Dictionary Of God And Godedesses

Proserpina 253guardian of mariners. Priapos was not regardedas a significant deity in Greece until very latetimes—during the Macedonian period, circafourth to second century BC—and was onlylocally popular during the Roman Empireperiod. He is particularly known from Phrygiaand is depicted as a satyr-like creature withpronounced genitals.PriapusGod of the shade. Roman. A rural deity whoseworship appears to have been restricted to theshores of the Hellespont and clearly derives fromthe god PRIAPOS.PrithiviSee PRTHIVI.Priti (pleasure)Goddess. Hindu (Epic and Puranic). A daughterof DAKSA and consort of the god of loveKAMADEVA. One of twelve SAKTIS associated withthe god VIŠNU in his various incarnations.Priyadarsana (pleasant to the eye)Minor goddess. Buddhist (Mahayana). An attendantof BUDDHAKAPALA.PROMETHEUS (forethought)ORIGIN Greek. Heroic god and creator of man.KNOWN PERIOD OF WORSHIP circa 800 BC andprobably earlier until Christianization circaAD 400.SYNONYMS none.CENTER(S) OF CULT predominantly Athens.ART REFERENCES sculptures, relief carvings, etc.LITERARY SOURCES Theogony (Hesiod);Aeschylus drama.Prometheus, one of four sons of the TitanIAPETOS and his consort Klymene, is probablybest known as a heroic opponent of ZEUS. Hestole fire from the latter and gave it to mankindas the boon which separates the human racefrom all other living creatures. Legend accordsto Prometheus, and his brother EPIMETHIUS(afterthought), the creation of mankind and therole of its protector, in response to which Zeuscreated Pandora and her box of problems, setloose to afflict the human race. Zeus alsoimprisoned Prometheus by fastening him to agreat rock in the Caucasus mountains withadamantine chains and sending an eagle to consumehis liver. He was rescued by HERAKLES,who killed the eagle and liberated the god fromhis torment.PromitorMinor god of agriculture. Roman. Responsiblefor the growth and harvesting of crops.Pronoia (forethought)Primordial being. Gnostic Christian. Thefeminine aspect of one of the androgynousprinciples born to YALDABAOTH, the prime parent,and ruling the seven heavens of chaos inGnostic cosmogony. Also described in otherGnostic tracts as Protennoia, the voice of thethought, and alternatively the voice of LOGOS(logic), who descends to earth in humanform and plays a part in the primordial salvationof the world.ProserpinaGoddess of death. Roman but derived froma Greek model. Abducted by the underworldgod PLUTO to reign as his queen (see PERSE-PHONE).