The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

Palooka, Joe
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Palooka, Joe See joe palooka.
Pan (pan) Personifi cation of disorder and licentiousness.
According to Greek mythology, Pan was
a nature god who protected fl ocks and the shepherds
who tended them but who also enjoyed tormenting
wanderers in the forests and woods where
he roamed (see panic). He was usually depicted
with horns and goats’ feet, attributes that were subsequently
passed on to the dev il of Christian lore.
“Of the rushing couples there could barely be discerned
more than the high lights—the indistinctness
shaping them to satyrs clasping nymphs—a
multiplicity of Pans whirling a multiplicity of Syrinxes”
(Thomas Hardy, Tess of the D’Urbervilles,
1891). See also panpipes.
Pan, Peter See peter pan.
panacea (panbseeb) A universal remedy or cure.
<strong>The</strong> word alludes to Panacea, the daughter of Aesculapius,
the Greek god of medicine and healing.
“This was a relief to Mrs. Peniston, who could give
herself up to her own symptoms, and Lily was
advised to go and lie down, her aunt’s panacea for
all physical and moral disorders” (Edith Wharton,
<strong>The</strong> House of Mirth, 1905).
pandemonium (pandbmoneebm) Uproar;
tumult; confusion. <strong>The</strong> origin of this word appears
to be Greek, in which it would mean “all the
demons,” but it was in fact invented by the En glish
poet John Milton (1608–74) in Paradise Lost (1667),
in which it is identifi ed as the capital city in hell:
“<strong>The</strong> rest were all / Far to the inland retired, about
the walls / Of Pandemonium, city and proud seat /
Of Lucifer.” “On descending, I found the kitchen
on the brink of pandemonium, and in general, an
extremely tense atmosphere amongst all levels of
staff ” (Kazuo Ishiguro, <strong>The</strong> Remains of the Day,
1989).
Pandora’s box (pandorbz) A source of manifold
unforeseen diffi culties that once released are hard
to bring back under control. <strong>The</strong> phrase alludes
to Greek mythology and the legend of the beautiful
Pandora, the fi rst woman, and the box or jar
she possessed containing all the problems that if
unleashed would lead to the downfall of humanity.
She was instructed to entrust this box to the man
she married. One legend has it that Pandora
(whose name means “all gifts”) opened the box
out of curiosity to see what was inside, while
another has her eventual husband, Epimetheus,
opening it against her advice. In either event the
box was opened, and the human race has since
been beset by a multiplicity of sorrows and problems.
Only hope remained within. “We unlock the
ge ne tic code and open a Pandora’s box of ethics”
(Philip Yancey, Reaching for the Invisible God, 2000).
panem et circenses See bread and circuses.
Panglossian (pangloseebn) Unrealistically optimistic.
<strong>The</strong> word is an allusion to the fi ctitious
Dr. Pangloss in Voltaire’s candide (1759), in
which he is depicted as a pedantic old tutor who
stubbornly believes, despite all evidence to the
contrary, that all is for the best in this best of
all possible worlds. <strong>The</strong> old man’s Panglossian
optimism in the face of repeated setbacks and disasters
grew to be infuriating. See also best of all possible
worlds, the.
panic A feeling of terror, anxiety, and confusion.
<strong>The</strong> word is Greek in origin, referring to the god
pan, the lecherous god of forests and shepherds
who was notorious for playing tricks on travelers