{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_830/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_830","id":"gutenberg_830","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/830","summary":null,"tags":["Argonauts (Greek mythology)","Category: Classics of Literature","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Poetry","Classical Antiquity","Classical literature","Jason -- (Mythological character)","Medea, consort of Aegeus, King of Athens (Mythological character)"],"text":"Produced by Douglas B. Killings, and David Widger\n\n[Illustration] \n\n\n\n\nThe Argonautica\n\nby Apollonius Rhodius\n\n\nOriginally written in Ancient Greek sometime in the 3rd Century B.C. by the\nAlexandrian poet Apollonius Rhodius (\u201cApollonius the Rhodian\u201d).\nTranslation by R.C. Seaton, 1912.\n\nSELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY: ORIGINAL TEXT\u2014\n\nSeaton, R.C. (Ed. & Trans.): \u201cApollonius Rhodius: Argonautica\u201d\n(Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, 1912). Original Greek text with\nside-by-side English translation.\n\nOTHER TRANSLATIONS\u2014\n\nRieu, E.V. (Trans.): \u201cApollonius of Rhodes: The Voyage of the Argo\u201d\n(Penguin Classics, London, 1959, 1971).\n\nRECOMMENDED READING\u2014\n\nEuripides: \u201cMedea\u201d, \u201cHecabe\u201d, \u201cElectra\u201d,\nand \u201cHeracles\u201d, translated by Philip Vellacott (Penguin Classics,\nLondon, 1963). Contains four plays by Euripides, two of which concern\ncharacters from \u201cThe Argonautica\u201d.\n\nContents\n\n INTRODUCTION\n THE ARGONAUTICA\n BOOK I\n BOOK II\n BOOK III\n BOOK IV\n ENDNOTES\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nMuch has been written about the chronology of Alexandrian literature\nand the famous Library, founded by Ptolemy Soter, but the dates of the\nchief writers are still matters of conjecture. The birth of Apollonius\nRhodius is placed by scholars at various times between 296 and 260\nB.C., while the year of his death is equally uncertain. In fact, we\nhave very little information on the subject. There are two \u201clives\u201d of\nApollonius in the Scholia, both derived from an earlier one which is\nlost. From these we learn that he was of Alexandria by birth,[1] that\nhe lived in the time of the Ptolemies, and was a pupil of Callimachus;\nthat while still a youth he composed and recited in public his\n_Argonautica_, and that the poem was condemned, in consequence of which\nhe retired to Rhodes; that there he revised his poem, recited it with\ngreat applause, and hence called himself a Rhodian. The second \u201clife\u201d\nadds: \u201cSome say that he returned to Alexandria and again recited his\npoem with the utmost success, so that he was honoured with the\nlibraries of the Museum and was buried with Callimachus.\u201d The last\nsentence may be interpreted by the notice of Suidas, who informs us\nthat Apollonius was a contemporary of Eratosthenes, Euphorion and\nTimarchus, in the time of Ptolemy Euergetes, and that he succeeded\nEratosthenes in the headship of the Alexandrian Library. Suidas also\ninforms us elsewhere that Aristophanes at the age of sixty-two\nsucceeded Apollonius in this office. Many modern scholars deny the\n\u201cbibliothecariate\u201d of Apollonius for chronological reasons, and there\nis considerable difficulty about it. The date of Callimachus\u2019 _Hymn to\nApollo_, which closes with some lines (105-113) that are admittedly an\nallusion to Apollonius, may be put with much probability at 248 or 247\nB.C. Apollonius must at that date have been at least twenty years old.\nEratosthenes died 196-193 B.C. This would make Apollonius seventy-two\nto seventy-five when he succeeded Eratosthenes. This is not impossible,\nit is true, but it is difficult. But the difficulty is taken away if we\nassume with Ritschl that Eratosthenes resigned his office some years\nbefore his death, which allows us to put the birth of Apollonius at\nabout 280, and would solve other difficulties. For instance, if the\nLibrarians were buried within the precincts, it would account for the\nburial of Apollonius next to Callimachus\u2014Eratosthenes being still\nalive. However that may be, it is rather arbitrary to take away the\n\u201cbibliothecariate\u201d of Apollonius, which is clearly asserted by Suidas,\non account of chronological calculations which are themselves\nuncertain. Moreover, it is more probable that the words following \u201csome\nsay\u201d in the second \u201clife\u201d are a remnant of the original life than a\nconjectural addition, because the first \u201clife\u201d is evidently incomplete,\nnothing being said about the end of Apollonius\u2019 career.\n\nThe principal event in his life, so far as we know, was the quarrel\nwith his master Callimachus, which was most probably the cause of his\ncondemnation at Alexandria and departure to Rhodes. This quarrel\nappears to have arisen from differences of literary aims and taste,\nbut, as literary differences often do, degenerated into the bitterest\npersonal strife. There are references to the quarrel in the writings of\nboth. Callimachus attacks Apollonius in the passage at the end of the\n_Hymn to Apollo_, already mentioned, also probably in some epigrams,\nbut most of all in his _Ibis_, of which we have an imitation, or\nperhaps nearly a translation, in Ovid\u2019s poem of the same name. On the\npart of Apollonius there is a passage in the third book of the\n_Argonautica_ (ll. 927-947) which is of a polemical nature and stands\nout from the context, and the well-known savage epigram upon\nCallimachus.[2] Various combinations have been attempted by scholars,\nnotably by Couat, in his _Po\u00e9sie Alexandrine_, to give a connected\naccount of the quarrel, but we have not _data_ sufficient to determine\nthe order of the attacks, and replies, and counter-attacks. The _Ibis_\nhas been thought to mark the termination of the feud on the curious\nground that it was impossible for abuse to go further. It was an age\nwhen literary men were more inclined to comment on writings of the past\nthan to produce original work. Literature was engaged in taking stock\nof itself. Homer was, of course, professedly admired by all, but more\nadmired than imitated. Epic poetry was out of fashion and we find many\nepigrams of this period\u2014some by Callimachus\u2014directed against the\n\u201ccyclic\u201d poets, by whom were meant at that time those who were always\ndragging in conventional and commonplace epithets and phrases peculiar\nto epic poetry. Callimachus was in accordance with the spirit of the\nage when he proclaimed \u201ca great book\u201d to be \u201ca great evil\u201d, and sought\nto confine poetical activity within the narrowest limits both of\nsubject and space. Theocritus agreed with him, both in principle and\npractice. The chief characteristics of Alexandrianism are well\nsummarized by Professor Robinson Ellis as follows: \u201cPrecision in form\nand metre, refinement in diction, a learning often degenerating into\npedantry and obscurity, a resolute avoidance of everything commonplace\nin subject, sentiment or allusion.\u201d These traits are more prominent in\nCallimachus than in Apollonius, but they are certainly to be seen in\nthe latter. He seems to have written the _Argonautica_ out of bravado,\nto show that he _could_ write an epic poem. But the influence of the\nage was too strong. Instead of the unity of an Epic we have merely a\nseries of episodes, and it is the great beauty and power of one of\nthese episodes that gives the poem its permanent value\u2014the episode of\nthe love of Jason and Medea. This occupies the greater part of the\nthird book. The first and second books are taken up with the history of\nthe voyage to Colchis, while the fourth book describes the return\nvoyage. These portions constitute a metrical guide book, filled no\ndoubt with many pleasing episodes, such as the rape of Hylas, the\nboxing match between Pollux and Amyeus, the account of Cyzicus, the\naccount of the Amazons, the legend of Talos, but there is no unity\nrunning through the poem beyond that of the voyage itself.\n\nThe Tale of the Argonauts had been told often before in verse and\nprose, and many authors\u2019 names are given in the Scholia to Apollonius,\nbut their works have perished. The best known earlier account that we\nhave is that in Pindar\u2019s fourth Pythian ode, from which Apollonius has\ntaken many details. The subject was one for an epic poem, for its unity\nmight have been found in the working out of the expiation due for the\ncrime of Athamas; but this motive is barely mentioned by our author.\n\nAs we have it, the motive of the voyage is the command of Pelias to\nbring back the golden fleece, and this command is based on Pelias\u2019\ndesire to destroy Jason, while the divine aid given to Jason results\nfrom the intention of Hera to punish Pelias for his neglect of the\nhonour due to her. The learning of Apollonius is not deep but it is\ncurious; his general sentiments are not according to the Alexandrian\nstandard, for they are simple and obvious. In the mass of material from\nwhich he had to choose the difficulty was to know what to omit, and\nmuch skill is shown in fusing into a tolerably harmonious whole\nconflicting mythological and historical details. He interweaves with\nhis narrative local legends and the founding of cities, accounts of\nstrange customs, descriptions of works of art, such as that of Ganymede\nand Eros playing with knucklebones,[3] but prosaically calls himself\nback to the point from these pleasing digressions by such an expression\nas \u201cbut this would take me too far from my song.\u201d His business is the\nstraightforward tale and nothing else. The astonishing geography of the\nfourth book reminds us of the interest of the age in that subject,\nstimulated no doubt by the researches of Eratosthenes and others.\n\nThe language is that of the conventional epic. Apollonius seems to have\ncarefully studied Homeric glosses, and gives many examples of isolated\nuses, but his choice of words is by no means limited to Homer. He\nfreely avails himself of Alexandrian words and late uses of Homeric\nwords. Among his contemporaries Apollonius suffers from a comparison\nwith Theocritus, who was a little his senior, but he was much admired\nby Roman writers who derived inspiration from the great classical\nwriters of Greece by way of Alexandria. In fact Alexandria was a useful\nbridge between Athens and Rome. The _Argonautica_ was translated by\nVarro Atacinus, copied by Ovid and Virgil, and minutely studied by\nValerius Flaccus in his poem of the same name. Some of his finest\npassages have been appropriated and improved upon by Virgil by the\ndivine right of superior genius.[4] The subject of love had been\ntreated in the romantic spirit before the time of Apollonius in\nwritings that have perished, for instance, in those of Antimachus of\nColophon, but the _Argonautica_ is perhaps the first poem still extant\nin which the expression of this spirit is developed with elaboration.\nThe Medea of Apollonius is the direct precursor of the Dido of Virgil,\nand it is the pathos and passion of the fourth book of the \u201cAeneid\u201d\nthat keep alive many a passage of Apollonius.\n\n\n\n\nTHE ARGONAUTICA\n\nBOOK I\n\n\nBeginning with thee, O Phoebus, I will recount the famous deeds of men\nof old, who, at the behest of King Pelias, down through the mouth of\nPontus and between the Cyanean rocks, sped well-benched Argo in quest\nof the golden fleece.\n\nSuch was the oracle that Pelias heard, that a hateful doom awaited him\nto be slain at the prompting of the man whom he should see coming forth\nfrom the people with but one sandal. And no long time after, in\naccordance with that true report, Jason crossed the stream of wintry\nAnaurus on foot, and saved one sandal from the mire, but the other he\nleft in the depths held back by the flood. And straightway he came to\nPelias to share the banquet which the king was offering to his father\nPoseidon and the rest of the gods, though he paid no honour to\nPelasgian Hera. Quickly the king saw him and pondered, and devised for\nhim the toil of a troublous voyage, in order that on the sea or among\nstrangers he might lose his home-return.\n\nThe ship, as former bards relate, Argus wrought by the guidance of\nAthena. But now I will tell the lineage and the names of the heroes,\nand of the long sea-paths and the deeds they wrought in their\nwanderings; may the Muses be the inspirers of my song!\n\nFirst then let us name Orpheus whom once Calliope bare, it is said,\nwedded to Thracian Oeagrus, near the Pimpleian height. Men say that he\nby the music of his songs charmed the stubborn rocks upon the mountains\nand the course of rivers. And the wild oak-trees to this day, tokens of\nthat magic strain, that grow at Zone on the Thracian shore, stand in\nordered ranks close together, the same which under the charm of his\nlyre he led down from Pieria. Such then was Orpheus whom Aeson\u2019s son\nwelcomed to share his toils, in obedience to the behest of Cheiron,\nOrpheus ruler of Bistonian Pieria.\n\nStraightway came Asterion, whom Cometes begat by the waters of eddying\nApidanus; he dwelt at Peiresiae near the Phylleian mount, where mighty\nApidanus and bright Enipeus join their streams, coming together from\nafar.\n\nNext to them from Larisa came Polyphemus, son of Eilatus, who aforetime\namong the mighty Lapithae, when they were arming themselves against the\nCentaurs, fought in his younger days; now his limbs were grown heavy\nwith age, but his martial spirit still remained, even as of old.\n\nNor was Iphiclus long left behind in Phylace, the uncle of Aeson\u2019s son;\nfor Aeson had wedded his sister Alcimede, daughter of Phylacus: his\nkinship with her bade him be numbered in the host.\n\nNor did Admetus, the lord of Pherae rich in sheep, stay behind beneath\nthe peak of the Chalcodonian mount.\n\nNor at Alope stayed the sons of Hermes, rich in corn-land, well skilled\nin craftiness, Erytus and Echion, and with them on their departure\ntheir kinsman Aethalides went as the third; him near the streams of\nAmphrysus Eupolemeia bare, the daughter of Myrmidon, from Phthia; the\ntwo others were sprung from Antianeira, daughter of Menetes.\n\nFrom rich Gyrton came Coronus, son of Caeneus, brave, but not braver\nthan his father. For bards relate that Caeneus though still living\nperished at the hands of the Centaurs, when apart from other chiefs he\nrouted them; and they, rallying against him, could neither bend nor\nslay him; but unconquered and unflinching he passed beneath the earth,\noverwhelmed by the downrush of massy pines.\n\nThere came too Titaresian Mopsus, whom above all men the son of Leto\ntaught the augury of birds; and Eurydamas the son of Ctimenus; he dwelt\nat Dolopian Ctimene near the Xynian lake.\n\nMoreover Actor sent his son Menoetius from Opus that he might accompany\nthe chiefs.\n\nEurytion followed and strong Eribotes, one the son of Teleon, the other\nof Irus, Actor\u2019s son; the son of Teleon renowned Eribotes, and of Irus\nEurytion. A third with them was Oileus, peerless in courage and well\nskilled to attack the flying foe, when they break their ranks.\n\nNow from Euboea came Canthus eager for the quest, whom Canethus son of\nAbas sent; but he was not destined to return to Cerinthus. For fate had\nordained that he and Mopsus, skilled in the seer\u2019s art, should wander\nand perish in the furthest ends of Libya. For no ill is too remote for\nmortals to incur, seeing that they buried them in Libya, as far from\nthe Colchians as is the space that is seen between the setting and the\nrising of the sun.\n\nTo him Clytius and Iphitus joined themselves, the warders of Oechalia,\nsons of Eurytus the ruthless, Eurytus, to whom the Far-shooting god\ngave his bow; but he had no joy of the gift; for of his own choice he\nstrove even with the giver.\n\nAfter them came the sons of Aeacus, not both together, nor from the\nsame spot; for they settled far from Aegina in exile, when in their\nfolly they had slain their brother Phoeus. Telamon dwelt in the Attic\nisland; but Peleus departed and made his home in Phthia.\n\nAfter them from Cecropia came warlike Butes, son of brave Teleon, and\nPhalerus of the ashen spear. Alcon his father sent him forth; yet no\nother sons had he to care for his old age and livelihood. But him, his\nwell-beloved and only son, he sent forth that amid bold heroes he might\nshine conspicuous. But Theseus, who surpassed all the sons of\nErechtheus, an unseen bond kept beneath the land of Taenarus, for he\nhad followed that path with Peirithous; assuredly both would have\nlightened for all the fulfilment of their toil.\n\nTiphys, son of Hagnias, left the Siphaean people of the Thespians, well\nskilled to foretell the rising wave on the broad sea, and well skilled\nto infer from sun and star the stormy winds and the time for sailing.\nTritonian Athena herself urged him to join the band of chiefs, and he\ncame among them a welcome comrade. She herself too fashioned the swift\nship; and with her Argus, son of Arestor, wrought it by her counsels.\nWherefore it proved the most excellent of all ships that have made\ntrial of the sea with oars.\n\nAfter them came Phlias from Araethyrea, where he dwelt in affluence by\nthe favour of his father Dionysus, in his home by the springs of\nAsopus.\n\nFrom Argos came Talaus and Areius, sons of Bias, and mighty Leodocus,\nall of whom Pero daughter of Neleus bare; on her account the Aeolid\nMelampus endured sore affliction in the steading of Iphiclus.\n\nNor do we learn that Heracles of the mighty heart disregarded the eager\nsummons of Aeson\u2019s son. But when he heard a report of the heroes\u2019\ngathering and had reached Lyrceian Argos from Arcadia by the road along\nwhich he carried the boar alive that fed in the thickets of Lampeia,\nnear the vast Erymanthian swamp, the boar bound with chains he put down\nfrom his huge shoulders at the entrance to the market-place of Mycenae;\nand himself of his own will set out against the purpose of Eurystheus;\nand with him went Hylas, a brave comrade, in the flower of youth, to\nbear his arrows and to guard his bow.\n\nNext to him came a scion of the race of divine Danaus, Nauplius. He was\nthe son of Clytonaeus son of Naubolus; Naubolus was son of Lernus;\nLernus we know was the son of Proetus son of Nauplius; and once Amymone\ndaughter of Danaus, wedded to Poseidon, bare Nauplius, who surpassed\nall men in naval skill.\n\nIdmon came last of all them that dwelt at Argos, for though he had\nlearnt his own fate by augury, he came, that the people might not\ngrudge him fair renown. He was not in truth the son of Abas, but Leto\u2019s\nson himself begat him to be numbered among the illustrious Aeolids; and\nhimself taught him the art of prophecy\u2014to pay heed to birds and to\nobserve the signs of the burning sacrifice.\n\nMoreover Aetolian Leda sent from Sparta strong Polydeuces and Castor,\nskilled to guide swift-footed steeds; these her dearly-loved sons she\nbare at one birth in the house of Tyndareus; nor did she forbid their\ndeparture; for she had thoughts worthy of the bride of Zeus.\n\nThe sons of Aphareus, Lynceus and proud Idas, came from Arene, both\nexulting in their great strength; and Lynceus too excelled in keenest\nsight, if the report is true that that hero could easily direct his\nsight even beneath the earth.\n\nAnd with them Neleian Periclymenus set out to come, eldest of all the\nsons of godlike Neleus who were born at Pylos; Poseidon had given him\nboundless strength and granted him that whatever shape he should crave\nduring the fight, that he should take in the stress of battle.\n\nMoreover from Arcadia came Amphidamas and Cepheus, who inhabited Tegea\nand the allotment of Apheidas, two sons of Aldus; and Ancaeus followed\nthem as the third, whom his father Lycurgus sent, the brother older\nthan both. But he was left in the city to care for Aleus now growing\nold, while he gave his son to join his brothers. Antaeus went clad in\nthe skin of a Maenalian bear, and wielding in his right hand a huge\ntwo-edged battleaxe. For his armour his grandsire had hidden in the\nhouse\u2019s innermost recess, to see if he might by some means still stay\nhis departure.\n\nThere came also Augeias, whom fame declared to be the son of Helios; he\nreigned over the Eleans, glorying in his wealth; and greatly he desired\nto behold the Colchian land and Aeetes himself the ruler of the\nColchians.\n\nAsterius and Amphion, sons of Hyperasius, came from Achaean Pellene,\nwhich once Pelles their grandsire founded on the brows of Aegialus.\n\nAfter them from Taenarus came Euphemus whom, most swift-footed of men,\nEurope, daughter of mighty Tityos, bare to Poseidon. He was wont to\nskim the swell of the grey sea, and wetted not his swift feet, but just\ndipping the tips of his toes was borne on the watery path.\n\nYea, and two other sons of Poseidon came; one Erginus, who left the\ncitadel of glorious Miletus, the other proud Ancaeus, who left\nParthenia, the seat of Imbrasion Hera; both boasted their skill in\nseacraft and in war.\n\nAfter them from Calydon came the son of Oeneus, strong Meleagrus, and\nLaocoon\u2014Laocoon the brother of Oeneus, though not by the same mother,\nfor a serving-woman bare him; him, now growing old, Oeneus sent to\nguard his son: thus Meleagrus, still a youth, entered the bold band of\nheroes. No other had come superior to him, I ween, except Heracles, if\nfor one year more he had tarried and been nurtured among the Aetolians.\nYea, and his uncle, well skilled to fight whether with the javelin or\nhand to hand, Iphiclus son of Thestius, bare him company on his way.\n\nWith him came Palaemonius, son of Olenian Lernus, of Lernus by repute,\nbut his birth was from Hephaestus; and so he was crippled in his feet,\nbut his bodily frame and his valour no one would dare to scorn.\nWherefore he was numbered among all the chiefs, winning fame for Jason.\n\nFrom the Phocians came Iphitus sprung from Naubolus son of Ornytus;\nonce he had been his host when Jason went to Pytho to ask for a\nresponse concerning his voyage; for there he welcomed him in his own\nhails.\n\nNext came Zetes and Calais, sons of Boreas, whom once Oreithyia,\ndaughter of Erechtheus, bare to Boreas on the verge of wintry Thrace;\nthither it was that Thracian Boreas snatched her away from Cecropia as\nshe was whirling in the dance, hard by Hissus\u2019 stream. And, carrying\nher far off, to the spot that men called the rock of Sarpedon, near the\nriver Erginus, he wrapped her in dark clouds and forced her to his\nwill. There they were making their dusky wings quiver upon their ankles\non both sides as they rose, a great wonder to behold, wings that\ngleamed with golden scales: and round their backs from the top of the\nhead and neck, hither and thither, their dark tresses were being shaken\nby the wind.\n\nNo, nor had Acastus son of mighty Pelias himself any will to stay\nbehind in the palace of his brave sire, nor Argus, helper of the\ngoddess Athena; but they too were ready to be numbered in the host.\n\nSo many then were the helpers who assembled to join the son of Aeson.\nAll the chiefs the dwellers thereabout called Minyae, for the most and\nthe bravest avowed that they were sprung from the blood of the\ndaughters of Minyas; thus Jason himself was the son of Alcimede who was\nborn of Clymene the daughter of Minyas.\n\nNow when all things had been made ready by the thralls, all things that\nfully-equipped ships are furnished withal when men\u2019s business leads\nthem to voyage across the sea, then the heroes took their way through\nthe city to the ship where it lay on the strand that men call Magnesian\nPagasae; and a crowd of people hastening rushed together; but the\nheroes shone like gleaming stars among the clouds; and each man as he\nsaw them speeding along with their armour would say:\n\n\u201cKing Zeus, what is the purpose of Pelias? Whither is he driving forth\nfrom the Panachaean land so great a host of heroes? On one day they\nwould waste the palace of Aeetes with baleful fire, should he not yield\nthem the fleece of his own goodwill. But the path is not to be shunned,\nthe toil is hard for those who venture.\u201d\n\nThus they spake here and there throughout the city; but the women often\nraised their hands to the sky in prayer to the immortals to grant a\nreturn, their hearts\u2019 desire. And one with tears thus lamented to her\nfellow:\n\n\u201cWretched Alcimede, evil has come to thee at last though late, thou\nhast not ended with splendour of life. Aeson too, ill-fated man! Surely\nbetter had it been for him, if he were lying beneath the earth,\nenveloped in his shroud, still unconscious of bitter toils. Would that\nthe dark wave, when the maiden Helle perished, had overwhelmed Phrixus\ntoo with the ram; but the dire portent even sent forth a human voice,\nthat it might cause to Alcimede sorrows and countless pains hereafter.\u201d\n\nThus the women spake at the departure of the heroes. And now many\nthralls, men and women, were gathered together, and his mother, smitten\nwith grief for Jason. And a bitter pang seized every woman\u2019s heart; and\nwith them groaned the father in baleful old age, lying on his bed,\nclosely wrapped round. But the hero straightway soothed their pain,\nencouraging them, and bade the thralls take up his weapons for war; and\nthey in silence with downcast looks took them up. And even as the\nmother had thrown her arms about her son, so she clung, weeping without\nstint, as a maiden all alone weeps, falling fondly on the neck of her\nhoary nurse, a maid who has now no others to care for her, but she\ndrags on a weary life under a stepmother, who maltreats her continually\nwith ever fresh insults, and as she weeps, her heart within her is\nbound fast with misery, nor can she sob forth all the groans that\nstruggle for utterance; so without stint wept Alcimede straining her\nson in her arms, and in her yearning grief spake as follows:\n\n\u201cWould that on that day when, wretched woman that I am, I heard King\nPelias proclaim his evil behest, I had straightway given up my life and\nforgotten my cares, so that thou thyself, my son, with thine own hands,\nmightest have buried me; for that was the only wish left me still to be\nfulfilled by time, all the other rewards for thy nurture have I long\nenjoyed. Now I, once so admired among Achaean women, shall be left\nbehind like a bondwoman in my empty halls, pining away, ill-fated one,\nfor love of thee, thee on whose account I had aforetime so much\nsplendour and renown, my only son for whom I loosed my virgin zone\nfirst and last. For to me beyond others the goddess Eileithyia grudged\nabundant offspring. Alas for my folly! Not once, not even in nay dreams\ndid I forebode this, that the flight of Phrixus would bring me woe.\u201d\n\nThus with moaning she wept, and her handmaidens, standing by, lamented;\nbut Jason spake gently to her with comforting words:\n\n\u201cDo not, I pray thee, mother, store up bitter sorrows overmuch, for\nthou wilt not redeem me from evil by tears, but wilt still add grief to\ngrief. For unseen are the woes that the gods mete out to mortals; be\nstrong to endure thy share of them though with grief in thy heart; take\ncourage from the promises of Athena, and from the answers of the gods\n(for very favourable oracles has Phoebus given), and then from the help\nof the chieftains. But do thou remain here, quiet among thy handmaids,\nand be not a bird of ill omen to the ship; and thither my clansmen and\nthralls will follow me.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and started forth to leave the house. And as Apollo goes\nforth from some fragrant shrine to divine Delos or Claros or Pytho or\nto broad Lyeia near the stream of Xanthus, in such beauty moved Jason\nthrough the throng of people; and a cry arose as they shouted together.\nAnd there met him aged Iphias, priestess of Artemis guardian of the\ncity, and kissed his right hand, but she had not strength to say a\nword, for all her eagerness, as the crowd rushed on, but she was left\nthere by the wayside, as the old are left by the young, and he passed\non and was gone afar.\n\nNow when he had left the well-built streets of the city, he came to the\nbeach of Pagasae, where his comrades greeted him as they stayed\ntogether near the ship Argo. And he stood at the entering in, and they\nwere gathered to meet him. And they perceived Aeastus and Argus coming\nfrom the city, and they marvelled when they saw them hasting with all\nspeed, despite the will of Pelias. The one, Argus, son of Arestor, had\ncast round his shoulders the hide of a bull reaching to his feet, with\nthe black hair upon it, the other, a fair mantle of double fold, which\nhis sister Pelopeia had given him. Still Jason forebore from asking\nthem about each point but bade all be seated for an assembly. And\nthere, upon the folded sails and the mast as it lay on the ground, they\nall took their seats in order. And among them with goodwill spake\nAeson\u2019s son:\n\n\u201cAll the equipment that a ship needs for all is in due order\u2014lies ready\nfor our departure. Therefore we will make no long delay in our sailing\nfor these things\u2019 sake, when the breezes but blow fair. But,\nfriends,\u2014for common to all is our return to Hellas hereafter, and\ncommon to all is our path to the land of Aeetes\u2014now therefore with\nungrudging heart choose the bravest to be our leader, who shall be\ncareful for everything, to take upon him our quarrels and covenants\nwith strangers.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and the young heroes turned their eyes towards bold\nHeracles sitting in their midst, and with one shout they all enjoined\nupon him to be their leader; but he, from the place where he sat,\nstretched forth his right hand and said:\n\n\u201cLet no one offer this honour to me. For I will not consent, and I will\nforbid any other to stand up. Let the hero who brought us together,\nhimself be the leader of the host.\u201d\n\nThus he spake with high thoughts, and they assented, as Heracles bade;\nand warlike Jason himself rose up, glad at heart, and thus addressed\nthe eager throng:\n\n\u201cIf ye entrust your glory to my care, no longer as before let our path\nbe hindered. Now at last let us propitiate Phoebus with sacrifice and\nstraightway prepare a feast. And until my thralls come, the overseers\nof my steading, whose care it is to choose out oxen from the herd and\ndrive them hither, we will drag down the ship to the sea, and do ye\nplace all the tackling within, and draw lots for the benches for\nrowing. Meantime let us build upon the beach an altar to Apollo\nEmbasius[5] who by an oracle promised to point out and show me the\npaths of the sea, if by sacrifice to him I should begin my venture for\nKing Pelias.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and was the first to turn to the work, and they stood up in\nobedience to him; and they heaped their garments, one upon the other,\non a smooth stone, which the sea did not strike with its waves, but the\nstormy surge had cleansed it long before. First of all, by the command\nof Argus, they strongly girded the ship with a rope well twisted\nwithin,[6] stretching it tight on each side, in order that the planks\nmight be well compacted by the bolts and might withstand the opposing\nforce of the surge. And they quickly dug a trench as wide as the space\nthe ship covered, and at the prow as far into the sea as it would run\nwhen drawn down by their hands. And they ever dug deeper in front of\nthe stem, and in the furrow laid polished rollers; and inclined the\nship down upon the first rollers, that so she might glide and be borne\non by them. And above, on both sides, reversing the oars, they fastened\nthem round the thole-pins, so as to project a cubit\u2019s space. And the\nheroes themselves stood on both sides at the oars in a row, and pushed\nforward with chest and hand at once. And then Tiphys leapt on board to\nurge the youths to push at the right moment; and calling on them he\nshouted loudly; and they at once, leaning with all their strength, with\none push started the ship from her place, and strained with their feet,\nforcing her onward; and Pelian Argo followed swiftly; and they on each\nside shouted as they rushed on. And then the rollers groaned under the\nsturdy keel as they were chafed, and round them rose up a dark smoke\nowing to the weight, and she glided into the sea; but the heroes stood\nthere and kept dragging her back as she sped onward. And round the\nthole-pins they fitted the oars, and in the ship they placed the mast\nand the well-made sails and the stores.\n\nNow when they had carefully paid heed to everything, first they\ndistributed the benches by lot, two men occupying one seat; but the\nmiddle bench they chose for Heracles and Ancaeus apart from the other\nheroes, Ancaeus who dwelt in Tegea. For them alone they left the middle\nbench just as it was and not by lot; and with one consent they\nentrusted Tiphys with guarding the helm of the well-stemmed ship.\n\nNext, piling up shingle near the sea, they raised there an altar on the\nshore to Apollo, under the name of Actius[7] and Embasius, and quickly\nspread above it logs of dried olive-wood. Meantime the herdsmen of\nAeson\u2019s son had driven before them from the herd two steers. These the\nyounger comrades dragged near the altars, and the others brought\nlustral water and barley meal, and Jason prayed, calling on Apollo the\ngod of his fathers:\n\n\u201cHear, O King, that dwellest in Pagasae and the city Aesonis, the city\ncalled by my father\u2019s name, thou who didst promise me, when I sought\nthy oracle at Pytho, to show the fulfilment and goal of my journey, for\nthou thyself hast been the cause of my venture; now do thou thyself\nguide the ship with my comrades safe and sound, thither and back again\nto Hellas. Then in thy honour hereafter we will lay again on thy altar\nthe bright offerings of bulls\u2014all of us who return; and other gifts in\ncountless numbers I will bring to Pytho and Ortygia. And now, come,\nFar-darter, accept this sacrifice at our hands, which first of all we\nhave offered thee for this ship on our embarcation; and grant, O King,\nthat with a prosperous wind I may loose the hawsers, relying on thy\ncounsel, and may the breeze blow softly with which we shall sail over\nthe sea in fair weather.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and with his prayer cast the barley meal. And they two girded\nthemselves to slay the steers, proud Ancaeus and Heracles. The latter\nwith his club smote one steer mid-head on the brow, and falling in a\nheap on the spot, it sank to the ground; and Ancaeus struck the broad\nneck of the other with his axe of bronze, and shore through the mighty\nsinews; and it fell prone on both its horns. Their comrades quickly\nsevered the victims\u2019 throats, and flayed the hides: they sundered the\njoints and carved the flesh, then cut out the sacred thigh bones, and\ncovering them all together closely with fat burnt them upon cloven\nwood. And Aeson\u2019s son poured out pure libations, and Idmon rejoiced\nbeholding the flame as it gleamed on every side from the sacrifice, and\nthe smoke of it mounting up with good omen in dark spiral columns; and\nquickly he spake outright the will of Leto\u2019s son:\n\n\u201cFor you it is the will of heaven and destiny that ye shall return here\nwith the fleece; but meanwhile both going and returning, countless\ntrials await you. But it is my lot, by the hateful decree of a god, to\ndie somewhere afar off on the mainland of Asia. Thus, though I learnt\nmy fate from evil omens even before now, I have left my fatherland to\nembark on the ship, that so after my embarking fair fame may be left me\nin my house.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and the youths hearing the divine utterance rejoiced at\ntheir return, but grief seized them for the fate of Idmon. Now at the\nhour when the sun passes his noon-tide halt and the ploughlands are\njust being shadowed by the rocks, as the sun slopes towards the evening\ndusk, at that hour all the heroes spread leaves thickly upon the sand\nand lay down in rows in front of the hoary surf-line; and near them\nwere spread vast stores of viands and sweet wine, which the cupbearers\nhad drawn off in pitchers; afterwards they told tales one to another in\nturn, such as youths often tell when at the feast and the bowl they\ntake delightful pastime, and insatiable insolence is far away. But here\nthe son of Aeson, all helpless, was brooding over each event in his\nmind, like one oppressed with thought. And Idas noted him and assailed\nhim with loud voice:\n\n\u201cSon of Aeson, what is this plan thou art turning over in mind. Speak\nout thy thought in the midst. Does fear come on and master thee, fear,\nthat confounds cowards? Be witness now my impetuous spear, wherewith in\nwars I win renown beyond all others (nor does Zeus aid me so much as my\nown spear), that no woe will be fatal, no venture will be unachieved,\nwhile Idas follows, even though a god should oppose thee. Such a\nhelpmeet am I that thou bringest from Arene.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and holding a brimming goblet in both hands drank off the\nunmixed sweet wine; and his lips and dark cheeks were drenched with it;\nand all the heroes clamoured together and Idmon spoke out openly:\n\n\u201cVain wretch, thou art devising destruction for thyself before the\ntime. Does the pure wine cause thy bold heart to swell in thy breast to\nthy ruin, and has it set thee on to dishonour the gods? Other words of\ncomfort there are with which a man might encourage his comrade; but\nthou hast spoken with utter recklessness. Such taunts, the tale goes,\ndid the sons of Aloeus once blurt out against the blessed gods, and\nthou dost no wise equal them in valour; nevertheless they were both\nslain by the swift arrows of Leto\u2019s son, mighty though they were.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and Aphareian Iclas laughed out, loud and long, and\neyeing him askance replied with biting words:\n\n\u201cCome now, tell me this by thy prophetic art, whether for me too the\ngods will bring to pass such doom as thy father promised for the sons\nof Aloeus. And bethink thee how thou wilt escape from my hands alive,\nif thou art caught making a prophecy vain as the idle wind.\u201d\n\nThus in wrath Idas reviled him, and the strife would have gone further\nhad not their comrades and Aeson\u2019s son himself with indignant cry\nrestrained the contending chiefs; and Orpheus lifted his lyre in his\nleft hand and made essay to sing.\n\nHe sang how the earth, the heaven and the sea, once mingled together in\none form, after deadly strife were separated each from other; and how\nthe stars and the moon and the paths of the sun ever keep their fixed\nplace in the sky; and how the mountains rose, and how the resounding\nrivers with their nymphs came into being and all creeping things. And\nhe sang how first of all Ophion and Eurynome, daughter of Ocean, held\nthe sway of snowy Olympus, and how through strength of arm one yielded\nhis prerogative to Cronos and the other to Rhea, and how they fell into\nthe waves of Ocean; but the other two meanwhile ruled over the blessed\nTitan-gods, while Zeus, still a child and with the thoughts of a child,\ndwelt in the Dictaean cave; and the earthborn Cyclopes had not yet\narmed him with the bolt, with thunder and lightning; for these things\ngive renown to Zeus.\n\nHe ended, and stayed his lyre and divine voice. But though he had\nceased they still bent forward with eagerness all hushed to quiet, with\nears intent on the enchanting strain; such a charm of song had he left\nbehind in their hearts. Not long after they mixed libations in honour\nof Zeus, with pious rites as is customary, and poured them upon the\nburning tongues, and bethought them of sleep in the darkness.\n\nNow when gleaming dawn with bright eyes beheld the lofty peaks of\nPelion, and the calm headlands were being drenched as the sea was\nruffled by the winds, then Tiphys awoke from sleep; and at once he\nroused his comrades to go on board and make ready the oars. And a\nstrange cry did the harbour of Pagasae utter, yea and Pelian Argo\nherself, urging them to set forth. For in her a beam divine had been\nlaid which Athena had brought from an oak of Dodona and fitted in the\nmiddle of the stem. And the heroes went to the benches one after the\nother, as they had previously assigned for each to row in his place,\nand took their seats in due order near their fighting gear. In the\nmiddle sat Antaeus and mighty Heracles, and near him he laid his club,\nand beneath his tread the ship\u2019s keel sank deep. And now the hawsers\nwere being slipped and they poured wine on the sea. But Jason with\ntears held his eyes away from his fatherland. And just as youths set up\na dance in honour of Phoebus either in Pytho or haply in Ortygia, or by\nthe waters of Ismenus, and to the sound of the lyre round his altar all\ntogether in time beat the earth with swiftly-moving feet; so they to\nthe sound of Orpheus\u2019 lyre smote with their oars the rushing sea-water,\nand the surge broke over the blades; and on this side and on that the\ndark brine seethed with foam, boiling terribly through the might of the\nsturdy heroes. And their arms shone in the sun like flame as the ship\nsped on; and ever their wake gleamed white far behind, like a path seen\nover a green plain. On that day all the gods looked down from heaven\nupon the ship and the might of the heroes, half-divine, the bravest of\nmen then sailing the sea; and on the topmost heights the nymphs of\nPelion wondered as they beheld the work of Itonian Athena, and the\nheroes themselves wielding the oars. And there came down from the\nmountain-top to the sea Chiron, son of Philyra, and where the white\nsurf broke he dipped his feet, and, often waving with his broad hand,\ncried out to them at their departure, \u201cGood speed and a sorrowless\nhome-return!\u201d And with him his wife, bearing Peleus\u2019 son Achilles on\nher arm, showed the child to his dear father.\n\nNow when they had left the curving shore of the harbour through the\ncunning and counsel of prudent Tiphys son of Hagnias, who skilfully\nhandled the well-polished helm that he might guide them steadfastly,\nthen at length they set up the tall mast in the mastbox, and secured it\nwith forestays, drawing them taut on each side, and from it they let\ndown the sail when they had hauled it to the top-mast. And a breeze\ncame down piping shrilly; and upon the deck they fastened the ropes\nseparately round the well-polished pins, and ran quietly past the long\nTisaean headland. And for them the son of Oeagrus touched his lyre and\nsang in rhythmical song of Artemis, saviour of ships, child of a\nglorious sire, who hath in her keeping those peaks by the sea, and the\nland of Iolcos; and the fishes came darting through the deep sea, great\nmixed with small, and followed gambolling along the watery paths. And\nas when in the track of the shepherd, their master, countless sheep\nfollow to the fold that have fed to the full of grass, and he goes\nbefore gaily piping a shepherd\u2019s strain on Iris shrill reed; so these\nfishes followed; and a chasing breeze ever bore the ship onward.