Paris Greek Legend. a son of Priam, king of Troy; his kidnapping of Helen, wife of Menelaus, causes the Trojan War.
Paul St. Paul; (original name Saul) died c. 67 a.d.; a Jew of Tarsus who became the Apostle of Christianity to the Gentiles; author of several letters in the New Testament.
Penelope Ulysses' wife who waits faithfully for his return from the Trojan War.
Permutations any radical alteration; total transformation.
Peter's Gate here, the gate to Purgatory.
Phaeton Son of Apollo who drove the chariot of the sun and lost control of the horses, so Zeus struck him down so that the world would not catch fire; the track of the horses is the Milky Way.
Pharisees a member of an ancient Jewish party or fellowship that carefully observed the written law but also accepted the oral (or traditional) law; advocated democratization of religious practices; mainly they hated Jesus for questioning their authority.
Phlegra the battle at Phlegra for which Vulcan was the forge.
Phlegyas mythological king of Boeotia; son of Mars; thrown into Hell for setting fire to Apollo's temple because Apollo seduced his daughter.
Pholus mentioned by a number of classical poets, but not much detail is known about him.
Photinus deacon of Thessolonica who commited heresy by denying the divine paternity of Christ.
Pisa commune in Tuscany, Western Italy, on the Arno River.
Pisan a person from the city of Pisa of Pisa.
Plutus Greek Mythology. the blind god of wealth.
Po river in northern Italy, flowing from the Cottian Alps east into the Adriatic.
Polynices Greek Mythology. a son of Oedipus and Jocasta.
Prato Cardianal Niccolo da Prato.
Prince of the New Pharisees Pope Boniface III.
Pyrrhus either the son of Achilles or the king of Epirus; both were bloodthirsty warriors.
Rachel an Old Testament figure; here, she is said to represent Contemplative Life.
Red Sea sea between Northeastern Africa and Western Arabia; connected with the Mediterranean Sea by the Suez Canal and with the Indian Ocean by the Gulf of Aden.
Rhea Greek Mythology. daughter of Uranus and Gaea, wife of Cronus, and mother of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Demeter, Hera, and Hestia; identified with the Roman Ops and the Phrygian Cybele.
Rubicon small river in northern Italy that formed the boundary between Cisalpine Gaul and the Roman Republic; when Caesar crossed it (49 b.c.) at the head of his army to march on Rome, he began the civil war with Pompey.
