the heroes talked about the Golden Fleece. It originally belonged, it
appears, to a Boeotian ram, who had taken on his back two children,
when in danger of their lives, and fled with them over land and sea, as
far as Colchis. One of the children, whose name was Helle, fell into the
sea and was drowned. But the other (a little boy, named Phrixus) was
brought safe ashore by the faithful ram, who, however, was so exhausted
that he immediately lay down and died. In memory of this good deed, and
as a token of his true heart, the fleece of the poor dead ram was
miraculously changed to gold, and became one of the most beautiful
objects ever seen on earth. It was hung upon a tree in a sacred grove,
where it had now been kept I know not how many years, and was the envy
of mighty kings, who had nothing so magnificent in any of their palaces.
If I were to tell you all the adventures of the Argonauts, it would take
me till nightfall, and perhaps a great deal longer. There was no lack of
wonderful events, as you may judge from what you may have already heard.
At a certain island they were hospitably received by King Cyzicus, its
sovereign, who made a feast for them, and treated them like brothers.
But the Argonauts saw that this good king looked downcast and very much
troubled, and they therefore inquired of him what was the matter. King
Cyzicus hereupon informed them that he and his subjects were greatly
abused and incommoded by the inhabitants of a neighboring mountain, who
made war upon them, and killed many people, and ravaged the country. And
while they were talking about it, Cyzicus pointed to the mountain, and
asked Jason and his companions what they saw there.
"I see some very tall objects," answered Jason; "but they are at such a
distance that I cannot distinctly make out what they are. To tell your
Majesty the truth, they look so very strangely that I am inclined to
think them clouds, which have chanced to take something like human
shapes."
"I see them very plainly," remarked Lynceus, whose eyes, you know, were
as far-sighted as a telescope. "They are a band of enormous giants, all
of whom have six arms apiece, and a club, a sword, or some other weapon
in each of their hands."
"You have excellent eyes," said King Cyzicus. "Yes; they are six-armed
giants, as you say, and these are the enemies whom I and my subjects
have to contend with."
The next day, when the Argonauts were about setting sail, down came
these terrible giants, stepping a hundred yards at a stride, brandishing
their six arms apiece, and looking very formidable, so far aloft in the
air. Each of these monsters was able to carry on a whole war by himself,
for with one of his arms he could fling immense stones, and wield a club
with another, and a sword with a third, while the fourth was poking a
long spear at the enemy, and the fifth and sixth were shooting him with
a bow and arrow. But, luckily, though the giants were so huge, and had
so many arms, they had each but one heart, and that no bigger nor braver
than the heart of an ordinary man. Besides, if they had been like the
hundred-armed Briareus, the brave Argonauts would have given them their
hands full of fight. Jason and his friends went boldly to meet them,
slew a great many, and made the rest take to their heels, so that, if
the giants had had six legs apiece instead of six arms, it would have
served them better to run away with.
Another strange adventure happened when the voyagers came to Thrace,
where they found a poor blind king, named Phineus, deserted by his
subjects, and living in a very sorrowful way, all by himself. On Jason's
inquiring whether they could do him any service, the king answered that
he was terribly tormented by three great winged creatures, called
Harpies, which had the faces of women, and the wings, bodies, and claws
of vultures. These ugly wretches were in the habit of snatching away his
dinner, and allowing him no peace of his life. Upon hearing this, the
Argonauts spread a plentiful feast on the sea-shore, well knowing, from
what the blind king said of their greediness, that the Harpies would
snuff up the scent of the victuals, and quickly come to steal them away.
And so it turned out; for, hardly was the table set, before the three
hideous vulture women came flapping their wings, seized the food in
their talons, and flew off as fast as they could. But the two sons of
the North Wind drew their swords, spread their pinions, and set off
through the air in pursuit of the thieves, whom they at last overtook
among some islands, after a chase of hundreds of miles. The two winged
youths blustered terribly at the Harpies (for they had the rough temper
of their father), and so frightened them with their drawn swords, that
they solemnly promised never to trouble King Phineus again.
