More than one of these 7 encyclopedias carries each of the following subjects — but every one of them treats it in a sentence or two and then moves on. They are gathered here so the different accounts can sit side by side.
Pelias
1000 Classical Characters: Son of Neptune and Tyro. On his birth he was exposed in the woods, but his life was preserved by some shepherds. Subsequently Tyro was married to Cretheus, king of Iolchos. They had three children, of whom Aeson was the eldest. Pelias visited his mother after the death of Cretheus, and usurped the authority which properly belonged to the children of the deceased monarch. Jason , the son of Aeson, who had been educated by Chiron , on attaining manhood demanded the kingdom the government of which Pelias had usurped. Jason was persuaded by Pelias to waive his claim for the present, and start on the Argonautic expedition. On his return, accompanied by the sorceress Medea , who undertook to restore Pelias to youth, explaining that it was necessary first to cut his body to pieces and place the limbs in a caldron of boiling water. This was done, when Medea refused to fulfill her promise, which she had solemnly made to the daughters of Pelias, who were four in number, and who had received the patronymic of the Peliades.
Collier's New Encyclopedia: in Greek mythology, son of Neptune, and King of Iolchus. The legends ascribe to him the Argonautic expedition, for he wished to be rid of Jason. Medea bade his daughters cut him in pieces and boil him, to make him young again, but he died while undergoing the process.
Covered by 1000 Classical Characters and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Peloponnesus
Aiton's Encyclopedia: the main peninsula of southern Greece. The name is derived from Pelops, a hero of Greek mythology. He was the grandson of Zeus and the brother of Niobe. The peninsula comprised Achaia, Elis, Messenia, Arcadia, Laconia, and Argolis. The leading cities were Sparta, Corinth, Argos, and Olympia. A contest between Sparta and Athens for the leadership of Greece, extending from 431 to 404 B. C., is known as the Peloponnesian War. It resulted in the triumph of Sparta and the destruction of the long walls of Athens. The peninsula is now known as the Morea. It is a mountainous region of about 8,300 square miles. See Greece ; Sparta ; Corinth , etc.
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the ancient name of the Morea. Among its most important cities were Sparta in Laconia, and Argos the capital of Argolis. Sparta acquired, after the Messenian war, a decided supremacy over the other states, and disputed isputed the supremacy with Athens in a war of almost 30 years' duration (431-404 b. c.) - the famous Peloponnesian War, of which the history has been written by Thucydides. After the Roman conquest, the Peloponnesus formed part of the province of Achaia, and subsequently belonged to the Byzantine empire.
1000 Classical Characters: The most memorable act of Phidon was his introduction of copper and silver coinage, and a new scale of weights and measures, which, through his influence, became prevalent in the Peloponnesus, and ultimately throughout the greater portion of Greece.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia and 1000 Classical Characters
Pemmican
Aiton's Encyclopedia: a sort of food prepared by the northern Indians. Meat, chiefly that of the buffalo, was cut into bits and boiled into shreds. It was then seasoned with berries, flooded with the boiling fat of the animal, and sealed up in skin bags. This highly nutritious condensed food was taken on long journeys. It was a staple article of diet among the Indians of the Northwest, the trappers, Red River voyageurs and the drivers of the creaking trains of fur-laden Red River carts on their annual trip from Manitoba to St. Paul. Pemmican is prepared still by the Eskimo Indian. He dries his strips of musk ox, seal, venison, bear's meat, or any kind of game, then pounds it into shreds and packs it in boiling fat in skin sacks. Pemmican prepared in this way keeps indefinitely. These sacks of pemmican are the standard food on long journeys. A chunk of frozen pemmican and a can of hot tea form the regular meal of an Arctic explorer.
Collier's New Encyclopedia: or PEMICAN, meat cut in thin slices, divested of fat, and dried in the sun, then pounded into a paste, mixed with melted fat, and sometimes dried fruit, and pressed tightly into cakes or bags. It is an easily preserved food, will keep for a long time, and contains much nutriment in a small compass.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Penates
Aiton's Encyclopedia: pe-na'tez, in Roman mythology, the household gods who were supposed to guard the welfare and prosperity of the home and family. The word Penates is from penus, the innermost part of the temple. The head of the family was priest to the Penates of his own house. The images of the Penates were kept in the inner or central part of each home. In case of a family removing to another home, or if the home must be deserted in time of danger, it was the first care of the family to take with them the Penates. Each city had also its Penates, guardians of the empire. The Lares were included in the term Penates, although the expression "Lares and Penates" is common. See Lares
Collier's New Encyclopedia: the Roman gods of the storeroom and kitchen. The family hearth, which formerly stood in the atrium, and their altar, and on it their images, two in number, were placed, with the image of the Lar between them. These penates were represented dancing and elevating a drinking horn in token of joy and plenty. The calends, nones, and ides of each month were set apart for their worship, as were the caristia (Feb. 22) and the saturnalia. the state had its public penates. The worship of these gods was closely connected with that of Vesta, in whose temple the public penates were at one time worshipped, though they had a temple of their own near the Forum.
Covered by Aiton's Encyclopedia and Collier's New Encyclopedia
Persephone
Collier's New Encyclopedia: in Greek mythology, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter (Ceres). While she was gathering flow- OLIVER HAZARD PERRY ers near Enna in Sicily Pluto carried her off to the infernal regions, with the conoffifought six vessels, sent of Zeus, and made her his wife wife,, but and 502 officers and in answer to the prayers of Demeter she fifths of the crew was permitted to spend the spring and summer of each year in the upper world. In Homer she bears the name of Persephoneia. The chief seats of the worship of Persephone were Attica and Sicily. In the festivals held in her honor in autumn the celebrants were dressed in mourning in token of lamentation for her being carried off by Pluto, while at the spring festivals they were clad in gay attire in token of joy at her return.
Aiton's Encyclopedia: or Prosperine. See Demeter
Covered by Collier's New Encyclopedia and Aiton's Encyclopedia