\n\nAnd straightway the misty land of the Pelasgians, rich in cornfields,\nsank out of sight, and ever speeding onward they passed the rugged\nsides of Pelion; and the Sepian headland sank away, and Sciathus\nappeared in the sea, and far off appeared Piresiae and the calm shore\nof Magnesia on the mainland and the tomb of Dolops; here then in the\nevening, as the wind blew against them, they put to land, and paying\nhonour to him at nightfall burnt sheep as victims, while the sea was\ntossed by the swell: and for two days they lingered on the shore, but\non the third day they put forth the ship, spreading on high the broad\nsail. And even now men call that beach Aphetae[8] of Argo.\n\nThence going forward they ran past Meliboea, escaping a stormy beach\nand surf-line. And in the morning they saw Homole close at hand leaning\non the sea, and skirted it, and not long after they were about to pass\nby the outfall of the river Amyrus. From there they beheld Eurymenae\nand the seawashed ravines of Ossa and Olympus; next they reached the\nslopes of Pallene, beyond the headland of Canastra, running all night\nwith the wind. And at dawn before them as they journeyed rose Athos,\nthe Thracian mountain, which with its topmost peak overshadows Lemnos,\neven as far as Myrine, though it lies as far off as the space that a\nwell-trimmed merchantship would traverse up to mid-day. For them on\nthat day, till darkness fell, the breeze blew exceedingly fresh, and\nthe sails of the ship strained to it. But with the setting of the sun\nthe wind left them, and it was by the oars that they reached Lemnos,\nthe Sintian isle.\n\nHere the whole of the men of the people together had been ruthlessly\nslain through the transgressions of the women in the year gone by. For\nthe men had rejected their lawful wives, loathing them, and had\nconceived a fierce passion for captive maids whom they themselves\nbrought across the sea from their forays in Thrace; for the terrible\nwrath of Cypris came upon them, because for a long time they had\ngrudged her the honours due. O hapless women, and insatiate in jealousy\nto their own ruin! Not their husbands alone with the captives did they\nslay on account of the marriage-bed, but all the males at the same\ntime, that they might thereafter pay no retribution for the grim\nmurder. And of all the women, Hypsipyle alone spared her aged father\nThoas, who was king over the people; and she sent him in a hollow\nchest, to drift over the sea, if haply he should escape. And fishermen\ndragged him to shore at the island of Oenoe, formerly Oenoe, but\nafterwards called Sicinus from Sicinus, whom the water-nymph Oenoe bore\nto Thoas. Now for all the women to tend kine, to don armour of bronze,\nand to cleave with the plough-share the wheat-bearing fields, was\neasier than the works of Athena, with which they were busied aforetime.\nYet for all that did they often gaze over the broad sea, in grievous\nfear against the Thracians\u2019 coming. So when they saw Argo being rowed\nnear the island, straightway crowding in multitude from the gates of\nMyrine and clad in their harness of war, they poured forth to the beach\nlike ravening Thyiades: for they deemed that the Thracians were come;\nand with them Hypsipyle, daughter of Thoas, donned her father\u2019s\nharness. And they streamed down speechless with dismay; such fear was\nwafted about them.\n\nMeantime from the ship the chiefs had sent Aethalides the swift herald,\nto whose care they entrusted their messages and the wand of Hermes, his\nsire, who had granted him a memory of all things, that never grew dim;\nand not even now, though he has entered the unspeakable whirlpools of\nAcheron, has forgetfulness swept over his soul, but its fixed doom is\nto be ever changing its abode; at one time to be numbered among the\ndwellers beneath the earth, at another to be in the light of the sun\namong living men. But why need I tell at length tales of Aethalides? He\nat that time persuaded Hypsipyle to receive the new-comers as the day\nwas waning into darkness; nor yet at dawn did they loose the ship\u2019s\nhawsers to the breath of the north wind.\n\nNow the Lemnian women fared through the city and sat down to the\nassembly, for Hypsipyle herself had so bidden. And when they were all\ngathered together in one great throng straightway she spake among them\nwith stirring words:\n\n\u201cO friends, come let us grant these men gifts to their hearts\u2019 desire,\nsuch as it is fitting that they should take on ship-board, food and\nsweet wine, in order that they may steadfastly remain outside our\ntowers, and may not, passing among us for need\u2019s sake, get to know us\nall too well, and so an evil report be widely spread; for we have\nwrought a terrible deed and in nowise will it be to their liking,\nshould they learn it. Such is our counsel now, but if any of you can\ndevise a better plan let her rise, for it was on this account that I\nsummoned you hither.\u201d\n\nThus she spake and sat upon her father\u2019s seat of stone, and then rose\nup her dear nurse Polyxo, for very age halting upon her withered feet,\nbowed over a staff, and she was eager to address them. Near her were\nseated four virgins, unwedded, crowned with white hair. And she stood\nin the midst of the assembly and from her bent back she feebly raised\nher neck and spake thus:\n\n\u201cGifts, as Hypsipyle herself wishes, let us send to the strangers, for\nit is better to give them. But for you what device have ye to get\nprofit of your life if the Thracian host fall upon us, or some other\nfoe, as often happens among men, even as now this company is come\nunforeseen? But if one of the blessed gods should turn this aside yet\ncountless other woes, worse than battle, remain behind, when the aged\nwomen die off and ye younger ones, without children, reach hateful old\nage. How then will ye live, hapless ones? Will your oxen of their own\naccord yoke themselves for the deep plough-lands and draw the\nearth-cleaving share through the fallow, and forthwith, as the year\ncomes round, reap the harvest? Assuredly, though the fates till now\nhave shunned me in horror, I deem that in the coming year I shall put\non the garment of earth, when I have received my meed of burial even so\nas is right, before the evil days draw near. But I bid you who are\nyounger give good heed to this. For now at your feet a way of escape\nlies open, if ye trust to the strangers the care of your homes and all\nyour stock and your glorious city.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and the assembly was filled with clamour. For the word\npleased them. And after her straightway Hypsipyle rose up again, and\nthus spake in reply.\n\n\u201cIf this purpose please you all, now will I even send a messenger to\nthe ship.\u201d\n\nShe spake and addressed Iphinoe close at hand: \u201cGo, Iphinoe, and beg\nyonder man, whoever it is that leads this array, to come to our land\nthat I may tell him a word that pleases the heart of my people, and bid\nthe men themselves, if they wish, boldly enter the land and the city\nwith friendly intent.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and dismissed the assembly, and thereafter started to return\nhome. And so Iphinoe came to the Minyae; and they asked with what\nintent she had come among them. And quickly she addressed her\nquestioners with all speed in these words:\n\n\u201cThe maiden Hypsipyle daughter of Thoas, sent me on my way here to you,\nto summon the captain of your ship, whoever he be, that she may tell\nhim a word that pleases the heart of the people, and she bids\nyourselves, if ye wish it, straightway enter the land and the city with\nfriendly intent.\u201d\n\nThus she spake and the speech of good omen pleased all. And they deemed\nthat Thoas was dead and that his beloved daughter Hypsipyle was queen,\nand quickly they sent Jason on his way and themselves made ready to go.\n\nNow he had buckled round his shoulders a purple mantle of double fold,\nthe work of the Tritonian goddess, which Pallas had given him when she\nfirst laid the keel-props of the ship Argo and taught him how to\nmeasure timbers with the rule. More easily wouldst thou cast thy eyes\nupon the sun at its rising than behold that blazing splendour. For\nindeed in the middle the fashion thereof was red, but at the ends it\nwas all purple, and on each margin many separate devices had been\nskilfully inwoven.\n\nIn it were the Cyclops seated at their imperishable work, forging a\nthunderbolt for King Zeus; by now it was almost finished in its\nbrightness and still it wanted but one ray, which they were beating out\nwith their iron hammers as it spurted forth a breath of raging flame.\n\nIn it too were the twin sons of Antiope, daughter of Asopus, Amphion\nand Zethus, and Thebe still ungirt with towers was lying near, whose\nfoundations they were just then laying in eager haste. Zethus on his\nshoulders was lifting the peak of a steep mountain, like a man toiling\nhard, and Amphion after him, singing loud and clear on his golden lyre,\nmoved on, and a rock twice as large followed his footsteps.\n\nNext in order had been wrought Cytherea with drooping tresses, wielding\nthe swift shield of Ares; and from her shoulder to her left arm the\nfastening of her tunic was loosed beneath her breast; and opposite in\nthe shield of bronze her image appeared clear to view as she stood.\n\nAnd in it there was a well-wooded pasturage of oxen; and about the oxen\nthe Teleboae and the sons of Eleetryon were fighting; the one party\ndefending themselves, the others, the Taphian raiders, longing to rob\nthem; and the dewy meadow was drenched with their blood, and the many\nwere overmastering the few herdsmen.\n\nAnd therein were fashioned two chariots, racing, and the one in front\nPelops was guiding, as he shook the reins, and with him was Hippodameia\nat his side, and in pursuit Myrtilus urged his steeds, and with him\nOenomaus had grasped his couched spear, but fell as the axle swerved\nand broke in the nave, while he was eager to pierce the back of Pelops.\n\nAnd in it was wrought Phoebus Apollo, a stripling not yet grown up, in\nthe act of shooting at mighty Tityos who was boldly dragging his mother\nby her veil, Tityos whom glorious Elate bare, but Earth nursed him and\ngave him second birth.\n\nAnd in it was Phrixus the Minyan as though he were in very deed\nlistening to the ram, while it was like one speaking. Beholding them\nthou wouldst be silent and wouldst cheat thy soul with the hope of\nhearing some wise speech from them, and long wouldst thou gaze with\nthat hope.\n\nSuch then were the gifts of the Tritonian goddess Athena. And in his\nright hand Jason held a fardarting spear, which Atalanta gave him once\nas a gift of hospitality in Maenalus as she met him gladly; for she\neagerly desired to follow on that quest; but he himself of his own\naccord prevented the maid, for he feared bitter strife on account of\nher love.\n\nAnd he went on his way to the city like to a bright star, which\nmaidens, pent up in new-built chambers, behold as it rises above their\nhomes, and through the dark air it charms their eyes with its fair red\ngleam and the maid rejoices, love-sick for the youth who is far away\namid strangers, for whom her parents are keeping her to be his bride;\nlike to that star the hero trod the way to the city. And when they had\npassed within the gates and the city, the women of the people surged\nbehind them, delighting in the stranger, but he with his eyes fixed on\nthe ground fared straight on, till he reached the glorious palace of\nHypsipyle; and when he appeared the maids opened the folding doors,\nfitted with well-fashioned panels. Here Iphinoe leading him quickly\nthrough a fair porch set him upon a shining seat opposite her mistress,\nbut Hypsipyle turned her eyes aside and a blush covered her maiden\ncheeks, yet for all her modesty she addressed him with crafty words:\n\n\u201cStranger, why stay ye so long outside our towers? for the city is not\ninhabited by the men, but they, as sojourners, plough the wheat-bearing\nfields of the Thracian mainland. And I will tell out truly all our evil\nplight, that ye yourselves too may know it well. When my father Thoas\nreigned over the citizens, then our folk starting from their homes used\nto plunder from their ships the dwellings of the Thracians who live\nopposite, and they brought back hither measureless booty and maidens\ntoo. But the counsel of the baneful goddess Cypris was working out its\naccomplishment, who brought upon them soul destroying infatuation. For\nthey hated their lawful wives, and, yielding to their own mad folly,\ndrove them from their homes; and they took to their beds the captives\nof their spear, cruel ones. Long in truth we endured it, if haply\nagain, though late, they might change their purpose, but ever the\nbitter woe grew, twofold. And the lawful children were being\ndishonoured in their halls, and a bastard race was rising. And thus\nunmarried maidens and widowed mothers too wandered uncared for through\nthe city; no father heeded his daughter ever so little even though he\nshould see her done to death before his eyes at the hands of an\ninsolent step-dame, nor did sons, as before, defend their mother\nagainst unseemly outrage; nor did brothers care at heart for their\nsister. But in their homes, in the dance, in the assembly and the\nbanquet all their thought was only for their captive maidens; until\nsome god put desperate courage in our hearts no more to receive our\nlords on their return from Thrace within our towers so that they might\neither heed the right or might depart and begone elsewhither, they and\ntheir captives. So they begged of us all the male children that were\nleft in the city and went back to where even now they dwell on the\nsnowy tilths of Thrace. Do ye therefore stay and settle with us; and\nshouldst thou desire to dwell here, and this finds favour with thee,\nassuredly thou shalt have the prerogative of my father Thoas; and I\ndeem that thou wilt not scorn our land at all; for it is deepsoiled\nbeyond all other islands that lie in the Aegaean sea. But come now,\nreturn to the ship and relate my words to thy comrades, and stay not\noutside our city.\u201d\n\nShe spoke, glozing over the murder that had been wrought upon the men;\nand Jason addressed her in answer:\n\n\u201cHypsipyle, very dear to our hearts is the help we shall meet with,\nwhich thou grantest to us who need thee. And I will return again to the\ncity when I have told everything in order due. But let the sovereignty\nof the island be thine; it is not in scorn I yield it up, but grievous\ntrials urge me on.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and touched her right hand; and quickly he turned to go back:\nand round him the young maids on every side danced in countless numbers\nin their joy till he passed through the gates. And then they came to\nthe shore in smooth-running wains, bearing with them many gifts, when\nnow he had related from beginning to end the speech which Hypsipyle had\nspoken when she summoned them; and the maids readily led the men back\nto their homes for entertainment. For Cypris stirred in them a sweet\ndesire, for the sake of Hephaestus of many counsels, in order that\nLemnos might be again inhabited by men and not be ruined.\n\nThereupon Aeson\u2019s son started to go to the royal home of Hypsipyle; and\nthe rest went each his way as chance took them, all but Heracles; for\nhe of his own will was left behind by the ship and a few chosen\ncomrades with him. And straightway the city rejoiced with dances and\nbanquets, being filled with the steam of sacrifice; and above all the\nimmortals they propitiated with songs and sacrifices the illustrious\nson of Hera and Cypris herself. And the sailing was ever delayed from\none day to another; and long would they have lingered there, had not\nHeracles, gathering together his comrades apart from the women, thus\naddressed them with reproachful words:\n\n\u201cWretched men, does the murder of kindred keep us from our native land?\nOr is it in want of marriage that we have come hither from thence, in\nscorn of our countrywomen? Does it please us to dwell here and plough\nthe rich soil of Lemnos? No fair renown shall we win by thus tarrying\nso long with stranger women; nor will some god seize and give us at our\nprayer a fleece that moves of itself. Let us then return each to his\nown; but him leave ye to rest all day long in the embrace of Hypsipyle\nuntil he has peopled Lemnos with men-children, and so there come to him\ngreat glory.\u201d\n\nThus did he chide the band; but no one dared to meet his eye or to\nutter a word in answer. But just as they were in the assembly they made\nready their departure in all haste, and the women came running towards\nthem, when they knew their intent. And as when bees hum round fair\nlilies pouring forth from their hive in the rock, and all around the\ndewy meadow rejoices, and they gather the sweet fruit, flitting from\none to another; even so the women eagerly poured forth clustering round\nthe men with loud lament, and greeted each one with hands and voice,\npraying the blessed gods to grant him a safe return. And so Hypsipyle\ntoo prayed, seizing the hands of Aeson\u2019s son, and her tears flowed for\nthe loss of her lover:\n\n\u201cGo, and may heaven bring thee back again with thy comrades unharmed,\nbearing to the king the golden fleece, even as thou wilt and thy heart\ndesireth; and this island and my father\u2019s sceptre will be awaiting\nthee, if on thy return hereafter thou shouldst choose to come hither\nagain; and easily couldst thou gather a countless host of men from\nother cities. But thou wilt not have this desire, nor do I myself\nforbode that so it will be. Still remember Hypsipyle when thou art far\naway and when thou hast returned; and leave me some word of bidding,\nwhich I will gladly accomplish, if haply heaven shall grant me to be a\nmother.\u201d\n\nAnd Aeson\u2019s son in admiration thus replied: \u201cHypsipyle, so may all\nthese things prove propitious by the favour of the blessed gods. But do\nthou hold a nobler thought of me, since by the grace of Pelias it is\nenough for me to dwell in my native land; may the gods only release me\nfrom my toils. But if it is not my destiny to sail afar and return to\nthe land of Hellas, and if thou shouldst bear a male child, send him\nwhen grown up to Pelasgian Iolcus, to heal the grief of my father and\nmother if so be that he find them still living, in order that, far away\nfrom the king, they may be cared for by their own hearth in their\nhome.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and mounted the ship first of all; and so the rest of the\nchiefs followed, and, sitting in order, seized the oars; and Argus\nloosed for them the hawsers from under the sea-beaten rock. Whereupon\nthey mightily smote the water with their long oars, and in the evening\nby the injunctions of Orpheus they touched at the island of Electra,[9]\ndaughter of Atlas, in order that by gentle initiation they might learn\nthe rites that may not be uttered, and so with greater safety sail over\nthe chilling sea. Of these I will make no further mention; but I bid\nfarewell to the island itself and the indwelling deities, to whom\nbelong those mysteries, which it is not lawful for me to sing.\n\nThence did they row with eagerness over the depths of the black Sea,\nhaving on the one side the land of the Thracians, on the other Imbros\non the south; and as the sun was just setting they reached the foreland\nof the Chersonesus. There a strong south wind blew for them; and\nraising the sails to the breeze they entered the swift stream of the\nmaiden daughter of Athamas; and at dawn the sea to the north was left\nbehind and at night they were coasting inside the Rhoeteian shore, with\nthe land of Ida on their right. And leaving Dardania they directed\ntheir course to Abydus, and after it they sailed past Percote and the\nsandy beach of Abarnis and divine Pityeia. And in that night, as the\nship sped on by sail and oar, they passed right through the Hellespont\ndark-gleaming with eddies.\n\nThere is a lofty island inside the Propontis, a short distance from the\nPhrygian mainland with its rich cornfields, sloping to the sea, where\nan isthmus in front of the mainland is flooded by the waves, so low\ndoes it lie. And the isthmus has double shores, and they lie beyond the\nriver Aesepus, and the inhabitants round about call the island the\nMount of Bears. And insolent and fierce men dwell there, Earthborn, a\ngreat marvel to the neighbours to behold; for each one has six mighty\nhands to lift up, two from his sturdy shoulders, and four below,\nfitting close to his terrible sides. And about the isthmus and the\nplain the Doliones had their dwelling, and over them Cyzicus son of\nAeneus was king, whom Aenete the daughter of goodly Eusorus bare. But\nthese men the Earthborn monsters, fearful though they were, in nowise\nharried, owing to the protection of Poseidon; for from him had the\nDoliones first sprung. Thither Argo pressed on, driven by the winds of\nThrace, and the Fair haven received her as she sped. There they cast\naway their small anchorstone by the advice of Tiphys and left it\nbeneath a fountain, the fountain of Artaeie; and they took another meet\nfor their purpose, a heavy one; but the first, according to the oracle\nof the Far-Darter, the Ionians, sons of Neleus, in after days laid to\nbe a sacred stone, as was right, in the temple of Jasonian Athena.\n\nNow the Doliones and Cyzicus himself all came together to meet them\nwith friendliness, and when they knew of the quest and their lineage\nwelcomed them with hospitality, and persuaded them to row further and\nto fasten their ship\u2019s hawsers at the city harbour. Here they built an\naltar to Ecbasian Apollo[10] and set it up on the beach, and gave heed\nto sacrifices. And the king of his own bounty gave them sweet wine and\nsheep in their need; for he had heard a report that whenever a godlike\nband of heroes should come, straightway he should meet it with gentle\nwords and should have no thought of war. As with Jason, the soft down\nwas just blooming on his chin, nor yet had it been his lot to rejoice\nin children, but still in his palace his wife was untouched by the\npangs of child-birth, the daughter of Percosian Merops, fair-haired\nCleite, whom lately by priceless gifts he had brought from her father\u2019s\nhome from the mainland opposite. But even so he left his chamber and\nbridal bed and prepared a banquet among the strangers, casting all\nfears from his heart. And they questioned one another in turn. Of them\nwould he learn the end of their voyage and the injunctions of Pelias;\nwhile they enquired about the cities of the people round and all the\ngulf of the wide Propontis; but further he could not tell them for all\ntheir desire to learn. In the morning they climbed mighty Dindymum that\nthey might themselves behold the various paths of that sea; and they\nbrought their ship from its former anchorage to the harbour, Chytus;\nand the path they trod is named the path of Jason.\n\nBut the Earthborn men on the other side rushed down from the mountain\nand with crags below blocked up the mouth of vast Chytus towards the\nsea, like men lying in wait for a wild beast within. But there Heracles\nhad been left behind with the younger heroes and he quickly bent his\nback-springing bow against the monsters and brought them to earth one\nafter another; and they in their turn raised huge ragged rocks and\nhurled them. For these dread monsters too, I ween, the goddess Hera,\nbride of Zeus, had nurtured to be a trial for Heracles. And therewithal\ncame the rest of the martial heroes returning to meet the foe before\nthey reached the height of outlook, and they fell to the slaughter of\nthe Earthborn, receiving them with arrows and spears until they slew\nthem all as they rushed fiercely to battle. And as when woodcutters\ncast in rows upon the beach long trees just hewn down by their axes, in\norder that, once sodden with brine, they may receive the strong bolts;\nso these monsters at the entrance of the foam-fringed harbour lay\nstretched one after another, some in heaps bending their heads and\nbreasts into the salt waves with their limbs spread out above on the\nland; others again were resting their heads on the sand of the shore\nand their feet in the deep water, both alike a prey to birds and fishes\nat once.\n\nBut the heroes, when the contest was ended without fear, loosed the\nship\u2019s hawsers to the breath of the wind and pressed on through the\nsea-swell. And the ship sped on under sail all day; but when night came\nthe rushing wind did not hold steadfast, but contrary blasts caught\nthem and held them back till they again approached the hospitable\nDoliones. And they stepped ashore that same night; and the rock is\nstill called the Sacred Rock round which they threw the ship\u2019s hawsers\nin their haste. Nor did anyone note with care that it was the same\nisland; nor in the night did the Doliones clearly perceive that the\nheroes were returning; but they deemed that Pelasgian war-men of the\nMacrians had landed. Therefore they donned their armour and raised\ntheir hands against them. And with clashing of ashen spears and shields\nthey fell on each other, like the swift rush of fire which falls on dry\nbrushwood and rears its crest; and the din of battle, terrible and\nfurious, fell upon the people of the Doliones. Nor was the king to\nescape his fate and return home from battle to his bridal chamber and\nbed. But Aeson\u2019s son leapt upon him as he turned to face him, and smote\nhim in the middle of the breast, and the bone was shattered round the\nspear; he rolled forward in the sand and filled up the measure of his\nfate. For that no mortal may escape; but on every side a wide snare\nencompasses us. And so, when he thought that he had escaped bitter\ndeath from the chiefs, fate entangled him that very night in her toils\nwhile battling with them; and many champions withal were slain;\nHeracles killed Telecles and Megabrontes, and Acastus slew Sphodris;\nand Peleus slew Zelus and Gephyrus swift in war. Telamon of the strong\nspear slew Basileus. And Idas slew Promeus, and Clytius Hyacinthus, and\nthe two sons of Tyndareus slew Megalossaces and Phlogius. And after\nthem the son of Oeneus slew bold Itomeneus, and Artaceus, leader of\nmen; all of whom the inhabitants still honour with the worship due to\nheroes. And the rest gave way and fled in terror just as doves fly in\nterror before swift-winged hawks. And with a din they rustled in a body\nto the gates; and quickly the city was filled with loud cries at the\nturning of the dolorous fight. But at dawn both sides perceived the\nfatal and cureless error; and bitter grief seized the Minyan heroes\nwhen they saw before them Cyzicus son of Aeneus fallen in the midst of\ndust and blood. And for three whole days they lamented and rent their\nhair, they and the Dollones. Then three times round his tomb they paced\nin armour of bronze and performed funeral rites and celebrated games,\nas was meet, upon the meadow-plain, where even now rises the mound of\nhis grave to be seen by men of a later day. No, nor was his bride\nCleite left behind her dead husband, but to crown the ill she wrought\nan ill yet more awful, when she clasped a noose round her neck. Her\ndeath even the nymphs of the grove bewailed; and of all the tears for\nher that they shed to earth from their eyes the goddesses made a\nfountain, which they call Cleite,[11] the illustrious name of the\nhapless maid. Most terrible came that day from Zeus upon the Doliones,\nwomen and men; for no one of them dared even to taste food, nor for a\nlong time by reason of grief did they take thought for the toil of the\ncornmill, but they dragged on their lives eating their food as it was,\nuntouched by fire. Here even now, when the Ionians that dwell in\nCyzicus pour their yearly libations for the dead, they ever grind the\nmeal for the sacrificial cakes at the common mill.[12]\n\nAfter this, fierce tempests arose for twelve days and nights together\nand kept them there from sailing. But in the next night the rest of the\nchieftains, overcome by sleep, were resting during the latest period of\nthe night, while Acastus and Mopsus the son of Ampyeus kept guard over\ntheir deep slumbers. And above the golden head of Aeson\u2019s son there\nhovered a halcyon prophesying with shrill voice the ceasing of the\nstormy winds; and Mopsus heard and understood the cry of the bird of\nthe shore, fraught with good omen. And some god made it turn aside, and\nflying aloft it settled upon the stern-ornament of the ship. And the\nseer touched Jason as he lay wrapped in soft sheepskins and woke him at\nonce, and thus spake:\n\n\u201cSon of Aeson, thou must climb to this temple on rugged Dindymum and\npropitiate the mother[13] of all the blessed gods on her fair throne,\nand the stormy blasts shall cease. For such was the voice I heard but\nnow from the halcyon, bird of the sea, which, as it flew above thee in\nthy slumber, told me all. For by her power the winds and the sea and\nall the earth below and the snowy seat of Olympus are complete; and to\nher, when from the mountains she ascends the mighty heaven, Zeus\nhimself, the son of Cronos, gives place. In like manner the rest of the\nimmortal blessed ones reverence the dread goddess.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and his words were welcome to Jason\u2019s ear. And he arose\nfrom his bed with joy and woke all his comrades hurriedly and told them\nthe prophecy of Mopsus the son of Ampycus. And quickly the younger men\ndrove oxen from their stalls and began to lead them to the mountain\u2019s\nlofty summit. And they loosed the hawsers from the sacred rock and\nrowed to the Thracian harbour; and the heroes climbed the mountain,\nleaving a few of their comrades in the ship. And to them the Macrian\nheights and all the coast of Thrace opposite appeared to view close at\nhand. And there appeared the misty mouth of Bosporus and the Mysian\nhills; and on the other side the stream of the river Aesepus and the\ncity and Nepeian plain of Adrasteia. Now there was a sturdy stump of\nvine that grew in the forest, a tree exceeding old; this they cut down,\nto be the sacred image of the mountain goddess; and Argus smoothed it\nskilfully, and they set it upon that rugged hill beneath a canopy of\nlofty oaks, which of all trees have their roots deepest. And near it\nthey heaped an altar of small stones, and wreathed their brows with oak\nleaves and paid heed to sacrifice, invoking the mother of Dindymum,\nmost venerable, dweller in Phrygia, and Titias and Cyllenus, who alone\nof many are called dispensers of doom and assessors of the Idaean\nmother,\u2014the Idaean Dactyls of Crete, whom once the nymph Anchiale, as\nshe grasped with both hands the land of Oaxus, bare in the Dictaean\ncave. And with many prayers did Aeson\u2019s son beseech the goddess to turn\naside the stormy blasts as he poured libations on the blazing\nsacrifice; and at the same time by command of Orpheus the youths trod a\nmeasure dancing in full armour, and clashed with their swords on their\nshields, so that the ill-omened cry might be lost in the air the wail\nwhich the people were still sending up in grief for their king. Hence\nfrom that time forward the Phrygians propitiate Rhea with the wheel and\nthe drum. And the gracious goddess, I ween, inclined her heart to pious\nsacrifices; and favourable signs appeared. The trees shed abundant\nfruit, and round their feet the earth of its own accord put forth\nflowers from the tender grass. And the beasts of the wild wood left\ntheir lairs and thickets and came up fawning on them with their tails.\nAnd she caused yet another marvel; for hitherto there was no flow of\nwater on Dindymum, but then for them an unceasing stream gushed forth\nfrom the thirsty peak just as it was, and the dwellers around in after\ntimes called that stream, the spring of Jason. And then they made a\nfeast in honour of the goddess on the Mount of Bears, singing the\npraises of Rhea most venerable; but at dawn the winds had ceased and\nthey rowed away from the island.\n\nThereupon a spirit of contention stirred each chieftain, who should be\nthe last to leave his oar. For all around the windless air smoothed the\nswirling waves and lulled the sea to rest. And they, trusting in the\ncalm, mightily drove the ship forward; and as she sped through the salt\nsea, not even the storm-footed steeds of Poseidon would have overtaken\nher. Nevertheless when the sea was stirred by violent blasts which were\njust rising from the rivers about evening, forspent with toil, they\nceased. But Heracles by the might of his arms pulled the weary rowers\nalong all together, and made the strong-knit timbers of the ship to\nquiver. But when, eager to reach the Mysian mainland, they passed along\nin sight of the mouth of Rhyndaeus and the great cairn of Aegaeon, a\nlittle way from Phrygia, then Heracles, as he ploughed up the furrows\nof the roughened surge, broke his oar in the middle. And one half he\nheld in both his hands as he fell sideways, the other the sea swept\naway with its receding wave. And he sat up in silence glaring round;\nfor his hands were unaccustomed to be idle.\n\nNow at the hour when from the field some delver or ploughman goes\ngladly home to his hut, longing for his evening meal, and there on the\nthreshold, all squalid with dust, bows his wearied knees, and,\nbeholding his hands worn with toil, with many a curse reviles his\nbelly; at that hour the heroes reached the homes of the Cianian land\nnear the Arganthonian mount and the outfall of Cius. Them as they came\nin friendliness, the Mysians, inhabitants of that land, hospitably\nwelcomed, and gave them in their need provisions and sheep and abundant\nwine. Hereupon some brought dried wood, others from the meadows leaves\nfor beds which they gathered in abundance for strewing, whilst others\nwere twirling sticks to get fire; others again were mixing wine in the\nbowl and making ready the feast, after sacrificing at nightfall to\nApollo Ecbasius.\n\nBut the son of Zeus having duly enjoined on his comrades to prepare the\nfeast took his way into a wood, that he might first fashion for himself\nan oar to fit his hand. Wandering about he found a pine not burdened\nwith many branches, nor too full of leaves, but like to the shaft of a\ntall poplar; so great was it both in length and thickness to look at.\nAnd quickly he laid on the ground his arrow-holding quiver together\nwith his bow, and took off his lion\u2019s skin. And he loosened the pine\nfrom the ground with his bronze-tipped club and grasped the trunk with\nboth hands at the bottom, relying on his strength; and he pressed it\nagainst his broad shoulder with legs wide apart; and clinging close he\nraised it from the ground deep-rooted though it was, together with\nclods of earth. And as when unexpectedly, just at the time of the\nstormy setting of baleful Orion, a swift gust of wind strikes down from\nabove, and wrenches a ship\u2019s mast from its stays, wedges and all; so\ndid Heracles lift the pine. And at the same time he took up his bow and\narrows, his lion skin and club, and started on his return.\n\nMeantime Hylas with pitcher of bronze in hand had gone apart from the\nthrong, seeking the sacred flow of a fountain, that he might be quick\nin drawing water for the evening meal and actively make all things\nready in due order against his lord\u2019s return. For in such ways did\nHeracles nurture him from his first childhood when he had carried him\noff from the house of his father, goodly Theiodamas, whom the hero\npitilessly slew among the Dryopians because he withstood him about an\nox for the plough. Theiodamas was cleaving with his plough the soil of\nfallow land when he was smitten with the curse; and Heracles bade him\ngive up the ploughing ox against his will. For he desired to find some\npretext for war against the Dryopians for their bane, since they dwelt\nthere reckless of right. But these tales would lead me far astray from\nmy song. And quickly Hylas came to the spring which the people who\ndwell thereabouts call Pegae. And the dances of the nymphs were just\nnow being held there; for it was the care of all the nymphs that\nhaunted that lovely headland ever to hymn Artemis in songs by night.\nAll who held the mountain peaks or glens, all they were ranged far off\nguarding the woods; but one, a water-nymph was just rising from the\nfair-flowing spring; and the boy she perceived close at hand with the\nrosy flush of his beauty and sweet grace. For the full moon beaming\nfrom the sky smote him. And Cypris made her heart faint, and in her\nconfusion she could scarcely gather her spirit back to her. But as soon\nas he dipped the pitcher in the stream, leaning to one side, and the\nbrimming water rang loud as it poured against the sounding bronze,\nstraightway she laid her left arm above upon his neck yearning to kiss\nhis tender mouth; and with her right hand she drew down his elbow, and\nplunged him into the midst of the eddy.\n\nAlone of his comrades the hero Polyphemus, son of Eilatus, as he went\nforward on the path, heard the boy\u2019s cry, for he expected the return of\nmighty Heracles. And he rushed after the cry, near Pegae, like some\nbeast of the wild wood whom the bleating of sheep has reached from\nafar, and burning with hunger he follows, but does not fall in with the\nflocks; for the shepherds beforehand have penned them in the fold, but\nhe groans and roars vehemently until he is weary. Thus vehemently at\nthat time did the son of Eilatus groan and wandered shouting round the\nspot; and his voice rang piteous. Then quickly drawing his great sword\nhe started in pursuit, in fear lest the boy should be the prey of wild\nbeasts, or men should have lain in ambush for him faring all alone, and\nbe carrying him off, an easy prey. Hereupon as he brandished his bare\nsword in his hand he met Heracles himself on the path, and well he knew\nhim as he hastened to the ship through the darkness. And straightway he\ntold the wretched calamity while his heart laboured with his panting\nbreath.\n\n\u201cMy poor friend, I shall be the first to bring thee tidings of bitter\nwoe. Hylas has gone to the well and has not returned safe, but robbers\nhave attacked and are carrying him off, or beasts are tearing him to\npieces; I heard his cry.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and when Heracles heard his words, sweat in abundance\npoured down from his temples and the black blood boiled beneath his\nheart. And in wrath he hurled the pine to the ground and hurried along\nthe path whither his feet bore on his impetuous soul. And as when a\nbull stung by a gadfly tears along, leaving the meadows and the marsh\nland, and recks not of herdsmen or herd, but presses on, now without\ncheek, now standing still, and raising his broad neck he bellows\nloudly, stung by the maddening fly; so he in his frenzy now would ply\nhis swift knees unresting, now again would cease from toil and shout\nafar with loud pealing cry.\n\nBut straightway the morning star rose above the topmost peaks and the\nbreeze swept down; and quickly did Tiphys urge them to go aboard and\navail themselves of the wind. And they embarked eagerly forthwith; and\nthey drew up the ship\u2019s anchors and hauled the ropes astern. And the\nsails were bellied out by the wind, and far from the coast were they\njoyfully borne past the Posideian headland. But at the hour when\ngladsome dawn shines from heaven, rising from the east, and the paths\nstand out clearly, and the dewy plains shine with a bright gleam, then\nat length they were aware that unwittingly they had abandoned those\nmen. And a fierce quarrel fell upon them, and violent tumult, for that\nthey had sailed and left behind the bravest of their comrades. And\nAeson\u2019s son, bewildered by their hapless plight, said never a word,\ngood or bad; but sat with his heavy load of grief, eating out his\nheart. And wrath seized Telamon, and thus he spake:\n\n\u201cSit there at thy ease, for it was fitting for thee to leave Heracles\nbehind; from thee the project arose, so that his glory throughout\nHellas should not overshadow thee, if so be that heaven grants us a\nreturn home. But what pleasure is there in words? For I will go, I\nonly, with none of thy comrades, who have helped thee to plan this\ntreachery.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and rushed upon Tiphys son of Hagnias; and his eyes sparkled\nlike flashes of ravening flame. And they would quickly have turned back\nto the land of the Mysians, forcing their way through the deep sea and\nthe unceasing blasts of the wind, had not the two sons of Thracian\nBoreas held back the son of Aeacus with harsh words. Hapless ones,\nassuredly a bitter vengeance came upon them thereafter at the hands of\nHeracles, because they stayed the search for him. For when they were\nreturning from the games over Pelias dead he slew them in sea-girt\nTenos and heaped the earth round them, and placed two columns above,\none of which, a great marvel for men to see, moves at the breath of the\nblustering north wind. These things were thus to be accomplished in\nafter times. But to them appeared Glaucus from the depths of the sea,\nthe wise interpreter of divine Nereus, and raising aloft his shaggy\nhead and chest from his waist below, with sturdy hand he seized the\nship\u2019s keel, and then cried to the eager crew:\n\n\u201cWhy against the counsel of mighty Zeus do ye purpose to lead bold\nHeracles to the city of Aeetes? At Argos it is his fate to labour for\ninsolent Eurystheus and to accomplish full twelve toils and dwell with\nthe immortals, if so be that he bring to fulfilment a few more yet;\nwherefore let there be no vain regret for him. Likewise it is destined\nfor Polyphemus to found a glorious city at the mouth of Cius among the\nMysians and to fill up the measure of his fate in the vast land of the\nChalybes. But a goddess-nymph through love has made Hylas her husband,\non whose account those two wandered and were left behind.