Porthos

Porthos is a fictional character in the novels "The Three Musketeers", "Twenty Years After" and "The Vicomte de Bragelonne" by Alexandre Dumas, père. He and the other two musketeers Athos and Aramis are friends of the novel's protagonist, d'Artagnan (see D'Artagnan Romances). He carries a sword that Aramis nicknamed Balizarde.

In "The Three Musketeers" his family name is du Vallon. In "Twenty Years After", after a successful wedding, he is first known as du Vallon de Bracieux de Pierrefonds, then he earns the title of baron. [ [http://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Vingt_ans_apr%C3%A8s_-_Chapitre_12 Vingt ans après - Chapitre 12] ]

Porthos, honest and slightly gullible, is the extrovert of the group, enjoying wine, women and song. His eating abilities even impress King Louis XIV during a banquet at Versailles. As the story advances, he looks more and more of a giant, and his death is that of a titan.

At the time of "The Three Musketeers" (ca. 1627) he apparently has few lands or other resources to draw from. He was finally able to extract sufficient funds from an elderly lawyer's somewhat younger wife (whom he was romancing) to equip himself for the Siege of La Rochelle.

The fictional Porthos is very loosely based on the historical musketeer Isaac de Portau.

Film and television

Actors who have played Porthos on screen include:
*Charles Martinelli, in "Les trois mousquetaires" (1921)
*Moroni Olsen, in "The Three Musketeers" (1935)
*Gig Young, in "The Three Musketeers" (1948)
*John Colicos, in "The Three Musketeers" (TV movie) (1960)
*Frank Finlay, in "The Three Musketeers" (1973), "The Four Musketeers" (1974), and "The Return of the Musketeers" (1989)
*Alan Hale Jr., in "The Fifth Musketeer" (1979)
*Valentin Smirnitskiy, in "D'Artagnan and Three Musketeers" (1978) and its sequels (1992, 1993)
*Oliver Platt, in "The Three Musketeers" (1993)
*Raoul Billerey, in "La Fille de d'Artagnan" (1994)
*Gérard Depardieu, in "The Man in the Iron Mask" (1998)
*Steven Spiers, in "The Musketeer" (2001)
*John Rhys-Davies, in two episodes of The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne (2000) and La Femme Musketeer (TV movie) (2003)

References