Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama Part 87

=Polycle'tos= (in Latin _Polycletus_), a statuary of Sicyon, who drew up a canon of the proportions of the several parts of the human body: as, twice round the thumb is once round the wrist; twice round the wrist is once round the neck; twice round the neck is once round the waist; once round the fist is the length of the foot; the two arms extended is the height of the body; six times the length of the foot, or eighteen thumbs, is also the height of the body.

Again, the thumb, the longest toe, and the nose should all be of the same length. The index finger should measure the breadth of the hand and foot, and twice the breadth should give the length. The hand, the foot, and the face should all be the same length. The nose should be one-third of the face; and, of course, the thumbs should be one-third the length of the hand. Gerard de Lairesse has given the exact measurements of every part of the human figure, according to the famous statues of "Antinous,[TN-98] "Apollo Belvidere," "Hercules," and "Venus de'Medici."

=Polycrates= (4 _syl._), tyrant of Samos. He was so fortunate in everything, that Am'asis, king of Egypt, advised him to part with something he highly prized. Whereupon, Polycrates threw into the sea an engraved gem of extraordinary value. A few days afterwards, a fish was presented to the tyrant, in which this very gem was found. Amasis now renounced all friendship with him, as a man doomed by the G.o.ds; and not long after this, a satrap, having entrapped the too fortunate despot, put him to death by crucifixion. (See FISH AND THE RING.)--_Herodotus_, iii. 40.

=Polyd'amas=, a Thessalian athlete of enormous strength. He is said to have killed an angry lion, to have held by the heels a raging bull and thrown it helpless at his feet, to have stopped a chariot in full career, etc. One day, he attempted to sustain a falling rock, but was killed and buried by the huge ma.s.s.

Milo carried a bull, four years old, on his shoulders through the stadium at Olympia; he also arrested a chariot in full career. One day, tearing asunder a pine tree, the two parts, rebounding, caught his hands and held him fast, in which state he was devoured by wolves.

=Polydore= (3 _syl._), the name by which Belarius called Prince Guiderius, while he lived in a cave in the Welsh mountains. His brother, Prince Arviragus, went by the name of Cadwal.--Shakespeare, _Cymbeline_ (1605).

_Polydore_ (3 _syl._), brother of General Memnon, beloved by the Princess Calis, sister of Astorax, king of Paphos.--Beaumont and Fletcher, _The Mad Lover_ (1618).

_Polydore_ (_Lord_), son of Lord Acasto, and Castalio's younger brother.

He entertained a base pa.s.sion for his father's ward Monimia, "the orphan," and, making use of the signal ("three soft taps upon the chamber door") to be used by Castalio, to whom she was privately married, indulged his wanton love, Monimia supposing him to be her husband. When, next day, he discovered that Monimia was actually married to Castalio, he was horrified, and provoked a quarrel with his brother; but as soon as Castalio drew his sword, he ran upon it and was killed.--Thomas Otway, _The Orphan_ (1680).

_Polydore_ (3 _syl._), a comrade of Ernest of Otranto (page of Prince Tancred).--Sir W. Scott, _Count Robert of Paris_ (time, Rufus).

=Polyglot= (_Ignatius_), the master of seventeen languages, and tutor of Charles Eustace (aged 24). Very learned, very ignorant of human life; most strict as a disciplinarian, but tender-hearted as a girl. His pupil has married clandestinely, but Polyglot offers himself voluntarily to be the scapegoat of the young couple, and he brings them off triumphantly.--J. Poole, _The Scapegoat_.

=Polyglott= (_A Walking_), Cardinal Mezzofanti, who knew fifty-eight different languages (1774-1849).

=Polyolbion= (the "_greatly blessed_"), by Michael Drayton, in thirty parts, called "songs,"[TN-99] It is a topographical description of England. Song i. The landing of Bruce. Song ii. Dorsetshire, and the adventures of Sir Bevis of Southampton. Song iii. Somerset. Song iv.

Contention of the rivers of England and Wales respecting Lundy--to which country it belonged. Song v. Sabrina, as arbiter, decides that it is "allied alike both to Enggland[TN-100] and Wales;" Merlin and Milford Haven. Song vi. The salmon and beaver of Twy; the tale of Sabrina; the druids and bards. Song vii. Hereford. Song viii. Conquest of Britain by the Romans and by the Saxons. Song ix. Wales. Song x. Merlin's prophecies; Winifred's well; defence of the "tale of Brute" (1612). Song xi. Cheshire, the religious Saxon kings. Song xii. Shropshire and Staffordshire; the Saxon warrior kings; and Guy of Warwick. Song xiii.

Warwick; Guy of Warwick concluded. Song xiv. Gloucestershire. Song xv.

The marriage of Isis and Thame. Song xvi. The Roman roads and Saxon kingdoms. Song xvii. Surrey and Suss.e.x; the sovereigns of England from William to Elizabeth. Song xviii. Kent; England's great generals and sea-captains (1613). Song xix. Ess.e.x and Suffolk; English navigators.

Song xx. Norfolk. Song xxi. Cambridge and Ely. Song xxii.

Buckinghamshire, and England's intestine battles. Song xxiii.

Northamptonshire. Song xxiv. Rutlandshire; and the British saints. Song xxv. Lincolnshire. Song xxvi. Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Derbyshire; with the story of Robin Hood. Song xxvii. Lancashire and the Isle of Man. Song xxviii. Yorkshire. Song xxix. Northumberland. Song x.x.x. c.u.mberland (1622).

