Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1 · Chapter 7Copyright, 1892, by SELMAR HESS (7)
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Antonio (Don), in love with Louisa, the daughter of don Jerome of Seville. A poor nobleman of ancient family.—Sheridan, The Duenna (1778).
Antonomas'ia (The princess), daughter of Archipiela, king of Candaya, and his wife Maguncia. She married don Clavijo, but the giant Malambru'no, by enchantment, changed the bride into a brass monkey, and her spouse into a crocodile of some unknown metal. Don Quixote mounted the wooden horse Clavileno the Winged, to disenchant the lady and her husband, and this he effected "simply by making the attempt."—Cervantes, Don Quixote, II iii. 4, 5 (1615).
Antony (Saint) lived in a cavern on the summit of Cavadonga, in Spain, and was perpetually annoyed by devils.
Old St. Antonius from the hell
Of his bewildered phantasy saw fiends
In actual vision, a foul throng grotesque
Of all horrific shapes and forms obscene,
Crowd in broad day before his open eyes.
Southey, Roderick, etc., xvi. (1814).
An'tony and Cæsar. Macbeth says that "under Banquo his own genius was rebuked [or snubbed], as it is said Mark Antony's was by Cæsar" (act iii. sc. 1), and in Antony and Cleopatra this passage is elucidated thus—
Thy daemon, that's thy spirit which keeps thee, is
Noble, courageous, high, unmatchable,
Where Cæsar's is not; but near him thy angel
Becomes a fear, as being overpowered.
Act ii. sc. 3.
Anvil (The Literary). Dr. Mayo was so called, because he bore the hardest blows of Dr. Johnson without flinching.
Aodh, last of the Culdees, or primitive clergy of Io'na, an island south of Staffa. His wife was Reullu'ra. Ulvfa'gre the Dane, having landed on the island and put many to the sword, bound Aodh in chains of iron, then dragging him to the church, demanded where the "treasures were concealed." A mysterious figure now appeared, which not only released the priest, but took the Dane by the arm to the statue of St. Columb, which fell on him and crushed him to death. After this the "saint" gathered the remnant of the islanders together, and went to Ireland.—Campbell, Reullura.
Ape (1 syl.), the pseudonym of M. Pellegrini, the caricaturist of Vanity Fair. Dr. Johnson says "to ape is to imitate ludicrously;" whence the adoption of the name.
Apel'les and the Cobbler. A cobbler found fault with the shoe-latchet of one of Apelles' paintings, and the artist rectified the fault. The cobbler, thinking himself very wise, next ventured to criticise the legs; but Apelles said, Ne sutor ultra crepidam ("Let not the cobbler go beyond his last").
Within that range of criticism where all are equally judges, and where Crispin is entitled to dictate to Apelles.—Encyc. Brit., Art. "Romance."
Apelles. When his famous painting of Venus rising out of the sea (hung by Augustus in the temple of Julius Cæsar) was greatly injured by time, Nero replaced it by a copy done by Dorotheus. This Venus by Apelles is called "Venus Anadyom'-enê," his model (according to tradition) being Campaspê (afterwards his wife).
Apeman'tus, a churlish Athenian philosopher, who snarled at men systematically, but showed his cynicism to be mere affectation, when Timon attacked him with his own weapons.—Shakespeare, Timon of Athens (1600).
Their affected melancholy showed like the cynicism of Apemantus, contrasted with the real misanthropy of Timon.—Sir W. Scott.
Apic'ius, an epicure in the time of Tiberius. He wrote a book on the ways of provoking an appetite. Having spent £800,000 in supplying the delicacies of the table, and having only £80,000 left, he hanged himself, not thinking it possible to exist on such a wretched pittance. Apicia, however, became a stock name for certain cakes and sauces, and his name is still proverbial in all matters of gastronomy.
There was another of the name in the reign of Trajan, who wrote a cooking book and manual of sauces.
No Brahmin could abominate your meal more than I do. Hirtius and Apicius would have blushed for it. Mark Antony, who roasted eight whole boars for supper, never massacred more at a meal than you have done.—Cumberland, The Fashionable Lover, i. 1 (1780).
Apollo, son of Jupiter and Latona, and model of masculine beauty. He is the sun, in Homeric mythology, the embodiment of practical wisdom and foresight, of swift and far-reaching intelligence, and hence of poetry, music, etc.
