Colonies; the Peloponnesian Peninsula was the seat of the early Mykenaean (Mycenaean) civilization and the powerful city-states of Argos and Sparta; Peloponnesus literally means, the land of Pelops, named after the legendary king, Pelops.

Pelops

Husband of Hippodamia and father of Thyestes and Atreus; he was a son of Tantalus and Dione.

Pelops was slaughtered by his father and served to the Olympians as food; only the goddess Demeter unwittingly ate the flesh of Pelops but the other Olympians abstained; Hermes restored him to life and replaced the shoulder that Demeter had eaten with ivory.

Pelops later became the ruler over the peninsula which comprises most of southern Greece and called Peloponnesus after him, i.e. the Land of Pelops; Pelops went on to earn the wrath of the Immortals by committing a breach of honor which could not be forgiven.

Oenomaus was the king of the district of Elis (on the western Peloponnesian Peninsula); he offered his daughter, Hippodamia, to Pelops on the condition that Pelops win a chariot race against the best horses in Elis; Pelops bribed Oenomaus’ chariot driver, Myrtilus, who sabotaged Oenomaus’ chariot; Pelops won the race but refused to pay Myrtilus the bribe money and, adding injury to insult, threw him into the sea; Myrtilus prayed to the Immortals to curse Pelops and his family; the Olympians heard Myrtilus’ prayers.

When Pelops died, his son, Thyestes, was to become king but when he tried to seduce Atreus’ wife, Aerope, Atreus killed several of Thyestes’ children and fed them to him at a feast; Atreus then drove Thyestes and the remnants of his family from Mykenai (Mycenae) and took the throne.

Pelta

A light shield in the form of a thick crescent, made of wicker covered with leather; soldiers who carried this type of shield were known as Peltasts.

Pemphredo

One of the Graiae (the Gray Sisters); a daughter of Keto (Ceto) and Phorkys (Phorcys); she and her sister, Enyo, were gray from birth; they shared one tooth and one eye between them.

The sisters played a crucial role in the story of Perseus when he was on his quest to kill and behead the Gorgon, Medusa; Athene (Athena) and Hermes advised Perseus to consult the Graiae in order to find out the location of the nymphs who could supply him with the Cap of Hades (to make him invisible), winged sandals (to allow him to fly) and a bag called a kibisis (to carry Medusa’s severed head); Perseus stole the tooth and eye of the Graiae and refused to give it back until they assisted him.

The Graiae are the sisters of the Gorgons and the Hesperides; later descriptions of the Graiae include Deino as one of the sisters.

Peneios (1)
Peneus

A river god from the district of Elis; one of the many sons of Tethys and Okeanos (Ocean).

Herakles (Heracles) diverted the waters of Peneios to complete his Fifth Labor, i.e. Cleaning the Stables of Augeas.

Zeus gave the Rivers, Apollon and the Okeanids the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.

Peneios (2)
Peneus

A river in northern Greece in Thessaly that flows east to the Gulf of Salonika.

Penelope

The daughter of Ikarius (Icarius) of Sparta and the faithful wife of Odysseus; her name literally means Weaver.

While Odysseus was thought to be lost in the Trojan War she delayed the choice of a new husband by saying that she would not make a decision until she had woven a funeral shroud for Odysseus’ aged father, Laertes; each day she would weave the shroud and each night she would undo a portion of that days work; the trick worked well enough to delay her irascible suitors until Odysseus could return home and reclaim his wife and property.

Pentakosiomedimnoi

A class of Athenian citizens, i.e. owners of large, productive tracts of land.

When the noted statesman, Solon, reorganized the Athenian society (circa 594 BCE) he divided the citizens into four specific groups; the four classes under Solon’s constitution were:

  1. Pentakosiomedimnoi (the owners of large, productive tracts of land);
  2. Ippeis (named for their social class as horsemen or charioteers);
  3. Zeygitai (named for their social class as ox drivers); and
  4. Thetes (the lowest of the four classes of Athenian citizens, literally they were hired farm workers and served as lightly-armed soldiers and common seamen).
Penteconter
Pentaconter

A Greek war ship with fifty oars arranged twenty-five to a side in one tier.

A penteconter was not an all purpose ship like the trireme; the penteconter was equipped with a ram and it was designed specifically as a warship and therefore fast and maneuverable; approximately 125 feet (38 meters) in length and 12 feet (3.7 meters) wide.