=Pol'ypheme= (3 _syl._), a gigantic cyclops of Sicily, who fed on human flesh. When Ulysses, on his return from Troy, was driven to this Island, he and twelve of his companions were seized by Polypheme, and confined in his cave, that he might devour two daily for his dinner. Ulysses made the giant drunk, and, when he lay down to sleep, bored out his one eye.

Roused by the pain, the monster tried to catch his tormentors; but Ulysses and his surviving companions made their escape by clinging to the bellies of the sheep and rams when they were let out to pasture (_Odyssey_, ix.).

There is a Basque legend told of the giant Tartaro, who caught a young man in his snares, and confined him in his cave for dessert. When, however, Tartaro fell asleep, the young man made the giant's spit red hot, bored out his one eye, and then made his escape by fixing the bell of the bell-ram round his neck, and a sheep-skin over his back. Tartaro seized the skin, and the man, leaving it behind, made off.--_Basque Legends._

A very similar adventure forms the tale of Sindbad's third voyage, in the _Arabian Nights_. He was shipwrecked on a strange island, and entered, with his companions, a sort of palace. At nightfall, a one-eyed giant entered, and ate one of them for supper, and another for breakfast next morning. This went on for a day or two, when Sindbad bored out the giant's one eye with a charred olive stake. The giant tried in vain to catch his tormentors, but they ran to their rafts; and Sindbad, with two others, contrived to escape.

? Homer was translated into Syriac by Theophilus Edessenes in the caliphate of Harun-ur-Rashid (A.D. 786-809).

=Polypheme and Galatea.= Polypheme loved Galatea, the sea-nymph; but Galatea had fixed her affections on Acis, a Sicilian shepherd. The giant, in his jealousy, hurled a huge rock at his rival, and crushed him to death.

The tale of Polypheme is from Homer's _Odyssey_, ix. It is also given by Ovid in his _Metamorphoses_, xiv. Euripides introduces the monster in his _Cyclops_; and the tragedy of Acis and Galatea is the subject of Handel's famous opera so called.

(In Greek the monster is called _Polyphemos_, and in Latin _Polyphemus_.)

=Polyphe'mus of Literature=, Dr. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784).

=Polypho'nus= ("_big voiced_"), the Kapaneus and most boastful of the frog heroes. He was slain by the mouse Artophagus ("the bread-nibbler").

But great Artophagus avenged the slain, ...

And Polyphonus died, a frog renowned For boastful speech and turbulence of sound.

Parnell, _Battle of the Frogs and Mice_, iii. (about 1712).

=Polyx'ena=, a magnanimous and most n.o.ble woman, wife of Charles Emmanuel, king of Sardinia (who succeeded to the crown in 1730).--R. Browning, _King Victor and King Charles, etc._

=Pomegranate Seed.= When Perseph'one was in Hades, whither Pluto had carried her, the G.o.d, foreknowing that Jupiter would demand her release, gathered a pomegranate, and said to her, "Love, eat with me, this parting day, of the pomegranate seed;" and she ate. Demeter, in the mean time, implored Zeus (_Jupiter_) to demand Persephone's release; and the king of Olympus promised she should be set at liberty, if she had not eaten anything during her detention in Hades. As, however, she had eaten pomegranate seeds, her return was impossible.

Low laughs the dark king on his throne-- "I gave her of pomegranate seeds" ...

And chant the maids of Enna still-- "O fateful flower beside the rill, The daffodil, the daffodil." (See DAFFODIL.)

Jean Ingelow, _Persephone_.

=Pomoma.= The incomparable maid-of-work, custodian, novelist, comedienne, tragedienne, and presiding genius of Rudder Grange. Her _chef d'uvre_ is the expedient of posting the premises "_To be Sold for Taxes_," to keep away peddlers of trees, etc., in her employers' absence.--Frank Stockton, _Rudder Grange_ (1879).

=Pompey=, a clown; servant to Mrs. Overdone (a bawd).--Shakespeare, _Measure for Measure_ (1603).

=Pompey the Great=, was killed by Achillas and Septimius, the moment the Egyptian fishing-boat reached the coast. Plutarch tells us they threw his head into the sea. Others say his head was sent to Caesar, who turned from it with horror, and shed a flood of tears. Shakespeare makes him killed by "savage islanders" (2 _Henry VI._ act iv. sc. 1, 1598).

=Pompil'ia=, a foundling, the putative daughter of Pietro (2 _syl._). She married Count Guido Franceschini, who treated her so brutally that she made her escape under the protection of a young priest named Caponsacchi. Pompilia subsequently gave birth to a son, but was slain by her husband.

The babe had been a find i' the filth-heap, sir, Catch from the kennel. There was found at Rome, Down in the deepest of our social dregs, A woman who professed the wanton's trade ...

She sold this babe eight months before its birth To our Violante (3 _syl._), Pietro's honest spouse, ...

Partly to please old Pietro, Partly to cheat the rightful heirs, agape For that same princ.i.p.al of the usufruct, It vexed him he must die and leave behind.

R. Browning, _The Ring and the Book_, ii, 557, etc.

=Ponce de Leon=, the navigator who went in search of the _Fontaine de Jouvence_, "qui fit rajovenir la gent." He sailed in two ships on this "voyage of discoveries," in the sixteenth century.