AURIGA 



479 



AURORA 



of the Christians, he permitted these because 

 he believed the Christians menaced the pros- 

 perity of the empire. He ruled wisely and 

 justly, and after his death the people honored 

 him as a god. 



AURIGA, awry' ga, the Waggoner or Char- 

 ioteer, in astronomy the name of a constella- 

 tion to the east of Perseus. The principal 

 is Capella, larger and brighter than the 

 sun, but far more distant from the earth. In 

 mythology the Charioteer is supposed to be 

 Phaethon, son of Apollo, who borrowed Apollo's 

 chariot and horses and was overthrown when 

 trying to drive them. Capella represents a 

 goat, probably Amalthea, the goat which 

 Jed the infant Hercules. See MYTHOLOGY, 

 for the story of Phaethon. 



the thousands of visitors who flock to see it 

 are enabled to do so without discomfort by 

 means of the great . mirror which has been 

 placed beneath it. In this picture Apollo rides 

 on the clouds in his chariot, driving his four 

 horses with his left hand. About him cluster 

 the hours, and above the horses flies the winged 

 torch-bearer, Lucifer. In front, looking back 

 at Apollo, floats the graceful Aurora, who 

 bears in her hand flowers which she is appar- 

 ently about to* drop upon the sleeping world 

 below. The coloring in this masterpiece of 

 Guido Reni is particularly warm and pleasing. 

 AURORA, ILL., an industrial city, with a 

 population, chiefly Americans, with a mixture 

 of Hungarians and Rumanians, which in- 

 creased from 29,807 in 1910 to 33,022 in 1914. 



THE FAMOUS AURORA, BY GUIDO RENI 



AURORA, awro'ra, in Greek and Roman 

 mythology the goddess of the dawn, the 

 int messenger who opened the nates of tin- 

 East, that the sun god in his chariot midit 

 ilrivr up the -ky. Her rosy tinkers and yellow 

 rob.- n-pre.M-nted th Blowing colors which ap- 

 ni tin heavens before the sun rises. 

 Aurora was a somewhat fickle goddess, and 

 bestowed her love in turn upon Orion (which 

 see), Tit bonus and Cephalus. 



The Aurora in Art. The youthful goddess 

 of the dawn has always been a favorite m art, 



various are the representations of 

 Burne-Jones pictures her as a graceful, hght- 

 ;. walking through <|u.unt old- 

 world streets whirl, >he is wakening to life 

 by her clanging cymbals. But by all means 

 the most, famous painting of Aurora- is by 

 Guido Reni (which see). It is a ceiling paint- 

 ing in the Casino Rospigliosi at Rome, and 



It is situated in Kane County, in the north- 

 eastern part of the state, and on the Fox 

 River. Chicago is thirty-eight miles northeast, 

 and many people live here whose business is 

 in the greater city. Aurora is served by four 

 railway lines, and electric lines connect with 

 Chicago and adjacent towns in all directions. 

 It is one of the greatest intenulun centers in 

 the state. The city, popularly called the City 

 of Lights, was found' d m 1834, was incorpor- 

 ated in 1840 and was named for Aurora, the 

 goddess of the dawn. The area is about ftu 

 square miles. 



Thin my claims to have been the first city 

 m the United States to light its streets by 

 nee its popular name, above 

 1 I In business section is near the i 

 and its principal buildings are the post office, 

 built m 1892 at a cost of $117,000, and a Sol- 

 diers' Memorial H ill. . : d by popular sub- 