Penthesilea

The queen of the Amazons who was killed by Akhilleus (Achilles) during the siege of Troy.

The only reference to Penthesilea comes from the sixth century CE Greek writer, Proklos (Proclus), when he described the poem, Aethiopis, which was once part of the Epic Cycle, i.e. poems about the fall of Troy.

Peplos

A loose outer robe worn by women in ancient Greece; usually without sleeves, cinched at the waist and hanging to the ankles.

Pergamum

A city formerly known as Teuthrania and now called Bergama.

Pergamum was an ancient city in Asia Minor in the district of Mysia; located approximately 16 miles (26 kilometers) inland on the Kaikos (Caicus) river.

When the Greeks sailed from the island of Aulis to capture Troy, the fleet became lost and they attacked the city of Teuthrania instead of Troy; they sacked the city and then returned to Aulis to prepare for another attempt at finding Troy; two generations later, the name of the city was changed to Pergamum by Pergamus, a grandson of Akhilleus (Achilles), after he captured the city; now known as Bergama, in western Turkey; the Kaikos river is now called the Bakir.

Pergamus

The son of Neoptolemus and Andromakhe (Andromache); the grandson of Akhilleus (Achilles).

After the fall of the city of Troy, Andromakhe, the wife of the dead hero, Hektor (Hector), was taken as a prize by Akhilleus’ son, Neoptolemus; Andromakhe and Neoptolemus had a son named Pergamus; after residing in western Greece in Epirus, Pergamus moved to the western coast of Asia Minor and, proceeding up the Kaikos (Caicus) river, sacked the city of Teuthrania; he renamed it after himself and the city became Pergamum which is now known as Bergama, in western Turkey.

Periander

The tyrant of the city of Korinth (Corinth) circa 625-585 BCE.

Periander succeeded his father Kypselus (Cypselus) and, at the beginning of his reign, was a wise and beneficial ruler; he was noted as a stern but fair man with a devotion to the arts and an inspiration to commerce; he was also included as one of the Seven Sages by some historians which is an indication of his reputation not only in Korinth but throughout the ancient civilized world; his father had been a brutal and murderous man and Periander soon became as notorious and deadly as his father.

Perikles (1)
Pericles

(circa 495-429 BCE) One of the most famous of all the Athenian statesmen; the son of Xanthippus and Agariste; a descendant of the family of Alkmaeon (Alcmaeon).

Even though the city of Athens was a democracy, the so called Age of Perikles was in fact a period in which one man ruled the government with king-like powers; although he wielded his authority with the consent of the Athenian citizens, he was both admired and criticized for his almost tyrannical domination of the armies and proprietary use of the wealth of the ever expanding Athenian empire; he was a man of great personal charisma and had a reputation for being honest and above corruption or favoritism.

Perikles was not a handsome man nor was he a gifted public speaker and for those reasons he was often criticized by his political opponents and satirized by the comic playwrights; his popular appeal was due to his consistent honesty and sincere devotion to the betterment of Athens and its citizens.

Perikles was determined to spend the wealth of Athens on the Athenian citizens and its colonies; able-bodied men were assigned to paid positions in the army and navy, whereas other citizens were employed in all manner of public works projects which were brilliantly coordinated and resulted in the construction of some of the most enduring and artistically profound structures ever to grace the Greek landscape; all manner of skills, crafts and arts were required for the construction of such masterpieces as: the Parthenon, the Odeum, the Propylaea and the protective Long Wall (which went from Athens to the nearby port of Piraeus); these civic projects employed vast numbers of workers and gave opportunities to otherwise underemployed Athenians.

Perikles ruled Athens for forty-five years (469-429 BCE); when he first entered the political arena, he was opposed by Kimon (Cimon) and the political faction named the Good and True Party; Kimon was generally perceived as a Spartan sympathizer or, at worst, a Spartan lackey; Kimon was ostracized in 461 BCE but was allowed to return to Athens in 450 BCE and died a year later on a military campaign on the island of Cyprus; after his political detractors, like Kimon, were either ostracized or dead, Perikles ruled without serious political opposition for approximately fifteen years (444-429 BCE) but that did not exempt him from personal attacks and civil prosecutions.