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and with a plunge wrapped him about with the restless wave;\nand round him the dark water foamed in seething eddies and dashed\nagainst the hollow ship as it moved through the sea. And the heroes\nrejoiced, and Telamon son of Aeacus came in haste to Jason, and\ngrasping his hand in his own embraced him with these words:\n\n\u201cSon of Aeson, be not wroth with me, if in my folly I have erred, for\ngrief wrought upon me to utter a word arrogant and intolerable. But let\nme give my fault to the winds and let our hearts be joined as before.\u201d\n\nHim the son of Aeson with prudence addressed: \u201cGood friend, assuredly\nwith an evil word didst thou revile me, saying before them all that I\nwas the wronger of a kindly man. But not for long will I nurse bitter\nwrath, though indeed before I was grieved. For it was not for flocks of\nsheep, no, nor for possessions that thou wast angered to fury, but for\na man, thy comrade. And I were fain thou wouldst even champion me\nagainst another man if a like thing should ever befall me.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and they sat down, united as of old. But of those two, by the\ncounsel of Zeus, one, Polyphemus son of Eilatus, was destined to found\nand build a city among the Mysians bearing the river\u2019s name, and the\nother, Heracles, to return and toil at the labours of Eurystheus. And\nhe threatened to lay waste the Mysian land at once, should they not\ndiscover for him the doom of Hylas, whether living or dead. And for him\nthey gave pledges choosing out the noblest sons of the people and took\nan oath that they would never cease from their labour of search.\nTherefore to this day the people of Cius enquire for Hylas the son of\nTheiodamas, and take thought for the well-built Trachis. For there did\nHeracles settle the youths whom they sent from Cius as pledges.\n\nAnd all day long and all night the wind bore the ship on, blowing fresh\nand strong; but when dawn rose there was not even a breath of air. And\nthey marked a beach jutting forth from a bend of the coast, very broad\nto behold, and by dint of rowing came to land at sunrise.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK II\n\n\nHere were the oxstalls and farm of Amycus, the haughty king of the\nBebrycians, whom once a nymph, Bithynian Melie, united to Poseidon\nGenethlius, bare the most arrogant of men; for even for strangers he\nlaid down an insulting ordinance, that none should depart till they had\nmade trial of him in boxing; and he had slain many of the neighbours.\nAnd at that time too he went down to the ship and in his insolence\nscorned to ask them the occasion of their voyage, and who they were,\nbut at once spake out among them all:\n\n\u201cListen, ye wanderers by sea, to what it befits you to know. It is the\nrule that no stranger who comes to the Bebrycians should depart till he\nhas raised his hands in battle against mine. Wherefore select your\nbravest warrior from the host and set him here on the spot to contend\nwith me in boxing. But if ye pay no heed and trample my decrees under\nfoot, assuredly to your sorrow will stern necessity come upon you.\u201d\n\nThus he spake in his pride, but fierce anger seized them when they\nheard it, and the challenge smote Polydeuces most of all. And quickly\nhe stood forth his comrades\u2019 champion, and cried:\n\n\u201cHold now, and display not to us thy brutal violence, whoever thou art;\nfor we will obey thy rules, as thou sayest. Willingly now do I myself\nundertake to meet thee.\u201d\n\nThus he spake outright; but the other with rolling eyes glared on him,\nlike to a lion struck by a javelin when hunters in the mountains are\nhemming him round, and, though pressed by the throng, he reeks no more\nof them, but keeps his eyes fixed, singling out that man only who\nstruck him first and slew him not. Hereupon the son of Tyndareus laid\naside his mantle, closely-woven, delicately-wrought, which one of the\nLemnian maidens had given him as a pledge of hospitality; and the king\nthrew down his dark cloak of double fold with its clasps and the\nknotted crook of mountain olive which he carried. Then straightway they\nlooked and chose close by a spot that pleased them and bade their\ncomrades sit upon the sand in two lines; nor were they alike to behold\nin form or in stature. The one seemed to be a monstrous son of baleful\nTyphoeus or of Earth herself, such as she brought forth aforetime, in\nher wrath against Zeus; but the other, the son of Tyndareus, was like a\nstar of heaven, whose beams are fairest as it shines through the\nnightly sky at eventide. Such was the son of Zeus, the bloom of the\nfirst down still on his cheeks, still with the look of gladness in his\neyes. But his might and fury waxed like a wild beast\u2019s; and he poised\nhis hands to see if they were pliant as before and were not altogether\nnumbed by toil and rowing. But Amycus on his side made no trial; but\nstanding apart in silence he kept his eyes upon his foe, and his spirit\nsurged within him all eager to dash the life-blood from his breast. And\nbetween them Lyeoreus, the henchman of Amycus, placed at their feet on\neach side two pairs of gauntlets made of raw hide, dry, exceeding\ntough. And the king addressed the hero with arrogant words:\n\n\u201cWhichever of these thou wilt, without casting lots, I grant thee\nfreely, that thou mayst not blame me hereafter. Bind them about thy\nhands; thou shalt learn and tell another how skilled I am to carve the\ndry oxhides and to spatter men\u2019s cheeks with blood.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; but the other gave back no taunt in answer, but with a\nlight smile readily took up the gauntlets that lay at his feet; and to\nhim came Castor and mighty Talaus, son of Bias, and they quickly bound\nthe gauntlets about his hands, often bidding him be of good courage.\nAnd to Amycus came Aretus and Ornytus, but little they knew, poor\nfools, that they had bound them for the last time on their champion, a\nvictim of evil fate.\n\nNow when they stood apart and were ready with their gauntlets,\nstraightway in front of their faces they raised their heavy hands and\nmatched their might in deadly strife. Hereupon the Bebrycian king even\nas a fierce wave of the sea rises in a crest against a swift ship, but\nshe by the skill of the crafty pilot just escapes the shock when the\nbillow is eager to break over the bulwark\u2014so he followed up the son of\nTyndareus, trying to daunt him, and gave him no respite. But the hero,\never unwounded, by his skill baffled the rush of his foe, and he\nquickly noted the brutal play of his fists to see where he was\ninvincible in strength, and where inferior, and stood unceasingly and\nreturned blow for blow. And as when shipwrights with their hammers\nsmite ships\u2019 timbers to meet the sharp clamps, fixing layer upon layer;\nand the blows resound one after another; so cheeks and jaws crashed on\nboth sides, and a huge clattering of teeth arose, nor did they cease\never from striking their blows until laboured gasping overcame both.\nAnd standing a little apart they wiped from their foreheads sweat in\nabundance, wearily panting for breath. Then back they rushed together\nagain, as two bulls fight in furious rivalry for a grazing heifer. Next\nAmycus rising on tiptoe, like one who slays an ox, sprung to his full\nheight and swung his heavy hand down upon his rival; but the hero\nswerved aside from the rush, turning his head, and just received the\narm on his shoulder; and coming near and slipping his knee past the\nking\u2019s, with a rush he struck him above the ear, and broke the bones\ninside, and the king in agony fell upon his knees; and the Minyan\nheroes shouted for joy; and his life was poured forth all at once.\n\nNor were the Bebrycians reckless of their king; but all together took\nup rough clubs and spears and rushed straight on Polydeuces. But in\nfront of him stood his comrades, their keen swords drawn from the\nsheath. First Castor struck upon the head a man as he rushed at him:\nand it was cleft in twain and fell on each side upon his shoulders. And\nPolydeuces slew huge Itymoneus and Mimas. The one, with a sudden leap,\nhe smote beneath the breast with his swift foot and threw him in the\ndust; and as the other drew near he struck him with his right hand\nabove the left eyebrow, and tore away his eyelid and the eyeball was\nleft bare. But Oreides, insolent henchman of Amycus, wounded Talaus son\nof Bias in the side, but did not slay him, but only grazing the skin\nthe bronze sped under his belt and touched not the flesh. Likewise\nAretus with well-seasoned club smote Iphitus, the steadfast son of\nEurytus, not yet destined to an evil death; assuredly soon was he\nhimself to be slain by the sword of Clytius. Then Ancaeus, the\ndauntless son of Lycurgus, quickly seized his huge axe, and in his left\nhand holding a bear\u2019s dark hide, plunged into the midst of the\nBebrycians with furious onset; and with him charged the sons of Aeacus,\nand with them started warlike Jason. And as when amid the folds grey\nwolves rush down on a winter\u2019s day and scare countless sheep, unmarked\nby the keen-scented dogs and the shepherds too, and they seek what\nfirst to attack and carry off; often glaring around, but the sheep are\njust huddled together and trample on one another; so the heroes\ngrievously scared the arrogant Bebrycians. And as shepherds or\nbeekeepers smoke out a huge swarm of bees in a rock, and they\nmeanwhile, pent up in their hive, murmur with droning hum, till,\nstupefied by the murky smoke, they fly forth far from the rock; so they\nstayed steadfast no longer, but scattered themselves inland through\nBebrycia, proclaiming the death of Amycus; fools, not to perceive that\nanother woe all unforeseen was hard upon them. For at that hour their\nvineyards and villages were being ravaged by the hostile spear of Lycus\nand the Mariandyni, now that their king was gone. For they were ever at\nstrife about the ironbearing land. And now the foe was destroying their\nsteadings and farms, and now the heroes from all sides were driving off\ntheir countless sheep, and one spake among his fellows thus:\n\n\u201cBethink ye what they would have done in their cowardice if haply some\ngod had brought Heracles hither. Assuredly, if he had been here, no\ntrial would there have been of fists, I ween, but when the king drew\nnear to proclaim his rules, the club would have made him forget his\npride and the rules to boot. Yea, we left him uncared for on the strand\nand we sailed oversea; and full well each one of us shall know our\nbaneful folly, now that he is far away.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, but all these things had been wrought by the counsels of\nZeus. Then they remained there through the night and tended the hurts\nof the wounded men, and offered sacrifice to the immortals, and made\nready a mighty meal; and sleep fell upon no man beside the bowl and the\nblazing sacrifice. They wreathed their fair brows with the bay that\ngrew by the shore, whereto their hawsers were bound, and chanted a song\nto the lyre of Orpheus in sweet harmony; and the windless shore was\ncharmed by their song; and they celebrated the Therapnaean son of\nZeus.[14]\n\nBut when the sun rising from far lands lighted up the dewy hills and\nwakened the shepherds, then they loosed their hawsers from the stem of\nthe baytree and put on board all the spoil they had need to take; and\nwith a favouring wind they steered through the eddying Bosporus.\nHereupon a wave like a steep mountain rose aloft in front as though\nrushing upon them, ever upheaved above the clouds; nor would you say\nthat they could escape grim death, for in its fury it hangs over the\nmiddle of the ship, like a cloud, yet it sinks away into calm if it\nmeets with a skilful helmsman. So they by the steering-craft of Tiphys\nescaped, unhurt but sore dismayed. And on the next day they fastened\nthe hawsers to the coast opposite the Bithynian land.\n\nThere Phineus, son of Agenor, had his home by the sea, Phineus who\nabove all men endured most bitter woes because of the gift of prophecy\nwhich Leto\u2019s son had granted him aforetime. And he reverenced not a\nwhit even Zeus himself, for he foretold unerringly to men his sacred\nwill. Wherefore Zeus sent upon him a lingering old age, and took from\nhis eyes the pleasant light, and suffered him not to have joy of the\ndainties untold that the dwellers around ever brought to his house,\nwhen they came to enquire the will of heaven. But on a sudden, swooping\nthrough the clouds, the Harpies with their crooked beaks incessantly\nsnatched the food away from his mouth and hands. And at times not a\nmorsel of food was left, at others but a little, in order that he might\nlive and be tormented. And they poured forth over all a loathsome\nstench; and no one dared not merely to carry food to his mouth but even\nto stand at a distance; so foully reeked the remnants of the meal. But\nstraightway when he heard the voice and the tramp of the band he knew\nthat they were the men passing by, at whose coming Zeus\u2019 oracle had\ndeclared to him that he should have joy of his food. And he rose from\nhis couch, like a lifeless dream, bowed over his staff, and crept to\nthe door on his withered feet, feeling the walls; and as he moved, his\nlimbs trembled for weakness and age; and his parched skin was caked\nwith dirt, and naught but the skill held his bones together. And he\ncame forth from the hall with wearied knees and sat on the threshold of\nthe courtyard; and a dark stupor covered him, and it seemed that the\nearth reeled round beneath his feet, and he lay in a strengthless\ntrance, speechless. But when they saw him they gathered round and\nmarvelled. And he at last drew laboured breath from the depths of his\nchest and spoke among them with prophetic utterance:\n\n\u201cListen, bravest of all the Hellenes, if it be truly ye, whom by a\nking\u2019s ruthless command Jason is leading on the ship Argo in quest of\nthe fleece. It is ye truly. Even yet my soul by its divination knows\neverything. Thanks I render to thee, O king, son of Leto, plunged in\nbitter affliction though I be. I beseech you by Zeus the god of\nsuppliants, the sternest foe to sinful men, and for the sake of Phoebus\nand Hera herself, under whose especial care ye have come hither, help\nme, save an ill-fated man from misery, and depart not uncaring and\nleaving me thus as ye see. For not only has the Fury set her foot on my\neyes and I drag on to the end a weary old age; but besides my other\nwoes a woe hangs over me the bitterest of all. The Harpies, swooping\ndown from some unseen den of destruction, ever snatch the food from my\nmouth. And I have no device to aid me. But it were easier, when I long\nfor a meal, to escape my own thoughts than them, so swiftly do they fly\nthrough the air. But if haply they do leave me a morsel of food it\nreeks of decay and the stench is unendurable, nor could any mortal bear\nto draw near even for a moment, no, not if his heart were wrought of\nadamant. But necessity, bitter and insatiate, compels me to abide and\nabiding to put food in my cursed belly. These pests, the oracle\ndeclares, the sons of Boreas shall restrain. And no strangers are they\nthat shall ward them off if indeed I am Phineus who was once renowned\namong men for wealth and the gift of prophecy, and if I am the son of\nmy father Agenor; and, when I ruled among the Thracians, by my bridal\ngifts I brought home their sister Cleopatra to be my wife.\u201d\n\nSo spake Agenor\u2019s son; and deep sorrow seized each of the heroes, and\nespecially the two sons of Boreas. And brushing away a tear they drew\nnigh, and Zetes spake as follows, taking in his own the hand of the\ngrief-worn sire:\n\n\u201cUnhappy one, none other of men is more wretched than thou, methinks.\nWhy upon thee is laid the burden of so many sorrows? Hast thou with\nbaneful folly sinned against the gods through thy skill in prophecy?\nFor this are they greatly wroth with thee? Yet our spirit is dismayed\nwithin us for all our desire to aid thee, if indeed the god has granted\nthis privilege to us two. For plain to discern to men of earth are the\nreproofs of the immortals. And we will never check the Harpies when\nthey come, for all our desire, until thou hast sworn that for this we\nshall not lose the favour of heaven.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and towards him the aged sire opened his sightless eyes,\nand lifted them up and replied with these words:\n\n\u201cBe silent, store not up such thoughts in thy heart, my child. Let the\nson of Leto be my witness, he who of his gracious will taught me the\nlore of prophecy, and be witness the ill-starred doom which possesses\nme and this dark cloud upon my eyes, and the gods of the underworld\u2014and\nmay their curse be upon me if I die perjured thus\u2014no wrath from heaven\nwill fall upon you two for your help to me.\u201d\n\nThen were those two eager to help him because of the oath. And quickly\nthe younger heroes prepared a feast for the aged man, a last prey for\nthe Harpies; and both stood near him, to smite with the sword those\npests when they swooped down. Scarcely had the aged man touched the\nfood when they forthwith, like bitter blasts or flashes of lightning,\nsuddenly darted from the clouds, and swooped down with a yell, fiercely\ncraving for food; and the heroes beheld them and shouted in the midst\nof their onrush; but they at the cry devoured everything and sped away\nover the sea after; and an intolerable stench remained. And behind them\nthe two sons of Boreas raising their swords rushed in pursuit. For Zeus\nimparted to them tireless strength; but without Zeus they could not\nhave followed, for the Harpies used ever to outstrip the blasts of the\nwest wind when they came to Phineus and when they left him. And as\nwhen, upon the mountain-side, hounds, cunning in the chase, run in the\ntrack of horned goats or deer, and as they strain a little behind gnash\ntheir teeth upon the edge of their jaws in vain; so Zetes and Calais\nrushing very near just grazed the Harpies in vain with their\nfinger-tips. And assuredly they would have torn them to pieces, despite\nheaven\u2019s will, when they had overtaken them far off at the Floating\nIslands, had not swift Iris seen them and leapt down from the sky from\nheaven above, and cheeked them with these words:\n\n\u201cIt is not lawful, O sons of Boreas, to strike with your swords the\nHarpies, the hounds of mighty Zeus; but I myself will give you a\npledge, that hereafter they shall not draw near to Phineus.\u201d\n\nWith these words she took an oath by the waters of Styx, which to all\nthe gods is most dread and most awful, that the Harpies would never\nthereafter again approach the home of Phineus, son of Agenor, for so it\nwas fated. And the heroes yielding to the oath, turned back their\nflight to the ship. And on account of this men call them the Islands of\nTurning though aforetime they called them the Floating Islands. And the\nHarpies and Iris parted. They entered their den in Minoan Crete; but\nshe sped up to Olympus, soaring aloft on her swift wings.\n\nMeanwhile the chiefs carefully cleansed the old man\u2019s squalid skin and\nwith due selection sacrificed sheep which they had borne away from the\nspoil of Amycus. And when they had laid a huge supper in the hall, they\nsat down and feasted, and with them feasted Phineus ravenously,\ndelighting his soul, as in a dream. And there, when they had taken\ntheir fill of food and drink, they kept awake all night waiting for the\nsons of Boreas. And the aged sire himself sat in the midst, near the\nhearth, telling of the end of their voyage and the completion of their\njourney:\n\n\u201cListen then. Not everything is it lawful for you to know clearly; but\nwhatever is heaven\u2019s will, I will not hide. I was infatuated aforetime,\nwhen in my folly I declared the will of Zeus in order and to the end.\nFor he himself wishes to deliver to men the utterances of the prophetic\nart incomplete, in order that they may still have some need to know the\nwill of heaven.\u201d\n\n\u201cFirst of all, after leaving me, ye will see the twin Cyanean rocks\nwhere the two seas meet. No one, I ween, has won his escape between\nthem. For they are not firmly fixed with roots beneath, but constantly\nclash against one another to one point, and above a huge mass of salt\nwater rises in a crest, boiling up, and loudly dashes upon the hard\nbeach. Wherefore now obey my counsel, if indeed with prudent mind and\nreverencing the blessed gods ye pursue your way; and perish not\nfoolishly by a self-sought death, or rush on following the guidance of\nyouth. First entrust the attempt to a dove when ye have sent her forth\nfrom the ship. And if she escapes safe with her wings between the rocks\nto the open sea, then no more do ye refrain from the path, but grip\nyour oars well in your hands and cleave the sea\u2019s narrow strait, for\nthe light of safety will be not so much in prayer as in strength of\nhands. Wherefore let all else go and labour boldly with might and main,\nbut ere then implore the gods as ye will, I forbid you not. But if she\nflies onward and perishes midway, then do ye turn back; for it is\nbetter to yield to the immortals. For ye could not escape an evil doom\nfrom the rocks, not even if Argo were of iron.\u201d\n\n\u201cO hapless ones, dare not to transgress my divine warning, even though\nye think that I am thrice as much hated by the sons of heaven as I am,\nand even more than thrice; dare not to sail further with your ship in\ndespite of the omen. And as these things will fall, so shall they fall.\nBut if ye shun the clashing rocks and come scatheless inside Pontus,\nstraightway keep the land of the Bithynians on your right and sail on,\nand beware of the breakers, until ye round the swift river Rhebas and\nthe black beach, and reach the harbour of the Isle of Thynias. Thence\nye must turn back a little space through the sea and beach your ship on\nthe land of the Mariandyni lying opposite. Here is a downward path to\nthe abode of Hades, and the headland of Acherusia stretches aloft, and\neddying Acheron cleaves its way at the bottom, even through the\nheadland, and sends its waters forth from a huge ravine. And near it ye\nwill sail past many hills of the Paphlagonians, over whom at the first\nEneteian Pelops reigned, and of his blood they boast themselves to be.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow there is a headland opposite Helice the Bear, steep on all sides,\nand they call it Carambis, about whose crests the blasts of the north\nwind are sundered. So high in the air does it rise turned towards the\nsea. And when ye have rounded it broad Aegialus stretches before you;\nand at the end of broad Aegialus, at a jutting point of coast, the\nwaters of the river Halys pour forth with a terrible roar; and after it\nhis flowing near, but smaller in stream, rolls into the sea with white\neddies. Onward from thence the bend of a huge and towering cape reaches\nout from the land, next Thermodon at its mouth flows into a quiet bay\nat the Themiscyreian headland, after wandering through a broad\ncontinent. And here is the plain of Doeas, and near are the three\ncities of the Amazons, and after them the Chalybes, most wretched of\nmen, possess a soil rugged and unyielding sons of toil, they busy\nthemselves with working iron. And near them dwell the Tibareni, rich in\nsheep, beyond the Genetaean headland of Zeus, lord of hospitality. And\nbordering on it the Mossynoeci next in order inhabit the well-wooded\nmainland and the parts beneath the mountains, who have built in towers\nmade from trees their wooden homes and well-fitted chambers, which they\ncall Mossynes, and the people themselves take their name from them.\nAfter passing them ye must beach your ship upon a smooth island, when\nye have driven away with all manner of skill the ravening birds, which\nin countless numbers haunt the desert island. In it the Queens of the\nAmazons, Otrere and Antiope, built a stone temple of Ares what time\nthey went forth to war. Now here an unspeakable help will come to you\nfrom the bitter sea; wherefore with kindly intent I bid you stay. But\nwhat need is there that I should sin yet again declaring everything to\nthe end by my prophetic art? And beyond the island and opposite\nmainland dwell the Philyres: and above the Philyres are the Macrones,\nand after them the vast tribes of the Becheiri. And next in order to\nthem dwell the Sapeires, and the Byzeres have the lands adjoining to\nthem, and beyond them at last live the warlike Colchians themselves.\nBut speed on in your ship, till ye touch the inmost bourne of the sea.\nAnd here at the Cytaean mainland and from the Amarantine mountains far\naway and the Circaean plain, eddying Phasis rolls his broad stream to\nthe sea. Guide your ship to the mouth of that river and ye shall behold\nthe towers of Cytaean Aeetes and the shady grove of Ares, where a\ndragon, a monster terrible to behold, ever glares around, keeping watch\nover the fleece that is spread upon the top of an oak; neither by day\nnor by night does sweet sleep subdue his restless eyes.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and straightway fear seized them as they heard. And for\na long while they were struck with silence; till at last the hero, son\nof Aeson, spake, sore dismayed at their evil plight:\n\n\u201cO aged sire, now hast thou come to the end of the toils of our\nsea-journeying and hast told us the token, trusting to which we shall\nmake our way to Pontus through the hateful rocks; but whether, when we\nhave escaped them, we shall have a return back again to Hellas, this\ntoo would we gladly learn from thee. What shall I do, how shall I go\nover again such a long path through the sea, unskilled as I am, with\nunskilled comrades? And Colchian Aea lies at the edge of Pontus and of\nthe world.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and him the aged sire addressed in reply: \u201cO son, when\nonce thou hast escaped through the deadly rocks, fear not; for a deity\nwill be the guide from Aea by another track; and to Aea there will be\nguides enough. But, my friends, take thought of the artful aid of the\nCyprian goddess. For on her depends the glorious issue of your venture.\nAnd further than this ask me not.\u201d\n\nThus spake Agenor\u2019s son, and close at hand the twin sons of Thracian\nBoreas came darting from the sky and set their swift feet upon the\nthreshold; and the heroes rose up from their seats when they saw them\npresent. And Zetes, still drawing hard breath after his toil, spake\namong the eager listeners, telling them how far they had driven the\nHarpies and how his prevented their slaying them, and how the goddess\nof her grace gave them pledges, and how those others in fear plunged\ninto the vast cave of the Dictaean cliff. Then in the mansion all their\ncomrades were joyful at the tidings and so was Phineus himself. And\nquickly Aeson\u2019s son, with good will exceeding, addressed him:\n\n\u201cAssuredly there was then, Phineus, some god who cared for thy bitter\nwoe, and brought us hither from afar, that the sons of Boreas might aid\nthee; and if too he should bring sight to thine eyes, verily I should\nrejoice, methinks, as much as if I were on my homeward way.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, but Phineus replied to him with downcast look: \u201cSon of\nAeson, that is past recall, nor is there any remedy hereafter, for\nblasted are my sightless eyes. But instead of that, may the god grant\nme death at once, and after death I shall take my share in perfect\nbliss.\u201d\n\nThen they two returned answering speech, each to other, and soon in the\nmidst of their converse early dawn appeared; and round Phineus were\ngathered the neighbours who used to come thither aforetime day by day\nand constantly bring a portion of their food. To all alike, however\npoor he was that came, the aged man gave his oracles with good will,\nand freed many from their woes by his prophetic art; wherefore they\nvisited and tended him. And with them came Paraebius, who was dearest\nto him, and gladly did he perceive these strangers in the house. For\nlong ere now the seer himself had said that a band of chieftains,\nfaring from Hellas to the city of Aceres, would make fast their hawsers\nto the Thynian land, and by Zeus\u2019 will would check the approach of the\nHarpies. The rest the old man pleased with words of wisdom and let them\ngo; Paraebius only he bade remain there with the chiefs; and\nstraightway he sent him and bade him bring back the choicest of his\nsheep. And when he had left the hall Phineus spake gently amid the\nthrong of oarsmen:\n\n\u201cO my friends, not all men are arrogant, it seems, nor unmindful of\nbenefits. Even as this man, loyal as he is, came hither to learn his\nfate. For when he laboured the most and toiled the most, then the needs\nof life, ever growing more and more, would waste him, and day after day\never dawned more wretched, nor was there any respite to his toil. But\nhe was paying the sad penalty of his father\u2019s sin. For he when alone on\nthe mountains, felling trees, once slighted the prayers of a Hamadryad,\nwho wept and sought to soften him with plaintive words, not to cut down\nthe stump of an oak tree coeval with herself, wherein for a long time\nshe had lived continually; but he in the arrogance of youth recklessly\ncut it down. So to him the nymph thereafter made her death a curse, to\nhim and to his children. I indeed knew of the sin when he came; and I\nbid him build an altar to the Thynian nymph, and offer on it an atoning\nsacrifice, with prayer to escape his father\u2019s fate. Here, ever since he\nescaped the god-sent doom, never has he forgotten or neglected me; but\nsorely and against his will do I send him from my doors, so eager is he\nto remain with me in my affliction.\u201d\n\nThus spake Agenor\u2019s son; and his friend straightway came near leading\ntwo sheep from the flock. And up rose Jason and up rose the sons of\nBoreas at the bidding of the aged sire. And quickly they called upon\nApollo, lord of prophecy, and offered sacrifice upon the health as the\nday was just sinking. And the younger comrades made ready a feast to\ntheir hearts\u2019 desire. Thereupon having well feasted they turned\nthemselves to rest, some near the ship\u2019s hawsers, others in groups\nthroughout the mansion. And at dawn the Etesian winds blew strongly,\nwhich by the command of Zeus blow over every land equally.\n\nCyrene, the tale goes, once tended sheep along the marsh-meadow of\nPeneus among men of old time; for dear to her were maidenhood and a\ncouch unstained. But, as she guarded her flock by the river, Apollo\ncarried her off far from Haemonia and placed her among the nymphs of\nthe land, who dwelt in Libya near the Myrtosian height. And here to\nPhoebus she bore Aristaeus whom the Haemonians, rich in corn-land, call\n\u201cHunter\u201d and \u201cShepherd\u201d. Her, of his love, the god made a nymph there,\nof long life and a huntress, and his son he brought while still an\ninfant to be nurtured in the cave of Cheiron. And to him when he grew\nto manhood the Muses gave a bride, and taught him the arts of healing\nand of prophecy; and they made him the keeper of their sheep, of all\nthat grazed on the Athamantian plain of Phthia and round steep Othrys\nand the sacred stream of the river Apidanus. But when from heaven\nSirius scorched the Minoan Isles, and for long there was no respite for\nthe inhabitants, then by the injunction of the Far-Darter they summoned\nAristaeus to ward off the pestilence. And by his father\u2019s command he\nleft Phthia and made his home in Ceos, and gathered together the\nParrhasian people who are of the lineage of Lycaon, and he built a\ngreat altar to Zeus Icmaeus, and duly offered sacrifices upon the\nmountains to that star Sirius, and to Zeus son of Cronos himself. And\non this account it is that Etesian winds from Zeus cool the land for\nforty days, and in Ceos even now the priests offer sacrifices before\nthe rising of the Dog-star.\n\nSo the tale is told, but the chieftains stayed there by constraint, and\nevery day the Thynians, doing pleasure to Phineus, sent them gifts\nbeyond measure. And afterwards they raised an altar to the blessed\ntwelve on the sea-beach opposite and laid offerings thereon and then\nentered their swift ship to row, nor did they forget to bear with them\na trembling dove; but Euphemus seized her and brought her all quivering\nwith fear, and they loosed the twin hawsers from the land.\n\nNor did they start unmarked by Athena, but straightway swiftly she set\nher feel on a light cloud, which would waft her on, mighty though she\nwas, and she swept on to the sea with friendly thoughts to the oarsmen.\nAnd as when one roveth far from his native land, as we men often wander\nwith enduring heart, nor is any land too distant but all ways are clear\nto his view, and he sees in mind his own home, and at once the way over\nsea and land seems slain, and swiftly thinking, now this way, now that,\nhe strains with eager eyes; so swiftly the daughter of Zeus darted down\nand set her foot on the cheerless shore of Thynia.\n\nNow when they reached the narrow strait of the winding passage, hemmed\nin on both sides by rugged cliffs, while an eddying current from below\nwas washing against the ship as she moved on, they went forward sorely\nin dread; and now the thud of the crashing rocks ceaselessly struck\ntheir ears, and the sea-washed shores resounded, and then Euphemus\ngrasped the dove in his hand and started to mount the prow; and they,\nat the bidding of Tiphys, son of Hagnias, rowed with good will to drive\nArgo between the rocks, trusting to their strength. And as they rounded\na bend they saw the rocks opening for the last time of all. Their\nspirit melted within them; and Euphemus sent forth the dove to dart\nforward in flight; and they all together raised their heads to look;\nbut she flew between them, and the rocks again rushed together and\ncrashed as they met face to face. And the foam leapt up in a mass like\na cloud; awful was the thunder of the sea; and all round them the\nmighty welkin roared.\n\nThe hollow caves beneath the rugged cliffs rumbled as the sea came\nsurging in; and the white foam of the dashing wave spurted high above\nthe cliff. Next the current whirled the ship round. And the rocks shore\naway the end of the dove\u2019s tail-feathers; but away she flew unscathed.\nAnd the rowers gave a loud cry; and Tiphys himself called to them to\nrow with might and main. For the rocks were again parting asunder. But\nas they rowed they trembled, until the tide returning drove them back\nwithin the rocks. Then most awful fear seized upon all; for over their\nhead was destruction without escape. And now to right and left broad\nPontus was seen, when suddenly a huge wave rose up before them, arched,\nlike a steep rock; and at the sight they bowed with bended heads. For\nit seemed about to leap down upon the ship\u2019s whole length and to\noverwhelm them. But Tiphys was quick to ease the ship as she laboured\nwith the oars; and in all its mass the wave rolled away beneath the\nkeel, and at the stern it raised Argo herself and drew her far away\nfrom the rocks; and high in air was she borne. But Euphemus strode\namong all his comrades and cried to them to bend to their oars with all\ntheir might; and they with a shout smote the water. And as far as the\nship yielded to the rowers, twice as far did she leap back, and the\noar, were bent like curved bows as the heroes used their strength.\n\nThen a vaulted billow rushed upon them, and the ship like a cylinder\nran on the furious wave plunging through the hollow sea. And the\neddying current held her between the clashing rocks; and on each side\nthey shook and thundered; and the ship\u2019s timbers were held fast. Then\nAthena with her left hand thrust back one mighty rock and with her\nright pushed the ship through; and she, like a winged arrow, sped\nthrough the air. Nevertheless the rocks, ceaselessly clashing, shore\noff as she passed the extreme end of the stern-ornament. But Athena\nsoared up to Olympus, when they had escaped unscathed. And the rocks in\none spot at that moment were rooted fast for ever to each other, which\nthing had been destined by the blessed gods, when a man in his ship\nshould have passed between them alive. And the heroes breathed again\nafter their chilling fear, beholding at the same time the sky and the\nexpanse of sea spreading far and wide. For they deemed that they were\nsaved from Hades; and Tiphys first of all began to speak:\n\n\u201cIt is my hope that we have safely escaped this peril\u2014we, and the ship;\nand none other is the cause so much as Athena, who breathed into Argo\ndivine strength when Argus knitted her together with bolts; and she may\nnot be caught. Son of Aeson, no longer fear thou so much the hest of\nthy king, since a god hath granted us escape between the rocks; for\nPhineus, Agenor\u2019s son, said that our toils hereafter would be lightly\naccomplished.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and at once he sped the ship onward through the midst of the\nsea past the Bithynian coast. But Jason with gentle words addressed him\nin reply: \u201cTiphys, why dost thou comfort thus my grieving heart? I have\nerred and am distraught in wretched and helpless ruin. For I ought,\nwhen Pelias gave the command, to have straightway refused this quest to\nhis face, yea, though I were doomed to die pitilessly, torn limb from\nlimb, but now I am wrapped in excessive fear and cares unbearable,\ndreading to sail through the chilling paths of the sea, and dreading\nwhen we shall set foot on the mainland. For on every side are unkindly\nmen. And ever when day is done I pass a night of groans from the time\nwhen ye first gathered together for my sake, while I take thought for\nall things; but thou talkest at thine ease, eating only for thine own\nlife; while for myself I am dismayed not a whit; but I fear for this\nman and for that equally, and for thee, and for my other comrades, if I\nshall not bring you back safe to the land of Hellas.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, making trial of the chiefs; but they shouted loud with\ncheerful words. And his heart was warmed within him at their cry and\nagain he spake outright among them:\n\n\u201cMy friends, in your valour my courage is quickened. Wherefore now,\neven though I should take my way through the gulfs of Hades, no more\nshall I let fear seize upon me, since ye are steadfast amid cruel\nterrors. But now that we have sailed out from the striking rocks, I\ntrow that never hereafter will there be another such fearful thing, if\nindeed we go on our way following the counsel of Phineus.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and straightway they ceased from such words and gave\nunwearying labour to the oar; and quickly they passed by the swiftly\nflowing river Rhebas and the peak of Colone, and soon thereafter the\nblack headland, and near it the mouth of the river Phyllis, where\naforetime Dipsaeus received in his home the son of Athamas, when with\nhis ram he was flying from the city of Orchomenus; and Dipsacus was the\nson of a meadow-nymph, nor was insolence his delight, but contented by\nhis father\u2019s stream he dwelt with his mother, pasturing his flocks by\nthe shore. And quickly they sighted and sailed past his shrine and the\nbroad banks of the river and the plain, and deep-flowing Calpe, and all\nthe windless night and the day they bent to their tireless oars. And\neven as ploughing oxen toil as they cleave the moist earth, and sweat\nstreams in abundance from flank and neck; and from beneath the yoke\ntheir eyes roll askance, while the breath ever rushes from their mouths\nin hot gasps; and all day long they toil, planting their hoofs deep in\nthe ground; like them the heroes kept dragging their oars through the\nsea.\n\nNow when divine light has not yet come nor is it utter darkness, but a\nfaint glimmer has spread over the night, the time when men wake and\ncall it twilight, at that hour they ran into the harbour of the desert\nisland Thynias and, spent by weary toil, mounted the shore. And to them\nthe son of Leto, as he passed from Lycia far away to the countless folk\nof the Hyperboreans, appeared; and about his cheeks on both sides his\ngolden locks flowed in clusters as he moved; in his left hand he held a\nsilver bow, and on his back was slung a quiver hanging from his\nshoulders; and beneath his feet all the island quaked, and the waves\nsurged high on the beach. Helpless amazement seized them as they\nlooked; and no one dared to gaze face to face into the fair eyes of the\ngod. And they stood with heads bowed to the ground; but he, far off,\npassed on to the sea through the air; and at length Orpheus spake as\nfollows, addressing the chiefs:\n\n\u201cCome, let us call this island the sacred isle of Apollo of the Dawn\nsince he has appeared to all, passing by at dawn; and we will offer\nsuch sacrifices as we can, building an altar on the shore; and if\nhereafter he shall grant us a safe return to the Haemonian land, then\nwill we lay on his altar the thighs of horned goats. And now I bid you\npropitiate him with the steam of sacrifice and libations. Be gracious,\nO king, be gracious in thy appearing.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and they straightway built up an altar with shingle; and\nover the island they wandered, seeking if haply they could get a\nglimpse of a fawn or a wild goat, that often seek their pasture in the\ndeep wood. And for them Leto\u2019s son provided a quarry; and with pious\nrites they wrapped in fat the thigh bones of them all and burnt them on\nthe sacred altar, celebrating Apollo, Lord of Dawn. And round the\nburning sacrifice they set up a broad dancing-ring, singing, \u201cAll hail\nfair god of healing, Phoebus, all hail,\u201d and with them Oeagrus\u2019 goodly\nson began a clear lay on his Bistonian lyre; how once beneath the rocky\nridge of Parnassus he slew with his bow the monster Delphyne, he, still\nyoung and beardless, still rejoicing in his long tresses. Mayst thou be\ngracious! Ever, O king, be thy locks unshorn, ever unravaged; for so is\nit right. And none but Leto, daughter of Coeus, strokes them with her\ndear hands. And often the Corycian nymphs, daughters of Pleistus, took\nup the cheering strain crying \u201cHealer\u201d; hence arose this lovely refrain\nof the hymn to Phoebus.\n\nNow when they had celebrated him with dance and song they took an oath\nwith holy libations, that they would ever help each other with concord\nof heart, touching the sacrifice as they swore; and even now there\nstands there a temple to gracious Concord, which the heroes themselves\nreared, paying honour at that time to the glorious goddess.