The Apollo Belvidere, that is, the Apollo preserved in the Belvidere gallery of the Vatican, discovered in 1503 amid the ruins of An'tium, and purchased by pope Julius II. It is supposed to be the work of Cal'amis, a Greek sculptor of the fifth century B.C.
The Apollo of Actium was a gigantic statue, which served for a beacon.
The Apollo of Rhodes, usually called the colossus, was a gigantic bronze statue, 150 feet high, made by Charês, a pupil of Lysippus, and set up B.C. 300.
Animals consecrated to Apollo, the cock, the crow, the grasshopper, the hawk, the raven, the swan, and the wolf.
Apoll'yon, king of the bottomless pit; introduced by Bnnyan in his Pilgrim's Progress. Apollyon encounters Christian, by whom, after a severe contest, he is foiled (1678).
Apostle or Patron Saint of—
ABYSSINIANS, St. Frumentius (died 360). His day, October 27.
ALPS, Felix Neff (1798-1829).
ANTIOCH, St. Margaret (died 275). Her day, July 20.
ARDENNES, St. Hubert (656-730).
ARMENIANS, Gregory of Armenia (256-331).
CAGLIARI (
Sardinia
), St. Efisio.
CORFU, St. Spiridion (fourth century). His day, December 14.
ENGLISH, St. Augustin (died 607); St. George (died 290).
ETHIOPIA, St. Frumentius (died 360). His day, October 27.
FRANCONIA, St. Kilian (died 689). His day, July 8.
FREE TRADE, Richard Cobden (1804-1865).
FRENCH, St. Denis (died 272). His day, October 9.
FRISIANS, St. Wilbrod (657-738).
GAULS, St. Irenae'us (130-200); St. Martin (316-397).
GENTILES, St. Paul (died 66). His days, June 29, January 25.
GEORGIA, St. Nino.
GERMANY, St. Boniface (680-755). His day, June 5.
HIGHLANDERS, St. Colomb (521-597). His day, June 9.
HUNGARIANS, St. Anastasius (died 628). His day, January 22.
INDIANS, Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474-1566); Rev. John Eliot (1603-1690).
INDIES, St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552). His day, December 3.
INFIDELITY, Voltaire (1694-1778).
IRISH, St. Patrick (372-493). His day, March 17.
LIBERTY, Thomas Jefferson, third president of the U.S. (1743-1826).
LONDON, St. Paul; St. Michael. Days, January 25, September 29.
NETHERLANDS, St. Armand (589-679).
NORTH, St. Ansgar (801-864); Bernard Gilpin (1517-1583).
Padua, St. Anthony (1195-1231). His day, June 13. Paris, St. Genevieve (419-512). Her day, January 3. Peak, W. Bagshaw, so called from his missionary labors in Derbyshire (1628-1702). Picts, St. Ninian. Scottish Reformers, John Knox (1505-1572). Sicily (the tutelary deity is) Cerês. Slaves, St. Cyril (died 868). His day, February 14. Spain, St. James the Greater (died 44.) His day, July 24. Temperance, Father Mathew (1790-1856). Venice, St. Mark; St. Pantaleon; St. Andrew Justiniani. St. Mark's day, April 25; St. Pantaleon's, July 27. Wales, St. David (480-544). His day, March 1. Yorkshire, St. Pauli'nus, bishop of York (597-644).
Apostolic Fathers (The Five): Clement of Rome, Barnabas, Hermas, Igna'tius, and Polycarp. All contemporary with the Apostles.
Ap'petizer. A Scotchman being told that the birds called kittiewiaks were admirable appetizers, ate six of them, and then complained "he was no hungrier than he was before."
Aquarius, Sagittarius. Mrs. Browning says that "Aquarius" is a symbol of man bearing, and "Sagittarius" of man combatting. The passive and active forms of human labor.
Eve
. Two phantasms of two men.
Adam
. One that sustains,
And one that strives, so the ends
Of manhood's curse of labor.
E. B. Browning, A Drama of Exile (1851).
A'quilant, son of Olive'ro and Sigismunda; a knight in Charlemagne's army. He was called "black," and his brother Gryphon "white" from the color of their armor.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
A'quiline (3 syl.), Raymond's steed, whose sire was the wind.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, vii. (1575).