After Perikles became estranged from his first wife he took the courtesan, Aspasia, as his lifelong companion; his two legitimate sons, Xanthippus and Paralos, were the victims of a plague that ravaged Athens and forced him to champion the revocation of a law that he had sponsored before the plague years; when the king of Egypt had given Athens a gift of forty thousand measures of grain, every citizen was entitled to an equal share; Perikles initiated a law that would strictly define an Athenian citizen as only those with two Athenian parents; this law resulted in the loss of citizenship for almost five thousand people; the loss of citizenship meant that many of these people were sold into slavery; after his sons had died, Perikles revoked the law so that his illegitimate son, by Aspasia, could inherit his fortune.

During his career Perikles led, and won, at least nineteen successful military campaigns in the defense of Athens and to ensure the expansion of Athenian trade throughout Greece, Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea; his utter contempt for Sparta led to many minor battles with the proud and militant Spartans and set the stage for the long and bitter Peloponnesian War which began in earnest three years before Perikles’ death; he was survived by one son who was also named Perikles.

Perikles (2)
Pericles

The son of the famous Athenian statesman, Perikles and the courtesan, Aspasia.

Because his father never married Aspasia, the younger Perikles was not automatically a citizen of the city of Athens but in the last year of his father’s life he was granted citizenship as an act of respect for his father’s great contributions to the Athenian empire.

In 406 BCE the younger Perikles was in the sea-battle of Arginusae; although the Athenians defeated the Spartans, the Athenians were outraged that many of the seamen drowned because no effort was made to rescue them; Perikles was sentenced to death with five other generals even though the charges against them were, according to the historian Thukydides (Thucydides), not sufficient to warrant their deaths.

Periklymenos
Periclymenos

The eldest son of Neleus and Khloris (Chloris); one of the Argonauts.

Periklymenos’ grandfather, Poseidon (lord of the Sea), gave him boundless strength and the ability to assume any shape he desired in battle; when Neleus refused to absolve Herakles (Heracles) for the murder of Iphitus, Herakles killed Periklymenos, his brother Khromios (Chromios), and his father, Neleus.

His name may also be rendered as Periklymenus or Periclymenus.

Perioikoi
Perioeci

Inhabitants of ancient Lakonia (Laconia) who were a free people but were required to pay tribute to Sparta and serve in the Spartan military; they governed themselves and had a monopoly on trade and manufacture but were forbidden to unite their cities in any type of confederation.

Peristeri

A city in southeastern Greece constituting part of greater Athens.

Perkote
Percote

A city on the Peloponnesian Peninsula north of the cite of Troy.

Pero

The beautiful daughter of Neleus and Khloris (Chloris) and the wife of the seer, Melampous.

Pero was so beautiful that Neleus would not allow any man to marry her unless he could prove his manhood and intelligence by stealing the cattle of Iphiklos (Iphiclos); Melampous was the only man to attempt the feat and he was captured by Iphiklos; he was held captive for one year and not allowed to return to Pero until he had told Iphiklos all the prophecies he knew; Melampous and Pero were married but Melampous’ brother, Bias, was the father of Pero’s sons: Leodokos (Leodocos), Talaos and Areios.

Pero’s father, Neleus, and two of her brothers, Khromios (Chromios) and Periklymenos (Periclymenos) were killed by Herakles (Heracles) because Neleus would not absolve Herakles for the murder of Iphitos.

Perseis
Perse

An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys; the consort of Helios (the Sun) and the mother of the nymph, Kirke (Circe) and king Aietes (Aeetes) of Kolkhis (Colchis).

Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.

Persephone (1)

The daughter of Zeus and Demeter and the bride of Hades (lord of the Underworld); she was abducted by Hades and taken to the Underworld against her will.

When Demeter found out about the abduction of her daughter she cursed the earth and made it infertile; Zeus sent Hermes to the House of Hades and persuaded him to release Persephone but the crafty Hades had Persephone eat a pomegranate seed before she left his realm which bound her to him; as a compromise, Zeus decreed that Persephone would spend part of each year with Hades and the rest of the year with her mother.

Demeter renounced her curse upon the earth and allowed the plants to grow once more; Persephone and Demeter are worshiped together as the Karpophorus (Carpophorus) and were often referred to as The Two.

Persephone was also worshiped in Attika (Attica) as Kore, i.e. The Daughter.

Her name is also rendered as Proserpina and Proserpine.

Persephone (2)

The wife of the eccentric king of the Molossians, Aidoneus; her husband was named after Hades, her daughter was named Kore (Core), a pseudonym for Persephone, and the family dog was named after the hound of Hades, Kerberos (Cerberus).

