Prometheus

To the ancient Greeks and Romans, Prometheus was a Titan -- one of the pre-Olympian beings -- who allied himself with Zeus and the later gods in their war against the Titans. At the request of Zeus, he created the first humans from clay. Later, he stole fire from the gods and gave it to humans, a divine gift that gave them god-like powers.

To punish him, Zeus decreed that he would be chained to a rock, where every day an eagle would eat out his liver. Each night, the liver would regrow, so that the next day, Prometheus would again be punished by having the eagle eat his liver again.

English word:In English, promethean means "life-giving, daringly original, creative." A reference to Prometheus also occurs in the original title of the novel Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus, by Mary Wollstonecroft Shelley.

Pax

In the ancient Roman pantheon, Pax was the goddess of peace (Greek, Eirene). She was the embodiment of peace, who carried an olive branch and a cornucopia.

English word: From the name of this ancient goddess come our words peace and pacific.

Pegasus

In both Greek and Roman myth, Pegasus was a winged horse that sprang from the blood of Medusa at her death. Athena caught Pegasus, tamed him, and gave him to the Muses. When he struck his hoof against the ground, the Hippocrene spring, which was sacred to the Muses. Later, Pegasus became the horse of Bellerophon, the ancient Greek hero who killed the Chimera.

English word: We use Pegasus to refer to the class of mythical winged horses. Pegasus is famous as an advertising icon for a gasoline company.

Phaeton

In ancient Latin as well as Greek, Phaeton was the sun of the sun god, Helios. When Helios allowed Phaeton to drive the sun chariot, Phaeton drove so close the earth almost burned up. To prevent that, Zeus struck him down with a thunderbolt.

English word: Our word phaeton means a type of light, four-wheeled carriage with no sidepieces. It also means a type of open car body with two cross seats.

Phantasus

In ancient Greek myth, Phantasus was one of the gods of dreams, the sons of Morpheus, the god of sleep. Phantasus, in particular, brought dreams of inanimate objects.

English word: Several of our words stem from Phantasus, including phantasm -- a product of fantasy, an illusion; and phantasmagoria -- a complex, constantly shifting scene of things seen or imagined. Some common words that stem from the same source are fantasy, fancy, and fantastic.

Pluto

To the ancient Romans, Pluto (Greek Hades) was the god of the underworld, the dead, and fabled wealth.

English word: Pluto is the name of what used to be called the ninth planet, and now is called a minor planet. From Pluto we also get plutocracy, government by the wealthy, and plutonium, a heavy, radioactive element.

Pontus

To the ancient Greeks and Romans, Pontus was a god of the sea, especially the Black Sea. He preceded the Olympian gods.

English word: Several words derive from Pontus, starting with pontoon. a floating, bridgelike structure. We also have pontiff, a word for the Pope, related to being a "bridge" between humans and God. From that, we have pontificate, "to officiate as a pontiff, or to speak in the manner of or as with the authority of a pontiff. We also get punt, a narrow, flat-bottomed boat with square ends, usually propelled with a pole. Punt also means to propel by pushing with a pole, and to kick a football before it touches the ground when dropped from the hands, and the act of punting a football.