Pylus, a town. See: [Pylos].——A son of Mars by Demonice the daughter of Agenor. He was present at the chase of the Calydonian boar. Apollodorus, bk. 1.
Pyra, part of mount Œta, on which the body of Hercules was burnt. Livy, bk. 36, ch. 30.
Pyracmon, one of Vulcan’s workmen in the forges of mount Ætna. The name is derived from two Greek words which signify fire and an anvil. Virgil, Æneid, bk. 8, li. 425.
Pyracmos, a man killed by Cæneus. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 12, li. 460.
Pyræchmes, a king of Eubœa.——A king of Pæonia during the Trojan war.
Pyrămus, a youth of Babylon, who became enamoured of Thisbe, a beautiful virgin who dwelt in the neighbourhood. The flame was mutual, and the two lovers, whom their parents forbade to marry, regularly received each other’s addresses through the chink of a wall, which separated their houses. After the most solemn vows of sincerity they both agreed to elude the vigilance of their friends, and to meet one another at the tomb of Ninus, under a white mulberry tree, without the walls of Babylon. Thisbe came first to the appointed place, but the sudden arrival of a lioness frightened her away; and as she fled into a neighbouring cave she dropped her veil, which the lioness found and besmeared with blood. Pyramus soon arrived; he found Thisbe’s veil all bloody, and concluding that she had been torn to pieces by the wild beasts of the place, he stabbed himself with his sword. Thisbe, when her fears were vanished, returned from the cave, and at the sight of the dying Pyramus, she fell upon the sword which still reeked with his blood. This tragical scene happened under a white mulberry tree, which, as the poets mention, was stained with the blood of the lovers, and ever after bore fruit of the colour of blood. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 4, li. 55, &c.—Hyginus, fable 243.——A river of Cilicia, rising in mount Taurus, and falling into the Pamphylian sea. Cicero, bk. 3, Letters to his Friends, ltr. 11.—Dionysius Periegetes.
Pyrenæa Venus, a town of Gallia [♦]Narbonensis.
[♦] ‘Narbonesis’ replaced with ‘Narbonensis’
Pyrēnæi, a mountain, or a long ridge of high mountains, which separate Gaul from Spain, and extend from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean sea. They receive their name from Pyrene the daughter of Bebrycius [See: [Pyrene]], or from the fire (πυρ) which once raged there for several days. This fire was originally kindled by shepherds, and so intense was the heat which it occasioned, that all the silver mines of the mountains were melted, and ran down in large rivulets. This account is deemed fabulous by Strabo and others. Diodorus, bk. 5.—Strabo, bk. 3.—Mela, bk. 2, ch. 6.—Silius Italicus, bk. 3, li. 415.—Livy, bk. 21, ch. 60.—Pliny, bk. 4, ch. 34.
Pyrenæus, a king of Thrace, who, during a shower of rain, gave shelter in his house to the nine muses, and attempted to offer them violence. The goddesses upon this took to their wings and flew away. Pyrenæus, who attempted to follow them, as if he had wings, threw himself down from the top of a tower and was killed. Ovid, Metamorphoses, bk. 5, li. 274.