(Solinus, Columella, and Varro relate how the Lusitanian mares "with open mouth against the breezes held, receive the gales with warmth prolific filled, and thus inspired, their swelling wombs produce the wondrous offspring."—See also Virgil, Georgics, in. 266-283.)
Aquin'ian Sage. Juvenal is so called, because he was born at Aqui'num, in Latium (fl. A.D. 100).
Arabel'la, an heiress left under the guardianship of justice Day. Abel Day, the son of justice Day, aspires to her hand and fortune, but she confers both with right good will on captain Manly.—T. Knight, The Honest Thieves.
Ara'bia Fe'lix ("Araby the blest"). This name is a blunder made by British merchants, who supposed that the precious commodities of India bought of Arab traders were the produce of Arabia.
Ara'bian Bird (The), the phoenix, a marvellous man, one sui generis.
O Antony! O thou Arabian bird!
Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra, act iii. sc. 2.
Arach'ne (3 syl.), a spider, a weaver. "Arachnê's labors," spinning or weaving. Arachnê was a Lydian maiden, who challenged Minerva to compete with her in needle tapestry, and Minerva changed her into a spider.
No orifice for a point
As subtle as Arachnê's broken woof
To enter.
Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, act v. sc. 2 (1602).
Aragnol, the son of Arachnê (the "most fine-fingered of all workmen," turned into a spider for presuming to challenge Minerva to a contest in needlework). Aragnol entertained a secret and deadly hatred against prince Clarion, son of Muscarol the fly-king; and weaving a curious net, soon caught the gay young flutterer, and gave him his death-wound by piercing him under the left wing.—Spenser, Muiopotmos or The Butterfly's Fate (1590).
Aramin'ta, the wife of Moneytrap, and friend of Clarissa (wife of Gripe the scrivener).—Sir John Vanbrugh, The Confederacy (1695).
Aranza (The duke of). He marries Juliana, eldest daughter of Balthazar. She is so haughty, arrogant, and overbearing, that after the marriage he takes her to a mean hut, which he calls his home, and pretends to be only a peasant who must work for his living, and gives his bride the household duties to perform. She chafes for a time, but firmness, manliness, and affection win the day; and when the duke sees that she loves him for himself, he leads her to his castle, and reveals to her that the peasant husband is after all the duke of Aranza.—J. Tobin, The Honeymoon (1804).
Ar'aphil or Ar'aphill, the poetic pseudonym of Win. Habington. His lady-love, Miss Lucy Herbert, he calls Castara.
Aras'pes (3 syl.), king of Alexandria, who joined the Egyptian armament against the crusaders.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).
Arba'ces (3 syl.), king of Ibe'ria, in the drama called A King or no King, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1619).
Arbate (2 syl.), governor of the prince of Ithaca, in Molière's comedy La Princesse d'Elide (1664). In his speech to "Euryle" prince of Ithaca, persuading him to love, he is supposed to refer to Louis XIV., then 26 years of age.
Je dirai que l'amour sied bien à vos pareil ...
Et qu'il est malaisé que, sans etre amoureux
Un jeune prince soit et grand et généreux.
Act i. 1.
Arbate, in Racine's drama of Mithridate (1673).
Ar'biter El'igantiæ. C. Petro'nius was appointed dictator-in-chief of the imperial pleasures at the court of Nero, and nothing was considered comme il faut till it had received the sanction of this Roman beau Brummel.
Behold the new Petronius of the day,
The arbiter of pleasure and of play.
Byron,
English Bards and Scottish Reviewers
.
Arbre Sol foretold, with audible voice, the place and manner of Alexander's death. It figures in all the fabulous legends of Alexander.
Arbutus, sturdy yeoman usually known as "Bute," in Bayard Taylor's novel Hannah Thurston. Rugged and sound as the New England granite underlying the farm he tills.
Arc (Joan of), or Jeanne la Pucelle, the "Maid of Orleans," daughter of a rustic of Domrémy, near Vaucouleurs, in France. She was servant at an inn when she conceived the idea of liberating France from the English. Having gained admission to Charles VII., she was sent by him to raise the siege of Orleans, and actually succeeded in so doing. Schiller has a tragedy on the subject, Casimir Delavigne an elegy on her, Southey an epic poem on her life and death, and Voltaire a burlesque.