Perses (1)

The son of Perseus and Andromeda; the eponymous ancestor of the Persians.

Perses (2)

The brother of king Aietes (Aeetes) of Kolkhis (Colchis); having murdered Aietes and seized the throne, Perses was killed by his niece, Medea, and her son, Medus.

Perses (3)

The son of Krios (Crios) and Eurybia; brother of Pallas and Astranios.

Perseus (1)

Perseus was the son of Zeus by the maiden, Danae.

King Akrisius (Acrisius) of Argos, Danae’s father, was told by an oracle that Danae would have a son which would take his throne; to thwart the oracle, Akrisius had Danae locked in a bronze vault so she could not be seduced or wed; Zeus came to her as a shower of gold and Perseus was a result of Zeus’ touch.

Akrisius took the mother and new-born child and set them adrift in a coffin-like box thinking that they would die at sea but the box washed ashore on the island of Seriphos and was found by the king’s brother, Diktys (Dictys).

The king of Seriphos, Polydektes (Polydectes), fell in love with Danae and, as Perseus grew older, thought that the imposing young man was the only obstacle to his successful seduction of Danae; he sent Perseus on a quest for the head of the Medusa.

Medusa was one of the three sisters known as the Gorgons and any mortal who dared to look upon Medusa’s face was turned to stone; Polydektes was sure that Perseus would die on this quest but, being the son of Zeus, Perseus had the protection of Athene (Athena) and the assistance of Hermes to assure his success.

Perseus first sought out the sisters of the Gorgons, the Graiai (the Gray Sisters), who were three women, gray from birth, who shared one tooth and one eye between them; Perseus stole their tooth and eye and, using them as ransom, forced the Graiai to give him the location of the nymphs who had possession of the Cap of Hades (which would make him invisible), a pair of winged sandals (for flying) and a kibisis (a bag to hold Medusa’s head); he later obtained a sickle (or sword) from Hermes and set out to slay Medusa.

With the help of Athene, Perseus was able to cut off Medusa’s head; after the attack on their sister the other Gorgons, Sthenno and Euryale, chased Perseus but his flying sandals saved him; as Perseus flew over the Libyan desert, the drops of blood from Medusa’s severed head produced a brood of vile serpents, the winged horse, Pegasos (Pegasus), and the monster with the golden sword, Khrysaor.

The story of Perseus was perhaps three generations before Herakles (Heracles) and has endured as a popular artistic theme from the seventh century BCE until modern times.

As Perseus was returning to Argos he encountered a situation in Ethiopia where the king, Kepheus (Cepheus), and his wife, Kassiopeia (Cassiopeia), were going to sacrifice their daughter, Andromeda; Kassiopeia had offended the Nereids by boasting that she was more beautiful than the daughters of Nereus; as revenge for such a transgression, Poseidon (lord of the Sea) sent one of his sea monsters to ravage the countryside and terrorize the inhabitants; the only way to placate the monster was for Andromeda to be sacrificed to Poseidon’s beast; just as the monster was about to devour Andromeda, Perseus intervened and used the head of Medusa to turn the monster to stone.

Before Perseus could marry Andromeda, she was kidnapped by another suitor named Phineus; Perseus also used the Gorgon’s severed to turn Phineus and his henchmen to stone.

When Perseus returned to the island of Seriphos he found that king Polydektes was threatening his mother with violence and quickly disposed of him; Perseus’ grandfather, Akrisius, had set all of the dramatic events of Perseus’ life into motion by his fear that his grandson would take his throne; as fate would have it, Akrisius had left Argos by the time Perseus returned from his adventures but he could not escape the grand design of the Immortals; while Perseus was participating in an athletic competition, he threw a discus and accidentally killed Akrisius; Perseus refused the throne of Argos and went to Asia Minor where his son, Perses, founded the race that would become known as the Persians

Perseus (2)

One of the sons of Nestor and Eurydike (Eurydice).

Persia

The country known as Persia derived its name from Perses the son of Perseus; the boundaries of Persia stretched from India to Egypt and bordered on the Greek settlements along the Euxine (Black Sea) in the north and the Aegean Sea in the west.

Persian Empire

The empire of western Asia which was begun by Kyrus the Great in 559 BCE and ended with Darius III in 330 BCE.

After the overthrow of the Medes, the Persians successfully ruled western and central Asia without opposition but were soundly defeated on the two occasions when they tried to expand their empire westward into Greece.

