Paris
or Alexander. Son of Priam, and cause of the siege of Troy. He was hospitably entertained by Menelaʹos, King of Sparta; and eloped with Helen, his host’s wife. This brought about the siege. Post Homeric tradition says that Paris slew Achilles, and was himself slain either by Pyrrhos or Philocteʹtēs. (Homer: Iliad.)
Paris. Kinsman to the Prince of Veroʹna, the unsuccessful suitor of Juliet. (Shakespeare: Romeo and Juliet.)
Paris. Rabelais says that Gargantua played on the Parisians who came to stare at him a practical joke, and the men said it was a sport “par ris” (to be laughed at); wherefore the city was called Par-ʹis. It was called before Leucoʹtia, from the “white skin of the ladies.” (Greek, leukŏtes, whiteness.) (Gargantua and Pantagruel, bk. i. 17.)
Paris, called by the Romans “Luteʹtia Parisioʹrum” (the mud-city of the Parisii) The Parisii were the Gallic tribe which dwelt in the “Ile du Palais” when the Romans invaded Gaul. (See Isis.)
Mons. de Paris. The public executioner of Paris.
The “Galleria Vittorio Emanuele” of Milan is so called on account of its brilliant shops, its numerous cafés, and its general gay appearance.
Brussels, the capital of Belgium, situate on the Senne, is also called “Little Paris.”