In regard to her death, M. Octave Delepière, in his Doute Historique, denies the tradition of her having been burnt to death at Rouen; and Vignier discovered in a family muniment chest the "contract of marriage between" Robert des Armoise, knight, and Jeanne d'Arc, surnamed "The Maid of Orleans."
Ar'cades Ambo, both fools alike; both "sweet innocents;" both alike eccentric. There is nothing in the character of Corydon and Thyrsis (Virgil's Eclogue, vii. 4) to justify this disparaging application of the phrase. All Virgil says is they were both "in the flower of their youth," and both Arcadians, both equal in setting a theme for song or capping it epigrammatically; but as Arcadia was the least intellectual part of Greece, an "Arcadian" came to signify a dunce, and hence "Arcades ambo" received its present acceptation.
Arcala'us (4 syl.), an enchanter who bound Am'adis de Gaul to a pillar in his courtyard, and administered to him 200 stripes with his horse's bridle.—Amadis de Gaul (fifteenth century).
Arca'nes (3 syl.), a noble soldier, friend of Cas'silane (3 syl.) general of Candy.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Laws of Candy (1647).
Archan'gel. Burroughs, the puritan preacher, called Cromwell "the archangel that did battle with the devil."
Archas, "the loyal subject" of the great duke of Moscovia, and general of the Moscovites. His son is colonel Theodore.
Young Archas, son of the general. Disguised as a woman, he assumes the name of Alinda.—Beaumont and Fletcher, The Loyal Subject (1618).
Archbsh'op of Grana'da told his secretary, Gil Blas, when he hired him,
"Whenever thou shalt perceive my pen smack of old age and my genius flag, don't fail to advertise me of it, for I don't trust to my own judgment, which may be seduced by self-love." After a fit of apoplexy, Gil Blas ventured in the most delicate manner to hint to his grace that "his last discourse had not altogether the energy of his former ones." To this the archbishop replied, "You are yet too raw to make proper distinctions. Know, child, that I never composed a better homily than that which you disapprove. Go, tell my treasurer to give you 100 ducats. Adieu, Mr. Gil Blas; I wish you all manner of prosperity, with a little more taste."—Le-sage, Gil Blas, vii. 3 (1715).
Ar'cher (Francis), friend of Aimwell, who joins him in fortune-hunting. These are the two "beaux." Thomas viscount Aimwell marries Dorinda, the daughter of lady Bountiful. Archer hands the deeds and property taken from the highwaymen to sir Charles Freeman, who takes his sister, Mrs. Sullen, under his charge again.—George Farquhar, The Beaux' Stratagem (1707).
Archibald (John), attendant on the duke of Argyle.—Sir W. Scott, Heart of Midlothian (time, George II.).
Archima'go, the reverse of holiness, and therefore Satan the father of lies and all deception. Assuming the guise of the Red Cross Knight, he deceived Una; and under the guise of a hermit, he deceived the knight himself. Archimago is introduced in bks. i. and ii. of Spenser's Faëry Queen. The poet says:
... he could take
As many forms and shapes in seeming wise
As ever Proteus to himself could make:
Sometimes a fowl, sometimes a fish in lake,
Now like a fox, now like a dragon fell.
Spenser, The Faëry Queen, I. ii. 10 (1590).
Archimedes, Syracusan philosopher, who discovered, among other great scientific facts, the functions of the lever. The solution of an abstruse problem having occurred to him while in the bath, he leaped out of the water, and ran naked through the city, shouting, "Eureka!"
Ar'chy M'Sar'casm (Sir), "a proud Caledonian knight, whose tongue, like the dart of death, spares neither sex nor age ... His insolence of family and licentiousness of wit gained him the contempt of every one" (i. 1). Sir Archy tells Charlotte, "In the house of M'Sarcasm are two barons, three viscounts, six earls, one marquisate, and two dukes, besides baronets and lairds oot o' a' reckoning" (i. 1). He makes love to Charlotte Goodchild, but supposing it to be true that she has lost her fortune, declares to her that he has just received letters "frae the dukes, the marquis, and a' the dignitaries of the family ... expressly prohibiting his contaminating the blood of M'Sarcasm wi' onything sprung from a hogshead or a coonting-house" (ii. 1).
The man has something droll, something ridiculous in him. His abominable Scotch accent, his grotesque visage almost buried in snuff, the roll of his eyes and twist of his mouth, his strange inhuman laugh, his tremendous periwig, and his manners altogether—why, one might take him for a mountebank doctor at a Dutch fair.—C. Macklin, Love à-la-mode, i. 1 (1779).
