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

tradition has it that the spring of the Hippocrene
on Mount Helicon poured forth where Pegasus
had struck a hoof, and hence Pegasus has always
been linked with the muses, who dwelled on
Mount Helicon. Thus to mount Pegasus means to
embark on creative or artistic work. He bestrode the
motorbike as if it was Pegasus and the front wheel reared
up in the air as he twisted the throttle.
Pelé (pelay) A supremely gifted soccer player.
Edson Arantes do Nascimento (b. 1940), otherwise
known as Pelé, became a star player for the
Brazilian club Santos (1955–74) and later played
for the New York Cosmos (1975–77). He also
enjoyed huge success as the leading star with Brazil’s
national side, winning World Cup winner’s
medals in 1958 and 1970. By 1969 he had notched
up over 1,000 goals in fi rst- class football and was
widely acknowledged the most talented footballer
in the world. Thousands of youngsters in the slums of
the city still dream of becoming a new Pelé.
Peleus See apple of discord.
Pelion See pile pelion on ossa.
Pelléas and Mélisande (pelayas, melisond)
Arche type of a pair of tragic lovers. <strong>The</strong> story of
the doomed love of Pelléas and Mélisande was fi rst
told by the Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck
(1862–1949) in a poetic drama of the same
title (1892) and later provided the basis for an
opera by Claude Debussy (1902). Maeterlinck’s
story tells how the beautiful Mélisande marries
the king’s grandson Golaud, only to fall in love with
his younger half- brother Pelléas. Golaud is consumed
with jealousy, although it remains unclear
whether the lovers have ever behaved inappropriately.
Finding Pelléas and Mélisande alone
together, Golaud stabs them both to death. Before
she fi nally dies Mélisande gives birth to a child.
Like Pelléas and Mélisande, no one knew for sure if their
friendship had been purely platonic or guilty as hell. See
also paolo and francesca.
Pelops See ivory shoulder of pelops.
Pelvis, Elvis the See king, the.
penalty of Adam See adam’s curse.
penates See lares and penates.
Penelope (penelbpee) Archetype of the dutiful,
loyal wife and the personifi cation of patience. In
Greek mythology Penelope is the wife of odysseus,
king of Ithaca, who waited patiently at home
while he was absent fi ghting in the Trojan War.
After 10 years of warfare Odysseus set off for
home but was delayed by the gods, and it was
another de cade before husband and wife were
re united. In the meantime Penelope had to resist
the advances of more than 100 suitors and their
insistent demands that she marry one of them. In
order to appease them she promised to marry one
of them once she had fi nished weaving a shroud
for her father- in- law. <strong>The</strong> suitors reluctantly
agreed to this proposal, unaware of the fact that
each night Penelope unwove the threads she had
worked on during the day so that the shroud was
no nearer being complete. A web of Penelope is
therefore a meta phor for a task that has no end.
Fortunately for Penelope, just as the patience of
the 100 suitors was wearing out, Odysseus arrived
home and slaughtered all rivals for his wife’s hand.
“What ever I see you doing, you’re not really there:
you are waiting—like Penelope when she did her
weaving” (D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, 1913).
Penelope
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