\n\nNow when the third morning came, with a fresh west wind they left the\nlofty island. Next, on the opposite side they saw and passed the mouth\nof the river Sangarius and the fertile land of the Mariandyni, and the\nstream of Lycus and the Anthemoeisian lake; and beneath the breeze the\nropes and all the tackling quivered as they sped onward. During the\nnight the wind ceased and at dawn they gladly reached the haven of the\nAcherusian headland. It rises aloft with steep cliffs, looking towards\nthe Bithynian sea; and beneath it smooth rocks, ever washed by the sea,\nstand rooted firm; and round them the wave rolls and thunders loud, but\nabove, wide-spreading plane trees grow on the topmost point. And from\nit towards the land a hollow glen slopes gradually away, where there is\na cave of Hades overarched by wood and rocks. From here an icy breath,\nunceasingly issuing from the chill recess, ever forms a glistening rime\nwhich melts again beneath the midday sun. And never does silence hold\nthat grim headland, but there is a continual murmur from the sounding\nsea and the leaves that quiver in the winds from the cave. And here is\nthe outfall of the river Acheron which bursts its way through the\nheadland and falls into the Eastern sea, and a hollow ravine brings it\ndown from above. In after times the Nisaean Megarians named it\nSoonautes[15] when they were about to settle in the land of the\nMariandyni. For indeed the river saved them with their ships when they\nwere caught in a violent tempest. By this way the heroes took the ship\nthrough[16] the Acherusian headland and came to land over against it as\nthe wind had just ceased.\n\nNot long had they come unmarked by Lycus, the lord of that land, and\nthe Mariandyni\u2014they, the slayers of Amycus, according to the report\nwhich the people heard before; but for that very deed they even made a\nleague with the heroes. And Polydeuces himself they welcomed as a god,\nflocking from every side, since for a long time had they been warring\nagainst the arrogant Bebrycians. And so they went up all together into\nthe city, and all that day with friendly feelings made ready a feast\nwithin the palace of Lycus and gladdened their souls with converse.\nAeson\u2019s son told him the lineage and name of each of his comrades and\nthe behests of Pelias, and how they were welcomed by the Lemnian women,\nand all that they did at Dolionian Cyzieus; and how they reached the\nMysian land and Cius, where, sore against their will, they left behind\nthe hero Heracles, and he told the saying of Glaucus, and how they slew\nthe Bebrycians and Amycus, and he told of the prophecies and affliction\nof Phineus, and how they escaped the Cyanean rocks, and how they met\nwith Leto\u2019s son at the island. And as he told all, Lycus was charmed in\nsoul with listening; and he grieved for Heracles left behind, and spake\nas follows among them all:\n\n\u201cO friends, what a man he was from whose help ye have fallen away, as\nye cleave your long path to Aeetes; for well do I know that I saw him\nhere in the halls of Dascylus my father, when he came hither on foot\nthrough the land of Asia bringing the girdle of warlike Hippolyte; and\nme he found with the down just growing on my cheeks. And here, when my\nbrother Priolas was slain by the Mysians\u2014my brother, whom ever since\nthe people lament with most piteous dirges\u2014he entered the lists with\nTitias in boxing and slew him, mighty Titias, who surpassed all the\nyouths in beauty and strength; and he dashed his teeth to the ground.\nTogether with the Mysians he subdued beneath my father\u2019s sway the\nPhrygians also, who inhabit the lands next to us, and he made his own\nthe tribes of the Bithynians and their land, as far as the mouth of\nRhebas and the peak of Colone; and besides them the Paphlagonians of\nPelops yielded just as they were, even all those round whom the dark\nwater of Billaeus breaks. But now the Bebrycians and the insolence of\nAmycus have robbed me, since Heracles dwells far away, for they have\nlong been cutting off huge pieces of my land until they have set their\nbounds at the meadows of deep-flowing Hypius. Nevertheless, by your\nhands have they paid the penalty; and it was not without the will of\nheaven, I trow, that he brought war on the Bebrycians this day\u2014he, the\nson of Tyndareus, when he slew that champion. Wherefore whatever\nrequital I am now able to pay, gladly will I pay it, for that is the\nrule for weaker men when the stronger begin to help them. So with you\nall, and in your company, I bid Dascylus my son follow; and if he goes,\nyou will find all men friendly that ye meet on your way through the sea\neven to the mouth of the river Thermodon. And besides that, to the sons\nof Tyndareus will I raise a lofty temple on the Acherusian height,\nwhich all sailors shall mark far across the sea and shall reverence;\nand hereafter for them will I set apart outside the city, as for gods,\nsome fertile fields of the well-tilled plain.\u201d\n\nThus all day long they revelled at the banquet. But at dawn they hied\ndown to the ship in haste; and with them went Lycus himself, when he\nhad given them countless gifts to bear away; and with them he sent\nforth his son from his home.\n\nAnd here his destined fate smote Idmon, son of Abas, skilled in\nsoothsaying; but not at all did his soothsaying save him, for necessity\ndrew him on to death. For in the mead of the reedy river there lay,\ncooling his flanks and huge belly in the mud, a white-tusked boar, a\ndeadly monster, whom even the nymphs of the marsh dreaded, and no man\nknew it; but all alone he was feeding in the wide fell. But the son of\nAbas was passing along the raised banks of the muddy river, and the\nboar from some unseen lair leapt out of the reed-bed, and charging\ngashed his thigh and severed in twain the sinews and the bone. And with\na sharp cry the hero fell to the ground; and as he was struck his\ncomrades flocked together with answering cry. And quickly Peleus with\nhis hunting spear aimed at the murderous boar as he fled back into the\nfen; and again he turned and charged; but Idas wounded him, and with a\nroar he fell impaled upon the sharp spear. And the boar they left on\nthe ground just as he had fallen there; but Idmon, now at the last\ngasp, his comrades bore to the ship in sorrow of heart, and he died in\nhis comrades\u2019 arms.\n\nAnd here they stayed from taking thought for their voyaging and abode\nin grief for the burial of their dead friend. And for three whole days\nthey lamented; and on the next they buried him with full honours, and\nthe people and King Lycus himself took part in the funeral rites; and,\nas is the due of the departed, they slaughtered countless sheep at his\ntomb. And so a barrow to this hero was raised in that land, and there\nstands a token for men of later days to see, the trunk of a wild olive\ntree, such as ships are built of; and it flourishes with its green\nleaves a little below the Acherusian headland. And if at the bidding of\nthe Muses I must tell this tale outright, Phoebus strictly commanded\nthe Boeotians and Nisaeans to worship him as guardian of their city,\nand to build their city round the trunk of the ancient wild olive; but\nthey, instead of the god-fearing Aeolid Idmon, at this day honour\nAgamestor.\n\nWho was the next that died? For then a second time the heroes heaped up\na barrow for a comrade dead. For still are to be seen two monuments of\nthose heroes. The tale goes that Tiphys son of Hagnias died; nor was it\nhis destiny thereafter to sail any further. But him there on the spot a\nshort sickness laid to rest far from his native land, when the company\nhad paid due honours to the dead son of Abas. And at the cruel woe they\nwere seized with unbearable grief. For when with due honours they had\nburied him also hard by the seer, they cast themselves down in\nhelplessness on the sea-shore silently, closely wrapped up, and took no\nthought for meat or drink; and their spirit drooped in grief, for all\nhope of return was gone. And in their sorrow they would have stayed\nfrom going further had not Hera kindled exceeding courage in Ancaeus,\nwhom near the waters of Imbrasus Astypalaea bore to Poseidon; for\nespecially was he skilled in steering and eagerly did he address\nPeleus:\n\n\u201cSon of Aeacus, is it well for us to give up our toils and linger on in\na strange land? Not so much for my prowess in war did Jason take me\nwith him in quest of the fleece, far from Parthenia, as for my\nknowledge of ships. Wherefore, I pray, let there be no fear for the\nship. And so there are here other men of skill, of whom none will harm\nour voyaging, whomsoever we set at the helm. But quickly tell forth all\nthis and boldly urge them to call to mind their task.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and Peleus\u2019 soul was stirred with gladness, and\nstraightway he spake in the midst of all: \u201cMy friends, why do we thus\ncherish a bootless grief like this? For those two have perished by the\nfate they have met with; but among our host are steersmen yet, and many\na one. Wherefore let us not delay our attempt, but rouse yourselves to\nthe work and cast away your griefs.\u201d\n\nAnd him in reply Aeson\u2019s son addressed with helpless words: \u201cSon of\nAeacus, where are these steersmen of thine? For those whom we once\ndeemed to be men of skill, they even more than I are bowed with\nvexation of heart. Wherefore I forebode an evil doom for us even as for\nthe dead, if it shall be our lot neither to reach the city of fell\nAeetes, nor ever again to pass beyond the rocks to the land of Hellas,\nbut a wretched fate will enshroud us here ingloriously till we grow old\nfor naught.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, but Ancaeus quickly undertook to guide the swift ship;\nfor he was stirred by the impulse of the goddess. And after him Erginus\nand Nauplius and Euphemus started up, eager to steer. But the others\nheld them back, and many of his comrades granted it to Ancaeus.\n\nSo on the twelfth day they went aboard at dawn, for a strong breeze of\nwesterly wind was blowing. And quickly with the oars they passed out\nthrough the river Acheron and, trusting to the wind, shook out their\nsails, and with canvas spread far and wide they were cleaving their\npassage through the waves in fair weather. And soon they passed the\noutfall of the river Callichorus, where, as the tale goes, the Nysean\nson of Zeus, when he had left the tribes of the Indians and came to\ndwell at Thebes, held revels and arrayed dances in front of a cave,\nwherein he passed unsmiling sacred nights, from which time the\nneighbours call the river by the name of Callichorus[17] and the cave\nAulion.[18]\n\nNext they beheld the barrow of Sthenelus, Actor\u2019s son, who on his way\nback from the valorous war against the Amazons\u2014for he had been the\ncomrade of Heracles\u2014was struck by an arrow and died there upon the\nsea-beach. And for a time they went no further, for Persephone herself\nsent forth the spirit of Actor\u2019s son which craved with many tears to\nbehold men like himself, even for a moment. And mounting on the edge of\nthe barrow he gazed upon the ship, such as he was when he went to war;\nand round his head a fair helm with four peaks gleamed with its\nblood-red crest. And again he entered the vast gloom; and they looked\nand marvelled; and Mopsus, son of Ampycus, with word of prophecy urged\nthem to land and propitiate him with libations. Quickly they drew in\nsail and threw out hawsers, and on the strand paid honour to the tomb\nof Sthenelus, and poured out drink offerings to him and sacrificed\nsheep as victims. And besides the drink offerings they built an altar\nto Apollo, saviour of ships, and burnt thigh bones; and Orpheus\ndedicated his lyre; whence the place has the name of Lyra.\n\nAnd straightway they went aboard as the wind blew strong; and they drew\nthe sail down, and made it taut to both sheets; then Argo was borne\nover the sea swiftly, even as a hawk soaring high through the air\ncommits to the breeze its outspread wings and is borne on swiftly, nor\nswerves in its flight, poising in the clear sky with quiet pinions. And\nlo, they passed by the stream of Parthenius as it flows into the sea, a\nmost gentle river, where the maid, daughter of Leto, when she mounts to\nheaven after the chase, cools her limbs in its much-desired waters.\nThen they sped onward in the night without ceasing, and passed Sesamus\nand lofty Erythini, Crobialus, Cromna and woody Cytorus. Next they\nswept round Carambis at the rising of the sun, and plied the oars past\nlong Aegialus, all day and on through the night.\n\nAnd straightway they landed on the Assyrian shore where Zeus himself\ngave a home to Sinope, daughter of Asopus, and granted her virginity,\nbeguiled by his own promises. For he longed for her love, and he\npromised to grant her whatever her hearts desire might be. And she in\nher craftiness asked of him virginity. And in like manner she deceived\nApollo too who longed to wed her, and besides them the river Halys, and\nno man ever subdued her in love\u2019s embrace. And there the sons of noble\nDeimachus of Tricca were still dwelling, Deileon, Autolycus and\nPhlogius, since the day when they wandered far away from Heracles; and\nthey, when they marked the array of chieftains, went to meet them and\ndeclared in truth who they were; and they wished to remain there no\nlonger, but as soon as Argestes[19] blew went on ship-board. And so\nwith them, borne along by the swift breeze, the heroes left behind the\nriver Halys, and left behind his that flows hard by, and the delta-land\nof Assyria; and on the same day they rounded the distant headland of\nthe Amazons that guards their harbour.\n\nHere once when Melanippe, daughter of Ares, had, gone forth, the hero\nHeracles caught her by ambuscade and Hippolyte gave him her glistening\ngirdle as her sister\u2019s ransom, and he sent away his captive unharmed.\nIn the bay of this headland, at the outfall of Thermodon, they ran\nashore, for the sea was rough for their voyage. No river is like this,\nand none sends forth from itself such mighty streams over the land. If\na man should count every one he would lack but four of a hundred, but\nthe real spring is only one. This flows down to the plain from lofty\nmountains, which, men say, are called the Amazonian mountains. Thence\nit spreads inland over a hilly country straight forward; wherefrom its\nstreams go winding on, and they roll on, this way and that ever more,\nwherever best they can reach the lower ground, one at a distance and\nanother near at hand; and many streams are swallowed up in the sand and\nare without a name; but, mingled with a few, the main stream openly\nbursts with its arching crest of foam into the inhospitable Pontus. And\nthey would have tarried there and have closed in battle with the\nAmazons, and would have fought not without bloodshed for the Amazons\nwere not gentle foes and regarded not justice, those dwellers on the\nDoeantian plain; but grievous insolence and the works of Ares were all\ntheir care; for by race they were the daughters of Ares and the nymph\nHarmonia, who bare to Ares war-loving maids, wedded to him in the glens\nof the Acmonian wood had not the breezes of Argestes come again from\nZeus; and with the wind they left the rounded beach, where the\nThemiscyreian Amazons were arming for war. For they dwelt not gathered\ntogether in one city, but scattered over the land, parted into three\ntribes. In one part dwelt the Themiscyreians, over whom at that time\nHippolyte reigned, in another the Lycastians, and in another the\ndart-throwing Chadesians. And the next day they sped on and at\nnightfall they reached the land of the Chalybes.\n\nThat folk have no care for ploughing with oxen or for any planting of\nhoney-sweet fruit; nor yet do they pasture flocks in the dewy meadow.\nBut they cleave the hard iron-bearing land and exchange their wages for\ndaily sustenance; never does the morn rise for them without toil, but\namid bleak sooty flames and smoke they endure heavy labour.\n\nAnd straightway thereafter they rounded the headland of Genetaean Zeus\nand sped safely past the land of the Tibareni. Here when wives bring\nforth children to their husbands, the men lie in bed and groan with\ntheir heads close bound; but the women tend them with food, and prepare\nchild-birth baths for them.\n\nNext they reached the sacred mount and the land where the Mossynoeci\ndwell amid high mountains in wooden huts,[20] from which that people\ntake their name. And strange are their customs and laws. Whatever it is\nright to do openly before the people or in the market place, all this\nthey do in their homes, but whatever acts we perform at home, these\nthey perform out of doors in the midst of the streets, without blame.\nAnd among them is no reverence for the marriage-bed, but, like swine\nthat feed in herds, no whit abashed in others\u2019 presence, on the earth\nthey lie with the women. Their king sits in the loftiest hut and\ndispenses upright judgments to the multitude, poor wretch! For if haply\nhe err at all in his decrees, for that day they keep him shut up in\nstarvation.\n\nThey passed them by and cleft their way with oars over against the\nisland of Ares all day long; for at dusk the light breeze left them. At\nlast they spied above them, hurtling through the air, one of the birds\nof Ares which haunt that isle. It shook its wings down over the ship as\nshe sped on and sent against her a keen feather, and it fell on the\nleft shoulder of goodly Oileus, and he dropped his oar from his hands\nat the sudden blow, and his comrades marvelled at the sight of the\nwinged bolt. And Eribotes from his seat hard by drew out the feather,\nand bound up the wound when he had loosed the strap hanging from his\nown sword-sheath; and besides the first, another bird appeared swooping\ndown; but the hero Clytius, son of Eurytus\u2014for he bent his curved bow,\nand sped a swift arrow against the bird\u2014struck it, and it whirled round\nand fell close to the ship. And to them spake Amphidamas, son of Aleus:\n\n\u201cThe island of Ares is near us; you know it yourselves now that ye have\nseen these birds. But little will arrows avail us, I trow, for landing.\nBut let us contrive some other device to help us, if ye intend to land,\nbearing in mind the injunction of Phineus. For not even could Heracles,\nwhen he came to Arcadia, drive away with bow and arrow the birds that\nswam on the Stymphalian lake. I saw it myself. But he shook in his hand\na rattle of bronze and made a loud clatter as he stood upon a lofty\npeak, and the birds fled far off, screeching in bewildered fear.\nWherefore now too let us contrive some such device, and I myself will\nspeak, having pondered the matter beforehand. Set on your heads your\nhelmets of lofty crest, then half row by turns, and half fence the ship\nabout with polished spears and shields. Then all together raise a\nmighty shout so that the birds may be scared by the unwonted din, the\nnodding crests, and the uplifted spears on high. And if we reach the\nisland itself, then make mighty noise with the clashing of shields.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and the helpful device pleased all. And on their heads\nthey placed helmets of bronze, gleaming terribly, and the blood-red\ncrests were tossing. And half of them rowed in turn, and the rest\ncovered the ship with spears and shields. And as when a man roofs over\na house with tiles, to be an ornament of his home and a defence against\nrain, and one the fits firmly into another, each after each; so they\nroofed over the ship with their shields, locking them together. And as\na din arises from a warrior-host of men sweeping on, when lines of\nbattle meet, such a shout rose upward from the ship into the air. Now\nthey saw none of the birds yet, but when they touched the island and\nclashed upon their shields, then the birds in countless numbers rose in\nflight hither and thither. And as when the son of Cronos sends from the\nclouds a dense hailstorm on city and houses, and the people who dwell\nbeneath hear the din above the roof and sit quietly, since the stormy\nseason has not come upon them unawares, but they have first made strong\ntheir roofs; so the birds sent against the heroes a thick shower of\nfeather-shafts as they darted over the sea to the mountains of the land\nopposite.\n\nWhat then was the purpose of Phineus in bidding the divine band of\nheroes land there? Or what kind of help was about to meet their desire?\n\nThe sons of Phrixus were faring towards the city of Orchomenus from\nAea, coming from Cytaean Aeetes, on board a Colchian ship, to win the\nboundless wealth of their father; for he, when dying, had enjoined this\njourney upon them. And lo, on that day they were very near that island.\nBut Zeus had impelled the north wind\u2019s might to blow, marking by rain\nthe moist path of Arcturus; and all day long he was stirring the leaves\nupon the mountains, breathing gently upon the topmost sprays; but at\nnight he rushed upon the sea with monstrous force, and with his\nshrieking blasts uplifted the surge; and a dark mist covered the\nheavens, nor did the bright stars anywhere appear from among the\nclouds, but a murky gloom brooded all around. And so the sons of\nPhrixus, drenched and trembling in fear of a horrible doom, were borne\nalong by the waves helplessly. And the force of the wind had snatched\naway their sails and shattered in twain the hull, tossed as it was by\nthe breakers. And hereupon by heaven\u2019s prompting those four clutched a\nhuge beam, one of many that were scattered about, held together by\nsharp bolts, when the ship broke to pieces. And on to the island the\nwaves and the blasts of wind bore the men in their distress, within a\nlittle of death. And straightway a mighty rain burst forth, and rained\nupon the sea and the island, and all the country opposite the island,\nwhere the arrogant Mossynoeci dwelt. And the sweep of the waves hurled\nthe sons of Phrixus, together with their massy beam, upon the beach of\nthe island, in the murky night; and the floods of rain from Zeus ceased\nat sunrise, and soon the two bands drew near and met each other, and\nArgus spoke first:\n\n\u201cWe beseech you, by Zeus the Beholder, whoever ye are, to be kindly and\nto help us in our need. For fierce tempests, falling on the sea, have\nshattered all the timbers of the crazy ship in which we were cleaving\nour path on business bent. Wherefore we entreat you, if haply ye will\nlisten, to grant us just a covering for our bodies, and to pity and\nsuccour men in misfortune, your equals in age. Oh, reverence suppliants\nand strangers for Zeus\u2019 sake, the god of strangers and suppliants. To\nZeus belong both suppliants and strangers; and his eye, methinks,\nbeholdeth even us.\u201d\n\nAnd in reply the son of Aeson prudently questioned him, deeming that\nthe prophecies of Phineus were being fulfilled: \u201cAll these things will\nwe straightway grant you with right good will. But come tell me truly\nin what country ye dwell and what business bids you sail across the\nsea, and tell me your own glorious names and lineage.\u201d\n\nAnd him Argus, helpless in his evil plight, addressed: \u201cThat one\nPhrixus an Aeolid reached Aea from Hellas you yourselves have clearly\nheard ere this, I trow; Phrixus, who came to the city of Aeetes,\nbestriding a ram, which Hermes had made all gold; and the fleece ye may\nsee even now. The ram, at its own prompting, he then sacrificed to\nZeus, son of Cronos, above all, the god of fugitives. And him did\nAeetes receive in his palace, and with gladness of heart gave him his\ndaughter Chalciope in marriage without gifts of wooing. [21] From those\ntwo are we sprung. But Phrixus died at last, an aged man, in the home\nof Aeetes; and we, giving heed to our father\u2019s behests, are journeying\nto Orehomenus to take the possessions of Athamas. And if thou dost\ndesire to learn our names, this is Cytissorus, this Phrontis, and this\nMelas, and me ye may call Argus.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and the chieftains rejoiced at the meeting, and tended\nthem, much marvelling. And Jason again in turn replied, as was fitting,\nwith these words:\n\n\u201cSurely ye are our kinsmen on my father\u2019s side, and ye pray that with\nkindly hearts we succour your evil plight. For Cretheus and Athamas\nwere brothers. I am the grandson of Cretheus, and with these comrades\nhere I am journeying from that same Hellas to the city of Aeetes. But\nof these things we will converse hereafter. And do ye first put\nclothing upon you. By heaven\u2019s devising, I ween, have ye come to my\nhands in your sore need.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and out of the ship gave them raiment to put on. Then all\ntogether they went to the temple of Ares to offer sacrifice of sheep;\nand in haste they stood round the altar, which was outside the roofless\ntemple, an altar built of pebbles; within a black stone stood fixed, a\nsacred thing, to which of yore the Amazons all used to pray. Nor was it\nlawful for them, when they came from the opposite coast, to burn on\nthis altar offerings of sheep and oxen, but they used to slay horses\nwhich they kept in great herds. Now when they had sacrificed and eaten\nthe feast prepared, then Aeson\u2019s son spake among them and thus began:\n\n\u201cZeus\u2019 self, I ween, beholds everything; nor do we men escape his eye,\nwe that be god-fearing and just, for as he rescued your father from the\nhands of a murderous step-dame and gave him measureless wealth besides;\neven so hath he saved you harmless from the baleful storm. And on board\nthis ship ye may sail hither and thither, where ye will, whether to Aea\nor to the wealthy city of divine Orthomenus. For our ship Athena built\nand with axe of bronze cut her timbers near the crest of Pelion, and\nwith the goddess wrought Argus. But yours the fierce surge hath\nshattered, before ye came nigh to the rocks which all day long clash\ntogether in the straits of the sea. But come, be yourselves our\nhelpers, for we are eager to bring to Hellas the golden fleece, and\nguide us on our voyage, for I go to atone for the intended sacrifice of\nPhrixus, the cause of Zeus\u2019 wrath against the sons of Aeolus.\u201d\n\nHe spake with soothing words; but horror seized them when they heard.\nFor they deemed that they would not find Aeetes friendly if they\ndesired to take away the ram\u2019s fleece. And Argus spake as follows,\nvexed that they should busy themselves with such a quest:\n\n\u201cMy friends, our strength, so far as it avails, shall never cease to\nhelp you, not one whit, when need shall come. But Aeetes is terribly\narmed with deadly ruthlessness; wherefore exceedingly do I dread this\nvoyage. And he boasts himself to be the son of Helios; and all round\ndwell countless tribes of Colchians; and he might match himself with\nAres in his dread war-cry and giant strength. Nay, to seize the fleece\nin spite of Aeetes is no easy task; so huge a serpent keeps guard round\nand about it, deathless and sleepless, which Earth herself brought\nforth on the sides of Caucasus, by the rock of Typhaon, where Typhaon,\nthey say, smitten by the bolt of Zeus, son of Cronos, when he lifted\nagainst the god his sturdy hands, dropped from his head hot gore; and\nin such plight he reached the mountains and plain of Nysa, where to\nthis day he lies whelmed beneath the waters of the Serbonian lake.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and straightway many a cheek grew pale when they heard\nof so mighty an adventure. But quickly Peleus answered with cheering\nwords, and thus spake:\n\n\u201cBe not so fearful in spirit, my good friend. For we are not so lacking\nin prowess as to be no match for Aeetes to try his strength with arms;\nbut I deem that we too are cunning in war, we that go thither, near\nakin to the blood of the blessed gods. Wherefore if he will not grant\nus the fleece of gold for friendship\u2019s sake, the tribes of the\nColchians will not avail him, I ween.\u201d\n\nThus they addressed each other in turn, until again, satisfied with\ntheir feast, they turned to rest. And when they rose at dawn a gentle\nbreeze was blowing; and they raised the sails, which strained to the\nrush of the wind, and quickly they left behind the island of Ares.\n\nAnd at nightfall they came to the island of Philyra, where Cronos, son\nof Uranus, what time in Olympus he reigned over the Titans, and Zeus\nwas yet being nurtured in a Cretan cave by the Curetes of Ida, lay\nbeside Philyra, when he had deceived Rhea; and the goddess found them\nin the midst of their dalliance; and Cronos leapt up from the couch\nwith a rush in the form of a steed with flowing mane, but Ocean\u2019s\ndaughter, Philyra, in shame left the spot and those haunts, and came to\nthe long Pelasgian ridges, where by her union with the transfigured\ndeity she brought forth huge Cheiron, half like a horse, half like a\ngod.\n\nThence they sailed on, past the Macrones and the far-stretching land of\nthe Becheiri and the overweening Sapeires, and after them the Byzeres;\nfor ever forward they clave their way, quickly borne by the gentle\nbreeze. And lo, as they sped on, a deep gulf of the sea was opened, and\nlo, the steep crags of the Caucasian mountains rose up, where, with his\nlimbs bound upon the hard rocks by galling fetters of bronze,\nPrometheus fed with his liver an eagle that ever rushed back to its\nprey. High above the ship at even they saw it flying with a loud whirr,\nnear the clouds; and yet it shook all the sails with the fanning of\nthose huge wings. For it had not the form of a bird of the air but kept\npoising its long wing-feathers like polished oars. And not long after\nthey heard the bitter cry of Prometheus as his liver was being torn\naway; and the air rang with his screams until they marked the ravening\neagle rushing back from the mountain on the self-same track. And at\nnight, by the skill of Argus, they reached broad-flowing Phasis, and\nthe utmost bourne of the sea.\n\nAnd straightway they let down the sails and the yard-arm and stowed\nthem inside the hollow mast-crutch, and at once they lowered the mast\nitself till it lay along; and quickly with oars they entered the mighty\nstream of the river; and round the prow the water surged as it gave\nthem way. And on their left hand they had lofty Caucasus and the\nCytaean city of Aea, and on the other side the plain of Ares and the\nsacred grove of that god, where the serpent was keeping watch and ward\nover the fleece as it hung on the leafy branches of an oak. And Aeson\u2019s\nson himself from a golden goblet poured into the river libations of\nhoney and pure wine to Earth and to the gods of the country, and to the\nsouls of dead heroes; and he besought them of their grace to give\nkindly aid, and to welcome their ship\u2019s hawsers with favourable omen.\nAnd straightway Ancaeus spake these words:\n\n\u201cWe have reached the Colchian land and the stream of Phasis; and it is\ntime for us to take counsel whether we shall make trial of Aeetes with\nsoft words, or an attempt of another kind shall be fitting.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and by the advice of Argus Jason bade them enter a\nshaded backwater and let the ship ride at anchor off shore; and it was\nnear at hand in their course and there they passed the night. And soon\nthe dawn appeared to their expectant eyes.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK III\n\n\nCome now, Erato, stand by my side, and say next how Jason brought back\nthe fleece to Iolcus aided by the love of Medea. For thou sharest the\npower of Cypris, and by thy love-cares dost charm unwedded maidens;\nwherefore to thee too is attached a name that tells of love.\n\nThus the heroes, unobserved, were waiting in ambush amid the thick\nreed-beds; but Hera and Athena took note of them, and, apart from Zeus\nand the other immortals, entered a chamber and took counsel together;\nand Hera first made trial of Athena:\n\n\u201cDo thou now first, daughter of Zeus, give advice. What must be done?\nWilt thou devise some scheme whereby they may seize the golden fleece\nof Aeetes and bear it to Hellas, or can they deceive the king with soft\nwords and so work persuasion? Of a truth he is terribly overweening.\nStill it is right to shrink from no endeavour.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and at once Athena addressed her: \u201cI too was pondering\nsuch thoughts in my heart, Hera, when thou didst ask me outright. But\nnot yet do I think that I have conceived a scheme to aid the courage of\nthe heroes, though I have balanced many plans.\u201d\n\nShe ended, and the goddesses fixed their eyes on the ground at their\nfeet, brooding apart; and straightway Hera was the first to speak her\nthought: \u201cCome, let us go to Cypris; let both of us accost her and urge\nher to bid her son (if only he will obey) speed his shaft at the\ndaughter of Aeetes, the enchantress, and charm her with love for Jason.\nAnd I deem that by her device he will bring back the fleece to Hellas.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and the prudent plan pleased Athena, and she addressed\nher in reply with gentle words:\n\n\u201cHera, my father begat me to be a stranger to the darts of love, nor do\nI know any charm to work desire. But if the word pleases thee, surely I\nwill follow; but thou must speak when we meet her.\u201d\n\nSo she said, and starting forth they came to the mighty palace of\nCypris, which her husband, the halt-footed god, had built for her when\nfirst he brought her from Zeus to be his wife. And entering the court\nthey stood beneath the gallery of the chamber where the goddess\nprepared the couch of Hephaestus. But he had gone early to his forge\nand anvils to a broad cavern in a floating island where with the blast\nof flame he wrought all manner of curious work; and she all alone was\nsitting within, on an inlaid seat facing the door. And her white\nshoulders on each side were covered with the mantle of her hair and she\nwas parting it with a golden comb and about to braid up the long\ntresses; but when she saw the goddesses before her, she stayed and\ncalled them within, and rose from her seat and placed them on couches.\nThen she herself sat down, and with her hands gathered up the locks\nstill uncombed. And smiling she addressed them with crafty words:\n\n\u201cGood friends, what intent, what occasion brings you here after so\nlong? Why have ye come, not too frequent visitors before, chief among\ngoddesses that ye are?\u201d\n\nAnd to her Hera replied: \u201cThou dost mock us, but our hearts are stirred\nwith calamity. For already on the river Phasis the son of Aeson moors\nhis ship, he and his comrades in quest of the fleece. For all their\nsakes we fear terribly (for the task is nigh at hand) but most for\nAeson\u2019s son. Him will I deliver, though he sail even to Hades to free\nIxion below from his brazen chains, as far as strength lies in my\nlimbs, so that Pelias may not mock at having escaped an evil\ndoom\u2014Pelias who left me unhonoured with sacrifice. Moreover Jason was\ngreatly loved by me before, ever since at the mouth of Anaurus in\nflood, as I was making trial of men\u2019s righteousness, he met me on his\nreturn from the chase; and all the mountains and long ridged peaks were\nsprinkled with snow, and from them the torrents rolling down were\nrushing with a roar. And he took pity on me in the likeness of an old\ncrone, and raising me on his shoulders himself bore me through the\nheadlong tide. So he is honoured by me unceasingly; nor will Pelias pay\nthe penalty of his outrage, unless thou wilt grant Jason his return.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and speechlessness seized Cypris. And beholding Hera\nsupplicating her she felt awe, and then addressed her with friendly\nwords: \u201cDread goddess, may no viler thing than Cypris ever be found, if\nI disregard thy eager desire in word or deed, whatever my weak arms can\neffect; and let there be no favour in return.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and Hera again addressed her with prudence: \u201cIt is not in\nneed of might or of strength that we have come. But just quietly bid\nthy boy charm Aeetes\u2019 daughter with love for Jason. For if she will aid\nhim with her kindly counsel, easily do I think he will win the fleece\nof gold and return to Iolcus, for she is full of wiles.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and Cypris addressed them both: \u201cHera and Athena, he\nwill obey you rather than me. For unabashed though he is, there will be\nsome slight shame in his eyes before you; but he has no respect for me,\nbut ever slights me in contentious mood. And, overborne by his\nnaughtiness, I purpose to break his ill-sounding arrows and his bow in\nhis very sight. For in his anger he has threatened that if I shall not\nkeep my hands off him while he still masters his temper, I shall have\ncause to blame myself thereafter.\u201d\n\nSo she spake, and the goddesses smiled and looked at each other. But\nCypris again spoke, vexed at heart: \u201cTo others my sorrows are a jest;\nnor ought I to tell them to all; I know them too well myself. But now,\nsince this pleases you both, I will make the attempt and coax him, and\nhe will not say me nay.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and Hera took her slender hand and gently smiling,\nreplied: \u201cPerform this task, Cytherea, straightway, as thou sayest; and\nbe not angry or contend with thy boy; he will cease hereafter to vex\nthee.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and left her seat, and Athena accompanied her and they went\nforth both hastening back. And Cypris went on her way through the glens\nof Olympus to find her boy. And she found him apart, in the blooming\norchard of Zeus, not alone, but with him Ganymedes, whom once Zeus had\nset to dwell among the immortal gods, being enamoured of his beauty.\nAnd they were playing for golden dice, as boys in one house are wont to\ndo. And already greedy Eros was holding the palm of his left hand quite\nfull of them under his breast, standing upright; and on the bloom of\nhis cheeks a sweet blush was glowing. But the other sat crouching hard\nby, silent and downcast, and he had two dice left which he threw one\nafter the other, and was angered by the loud laughter of Eros. And lo,\nlosing them straightway with the former, he went off empty handed,\nhelpless, and noticed not the approach of Cypris. And she stood before\nher boy, and laying her hand on his lips, addressed him:\n\n\u201cWhy dost thou smile in triumph, unutterable rogue? Hast thou cheated\nhim thus, and unjustly overcome the innocent child? Come, be ready to\nperform for me the task I will tell thee of, and I will give thee Zeus\u2019\nall-beauteous plaything\u2014the one which his dear nurse Adrasteia made for\nhim, while he still lived a child, with childish ways, in the Idaean\ncave\u2014a well-rounded ball; no better toy wilt thou get from the hands of\nHephaestus. All of gold are its zones, and round each double seams run\nin a circle; but the stitches are hidden, and a dark blue spiral\noverlays them all. But if thou shouldst cast it with thy hands, lo,\nlike a star, it sends a flaming track through the sky. This I will give\nthee; and do thou strike with thy shaft and charm the daughter of\nAeetes with love for Jason; and let there be no loitering. For then my\nthanks would be the slighter.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and welcome were her words to the listening boy. And he\nthrew down all his toys, and eagerly seizing her robe on this side and\non that, clung to the goddess. And he implored her to bestow the gift\nat once; but she, facing him with kindly words, touched his cheeks,\nkissed him and drew him to her, and replied with a smile:\n\n\u201cBe witness now thy dear head and mine, that surely I will give thee\nthe gift and deceive thee not, if thou wilt strike with thy shaft\nAeetes\u2019 daughter.\u201d\n\nShe spoke, and he gathered up his dice, and having well counted them\nall threw them into his mother\u2019s gleaming lap. And straightway with\ngolden baldric he slung round him his quiver from where it leant\nagainst a tree-trunk, and took up his curved bow. And he fared forth\nthrough the fruitful orchard of the palace of Zeus. Then he passed\nthrough the gates of Olympus high in air; hence is a downward path from\nheaven; and the twin poles rear aloft steep mountain tops the highest\ncrests of earth, where the risen sun grows ruddy with his first beams.\nAnd beneath him there appeared now the life-giving earth and cities of\nmen and sacred streams of rivers, and now in turn mountain peaks and\nthe ocean all around, as he swept through the vast expanse of air.\n\nNow the heroes apart in ambush, in a back-water of the river, were met\nin council, sitting on the benches of their ship. And Aeson\u2019s son\nhimself was speaking among them; and they were listening silently in\ntheir places sitting row upon row: \u201cMy friends, what pleases myself\nthat will I say out; it is for you to bring about its fulfilment. For\nin common is our task, and common to all alike is the right of speech;\nand he who in silence withholds his thought and his counsel, let him\nknow that it is he alone that bereaves this band of its home-return. Do\nye others rest here in the ship quietly with your arms; but I will go\nto the palace of Aeetes, taking with me the sons of Phrixus and two\ncomrades as well. And when I meet him I will first make trial with\nwords to see if he will be willing to give up the golden fleece for\nfriendship\u2019s sake or not, but trusting to his might will set at nought\nour quest. For so, learning his frowardness first from himself, we will\nconsider whether we shall meet him in battle, or some other plan shall\navail us, if we refrain from the war-cry. And let us not merely by\nforce, before putting words to the test, deprive him of his own\npossession. But first it is better to go to him and win his favour by\nspeech. Oftentimes, I ween, does speech accomplish at need what prowess\ncould hardly catty through, smoothing the path in manner befitting. And\nhe once welcomed noble Phrixus, a fugitive from his stepmother\u2019s wiles\nand the sacrifice prepared by his father. For all men everywhere, even\nthe most shameless, reverence the ordinance of Zeus, god of strangers,\nand regard it.