A'RIEL. ( 1 ) An Arabian antelope. See GAZEr.LE. (2) A toucan. See Toucan.
ARIEL. The name given in the Revised Version of the JMble to ( 1 ) the father of two Moabitish youths slain by Benaiah. one of David's "niiphty men" (2 Sam. xxiii. 20). (2) one of a delegation sent by Ezra (Ezra viii. 16). (3) .Jerusalem (Isa. xxix. 1, 2, 7). In later Jewish angelology it was the name of a water spirit.
ARIEL. A guardian of the waters in mediteval black art, several times introduced into Englisli poetry. The character first appears in Shakespeare's Tempest, where he is described as an "ayrie sprite," Prospero's servant. In Milton's Paradise Lost he assumes the more grandiose proportions of a fallen angel. In Pope's Rape of the Lock he is a minute and in- visible guardian of Belinda's head-dress.
ARIES, a'ri-ez. See Battering Ram.
ARIES ( Lat., the Ram ) . One of the signs of the zodiac, including the first 30 degrees of the ecliptic measured from the vernal equinox, or that point where the vernal passage of the sun across the equator takes place. The vernal equi- nox, or, as it is also called, the first point of Aries, is constantly changing its position among the fixed stars, in consequence of the precession of the equinoxes, moving westward at the rate of ,"50". 2 annually. It is from this circumstance that the sign Aries no longer corresponds with the constellation Aries, or the Ram, which was the case about 2000 years ago, when the ecliptic was divided into 12 equal parts called signs, each named after the group of stars through which it passed. The present sign Aries is in the con- stellation Pisces, about 30° west of the original sign; and although the sun when passing the vernal equinox will always be at the first point of the sign Aries, yet nearly 24,000 years will elapse before that point will again coincide with the beginning of the constellation Aries. See Ecliptic: Precession; Zodiac.
ARIKARA. a-re'ka-ra. A tribe of Caddoan stock now confederated with the JIandans and Grosventres on the Fort Berthold Reservation, in North Dakota, and numbering about 400. They are a northern ofi'shoot from the Pawnee (q.v.), of whose language their own is practically a dia- lect. About the year 1780 they occupied several villages some 500 miles lower do^^l the Jlissouri River, but were driven out by the Sioux, since which time they have rapidly declined. Their tribal name, frequently abbreviated to Ree, seems to be from the same root as the name Pawnee.
AR'IL (Low Lat. nom.pl. ariUi, dry grapes; from Lat. oridus, dry). An extra investment of the seed, outside the ordinary testa. It may be a more or less complete investment, and is often fleshy. For example, the aril of the vew iTaxus) is a beautiful, scarlet, fleshy cup, which gives the seed the appearance of a berry. .See Seed.
AR'IMATHÆ'A (Gk. 'Api/ia^atn, Arima- ihaia). The home of Joseph, the Jewish coun- selor wlu) favored .Jesus (see llatt. xxvii. r,7, etc.). Its situation is not certainly known, but was probably the same as that of Ramathaim Zophim (I. Sam. i. 1 ) , the modern Beit-Rima, about 19 miles northwest of Jerusalem.
ARINO'RI MO'RI. See Mori, Arinori.
ARIOCH, a'ri-ok. King of Ellasar, accord- ing to Gen. xiv. He may be identical with Eri- Aku. King of J^arsa. a son of Kudur ^laluig. King of Elam at the time of Hammurabi (c.2200 B.C. ), although it is not certain that the moon- god was called Aku in Elam. In Dan. ii. 14 Nebuchadnezzar's captain of the guard is named Arioch, which shows that in B.C. 1C5 the story in Gen. -xiv. was already known. Arioch is an Elamitish king in league with Nebuchadnezzar in the story of Judith (i. 6).
ARI'ON (Gk. Wpiuv, AriOi}). A celebrated lute-player of Methymna, in Lesbos, who lived at the time of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. According to Herodotus, Arion, while dwell- ing at the court of Periander, paid a visit t(i Sicily and Lower Italy. When on his way back by sea, the sailors of the vessel on which he had taken passage plotted to slay him and seize his possessions. Arion begged permission to try once more his skill in music, and, having been allowed to do so, threw himself at the close of his strain into the sea. Several dolphins, charmed by the music, had assembled around the vessel, and on the back of one of these he was carried in safety to Greece. The sailors, on their return, were confronted with Arion, and paid the penalty of their intended crime. Another account makes the rescue take place while Arion was on his way from Corinth to Methj'mna. In the days of Herodotus and Pausanias there existed at Ta^narum, where Arion landed, a bronze monu- ment, representing Arion riding on a dolphin, which was supposed to be a thank-offering made by Arion to Poseidon. The lute and dolphin were put among the constellations. Arion was regarded as the inventor of the dithyramb. He may have given it its artistic form, but even so much is doubtful.
ARION (Gk. 'Apeiav, Areion) . A marvelous horse, the offspring of Poseidon by either Deme- ter, Ga^a, or a harpy, the mother having fu- tilely changed herself into a mare to escape the Sea God's addresses. Driven, at different times, by Copreus, Oneus, Hercules, and Adras- tus, it yet possessed astounding evidences of its divine origin. It had full power of speech, and its right feet were those of a man.
ARIOSTO, iir-yos'tA, LuDOvico (1474-1533). One of the most celebrated of Italian poets, the author of the Orlando Furioso, and, with Boiardo and Tasso, one of the trio who showed Italy how the material of the old chivalric romances might be remodeled ,and endowed with classic form and epic dignity. He was born September 8, 1474, at Reggio, where his father was then military governor. Like Petrarch and Boccaccio before him, he was destined by his father for the law, but abandoned it after five years of half-hearted study. His father's early death Iriinsferred to Ariosto's shoulders the burden of a large family, with but a scanty inherit- ance; and in l.")03 he was glad of the chance offered him to enter the service of Ippolito, the Cardinal d'Este, brother of the Duke of Ferrara. By this time he had already acquired a reputation for his verses, in both Latin and Italian; but his new position was far from favorable to poetic inspiration. The Cardinal, a rough, coarse-natured man, quite destitute of poetic feeling, kept Ariosto actively employed upon diplomatic errands to Rome or upon distant embas-