Then the Argonauts sailed onward, and met with many other marvellous
incidents any one of which would make a story by itself. At one time,
they landed on an island, and were reposing on the grass, when they
suddenly found themselves assailed by what seemed a shower of
steel-headed arrows. Some of them stuck in the ground, while others hit
against their shields, and several penetrated their flesh. The fifty
heroes started up, and looked about them for the hidden enemy, but could
find none, nor see any spot, on the whole island, where even a single
archer could lie concealed. Still, however, the steel-headed arrows came
whizzing among them; and, at last, happening to look upward, they beheld
a large flock of birds, hovering and wheeling aloft, and shooting their
feathers down upon the Argonauts. These feathers were the steel-headed
arrows that had so tormented them. There was no possibility of making
any resistance; and the fifty heroic Argonauts might all have been
killed or wounded by a flock of troublesome birds, without ever setting
eyes on the Golden Fleece, if Jason had not thought of asking the advice
of the oaken image.
[Illustration: THE ARGONAUTS IN QUEST OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE
(From the original in the collection of Harry Payne Whitney Esq're, New
York)]
So he ran to the galley as fast as his legs would carry him.
"O daughter of the Speaking Oak," cried he, all out of breath, "we need
your wisdom more than ever before! We are in great peril from a flock of
birds, who are shooting us with their steel-pointed feathers. What can
we do to drive them away?"
"Make a clatter on your shields," said the image.
On receiving this excellent counsel, Jason hurried back to his
companions (who were far more dismayed than when they fought with the
six-armed giants), and bade them strike with their swords upon their
brazen shields. Forthwith the fifty heroes set heartily to work, banging
with might and main, and raised such a terrible clatter that the birds
made what haste they could to get away; and though they had shot half
the feathers out of their wings, they were soon seen skimming among the
clouds, a long distance off, and looking like a flock of wild geese.
Orpheus celebrated this victory by playing a triumphant anthem on his
harp, and sang so melodiously that Jason begged him to desist, lest, as
the steel-feathered birds had been driven away by an ugly sound, they
might be enticed back again by a sweet one.
While the Argonauts remained on this island, they saw a small vessel
approaching the shore, in which were two young men of princely demeanor,
and exceedingly handsome, as young princes generally were in those days.
Now, who do you imagine these two voyagers turned out to be? Why, if you
will believe me, they were the sons of that very Phrixus, who, in his
childhood, had been carried to Colchis on the back of the golden-fleeced
ram. Since that time, Phrixus had married the king's daughter; and the
two young princes had been born and brought up at Colchis, and had spent
their play-days in the outskirts of the grove, in the centre of which
the Golden Fleece was hanging upon a tree. They were now on their way to
Greece, in hopes of getting back a kingdom that had been wrongfully
taken from their father.
When the princes understood whither the Argonauts were going, they
offered to turn back and guide them to Colchis. At the same time,
however, they spoke as if it were very doubtful whether Jason would
succeed in getting the Golden Fleece. According to their account, the
tree on which it hung was guarded by a terrible dragon, who never failed
to devour, at one mouthful, every person who might venture within his
reach.
"There are other difficulties in the way," continued the young princes.
"But is not this enough? Ah, brave Jason, turn back before it is too
late. It would grieve us to the heart, if you and your nine-and-forty
brave companions should be eaten up, at fifty mouthfuls, by this
execrable dragon."
"My young friends," quietly replied Jason, "I do not wonder that you
think the dragon very terrible. You have grown up from infancy in the
fear of this monster, and therefore still regard him with the awe that
children feel for the bugbears and hobgoblins which their nurses have
talked to them about. But, in my view of the matter, the dragon is
merely a pretty large serpent, who is not half so likely to snap me up
at one mouthful as I am to cut off his ugly head, and strip the skin
from his body. At all events, turn back who may, I will never see Greece
again unless I carry with me the Golden Fleece."
"We will none of us turn back!" cried his nine-and-forty brave comrades.
"Let us get on board the galley this instant; and if the dragon is to
make a breakfast of us, much good may it do him."
And Orpheus (whose custom it was to set everything to music) began to
harp and sing most gloriously, and made every mother's son of them feel
as if nothing in this world were so delectable as to fight dragons, and
nothing so truly honorable as to be eaten up at one mouthful, in case of
the worst.
