wars, but was afterwards received with honour by Julius Caesar, who subsequently reinstated him when expelled by Pharnaces of Pontus. In 42 B.C. Brutus and Cassius declared him a traitor, invaded his territory and put him to death.
The Persian satrap of this name unsuccessfully opposed Alexander the Great on his way to Persepolis (331 B.C.).
ARION, of Methymna, in Lesbos, a semi-legendary poet and musician, friend of Periander, tyrant of Corinth. He flourished about 625 B.C. Several of the ancients ascribe to him the invention of the dithyramb and of dithyrambic poetry; it is probable, however, that his real service was confined to the organization of that verse, and the conversion of it from a mere drunken song, used in the Dionysiac revels, to a measured antistrophic hymn, sung by a trained body of performers. The name Cycleus given to his father indicates the connexion of the son with the “cyclic” or circular chorus which was the origin of tragedy. According to Suidas he composed a number of songs and proems; none of these is extant; the fragment of a hymn to Poseidon attributed to him (Aelian, Hist. An. xii. 45) is spurious and was probably written in Attica in the time of Euripides. Nothing is known of the life of Arion, with the exception of the beautiful story first told by Herodotus (i. 23) and elaborated and embellished by subsequent writers. According to Herodotus, Arion being desirous of exhibiting his skill in foreign countries left Corinth, and travelled through Sicily and parts of Italy, where he gained great fame and amassed a large sum of money. At Taras (Tarentum) he embarked for his homeward voyage in a Corinthian vessel. The sight of his treasure roused the cupidity of the sailors, who resolved to possess themselves of it by putting him to death. In answer to his entreaties that they would spare his life, they insisted that he should either die by his own hand on shipboard or cast himself into the sea. Arion chose the latter, and as a last favour begged permission to sing a parting song. The sailors, desirous of hearing so famous a musician, consented, and the poet, standing on the deck of the ship, in full minstrel’s attire, sang a dirge accompanied by his lyre. He then threw himself overboard; but instead of perishing, he was miraculously borne up in safety by a dolphin, supposed to have been charmed by the music. Thus he was conveyed to Taenarum, whence he proceeded to Corinth, arriving before the ship from Tarentum. Immediately on his arrival Arion related his story to Periander, who was at first incredulous, but eventually learned the truth by a stratagem. Summoning the sailors, he demanded what had become of the poet. They affirmed that he had remained behind at Tarentum; upon which they were suddenly confronted by Arion himself, arrayed in the same garments in which he had leapt overboard. The sailors confessed their guilt and were punished. Arion’s lyre and the dolphin were translated to the stars. Herodotus and Pausanias (iii. 25. 7) both refer to a brass figure at Taenarum which was supposed to represent Arion seated on the dolphin’s back. But this story is only one of several in which the dolphin appears as saving the lives of favoured heroes. For instance, it is curious that Taras, the mythical founder of Tarentum, is said to have been conveyed in this manner from Taenarum to Tarentum. On Tarentine coins a man and dolphin appear, and hence it may be thought that the monument at Taenarum represented Taras and not Arion. At the same time the connexion of Apollo with the dolphin must not be forgotten. Under this form the god appeared when he founded the celebrated oracle at Delphi, the name of which commemorates the circumstance. He was also the god of music, the special preserver of poets, and to him the lyre was sacred.
Among the numerous modern versions of the story, particular mention may be made of the pretty ballad by A. W. Schlegel; see also Lehrs, Populäre Aufsätze aus dem Alterthum (1844–1846); Clement, Arion (1898).
ARIOSTO, LODOVICO (1474–1533) Italian poet, was born at Reggio, in Lombardy, on the 8th of September 1474. His father was Niccolo Ariosto, commander of the citadel of Reggio. He showed a strong inclination to poetry from his earliest years, but was obliged by his father to study the law—a pursuit in which he lost five of the best years of his life. Allowed at last to follow his inclination, he applied himself to the study of the classics under Gregorio da Spoleto. But after a short time, during which he read the best Latin authors, he was deprived of his teacher by Gregorio’s removal to France as tutor of Francesco Sforza. Ariosto thus lost the opportunity of learning Greek, as he intended. His father dying soon after, he was compelled to forego his literary occupations to undertake the management of the family, whose affairs were embarrassed, and to provide for his nine brothers and sisters, one of whom was a cripple. He wrote, however, about this time some comedies in prose and a few lyrical pieces. Some of these attracted the notice of the cardinal Ippolito d’Este, who took the young poet under his patronage and appointed him one of the gentlemen of his household. This prince usurped the character of a patron of literature, whilst the only reward which the poet received for having dedicated to him the Orlando Furioso, was the question, “Where did you find so many stories, Master Ludovic?” The poet himself tells us that the cardinal was ungrateful; deplores the time which he spent under his yoke; and adds, that if he received some niggardly pension, it was not to reward him for his poetry, which the prelate despised, but to make some just compensation for the poet’s running like a messenger, with the risk of his life, at his eminence’s pleasure. Nor was even this miserable pittance regularly paid during the period that the poet enjoyed it. The cardinal went to Hungary in 1518, and wished Ariosto to accompany him. The poet excused himself, pleading ill health, his love of study, the care of his private affairs and the age of his mother, whom it would have been disgraceful to leave. His excuses were not received, and even an interview was denied him. Ariosto then boldly said, that if his eminence thought to have bought a slave by assigning him the scanty pension of 75 crowns a year, he was mistaken and might withdraw his boon—which it seems the cardinal did.
The cardinal’s brother, Alphonso, duke of Ferrara, now took the poet under his patronage. This was but an act of simple justice, Ariosto having already distinguished himself as a diplomatist, chiefly on the occasion of two visits to Rome as ambassador to Pope Julius II. The fatigue of one of these hurried journeys brought on a complaint from which he never recovered; and on his second mission he was nearly killed by order of the violent pope, who happened at the time to be much incensed against the duke of Ferrara. On account of the war, his salary of only 84 crowns a year was suspended, and it was withdrawn altogether after the peace; in consequence of which Ariosto asked the duke either to provide for him, or to allow him to seek employment elsewhere. A province, situated on the wildest heights of the Apennines, being then without a governor, Ariosto received the appointment, which he held for three years. The office was no sinecure. The province was distracted by factions and banditti, the governor had not the requisite means to enforce his authority and the duke did little to support his minister. Yet it is said that Ariosto’s government satisfied both the sovereign and the people confided to his care; and a story is added of his having, when walking out alone, fallen in with a party of banditti, whose chief, on discovering that his captive was the author of Orlando Furioso, humbly apologized for not having immediately shown him the respect which was due to his rank. Although he had little reason to be satisfied with his office, he refused an embassy to Pope Clement VII. offered to him by the secretary of the duke, and spent the remainder of his life at Ferrara, writing comedies, superintending their performance as well as the construction of a theatre, and correcting his Orlando Furioso, of which the complete edition was published only a year before his death. He died of consumption on the 6th of June 1533.
That Ariosto was honoured and respected by the first men of his age is a fact; that most of the princes of Italy showed him great partiality is equally true; but it is not less so that their patronage was limited to kind words. It is not known that he ever received any substantial mark of their love for literature; he lived and died poor. He proudly wrote on the entrance of a house built by himself,
