PERSEPHONE 



4591 



PERSHING 



ful, but were finally driven back, and after re- 

 treating during the darkness joined forces with 

 General Smith at Harrodsburg. The Federal 

 loss in wounded and killed was about 4,000; the 

 Confederates lost about 3,500. 



PERSEPHONE, perse] 'one, the Greek 

 name for Proserpina (which see). 



PERSEP'OLIS, the ancient capital of the 

 Persian Empire, a city whose splendor and 

 magnificence were a source of wonder to the 

 Greeks. Its site is marked by a series of ruins, 

 including huge marble columns, vast portal<. 

 tombs and sculptured figures. It lay in the fer- 

 tile valley of the Medus River, about thirty- 

 five miles northeast of the modern city of 

 Shiraz, and became the capital of Persia under 

 Darius I. In 331 B.C. the city surrendered to 

 Alexander the Great, who sacked it and mas- 

 sacred the inhabitants. About A. D. 200 another 

 city, Istakhr, rose on its ruins, but this, too, has 

 passed out of existence. 



PERSEUS, pcr'seus, or pur' sus, the son of 

 Jupiter and Danae, in an old Grecian myth. 

 When he was sent on a terrible journey to slay 

 the Gorgon Medusa, the gods who had so care- 

 fully watched over him during the perils of his 

 youth came again to his aid. Pluto lent him a 

 helmet that made him invisible; Minerva lent 

 him her magic shield which inspired terror in 

 every beholder; and Mercury furnished him 

 with winged sandals. Armed in this manner 

 Perseus flew to a land of perpetual darkness, 

 the home of the Graeae, who alone knew where 

 Medusa dwelt. The Graeae were three hide- 

 ous sisters who had among them but one tooth 

 and one eye, which they used in turn. Per- 

 seus, rendered invisible by his helmet, snatched 

 tin eye as it was passing among them and re- 

 fused to return it till they told him where 

 Medusa lived. 



1 Having gained this information, he flew on 

 to Medusa's home, where he found her asleep. 

 Remembering the strange power of h r 

 he held his mirroring shield before him, and 

 watching only ction of Medusa there, 



it off her head with one blow of his sword. 

 :i holding the head | his sight. h- 



flew hastily back, fearing the revenge of tin- 

 sister Gorgons. From the drops of blood 

 streamed ipto the ocean Neptune fashioned his 

 famous steed Pegasus, and from tho* 

 into the hot African sands a race of poisonous 

 reptiles sprang. To the suffering Atlas Perseus 

 showed the head, and the giant became tlx 

 mountain range. On his way, too, he rescued 

 Andromeda, who had been chained to a rock 



and left to perish, and he married her. The 

 shield, helmet and sandals he gratefully re- 

 turned to the gods who had aided him, and the 

 head of Medusa he presented to Minerva, who 

 fixed it in the center of her terrible shield. 

 Then Perseus, on his return to Thessaly, acci- 

 dentally slew his grandfather Acrisius. Later, 

 he ruled wisely and well over Mycenae, and at 

 his death the gods placed him and Andromeda, 

 with her mother, Cassiopeia, as constellations 

 in the heavens, where they may still be seen. 



Related Subjects. The following articles in 

 these volumes are of interest In this connection : 

 Andromeda Mercury 



Atlas Minerva 



PERSHING, pur'shing, JOHN JOSEPH (1880- 

 ), an American soldier whose promotion 

 to the rank of major-general, in 1916, made 

 him, next to Major-General Wood, the young- 

 est officer of that rank in the United States 

 army. In 1918 m 

 France he was 

 raised to the full 

 rank of general. 

 He is a native 

 of Missouri and 

 a graduate of 

 the normal school 

 at Kirks v i 1 1 e 

 (Mo.) and of the 

 Military Academy 

 at West Point. In 

 the year of his 



graduation from JOHN J PERSHINO 



The first military com- 

 the latter msti- mnmler India Mited 



tution (1886) 1.. rsea * 



took part in the campaign against the Apaches, 

 later commanded the Indian scouts in the war 

 against the Sioux, and in 1891-1895 was military 

 instructor at the University of Nebraska. Whm 

 the Spanish- American War broke out he was 

 acting as instructor in tactics at West Point, 

 but he immediately went into active service 

 and fought with the Tenth Cavalry during the 

 Santiago campaign, holding then the rank of 

 first lieutenant. After the occupation of the 

 Philippines he organized the Bureau of Insular 

 irs of the War Department and was ap- 

 pointed first chief of the Bureau. 



During his stay in the Philippines (1899- 

 1903) Penning was made commander of mili- 

 tary operations in Central Mindanao against 

 the Moros, and his excellent work won him the 

 appointment of military governor of the islands. 

 : the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War 

 he became military attache* at Tokyo and AC- 



