Paeon

Paeon (or Paean) was a physician of the gods, and subsequently one of the by-names of Apollo. Homer mentions him as curing Hades when he was wounded by one of Heracles' arrows as he defended the entrance to the Underworld. His name has the same origin as that of Paeonius, that is, 'healer', from paio, 'to strike', 'drive away'.

As a by-name of Apollo, Paeon (or Paean) was transferred to songs dedicated to him and to other gods, itself ultimately becoming the word for a battle, victory or festive song - a 'paean', in fact. The same name can also be seen in the peony (or paeony), a flower that used to be favourably regarded for its medicinal properties.

Paeonius

Paeonius was one of the Dactyls (together with Heracles, Epimedes, Iasius and Acesidas). His name would appear to mean 'healer', from paionios, 'belonging to healing' (from paio, 'to strike'). If Dactyls are fingers, then this one has the healing touch.

Palaemon

Palaemon means 'wrestler', from palaio, 'to wrestle'. It was the name of several characters, including the son of Heracles and Autonoë (whose father certainly 'wrestled' with many a task), the son of Hephaestus (again for the exploits of his father), and (as a new name) Melicertes, son of Athamas and Ino, who aided sailors in distress. With regard to the first of these three, it should be remembered that Heracles was actually called Palaemon originally.

As for Merlicertes, the new name was acquired at the same time as the conversion of his mother Ino to the sea-goddess Leucothea. It was given him by Sisyphus, who made the newly named Palaemon the protector god of the so-called Isthmic Games (those held on the isthmus of Corinth).

Palamedes

Palamedes was the son of Nauplius and Clymene. He was a gifted man, who was said to have invented draughts and dice games and even the letters of the Greek alphabet! Not surprisingly, his name reflects his cleverness, since it means 'ancient cunning', from palai, 'of old' and medea, 'cunning', 'skill'.

Palinurus

Palinurus was Aeneas' helmsman on his journey from Troy to Italy. His name seems to be a compound of palin, 'back', 'again' and ouros, 'fair wind', which is appropriate enough for one who has to steer a ship from A to Β and back again.

Pallas

Pallas is in fact two separate and distinguishable names. The first Pallas (genitive Pâllantos) was a Titan, the son of Crius and Eurybia. The second Pallas (genitive Pallâdos) was the goddess Athena, for whom it was the best-known by-name (often used together with Athena, as Pallas Athena, but later used alone).

The first Pallas (and various others of the name, including according to some accounts even the father of Athena) has a name that may mean simply 'young man' (pallas) or perhaps 'shaker', 'brandisher', from pallo, 'to wield', 'brandish'. Either meaning would be suitable for a giant. The second and more famous Pallas has a name that is variously explained.

Some of the theories proposed are as follows.

1. That it was borrowed from the Titan Pallas as a 'powerful' name. (But, as mentioned, this is actually a different name.) 
2. That it derives from the blow struck by Athena when she killed this Titan - or from some other blow (from pallo, 'to wield', 'brandish', 'leap', as for the Titan Pallas). 
3. That it refers to the spear that she constantly flourished, and which she was brandishing even at the moment when she was 'born' by springing forth from the head of Zeus that Hephaestus had split open with an axe (pallo again). 
4. That it refers to this actual blow by Hephaestus which enabled Athena to be born. 
5. That it was taken in memory of a playmate of this name, a daughter of Triton, whom Athena accidentally killed as a girl. 
6. That it simply means 'young maid' (palla), just as pallas can mean 'young man'. (Compare Latin puella, 'girl'.) Of all these possibilities, it is generally reckoned that the last explanation is the most likely.

We also need to connect her name with the Palladium. This was a legendary statue of Pallas Athena, said to have been dropped down from heaven by Zeus to Dardanus, the founder of Troy, to ensure the city's protection. According to Virgil it was stolen by Diomedes and Odysseus, as a result of which the city was burned down.

The London theatre called the Palladium seems to have been so named as the result of a misunderstanding: perhaps it was thought that the Palladium was not a statue but a type of theatre or circus like the Colosseum (which word may have confused the issue). The Colosseum, of course, was not even in Greece, but was the great amphitheatre at Rome, and far from mythological.

Pan

Pan was the god of pastures, famous for his pipes. He was the son of Hermes and Penelope (or Dryope), and his name has popularly long been regarded as meaning 'all' (pan). But all what, or all of what? Some writers have maintained that Penelope became the mother of Pan in the absence of Odysseus in the Trojan War, and that he was thus the offspring of all the suitors.

Others say that he was so named since all the gods were pleased at his birth. Others again declare that he was a symbol of the universe, that is, of all. And a fourth group hold that his name embodies all sexual possibilities, since love conquered him and love conquers all, whoever they are.

There is even a school that sees his anatomy as representing all aspects of nature, so that his horns are the sun and moon, for example, and his face the sky! But the truth is probably that in spite of the resemblance to the Greek for 'all' his name actually derives from the root pa- found in feeding and pasturing words such as Greek pateomai, 'to feed on', 'eat', Latin pasco, 'to feed', 'pasture', Latin panis, 'bread' and English 'pasture' itself (to which is even related 'feed').

He was thus 'Pan the Pasturer', 'Pan the Feeder'. Pan's name is also seen in the English 'panic': he may have been an apparently peaceful pastoral god but he had a nasty habit of suddenly startling unwary travellers, who therefore became panicky when they knew he was around.

