E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Pander.
To pander to one’s vices is to act as an agent to them, and such an agent is termed a pander, from Pan’-drus, who procures for Tro’ilus the love and graces of Cressida. In Much Ado about Nothing it is said that Troilus was “the first employer of pandars” (v. 2). (Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida; Chaucer: Troilus and Cresseide.)
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“Let all pitiful goers-between be called to the world’s end after my name, call them all ‘Pandars.’ Let all constant men be ‘Trolluses,’ all false women be ‘Cressids,’ and all brokers-between, ‘Pandars.’ Say, Amen.”—Troilus and Cressida, iii. 2.
rus, who procures for Tro’ilus the love and graces of Cressida. In Much Ado about Nothing it is said that Troilus was “the first employer of pandars” (v. 2). (Shakespeare: Troilus and Cressida; Chaucer: Troilus and Cresseide.)
