The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

what he had inherited by a single drachma. His last
speech to the Senate was typically Periclean.
Perils of Pauline (pahleen) A series of breathtakingly
hazardous adventures. <strong>The</strong> allusion is to a
thrilling silent- movie serial fi rst screened in 1914
and called <strong>The</strong> Perils of Pauline. It starred Pearl
White as a heroine who fi nds herself in all manner
of life- threatening situations from which she is
only rescued in the nick of time. “Spooner picked
up on this idea and thought the best way to do it
would be as an extended Perils of Pauline- type
adventure, complete with ‘How are they going to
get out of that?’ endings” ( J. Bentham, Doctor
Who: <strong>The</strong> Early Years, 1986).
Perry Mason (peree maysbn) A brilliant lawyerdetective.
<strong>The</strong> Perry Mason radio and tele vi sion
detective series, based on the best- selling novels
of Erle Stanley Gardner (1889–1970), were a
mainstay of broadcast schedules on both sides of
the Atlantic for many years. <strong>The</strong> tele vi sion series,
featuring Raymond Burr as Perry Mason, ran from
1957 to 1966, and Burr reprised the role in a further
series of tele vi sion movies from 1985. Mason
appeared for the defense and always proved his
client’s innocence, usually in a tense courtroom
fi nale. In the last episode of the original tele vision
series, Gardner himself made a cameo
appearance as the judge in the case. “It was a classic
Perry Mason prisoner- and- jury setting” (Norman
Fowler, Ministers Decide, 1991).
Persephone (persefbnee) Personifi cation of the
cycle of the seasons. In Greek mythology Persephone
(Proserpina to the Romans) was identifi ed
as the daughter of Zeus and Demeter and was
snatched away to the underworld to be the wife of
Hades, the lord of the dead. Zeus eventually gave
person from Porlock
in to the distraught Demeter’s requests for her
return, but Persephone had disregarded the
instruction not to eat anything while in the underworld
(as this would bind her there forever) and
eaten the seeds of a pomegranate. As a compromise
it was agreed that Persephone would be
allowed back to the living world for part of the
year but would have to return to Hades for the
remaining months. Her arrival in the upper world
is heralded by the coming of spring, while her
return to Hades marks the beginning of winter.
Persephone had scattered spring fl owers through the
meadow.
Perseus (perseebs) Archetype of the classical
hero. In Greek mythology Perseus is the central
character in a number of heroic episodes, including
the killing and cutting off the head of medusa
and the rescue of andromeda, who became his
wife. He was also a model ruler of Argos and Tiryns
and was credited with the foundation of Mycenae.
He felt like Perseus facing Medusa, undaunted but unable
to look directly at the danger that threatened him.
person from Porlock (porlok) An interruption
in the creative fl ow. <strong>The</strong> British poet Samuel Taylor
Coleridge (1772–1834) was staying in the village
of Nether Stowey in Somerset in 1797, the year he
wrote the fantastical poem “Kubla Khan,” destined
to become one of the most celebrated of all poems
written in the En glish language. According to
Coleridge himself, he had composed the poem
while in a drugged sleep and found on waking that
he could still remember every word of the remarkable
work. He wrote down several hundred lines
of the poem in a feverish, inspired rush but was
then, according to his own account, interrupted
by a “person from Porlock” (a nearby village) calling
on a business matter. When Coleridge fi nally
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