After this (being now under the guidance of the two princes, who were
well acquainted with the way), they quickly sailed to Colchis. When the
king of the country, whose name was AEetes, heard of their arrival, he
instantly summoned Jason to court. The king was a stern and
cruel-looking potentate; and though he put on as polite and hospitable
an expression as he could, Jason did not like his face a whit better
than that of the wicked King Pelias, who dethroned his father.
"You are welcome, brave Jason," said King AEetes. "Pray, are you on a
pleasure voyage?--or do you meditate the discovery of unknown
islands?--or what other cause has procured me the happiness of seeing
you at my court?"
"Great sir," replied Jason, with an obeisance,--for Chiron had taught
him how to behave with propriety, whether to kings or beggars,--"I have
come hither with a purpose which I now beg your Majesty's permission to
execute. King Pelias, who sits on my father's throne (to which he has no
more right than to the one on which your excellent Majesty is now
seated), has engaged to come down from it, and to give me his crown and
sceptre, provided I bring him the Golden Fleece. This, as your Majesty
is aware, is now hanging on a tree here at Colchis; and I humbly solicit
your gracious leave to take it away."
In spite of himself, the king's face twisted itself into an angry frown;
for, above all things else in the world, he prized the Golden Fleece,
and was even suspected of having done a very wicked act, in order to get
it into his own possession. It put him into the worst possible humor,
therefore, to hear that the gallant Prince Jason, and forty-nine of the
bravest young warriors of Greece, had come to Colchis with the sole
purpose of taking away his chief treasure.
"Do you know," asked King AEetes, eying Jason very sternly, "what are the
conditions which you must fulfil before getting possession of the Golden
Fleece?"
"I have heard," rejoined the youth, "that a dragon lies beneath the tree
on which the prize hangs, and that whoever approaches him runs the risk
of being devoured at a mouthful."
"True," said the king, with a smile that did not look particularly
good-natured. "Very true, young man. But there are other things as hard,
or perhaps a little harder, to be done, before you can even have the
privilege of being devoured by the dragon. For example, you must first
tame my two brazen-footed and brazen-lunged bulls, which Vulcan, the
wonderful blacksmith, made for me. There is a furnace in each of their
stomachs; and they breathe such hot fire out of their mouths and
nostrils, that nobody has hitherto gone nigh them without being
instantly burned to a small, black cinder. What do you think of this, my
brave Jason?"
"I must encounter the peril," answered Jason, composedly, "since it
stands in the way of my purpose."
"After taming the fiery bulls," continued King AEetes, who was determined
to scare Jason if possible, "you must yoke them to a plough, and must
plough the sacred earth in the grove of Mars, and sow some of the same
dragon's teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed men. They are an
unruly set of reprobates, those sons of the dragon's teeth; and unless
you treat them suitably, they will fall upon you sword in hand. You and
your nine-and-forty Argonauts, my bold Jason, are hardly numerous or
strong enough to fight with such a host as will spring up."
"My master Chiron," replied Jason, "taught me, long ago, the story of
Cadmus. Perhaps I can manage the quarrelsome sons of the dragon's teeth
as well as Cadmus did."
"I wish the dragon had him," muttered King AEetes to himself, "and the
four-footed pedant, his schoolmaster, into the bargain. Why, what a
foolhardy, self-conceited coxcomb he is! We'll see what my
fire-breathing bulls will do for him. Well, Prince Jason," he continued,
aloud, and as complaisantly as he could, "make yourself comfortable for
to-day, and to-morrow morning, since you insist upon it, you shall try
your skill at the plough."
While the king talked with Jason, a beautiful young woman was standing
behind the throne. She fixed her eyes earnestly upon the youthful
stranger, and listened attentively to every word that was spoken; and
when Jason withdrew from the king's presence, this young woman followed
him out of the room.
"I am the king's daughter," she said to him, "and my name is Medea. I
know a great deal of which other young princesses are ignorant, and can
do many things which they would be afraid so much as to dream of. If you
will trust to me, I can instruct you how to tame the fiery bulls, and
sow the dragon's teeth, and get the Golden Fleece."
"Indeed, beautiful princess," answered Jason, "if you will do me this
service, I promise to be grateful to you my whole life long."
