But where did Eliot get him from?
Interesting question.
He wrote an earlier version of that passage about Phlebas in a French poem, Dans le restaurant',
during WW I, re-worked it in 'The Waste Land' (not 'The Wasteland' ).
That's me corrected
Thanks, I didn't know about the earlier French poem.
I suspect Eliot made up the name. I'm no linguist, but I don't believe the "phl" or "fl" sound occurs in any Semitic language.
Another suggestion is that Eliot was referring to the Greek phleps , genitive phlebos which means "vein".
http://europrogovision.blogspot.com/2008/05/considering-phlebas.html
Also interesting.
Should I be worried about this bit?
In what, in other words, is Phlebas drowned? Seawater, we think; although mightn't it be possible that he has slipped into another form of salty water, into the whirlpool of his own bloodflow?.
Unfortunately we can no longer ask Eliot.
From obscure beginnings, the name has gone on to capture the interest of many people. I've used it for 20 years and will happily use it for another 20, assuming the moralists and wowsers haven't hunted us all down by then.
For Eul - Wowser is an Australian term:
The term originated in Australia, at first carrying a similar meaning to "lout" (an annoying or disruptive person, or even a prostitute). Around 1900 it shifted to its present meaning: one whose sense of morality drives them to deprive others of their sinful pleasures
The Australian writer C. J. Dennis defined it thus: 'Wowser: an ineffably pious person who mistakes this world for a penitentiary and himself for a warder'
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wowser