Chapter Peregrine Pickle to Periwinkle of P by Brewer's Readers Handbook

Pericles prince of Tyre, a voluntary exi le, in order to avert the calamities which Ant iochus emperor of Greece vowed against the Tyrians. Periclês, in his wanderings, first came to Tarsus, which he relieved from famine, but was obliged to quit the city t o avoid the persecution of Antiochus. He was then shipwrecked, and cast on the shore of Pentapolis, where he distinguished himself in the public games, and being introduced to the king, fell in love withthe princess Thaïs’a and married her. At the death of Antiochus, he returned to Tyre; but his wife, supposed to be dead in giving birth to a daughter (Marina), was thrown into the sea. Periclês entrusted his infant child to Cleon (governor of Tarsus) and his wife Dionysia, who brought her up excellently well. But when she became a young woman, Dionysia employed a man to murder her, and when Periclês came to see her, he was shown a splendid sepulchre which had been raised to her honour, On his return home, the ship stopped at Metalinê, and Marina was introduced to Periclês to divert his melancholy. She told him the tale of her life, and he discovered that she was his daughter. Marina was now betrothed to Lysimachus governor of Metalinê; and the party, going to the shrine of Diana of Ephesus to return thanks to the goddess, discovered the priestess to be Thaïsa, the wife of Periclês and mother of Marina.—Shakespeare: Pericles Prince of Tyre (1608).

(This is the story of Ismene and Ismenias, by Eustathius. The tale was known to Gower by the translation of Godfrey Viterbo. It is from the Gesta Romanorum, clii.)

Appolonius of Tyre, a British romance, is a similar story.

Pericles and Aspasia, in connected letters by Walter Savage Landor (1836).

(The Rev. George Croly wrote a poem of the same title, 1780–1860.)

Perigort (Cardinal). Previous to the battle of Poitiers, he endeavoured to negotiate terms with the French king, but the only terms he could obtain, he tells prince Edward, were—

That to the castles, towns and plunder ta’en
And offered now by you to be restored,
Your royal person with a hundred knights
Are to be added prisoners at discretion.

Shirley: Edward the Black Prince, iv. 2 (1640).

Perigot (the t pronounced so as to rhyme with not), a shepherd in love with Amoret; but the shepherdess Amarillis also loves h im, and, by the aid of the Sullen Shepherd, gets transformed into the exact likeness of the modest Amoret. By her wanton conduct, she disgusts Perigot, who casts her off; and by and by, meeting Amoret, whom he believes to be the same person, rejects her with scorn, and even wounds her with intent to kill. Ultimately the truth is discovered by Corin, “the faithful shepherdess,” and the lovers, being reconciled, are married to each other.—J. Fletcher: The Faithful Shepherdess (1610).

Periklymenos, son of Neleus . He had the power of changing his form into a bird, beast, reptile, or insect. As a bee, he perched on the chariot of Heraklês (Herculês), and was killed.

Perillos, of Athens, made a brazen bull for Phalaris tyrant of Agrigentum, intended for the execution of criminals. They were to be shut up in the bull, which was then to be heated red hot; and the cries of the victims enclosed were so reverberated as to resemble the roarings of a gigantic bull. Phalaris made the first experiment by shutting up the inventor himself in his own bull.

What’s a protector?
A tragic actor, Cæsar in a clown;
He’s a brass farthing stampèd with a crown;
A bladder blown with other breaths puffed full.
Not a Perillus, but Perrilus’ bull

Cleveland: A Definition of a Protector (died 1659).

Perilous Castle. The castle of lord Douglas was so called in the reign of Edward I., because the good lord Douglas destroyed several English garrisons stationed there, and vowed to be revenged on any one who dared to take possession of it. Sir W. Scott calls it “Castle Dangerous” in his novel so entitled.