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and the youths approved the words of Aeson\u2019s son with\none accord, nor was there one to counsel otherwise. And then he\nsummoned to go with him the sons of Phrixus, and Telamon and Augeias;\nand himself took Hermes\u2019 wand; and at once they passed forth from the\nship beyond the reeds and the water to dry land, towards the rising\nground of the plain. The plain, I wis, is called Circe\u2019s; and here in\nline grow many willows and osiers, on whose topmost branches hang\ncorpses bound with cords. For even now it is an abomination with the\nColchians to burn dead men with fire; nor is it lawful to place them in\nthe earth and raise a mound above, but to wrap them in untanned oxhides\nand suspend them from trees far from the city. And so earth has an\nequal portion with air, seeing that they bury the women; for that is\nthe custom of their land.\n\nAnd as they went Hera with friendly thought spread a thick mist through\nthe city, that they might fare to the palace of Aeetes unseen by the\ncountless hosts of the Colchians. But soon when from the plain they\ncame to the city and Aeetes\u2019 palace, then again Hera dispersed the\nmist. And they stood at the entrance, marvelling at the king\u2019s courts\nand the wide gates and columns which rose in ordered lines round the\nwalls; and high up on the palace a coping of stone rested on brazen\ntriglyphs. And silently they crossed the threshold. And close by garden\nvines covered with green foliage were in full bloom, lifted high in\nair. And beneath them ran four fountains, ever-flowing, which\nHephaestus had delved out. One was gushing with milk, one with wine,\nwhile the third flowed with fragrant oil; and the fourth ran with\nwater, which grew warm at the setting of the Pleiads, and in turn at\ntheir rising bubbled forth from the hollow rock, cold as crystal. Such\nthen were the wondrous works that the craftsman-god Hephaestus had\nfashioned in the palace of Cytaean Aeetes. And he wrought for him bulls\nwith feet of bronze, and their mouths were of bronze, and from them\nthey breathed out a terrible flame of fire; moreover he forged a plough\nof unbending adamant, all in one piece, in payment of thanks to Helios,\nwho had taken the god up in his chariot when faint from the Phlegraean\nfight.[22] And here an inner-court was built, and round it were many\nwell-fitted doors and chambers here and there, and all along on each\nside was a richly-wrought gallery. And on both sides loftier buildings\nstood obliquely. In one, which was the loftiest, lordly Aeetes dwelt\nwith his queen; and in another dwelt Apsyrtus, son of Aeetes, whom a\nCaucasian nymph, Asterodeia, bare before he made Eidyia his wedded\nwife, the youngest daughter of Tethys and Oceanus. And the sons of the\nColchians called him by the new name of Phaethon,[23] because he\noutshone all the youths. The other buildings the handmaidens had, and\nthe two daughters of Aeetes, Chalciope and Medea. Medea then [they\nfound] going from chamber to chamber in search of her sister, for Hera\ndetained her within that day; but beforetime she was not wont to haunt\nthe palace, but all day long was busied in Hecate\u2019s temple, since she\nherself was the priestess of the goddess. And when she saw them she\ncried aloud, and quickly Chalciope caught the sound; and her maids,\nthrowing down at their feet their yarn and their thread, rushed forth\nall in a throng. And she, beholding her sons among them, raised her\nhands aloft through joy; and so they likewise greeted their mother, and\nwhen they saw her embraced her in their gladness; and she with many\nsobs spoke thus:\n\n\u201cAfter all then, ye were not destined to leave me in your heedlessness\nand to wander far; but fate has turned you back. Poor wretch that I am!\nWhat a yearning for Hellas from some woeful madness seized you at the\nbehest of your father Phrixus. Bitter sorrows for my heart did he\nordain when dying. And why should ye go to the city of Orchomenus,\nwhoever this Orchomenus is, for the sake of Athamas\u2019 wealth, leaving\nyour mother alone to bear her grief?\u201d\n\nSuch were her words; and Aeetes came forth last of all and Eidyia\nherself came, the queen of Aeetes, on hearing the voice of Chalciope;\nand straightway all the court was filled with a throng. Some of the\nthralls were busied with a mighty bull, others with the axe were\ncleaving dry billets, and others heating with fire water for the baths;\nnor was there one who relaxed his toil, serving the king.\n\nMeantime Eros passed unseen through the grey mist, causing confusion,\nas when against grazing heifers rises the gadfly, which oxherds call\nthe breese. And quickly beneath the lintel in the porch he strung his\nbow and took from the quiver an arrow unshot before, messenger of pain.\nAnd with swift feet unmarked he passed the threshold and keenly glanced\naround; and gliding close by Aeson\u2019s son he laid the arrow-notch on the\ncord in the centre, and drawing wide apart with both hands he shot at\nMedea; and speechless amazement seized her soul. But the god himself\nflashed back again from the high-roofed hall, laughing loud; and the\nbolt burnt deep down in the maiden\u2019s heart like a flame; and ever she\nkept darting bright glances straight up at Aeson\u2019s son, and within her\nbreast her heart panted fast through anguish, all remembrance left her,\nand her soul melted with the sweet pain. And as a poor woman heaps dry\ntwigs round a blazing brand\u2014a daughter of toil, whose task is the\nspinning of wool, that she may kindle a blaze at night beneath her\nroof, when she has waked very early\u2014and the flame waxing wondrous great\nfrom the small brand consumes all the twigs together; so, coiling round\nher heart, burnt secretly Love the destroyer; and the hue of her soft\ncheeks went and came, now pale, now red, in her soul\u2019s distraction.\n\nNow when the thralls had laid a banquet ready before them, and they had\nrefreshed themselves with warm baths, gladly did they please their\nsouls with meat and drink. And thereafter Aeetes questioned the sons of\nhis daughter, addressing them with these words:\n\n\u201cSons of my daughter and of Phrixus, whom beyond all strangers I\nhonoured in my halls, how have ye come returning back to Aea? Did some\ncalamity cut short your escape in the midst? Ye did not listen when I\nset before you the boundless length of the way. For I marked it once,\nwhirled along in the chariot of my father Helios, when he was bringing\nmy sister Circe to the western land and we came to the shore of the\nTyrrhenian mainland, where even now she abides, exceeding far from\nColchis. But what pleasure is there in words? Do ye tell me plainly\nwhat has been your fortune, and who these men are, your companions, and\nwhere from your hollow ship ye came ashore.\u201d\n\nSuch were his questions, and Argus, before all his brethren, being\nfearful for the mission of Aeson\u2019s son, gently replied, for he was the\nelder-born:\n\n\u201cAeetes, that ship forthwith stormy blasts tore asunder, and ourselves,\ncrouching on the beams, a wave drove on to the beach of the isle of\nEnyalius [24] in the murky night; and some god preserved us. For even\nthe birds of Ares that haunted the desert isle beforetime, not even\nthem did we find. But these men had driven them off, having landed from\ntheir ship on the day before; and the will of Zeus taking pity on us,\nor some fate, detained them there, since they straightway gave us both\nfood and clothing in abundance, when they heard the illustrious name of\nPhrixus and thine own; for to thy city are they faring. And if thou\ndost wish to know their errand, I will not hide it from time. A certain\nking, vehemently longing to drive this man far from his fatherland and\npossessions, because in might he outshone all the sons of Aeolus, sends\nhim to voyage hither on a bootless venture; and asserts that the stock\nof Aeolus will not escape the heart-grieving wrath and rage of\nimplacable Zeus, nor the unbearable curse and vengeance due for\nPhrixus, until the fleece comes back to Hellas. And their ship was\nfashioned by Pallas Athena, not such a one as are the ships among the\nColchians, on the vilest of which we chanced. For the fierce waves and\nwind broke her utterly to pieces; but the other holds firm with her\nbolts, even though all the blasts should buffet her. And with equal\nswiftness she speedeth before the wind and when the crew ply the oar\nwith unresting hands. And he hath gathered in her the mightiest heroes\nof all Achaea, and hath come to thy city from wandering far through\ncities and gulfs of the dread ocean, in the hope that thou wilt grant\nhim the fleece. But as thou dost please, so shall it be, for he cometh\nnot to use force, but is eager to pay thee a recompense for the gift.\nHe has heard from me of thy bitter foes the Sauromatae, and he will\nsubdue them to thy sway. And if thou desirest to know their names and\nlineage I will tell thee all. This man on whose account the rest were\ngathered from Hellas, they call Jason, son of Aeson, whom Cretheus\nbegat. And if in truth he is of the stock of Cretheus himself, thus he\nwould be our kinsman on the father\u2019s side. For Cretheus and Athamas\nwere both sons of Aeolus; and Phrixus was the son of Athamas, son of\nAeolus. And here, if thou hast heard at all of the seed of Helios, thou\ndost behold Augeias; and this is Telamon sprung from famous Aeacus; and\nZeus himself begat Aeacus. And so all the rest, all the comrades that\nfollow him, are the sons or grandsons of the immortals.\u201d\n\nSuch was the tale of Argus; but the king at his words was filled with\nrage as he heard; and his heart was lifted high in wrath. And he spake\nin heavy displeasure; and was angered most of all with the son of\nChalciope; for he deemed that on their account the strangers had come;\nand in his fury his eyes flashed forth beneath his brows:\n\n\u201cBegone from my sight, felons, straightway, ye and your tricks, from\nthe land, ere someone see a fleece and a Phrixus to his sorrow. Banded\ntogether with your friends from Hellas, not for the fleece, but to\nseize my sceptre and royal power have ye come hither. Had ye not first\ntasted of my table, surely would I have cut out your tongues and hewn\noff both hands and sent you forth with your feet alone, so that ye\nmight be stayed from starting hereafter. And what lies have ye uttered\nagainst the blessed gods!\u201d\n\nThus he spake in his wrath; and mightily from its depths swelled the\nheart of Aeacus\u2019 son, and his soul within longed to speak a deadly word\nin defiance, but Aeson\u2019s son checked him, for he himself first made\ngentle answer:\n\n\u201cAeetes, bear with this armed band, I pray. For not in the way thou\ndeemest have we come to thy city and palace, no, nor yet with such\ndesires. For who would of his own will dare to cross so wide a sea for\nthe goods of a stranger? But fate and the ruthless command of a\npresumptuous king urged me. Grant a favour to thy suppliants, and to\nall Hellas will I publish a glorious fame of thee; yea, we are ready\nnow to pay thee a swift recompense in war, whether it be the Sauromatae\nor some other people that thou art eager to subdue to thy sway.\u201d\n\nHe spake, flattering him with gentle utterance; but the king\u2019s soul\nbrooded a twofold purpose within him, whether he should attack and slay\nthem on the spot or should make trial of their might. And this, as he\npondered, seemed the better way, and he addressed Jason in answer:\n\n\u201cStranger, why needest thou go through thy tale to the end? For if ye\nare in truth of heavenly race, or have come in no wise inferior to me,\nto win the goods of strangers, I will give thee the fleece to bear\naway, if thou dost wish, when I have tried thee. For against brave men\nI bear no grudge, such as ye yourselves tell me of him who bears sway\nin Hellas. And the trial of your courage and might shall be a contest\nwhich I myself can compass with my hands, deadly though it be. Two\nbulls with feet of bronze I have that pasture on the plain of Ares,\nbreathing forth flame from their jaws; them do I yoke and drive over\nthe stubborn field of Ares, four plough-gates; and quickly cleaving it\nwith the share up to the headland, I cast into the furrows the seed,\nnot the corn of Demeter, but the teeth of a dread serpent that grow up\ninto the fashion of armed men; them I slay at once, cutting them down\nbeneath my spear as they rise against me on all sides. In the morning\ndo I yoke the oxen, and at eventide I cease from the harvesting. And\nthou, if thou wilt accomplish such deeds as these, on that very day\nshalt carry off the fleece to the king\u2019s palace; ere that time comes I\nwill not give it, expect it not. For indeed it is unseemly that a brave\nman should yield to a coward.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and Jason, fixing his eyes on the ground, sat just as he\nwas, speechless, helpless in his evil plight. For a long time he turned\nthe matter this way and that, and could in no way take on him the task\nwith courage, for a mighty task it seemed; and at last he made reply\nwith crafty words:\n\n\u201cWith thy plea of right, Aeetes, thou dost shut me in overmuch.\nWherefore also I will dare that contest, monstrous as it is, though it\nbe my doom to die. For nothing will fall upon men more dread than dire\nnecessity, which indeed constrained me to come hither at a king\u2019s\ncommand.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, smitten by his helpless plight; and the king with grim\nwords addressed him, sore troubled as he was: \u201cGo forth now to the\ngathering, since thou art eager for the toil; but if thou shouldst fear\nto lift the yoke upon the oxen or shrink from the deadly harvesting,\nthen all this shall be my care, so that another too may shudder to come\nto a man that is better than he.\u201d\n\nHe spake outright; and Jason rose from his seat, and Augeias and\nTelamon at once; and Argus followed alone, for he signed to his\nbrothers to stay there on the spot meantime; and so they went forth\nfrom the hall. And wonderfully among them all shone the son of Aeson\nfor beauty and grace; and the maiden looked at him with stealthy\nglance, holding her bright veil aside, her heart smouldering with pain;\nand her soul creeping like a dream flitted in his track as he went. So\nthey passed forth from the palace sorely troubled. And Chalciope,\nshielding herself from the wrath of Aeetes, had gone quickly to her\nchamber with her sons. And Medea likewise followed, and much she\nbrooded in her soul all the cares that the Loves awaken. And before her\neyes the vision still appeared\u2014himself what like he was, with what\nvesture he was clad, what things he spake, how he sat on his seat, how\nhe moved forth to the door\u2014and as she pondered she deemed there never\nwas such another man; and ever in her ears rung his voice and the\nhoney-sweet words which he uttered. And she feared for him, lest the\noxen or Aeetes with his own hand should slay him; and she mourned him\nas though already slain outright, and in her affliction a round tear\nthrough very grievous pity coursed down her cheek; and gently weeping\nshe lifted up her voice aloud:\n\n\u201cWhy does this grief come upon me, poor wretch? Whether he be the best\nof heroes now about to perish, or the worst, let him go to his doom.\nYet I would that he had escaped unharmed; yea, may this be so, revered\ngoddess, daughter of Perses, may he avoid death and return home; but if\nit be his lot to be o\u2019ermastered by the oxen, may he first learn this,\nthat I at least do not rejoice in his cruel calamity.\u201d\n\nThus then was the maiden\u2019s heart racked by love-cares. But when the\nothers had gone forth from the people and the city, along the path by\nwhich at the first they had come from the plain, then Argus addressed\nJason with these words:\n\n\u201cSon of Aeson, thou wilt despise the counsel which I will tell thee,\nbut, though in evil plight, it is not fitting to forbear from the\ntrial. Ere now thou hast heard me tell of a maiden that uses sorcery\nunder the guidance of Hecate, Perses\u2019 daughter. If we could win her aid\nthere will be no dread, methinks, of thy defeat in the contest; but\nterribly do I fear that my mother will not take this task upon her.\nNevertheless I will go back again to entreat her, for a common\ndestruction overhangs us all.\u201d\n\nHe spake with goodwill, and Jason answered with these words: \u201cGood\nfriend, if this is good in thy sight, I say not nay. Go and move thy\nmother, beseeching her aid with prudent words; pitiful indeed is our\nhope when we have put our return in the keeping of women.\u201d So he spake,\nand quickly they reached the back-water. And their comrades joyfully\nquestioned them, when they saw them close at hand; and to them spoke\nAeson\u2019s son grieved at heart:\n\n\u201cMy friends, the heart of ruthless Aeetes is utterly filled with wrath\nagainst us, for not at all can the goal be reached either by me or by\nyou who question me. He said that two bulls with feet of bronze pasture\non the plain of Ares, breathing forth flame from their jaws. And with\nthese he bade me plough the field, four plough-gates; and said that he\nwould give me from a serpent\u2019s jaws seed which will raise up earthborn\nmen in armour of bronze; and on the same day I must slay them. This\ntask\u2014for there was nothing better to devise\u2014I took on myself outright.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and to all the contest seemed one that none could\naccomplish, and long, quiet and silent, they looked at one another,\nbowed down with the calamity and their despair; but at last Peleus\nspake with courageous words among all the chiefs: \u201cIt is time to be\ncounselling what we shall do. Yet there is not so much profit, I trow,\nin counsel as in the might of our hands. If thou then, hero son of\nAeson, art minded to yoke Aeetes\u2019 oxen, and art eager for the toil,\nsurely thou wilt keep thy promise and make thyself ready. But if thy\nsoul trusts not her prowess utterly, then neither bestir thyself nor\nsit still and look round for some one else of these men. For it is not\nI who will flinch, since the bitterest pain will be but death.\u201d\n\nSo spake the son of Aeacus; and Telamon\u2019s soul was stirred, and quickly\nhe started up in eagerness; and Idas rose up the third in his pride;\nand the twin sons of Tyndareus; and with them Oeneus\u2019 son who was\nnumbered among strong men, though even the soft down on his cheek\nshowed not yet; with such courage was his soul uplifted. But the others\ngave way to these in silence. And straightway Argus spake these words\nto those that longed for the contest:\n\n\u201cMy friends, this indeed is left us at the last. But I deem that there\nwill come to you some timely aid from my mother. Wherefore, eager\nthough ye be, refrain and abide in your ship a little longer as before,\nfor it is better to forbear than recklessly to choose an evil fate.\nThere is a maiden, nurtured in the halls of Aeetes, whom the goddess\nHecate taught to handle magic herbs with exceeding skill all that the\nland and flowing waters produce. With them is quenched the blast of\nunwearied flame, and at once she stays the course of rivers as they\nrush roaring on, and checks the stars and the paths of the sacred moon.\nOf her we bethought us as we came hither along the path from the\npalace, if haply my mother, her own sister, might persuade her to aid\nus in the venture. And if this is pleasing to you as well, surely on\nthis very day will I return to the palace of Aeetes to make trial; and\nperchance with some god\u2019s help shall I make the trial.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and the gods in their goodwill gave them a sign. A\ntrembling dove in her flight from a mighty hawk fell from on high,\nterrified, into the lap of Aeson\u2019s son, and the hawk fell impaled on\nthe stern-ornament. And quickly Mopsus with prophetic words spake among\nthem all:\n\n\u201cFor you, friends, this sign has been wrought by the will of heaven; in\nno other way is it possible to interpret its meaning better, than to\nseek out the maiden and entreat her with manifold skill. And I think\nshe will not reject our prayer, if in truth Phineus said that our\nreturn should be with the help of the Cyprian goddess. It was her\ngentle bird that escaped death; and as my heart within me foresees\naccording to this omen, so may it prove! But, my friends, let us call\non Cytherea to aid us, and now at once obey the counsels of Argus.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and the warriors approved, remembering the injunctions of\nPhineus; but all alone leapt up Apharcian Idas and shouted loudly in\nterrible wrath: \u201cShame on us, have we come here fellow voyagers with\nwomen, calling on Cypris for help and not on the mighty strength of\nEnyalius? And do ye look to doves and hawks to save yourselves from\ncontests? Away with you, take thought not for deeds of war, but by\nsupplication to beguile weakling girls.\u201d\n\nSuch were his eager words; and of his comrades many murmured low, but\nnone uttered a word of answer back. And he sat down in wrath; and at\nonce Jason roused them and uttered his own thought: \u201cLet Argus set\nforth from the ship, since this pleases all; but we will now move from\nthe river and openly fasten our hawsers to the shore. For surely it is\nnot fitting for us to hide any longer cowering from the battle-cry.\u201d\n\nSo he spake, and straightway sent Argus to return in haste to the city;\nand they drew the anchors on board at the command of Aeson\u2019s son, and\nrowed the ship close to the shore, a little away from the back-water.\n\nBut straightway Aeetes held an assembly of the Colchians far aloof from\nhis palace at a spot where they sat in times before, to devise against\nthe Minyae grim treachery and troubles. And he threatened that when\nfirst the oxen should have torn in pieces the man who had taken upon\nhim to perform the heavy task, he would hew down the oak grove above\nthe wooded hill, and burn the ship and her crew, that so they might\nvent forth in ruin their grievous insolence, for all their haughty\nschemes. For never would he have welcomed the Aeolid Phrixus as a guest\nin his halls, in spite of his sore need, Phrixus, who surpassed all\nstrangers in gentleness and fear of the gods, had not Zeus himself sent\nHermes his messenger down from heaven, so that he might meet with a\nfriendly host; much less would pirates coming to his land be let go\nscatheless for long, men whose care it was to lift their hands and\nseize the goods of others, and to weave secret webs of guile, and harry\nthe steadings of herdsmen with ill-sounding forays. And he said that\nbesides all that the sons of Phrixus should pay a fitting penalty to\nhimself for returning in consort with evildoers, that they might\nrecklessly drive him from his honour and his throne; for once he had\nheard a baleful prophecy from his father Helios, that he must avoid the\nsecret treachery and schemes of his own offspring and their crafty\nmischief. Wherefore he was sending them, as they desired, to the\nAchaean land at the bidding of their father\u2014a long journey. Nor had he\never so slight a fear of his daughters, that they would form some\nhateful scheme, nor of his son Apsyrtus; but this curse was being\nfulfilled in the children of Chalciope. And he proclaimed terrible\nthings in his rage against the strangers, and loudly threatened to keep\nwatch over the ship and its crew, so that no one might escape calamity.\n\nMeantime Argus, going to Aeetes\u2019 palace, with manifold pleading\nbesought his mother to pray Medea\u2019s aid; and Chalciope herself already\nhad the same thoughts, but fear checked her soul lest haply either fate\nshould withstand and she should entreat her in vain, all distraught as\nshe would be at her father\u2019s deadly wrath, or, if Medea yielded to her\nprayers, her deeds should be laid bare and open to view.\n\nNow a deep slumber had relieved the maiden from her love-pains as she\nlay upon her couch. But straightway fearful dreams, deceitful, such as\ntrouble one in grief, assailed her. And she thought that the stranger\nhad taken on him the contest, not because he longed to win the ram\u2019s\nfleece, and that he had not come on that account to Aeetes\u2019 city, but\nto lead her away, his wedded wife, to his own home; and she dreamed\nthat herself contended with the oxen and wrought the task with\nexceeding ease; and that her own parents set at naught their promise,\nfor it was not the maiden they had challenged to yoke the oxen but the\nstranger himself; from that arose a contention of doubtful issue\nbetween her father and the strangers; and both laid the decision upon\nher, to be as she should direct in her mind. But she suddenly,\nneglecting her parents, chose the stranger. And measureless anguish\nseized them and they shouted out in their wrath; and with the cry sleep\nreleased its hold upon her. Quivering with fear she started up, and\nstared round the walls of her chamber, and with difficulty did she\ngather her spirit within her as before, and lifted her voice aloud:\n\n\u201cPoor wretch, how have gloomy dreams affrighted me! I fear that this\nvoyage of the heroes will bring some great evil. My heart is trembling\nfor the stranger. Let him woo some Achaean girl far away among his own\nfolk; let maidenhood be mine and the home of my parents. Yet, taking to\nmyself a reckless heart, I will no more keep aloof but will make trial\nof my sister to see if she will entreat me to aid in the contest,\nthrough grief for her own sons; this would quench the bitter pain in my\nheart.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and rising from her bed opened the door of her chamber,\nbare-footed, clad in one robe; and verily she desired to go to her\nsister, and crossed the threshold. And for long she stayed there at the\nentrance of her chamber, held back by shame; and she turned back once\nmore; and again she came forth from within, and again stole back; and\nidly did her feet bear her this way and that; yea, as oft as she went\nstraight on, shame held her within the chamber, and though held back by\nshame, bold desire kept urging her on. Thrice she made the attempt and\nthrice she checked herself, the fourth time she fell on her bed face\ndownward, writhing in pain. And as when a bride in her chamber bewails\nher youthful husband, to whom her brothers and parents have given her,\nnor yet does she hold converse with all her attendants for shame and\nfor thinking of him; but she sits apart in her grief; and some doom has\ndestroyed him, before they have had pleasure of each other\u2019s charms;\nand she with heart on fire silently weeps, beholding her widowed couch,\nin fear lest the women should mock and revile her; like to her did\nMedea lament. And suddenly as she was in the midst of her tears, one of\nthe handmaids came forth and noticed her, one who was her youthful\nattendant; and straightway she told Chalciope, who sat in the midst of\nher sons devising how to win over her sister. And when Chalciope heard\nthe strange tale from the handmaid, not even so did she disregard it.\nAnd she rushed in dismay from her chamber right on to the chamber where\nthe maiden lay in her anguish, having torn her cheeks on each side; and\nwhen Chalciope saw her eyes all dimmed with tears, she thus addressed\nher:\n\n\u201cAh me, Medea, why dost thou weep so? What hath befallen thee? What\nterrible grief has entered thy heart? Has some heaven-sent disease\nenwrapt thy frame, or hast thou heard from our father some deadly\nthreat concerning me and my sons? Would that I did not behold this home\nof my parents, or the city, but dwelt at the ends of the earth, where\nnot even the name of Colchians is known!\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and her sister\u2019s cheeks flushed; and though she was\neager to reply, long did maiden shame restrain her. At one moment the\nword rose on the end of her tongue, at another it fluttered back deep\nwithin her breast. And often through her lovely lips it strove for\nutterance; but no sound came forth; till at last she spoke with\nguileful words; for the bold Loves were pressing her hard:\n\n\u201cChalciope, my heart is all trembling for thy sons, lest my father\nforthwith destroy them together with the strangers. Slumbering just now\nin a short-lived sleep such a ghastly dream did I see\u2014may some god\nforbid its fulfilment and never mayst thou win for thyself bitter care\non thy sons\u2019 account.\u201d\n\nShe spake, making trial of her sister to see if she first would entreat\nhelp for her sons. And utterly unbearable grief surged over Chalciope\u2019s\nsoul for fear at what she heard; and then she replied: \u201cYea, I myself\ntoo have come to thee in eager furtherance of this purpose, if thou\nwouldst haply devise with me and prepare some help. But swear by Earth\nand Heaven that thou wilt keep secret in thy heart what I shall tell\nthee, and be fellow-worker with me. I implore thee by the blessed gods,\nby thyself and by thy parents, not to see them destroyed by an evil\ndoom piteously; or else may I die with my dear sons and come back\nhereafter from Hades an avenging Fury to haunt thee.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and straightway a torrent of tears gushed forth and low\ndown she clasped her sister\u2019s knees with both hands and let her head\nsink on to her breast. Then they both made piteous lamentation over\neach other, and through the halls rose the faint sound of women weeping\nin anguish. Medea, sore troubled, first addressed her sister:\n\n\u201cGod help thee, what healing can I bring thee for what thou speakest\nof, horrible curses and Furies? Would that it were firmly in my power\nto save thy sons! Be witness that mighty oath of the Colchians by which\nthou urgest me to swear, the great Heaven, and Earth beneath, mother of\nthe gods, that as far as strength lies in me, never shalt thou fail of\nhelp, if only thy prayers can be accomplished.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and Chalciope thus replied: \u201cCouldst thou not then, for the\nstranger\u2014who himself craves thy aid\u2014devise some trick or some wise\nthought to win the contest, for the sake of my sons? And from him has\ncome Argus urging me to try to win thy help; I left him in the palace\nmeantime while I came hither.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and Medea\u2019s heart bounded with joy within her, and at\nonce her fair cheeks flushed, and a mist swam before her melting eyes,\nand she spake as follows: \u201cChalciope, as is dear and delightful to thee\nand thy sons, even so will I do. Never may the dawn appear again to my\neyes, never mayst thou see me living any longer, if I should take\nthought for anything before thy life or thy sons\u2019 lives, for they are\nmy brothers, my dear kinsmen and youthful companions. So do I declare\nmyself to be thy sister, and thy daughter too, for thou didst lift me\nto thy breast when an infant equally with them, as I ever heard from my\nmother in past days. But go, bury my kindness in silence, so that I may\ncarry out my promise unknown to my parents; and at dawn I will bring to\nHecate\u2019s temple charms to cast a spell upon the bulls.\u201d\n\nThus Chalciope went back from the chamber, and made known to her sons\nthe help given by her sister. And again did shame and hateful fear\nseize Medea thus left alone, that she should devise such deeds for a\nman in her father\u2019s despite.\n\nThen did night draw darkness over the earth; and on the sea sailors\nfrom their ships looked towards the Bear and the stars of Orion; and\nnow the wayfarer and the warder longed for sleep, and the pall of\nslumber wrapped round the mother whose children were dead; nor was\nthere any more the barking of dogs through the city, nor sound of men\u2019s\nvoices; but silence held the blackening gloom. But not indeed upon\nMedea came sweet sleep. For in her love for Aeson\u2019s son many cares kept\nher wakeful, and she dreaded the mighty strength of the bulls, beneath\nwhose fury he was like to perish by an unseemly fate in the field of\nAres. And fast did her heart throb within her breast, as a sunbeam\nquivers upon the walls of a house when flung up from water, which is\njust poured forth in a caldron or a pail may be; and hither and thither\non the swift eddy does it dart and dance along; even so the maiden\u2019s\nheart quivered in her breast. And the tear of pity flowed from her\neyes, and ever within anguish tortured her, a smouldering fire through\nher frame, and about her fine nerves and deep down beneath the nape of\nthe neck where the pain enters keenest, whenever the unwearied Loves\ndirect against the heart their shafts of agony. And she thought now\nthat she would give him the charms to cast a spell on the bulls, now\nthat she would not, and that she herself would perish; and again that\nshe would not perish and would not give the charms, but just as she was\nwould endure her fate in silence. Then sitting down she wavered in mind\nand said:\n\n\u201cPoor wretch, must I toss hither and thither in woe? On every side my\nheart is in despair; nor is there any help for my pain; but it burneth\never thus. Would that I had been slain by the swift shafts of Artemis\nbefore I had set eyes on him, before Chalciope\u2019s sons reached the\nAchaean land. Some god or some Fury brought them hither for our grief,\na cause of many tears. Let him perish in the contest if it be his lot\nto die in the field. For how could I prepare the charms without my\nparents\u2019 knowledge? What story call I tell them? What trick, what\ncunning device for aid can I find? If I see him alone, apart from his\ncomrades, shall I greet him? Ill-starred that I am! I cannot hope that\nI should rest from my sorrows even though he perished; then will evil\ncome to me when he is bereft of life. Perish all shame, perish all\nglow; may he, saved by my effort, go scatheless wherever his heart\ndesires. But as for me, on the day when he bides the contest in\ntriumph, may I die either straining my neck in the noose from the\nroof-tree or tasting drugs destructive of life. But even so, when I am\ndead, they will fling out taunts against me; and every city far away\nwill ring with my doom, and the Colchian women, tossing my name on\ntheir lips hither and thither, will revile me with unseemly mocking\u2014the\nmaid who cared so much for a stranger that she died, the maid who\ndisgraced her home and her parents, yielding to a mad passion. And what\ndisgrace will not be mine? Alas for my infatuation! Far better would it\nbe for me to forsake life this very night in my chamber by some\nmysterious fate, escaping all slanderous reproach, before I complete\nsuch nameless dishonour.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and brought a casket wherein lay many drugs, some for\nhealing, others for killing, and placing it upon her knees she wept.\nAnd she drenched her bosom with ceaseless tears, which flowed in\ntorrents as she sat, bitterly bewailing her own fate. And she longed to\nchoose a murderous drug to taste it, and now she was loosening the\nbands of the casket eager to take it forth, unhappy maid! But suddenly\na deadly fear of hateful Hades came upon her heart. And long she held\nback in speechless horror, and all around her thronged visions of the\npleasing cares of life. She thought of all the delightful things that\nare among the living, she thought of her joyous playmates, as a maiden\nwill; and the sun grew sweeter than ever to behold, seeing that in\ntruth her soul yearned for all. And she put the casket again from off\nher knees, all changed by the prompting of Hera, and no more did she\nwaver in purpose; but longed for the rising dawn to appear quickly,\nthat she might give him the charms to work the spell as she had\npromised, and meet him face to face. And often did she loosen the bolts\nof her door, to watch for the faint gleam: and welcome to her did the\ndayspring shed its light, and folk began to stir throughout the city.\n\nThen Argus bade his brothers remain there to learn the maiden\u2019s mind\nand plans, but himself turned back and went to the ship.\n\nNow soon as ever the maiden saw the light of dawn, with her hands she\ngathered up her golden tresses which were floating round her shoulders\nin careless disarray, and bathed her tear-stained cheeks, and made her\nskin shine with ointment sweet as nectar; and she donned a beautiful\nrobe, fitted with well-bent clasps, and above on her head, divinely\nfair, she threw a veil gleaming like silver. And there, moving to and\nfro in the palace, she trod the ground forgetful of the heaven-sent\nwoes thronging round her and of others that were destined to follow.\nAnd she called to her maids. Twelve they were, who lay during the night\nin the vestibule of her fragrant chamber, young as herself, not yet\nsharing the bridal couch, and she bade them hastily yoke the mules to\nthe chariot to bear her to the beauteous shrine of Hecate. Thereupon\nthe handmaids were making ready the chariot; and Medea meanwhile took\nfrom the hollow casket a charm which men say is called the charm of\nPrometheus. If a man should anoint his body therewithal, having first\nappeased the Maiden, the only-begotten, with sacrifice by night, surely\nthat man could not be wounded by the stroke of bronze nor would he\nflinch from blazing fire; but for that day he would prove superior both\nin prowess and in might. It shot up first-born when the ravening eagle\non the rugged flanks of Caucasus let drip to the earth the blood-like\nichor[25] of tortured Prometheus. And its flower appeared a cubit above\nground in colour like the Corycian crocus, rising on twin stalks; but\nin the earth the root was like newly-cut flesh. The dark juice of it,\nlike the sap of a mountain-oak, she had gathered in a Caspian shell to\nmake the charm withal, when she had first bathed in seven ever-flowing\nstreams, and had called seven times on Brimo, nurse of youth,\nnight-wandering Brimo, of the underworld, queen among the dead,\u2014in the\ngloom of night, clad in dusky garments. And beneath, the dark earth\nshook and bellowed when the Titanian root was cut; and the son of\nIapetus himself groaned, his soul distraught with pain. And she brought\nthe charm forth and placed it in the fragrant band which engirdled her,\njust beneath her bosom, divinely fair. And going forth she mounted the\nswift chariot, and with her went two handmaidens on each side. And she\nherself took the reins and in her right hand the well-fashioned whip,\nand drove through the city; and the rest, the handmaids, laid their\nhands on the chariot behind and ran along the broad highway; and they\nkilted up their light robes above their white knees. And even as by the\nmild waters of Parthenius, or after bathing in the river Amnisus,\nLeto\u2019s daughter stands upon her golden chariot and courses over the\nhills with her swift-footed roes, to greet from afar some\nrichly-steaming hecatomb; and with her come the nymphs in attendance,\ngathering, some at the spring of Amnisus itself, others by the glens\nand many-fountained peaks; and round her whine and fawn the beasts\ncowering as she moves along: thus they sped through the city; and on\nboth sides the people gave way, shunning the eyes of the royal maiden.\nBut when she had left the city\u2019s well paved streets, and was\napproaching the shrine as she drove over the plains, then she alighted\neagerly from the smooth-running chariot and spake as follows among her\nmaidens:\n\n\u201cFriends, verily have I sinned greatly and took no heed not to go among\nthe stranger-folk[26] who roam over our land. The whole city is smitten\nwith dismay; wherefore no one of the women who formerly gathered here\nday by day has now come hither. But since we have come and no one else\ndraws near, come, let us satisfy our souls without stint with soothing\nsong, and when we have plucked the fair flowers amid the tender grass,\nthat very hour will we return. And with many a gift shall ye reach home\nthis very day, if ye will gladden me with this desire of mine. For\nArgus pleads with me, also Chalciope herself; but this that ye hear\nfrom me keep silently in your hearts, lest the tale reach my father\u2019s\nears. As for yon stranger who took on him the task with the oxen, they\nbid me receive his gifts and rescue him from the deadly contest. And I\napproved their counsel, and I have summoned him to come to my presence\napart from his comrades, so that we may divide the gifts among\nourselves if he bring them in his hands, and in return may give him a\nbaleful charm. But when he comes, do ye stand aloof.\u201d\n\nSo she spake, and the crafty counsel pleased them all. And straightway\nArgus drew Aeson\u2019s son apart from his comrades as soon as he heard from\nhis brothers that Medea had gone at daybreak to the holy shrine of\nHecate, and led him over the plain; and with them went Mopsus, son of\nAmpycus, skilled to utter oracles from the appearance of birds, and\nskilled to give good counsel to those who set out on a journey.\n\nNever yet had there been such a man in the days of old, neither of all\nthe heroes of the lineage of Zeus himself, nor of those who sprung from\nthe blood of the other gods, as on that day the bride of Zeus made\nJason, both to look upon and to hold converse with. Even his comrades\nwondered as they gazed upon him, radiant with manifold graces; and the\nson of Ampycus rejoiced in their journey, already foreboding how all\nwould end.\n\nNow by the path along the plain there stands near the shrine a poplar\nwith its crown of countless leaves, whereon often chattering crows\nwould roost. One of them meantime as she clapped her wings aloft in the\nbranches uttered the counsels of Hera:\n\n\u201cWhat a pitiful seer is this, that has not the wit to conceive even\nwhat children know, how that no maiden will say a word of sweetness or\nlove to a youth when strangers be near. Begone, sorry prophet, witless\none; on thee neither Cypris nor the gentle Loves breathe in their\nkindness.\u201d\n\nShe spake chiding, and Mopsus smiled to hear the god-sent voice of the\nbird, and thus addressed them: \u201cDo thou, son of Aeson, pass on to the\ntemple, where thou wilt find the maiden; and very kind will her\ngreeting be to thee through the prompting of Cypris, who will be thy\nhelpmate in the contest, even as Phineus, Agenor\u2019s son, foretold. But\nwe two, Argus and I, will await thy return, apart in this very spot; do\nthou all alone be a suppliant and win her over with prudent words.