Sir Archy's Great-grandmother. Sir Archy M'Sarcasm insisted on fighting Sir Callaghan O'Brallaghan on a point of ancestry. The Scotchman said that the Irish are a colony from Scotland, "an ootcast, a mere ootcast." The Irishman retorted by saying that "one Mac Fergus O'Brallaghan went from Carrickfergus, and peopled all Scotland with his own hands." Charlotte [Goodchild] interposed, and asked the cause of the contention, whereupon Sir Callaghan replied, "Madam, it is about sir Archy's great-grandmother."—C. Macklin, Love à-la-mode, i. I (1779).
We shall not now stay to quarrel about sir Archy's great-grandmother.—Maepherson, Dissertation upon Ossian.
Archy'tas of Tarentum made a wooden pigeon that could fly; and Regiomonta'nus, a German, made a wooden eagle that flew from Koenigsberg to meet the emperor, and, having saluted him, returned whence it set out (1436-1476).
This engine may be contrived from the same principles by which Archytas made a wooden dove, and Regiomontanus a wooden eagle.—Dr. John Wilkins (1614-1672).
Ar'cite (2 syl.) and Pal'amon, two Theban knights, captives of duke Theseus, who used to see from their dungeon window the duke's sister-in-law, Emily, taking her airing in the palace garden, and fell in love with her. Both captives having gained their liberty, contended for the lady by single combat. Arcite was victor, but being thrown from his horse was killed, and Emily became the bride of Palamon.—Chaucer, Canterbury Tales ("The Knight's Tale," 1388).
Richard Edwards in 1566 produced a drama entitled Palamon and Arcite.
Ar'den (Enoch), the hero of a poetic tale by Tennyson. He is a seaman wrecked on a desert island, who returns home after the absence of several years, and finds his wife married to another. Seeing her both happy and prosperous, Enoch resolves not to mar her domestic peace, so leaves her undisturbed, and dies of a broken heart.
Ar'den of Fev'ersliam, a noble character, honorable, forgiving, affectionate, and modest. His wife Alicia in her sleep reveals to him her guilty love for Mosby, but he pardons her on condition that she will never see the seducer again. Scarcely has she made the promise when she plots with Mosby her husband's murder. In a planned street-scuffle, Mosby pretends to take Arden's part, and thus throws him off his guard. Arden thinks he has wronged him, and invites him to his house, but Mosby conspires with two hired ruffians to fall on his host during a game of draughts, the right moment being signified by Mosby's saying, "Now I take you." Arden is murdered; but the whole gang is apprehended and brought to justice.
(This drama is based on a murder which took place in 1551. Ludwig Tieck has translated the play into German, as a genuine production of Shakespeare. Some ascribe the play to George Lillo, but Charles Lamb gives 1592 as the date of its production, and says the author is unknown.)
Areous'ki, the Indian war-god, war, tumult.
A cry of Areouski broke our sleep. Campbell, Gertrude of Wyoming, i, 16 (1809).
Arethu'sa, daughter of the king Messi'na, in the drama called Philaster or Love Lies a-bleeding, by Beaumont and Fletcher (1638).
Arethusa, a nymph pursued by Alpheos the river-god, and changed into a fountain in the island of Ortygia; but the river-god still pursued her, and mingled his stream with the fountain, and now, "like friends once parted grown single-hearted," they leap and flow and slumber together, "like spirits that love but live no more."
This fable has been exquisitely turned into poetry by Percy B. Shelley (Arethusa, 1820).
Argali'a, brother of Angel'ica, in Ariosto's Orlando Furioso (1516).
Ar'gan, the malade imaginaire and father of Angelique. He is introduced taxing his apothecary's bills, under the conviction that he cannot afford to be sick at the prices charged, but then he notices that he has already reduced his bills during the current month, and is not so well. He first hits upon the plan of marrying Angelique to a young doctor, but to this the lady objects. His brother suggests that Argan himself should be his own doctor, and when the invalid replies he has not studied either diseases, drugs, or Latin, the objection is overruled by investing the "malade" in a doctor's cap and robe. The piece concludes with the ceremonial in macaronic Latin.
