BELLEROPHON ([ Greek ] or [ Greek ]), in Greek Legend, a local hero of CoriutL, "but partly also con nected with, and partly similar to, Perseus, the local hero of the neighbouring Argos, the points of likeness being such as to suggest that they had originally been one and the same hero, while the difference in their exploits might result from the rivalry of the two towns. Both are con nected with the sun-god Helios and with the sea-god Poseidon, the symbol of the union being the winged horse Pegasus. Bellerophon was a son of Glaucus of Corinth, who is spoken of as a son of Poseidon, and in some way himself a marine deity. To account for the name, i.e., " slayer of Belleros," an otherwise unknown hero of this name was invented. But it is by no means certain that "Belleros" is a personal name, it may mean nothing more than " monster."
The first act of Bellerophon was to capture tlie horse Pegasus, when it alighted on the Acrocorinth to drink at the fountain of Peirene, with a bridle which he found by his side on awaking from sleep beside the altar Of Athene, where he had laid himself down on the advice of a seer Polyidus. The goddess had appeared to him in a dream, reached him a golden bridle, and told him to sacrifice a white bull to his father Poseidon. The next incident occurs in Tiryns, at the court of Proetus, whose wife, Stheneboea (or Anteia, as Homer calls her), failing to seduce Bellerophon, charges him with an attempt on her virtue (Iliad, vi. 150-211). Prcetus now sends him to lobates, his wife s father, the king of Lycia, with a letter or sealed tablet, in which were instructions, apparently by means of signs, to take the life of the bearer. Arriving in Lycia, he was received as a guest and entertained for nine days. On the tenth, being asked the object of his visit, he handed the letter to the king, whose first plan for complying with it was to send him to slay the Ckimoera, a monster which was devastating the country. Its fore part was that of a lion, its hindpart that of a serpent; a goat s head sprang from its back, and fire was vomited from its mouth. Beller ophon, mounted on Pegasus, kept up in the air out of the way of the Chimcera, but yet near enough to kill it with his spear, or as he is at other times represented, with his sword or with a bow. He was next ordered out against the Solymi, a hostile tribe, and after wards against the Amazons, from both of which expeditions he not only returned victorious, but also on his way back slew an ambush of chosen warriors whom lobates had placed to intercept him. His divine origin was now proved ; the king gave him his daughtei in marriage ; and the Lycians presented him with a large and fertile estate on which he lived, and reached the pinnacle of happiness, surrounded by two sons, Isander and Hippolochus, and one daugh ter, Laodamia. But, as in the case of Hercules, the gods now furnished him with frenzy. His son Isander fell in battle ; his daughter was slain by Artemis ; and he himself wandered in the " plain of madness" (ireSfoi/ Ax^iov). The cause of his misfortune, Pindar (Isthm., vii. 44 ; Olymp., xiii. 91) says, was his ambitious attempt to mount to the heavens on Pegasus.
The early relations between Lycia and Argolis are attested by the tradition that the walls of Mycenae had been built "by Cyclopes from Lycia, In both districts the worship of the sun-god had exercised great influence in very early times. The two most frequent representations of Bellerophon in ancient art are (1) when he slays the Chimcera, and (2) when he departs from Argos with the letter. Among the first is to be noted a terra-cotta relief from Melos in the British Museum, where also, on a vase of black ware, is what seems to be a representation of his escape from Stheneboea.
BELLEVILLE, a city of the United States of America, capital of the county of St Clair in Illinois, situated about 14 miles S.E. of St Louis on a rising ground, in the midst of a fertile district. It is a thriving commercial and manufacturing city, well supplied with water, and in the immediate neighbourhood of coal deposits. Its industrial establishments comprise breweries, flour-mills, distilleries, foundries, and a woollen factory, and it possesses a court house, banks, a high school, a convent for the education of young ladies, and various other institutions. There is a Eufncient number of German inhabitants to maintain one daily and two weekly papers in their native language Population in 1870, 8146.
BELLEY, the capital of an arrondissement in the department of Ain, France, is situated near the Rhone, 39 miles east of Lyons. It is the seat of a bishopric founded in 412, and contains an episcopal palace, a cathedral, an ecclesias tical school, a museum, and a public library. The principal industries are the weaving of cotton goods and the culture of the silk- worm. Important fairs are held for the sale of cattle and horses. In the vicinity are found the best lithographic stones in France. Belley is a place of con siderable antiquity, and preserves the remains of a Roman temple. It was the capital of the district of Bugey, which maintained its separate constitution down to the Revolu tion. The neighbourhood is remarkable for its objects of interest both natural and historical, such as the cascades of Glandieux, the intermitting fountain of Grouin, and the Carthusian abbeys at Arvieres and Portes. Population in 1872, 3902.
BELLINI, the name of an honourable Venetian family. Three members of this family fill a great place in the history of the Venetian school of painting in the 15th century and at the beginning of the 16th. In their hands the art of Venice was developed from a condition more primitive and archaic than that of any other school in Italy, and advanced to the final perfection of Giorgione and of Titian. The first distinguished member of the family was—
the most refined and accomplished of the religious painters of the Umbrian Apennines, came to practise at Venice, where art was backward, several young men of the city took service under him as pupils. Among these were Giovanni and Antonio of Murano, and Jacopo Bellini. The Umbrian master left Venice for Florence in 1422, and the two brothers of Murano stayed behind and presently founded a school of their own. (See VIVAEINI.) But Jacopo Bellini followed his teacher to Florence in the capacity of famulus. It was the time when a new spirit had just broken out in Florentine art, and when the leaders of that school Ghiberti and Donatello, Andrea del Castagno, Paolo Uccello, Masaccio had made immense progress in many ways at once, in the sciences of anatomy and perspective, in classical grace and style, in the truth and sincerity of nature, so that from them the young Venetian found much more to learzi than even from his Umbrian teacher as to the possible perfections of the art. The little evidence left us proves that he made good use of his opportunities. But his works are as rare as the events of his life, after his service in Florence with Gentile da Fabriano, are uncertain. That service presently got him into trouble. The Umbrian, as a stranger coming to paint in Florence, was jealously looked on. One day a group of young Florentines took to throwing stones into his shop, and the Venetian pupil ran out and put them to flight with his fists. Thinking this might be turned against him, he went and took service on board the galleys of the Florentine state ; but, returning after a year, he found he had in his absence been tried for assault and condemned in a heavy fine. He was arrested and put in prison, but the matter was afterwards compromised upon a public act of penance to which Jacopo submitted. Whether he accom panied his master to Rome in 1426 we cannot tell, but there is evidence to show that he was practising on his own account in Venice in 1430, and probably as soon as 1427. Neither can we fix the date of his marriage ; but it was probably about the time of his return to his native state, for we know that he had grandchildren before 1458. The remainder of his life was spent between Venice, Verona, and Padua. At Venice, besides other work, he painted a great series from the lives of Christ and the Virgin in the
church of St John the Evangelist. This has entirely