\u201d\n\nHe spake wisely, and both at once gave approval. Nor was Medea\u2019s heart\nturned to other thoughts, for all her singing, and never a song that\nshe essayed pleased her long in her sport. But in confusion she ever\nfaltered, nor did she keep her eyes resting quietly upon the throng of\nher handmaids; but to the paths far off she strained her gaze, turning\nher face aside. Oft did her heart sink fainting within her bosom\nwhenever she fancied she heard passing by the sound of a footfall or of\nthe wind. But soon he appeared to her longing eyes, striding along\nloftily, like Sirius coming from ocean, which rises fair and clear to\nsee, but brings unspeakable mischief to flocks; thus then did Aeson\u2019s\nson come to her, fair to see, but the sight of him brought love-sick\ncare. Her heart fell from out her bosom, and a dark mist came over her\neyes, and a hot blush covered her cheeks. And she had no strength to\nlift her knees backwards or forwards, but her feet beneath were rooted\nto the ground; and meantime all her handmaidens had drawn aside. So\nthey two stood face to face without a word, without a sound, like oaks\nor lofty pines, which stand quietly side by side on the mountains when\nthe wind is still; then again, when stirred by the breath of the wind,\nthey murmur ceaselessly; so they two were destined to tell out all\ntheir tale, stirred by the breath of Love. And Aeson\u2019s son saw that she\nhad fallen into some heaven-sent calamity, and with soothing words thus\naddressed her:\n\n\u201cWhy, pray, maiden, dost thou fear me so much, all alone as I am? Never\nwas I one of these idle boasters such as other men are\u2014not even\naforetime, when I dwelt in my own country. Wherefore, maiden, be not\ntoo much abashed before me, either to enquire whatever thou wilt or to\nspeak thy mind. But since we have met one another with friendly hearts,\nin a hallowed spot, where it is wrong to sin, speak openly and ask\nquestions, and beguile me not with pleasing words, for at the first\nthou didst promise thy sister to give me the charms my heart desires. I\nimplore thee by Hecate herself, by thy parents, and by Zeus who holds\nhis guardian hand over strangers and suppliants; I come here to thee\nboth a suppliant and a stranger, bending the knee in my sore need. For\nwithout thee and thy sister never shall I prevail in the grievous\ncontest. And to thee will I render thanks hereafter for thy aid, as is\nright and fitting for men who dwell far oft, making glorious thy name\nand fame; and the rest of the heroes, returning to Hellas, will spread\nthy renown and so will the heroes\u2019 wives and mothers, who now perhaps\nare sitting on the shore and making moan for us; their painful\naffliction thou mightest scatter to the winds. In days past the maiden\nAriadne, daughter of Minos, with kindly intent rescued Theseus from\ngrim contests\u2014the maiden whom Pasiphae daughter of Helios bare. But\nshe, when Minos had lulled his wrath to rest, went aboard the ship with\nhim and left her fatherland; and her even the immortal gods loved, and,\nas a sign in mid-sky, a crown of stars, which men call Ariadne\u2019s crown,\nrolls along all night among the heavenly constellations. So to thee too\nshall be thanks from the gods, if thou wilt save so mighty an array of\nchieftains. For surely from thy lovely form thou art like to excel in\ngentle courtest.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, honouring her; and she cast her eyes down with a smile\ndivinely sweet; and her soul melted within her, uplifted by his praise,\nand she gazed upon him face to face; nor did she know what word to\nutter first, but was eager to pour out everything at once. And forth\nfrom her fragrant girdle ungrudgingly she brought out the charm; and he\nat once received it in his hands with joy. And she would even have\ndrawn out all her soul from her breast and given it to him, exulting in\nhis desire; so wonderfully did love flash forth a sweet flame from the\ngolden head of Aeson\u2019s son; and he captivated her gleaming eyes; and\nher heart within grew warm, melting away as the dew melts away round\nroses when warmed by the morning\u2019s light. And now both were fixing\ntheir eyes on the ground abashed, and again were throwing glances at\neach other, smiling with the light of love beneath their radiant brows.\nAnd at last and scarcely then did the maiden greet him:\n\n\u201cTake heed now, that I may devise help for thee. When at thy coming my\nfather has given thee the deadly teeth from the dragon\u2019s jaws for\nsowing, then watch for the time when the night is parted in twain, then\nbathe in the stream of the tireless river, and alone, apart from\nothers, clad in dusky raiment, dig a rounded pit; and therein slay a\newe, and sacrifice it whole, heaping high the pyre on the very edge of\nthe pit. And propitiate only-begotten Hecate, daughter of Perses,\npouring from a goblet the hive-stored labour of bees. And then, when\nthou hast heedfully sought the grace of the goddess, retreat from the\npyre; and let neither the sound of feet drive thee to turn back, nor\nthe baying of hounds, lest haply thou shouldst maim all the rites and\nthyself fail to return duly to thy comrades. And at dawn steep this\ncharm in water, strip, and anoint thy body therewith as with oil; and\nin it there will be boundless prowess and mighty strength, and thou\nwilt deem thyself a match not for men but for the immortal gods. And\nbesides, let thy spear and shield and sword be sprinkled. Thereupon the\nspear-heads of the earthborn men shall not pierce thee, nor the flame\nof the deadly bulls as it rushes forth resistless. But such thou shalt\nbe not for long, but for that one day; still never flinch from the\ncontest. And I will tell thee besides of yet another help. As soon as\nthou hast yoked the strong oxen, and with thy might and thy prowess\nhast ploughed all the stubborn fallow, and now along the furrows the\nGiants are springing up, when the serpent\u2019s teeth are sown on the dusky\nclods, if thou markest them uprising in throngs from the fallow, cast\nunseen among them a massy stone; and they over it, like ravening hounds\nover their food, will slay one another; and do thou thyself hasten to\nrush to the battle-strife, and the fleece thereupon thou shalt bear far\naway from Aea; nevertheless, depart wherever thou wilt, or thy pleasure\ntakes thee, when thou hast gone hence.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and cast her eyes to her feet in silence, and her\ncheek, divinely fair, was wet with warm tears as she sorrowed for that\nhe was about to wander far from her side over the wide sea: and once\nagain she addressed him face to face with mournful words, and took his\nright hand; for now shame had left her eyes:\n\n\u201cRemember, if haply thou returnest to thy home, Medea\u2019s name; and so\nwill I remember thine, though thou be far away. And of thy kindness\ntell me this, where is thy home, whither wilt thou sail hence in thy\nship over the sea; wilt thou come near wealthy Orchomenus, or near the\nAeaean isle? And tell me of the maiden, whosoever she be that thou hast\nnamed, the far-renowned daughter of Pasiphae, who is kinswoman to my\nfather.\u201d\n\nThus she spake; and over him too, at the tears of the maiden, stole\nLove the destroyer, and he thus answered her:\n\n\u201cAll too surely do I deem that never by night and never by day will I\nforget thee if I escape death and indeed make my way in safety to the\nAchaean land, and Aeetes set not before us some other contest worse\nthan this. And if it pleases thee to know about my fatherland, I will\ntell it out; for indeed my own heart bids me do that. There is a land\nencircled by lofty mountains, rich in sheep and in pasture, where\nPrometheus, son of Iapetus, begat goodly Deucalion, who first founded\ncities and reared temples to the immortal gods, and first ruled over\nmen. This land the neighbours who dwell around call Haemonia. And in it\nstands Ioleus, my city, and in it many others, where they have not so\nmuch as heard the name of the Aeaean isle; yet there is a story that\nMinyas starting thence, Minyas son of Aeolus, built long ago the city\nof Orchomenus that borders on the Cadmeians. But why do I tell thee all\nthis vain talk, of our home and of Minos\u2019 daughter, far-famed Ariadne,\nby which glorious name they called that lovely maiden of whom thou\naskest me? Would that, as Minos then was well inclined to Theseus for\nher sake, so may thy father be joined to us in friendship!\u201d\n\nThus he spake, soothing her with gentle converse. But pangs most bitter\nstirred her heart and in grief did she address him with vehement words:\n\n\u201cIn Hellas, I ween, this is fair to pay heed to covenants; but Aeetes\nis not such a man among men as thou sayest was Pasiphae\u2019s husband,\nMinos; nor can I liken myself to Ariadne; wherefore speak not of\nguest-love. But only do thou, when thou hast reached Iolcus, remember\nme, and thee even in my parents\u2019 despite, will I remember. And from far\noff may a rumour come to me or some messenger-bird, when thou\nforgettest me; or me, even me, may swift blasts catch up and bear over\nthe sea hence to Iolcus, that so I may cast reproaches in thy face and\nremind thee that it was by my good will thou didst escape. May I then\nbe seated in thy halls, an unexpected guest!\u201d\n\nThus she spake with piteous tears falling down her cheeks, and to her\nJason replied: \u201cLet the empty blasts wander at will, lady, and the\nmessenger-bird, for vain is thy talk. But if thou comest to those\nabodes and to the land of Hellas, honoured and reverenced shalt thou be\nby women and men; and they shall worship thee even as a goddess, for\nthat by thy counsel their sons came home again, their brothers and\nkinsmen and stalwart husbands were saved from calamity. And in our\nbridal chamber shalt thou prepare our couch; and nothing shall come\nbetween our love till the doom of death fold us round.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and her soul melted within her to hear his words;\nnevertheless she shuddered to behold the deeds of destruction to come.\nPoor wretch! Not long was she destined to refuse a home in Hellas. For\nthus Hera devised it, that Aeaean Medea might come to Ioleus for a bane\nto Pelias, forsaking her native land.\n\nAnd now her handmaids, glancing at them from a distance, were grieving\nin silence; and the time of day required that the maiden should return\nhome to her mother\u2019s side. But she thought not yet of departing, for\nher soul delighted both in his beauty and in his winsome words, but\nAeson\u2019s son took heed, and spake at last, though late: \u201cIt is time to\ndepart, lest the sunlight sink before we know it, and some stranger\nnotice all; but again will we come and meet here.\u201d\n\nSo did they two make trial of one another thus far with gentle words;\nand thereafter parted. Jason hastened to return in joyous mood to his\ncomrades and the ship, she to her handmaids; and they all together came\nnear to meet her, but she marked them not at all as they thronged\naround. For her soul had soared aloft amid the clouds. And her feet of\ntheir own accord mounted the swift chariot, and with one hand she took\nthe reins, and with the other the whip of cunning workmanship, to drive\nthe mules; and they rushed hasting to the city and the palace. And when\nshe was come Chalciope in grief for her sons questioned her; but Medea,\ndistraught by swiftly-changing thoughts, neither heard her words nor\nwas eager to speak in answer to her questions. But she sat upon a low\nstool at the foot of her couch, bending down, her cheek leaning on her\nleft hand, and her eyes were wet with tears as she pondered what an\nevil deed she had taken part in by her counsels.\n\nNow when Aeson\u2019s son had joined his comrades again in the spot where he\nhad left them when he departed, he set out to go with them, telling\nthem all the story, to the gathering of the heroes; and together they\napproached the ship. And when they saw Jason they embraced him and\nquestioned him. And he told to all the counsels of the maiden and\nshowed the dread charm; but Idas alone of his comrades sat apart biting\ndown his wrath; and the rest joyous in heart, at the hour when the\ndarkness of night stayed them, peacefully took thought for themselves.\nBut at daybreak they sent two men to go to Aeetes and ask for the seed,\nfirst Telamon himself, dear to Ares, and with him Aethalides, Hermes\u2019\nfamous son. So they went and made no vain journey; but when they came,\nlordly Aeetes gave them for the contest the fell teeth of the Aonian\ndragon which Cadmus found in Ogygian Thebes when he came seeking for\nEuropa and there slew the\u2014warder of the spring of Ares. There he\nsettled by the guidance of the heifer whom Apollo by his prophetic word\ngranted him to lead him on his way. But the teeth the Tritonian goddess\ntore away from the dragon\u2019s jaws and bestowed as a gift upon Aeetes and\nthe slayer. And Agenor\u2019s son, Cadmus, sowed them on the Aonian plains\nand founded an earthborn people of all who were left from the spear\nwhen Ares did the reaping; and the teeth Aeetes then readily gave to be\nborne to the ship, for he deemed not that Jason would bring the contest\nto an end, even though he should cast the yoke upon the oxen.\n\nFar away in the west the sun was sailing beneath the dark earth, beyond\nthe furthest hills of the Aethiopians; and Night was laying the yoke\nupon her steeds; and the heroes were preparing their beds by the\nhawsers. But Jason, as soon as the stars of Heliee, the bright-gleaming\nbear, had set, and the air had all grown still under heaven, went to a\ndesert spot, like some stealthy thief, with all that was needful; for\nbeforehand in the daytime had he taken thought for everything; and\nArgus came bringing a ewe and milk from the flock; and them he took\nfrom the ship. But when the hero saw a place which was far away from\nthe tread of men, in a clear meadow beneath the open sky, there first\nof all he bathed his tender body reverently in the sacred river; and\nround him he placed a dark robe, which Hypsipyle of Lemnos had given\nhim aforetime, a memorial of many a loving embrace. Then he dug a pit\nin the ground of a cubit\u2019s depth and heaped up billets of wood, and\nover it he cut the throat of the sheep, and duly placed the carcase\nabove; and he kindled the logs placing fire beneath, and poured over\nthem mingled libations, calling on Hecate Brimo to aid him in the\ncontests. And when he had called on her he drew back; and she heard\nhim, the dread goddess, from the uttermost depths and came to the\nsacrifice of Aeson\u2019s son; and round her horrible serpents twined\nthemselves among the oak boughs; and there was a gleam of countless\ntorches; and sharply howled around her the hounds of hell. All the\nmeadows trembled at her step; and the nymphs that haunt the marsh and\nthe river shrieked, all who dance round that mead of Amarantian Phasis.\nAnd fear seized Aeson\u2019s son, but not even so did he turn round as his\nfeet bore him forth, till he came back to his comrades; and now early\ndawn arose and shed her light above snowy Caucasus.\n\nThen Aeetes arrayed his breast in the stiff corslet which Ares gave him\nwhen he had slain Phlegraean Mimas with his own hands; and upon his\nhead he placed a golden helmet with four plumes, gleaming like the\nsun\u2019s round light when he first rises from Ocean. And he wielded his\nshield of many hides, and his spear, terrible, resistless; none of the\nheroes could have withstood its shock now that they had left behind\nHeracles far away, who alone could have met it in battle. For the king\nhis well-fashioned chariot of swift steeds was held near at hand by\nPhaethon, for him to mount; and he mounted, and held the reins in his\nhands. Then from the city he drove along the broad highway, that he\nmight be present at the contest; and with him a countless multitude\nrushed forth. And as Poseidon rides, mounted in his chariot, to the\nIsthmian contest or to Taenarus, or to Lerna\u2019s water, or through the\ngrove of Hyantian Onchestus, and thereafter passes even to Calaureia\nwith his steeds, and the Haemonian rock, or well-wooded Geraestus; even\nso was Aeetes, lord of the Colchians, to behold.\n\nMeanwhile, prompted by Medea, Jason steeped the charm in water and\nsprinkled with it his shield and sturdy spear, and sword; and his\ncomrades round him made proof of his weapons with might and main, but\ncould not bend that spear even a little, but it remained firm in their\nstalwart hands unbroken as before. But in furious rage with them Idas,\nAphareus\u2019 son, with his great sword hewed at the spear near the butt,\nand the edge leapt back repelled by the shock, like a hammer from the\nanvil; and the heroes shouted with joy for their hope in the contest.\nAnd then he sprinkled his body, and terrible prowess entered into him,\nunspeakable, dauntless; and his hands on both sides thrilled vigorously\nas they swelled with strength. And as when a warlike steed eager for\nthe fight neighs and beats the ground with his hoof, while rejoicing he\nlifts his neck on high with ears erect; in such wise did Aeson\u2019s son\nrejoice in the strength of his limbs. And often hither and thither did\nhe leap high in air tossing in his hands his shield of bronze and ashen\nspear. Thou wouldst say that wintry lightning flashing from the gloomy\nsky kept on darting forth from the clouds what time they bring with\nthem their blackest rainstorm. Not long after that were the heroes to\nhold back from the contests; but sitting in rows on their benches they\nsped swiftly on to the plain of Ares. And it lay in front of them on\nthe opposite side of the city, as far off as is the turning-post that a\nchariot must reach from the starting-point, when the kinsmen of a dead\nking appoint funeral games for footmen and horsemen. And they found\nAeetes and the tribes of the Colchians; these were stationed on the\nCaucasian heights, but the king by the winding brink of the river.\n\nNow Aeson\u2019s son, as soon as his comrades had made the hawsers fast,\nleapt from the ship, and with spear and shield came forth to the\ncontest; and at the same time he took the gleaming helmet of bronze\nfilled with sharp teeth, and his sword girt round his shoulders, his\nbody stripped, in somewise resembling Ares and in somewise Apollo of\nthe golden sword. And gazing over the field he saw the bulls\u2019 yoke of\nbronze and near it the plough, all of one piece, of stubborn adamant.\nThen he came near, and fixed his sturdy spear upright on its butt, and\ntaking his helmet, off leant it against the spear. And he went forward\nwith shield alone to examine the countless tracks of the bulls, and\nthey from some unseen lair beneath the earth, where was their strong\nsteading, wrapt in murky smoke, both rushed out together, breathing\nforth flaming fire. And sore afraid were the heroes at the sight. But\nJason, setting wide his feet, withstood their onset, as in the sea a\nrocky reef withstands the waves tossed by the countless blasts. Then in\nfront of him he held his shield; and both the bulls with loud bellowing\nattacked him with their mighty horns; nor did they stir him a jot by\ntheir onset. And as when through the holes of the furnace the\narmourers\u2019 bellows anon gleam brightly, kindling the ravening flame,\nand anon cease from blowing, and a terrible roar rises from the fire\nwhen it darts up from below; so the bulls roared, breathing forth swift\nflame from their mouths, while the consuming heat played round him,\nsmiting like lightning; but the maiden\u2019s charms protected him. Then\ngrasping the tip of the horn of the right-hand bull, he dragged it\nmightily with all his strength to bring it near the yoke of bronze, and\nforced it down on to its knees, suddenly striking with his foot the\nfoot of bronze. So also he threw the other bull on to its knees as it\nrushed upon him, and smote it down with one blow. And throwing to the\nground his broad shield, he held them both down where they had fallen\non their fore-knees, as he strode from side to side, now here, now\nthere, and rushed swiftly through the flame. But Aeetes marvelled at\nthe hero\u2019s might. And meantime the sons of Tyndareus for long since had\nit been thus ordained for them\u2014near at hand gave him the yoke from the\nground to cast round them. Then tightly did he bind their necks; and\nlifting the pole of bronze between them, he fastened it to the yoke by\nits golden tip. So the twin heroes started back from the fire to the\nship. But Jason took up again his shield and cast it on his back behind\nhim, and grasped the strong helmet filled with sharp teeth, and his\nresistless spear, wherewith, like some ploughman with a Pelasgian goad,\nhe pricked the bulls beneath, striking their flanks; and very firmly\ndid he guide the well fitted plough handle, fashioned of adamant.\n\nThe bulls meantime raged exceedingly, breathing forth furious flame of\nfire; and their breath rose up like the roar of blustering winds, in\nfear of which above all seafaring men furl their large sail. But not\nlong after that they moved on at the bidding of the spear; and behind\nthem the rugged fallow was broken up, cloven by the might of the bulls\nand the sturdy ploughman. Then terribly groaned the clods withal along\nthe furrows of the plough as they were rent, each a man\u2019s burden; and\nJason followed, pressing down the cornfield with firm foot; and far\nfrom him he ever sowed the teeth along the clods as each was ploughed,\nturning his head back for fear lest the deadly crop of earthborn men\nshould rise against him first; and the bulls toiled onwards treading\nwith their hoofs of bronze.\n\nBut when the third part of the day was still left as it wanes from\ndawn, and wearied labourers call for the sweet hour of unyoking to come\nto them straightway, then the fallow was ploughed by the tireless\nploughman, four plough-gates though it was; and he loosed the plough\nfrom the oxen. Them he scared in flight towards the plain; but he went\nback again to the ship, while he still saw the furrows free of the\nearthborn men. And all round his comrades heartened him with their\nshouts. And in the helmet he drew from the river\u2019s stream and quenched\nhis thirst with the water. Then he bent his knees till they grew\nsupple, and filled his mighty heart with courage, raging like a boar,\nwhen it sharpens its teeth against the hunters, while from its wrathful\nmouth plenteous foam drips to the ground. By now the earthborn men were\nspringing up over all the field; and the plot of Ares, the\ndeath-dealer, bristled with sturdy shields and double-pointed spears\nand shining helmets; and the gleam reached Olympus from beneath,\nflashing through the air. And as when abundant snow has fallen on the\nearth and the storm blasts have dispersed the wintry clouds under the\nmurky night, and all the hosts of the stars appear shining through the\ngloom; so did those warriors shine springing up above the earth. But\nJason bethought him of the counsels of Medea full of craft, and seized\nfrom the plain a huge round boulder, a terrible quoit of Ares Enyalius;\nfour stalwart youths could not have raised it from the ground even a\nlittle. Taking it in his hands he threw it with a rush far away into\ntheir midst; and himself crouched unseen behind his shield, with full\nconfidence. And the Colchians gave a loud cry, like the roar of the sea\nwhen it beats upon sharp crags; and speechless amazement seized Aeetes\nat the rush of the sturdy quoit. And the Earthborn, like fleet-footed\nhounds, leaped upon one another and slew with loud yells; and on earth\ntheir mother they fell beneath their own spears, likes pines or oaks,\nwhich storms of wind beat down. And even as a fiery star leaps from\nheaven, trailing a furrow of light, a portent to men, whoever see it\ndarting with a gleam through the dusky sky; in such wise did Aeson\u2019s\nson rush upon the earthborn men, and he drew from the sheath his bare\nsword, and smote here and there, mowing them down, many on the belly\nand side, half risen to the air\u2014and some that had risen as far as the\nshoulders\u2014and some just standing upright, and others even now rushing\nto battle. And as when a fight is stirred up concerning boundaries, and\na husbandman, in fear lest they should ravage his fields, seizes in his\nhand a curved sickle, newly sharpened, and hastily cuts the unripe\ncrop, and waits not for it to be parched in due season by the beams of\nthe sun; so at that time did Jason cut down the crop of the Earthborn;\nand the furrows were filled with blood, as the channels of a spring\nwith water. And they fell, some on their faces biting the rough clod of\nearth with their teeth, some on their backs, and others on their hands\nand sides, like to sea-monsters to behold. And many, smitten before\nraising their feet from the earth, bowed down as far to the ground as\nthey had risen to the air, and rested there with the damp of death on\ntheir brows. Even so, I ween, when Zeus has sent a measureless rain,\nnew planted orchard-shoots droop to the ground, cut off by the root the\ntoil of gardening men; but heaviness of heart and deadly anguish come\nto the owner of the farm, who planted them; so at that time did bitter\ngrief come upon the heart of King Aeetes. And he went back to the city\namong the Colchians, pondering how he might most quickly oppose the\nheroes. And the day died, and Jason\u2019s contest was ended.\n\n\n\n\nBOOK IV\n\n\nNow do thou thyself, goddess Muse, daughter of Zeus, tell of the labour\nand wiles of the Colchian maiden. Surely my soul within me wavers with\nspeechless amazement as I ponder whether I should call it the lovesick\ngrief of mad passion or a panic flight, through which she left the\nColchian folk.\n\nAeetes all night long with the bravest captains of his people was\ndevising in his halls sheer treachery against the heroes, with fierce\nwrath in his heart at the issue of the hateful contest; nor did he deem\nat all that these things were being accomplished without the knowledge\nof his daughters.\n\nBut into Medea\u2019s heart Hera cast most grievous fear; and she trembled\nlike a nimble fawn whom the baying of hounds hath terrified amid the\nthicket of a deep copse. For at once she truly forboded that the aid\nshe had given was not hidden from her father, and that quickly she\nwould fill up the cup of woe. And she dreaded the guilty knowledge of\nher handmaids; her eyes were filled with fire and her ears rung with a\nterrible cry. Often did she clutch at her throat, and often did she\ndrag out her hair by the roots and groan in wretched despair. There on\nthat very day the maiden would have tasted the drugs and perished and\nso have made void the purposes of Hera, had not the goddess driven her,\nall bewildered, to flee with the sons of Phrixus; and her fluttering\nsoul within her was comforted; and then she poured from her bosom all\nthe drugs back again into the casket. Then she kissed her bed, and the\nfolding-doors on both sides, and stroked the walls, and tearing away in\nher hands a long tress of hair, she left it in the chamber for her\nmother, a memorial of her maidenhood, and thus lamented with passionate\nvoice:\n\n\u201cI go, leaving this long tress here in my stead, O mother mine; take\nthis farewell from me as I go far hence; farewell Chalciope, and all my\nhome. Would that the sea, stranger, had dashed thee to pieces, ere thou\ncamest to the Colchian land!\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and from her eyes shed copious tears. And as a bondmaid\nsteals away from a wealthy house, whom fate has lately severed from her\nnative land, nor yet has she made trial of grievous toil, but still\nunschooled to misery and shrinking in terror from slavish tasks, goes\nabout beneath the cruel hands of a mistress; even so the lovely maiden\nrushed forth from her home. But to her the bolts of the doors gave way\nself-moved, leaping backwards at the swift strains of her magic song.\nAnd with bare feet she sped along the narrow paths, with her left hand\nholding her robe over her brow to veil her face and fair cheeks, and\nwith her right lifting up the hem of her tunic. Quickly along the dark\ntrack, outside the towers of the spacious city, did she come in fear;\nnor did any of the warders note her, but she sped on unseen by them.\nThence she was minded to go to the temple; for well she knew the way,\nhaving often aforetime wandered there in quest of corpses and noxious\nroots of the earth, as a sorceress is wont to do; and her soul\nfluttered with quivering fear. And the Titanian goddess, the moon,\nrising from a far land, beheld her as she fled distraught, and fiercely\nexulted over her, and thus spake to her own heart:\n\n\u201cNot I alone then stray to the Latinian cave, nor do I alone burn with\nlove for fair Endymion; oft times with thoughts of love have I been\ndriven away by thy crafty spells, in order that in the darkness of\nnight thou mightest work thy sorcery at ease, even the deeds dear to\nthee. And now thou thyself too hast part in a like mad passion; and\nsome god of affection has given thee Jason to be thy grievous woe.\nWell, go on, and steel thy heart, wise though thou be, to take up thy\nburden of pain, fraught with many sighs.\u201d\n\nThus spake the goddess; but swiftly the maiden\u2019s feet bore her, hasting\non. And gladly did she gain the high-bank of the river and beheld on\nthe opposite side the gleam of fire, which all night long the heroes\nwere kindling in joy at the contest\u2019s issue. Then through the gloom,\nwith clear-pealing voice from across the stream, she called on\nPhrontis, the youngest of Phrixus\u2019 sons, and he with his brothers and\nAeson\u2019s son recognised the maiden\u2019s voice; and in silence his comrades\nwondered when they knew that it was so in truth. Thrice she called, and\nthrice at the bidding of the company Phrontis called out in reply; and\nmeantime the heroes were rowing with swift-moving oars in search of\nher. Not yet were they casting the ship\u2019s hawsers upon the opposite\nbank, when Jason with light feet leapt to land from the deck above, and\nafter him Phrontis and Argus, sons of Phrixus, leapt to the ground; and\nshe, clasping their knees with both hands, thus addressed them:\n\n\u201cSave me, the hapless one, my friends, from Aeetes, and yourselves too,\nfor all is brought to light, nor doth any remedy come. But let us flee\nupon the ship, before the king mounts his swift chariot. And I will\nlull to sleep the guardian serpent and give you the fleece of gold; but\ndo thou, stranger, amid thy comrades make the gods witness of the vows\nthou hast taken on thyself for my sake; and now that I have fled far\nfrom my country, make me not a mark for blame and dishonour for want of\nkinsmen.\u201d\n\nShe spake in anguish; but greatly did the heart of Aeson\u2019s son rejoice,\nand at once, as she fell at his knees, he raised her gently and\nembraced her, and spake words of comfort: \u201cLady, let Zeus of Olympus\nhimself be witness to my oath, and Hera, queen of marriage, bride of\nZeus, that I will set thee in my halls my own wedded wife, when we have\nreached the land of Hellas on our return.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and straightway clasped her right hand in his; and she\nbade them row the swift ship to the sacred grove near at hand, in order\nthat, while it was still night, they might seize and carry off the\nfleece against the will of Aeetes. Word and deed were one to the eager\ncrew. For they took her on board, and straightway thrust the ship from\nshore; and loud was the din as the chieftains strained at their oars,\nbut she, starting back, held out her hands in despair towards the\nshore. But Jason spoke cheering words and restrained her grief.\n\nNow at the hour when men have cast sleep from their eyes~huntsmen, who,\ntrusting to their bounds, never slumber away the end of night, but\navoid the light of dawn lest, smiting with its white beams, it efface\nthe track and scent of the quarry\u2014then did Aeson\u2019s son and the maiden\nstep forth from the ship over a grassy spot, the \u201cRam\u2019s couch\u201d as men\ncall it, where it first bent its wearied knees in rest, bearing on its\nback the Minyan son of Athamas. And close by, all smirched with soot,\nwas the base of the altar, which the Aeolid Phrixus once set up to\nZeus, the alder of fugitives, when he sacrificed the golden wonder at\nthe bidding of Hermes who graciously met him on the way. There by the\ncounsels of Argus the chieftains put them ashore.\n\nAnd they two by the pathway came to the sacred grove, seeking the huge\noak tree on which was hung the fleece, like to a cloud that blushes red\nwith the fiery beams of the rising sun. But right in front the serpent\nwith his keen sleepless eyes saw them coming, and stretched out his\nlong neck and hissed in awful wise; and all round the long banks of the\nriver echoed and the boundless grove. Those heard it who dwelt in the\nColchian land very far from Titanian Aea, near the outfall of Lycus,\nthe river which parts from loud-roaring Araxes and blends his sacred\nstream with Phasis, and they twain flow on together in one and pour\ntheir waters into the Caucasian Sea. And through fear young mothers\nawoke, and round their new-born babes, who were sleeping in their arms,\nthrew their hands in agony, for the small limbs started at that hiss.\nAnd as when above a pile of smouldering wood countless eddies of smoke\nroll up mingled with soot, and one ever springs up quickly after\nanother, rising aloft from beneath in wavering wreaths; so at that time\ndid that monster roll his countless coils covered with hard dry scales.\nAnd as he writhed, the maiden came before his eyes, with sweet voice\ncalling to her aid sleep, highest of gods, to charm the monster; and\nshe cried to the queen of the underworld, the night-wanderer, to be\npropitious to her enterprise. And Aeson\u2019s son followed in fear, but the\nserpent, already charmed by her song, was relaxing the long ridge of\nhis giant spine, and lengthening out his myriad coils, like a dark\nwave, dumb and noiseless, rolling over a sluggish sea; but still he\nraised aloft his grisly head, eager to enclose them both in his\nmurderous jaws. But she with a newly cut spray of juniper, dipping and\ndrawing untempered charms from her mystic brew, sprinkled his eyes,\nwhile she chanted her song; and all around the potent scent of the\ncharm cast sleep; and on the very spot he let his jaw sink down; and\nfar behind through the wood with its many trees were those countless\ncoils stretched out.\n\nHereupon Jason snatched the golden fleece from the oak, at the maiden\nbidding; and she, standing firm, smeared with the charm the monster\u2019s\nhead, till Jason himself bade her turn back towards their ship, and she\nleft the grove of Ares, dusky with shade. And as a maiden catches on\nher finely wrought robe the gleam of the moon at the full, as it rises\nabove her high-roofed chamber; and her heart rejoices as she beholds\nthe fair ray; so at that time did Jason uplift the mighty fleece in his\nhands; and from the shimmering of the flocks of wool there settled on\nhis fair cheeks and brow a red flush like a flame. And great as is the\nhide of a yearling ox or stag, which huntsmen call a brocket, so great\nin extent was the fleece all golden above. Heavy it was, thickly\nclustered with flocks; and as he moved along, even beneath his feet the\nsheen rose up from the earth. And he strode on now with the fleece\ncovering his left shoulder from the height of his neck to his feet, and\nnow again he gathered it up in his hands; for he feared exceedingly,\nlest some god or man should meet him and deprive him thereof.\n\nDawn was spreading over the earth when they reached the throng of\nheroes; and the youths marvelled to behold the mighty fleece, which\ngleamed like the lightning of Zeus. And each one started up eager to\ntouch it and clasp it in his hands. But the son of Aeson restrained\nthem all, and threw over it a mantle newly-woven; and he led the maiden\nto the stern and seated her there, and spake to them all as follows:\n\n\u201cNo longer now, my friends, forbear to return to your fatherland. For\nnow the task for which we dared this grievous voyage, toiling with\nbitter sorrow of heart, has been lightly fulfilled by the maiden\u2019s\ncounsels. Her\u2014for such is her will\u2014I will bring home to be my wedded\nwife; do ye preserve her, the glorious saviour of all Achaea and of\nyourselves. For of a surety, I ween, will Aeetes come with his host to\nbar our passage from the river into the sea. But do some of you toil at\nthe oars in turn, sitting man by man; and half of you raise your\nshields of oxhide, a ready defence against the darts of the enemy, and\nguard our return. And now in our hands we hold the fate of our children\nand dear country and of our aged parents; and on our venture all Hellas\ndepends, to reap either the shame of failure or great renown.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and donned his armour of war; and they cried aloud,\nwondrously eager. And he drew his sword from the sheath and cut the\nhawsers at the stern. And near the maiden he took his stand ready armed\nby the steersman Aneaeus, and with their rowing the ship sped on as\nthey strained desperately to drive her clear of the river.\n\nBy this time Medea\u2019s love and deeds had become known to haughty Aeetes\nand to all the Colchians. And they thronged to the assembly in arms;\nand countless as the waves of the stormy sea when they rise crested by\nthe wind, or as the leaves that fall to the ground from the wood with\nits myriad branches in the month when the leaves fall\u2014who could reckon\ntheir tale?\u2014so they in countless number poured along the banks of the\nriver shouting in frenzy; and in his shapely chariot Aeetes shone forth\nabove all with his steeds, the gift of Helios, swift as the blasts of\nthe wind. In his left hand he raised his curved shield, and in his\nright a huge pine-torch, and near him in front stood up his mighty\nspear. And Apsyrtus held in his hands the reins of the steeds. But\nalready the ship was cleaving the sea before her, urged on by stalwart\noarsmen, and the stream of the mighty river rushing down. But the king\nin grievous anguish lifted his hands and called on Helios and Zeus to\nbear witness to their evil deeds; and terrible threats he uttered\nagainst all his people, that unless they should with their own hands\nseize the maiden, either on the land or still finding the ship on the\nswell of the open sea, and bring her back, that so he might satisfy his\neager soul with vengeance for all those deeds, at the cost of their own\nlives they should learn and abide all his rage and revenge.\n\nThus spake Aeetes; and on that same day the Colchians launched their\nships and cast the tackle on board, and on that same day sailed forth\non the sea; thou wouldst not say so mighty a host was a fleet of ships,\nbut that a countless flight of birds, swarm on swarm, was clamouring\nover the sea.\n\nSwiftly the wind blew, as the goddess Hera planned, so that most\nquickly Aeaean Medea might reach the Pelasgian land, a bane to the\nhouse of Pelias, and on the third morn they bound the ship\u2019s stern\ncables to the shores of the Paphlagonians, at the mouth of the river\nHalys. For Medea bade them land and propitiate Hecate with sacrifice.\nNow all that the maiden prepared for offering the sacrifice may no man\nknow, and may my soul not urge me to sing thereof. Awe restrains my\nlips, yet from that time the altar which the heroes raised on the beach\nto the goddess remains till now, a sight to men of a later day.\n\nAnd straightway Aeson\u2019s son and the rest of the heroes bethought them\nof Phineus, how that he had said that their course from Aea should be\ndifferent, but to all alike his meaning was dim. Then Argus spake, and\nthey eagerly hearkened:\n\n\u201cWe go to Orchomenus, whither that unerring seer, whom ye met\naforetime, foretold your voyage. For there is another course, signified\nby those priests of the immortal gods, who have sprung from Tritonian\nThebes. As yet all the stars that wheel in the heaven were not, nor\nyet, though one should inquire, could aught be heard of the sacred race\nof the Danai. Apidanean Arcadians alone existed, Arcadians who lived\neven before the moon, it is said, eating acorns on the hills; nor at\nthat time was the Pelasgian land ruled by the glorious sons of\nDeucalion, in the days when Egypt, mother of men of an older time, was\ncalled the fertile Morning-land, and the river fair-flowing Triton, by\nwhich all the Morning-land is watered; and never does the rain from\nZeus moisten the earth; but from the flooding of the river abundant\ncrops spring up. From this land, it is said, a king[27] made his way\nall round through the whole of Europe and Asia, trusting in the might\nand strength and courage of his people; and countless cities did he\nfound wherever he came, whereof some are still inhabited and some not;\nmany an age hath passed since then. But Aea abides unshaken even now\nand the sons of those men whom that king settled to dwell in Aea. They\npreserve the writings of their fathers, graven on pillars, whereon are\nmarked all the ways and the limits of sea and land as ye journey on all\nsides round. There is a river, the uttermost horn of Ocean, broad and\nexceeding deep, that a merchant ship may traverse; they call it Ister\nand have marked it far off; and for a while it cleaves the boundless\ntilth alone in one stream; for beyond the blasts of the north wind, far\noff in the Rhipaean mountains, its springs burst forth with a roar. But\nwhen it enters the boundaries of the Thracians and Scythians, here,\ndividing its stream into two, it sends its waters partly into the\nIonian sea,[28] and partly to the south into a deep gulf that bends\nupwards from the Trinaerian sea, that sea which lies along your land,\nif indeed Achelous flows forth from your land.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and to them the goddess granted a happy portent, and all\nat the sight shouted approval, that this was their appointed path. For\nbefore them appeared a trail of heavenly light, a sign where they might\npass. And gladly they left behind there the son of Lyeus and with\ncanvas outspread sailed over the sea, with their eyes on the\nPaphlagonian mountains. But they did not round Carambis, for the winds\nand the gleam of the heavenly fire stayed with them till they reached\nIster\u2019s mighty stream.\n\nNow some of the Colchians, in a vain search, passed out from Pontus\nthrough the Cyanean rocks; but the rest went to the river, and them\nApsyrtus led, and, turning aside, he entered the mouth called Fair.