When Argan asks his doctor how many grains of salt he ought to eat with an egg, the doctor answers, "Six, huit, dix, etc., par les nombres pairs, comme dans les médicaments par les nombres impairs."—Molière, Le Malade Imaginaire, ii. 9 (1673).
Argan'te (3 syl.), a giantess called "the very monster and miracle of lust." She and her twin-brother Ollyphant or Oliphant were the children of Typhoe'us and Earth. Argantè used to carry off young men as her captives, and seized "the Squire of Dames" as one of her victims. The squire, who was in fact Britomart (the heroine of chastity), was delivered by sir Sat'yrane (3 syl.).—Spenser, Faëry Queen, iii. 7 (1590).
Argante' (2 syl.), father of Octave (2 syl.) and Zerbinette (3 syl.). He promises to give his daughter Zerbinette to Leandre (2 syl.), the son of his friend Géronte (2 syl.); but during his absence abroad the young people fall in love unknown to their respective fathers. Both fathers storm, and threaten to break off the engagement, but are delighted beyond measure when they discover that the choice of the young people has unknowingly coincided with their own.—Molière, Les Fourteries de Scapin (1671).
(Thomas Otway has adapted this play to the English stage, and called it The Cheats of Scapin. "Argante" he calls Thrifty; "Géronte" is Gripe; "Zerbinette" he calls Lucia; and "Leandre" he Anglicizes into Leander.)
Argan'tes (3 syl.), a Circassian of high rank and undoubted courage, but fierce and a great detester of the Nazarenes. Argantês and Solyman were undoubtedly the bravest heroes of the infidel host. Argantês was slain by Rinaldo, and Solyman by Tancred.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).
Bonaparte stood before the deputies like the Argantês of Italy's heroic poet.—Sir Walter Scott.
Ar'genis, a political romance by Barclay (1621).
Ar'gentile (3 syl.), daughter of king Adelbright, and ward of Edel. Curan, a Danish prince, in order to woo her, became a drudge in her house, but being obliged to quit her service, became a shepherd. Edel, the guardian, forcing his suit on Argentile, compelled her to flight, and she became a neatherd's maid. In this capacity Curan wooed and won her. Edel was forced to restore the possessions of his ward, and Curan became king of Northumberland. As for Edel, he was put to death.—William Warner, Albion's England (1586).
Ar'gentin (Le sieur d'), one of the officers of the duke of Burgundy.—Sir W. Scott, Anne of Geiersiein (time, Edward IV.).
Arge'o, baron of Servia and husband of Gabrina. (See Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.)—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Arges'tes (3 syl.), the west wind.
Wingèd Argestes, faire Aurora's sonne,
Licensed that day to leave his dungeon,
Meekly attended.
Wm. Browne, Britannia's Pastorals, ii. 5 (1613).
Arges'tes (3 syl.), the north-east wind; Cæ'cias, the north-west; Bo'reas, the full north.
Boreas and Cæcias and Argestes loud
... rend the woods, and seas upturn.
Milton, Paradise Lost, x. 699, etc. (1665).
Ar'gillan, a haughty, turbulent knight, born on the banks of the Trent. He induced the Latians to revolt, was arrested, made his escape, but was ultimately slain in battle by Solyman.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered, viii. ix. (1575).
Argon and Ruro, the two sons of Annir, king of Inis-thona, an island of Scandinavia. Cor'malo, a neighboring chief, came to the island, and asked for the honor of a tournament. Argon granted the request, and overthrew him, and this so vexed Cormalo that during a hunt he shot both the brothers with his bow. Their dog Runo, running to the hall, howled so as to attract attention, and Annir, following the hound, found his two sons both dead. On his return he discovered that Cormalo had run off with his daughter. Oscar, son of Ossian, slew Cormalo in fight, and restored the daughter to her father.—Ossian ("The War of Inis-thona").
Argonauts, heroes and demi-gods, who sailed to Colchis in quest of the golden fleece, guarded by a sleepless dragon. Jason was their leader.
Argonauts (The). Title applied to adventurers who, in 1849, sought gold in California. Bret Harte has seized upon the name as the theme of tales and ballads of the "Forty-niners."
Ar'gus, the turf-writer, was Irwin Willes, who died in 1871.
Argyle (Mac Callum More, duke of), in the reign of George I.—Sir W. Scott, Rob Roy (1818).