Panacea

Panacea was a daughter of Asclepius (as one might expect, with a name like that), her sisters being Iaso, Aegle and Hygea, among others. Her name means what English 'panacea' means, in other words 'all healer' (pas, neuter pan, 'all' and acos, 'cure', 'relief').

Pancratis

Pancratis was the daughter of Alöeus and Iphimedea. She and her mother were abducted by Thracian pirates to Naxos, where two of the pirate leaders killed each other in a duel over her. Her name means 'all strength', from pas (pan), 'all' and cratos, 'strength', 'might'. This was no doubt intended generally as a propitious name, but she was actually the winner of the trial of strength between the two men.

Pandareüs

Pandareüs was a king of Miletus whose daughters (after his death) were carried off by the Harpies and turned over to the Furies. (One of the daughters was Aedon, who was changed into a nightingale.) Pandareüs' name appears to mean 'all-flayer', from pas (pan), 'all' and dero, 'to flay'. This is a 'strength-giving' name.

Pandarus

Pandarus was a son of king Lycaon of Zeleia in Lycia, and an ally of the Trojans. He disguised himself as Laodocus, a son of Antenor. Although not the same person as Pandareüs, his name has the same meaning - 'he who flays all'.

He rather mysteriously features in later tales as the go between acting on behalf of Troilus and Cressida, and became particularly prominent in this role in Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida, where he says of the two lovers: 'If ever you prove false to one another, since I have taken such pains to bring you together, let all pitiful goers-between be called to the world's end after my name; call them all Pandars; let all constant men be Troiluses, all false women Cressids, and all brokers-between Pandars!'

From this the word 'pander' (which should really be 'pandar'), in the sense 'procurer', gained a firm place in the English language. (Its sense today has toned down considerably, so that as a verb it means little more than 'yield to', 'humour', as in 'pandering to the demands of a spoilt child'.)

Pandia

Pandia was a daughter of Zeus and Selene. Her name, which reflects the attributes of her parents, means 'all-divine': pan, 'all', dia, 'godlike' (the feminine of dios, see Pandion).

Pandion

Pandion was a son of Erichthonius and the Naiad Praxithea. He married his aunt Zeuxippe and she bore him Erechtheus and Butes as sons and Procne and Philomela as daughters. His name means 'all-divine', 'all-marvellous', from pan, 'all' and dios, 'godlike'.

Thomas Keightley poetically suggests that this could be a reference to the sun in the spring when the swallow and nightingale (Procne and Philomela) appear. Another Pandion was the son of Cecrops and Metiadusa. He was the great-grandson of the first Pandion mentioned here.

Pandora

Pandora was the first woman, made by Hephaestus and taken by Hermes to Epimetheus, who made the mistake of accepting her as his bride. Pandora brought with her a jar or casket (the famous 'Pandora's box') filled with all sorts of evils which she released, keeping only hope inside. Her name means thus 'all gifts' or 'all-giving', from pan, 'all' and down, 'gift'.

This can be interpreted in different ways: either she received a number of wicked traits from all the gods, or her 'box' contained not all evils but all good gifts for mankind (as some see it), or her casket contained all evils - although these are hardly gifts in the accepted sense.

Of course, it could also be said that since she was the archetypal woman, and therefore endowed with perfect feminine attributes, the gods gave her all gifts, that is, good characteristics, not evil ones. Certainly Milton saw her name thus. In his Paradise Lost he compares Eve to her, saying she is

More lovely than Pandora, whom the gods
Endowed with all their gifts.

Allusively, too, her 'all-giving' could refer to the earth, from which she was made. There are in fact a number of parallels between Pandora and Eve (both, for a start, introduced evil into the world).

There was also another Pandora. She was the daughter of Deucalion and the mother of Graecus by Zeus. Graecus was said to have been the ancestor of the Greeks. Pandora's name has found a small but steady demand as a rather chic modern girl's name.

Pandorus

Pandorus was the son of Erechtheus and Praxithea. His name, like Pandora's, means 'all-giving', in his case simply a propitious name.

Pandrosus

Pandrosus was the daughter of Cecrops and Aglaurus. Her name means 'all-dewy' {pan, 'all' and drosos, 'dew').

Panopeus

Panopeus was the son of Phocus and the father of Aegle and Epeius. His name, presumably a 'powerful' one, means 'all-seeing', from pan, 'all' and ops, opos, 'eye'.

Panthoüs

Panthoüs was the son of Othrys and father of Polydamas, Euphorbus and Hyperenor. He was also a priest of Apollo. His name means 'all-impetuous', from pan, 'all' and thouros, 'leaping', 'rushing', 'impetuous', 'eager'. This would be a favourable name rather than an unfavourable one.

Paris

Paris was a son of Priam, king of Troy, and Hecabe. His name is, of course, nothing to do with the French capital. It actually means 'wallet' (perd). As a baby, Paris had been abandoned or 'exposed' on Mount Ida.

The shepherd Agelaüs, when checking to see if the child had died, found that it had been suckled by a she-bear. He therefore decided to take it to his farm, and he did so, carrying the baby there in a leather bag or wallet (in the original sense of the word).

Parnasus

Parnasus was the son of Poseidon who invented the art of augury. He is said to have given his name to Mount Parnassus (whose name is really probably pre-Greek). His name may perhaps mean 'scatterer' (of enemies), from palyno, 'to scatter'.