\nWherefore he outstripped the heroes by crossing a neck of land into the\nfurthest gulf of the Ionian sea. For a certain island is enclosed by\nIster, by name Peuee, three-cornered, its base stretching along the\ncoast, and with a sharp angle towards the river; and round it the\noutfall is cleft in two. One mouth they call the mouth of Narex, and\nthe other, at the lower end, the Fair mouth. And through this Apsyrtus\nand his Colchians rushed with all speed; but the heroes went upwards\nfar away towards the highest part of the island. And in the meadows the\ncountry shepherds left their countless flocks for dread of the ships,\nfor they deemed that they were beasts coming forth from the\nmonster-teeming sea. For never yet before had they seen seafaring\nships, neither the Scythians mingled with the Thracians, nor the\nSigynni, nor yet the Graucenii, nor the Sindi that now inhabit the vast\ndesert plain of Laurium. But when they had passed near the mount\nAngurum, and the cliff of Cauliacus, far from the mount Angurum, round\nwhich Ister, dividing his stream, falls into the sea on this side and\non that, and the Laurian plain, then indeed the Colchians went forth\ninto the Cronian sea and cut off all the ways, to prevent their foes\u2019\nescape. And the heroes came down the river behind and reached the two\nBrygean isles of Artemis near at hand. Now in one of them was a sacred\ntemple; and on the other they landed, avoiding the host of Apsyrtus;\nfor the Colchians had left these islands out of many within the river,\njust as they were, through reverence for the daughter of Zeus; but the\nrest, thronged by the Colchians, barred the ways to the sea. And so on\nother islands too, close by, Apsyrtus left his host as far as the river\nSalangon and the Nestian land.\n\nThere the Minyae would at that time have yielded in grim fight, a few\nto many; but ere then they made a covenant, shunning a dire quarrel; as\nto the golden fleece, that since Aeetes himself had so promised them if\nthey should fulfill the contests, they should keep it as justly won,\nwhether they carried it off by craft or even openly in the king\u2019s\ndespite; but as to Medea\u2014for that was the cause of strife\u2014that they\nshould give her in ward to Leto\u2019s daughter apart from the throng, until\nsome one of the kings that dispense justice should utter his doom,\nwhether she must return to her father\u2019s home or follow the chieftains\nto the land of Hellas.\n\nNow when the maiden had mused upon all this, sharp anguish shook her\nheart unceasingly; and quickly she called forth Jason alone apart from\nhis comrades, and led him aside until they were far away, and before\nhis face uttered her speech all broken with sobs:\n\n\u201cWhat is this purpose that ye are now devising about me, O son of\nAeson? Has thy triumph utterly cast forgetfulness upon thee, and\nreekest thou nothing of all that thou spakest when held fast by\nnecessity? Whither are fled the oaths by Zeus the suppliants\u2019 god,\nwhither are fled thy honied promises? For which in no seemly wise, with\nshameless will, I have left my country, the glories of my home and even\nmy parents\u2014things that were dearest to me; and far away all alone I am\nborne over the sea with the plaintive kingfishers because of thy\ntrouble, in order that I might save thy life in fulfilling the contests\nwith the oxen and the earthborn men. Last of all the fleece\u2014when the\nmatter became known, it was by my folly thou didst win it; and a foul\nreproach have I poured on womankind. Wherefore I say that as thy child,\nthy bride and thy sister, I follow thee to the land of Hellas. Be ready\nto stand by me to the end, abandon me not left forlorn of thee when\nthou dost visit the kings. But only save me; let justice and right, to\nwhich we have both agreed, stand firm; or else do thou at once shear\nthrough this neck with the sword, that I may gain the guerdon due to my\nmad passion. Poor wretch! if the king, to whom you both commit your\ncruel covenant, doom me to belong to my brother. How shall I come to my\nfather\u2019s sight? Will it be with a good name? What revenge, what heavy\ncalamity shall I not endure in agony for the terrible deeds I have\ndone? And wilt thou win the return that thy heart desires? Never may\nZeus\u2019 bride, the queen of all, in whom thou dost glory, bring that to\npass. Mayst thou some time remember me when thou art racked with\nanguish; may the fleece like a dream vanish into the nether darkness on\nthe wings of the wind! And may my avenging Furies forthwith drive thee\nfrom thy country, for all that I have suffered through thy cruelty!\nThese curses will not be allowed to fall unaccomplished to the ground.\nA mighty oath hast thou transgressed, ruthless one; but not long shalt\nthou and thy comrades sit at ease casting eyes of mockery upon me, for\nall your covenants.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, seething with fierce wrath; and she longed to set fire\nto the ship and to hew it utterly in pieces, and herself to fall into\nthe raging flame. But Jason, half afraid, thus addressed her with\ngentle words:\n\n\u201cForbear, lady; me too this pleases not. But we seek some respite from\nbattle, for such a cloud of hostile men, like to a fire, surrounds us,\non thy account. For all that inhabit this land are eager to aid\nApsyrtus, that they may lead thee back home to thy father, like some\ncaptured maid. And all of us would perish in hateful destruction, if we\nclosed with them in fight; and bitterer still will be the pain, if we\nare slain and leave thee to be their prey. But this covenant will weave\na web of guile to lead him to ruin. Nor will the people of the land for\nthy sake oppose us, to favour the Colchians, when their prince is no\nlonger with them, who is thy champion and thy brother; nor will I\nshrink from matching myself in fight with the Colchians, if they bar my\nway homeward.\u201d\n\nThus he spake soothing her; and she uttered a deadly speech: \u201cTake heed\nnow. For when sorry deeds are done we must needs devise sorry counsel,\nsince at first I was distraught by my error, and by heaven\u2019s will it\nwas I wrought the accomplishment of evil desires. Do thou in the\nturmoil shield me from the Colchians\u2019 spears; and I will beguile\nApsyrtus to come into thy hands\u2014do thou greet him with splendid\ngifts\u2014if only I could persuade the heralds on their departure to bring\nhim alone to hearken to my words. Thereupon if this deed pleases thee,\nslay him and raise a conflict with the Colchians, I care not.\u201d\n\nSo they two agreed and prepared a great web of guile for Apsyrtus, and\nprovided many gifts such as are due to guests, and among them gave a\nsacred robe of Hypsipyle, of crimson hue. The Graces with their own\nhands had wrought it for Dionysus in sea-girt Dia, and he gave it to\nhis son Thoas thereafter, and Thoas left it to Hypsipyle, and she gave\nthat fair-wrought guest-gift with many another marvel to Aeson\u2019s son to\nwear. Never couldst thou satisfy thy sweet desire by touching it or\ngazing on it. And from it a divine fragrance breathed from the time\nwhen the king of Nysa himself lay to rest thereon, flushed with wine\nand nectar as he clasped the beauteous breast of the maiden-daughter of\nMinos, whom once Theseus forsook in the island of Dia, when she had\nfollowed him from Cnossus. And when she had worked upon the heralds to\ninduce her brother to come, as soon as she reached the temple of the\ngoddess, according to the agreement, and the darkness of night\nsurrounded them, that so she might devise with him a cunning plan for\nher to take the mighty fleece of gold and return to the home of Aeetes,\nfor, she said, the sons of Phrixus had given her by force to the\nstrangers to carry off; with such beguiling words she scattered to the\nair and the breezes her witching charms, which even from afar would\nhave drawn down the savage beast from the steep mountain-height.\n\nRuthless Love, great bane, great curse to mankind, from thee come\ndeadly strifes and lamentations and groans, and countless pains as well\nhave their stormy birth from thee. Arise, thou god, and arm thyself\nagainst the sons of our foes in such guise as when thou didst fill\nMedea\u2019s heart with accursed madness. How then by evil doom did she slay\nApsyrtus when he came to meet her? For that must our song tell next.\n\nWhen the heroes had left the maiden on the island of Artemis, according\nto the covenant, both sides ran their ships to land separately. And\nJason went to the ambush to lie in wait for Apsyrtus and then for his\ncomrades. But he, beguiled by these dire promises, swiftly crossed the\nswell of the sea in his ship, and in dark night set foot on the sacred\nisland; and faring all alone to meet her he made trial in speech of his\nsister, as a tender child tries a wintry torrent which not even strong\nmen can pass through, to see if she would devise some guile against the\nstrangers. And so they two agreed together on everything; and\nstraightway Aeson\u2019s son leapt forth from the thick ambush, lifting his\nbare sword in his hand; and quickly the maiden turned her eyes aside\nand covered them with her veil that she might not see the blood of her\nbrother when he was smitten. And Jason marked him and struck him down,\nas a butcher strikes down a mighty strong-horned bull, hard by the\ntemple which the Brygi on the mainland opposite had once built for\nArtemis. In its vestibule he fell on his knees; and at last the hero\nbreathing out his life caught up in both hands the dark blood as it\nwelled from the wound; and he dyed with red his sister\u2019s silvery veil\nand robe as she shrank away. And with swift side-glance the\nirresistible pitiless Fury beheld the deadly deed they had done. And\nthe hero, Aeson\u2019s son, cut off the extremities of the dead man, and\nthrice licked up some blood and thrice spat the pollution from his\nteeth, as it is right for the slayer to do, to atone for a treacherous\nmurder. And the clammy corpse he hid in the ground where even now those\nbones lie among the Apsyrtians.\n\nNow as soon as the heroes saw the blaze of a torch, which the maiden\nraised for them as a sign to pursue, they laid their own ship near the\nColchian ship, and they slaughtered the Colchian host, as kites slay\nthe tribes of wood-pigeons, or as lions of the wold, when they have\nleapt amid the steading, drive a great flock of sheep huddled together.\nNor did one of them escape death, but the heroes rushed upon the whole\ncrew, destroying them like a flame; and at last Jason met them, and was\neager to give aid where none was needed; but already they were taking\nthought for him too. Thereupon they sat to devise some prudent counsel\nfor their voyage, and the maiden came upon them as they pondered, but\nPeleus spake his word first:\n\n\u201cI now bid you embark while it is still night, and take with your oars\nthe passage opposite to that which the enemy guards, for at dawn when\nthey see their plight I deem that no word urging to further pursuit of\nus will prevail with them; but as people bereft of their king, they\nwill be scattered in grievous dissension. And easy, when the people are\nscattered, will this path be for us on our return.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and the youths assented to the words of Aeacus\u2019 son. And\nquickly they entered the ship, and toiled at their oars unceasingly\nuntil they reached the sacred isle of Electra, the highest of them all,\nnear the river Eridanus.\n\nBut when the Colchians learnt the death of their prince, verily they\nwere eager to pursue Argo and the Minyans through all the Cronian sea.\nBut Hera restrained them by terrible lightnings from the sky. And at\nlast they loathed their own homes in the Cytaean land, quailing before\nAeetes\u2019 fierce wrath; so they landed and made abiding homes there,\nscattered far and wide. Some set foot on those very islands where the\nheroes had stayed, and they still dwell there, bearing a name derived\nfrom Apsyrtus; and others built a fenced city by the dark deep Illyrian\nriver, where is the tomb of Harmonia and Cadmus, dwelling among the\nEncheleans; and others live amid the mountains which are called the\nThunderers, from the day when the thunders of Zeus, son of Cronos,\nprevented them from crossing over to the island opposite.\n\nNow the heroes, when their return seemed safe for them, fared onward\nand made their hawsers fast to the land of the Hylleans. For the\nislands lay thick in the river and made the path dangerous for those\nwho sailed thereby. Nor, as aforetime, did the Hylleans devise their\nhurt, but of their own accord furthered their passage, winning as\nguerdon a mighty tripod of Apollo. For tripods twain had Phoebus given\nto Aeson\u2019s son to carry afar in the voyage he had to make, at the time\nwhen he went to sacred Pytho to enquire about this very voyage; and it\nwas ordained by fate that in whatever land they should be placed, that\nland should never be ravaged by the attacks of foemen. Therefore even\nnow this tripod is hidden in that land near the pleasant city of\nHyllus, far beneath the earth, that it may ever be unseen by mortals.\nYet they found not King Hyllus still alive in the land, whom fair\nMelite bare to Heracles in the land of the Phaeacians. For he came to\nthe abode of Nausithous and to Macris, the nurse of Dionysus, to\ncleanse himself from the deadly murder of his children; here he loved\nand overcame the water nymph Melite, the daughter of the river Aegaeus,\nand she bare mighty Hyllus. But when he had grown up he desired not to\ndwell in that island under the rule of Nausithous the king; but he\ncollected a host of native Phaeacians and came to the Cronian sea; for\nthe hero King Nausithous aided his journey, and there he settled, and\nthe Mentores slew him as he was fighting for the oxen of his field.\n\nNow, goddesses, say how it is that beyond this sea, near the land of\nAusonia and the Ligystian isles, which are called Stoechades, the\nmighty tracks of the ship Argo are clearly sung of? What great\nconstraint and need brought the heroes so far? What breezes wafted\nthem?\n\nWhen Apsyrtus had fallen in mighty overthrow Zeus himself, king of\ngods, was seized with wrath at what they had done. And he ordained that\nby the counsels of Aeaean Circe they should cleanse themselves from the\nterrible stain of blood and suffer countless woes before their return.\nYet none of the chieftains knew this; but far onward they sped starting\nfrom the Hyllean land, and they left behind all the islands that were\nbeforetime thronged by the Colchians\u2014the Liburnian isles, isle after\nisle, Issa, Dysceladus, and lovely Pityeia. Next after them they came\nto Corcyra, where Poseidon settled the daughter of Asopus, fair-haired\nCorcyra, far from the land of Phlius, whence he had carried her off\nthrough love; and sailors beholding it from the sea, all black with its\nsombre woods, call it Corcyra the Black. And next they passed Melite,\nrejoicing in the soft-blowing breeze, and steep Cerossus, and Nymphaea\nat a distance, where lady Calypso, daughter of Atlas, dwelt; and they\ndeemed they saw the misty mountains of Thunder. And then Hera bethought\nher of the counsels and wrath of Zeus concerning them. And she devised\nan ending of their voyage and stirred up storm-winds before them, by\nwhich they were caught and borne back to the rocky isle of Electra. And\nstraightway on a sudden there called to them in the midst of their\ncourse, speaking with a human voice, the beam of the hollow ship, which\nAthena had set in the centre of the stem, made of Dodonian oak. And\ndeadly fear seized them as they heard the voice that told of the\ngrievous wrath of Zeus. For it proclaimed that they should not escape\nthe paths of an endless sea nor grievous tempests, unless Circe should\npurge away the guilt of the ruthless murder of Apsyrtus; and it bade\nPolydeuces and Castor pray to the immortal gods first to grant a path\nthrough the Ausonian sea where they should find Circe, daughter of\nPerse and Helios.\n\nThus Argo cried through the darkness; and the sons of Tyndareus uprose,\nand lifted their hands to the immortals praying for each boon: but\ndejection held the rest of the Minyan heroes. And far on sped Argo\nunder sail, and entered deep into the stream of Eridanus; where once,\nsmitten on the breast by the blazing bolt, Phaethon half-consumed fell\nfrom the chariot of Helios into the opening of that deep lake; and even\nnow it belcheth up heavy steam clouds from the smouldering wound. And\nno bird spreading its light wings can cross that water; but in\nmid-course it plunges into the flame, fluttering. And all around the\nmaidens, the daughters of Helios, enclosed in tall poplars, wretchedly\nwail a piteous plaint; and from their eyes they shed on the ground\nbright drops of amber. These are dried by the sun upon the sand; but\nwhenever the waters of the dark lake flow over the strand before the\nblast of the wailing wind, then they roll on in a mass into Eridanus\nwith swelling tide. But the Celts have attached this story to them,\nthat these are the tears of Leto\u2019s son, Apollo, that are borne along by\nthe eddies, the countless tears that he shed aforetime when he came to\nthe sacred race of the Hyperboreans and left shining heaven at the\nchiding of his father, being in wrath concerning his son whom divine\nCoronis bare in bright Lacereia at the mouth of Amyrus. And such is the\nstory told among these men. But no desire for food or drink seized the\nheroes nor were their thoughts turned to joy. But they were sorely\nafflicted all day, heavy and faint at heart, with the noisome stench,\nhard to endure, which the streams of Eridanus sent forth from Phaethon\nstill burning; and at night they heard the piercing lament of the\ndaughters of Helios, wailing with shrill voice; and, as they lamented,\ntheir tears were borne on the water like drops of oil.\n\nThence they entered the deep stream of Rhodanus which flows into\nEridanus; and where they meet there is a roar of mingling waters. Now\nthat river, rising from the ends of the earth, where are the portals\nand mansions of Night, on one side bursts forth upon the beach of\nOcean, at another pours into the Ionian sea, and on the third through\nseven mouths sends its stream to the Sardinian sea and its limitless\nbay.[29] And from Rhodanus they entered stormy lakes, which spread\nthroughout the Celtic mainland of wondrous size; and there they would\nhave met with an inglorious calamity; for a certain branch of the river\nwas bearing them towards a gulf of Ocean which in ignorance they were\nabout to enter, and never would they have returned from there in\nsafety. But Hera leaping forth from heaven pealed her cry from the\nHercynian rock; and all together were shaken with fear of her cry; for\nterribly crashed the mighty firmament. And backward they turned by\nreason of the goddess, and noted the path by which their return was\nordained. And after a long while they came to the beach of the surging\nsea by the devising of Hera, passing unharmed through countless tribes\nof the Celts and Ligyans. For round them the goddess poured a dread\nmist day by day as they fared on. And so, sailing through the midmost\nmouth, they reached the Stoechades islands in safety by the aid of the\nsons of Zeus; wherefore altars and sacred rites are established in\ntheir honour for ever; and not that sea-faring alone did they attend to\nsuccour; but Zeus granted to them the ships of future sailors too. Then\nleaving the Stoechades they passed on to the island Aethalia, where\nafter their toil they wiped away with pebbles sweat in abundance; and\npebbles like skin in colour are strewn on the beach;[30] and there are\ntheir quoits and their wondrous armour; and there is the Argoan harbour\ncalled after them.\n\nAnd quickly from there they passed through the sea, beholding the\nTyrrhenian shores of Ausonia; and they came to the famous harbour of\nAeaea, and from the ship they cast hawsers to the shore near at hand.\nAnd here they found Circe bathing her head in the salt sea-spray, for\nsorely had she been scared by visions of the night. With blood her\nchambers and all the walls of her palace seemed to be running, and\nflame was devouring all the magic herbs with which she used to bewitch\nstrangers whoever came; and she herself with murderous blood quenched\nthe glowing flame, drawing it up in her hands; and she ceased from\ndeadly fear. Wherefore when morning came she rose, and with sea-spray\nwas bathing her hair and her garments. And beasts, not resembling the\nbeasts of the wild, nor yet like men in body, but with a medley of\nlimbs, went in a throng, as sheep from the fold in multitudes follow\nthe shepherd. Such creatures, compacted of various limbs, did each\nherself produce from the primeval slime when she had not yet grown\nsolid beneath a rainless sky nor yet had received a drop of moisture\nfrom the rays of the scorching sun; but time combined these forms and\nmarshalled them in their ranks; in such wise these monsters shapeless\nof form followed her. And exceeding wonder seized the heroes, and at\nonce, as each gazed on the form and face of Circe, they readily guessed\nthat she was the sister of Aeetes.\n\nNow when she had dismissed the fears of her nightly visions,\nstraightway she fared backwards, and in her subtlety she bade the\nheroes follow, charming them on with her hand. Thereupon the host\nremained stedfast at the bidding of Aeson\u2019s son, but Jason drew with\nhim the Colchian maid. And both followed the selfsame path till they\nreached the hall of Circe, and she in amaze at their coming bade them\nsit on brightly burnished seats. And they, quiet and silent, sped to\nthe hearth and sat there, as is the wont of wretched suppliants. Medea\nhid her face in both her hands, but Jason fixed in the ground the\nmighty hilted sword with which he had slain Aeetes\u2019 son; nor did they\nraise their eyes to meet her look. And straightway Circe became aware\nof the doom of a suppliant and the guilt of murder. Wherefore in\nreverence for the ordinance of Zeus, the god of suppliants, who is a\ngod of wrath yet mightily aids slayers of men, she began to offer the\nsacrifice with which ruthless suppliants are cleansed from guilt when\nthey approach the altar. First, to atone for the murder still\nunexpiated, she held above their heads the young of a sow whose dugs\nyet swelled from the fruit of the womb, and, severing its neck,\nsprinkled their hands with the blood; and again she made propitiation\nwith other drink offerings, calling on Zeus the Cleanser, the protector\nof murder-stained suppliants. And all the defilements in a mass her\nattendants bore forth from the palace\u2014the Naiad nymphs who ministered\nall things to her. And within, Circe, standing by the hearth, kept\nburning atonement-cakes without wine, praying the while that she might\nstay from their wrath the terrible Furies, and that Zeus himself might\nbe propitious and gentle to them both, whether with hands stained by\nthe blood of a stranger or, as kinsfolk, by the blood of a kinsman,\nthey should implore his grace.\n\nBut when she had wrought all her task, then she raised them up and\nseated them on well polished seats, and herself sat near, face to face\nwith them. And at once she asked them clearly of their business and\ntheir voyaging, and whence they had come to her land and palace, and\nhad thus seated themselves as suppliants at her hearth. For in truth\nthe hideous remembrance of her dreams entered her mind as she pondered;\nand she longed to hear the voice of the maiden, her kinswoman, as soon\nas she saw that she had raised her eyes from the ground. For all those\nof the race of Helios were plain to discern, since by the far flashing\nof their eyes they shot in front of them a gleam as of gold. So Medea\ntold her all she asked\u2014the daughter of Aeetes of the gloomy heart,\nspeaking gently in the Colchian tongue, both of the quest and the\njourneyings of the heroes, and of their toils in the swift contests,\nand how she had sinned through the counsels of her much-sorrowing\nsister, and how with the sons of Phrixus she had fled afar from the\ntyrannous horrors of her father; but she shrank from telling of the\nmurder of Apsyrtus. Yet she escaped not Circe\u2019s ken; nevertheless, in\nspite of all, she pitied the weeping maiden, and spake thus:\n\n\u201cPoor wretch, an evil and shameful return hast thou planned. Not for\nlong, I ween, wilt thou escape the heavy wrath of Aeetes; but soon will\nhe go even to the dwellings of Hellas to avenge the blood of his son,\nfor intolerable are the deeds thou hast done. But since thou art my\nsuppliant and my kinswoman, no further ill shall I devise against thee\nat thy coming; but begone from my halls, companioning the stranger,\nwhosoever he be, this unknown one that thou hast taken in thy father\u2019s\ndespite; and kneel not to me at my hearth, for never will I approve thy\ncounsels and thy shameful flight.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and measureless anguish seized the maid; and over her\neyes she cast her robe and poured forth a lamentation, until the hero\ntook her by the hand and led her forth from the hall quivering with\nfear. So they left the home of Circe.\n\nBut they were not unmarked by the spouse of Zeus, son of Cronos; but\nIris told her when she saw them faring from the hall. For Hera had\nbidden her watch what time they should come to the ship; so again she\nurged her and spake:\n\n\u201cDear Iris, now come, if ever thou hast fulfilled my bidding, hie thee\naway on light pinions, and bid Thetis arise from the sea and come\nhither. For need of her is come upon me. Then go to the sea-beaches\nwhere the bronze anvils of Hephaestus are smitten by sturdy hammers,\nand tell him to still the blasts of fire until Argo pass by them. Then\ngo to Aeolus too, Aeolus who rules the winds, children of the clear\nsky; and to him also tell my purpose so that he may make all winds\ncease under heaven and no breeze may ruffle the sea; yet let the breath\nof the west wind blow until the heroes have reached the Phaeacian isle\nof Alcinous.\u201d\n\nSo she spake, and straightway Iris leapt down from Olympus and cleft\nher way, with light wings outspread. And she plunged into the Aegean\nSea, where is the dwelling of Nereus. And she came to Thetis first and,\nby the promptings of Hera, told her tale and roused her to go to the\ngoddess. Next she came to Hephaestus, and quickly made him cease from\nthe clang of his iron hammers; and the smoke-grimed bellows were stayed\nfrom their blast. And thirdly she came to Aeolus, the famous son of\nHippotas. And when she had given her message to him also and rested her\nswift knees from her course, then Thetis leaving Nereus and her sisters\nhad come from the sea to Olympus to the goddess Hera; and the goddess\nmade her sit by her side and uttered her word:\n\n\u201cHearken now, lady Thetis, to what I am eager to tell thee. Thou\nknowest how honoured in my heart is the hero, Aeson\u2019s son, and the\nothers that have helped him in the contest, and how I saved them when\nthey passed between the Wandering rocks,[31] where roar terrible storms\nof fire and the waves foam round the rugged reefs. And now past the\nmighty rock of Scylla and Charybdis horribly belching, a course awaits\nthem. But thee indeed from thy infancy did I tend with my own hands and\nlove beyond all others that dwell in the salt sea because thou didst\nrefuse to share the couch of Zeus, for all his desire. For to him such\ndeeds are ever dear, to embrace either goddesses or mortal women. But\nin reverence for me and with fear in thy heart thou didst shrink from\nhis love; and he then swore a mighty oath that thou shouldst never be\ncalled the bride of an immortal god. Yet he ceased not from spying thee\nagainst thy will, until reverend Themis declared to him the whole\ntruth, how that it was thy fate to bear a son mightier than his sire;\nwherefore he gave thee up, for all his desire, fearing lest another\nshould be his match and rule the immortals, and in order that he might\never hold his own dominion. But I gave thee the best of the sons of\nearth to be thy husband, that thou mightest find a marriage dear to thy\nheart and bear children; and I summoned to the feast the gods, one and\nall. And with my own hand I raised the bridal torch, in return for the\nkindly honour thou didst pay me. But come, let me tell a tale that\nerreth not. When thy son shall come to the Elysian plain, he whom now\nin the home of Cheiron the Centaur water-nymphs are tending, though he\nstill craves thy mother milk, it is fated that he be the husband of\nMedea, Aeetes\u2019 daughter; do thou aid thy daughter-in-law as a\nmother-in-law should, and aid Peleus himself. Why is thy wrath so\nsteadfast? He was blinded by folly. For blindness comes even upon the\ngods. Surely at my behest I deem that Hephaestus will cease from\nkindling the fury of his flame, and that Aeolus, son of Hippotas, will\ncheck his swift rushing winds, all but the steady west wind, until they\nreach the havens of the Phaeacians; do thou devise a return without\nbane. The rocks and the tyrannous waves are my fear, they alone, and\nthem thou canst foil with thy sisters\u2019 aid. And let them not fall in\ntheir helplessness into Charybdis lest she swallow them at one gulp, or\napproach the hideous lair of Scylla, Ausonian Scylla the deadly, whom\nnight-wandering Hecate, who is called Crataeis,[32] bare to Phoreys,\nlest swooping upon them with her horrible jaws she destroy the chiefest\nof the heroes. But guide their ship in the course where there shall be\nstill a hair\u2019s breadth escape from destruction.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, and Thetis answered with these words: \u201cIf the fury of\nthe ravening flame and the stormy winds cease in very deed, surely will\nI promise boldly to save the ship, even though the waves bar the way,\nif only the west wind blows fresh and clear. But it is time to fare on\na long and measureless path, in quest of my sisters who will aid me,\nand to the spot where the ship\u2019s hawsers are fastened, that at early\ndawn the heroes may take thought to win their home-return.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and darting down from the sky fell amid the eddies of the\ndark blue sea; and she called to aid her the rest of the Nereids, her\nown sisters; and they heard her and gathered together; and Thetis\ndeclared to them Hera\u2019s behests, and quickly sped them all on their way\nto the Ausonian sea. And herself, swifter than the flash of an eye or\nthe shafts of the sun, when it rises upwards from a far-distant land,\nhastened swiftly through the sea, until she reached the Aeaean beach of\nthe Tyrrhenian mainland. And the heroes she found by the ship taking\ntheir pastime with quoits and shooting of arrows; and she drew near and\njust touched the hand of Aeaeus\u2019 son Peleus, for he was her husband;\nnor could anyone see her clearly, but she appeared to his eyes alone,\nand thus addressed him:\n\n\u201cNo longer now must ye stay sitting on the Tyrrhenian beach, but at\ndawn loosen the hawsers of your swift ship, in obedience to Hera, your\nhelper. For at her behest the maiden daughters of Nereus have met\ntogether to draw your ship through the midst of the rocks which are\ncalled Planctae, [33] for that is your destined path. But do thou show\nmy person to no one, when thou seest us come to meet time, but keep it\nsecret in thy mind, lest thou anger me still more than thou didst anger\nme before so recklessly.\u201d\n\nShe spake, and vanished into the depths of the sea; but sharp pain\nsmote Peleus, for never before had he seen her come, since first she\nleft her bridal chamber and bed in anger, on account of noble Achilles,\nthen a babe. For she ever encompassed the child\u2019s mortal flesh in the\nnight with the flame of fire; and day by day she anointed with ambrosia\nhis tender frame, so that he might become immortal and that she might\nkeep off from his body loathsome old age. But Peleus leapt up from his\nbed and saw his dear son gasping in the flame; and at the sight he\nuttered a terrible cry, fool that he was; and she heard it, and\ncatching up the child threw him screaming to the ground, and herself\nlike a breath of wind passed swiftly from the hall as a dream and leapt\ninto the sea, exceeding wroth, and thereafter returned not again.\nWherefore blank amazement fettered his soul; nevertheless he declared\nto his comrades all the bidding of Thetis. And they broke off in the\nmidst and hurriedly ceased their contests, and prepared their meal and\nearth-strewn beds, whereon after supper they slept through the night as\naforetime.\n\nNow when dawn the light-bringer was touching the edge of heaven, then\nat the coming of the swift west wind they went to their thwarts from\nthe land; and gladly did they draw up the anchors from the deep and\nmade the tackling ready in due order; and above spread the sail,\nstretching it taut with the sheets from the yard-arm. And a fresh\nbreeze wafted the ship on. And soon they saw a fair island,\nAnthemoessa, where the clear-voiced Sirens, daughters of Achelous, used\nto beguile with their sweet songs whoever cast anchor there, and then\ndestroy him. Them lovely Terpsichore, one of the Muses, bare, united\nwith Achelous; and once they tended Demeter\u2019s noble daughter still\nunwed, and sang to her in chorus; and at that time they were fashioned\nin part like birds and in part like maidens to behold. And ever on the\nwatch from their place of prospect with its fair haven, often from many\nhad they taken away their sweet return, consuming them with wasting\ndesire; and suddenly to the heroes, too, they sent forth from their\nlips a lily-like voice. And they were already about to cast from the\nship the hawsers to the shore, had not Thracian Orpheus, son of\nOeagrus, stringing in his hands his Bistonian lyre, rung forth the\nhasty snatch of a rippling melody so that their ears might be filled\nwith the sound of his twanging; and the lyre overcame the maidens\u2019\nvoice. And the west wind and the sounding wave rushing astern bore the\nship on; and the Sirens kept uttering their ceaseless song. But even so\nthe goodly son of Teleon alone of the comrades leapt before them all\nfrom the polished bench into the sea, even Butes, his soul melted by\nthe clear ringing voice of the Sirens; and he swam through the dark\nsurge to mount the beach, poor wretch. Quickly would they have robbed\nhim of his return then and there, but the goddess that rules Eryx,\nCypris, in pity snatched him away, while yet in the eddies, and\ngraciously meeting him saved him to dwell on the Lilybean height. And\nthe heroes, seized by anguish, left the Sirens, but other perils still\nworse, destructive to ships, awaited them in the meeting-place of the\nseas.\n\nFor on one side appeared the smooth rock of Scylla; on the other\nCharybdis ceaselessly spouted and roared; in another part the Wandering\nrocks were booming beneath the mighty surge, where before the burning\nflame spurted forth from the top of the crags, above the rock glowing\nwith fire, and the air was misty with smoke, nor could you have seen\nthe sun\u2019s light. Then, though Hephaestus had ceased from his toils, the\nsea was still sending up a warm vapour. Hereupon on this side and on\nthat the daughters of Nereus met them; and behind, lady Thetis set her\nhand to the rudder-blade, to guide them amid the Wandering rocks. And\nas when in fair weather herds of dolphins come up from the depths and\nsport in circles round a ship as it speeds along, now seen in front,\nnow behind, now again at the side and delight comes to the sailors; so\nthe Nereids darted upward and circled in their ranks round the ship\nArgo, while Thetis guided its course. And when they were about to touch\nthe Wandering rocks, straightway they raised the edge of their garments\nover their snow-white knees, and aloft, on the very rocks and where the\nwaves broke, they hurried along on this side and on that apart from one\nanother. And the ship was raised aloft as the current smote her, and\nall around the furious wave mounting up broke over the rocks, which at\none time touched the sky like towering crags, at another, down in the\ndepths, were fixed fast at the bottom of the sea and the fierce waves\npoured over them in floods. And the Nereids, even as maidens near some\nsandy beach roll their garments up to their waists out of their way and\nsport with a shapely-rounded ball; then they catch it one from another\nand send it high into the air; and it never touches the ground; so they\nin turn one from another sent the ship through the air over the waves,\nas it sped on ever away from the rocks; and round them the water\nspouted and foamed. And lord Hephaestus himself standing on the summit\nof a smooth rock and resting his massy shoulder on the handle of his\nhammer, beheld them, and the spouse of Zeus beheld them as she stood\nabove the gleaming heaven; and she threw her arms round Athena, such\nfear seized her as she gazed. And as long as the space of a day is\nlengthened out in springtime, so long a time did they toil, heaving the\nship between the loud-echoing rocks; then again the heroes caught the\nwind and sped onward; and swiftly they passed the mead of Thrinacia,\nwhere the kine of Helios fed. There the nymphs, like sea-mews, plunged\nbeneath the depths, when they had fulfilled the behests of the spouse\nof Zeus. And at the same time the bleating of sheep came to the heroes\nthrough the mist and the lowing of kine, near at hand, smote their\nears. And over the dewy leas Phaethusa, the youngest of the daughters\nof Helios, tended the sheep, bearing in her hand a silver crook; while\nLampetia, herding the kine, wielded a staff of glowing orichalcum[34]\nas she followed. These kine the heroes saw feeding by the river\u2019s\nstream, over the plain and the water-meadow; not one of them was dark\nin hue but all were white as milk and glorying in their horns of gold.\nSo they passed them by in the day-time, and when night came on they\nwere cleaving a great sea-gulf, rejoicing, until again early rising\ndawn threw light upon their course.\n\nFronting the Ionian gulf there lies an island in the Ceraunian sea,\nrich in soil, with a harbour on both sides, beneath which lies the\nsickle, as legend saith\u2014grant me grace, O Muses, not willingly do I\ntell this tale of olden days\u2014wherewith Cronos pitilessly mutilated his\nfather; but others call it the reaping-hook of Demeter, goddess of the\nnether world. For Demeter once dwelt in that island, and taught the\nTitans to reap the ears of corn, all for the love of Macris. Whence it\nis called Drepane,[35] the sacred nurse of the Phaeacians; and thus the\nPhaeacians themselves are by birth of the blood of Uranus. To them came\nArgo, held fast by many toils, borne by the breezes from the Thrinacian\nsea; and Alcinous and his people with kindly sacrifice gladly welcomed\ntheir coming; and over them all the city made merry; thou wouldst say\nthey were rejoicing over their own sons. And the heroes themselves\nstrode in gladness through the throng, even as though they had set foot\nin the heart of Haemonia; but soon were they to arm and raise the\nbattle-cry; so near to them appeared a boundless host of Colchians, who\nhad passed through the mouth of Pontus and between the Cyanean rocks in\nsearch of the chieftains. They desired forthwith to carry off Medea to\nher father\u2019s house apart from the rest, or else they threatened with\nfierce cruelty to raise the dread war-cry both then and thereafter on\nthe coming of Aeetes. But lordly Alcinous checked them amid their\neagerness for war. For he longed to allay the lawless strife between\nboth sides without the clash of battle. And the maiden in deadly fear\noften implored the comrades of Aeson\u2019s son, and often with her hands\ntouched the knees of Arete, the bride of Aleinous:\n\n\u201cI beseech thee, O queen, be gracious and deliver me not to the\nColchians to be borne to my father, if thou thyself too art one of the\nrace of mortals, whose heart rushes swiftly to ruin from light\ntransgressions. For my firm sense forsook me\u2014it was not for wantonness.\nBe witness the sacred light of Helios, be witness the rites of the\nmaiden that wanders by night, daughter of Perses. Not willingly did I\nhaste from my home with men of an alien race; but a horrible fear\nwrought on me to bethink me of flight when I sinned; other device was\nthere none. Still my maiden\u2019s girdle remains, as in the halls of my\nfather, unstained, untouched. Pity me, lady, and turn thy lord to\nmercy; and may the immortals grant thee a perfect life, and joy, and\nchildren, and the glory of a city unravaged!\u201d\n\nThus did she implore Arete, shedding tears, and thus each of the\nchieftains in turn:\n\n\u201cOn your account, ye men of peerless might, and on account of my toils\nin your ventures am I sorely afflicted; even I, by whose help ye yoked\nthe bulls, and reaped the deadly harvest of the earthborn men; even I,\nthrough whom on your homeward path ye shall bear to Haemonia the golden\nfleece. Lo, here am I, who have lost my country and my parents, who\nhave lost my home and all the delights of life; to you have I restored\nyour country and your homes; with eyes of gladness ye will see again\nyour parents; but from me a heavy-handed god has raft all joy; and with\nstrangers I wander, an accursed thing. Fear your covenant and your\noaths, fear the Fury that avenges suppliants and the retribution of\nheaven, if I fall into Aeetes\u2019 hands and am slain with grievous\noutrage. To no shrines, no tower of defence, no other refuge do I pay\nheed, but only to you. Hard and pitiless in your cruelty! No reverence\nhave ye for me in your heart though ye see me helpless, stretching my\nhands towards the knees of a stranger queen; yet, when ye longed to\nseize the fleece, ye would have met all the Colchians face to thee and\nhaughty Aeetes himself; but now ye have forgotten your courage, now\nthat they are all alone and cut off.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, beseeching; and to whomsoever she bowed in prayer, that\nman tried to give her heart and to check her anguish. And in their\nhands they shook their sharp pointed spears, and drew the swords from\ntheir sheaths; and they swore they would not hold back from giving\nsuccour, if she should meet with an unrighteous judgement. And the host\nwere all wearied and Night came on them, Night that puts to rest the\nworks of men, and lulled all the earth to sleep; but to the maid no\nsleep brought rest, but in her bosom her heart was wrung with anguish.\nEven as when a toiling woman turns her spindle through the night, and\nround her moan her orphan children, for she is a widow, and down her\ncheeks fall the tears, as she bethinks her how dreary a lot hath seized\nher; so Medea\u2019s cheeks were wet; and her heart within her was in agony,\npierced with sharp pain.