Mac Callum More, marquis of Argyle, in the reign of Charles I., was commander of the parliamentary forces, and is called "Gillespie Grumach;" he disguises himself, and assumes the name of Murdoch Campbell.—Sir W. Scott, Legend of Montrose (1819).
(Duke and duchess of Argyle are introduced also in the Heart of Midlothian, by Sir W. Scott, 1818.)
Ariad'ne (4 syl.), daughter of Minos king of Crete. She gave Theseus a clew of thread to guide him out of the Cretan labyrinth. Theseus married his deliverer, but when he arrived at Naxos (Dia) forsook her, and she hung herself.
Surely it is an Ariadnê.... There is dawning womanhood in every line; but she knows nothing of Naxos.—Ouidà, Ariadnê, i. 1.
Ar'ibert, king of the Lombards (653-661), left "no male pledge behind," but only a daughter named Rhodalind, whom he wished duke Gondibert to marry, but the duke fell in love with Bertha, daughter of As'tragon, the sage. The tale being unfinished, the sequel is not known.—Sir W. Davenant, Gondibert (died 1668).
Arideus [A.ree'.de.us], a herald in the Christian army.—Tasso, Jerusalem Delivered (1575).
A'riel, in The Tempest, an airy spirit, able to assume any shape, or even to become invisible. He was enslaved to the witch Syc'orax, mother of Caliban, who overtasked the little thing, and in punishment for not doing what was beyond his strength, imprisoned him for twelve years in the rift of a pine tree, where Caliban delighted to torture him with impish cruelty. Prospero, duke of Milan and father of Miranda, liberated Ariel from the pine-rift, and the grateful spirit served the duke for sixteen years, when he was set free.
And like Ariel in the cloven pine tree,
For its freedom groans and sighs.
Longfellow, The Golden Milestone.
A'riel, the sylph in Pope's Rape of the Lock. The impersonation of "fine life" in the abstract, the nice adjuster of hearts and necklaces. When disobedient he is punished by being kept hovering over the fumes of the chocolate, or is transfixed with pins, clogged with pomatums, or wedged in the eyes of bodkins.
A'riel, one of the rebel angels. The word means "the Lion of God." Abdiel encountered him, and overthrew him.—Milton, Paradise Lost, vi. 371 (1665).
Ariella, an invalid girl, the daughter of Malachi and Hagar his wife, in Come Forth, by Elizabeth Stuart Phelps and Herbert D. Ward. Her name signifies STRENGTH OF GOD. She has lain a helpless cripple for nine years, when she is healed by a word from The Christ (1891).
Ariman'es (4 syl.), the prince of the powers of evil, introduced by Byron in his drama called Manfred. The Persians recognized a power of good and a power of evil: the former Yezad, and the latter Ahriman (in Greek, Oroma'zes and Ariman'nis). These two spirits are ever at war with each other. Oromazes created twenty-four good spirits, and enclosed them in an egg to be out of the power of Arimanês; but Arimanês pierced the shell, and thus mixed evil with every good. However, a time will come when Arimanês shall be subjected, and the earth will become a perfect paradise.
Arimas'pians, a one-eyed people of Scythia, who adorned their hair with gold. As gold mines were guarded by Gryphons, there were perpetual contentions between the Arimaspians and the Gryphons. (See GRYPHON.)
Arimaspi, quos diximus uno oculo in fronte
media in signes; quibus assidue bellum esse
circa metella cum gryphis, ferarum volucri genere,
quale vulgo traditur, eruente ex cuniculis
aurum, mire cupiditate et feris custodientibus,
et Arimaspis rapientibus, multi, sed maxime
illustres Herodotus et Aristeas Proconnesius scribunt.—Pliny,
Nat. Hist.
vii. 2.
Ar'ioch ("a fierce lion"), one of the fallen angels overthrown by Abdiel.—Milton, Paradise Lost, vi. 371 (1665).
Ariodan'tes (5 syl.), the beloved of Geneu'ra, a Scotch princess. Geneura being accused of incontinence, Ariodantês stood forth her champion, vindicated her innocence, and married her.—Ariosto, Orlando Furioso (1516).
Ari'on. William Falconer, author of The Shipwreck, speaks of himself under this nom de plume (canto iii). He was sent to sea when a lad, and says he was eager to investigate the "antiquities of foreign states." He was junior officer in the Britannia, which was wrecked against the projecting verge of cape Colonna, the most southern point of Attica, and was the only officer who survived.