Peritas

Stag hunt mosaic from Pella, by Gnosis. The dog depicted here could be Peritas.

Peritas (Greek: Περίτας) was Alexander the Great's favorite dog, who accompanied him during his military exploits. The name Peritas seems to come from the Macedonian word for January.

History

The Eponymous City

Not much is known of the historical Peritas aside from a city named in his honor. Peritas' death, however it happened, was a venerable one. Like Alexander's horse Bucephalus, Peritas was awarded a city named in his honor, with a monument to his glory in its central square. According to Plutarch, after recalling the story of Bucephalus, "It is said, too, that when he lost a dog also, named Peritas, which had been reared by him and was loved by him, he founded a city and gave it the dog's name." The city was probably somewhere in India, perhaps not far from the town named after Bucephalus; since both cities would have been the spoils of war for Alexander after having defeated King Porus at the Battle of the Hydaspes.

Breed

The breed of Peritas is hard to ascertain and remains unknown. Peritas is sometimes referred to as a Molosser or Bulldog, perhaps from the fierce nature of a few stories. Others will say Peritas would have been a greyhound.

Tales of Peritas

According to Pliny, it was perhaps the king Pyrrhus of Epirus (NW Greece), who delighted Alexander by giving him a dog which had attacked and beaten both a lion and an elephant. There is also the story of Alexander meeting Sopeithes, a ruler of an area probably around Jech Doab in Punjab. Sopeithes gave Alexander one hundred and fifty dogs known for their fearsome strength and courage. Wishing to test their strength, Sopeithes had a lion fight two of the weakest dogs. He released two others to help once those two seemed at a disadvantage. The four were doing well against the lion when Sopeithes sent a man with a scimitar to hack at a leg of one of the dogs. Alexander protested strongly, and guards took the man with the blade away, until Sopeithes offered Alexander three dogs for that one. The dog then calmly accepted its fate without making a sound, and continued to have a firm bite on the lion until it had succumbed to its loss of blood. It is unsure whether any of these pertain to Peritas.

One tale about the dog involves its biting the lip of an elephant in the Battle of Gaugamela against Persia's Darius III, resulting in the dog's death. Perhaps this is the story of Pliny's embellished. Another says when Alexander was trapped behind Mallian fortifications, Leonnatus heard Peritas howl from behind him. While still fighting, Leonnatus told Peritas to run to Alexander; and Peritas attacked the Mallians, who had just wounded Alexander with a javelin. This allowed the troops to salvage Alexander in time. In saving Alexander, Peritas had also been wounded by a javelin, dying in his master's lap.