ARGOS                                                                96                                                             ARIOSTO

home the fleece of the ram which had carried off the brother and sister, Phrixus and Helle, and which Phrixus had sacrificed to Jupiter. Phrixus had nailed the fleece to an oak in the grove of Mars in Colchis, where it was guarded by a sleepless dragon and by fire-breathing bulls. Jason set sail with the principal heroes of Greece, among them Castor and Pollux, Hercules and Orpheus. After various adventures in Lemnos, Mysia and the land of the Bebryces, and after successfully passing between the floating islands of the Symple-gades, which were dreaded because of their custom of dashing to pieces whatever came in their way, the Argonauts reached Colchis. The king of Colchis promised Jason the golden fleece if he would yoke the fire-breathing bulls to the plow and sow the dragon's teeth, from which warriors always sprang up to kill the sower. With the aid of Medea, the king's daughter, a powerful enchantress, who had fallen in love with Jason, the latter achieved these tasks. Finding the king plotting against him, he seized the fleece and set sail with Medea and her brother, Absyrtus. When the king pursued them, Medea killed her brother, and throwing his body into the sea, piece by piece, so delayed her father, that the Argo escaped, though, because of their crime, they suffered many things on their homeward journey.

Ar'gos, an important city of ancient Greece, in Argolis. It was believed to be the oldest city in Greece, dating back as far as 1500 B. C. At the time of the Trojan War it was a famous capital, and from it the Greeks were often called Argives (ar'jivz). Before the rise of Sparta, Argos was at the head of a powerful league of Doric cities, but in later Greek history it plays little part. Its site is occupied by a modern town of the same name, which has a population of about 10,000. Here are remains of ancient Cyclopean structures, among them a grand amphitheater hewn in the rock and a large aqueduct.

Argyle (ăr-gW), George Douglas Campbell, eighth duke of, was born April 30, 1823, and died April 24, 1900. He held important offices in the English government, and was a liberal in politics. He also wrote valuable religious and scientific works, among them The Reign of Law, and Primeval Man. His eldest son, the Marquis of Lome, married the Princess Louise, daughter of the late Queen Victoria. This is the first instance of the marriage of a daughter of a reigning sovereign of England to a subject. The marquis succeeded to the dukedom on the death of his father.

Argyll, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, ninth duke of, long known as Marquis of Lome, husband of H. R. H. Princess Louise, fourth daughter of the late Queen Victoria, was born in 1845 m Lon-

don and educated at St. Andrews University and Trinity College, Cambridge. From 18Ŏ8 to 1878 he represented Argyllshire in Parliament as Liberal member, and later sat for South Manchester. In 1871 he married Princess Louise, and was governor-general of Canada from 1878 to 1883. In 1900 he succeeded to the dukedom of Argyll and has since sat in the House of Peers. His writings include A Trip to the Tropics, Guido and Lita, The Psalms Literally Rendered in Verse, a work on Imperial Federation and a Life of Queen Victoria.

Ariad'ne. See Theseus.

Aries (ă'ri-ēz), a northern constellation, known as the ram. It is the first of the twelve signs in the zodiac, which the sun enters at the vernal equinox (March 21). Owing to the precession of the equinoxes, the constellation now is not within the limits of the sign.

Ari'on, a poet and musician of Lesbos, Greece, who lived about 625 B. C. He is said to have invented a new form of verse; but all we know of him is the pretty story told of him by the historian Herodotus. Arion had traveled all over the world and gained great fame and a large sum of money by his skill in singing. On the homeward voyage the sight of his treasure roused the cupidity of the sailors, and they decided to kill him. He was told he must either die by his own hand on shipboard or throw himself into the sea. He chose the latter, but first asked leave to sing one last song. The sailors agreed, and Arion, standing on the deck, sang a dirge, accompanying himself on the lyre. He then jumped overboard, but instead of drowning was borne up by a dolphin that had been charmed by the music. The dolphin carried him to the coast, from which he reached home before the ship. He told his story to the prince, who hardly believed him. On the landing of the sailors, they first said that they had left Arion behind; but when they saw him, they quickly confessed and were punished.

Arios'to, Ludovico, a famous Italian poet, was born at Reggio near Modena in 1474, the eldest of ten children. As a boy he showed ability and taste in composition, but at the wish of his father he studied law. After a trial of five years he gave up the attempt, and turned to the study of the classics, and devoted himself to literature as a profession. A few lyrical poems gained him as a patron the son of the Duke of Ferrara, and hë spent some years in his service. The death of his father left him to support the family, and compelled him to give more time to the service of his patron, but meanwhile he was producing his great poem Orlando Furioso, a work at which he toiled for some ten years. Its appearance made him