Whatever fables have gathered round the story there can be no doubt as to its great antiquity. Some think that the story had its origin in name, as well as in fact, from the _Ark_ of Noah and its mysterious journey. All that is clear, when divested of mythic details, is that the sailors in that ship, after all their dangers, and toils, and battles were over, came back victorious to their own shores. The “golden fleece,” for which the Argonauts went in search, tells of a treasure that had been _lost_. “Jason,” the great captain, tells of Him who recovered it from the _Serpent_, which guarded it with ever‐watchful eye, when none else was able to approach it. And thus, through the fables and myths of the Greeks, we can see the light primeval shine; and this light, once seen, lights up this Sign and its constellations, so that their teaching cannot be misunderstood. ARATUS sings of _Argo_:— “Stern‐foremost hauled; no mark of onward‐speeding ship. Sternward she comes, as vessels do When sailors turn the helm On entering harbour: all the oars back‐water, And gliding backward, to an anchor comes.” It tells of that blessed home‐coming, when— “The ransomed of the LORD shall return And come to Zion with songs, And everlasting joy upon their heads; They shall obtain joy and gladness, And sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Isa. xxxv. 10.) It tells of the glorious Jason,(73) of whom it is asked: “Art thou not it which hath cut Rahab, And wounded the dragon? Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; That hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, And come with singing unto Zion,” etc. (Isa. li. 9‐11.) “For the LORD hath redeemed Jacob, And ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he. Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion And shall flow together to the goodness of the LORD.” (Jer. xxxi. 11, 12.) This is the return of the great emigrant‐ship (_Argo_) and all its _company of travellers_ (for this is the meaning of the word _Argo_). [Illustration] Plate 38: ARGO (the Ship)