\n\nNow within the palace in the city, as aforetime, lay lordly Alcinous\nand Arete, the revered wife of Alcinous, and on their couch through the\nnight they were devising plans about the maiden; and him, as her wedded\nhusband, the wife addressed with loving words:\n\n\u201cYea, my friend, come, save the woe-stricken maid from the Colchians\nand show grace to the Minyae. Argos is near our isle and the men of\nHaemonia; but Aeetes dwells not near, nor do we know of Aeetes one\nwhit: we hear but his name; but this maiden of dread suffering hath\nbroken my heart by her prayers. O king, give her not up to the\nColchians to be borne back to her father\u2019s home. She was distraught\nwhen first she gave him the drugs to charm the oxen; and next, to cure\none ill by another, as in our sinning we do often, she fled from her\nhaughty sire\u2019s heavy wrath. But Jason, as I hear, is bound to her by\nmighty oaths that he will make her his wedded wife within his halls.\nWherefore, my friend, make not, of thy will, Aeson\u2019s son to be\nforsworn, nor let the father, if thou canst help, work with angry heart\nsome intolerable mischief on his child. For fathers are all too jealous\nagainst their children; what wrong did Nycteus devise against Antiope,\nfair of face! What woes did Danae endure on the wide sea through her\nsire\u2019s mad rage! Of late, and not far away, Echetus in wanton cruelty\nthrust spikes of bronze in his daughter\u2019s eyes; and by a grievous fate\nis she wasting away, grinding grains of bronze in a dungeon\u2019s gloom.\u201d\n\nThus she spake, beseeching; and by his wife\u2019s words his heart was\nsoftened, and thus he spake:\n\n\u201cArete, with arms I could drive forth the Colchians, showing grace to\nthe heroes for the maiden\u2019s sake. But I fear to set at nought the\nrighteous judgment of Zeus. Nor is it well to take no thought of\nAeetes, as thou sayest: for none is more lordly than Aeetes. And, if he\nwilled, he might bring war upon Hellas, though he dwell afar. Wherefore\nit is right for me to deliver the judgement that in all men\u2019s eyes\nshall be best; and I will not hide it from thee. If she be yet a maid I\ndecree that they carry her back to her father; but if she shares a\nhusband\u2019s bed, I will not separate her from her lord; nor, if she bear\na child beneath her breast, will I give it up to an enemy.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and at once sleep laid him to rest. And she stored up in\nher heart the word of wisdom, and straightway rose from her couch and\nwent through the palace; and her handmaids came hasting together,\neagerly tending their mistress. But quietly she summoned her herald and\naddressed him, in her prudence urging Aeson\u2019s son to wed the maiden,\nand not to implore Alcinous; for he himself, she said, will decree to\nthe Colchians that if she is still a maid he will deliver her up to be\nborne to her father\u2019s house, but that if she shares a husband\u2019s bed he\nwill not sever her from wedded love.\n\nThus she spake, and quickly from the hall his feet bore him, that he\nmight declare to Jason the fair-omened speech of Arete and the counsel\nof godfearing Alcinous. And he found the heroes watching in full armour\nin the haven of Hyllus, near the city; and out he spake the whole\nmessage; and each hero\u2019s heart rejoiced; for the word that he spake was\nwelcome.\n\nAnd straightway they mingled a bowl to the blessed ones, as is right,\nand reverently led sheep to the altar, and for that very night prepared\nfor the maiden the bridal couch in the sacred cave, where once dwelt\nMacris, the daughter of Aristaeus, lord of honey, who discovered the\nworks of bees and the fatness of the olive, the fruit of labour. She it\nwas that first received in her bosom the Nysean son of Zeus in Abantian\nEuboea, and with honey moistened his parched lips when Hermes bore him\nout of the flame. And Hera beheld it, and in wrath drove her from the\nwhole island. And she accordingly came to dwell far off, in the sacred\ncave of the Phaeacians, and granted boundless wealth to the\ninhabitants. There at that time did they spread a mighty couch; and\nthereon they laid the glittering fleece of gold, that so the marriage\nmight be made honoured and the theme of song. And for them nymphs\ngathered flowers of varied hue and bore them thither in their white\nbosoms; and a splendour as of flame played round them all, such a light\ngleamed from the golden tufts. And in their eyes it kindled a sweet\nlonging; yet for all her desire, awe withheld each one from laying her\nhand thereon. Some were called daughters of the river Aegaeus; others\ndwelt round the crests of the Meliteian mount; and others were woodland\nnymphs from the plains. For Hera herself, the spouse of Zeus, had sent\nthem to do honour to Jason. That cave is to this day called the sacred\ncave of Medea, where they spread the fine and fragrant linen and\nbrought these two together. And the heroes in their hands wielded their\nspears for war, lest first a host of foes should burst upon them for\nbattle unawares, and, their heads enwreathed with leafy sprays, all in\nharmony, while Orpheus\u2019 harp rang clear, sang the marriage song at the\nentrance to the bridal chamber. Yet not in the house of Alcinous was\nthe hero, Aeson\u2019s son, minded to complete his marriage, but in his\nfather\u2019s hall when he had returned home to Ioleus; and such was the\nmind of Medea herself; but necessity led them to wed at this time. For\nnever in truth do we tribes of woe-stricken mortals tread the path of\ndelight with sure foot; but still some bitter affliction keeps pace\nwith our joy. Wherefore they too, though their souls were melted with\nsweet love, were held by fear, whether the sentence of Alcinous would\nbe fulfilled.\n\nNow dawn returning with her beams divine scattered the gloomy night\nthrough the sky; and the island beaches laughed out and the paths over\nthe plains far off, drenched with dew, and there was a din in the\nstreets; the people were astir throughout the city, and far away the\nColchians were astir at the bounds of the isle of Macris. And\nstraightway to them went Alcinous, by reason of his covenant, to\ndeclare his purpose concerning the maiden, and in his hand he held a\ngolden staff, his staff of justice, whereby the people had righteous\njudgments meted out to them throughout the city. And with him in order\ndue and arrayed in their harness of war went marching, band by band,\nthe chiefs of the Phaeacians. And from the towers came forth the women\nin crowds to gaze upon the heroes; and the country folk came to meet\nthem when they heard the news, for Hera had sent forth a true report.\nAnd one led the chosen ram of his flock, and another a heifer that had\nnever toiled; and others set hard by jars of wine for mixing; and the\nsmoke of sacrifice leapt up far away. And women bore fine linen, the\nfruit of much toil, as women will, and gifts of gold and varied\nornaments as well, such as are brought to newly-wedded brides; and they\nmarvelled when they saw the shapely forms and beauty of the gallant\nheroes, and among them the son of Oeagrus, oft beating the ground with\ngleaming sandal, to the time of his loud-ringing lyre and song. And all\nthe nymphs together, whenever he recalled the marriage, uplifted the\nlovely bridal-chant; and at times again they sang alone as they circled\nin the dance, Hera, in thy honour; for it was thou that didst put it\ninto the heart of Arete to proclaim the wise word of Alcinous. And as\nsoon as he had uttered the decree of his righteous judgement, and the\ncompletion of the marriage had been proclaimed, he took care that thus\nit should abide fixed; and no deadly fear touched him nor Aeetes\u2019\ngrievous wrath, but he kept his judgement fast bound by unbroken oaths.\nSo when the Colchians learnt that they were beseeching in vain and he\nbade them either observe his judgements or hold their ships away from\nhis harbours and land, then they began to dread the threats of their\nown king and besought Alcinous to receive them as comrades; and there\nin the island long time they dwelt with the Phaeacians, until in the\ncourse of years, the Bacchiadae, a race sprung from Ephyra,[36] settled\namong them; and the Colchians passed to an island opposite; and thence\nthey were destined to reach the Ceraunian hills of the Abantes, and the\nNestaeans and Oricum; but all this was fulfilled after long ages had\npassed. And still the altars which Medea built on the spot sacred to\nApollo, god of shepherds, receive yearly sacrifices in honour of the\nFates and the Nymphs. And when the Minyae departed many gifts of\nfriendship did Alcinous bestow, and many Arete; moreover she gave Medea\ntwelve Phaeacian handmaids from the palace, to bear her company. And on\nthe seventh day they left Drepane; and at dawn came a fresh breeze from\nZeus. And onward they sped borne along by the wind\u2019s breath. Howbeit\nnot yet was it ordained for the heroes to set foot on Achaea, until\nthey had toiled even in the furthest bounds of Libya.\n\nNow had they left behind the gulf named after the Ambracians, now with\nsails wide spread the land of the Curetes, and next in order the narrow\nislands with the Echinades, and the land of Pelops was just descried;\neven then a baleful blast of the north wind seized them in mid-course\nand swept them towards the Libyan sea nine nights and as many days,\nuntil they came far within Syrtis, wherefrom is no return for ships,\nwhen they are once forced into that gulf. For on every hand are shoals,\non every hand masses of seaweed from the depths; and over them the\nlight foam of the wave washes without noise; and there is a stretch of\nsand to the dim horizon; and there moveth nothing that creeps or flies.\nHere accordingly the flood-tide\u2014for this tide often retreats from the\nland and bursts back again over the beach coming on with a rush and\nroar\u2014thrust them suddenly on to the innermost shore, and but little of\nthe keel was left in the water. And they leapt forth from the ship, and\nsorrow seized them when they gazed on the mist and the levels of vast\nland stretching far like a mist and continuous into the distance; no\nspot for water, no path, no steading of herdsmen did they descry afar\noff, but all the scene was possessed by a dead calm. And thus did one\nhero, vexed in spirit, ask another:\n\n\u201cWhat land is this? Whither has the tempest hurled us? Would that,\nreckless of deadly fear, we had dared to rush on by that same path\nbetween the clashing rocks! Better were it to have overleapt the will\nof Zeus and perished in venturing some mighty deed. But now what should\nwe do, held back by the winds to stay here, if ever so short a time?\nHow desolate looms before us the edge of the limitless land!\u201d\n\nThus one spake; and among them Ancaeus the helmsman, in despair at\ntheir evil case, spoke with grieving heart: \u201cVerily we are undone by a\nterrible doom; there is no escape from ruin; we must suffer the\ncruellest woes, having fallen on this desolation, even though breezes\nshould blow from the land; for, as I gaze far around, on every side do\nI behold a sea of shoals, and masses of water, fretted line upon line,\nrun over the hoary sand. And miserably long ago would our sacred ship\nhave been shattered far from the shore; but the tide itself bore her\nhigh on to the land from the deep sea. But now the tide rushes back to\nthe sea, and only the foam, whereon no ship can sail, rolls round us,\njust covering the land. Wherefore I deem that all hope of our voyage\nand of our return is cut off. Let someone else show his skill; let him\nsit at the helm the man that is eager for our deliverance. But Zeus has\nno will to fulfil our day of return after all our toils.\u201d\n\nThus he spake with tears, and all of them that had knowledge of ships\nagreed thereto; but the hearts of all grew numb, and pallor overspread\ntheir cheeks. And as, like lifeless spectres, men roam through a city\nawaiting the issue of war or of pestilence, or some mighty storm which\noverwhelms the countless labours of oxen, when the images of their own\naccord sweat and run down with blood, and bellowings are heard in\ntemples, or when at mid-day the sun draws on night from heaven, and the\nstars shine clear through the mist; so at that time along the endless\nstrand the chieftains wandered, groping their way. Then straightway\ndark evening came upon them; and piteously did they embrace each other\nand say farewell with tears, that they might, each one apart from his\nfellow, fall on the sand and die. And this way and that they went\nfurther to choose a resting-place; and they wrapped their heads in\ntheir cloaks and, fasting and unfed, lay down all that night and the\nday, awaiting a piteous death. But apart the maidens huddled together\nlamented beside the daughter of Aeetes. And as when, forsaken by their\nmother, unfledged birds that have fallen from a cleft in the rock chirp\nshrilly; or when by the banks of fair-flowing Pactolus, swans raise\ntheir song, and all around the dewy meadow echoes and the river\u2019s fair\nstream; so these maidens, laying in the dust their golden hair, all\nthrough the night wailed their piteous lament. And there all would have\nparted from life without a name and unknown to mortal men, those\nbravest of heroes, with their task unfulfilled; but as they pined in\ndespair, the heroine-nymphs, warders of Libya, had pity on them, they\nwho once found Athena, what time she leapt in gleaming armour from her\nfather\u2019s head, and bathed her by Trito\u2019s waters. It was noon-tide and\nthe fiercest rays of the sun were scorching Libya; they stood near\nAeson\u2019s son, and lightly drew the cloak from his head. And the hero\ncast down his eyes and looked aside, in reverence for the goddesses,\nand as he lay bewildered all alone they addressed him openly with\ngentle words:\n\n\u201cIll-starred one, why art thou so smitten with despair? We know how ye\nwent in quest of the golden fleece; we know each toil of yours, all the\nmighty deeds ye wrought in your wanderings over land and sea. We are\nthe solitary ones, goddesses of the land, speaking with human voice,\nthe heroines, Libya\u2019s warders and daughters. Up then; be not thus\nafflicted in thy misery, and rouse thy comrades. And when Amphitrite\nhas straightway loosed Poseidon\u2019s swift-wheeled car, then do ye pay to\nyour mother a recompense for all her travail when she bare you so long\nin her womb; and so ye may return to the divine land of Achaea.\u201d\n\nThus they spake, and with the voice vanished at once, where they stood.\nBut Jason sat upon the earth as he gazed around, and thus cried:\n\n\u201cBe gracious, noble goddesses of the desert, yet the saying about our\nreturn I understand not clearly. Surely I will gather together my\ncomrades and tell them, if haply we can find some token of our escape,\nfor the counsel of many is better.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and leapt to his feet, and shouted afar to his comrades, all\nsqualid with dust, like a lion when he roars through the woodland\nseeking his mate; and far off in the mountains the glens tremble at the\nthunder of his voice; and the oxen of the field and the herdsmen\nshudder with fear; yet to them Jason\u2019s voice was no whit terrible the\nvoice of a comrade calling to his friends. And with looks downcast they\ngathered near, and hard by where the ship lay he made them sit down in\ntheir grief and the women with them, and addressed them and told them\neverything:\n\n\u201cListen, friends; as I lay in my grief, three goddesses girded with\ngoat-skins from the neck downwards round the back and waist, like\nmaidens, stood over my head nigh at hand; and they uncovered me,\ndrawing my cloak away with light hand, and they bade me rise up myself\nand go and rouse you, and pay to our mother a bounteous recompense for\nall her travail when she bare us so long in her womb, when Amphitrite\nshall have loosed Poseidon\u2019s swift-wheeled car. But I cannot fully\nunderstand concerning this divine message. They said indeed that they\nwere heroines, Libya\u2019s warders and daughters; and all the toils that we\nendured aforetime by land and sea, all these they declared that they\nknew full well. Then I saw them no more in their place, but a mist or\ncloud came between and hid them from my sight.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and all marvelled as they heard. Then was wrought for\nthe Minyae the strangest of portents. From the sea to the land leapt\nforth a monstrous horse, of vast size, with golden mane tossing round\nhis neck; and quickly from his limbs he shook off abundant spray and\nstarted on his course, with feet like the wind. And at once Peleus\nrejoiced and spake among the throng of his comrades:\n\n\u201cI deem that Poseidon\u2019s ear has even now been loosed by the hands of\nhis dear wife, and I divine that our mother is none else than our ship\nherself; for surely she bare us in her womb and groans unceasingly with\ngrievous travailing. But with unshaken strength and untiring shoulders\nwill we lift her up and bear her within this country of sandy wastes,\nwhere yon swift-footed steed has sped before. For he will not plunge\nbeneath the earth; and his hoof-prints, I ween, will point us to some\nbay above the sea.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and the fit counsel pleased all. This is the tale the\nMuses told; and I sing obedient to the Pierides, and this report have I\nheard most truly; that ye, O mightiest far of the sons of kings, by\nyour might and your valour over the desert sands of Libya raised high\naloft on your shoulders the ship and all that ye brought therein, and\nbare her twelve days and nights alike. Yet who could tell the pain and\ngrief which they endured in that toil? Surely they were of the blood of\nthe immortals, such a task did they take on them, constrained by\nnecessity. How forward and how far they bore her gladly to the waters\nof the Tritonian lake! How they strode in and set her down from their\nstalwart shoulders!\n\nThen, like raging hounds, they rushed to search for a spring; for\nbesides their suffering and anguish, a parching thirst lay upon them,\nand not in vain did they wander; but they came to the sacred plain\nwhere Ladon, the serpent of the land, till yesterday kept watch over\nthe golden apples in the garden of Atlas; and all around the nymphs,\nthe Hesperides, were busied, chanting their lovely song. But at that\ntime, stricken by Heracles, he lay fallen by the trunk of the\napple-tree; only the tip of his tail was still writhing; but from his\nhead down his dark spine he lay lifeless; and where the arrows had left\nin his blood the bitter gall of the Lernaean hydra, flies withered and\ndied over the festering wounds. And close at hand the Hesperides, their\nwhite arms flung over their golden heads, lamented shrilly; and the\nheroes drew near suddenly; but the maidens, at their quick approach, at\nonce became dust and earth where they stood. Orpheus marked the divine\nportent, and for his comrades addressed them in prayer: \u201cO divine ones,\nfair and kind, be gracious, O queens, whether ye be numbered among the\nheavenly goddesses, or those beneath the earth, or be called the\nSolitary nymphs; come, O nymphs, sacred race of Oceanus, appear\nmanifest to our longing eyes and show us some spring of water from the\nrock or some sacred flow gushing from the earth, goddesses, wherewith\nwe may quench the thirst that burns us unceasingly. And if ever again\nwe return in our voyaging to the Achaean land, then to you among the\nfirst of goddesses with willing hearts will we bring countless gifts,\nlibations and banquets.\u201d\n\nSo he spake, beseeching them with plaintive voice; and they from their\nstation near pitied their pain; and lo! First of all they caused grass\nto spring from the earth; and above the grass rose up tall shoots, and\nthen flourishing saplings grew standing upright far above the earth.\nHespere became a poplar and Eretheis an elm, and Aegle a willow\u2019s\nsacred trunk. And forth from these trees their forms looked out, as\nclear as they were before, a marvel exceeding great, and Aegle spake\nwith gentle words answering their longing looks:\n\n\u201cSurely there has come hither a mighty succour to your toils, that most\naccursed man, who robbed our guardian serpent of life and plucked the\ngolden apples of the goddesses and is gone; and has left bitter grief\nfor us. For yesterday came a man most fell in wanton violence, most\ngrim in form; and his eyes flashed beneath his scowling brow; a\nruthless wretch; and he was clad in the skin of a monstrous lion of raw\nhide, untanned; and he bare a sturdy bow of olive, and a bow, wherewith\nhe shot and killed this monster here. So he too came, as one traversing\nthe land on foot, parched with thirst; and he rushed wildly through\nthis spot, searching for water, but nowhere was he like to see it. Now\nhere stood a rock near the Tritonian lake; and of his own device, or by\nthe prompting of some god, he smote it below with his foot; and the\nwater gushed out in full flow. And he, leaning both his hands and chest\nupon the ground, drank a huge draught from the rifted rock, until,\nstooping like a beast of the field, he had satisfied his mighty maw.\u201d\n\nThus she spake; and they gladly with joyful steps ran to the spot where\nAegle had pointed out to them the spring, until they reached it. And as\nwhen earth-burrowing ants gather in swarms round a narrow cleft, or\nwhen flies lighting upon a tiny drop of sweet honey cluster round with\ninsatiate eagerness; so at that time, huddled together, the Minyae\nthronged about the spring from the rock. And thus with wet lips one\ncried to another in his delight:\n\n\u201cStrange! In very truth Heracles, though far away, has saved his\ncomrades, fordone with thirst. Would that we might find him on his way\nas we pass through the mainland!\u201d\n\nSo they spake, and those who were ready for this work answered, and\nthey separated this way and that, each starting to search. For by the\nnight winds the footsteps had been effaced where the sand was stirred.\nThe two sons of Boreas started up, trusting in their wings; and\nEuphemus, relying on his swift feet, and Lynceus to cast far his\npiercing eyes; and with them darted off Canthus, the fifth. He was\nurged on by the doom of the gods and his own courage, that he might\nlearn for certain from Heracles where he had left Polyphemus, son of\nEilatus; for he was minded to question him on every point concerning\nhis comrade. But that hero had founded a glorious city among the\nMysians, and, yearning for his home-return, had passed far over the\nmainland in search of Argo; and in time he reached the land of the\nChalybes, who dwell near the sea; there it was that his fate subdued\nhim. And to him a monument stands under a tall poplar, just facing the\nsea. But that day Lynceus thought he saw Heracles all alone, far off,\nover measureless land, as a man at the month\u2019s beginning sees, or\nthinks he sees, the moon through a bank of cloud. And he returned and\ntold his comrades that no other searcher would find Heracles on his\nway, and they also came back, and swift-footed Euphemus and the twin\nsons of Thracian Boreas, after a vain toil.\n\nBut thee, Canthus, the fates of death seized in Libya. On pasturing\nflocks didst thou light; and there followed a shepherd who, in defence\nof his own sheep, while thou weft leading them off[37] to thy comrades\nin their need, slew thee by the cast of a stone; for he was no\nweakling, Caphaurus, the grandson of Lycoreian Phoebus and the chaste\nmaiden Acacallis, whom once Minos drove from home to dwell in Libya,\nhis own daughter, when she was bearing the gods\u2019 heavy load; and she\nbare to Phoebus a glorious son, whom they call Amphithemis and Garamas.\nAnd Amphithemis wedded a Tritonian nymph; and she bare to him Nasamon\nand strong Caphaurus, who on that day in defending his sheep slew\nCanthus. But he escaped not the chieftains\u2019 avenging hands, when they\nlearned the deed he had done. And the Minyae, when they knew it,\nafterwards took up the corpse and buried it in the earth, mourning; and\nthe sheep they took with them.\n\nThereupon on the same day a pitiless fate seized Mopsus too, son of\nAmpycus; and he escaped not a bitter doom by his prophesying; for there\nis no averting of death. Now there lay in the sand, avoiding the midday\nheat, a dread serpent, too sluggish of his own will to strike at an\nunwilling foe, nor yet would he dart full face at one that would shrink\nback. But into whatever of all living beings that life-giving earth\nsustains that serpent once injects his black venom, his path to Hades\nbecomes not so much as a cubit\u2019s length, not even if Paeeon, if it is\nright for me to say this openly, should tend him, when its teeth have\nonly grazed the skin. For when over Libya flew godlike Perseus\nEurymedon for by that name his mother called him\u2014bearing to the king\nthe Gorgon\u2019s head newly severed, all the drops of dark blood that fell\nto the earth, produced a brood of those serpents. Now Mopsus stepped on\nthe end of its spine, setting thereon the sole of his left foot; and it\nwrithed round in pain and bit and tore the flesh between the shin and\nthe muscles. And Medea and her handmaids fled in terror; but Canthus\nbravely felt the bleeding wound; for no excessive pain harassed him.\nPoor wretch! Already a numbness that loosed his limbs was stealing\nbeneath his skin, and a thick mist was spreading over his eyes.\nStraightway his heavy limbs sank helplessly to the ground and he grew\ncold; and his comrades and the hero, Aeson\u2019s son, gathered round,\nmarvelling at the close-coming doom. Nor yet though dead might he lie\nbeneath the sun even for a little space. For at once the poison began\nto rot his flesh within, and the hair decayed and fell from the skin.\nAnd quickly and in haste they dug a deep grave with mattocks of bronze;\nand they tore their hair, the heroes and the maidens, bewailing the\ndead man\u2019s piteous suffering; and when he had received due burial\nrites, thrice they marched round the tomb in full armour, and heaped\nabove him a mound of earth.\n\nBut when they had gone aboard, as the south wind blew over the sea, and\nthey were searching for a passage to go forth from the Tritonian lake,\nfor long they had no device, but all the day were borne on aimlessly.\nAnd as a serpent goes writhing along his crooked path when the sun\u2019s\nfiercest rays scorch him; and with a hiss he turns his head to this\nside and that, and in his fury his eyes glow like sparks of fire, until\nhe creeps to his lair through a cleft in the rock; so Argo seeking an\noutlet from the lake, a fairway for ships, wandered for a long time.\nThen straightway Orpheus bade them bring forth from the ship Apollo\u2019s\nmassy tripod and offer it to the gods of the land as propitiation for\ntheir return. So they went forth and set Apollo\u2019s gift on the shore;\nthen before them stood, in the form of a youth, farswaying Triton, and\nhe lifted a clod from the earth and offered it as a stranger\u2019s gift,\nand thus spake:\n\n\u201cTake it, friends, for no stranger\u2019s gift of great worth have I here by\nme now to place in the hands of those who beseech me. But if ye are\nsearching for a passage through this sea, as often is the need of men\npassing through a strange land, I will declare it. For my sire Poseidon\nhas made me to be well versed in this sea. And I rule the shore if\nhaply in your distant land you have ever heard of Eurypylus, born in\nLibya, the home of wild beasts.\u201d\n\nThus he spake, and readily Euphemus held out his hands towards the\nclod, and thus addressed him in reply:\n\n\u201cIf haply, hero, thou knowest aught of Apis[38] and the sea of Minos,\ntell us truly, who ask it of you. For not of our will have we come\nhither, but by the stress of heavy storms have we touched the borders\nof this land, and have borne our ship aloft on our shoulders to the\nwaters of this lake over the mainland, grievously burdened; and we know\nnot where a passage shows itself for our course to the land of Pelops.\u201d\n\nSo he spake; and Triton stretched out his hand and showed afar the sea\nand the lake\u2019s deep mouth, and then addressed them: \u201cThat is the outlet\nto the sea, where the deep water lies unmoved and dark; on each side\nroll white breakers with shining crests; and the way between for your\npassage out is narrow. And that sea stretches away in mist to the\ndivine land of Pelops beyond Crete; but hold to the right, when ye have\nentered the swell of the sea from the lake, and steer your course\nhugging the land, as long as it trends to the north; but when the coast\nbends, falling away in the other direction, then your course is safely\nlaid for you if ye go straight forward from the projecting cape. But go\nin joy, and as for labour let there be no grieving that limbs in\nyouthful vigour should still toil.\u201d\n\nHe spake with kindly counsel; and they at once went aboard, intent to\ncome forth from the lake by the use of oars. And eagerly they sped on;\nmeanwhile Triton took up the mighty tripod, and they saw him enter the\nlake; but thereafter did no one mark how he vanished so near them along\nwith the tripod. But their hearts were cheered, for that one of the\nblessed had met them in friendly guise. And they bade Aeson\u2019s son offer\nto him the choicest of the sheep and when he had slain it chant the\nhymn of praise. And straightway he chose in haste and raising the\nvictim slew it over the stern, and prayed with these words:\n\n\u201cThou god, who hast manifested thyself on the borders of this land,\nwhether the daughters born of the sea call thee Triton, the great\nsea-marvel, or Phoreys, or Nereus, be gracious, and grant the return\nhome dear to our hearts.\u201d\n\nHe spake, and cut the victim\u2019s throat over the water and cast it from\nthe stern. And the god rose up from the depths in form such as he\nreally was. And as when a man trains a swift steed for the broad\nrace-course, and runs along, grasping the bushy mane, while the steed\nfollows obeying his master, and rears his neck aloft in his pride, and\nthe gleaming bit rings loud as he champs it in his jaws from side to\nside; so the god, seizing hollow Argo\u2019s keel, guided her onward to the\nsea. And his body, from the crown of his head, round his back and waist\nas far as the belly, was wondrously like that of the blessed ones in\nform; but below his sides the tail of a sea monster lengthened far,\nforking to this side and that; and he smote the surface of the waves\nwith the spines, which below parted into curving fins, like the horns\nof the new moon. And he guided Argo on until he sped her into the sea\non her course; and quickly he plunged into the vast abyss; and the\nheroes shouted when they gazed with their eyes on that dread portent.\nThere is the harbour of Argo and there are the signs of her stay, and\naltars to Poseidon and Triton; for during that day they tarried. But at\ndawn with sails outspread they sped on before the breath of the west\nwind, keeping the desert land on their right. And on the next morn they\nsaw the headland and the recess of the sea, bending inward beyond the\njutting headland. And straightway the west wind ceased, and there came\nthe breeze of the clear south wind; and their hearts rejoiced at the\nsound it made. But when the sun sank and the star returned that bids\nthe shepherd fold, which brings rest to wearied ploughmen, at that time\nthe wind died down in the dark night; so they furled the sails and\nlowered the tall mast and vigorously plied their polished oars all\nnight and through the day, and again when the next night came on. And\nrugged Carpathus far away welcomed them; and thence they were to cross\nto Crete, which rises in the sea above other islands.\n\nAnd Talos, the man of bronze, as he broke off rocks from the hard\ncliff, stayed them from fastening hawsers to the shore, when they came\nto the roadstead of Dicte\u2019s haven. He was of the stock of bronze, of\nthe men sprung from ash-trees, the last left among the sons of the\ngods; and the son of Cronos gave him to Europa to be the warder of\nCrete and to stride round the island thrice a day with his feet of\nbronze. Now in all the rest of his body and limbs was he fashioned of\nbronze and invulnerable; but beneath the sinew by his ankle was a\nblood-red vein; and this, with its issues of life and death, was\ncovered by a thin skin. So the heroes, though outworn with toil,\nquickly backed their ship from the land in sore dismay. And now far\nfrom Crete would they have been borne in wretched plight, distressed\nboth by thirst and pain, had not Medea addressed them as they turned\naway:\n\n\u201cHearken to me. For I deem that I alone can subdue for you that man,\nwhoever he be, even though his frame be of bronze throughout, unless\nhis life too is everlasting. But be ready to keep your ship here beyond\nthe cast of his stones, till he yield the victory to me.\u201d\n\nThus she spake; and they drew the ship out of range, resting on their\noars, waiting to see what plan unlooked for she would bring to pass;\nand she, holding the fold of her purple robe over her cheeks on each\nside, mounted on the deck; and Aeson\u2019s son took her hand in his and\nguided her way along the thwarts. And with songs did she propitiate and\ninvoke the Death-spirits, devourers of life, the swift hounds of Hades,\nwho, hovering through all the air, swoop down on the living. Kneeling\nin supplication, thrice she called on them with songs, and thrice with\nprayers; and, shaping her soul to mischief, with her hostile glance she\nbewitched the eyes of Talos, the man of bronze; and her teeth gnashed\nbitter wrath against him, and she sent forth baneful phantoms in the\nfrenzy of her rage.\n\nFather Zeus, surely great wonder rises in my mind, seeing that dire\ndestruction meets us not from disease and wounds alone, but lo! even\nfrom afar, may be, it tortures us! So Talos, for all his frame of\nbronze, yielded the victory to the might of Medea the sorceress. And as\nhe was heaving massy rocks to stay them from reaching the haven, he\ngrazed his ankle on a pointed crag; and the ichor gushed forth like\nmelted lead; and not long thereafter did he stand towering on the\njutting cliff. But even as some huge pine, high up on the mountains,\nwhich woodmen have left half hewn through by their sharp axes when they\nreturned from the forest\u2014at first it shivers in the wind by night, then\nat last snaps at the stump and crashes down; so Talos for a while stood\non his tireless feet, swaying to and fro, when at last, all\nstrengthless, fell with a mighty thud. For that night there in Crete\nthe heroes lay; then, just as dawn was growing bright, they built a\nshrine to Minoan Athena, and drew water and went aboard, so that first\nof all they might by rowing pass beyond Salmone\u2019s height.\n\nBut straightway as they sped over the wide Cretan sea night scared\nthem, that night which they name the Pall of Darkness; the stars\npierced not that fatal night nor the beams of the moon, but black chaos\ndescended from heaven, or haply some other darkness came, rising from\nthe nethermost depths. And the heroes, whether they drifted in Hades or\non the waters, knew not one whit; but they committed their return to\nthe sea in helpless doubt whither it was bearing them. But Jason raised\nhis hands and cried to Phoebus with mighty voice, calling on him to\nsave them; and the tears ran down in his distress; and often did he\npromise to bring countless offerings to Pytho, to Amyclae, and to\nOrtygia. And quickly, O son of Leto, swift to hear, didst thou come\ndown from heaven to the Melantian rocks, which lie there in the sea.\nThen darting upon one of the twin peaks, thou raisedst aloft in thy\nright hand thy golden bow; and the bow flashed a dazzling gleam all\nround. And to their sight appeared a small island of the Sporades, over\nagainst the tiny isle Hippuris, and there they cast anchor and stayed;\nand straightway dawn arose and gave them light; and they made for\nApollo a glorious abode in a shady wood, and a shady altar, calling on\nPhoebus the \u201cGleamer\u201d, because of the gleam far-seen; and that bare\nisland they called Anaphe,[39] for that Phoebus had revealed it to men\nsore bewildered. And they sacrificed all that men could provide for\nsacrifice on a desolate strand; wherefore when Medea\u2019s Phaeacian\nhandmaids saw them pouring water for libations on the burning brands,\nthey could no longer restrain laughter within their bosoms, for that\never they had seen oxen in plenty slain in the halls of Alcinous. And\nthe heroes delighted in the jest and attacked them with taunting words;\nand merry railing and contention flung to and fro were kindled among\nthem. And from that sport of the heroes such scoffs do the women fling\nat the men in that island whenever they propitiate with sacrifices\nApollo the gleaming god, the warder of Anaphe.\n\nBut when they had loosed the hawsers thence in fair weather, then\nEuphemus bethought him of a dream of the night, reverencing the\nglorious son of Maia. For it seemed to him that the god-given clod of\nearth held in his palm close to his breast was being suckled by white\nstreams of milk, and that from it, little though it was, grew a woman\nlike a virgin; and he, overcome by strong desire, lay with her in\nlove\u2019s embrace; and united with her he pitied her, as though she were a\nmaiden whom he was feeding with his own milk; but she comforted him\nwith gentle words:\n\n\u201cDaughter of Triton am I, dear friend, and nurse of thy children, no\nmaiden; Triton and Libya are my parents. But restore me to the\ndaughters of Nereus to dwell in the sea near Anaphe; I shall return\nagain to the light of the sun, to prepare a home for thy descendants.\u201d\n\nOf this he stored in his heart the memory, and declared it to Aeson\u2019s\nson; and Jason pondered a prophecy of the Far-Darter and lifted up his\nvoice and said:\n\n\u201cMy friend, great and glorious renown has fallen to thy lot. For of\nthis clod when thou hast cast it into the sea, the gods will make an\nisland, where thy children\u2019s children shall dwell; for Triton gave this\nto thee as a stranger\u2019s gift from the Libyan mainland. None other of\nthe immortals it was than he that gave thee this when he met thee.\u201d\n\nThus he spake; and Euphemus made not vain the answer of Aeson\u2019s son;\nbut, cheered by the prophecy, he cast the clod into the depths.\nTherefrom rose up an island, Calliste, sacred nurse of the sons of\nEuphemus, who in former days dwelt in Sintian Lemnos, and from Lemnos\nwere driven forth by Tyrrhenians and came to Sparta as suppliants; and\nwhen they left Sparta, Theras, the goodly son of Autesion, brought them\nto the island Calliste, and from himself he gave it the name of Thera.\nBut this befell after the days of Euphemus.\n\nAnd thence they steadily left behind long leagues of sea and stayed on\nthe beach of Aegina; and at once they contended in innocent strife\nabout the fetching of water, who first should draw it and reach the\nship. For both their need and the ceaseless breeze urged them on. There\neven to this day do the youths of the Myrmidons take up on their\nshoulders full-brimming jars, and with swift feet strive for victory in\nthe race.\n\nBe gracious, race of blessed chieftains! And may these songs year after\nyear be sweeter to sing among men. For now have I come to the glorious\nend of your toils; for no adventure befell you as ye came home from\nAegina, and no tempest of winds opposed you; but quietly did ye skirt\nthe Cecropian land and Aulis inside of Euboea and the Opuntian cities\nof the Locrians, and gladly did ye step forth upon the beach of\nPagasae.\n\n\n\n\nENDNOTES:\n\n\n1 \u201cOr of Naucratis\u201d, according to Aelian and Athenaeus.\n\n2 Anth. Pal. xl. 275.\n\n3 iii. 117-124.\n\n4 _e.g._ compare _Aen._ iv. 305 foll. with Ap. Rh. iv. 355 foll.;\n_Aen._ iv. 327-330 with Ap. Rh. I. 897, 898; _Aen._ iv. 522 foll., with\nAp. Rh. iii. 744 foll.\n\n5 _i.e._ God of embarcation.\n\n6 Or, reading \u1f14\u03ba\u03c4\u03bf\u03b8\u03b5\u03bd, \u201cthey strongly girded the ship outside with a\nwell-twisted rope.\u201d In either case there is probably no allusion to\n\u1f50\u03c0\u03bf\u03b6\u03ce\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1 (ropes for undergirding) which were carried loose and only\nused in stormy weather.\n\n7 _i.e._ God of the shore.\n\n8 _i.e._ The Starting.\n\n9 Samothrace.\n\n10 _i.e._ god of disembarcation.\n\n11 Cleite means illustrious.\n\n12 _i.e._ to avoid grinding it at home.\n\n13 Rhea.\n\n14 _i.e._ Polydeuces.\n\n15 _i.e._ Saviour of Sailors.\n\n16 _i.e._ through the ravine that divides the headland.\n\n17 _i.e._ river of fair dances.\n\n18 _i.e._ the bedchamber.\n\n19 The north-west wind.\n\n20 Called \u201cMossynes\u201d.\n\n21 _i.e._ without exacting gifts from the bridegroom. So in the \u201cIliad\u201d\nix. 146: Agamemnon offers Achilles any of his three daughters \u1f00\u03bd\u03ac\u03b5\u03b4\u03bd\u03bf\u03c2.\n\n22 _i.e._ the fight between the gods and the giants.\n\n23 _i.e._ the Shining One.\n\n24 A name of Ares.\n\n25 _i.e._ the liquid that flows in the veins of gods.\n\n26 Or, reading \u03bc\u03ae\u03bd\u03b9\u03bc\u2019, \u201ctook no heed of the cause of wrath with the\nstranger-folk.\u201d\n\n27 The allusion is to Sesotris. See Herodotus ii. 102 foll.\n\n28 Or, reading \u1f20\u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03b7\u03bd, \u201cinto our sea\u201d. The Euxine is meant in any\ncase and the word Ionian is therefore wrong.\n\n29 Apollonius seems to have thought that the Po, the Rhone, and the\nRhine are all connected together.\n\n30 _i.e._ like the scrapings from skin, \u1f00\u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03c4\u03bb\u03b5\u03b3\u03b3\u03af\u03c3\u03bc\u03b1\u03c4\u03b1; see Strabo p.\n224 for this adventure.\n\n31 The _Symplegades_ are referred to, where help was given by Athena,\nnot by Hera. It is strange that no mention is made of the _Planctae_,\nproperly so called, past which they are soon to be helped. Perhaps some\nlines have fallen out.\n\n32 _i.e._ the Mighty One.\n\n33 _i.e._ the Wanderers.\n\n34 A fabulous metal, resembling gold in appearance.\n\n35 _i.e._ the Sickle-island.\n\n36 The old name of Corinth.\n\n37 This seems to be the only possible translation, but the optative is\nquite anomalous. We should expect \u1f10\u03ba\u03cc\u03bc\u03b9\u03b6\u03b5\u03c2.\n\n38 An old name of the Peloponnesus.\n\n39 _i.e._ the isle of Revealing.","title":"The Argonautica","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":61281}