P. 192, c. 2.—“Perseus,” per´se-us. A hero of Grecian legendary lore. The son of Jupiter, who with his mother Danaë, had been cast adrift at sea in a chest. The chest floated to the island Seriphus, where the king wished to marry Danaë, but to get rid of Perseus, sent the latter to fetch the head of the gorgon Medusa. The gorgons were three sisters who had but one eye in common, and turned everything into stone that fell under their gaze. Perseus obtained winged sandals from the Nymphs, and a mirror from Minerva, in which he could see the reflection of Medusa. When the gorgons were asleep he accomplished his errand, and returned in time to rescue his mother and turn the king and his companions into stone. This gorgon head he afterward gave to Minerva, who placed it on her shield.
EXTRACTS FROM GERMAN LITERATURE.
P. 193, c. 2.—“Apollo of the Vatican.” See The Chautauquan for November.
“Python.” Grecian legends tell of a deluge in which Jupiter destroyed all men on account of their wickedness, except one man and his wife. From the mud left on the earth from this deluge sprang this serpent, or Python. He lived in the caves of Mount Parnassus, but was slain by Apollo, who commemorated his victory by establishing the Pythian games.
“Forehead of Jupiter.” Minerva, or the goddess of Wisdom, is said to have sprung from the forehead of Jupiter.
“Graces.” The Grecian goddesses which had care of social life and its pleasures. They inspired all the virtues and accomplishments which make human intercourse delightful, and were the “patronesses of whatever is graceful and beautiful in nature and art.”
P. 193, c. 2.—“Pygmalion,” pyg-ma´li-on. A legendary king of Cyprus. He is said to have made an ivory statue of a maiden, of such rare beauty that he fell in love with it and prayed Venus to endow it with life. She granted his request, and Pygmalion married the maiden.
“Pantheon,” pan-the´on. Literally, the word means to all the gods; i. e., a temple or work dedicated to all the divinities of a nation.
“Transcendentalists.” Those persons who in their reasoning go beyond the facts and principles which spring from experience, and claim a knowledge of spiritual and immaterial things. It is also applied to those whose philosophy is vague and indefinite.