Gazing at Medea, he beheld a wonderful intelligence in her face. She was
one of those persons whose eyes are full of mystery; so that, while
looking into them, you seem to see a very great way, as into a deep
well, yet can never be certain whether you see into the farthest depths,
or whether there be not something else hidden at the bottom. If Jason
had been capable of fearing anything, he would have been afraid of
making this young princess his enemy; for, beautiful as she now looked,
she might, the very next instant, become as terrible as the dragon that
kept watch over the Golden Fleece.
"Princess," he exclaimed, "you seem indeed very wise and very powerful.
But how can you help me to do the things of which you speak? Are you an
enchantress?"
"Yes, Prince Jason," answered Medea, with a smile, "you have hit upon
the truth. I am an enchantress. Circe, my father's sister, taught me to
be one, and I could tell you, if I pleased, who was the old woman with
the peacock, the pomegranate, and the cuckoo staff, whom you carried
over the river; and, likewise, who it is that speaks through the lips of
the oaken image, that stands in the prow of your galley. I am acquainted
with some of your secrets, you perceive. It is well for you that I am
favorably inclined; for, otherwise, you would hardly escape being
snapped up by the dragon."
"I should not so much care for the dragon," replied Jason, "if I only
knew how to manage the brazen-footed and fiery-lunged bulls."
"If you are as brave as I think you, and as you have need to be," said
Medea, "your own bold heart will teach you that there is but one way of
dealing with a mad bull. What it is I leave you to find out in the
moment of peril. As for the fiery breath of these animals, I have a
charmed ointment here, which will prevent you from being burned up, and
cure you if you chance to be a little scorched."
So she put a golden box into his hand, and directed him how to apply the
perfumed unguent which it contained, and where to meet her at midnight.
"Only be brave," added she, "and before daybreak the brazen bulls shall
be tamed."
The young man assured her that his heart would not fail him. He then
rejoined his comrades, and told them what had passed between the
princess and himself, and warned them to be in readiness in case there
might be need of their help.
At the appointed hour he met the beautiful Medea on the marble steps of
the king's palace. She gave him a basket, in which were the dragon's
teeth, just as they had been pulled out of the monster's jaws by Cadmus,
long ago. Medea then led Jason down the palace steps, and through the
silent streets of the city, and into the royal pasture-ground, where the
two brazen-footed bulls were kept. It was a starry night, with a bright
gleam along the eastern edge of the sky, where the moon was soon going
to show herself. After entering the pasture, the princess paused and
looked around.
"There they are," said she, "reposing themselves and chewing their fiery
cuds in that farthest corner of the field. It will be excellent sport, I
assure you, when they catch a glimpse of your figure. My father and all
his court delight in nothing so much as to see a stranger trying to yoke
them, in order to come at the Golden Fleece. It makes a holiday in
Colchis whenever such a thing happens. For my part, I enjoy it
immensely. You cannot imagine in what a mere twinkling of an eye their
hot breath shrivels a young man into a black cinder."
"Are you sure, beautiful Medea," asked Jason, "quite sure, that the
unguent in the gold box will prove a remedy against those terrible
burns?"
"If you doubt it, if you are in the least afraid," said the princess,
looking him in the face by the dim starlight, "you had better never have
been born than go a step nigher to the bulls."
But Jason had set his heart steadfastly on getting the Golden Fleece;
and I positively doubt whether he would have gone back without it, even
had he been certain of finding himself turned into a red-hot cinder, or
a handful of white ashes, the instant he made a step farther. He
therefore let go Medea's hand, and walked boldly forward in the
direction whither she had pointed. At some distance before him he
perceived four streams of fiery vapor, regularly appearing, and again
vanishing, after dimly lighting up the surrounding obscurity. These, you
will understand, were caused by the breath of the brazen bulls, which
was quietly stealing out of their four nostrils, as they lay chewing
their cuds.
At the first two or three steps which Jason made, the four fiery streams
appeared to gush out somewhat more plentifully; for the two brazen bulls
had heard his foot-tramp, and were lifting up their hot noses to snuff
the air. He went a little farther, and by the way in which the red vapor
now spouted forth, he judged that the creatures had got upon their feet.
