Pri´amus. The last king of Troy was son of Laomedon, by Strymo, called Placia by some writers. He married Arisba, whom he divorced in order to marry Hecuba, by whom he had a number of children, the most celebrated of whom were Hector, Paris, Deiphobus, Helenus, Laodice, and Cassandra. After he had reigned some time, Priam was anxious to recover his sister Hesione, who had been carried into Greece by Hercules, and to achieve this, he manned a fleet, the command of which he gave to his son Paris, who, instead of obeying the paternal instructions, carried away Helen, the wife of Menelaus, king of Sparta. This caused the Trojan war, which lasted for ten years. At the end of the war Priam was slain by Neoptolemus, the son of Achilles.
Pro´bus, M. Aure´lius. A native of Pannonia. His father was a gardener, who became a military tribune. His son obtained the same office in the twenty-second year of his age, and distinguished himself so much by his probity and valor that he was invested with the imperial purple. He encouraged the arts, and by his victories added to the glory of his country. He was slain by his soldiers in the fiftieth year of his age, B.C. 282.
Proco´pius, born of a noble family in Cilicia, was related to the emperor Julian. He signalized himself under Julian, and afterwards retired to the Thracian Chersonesus, whence he made his appearance at Constantinople, and proclaimed himself master of the Eastern Empire. He was defeated in Phrygia, and beheaded A.D. 366. There was a famous Greek historian of the same name, who wrote the history of the reign of Justinian, and who was secretary to Belisarius.
Prome´theus. A son of Iapetus and Clymene, one of the Oceanides. He ridiculed the gods and deceived Jupiter himself, who, to punish him and the rest of mankind, took fire away from the earth; but Prometheus climbed the heavens by the assistance of Minerva, and stole fire from the chariot of the sun, which he brought down to the earth. This provoked Jupiter, and he ordered Prometheus to be chained to a rock, where a vulture was to feed on his liver, which was never exhausted. He was delivered from his torture by Hercules, who killed the vulture.
Proper´tius, Sex´tus Aure´lius. A Latin poet born in Umbria. He came to Rome, where his genius greatly recommended him to the great and powerful. His works consist of four books of elegies which are marked by much ability. He died about nineteen years B.C.
Proser´pina, a daughter of Ceres and Jupiter, called by the Greeks Persephone. As she was gathering flowers Pluto carried her off to the infernal regions, where he married her. Ceres, having learnt that her daughter had been carried away by Pluto, demanded of Jupiter that Pluto should be punished. As queen of hell, Proserpine presided over the death of mankind. She was known by the names of Hecate, Juno Inferna, Libitina, and several others.
Protag´oras. A Greek philosopher of Abdera in Thrace. He wrote a book in which he denied the existence of a Supreme Being, which book was publicly burnt at Athens, and its author was banished from the city.
Pro´tesila´us. A king of part of Thessaly, who married Laodamia, and shortly afterwards went to the Trojan war. He was the first of the Greeks who entered the Trojan domain, and on that account, in accordance with the prediction of the oracle, was killed by his countrymen.
Pro´teus. A sea deity, son of Oceanus and Tethys, or, according to some writers, of Neptune and Phenice. He had received the gift of prophecy from Neptune, but when consulted he often refused to give answers, and puzzled those who consulted him by assuming different shapes.
Psy´che. A nymph who married Cupid. Venus put her to death because of this, but Jupiter, at the request of Cupid, granted immortality to her.