Even though the Persians had advanced forms of art and science, in Greek literature the Persians were referred to as Barbarians; when Greece entered historic times, the Persian Empire was in decline and their influence was restricted to eastern Asia Minor, India and Egypt; their constant threats to the Greek colonies in Asia Minor and the Aegean Sea were merely a prelude to the invasion of the Greek mainland in 490 and 480 BCE.

The first invasion by Darius was repelled by the Greeks with a resounding victory in 490 BCE on the plains of Marathon; the second invasion, by Xerxes in 480 BCE, resulted in the sack of Athens but the Persian navy was decimated at the sea-battle near the island of Salamis and the remnants of the Persian army were defeated at Plataea.

After these two catastrophic defeats, the Persians were content to harass the Greek colonies in Asia Minor but their incursions were tempered by the well known fact that the Greeks were, in all ways, militarily superior to the Persians and, if left to themselves, the Greeks were not a threat to the Persian Empire and perfectly content to fight amongst themselves.

The kings of the Persian Empire and the approximate periods in which each ruled are as follows:

Kyrus (Cyrus) the Great 559-529 BCE;

Kambyses (Cambyses) 529-522 BCE;

Pseudo-Smerdis 522 BCE; 521-485 BCE;

Xerxes I 486-465 BCE;

Artaxerxes I 465-423 BCE;

Xerxes II 423 BCE;

Darius II 423-404 BCE;

Artaxerxes II 404-358 BCE;

Artaxerxes III 338-336 BCE;

Darius III 336-330 BCE.

Persians (1)

Referring to the inhabitants of the area extending from Asia Minor on the east and bordered by Egypt in the south and the Euxine (Black Sea) in the north.

Persians (2)

A tragedy written by the Athenian playwright, Aeskhylus (Aeschylus).

The Persians is the story from the Persian point of view of the utter defeat of the Persian army and navy under the leadership of Xerxes after his failed invasion of Greece in 480 BCE; the play is unique in that it deals with a historical event and is not, as is common with the other extant plays by Aeschylus, mythological.

To me, the most amusing aspect of this play is that the Persians refer to themselves as “barbarians” which was not a term the “real” Persians used to describe themselves; the term barbarian was what the Greeks called all foreigners but particularly the Persians.

If you wish to read this play I suggest The Complete Greek Tragedies, Aeschylus II, edited by David Grene and Richmond Lattimore, ISBN 0226307948; you can find this book at your library in the 800 section or you can order it through the Book Shop on this site which is linked to Amazon.com.

Petraie
Patraea

An Okeanid, i.e. one of the three thousand daughters of Okeanos (Ocean) and Tethys; her name might mean Rock or Ledge.

Zeus gave the Okeanids, Apollon and the Rivers the special obligation of having the young in their keeping.

Phaedo

A philosophical dialogue (fourth century BCE) by Plato purporting to describe the death of Sokrates (Socrates) and dealing with the immortality of the soul and setting forth the theory of “ideas.”

Phaedra
Phaidra

The daughter of king Minos and the wife of Theseus.

Phaedra fell in love with her step-son, Hippolytus and tried to seduce him but he rejected her; Phaedra hanged herself and left a letter stating that Hippolytus had forcibly seduced her; Theseus was outraged and begged Poseidon (lord of the Sea) to kill Hippolytus; Poseidon sent one of his ketos, i.e. monsters, and Hippolytus was killed.

Phaedrias

One of the Thirty Tyrants elected to rule the city of Athens after the end of the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE).

Having lost the war to the Spartans, the citizens of Athens elected thirty men to lead the new post-war government; these men became known as the Thirty Tyrants; the short lived government they comprised was an oligarchy.

The tyrants immediately began to prosecute Athenians who had been Spartan informers and collaborators during the long, hard war; the punishment of the guilty seemed appropriate to the common citizens and aristocrats alike but it soon became clear that the executions and banishments were going beyond the bounds of necessity or prudence; open hostilities soon developed between members of the Thirty and their authority and rule came to an end after one year.

Pelasgians to Phaedrias

P to Peitho Pelasgians to Phaedrias Phaeo to Pitys Plataea to Polyphemos 2 Polyxena to Pyxis 2

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPRSTU–Z


Home • Essays • People, Places & Things • The Immortals
Greek Myths Bookshop • Fun Fact Quiz • Search/Browse • Links • About