Now he could see glowing sparks, and vivid jets of flame. At the next
step, each of the bulls made the pasture echo with a terrible roar,
while the burning breath, which they thus belched forth, lit up the
whole field with a momentary flash. One other stride did bold Jason
make; and, suddenly, as a streak of lightning, on came these fiery
animals, roaring like thunder, and sending out sheets of white flame,
which so kindled up the scene that the young man could discern every
object more distinctly than by daylight. Most distinctly of all he saw
the two horrible creatures galloping right down upon him, their brazen
hoofs rattling and ringing over the ground, and their tails sticking up
stiffly into the air, as has always been the fashion with angry bulls.
Their breath scorched the herbage before them. So intensely hot it was,
indeed, that it caught a dry tree, under which Jason was now standing,
and set it all in a light blaze. But as for Jason himself (thanks to
Medea's enchanted ointment), the white flame curled around his body,
without injuring him a jot more than if he had been made of asbestos.
Greatly encouraged at finding himself not yet turned into a cinder, the
young man awaited the attack of the bulls. Just as the brazen brutes
fancied themselves sure of tossing him into the air, he caught one of
them by the horn, and the other by his screwed-up tail, and held them in
a gripe like that of an iron vise, one with his right hand, the other
with his left. Well, he must have been wonderfully strong in his arms,
to be sure. But the secret of the matter was, that the brazen bulls were
enchanted creatures, and that Jason had broken the spell of their fiery
fierceness by his bold way of handling them. And, ever since that time,
it has been the favorite method of brave men, when danger assails them,
to do what they call "taking the bull by the horns"; and to gripe him by
the tail is pretty much the same thing,--that is, to throw aside fear,
and overcome the peril by despising it.
It was now easy to yoke the bulls, and to harness them to the plough,
which had lain rusting on the ground for a great many years gone by; so
long was it before anybody could be found capable of ploughing that
piece of land. Jason, I suppose, had been taught how to draw a furrow by
the good old Chiron, who, perhaps, used to allow himself to be harnessed
to the plough. At any rate, our hero succeeded perfectly well in
breaking up the greensward; and, by the time that the moon was a quarter
of her journey up the sky, the ploughed field lay before him, a large
tract of black earth, ready to be sown with the dragon's teeth. So Jason
scattered them broadcast, and harrowed them into the soil with a
brush-harrow, and took his stand on the edge of the field, anxious to
see what would happen next.
"Must we wait long for harvest-time?" he inquired of Medea, who was now
standing by his side.
"Whether sooner or later, it will be sure to come," answered the
princess. "A crop of armed men never fails to spring up, when the
dragon's teeth have been sown."
The moon was now high aloft in the heavens, and threw its bright beams
over the ploughed field, where as yet there was nothing to be seen. Any
farmer, on viewing it, would have said that Jason must wait weeks before
the green blades would peep from among the clods, and whole months
before the yellow grain would be ripened for the sickle. But by and by,
all over the field, there was something that glistened in the moonbeams,
like sparkling drops of dew. These bright objects sprouted higher, and
proved to be the steel heads of spears. Then there was a dazzling gleam
from a vast number of polished brass helmets, beneath which, as they
grew farther out of the soil, appeared the dark and bearded visages of
warriors, struggling to free themselves from the imprisoning earth. The
first look that they gave at the upper world was a glare of wrath and
defiance. Next were seen their bright breastplates; in every right hand
there was a sword or a spear, and on each left arm a shield; and when
this strange crop of warriors had but half grown out of the earth, they
struggled,--such was their impatience of restraint,--and, as it were,
tore themselves up by the roots. Wherever a dragon's tooth had fallen,
there stood a man armed for battle. They made a clangor with their
swords against their shields, and eyed one another fiercely; for they
had come into this beautiful world, and into the peaceful moonlight,
full of rage and stormy passions, and ready to take the life of every
human brother, in recompense of the boon of their own existence.
There have been many other armies in the world that seemed to possess
the same fierce nature with the one which had now sprouted from the
dragon's teeth; but these, in the moonlit field, were the more
excusable, because they never had women for their mothers. And how it
would have rejoiced any great captain, who was bent on conquering the
world, like Alexander or Napoleon, to raise a crop of armed soldiers as
easily as Jason did.