Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 01.djvu/921

ARGONAUTS. nianded him to fetch from King Æetes, in Colchis, the golden tleece of the ram which had borne away Phrixiis and Helle (q.v.). With the help of Hera and Athena, Jason and Argos, son of Phrixus, built a wonderful ship, strong and swift, but light, and with a piece of the oracular oak from Dodona in her keel, capable of delivering prophecies. About him .Jason gathered a band of heroes, whose names and number vary greatly, though the party is usually estimated to have comprised about fifty. The earlier versions seem to have placed the land of ^etes in the far east, but the later riters placed it in Colchis, on the Black Sea. On the voj'age the most notable adventuies were : ( 1 ) The landing on Lemnos, where the Argonauts found a State of women, under Queen Hypsipyle. all the men having been mur- dered shortly before. Here they remained some time, and two sons were born to ,Tason and Hypsipyle. (2) Xear the Bosporus Pollux con- quered Amyeus, King of the Bebryces, in a bo.x- ing match, iind so secured for his companions access to a spring. (3) In these same Thracian regions they found the blind prophet Phineus, tormented by the Harpies (q.v.), whom the sons of Boreas, Calais, and Zetes put to flight, and in return Phineus showed the Argonauts how to pass the ever-clashing rocks of the Syni- plegades. (4) This adventure they accom- plished by hard rowing, after they had been encouraged by the sight of a dove, which flew through the passage with only the loss of her tail feathers. When tbey arrived at Colchis, .■Eetes demanded that .Tason should yoke fire- breathing bulls with brazen hoofs, plow with them a field, sow the dragon's teeth given him b}^ Cadmus, and then destroy the crop of giants which would spring from such seed. All this Jason accomplished, with the help of -Eetes's daughter, Jledea, who had fallen in love with the hero. With her help, also, he foiled further plots of the King, and securing the fleece by stealth, fled with iledea and her young brother. Pursued by .Eetes, Sledea saved the Argonauts from capture by killing her brother and strew-- ing the fragments of his body into the sea, thus delaying her father, who piously collected his son's remains for burial. The return of the Argonauts was very diversely narrated. Some brought them by way of the Tanais into the Xorthern Sea, while others led them eastward to the ocean and back across Africa, carrying their ship through the Libyan desert on their shoulders. After many adventures they at length reached lolcus, and delivered the fleece to Pelias. (For the further legends see articles JIede.v, Peli.,s.) There are indications that lioth .Jason and ^Jedea were originally worshi]ied as gods at Corinth and elsewhere, but later sank to the rank of heroes, and became connected with the common folk-tale of the lover who must per- form impossible tasks to win his mistress, but who overcomes all obstacles by magic help. Whatever the origin of the story, there can be no doubt that it was developed under the influ- ence of the voyages that marked the great period of Greek colonization in the Eighth and Seventh centuries B.C. The wonders and adventures en- countered by the first explorers of the Black Sea and the west were thrown back into the mvthical past, and told of gods and heroes — Hercules, .Ja- son, and Odysseus. ARGONAUTS OF '49. A name applied to the fortune-seekers who emigrated to California in the years immediately following the discovery of gold there in 1848, the largest number of whom went out in 1849. See. ARGONNE, ar'gun'. A rocky plateau in nortlieast J'rance, extending along "the border of Lorraine and Champagne, and forming parts of the departments of Ardennes and Jleuse. The Argonne forest proper, or western Argonne, has a length of over thirty miles and a width of from one to eight miles. The forest of eastern Ar- gonne includes the forest of Apremont. Argonne has been the scene of several stirring historical events, notably in connection with Dumouriez's "Argonne campaign" of 1792, and with the Fran- co-I'russian War. AR'GOS. See .  ARGOSTOLI, iir'gos-to'le. An episcopal city, capital of the island of Cephalonia, on the east shore of Argostoli Bay, an inlet of Livada Bay (Map: Greece, B 3). The town is famous for its mills, which are driven by a current of sea- water, flowing through an artificial channel about 1.50 feet long, then disappearing through fissures in the rocks. It has an excellent harbor. It finds considerable trade in exjiorting wine, oil, and currants. A long bridge connects the north shore of the bay with the KoutavOs La- goon, which lies to the south. Poiuilation, in 189U, 9241. ARGOT, jir'gii'. The French tenn for what in English is called "slang," especially the dia- lect of thieves and vagabonds. Like all such dialects, argot is often sparkling with wit and remarkable for aptness and comp'rehensiveness of expression. JIany specimens of it are to be found in Mctor Hugo's i.e.'! Miscrahlcs, in Zola's As- soiiimoir, and in the lower grade of Parisian jour- nals. Consult: Barr&re, Argot and iSlaiig (Lon- don, 1887), and see the article Slang, in this Encvclopa>dia. ARGOUT, iir'goo'. Antoine Maurice Apol- LiNAiRE, Count d' (1782-1858). A French finan- cier. He was born in Is6re, and after acting as auditor to the Council of State (1810), became prefect of Card (1817), and a peer of France (1819). As mediator between Cliarles X. and the popular leaders, during July, 1830, he ob- tained concessions from Charles) but not until it was too late. He was appointed minister of the marine in 1830. and act.ed as minister of commerce (1831), and minister of the interior (1833). He was governor of the Bank of France from 1834 until 1848. About 18.52 Louis Xapo- leon appointed him president of the section of finance. ARGUELLES, ar'ga'lyAs, Augustine (1770-1844). A Spanish politician of the liberal school. He was born at Kivadisella, in Asturias. On the breaking out of the War of Independence in 1808, he went to Cadiz, where he agitated for the organization of a regency with a free constitution. In 1812 he was sent as representative of his native province to the Cortes, where he was appointed one of the members of a committee to draft a constitution. His splendid talents as a public speaker soon won him the admiration of the Liberal party, who used to call him the Spanish Cicero. But on the return of Ferdinand VII.. Arguelles fell a victim to the reactionary spirit which ensued. On May 10, 1814. he was