PART I. The Voyage to Colchis

I. THE YOUTH JASON

II. KING PELIAS

III. THE GOLDEN FLEECE

IV. THE ASSEMBLING OF THE HEROES AND THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP

V. THE ARGO

VI. POLYDEUCES' VICTORY AND HERACLES' LOSS

VII. KING PHINEUS

VIII. KING PHINEUS'S COUNSEL; THE LANDING IN LEMNOS

IX. THE LEMNIAN MAIDENS

X. THE DEPARTURE FROM LEMNOS

XI. THE PASSAGE OF THE SYMPLEGADES

XII. THE MOUNTAIN CAUCASUS

PART II. The Return To Greece

I. KING ÆETES

II. MEDEA THE SORCERESS

III. THE WINNING OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE

IV. THE SLAYING OF APSYRTUS

V. MEDEA COMES TO CIRCE

VI. IN THE LAND OF THE PHAEACIANS

VII. THEY COME TO THE DESERT LAND

VIII. THE CARRYING OF THE ARGO

IX. NEAR TO IOLCUS AGAIN

PART III. The Heroes of the Quest

I. ATALANTA THE HUNTRESS

II. PELEUS AND HIS BRIDE FROM THE SEA

III. THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR

IV. THE LIFE AND LABORS OF HERACLES

V. ADMETUS

VI. HOW ORPHEUS THE MINSTREL WENT DOWN TO THE WORLD OF THE DEAD

VII. JASON AND MEDEA

PART I. The Voyage to Colchis

I. THE YOUTH JASON

A man in the garb of a slave went up the side of that mountain that is

all covered with forest, the Mountain Pelion. He carried in his arms a

little child.

When it was full noon the slave came into a clearing of the forest so

silent that it seemed empty of all life. He laid the child down on the

soft moss, and then, trembling with the fear of what might come before

him, he raised a horn to his lips and blew three blasts upon it.

Then he waited. The blue sky was above him, the great trees stood away

from him, and the little child lay at his feet. He waited, and then he

heard the thud-thud of great hooves. And then from between the trees he

saw coming toward him the strangest of all beings, one who was half man

and half horse; this was Chiron the centaur.

Chiron came toward the trembling slave. Greater than any horse was

Chiron, taller than any man. The hair of his head flowed back into his

horse's mane, his great beard flowed over his horse's chest; in his

man's hand he held a great spear.

Not swiftly he came, but the slave could see that in those great limbs

of his there was speed like to the wind's. The slave fell upon his

knees. And with eyes that were full of majesty and wisdom and limbs

that were full of strength and speed, the king-centaur stood above him.

"O my lord," the slave said, "I have come before thee sent by Æson, my

master, who told me where to come and what blasts to blow upon the

horn. And Æson, once King of Iolcus, bade me say to thee that if thou

dost remember his ancient friendship with thee thou wilt, perchance,

take this child and guard and foster him, and, as he grows, instruct

him with thy wisdom."

"For Æson's sake I will rear and foster this child," said Chiron the

king-centaur in a deep voice.

The child lying on the moss had been looking up at the four-footed and

two-handed centaur. Now the slave lifted him up and placed him in the

centaur's arms. He said:

"Æson bade me tell thee that the child's name is Jason. He bade me give

thee this ring with the great ruby in it that thou mayst give it to the

child when he is grown. By this ring with its ruby and the images

engraved on it Æson may know his son when they meet after many years

and many changes. And another thing Æson bade me say to thee, O my lord

Chiron: not presumptuous is he, but he knows that this child has the

regard of the immortal Goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus."

Chiron held Æson's son in his arms, and the little child put hands into

his great beard. Then the centaur said, "Let Æson know that his son

will be reared and fostered by me, and that, when they meet again,

there will be ways by which they will be known to each other."

Saying this Chiron the centaur, holding the child in his arms, went

swiftly toward the forest arches; then the slave took up the horn and

went down the side of the Mountain Pelion. He came to where a horse was

hidden, and he mounted and rode, first to a city, and then to a village

that was beyond the city.

All this was before the famous walls of Troy were built; before King

Priam had come to the throne of his father and while he was still

known, not as Priam, but as Podarces. And the beginning of all these

happenings was in Iolcus, a city in Thessaly.

Cretheus founded the city and had ruled over it in days before King

Priam was born. He left two sons, Æson and Pelias. Æson succeeded his

father. And because he was a mild and gentle man, the men of war did

not love Æson; they wanted a hard king who would lead them to conquests.

Pelias, the brother of Æson, was ever with the men of war; he knew what

mind they had toward Æson and he plotted with them to overthrow his

brother. This they did, and they brought Pelias to reign as king in

Iolcus.

The people loved Æson; and they feared Pelias. And because the people

loved him and would be maddened by his slaying, Pelias and the men of

war left him living. With his wife, Alcimide, and his infant son, Æson

went from the city, and in a village that was at a distance from Iolcus

he found a hidden house and went to dwell in it.

Æson would have lived content there were it not that he was fearful for

Jason, his infant son. Jason, he knew, would grow into a strong and a

bold youth, and Pelias, the king, would be made uneasy on his account.

Pelias would slay the son, and perhaps would slay the father for the

son's sake when his memory would come to be less loved by the people.

Æson thought of such things in his hidden house, and he pondered on

ways to have his son reared away from Iolcus and the dread and the

power of King Pelias.

He had for a friend one who was the wisest of all creatures Chiron the

centaur; Chiron who was half man and half horse; Chiron who had lived

and was yet to live measureless years. Chiron had fostered Heracles,

and it might be that he would not refuse to foster Jason, Æson's child.

Away in the fastnesses of Mount Pelion Chiron dwelt; once Æson had been

with him and had seen the centaur hunt with his great bow and his great

spears. And Æson knew a way that one might come to him; Chiron himself

had told him of the way.

Now there was a slave in his house who had been a huntsman and who knew

all the ways of the Mountain Pelion. Æson talked with this slave one

day, and after he had talked with him he sat for a long time over the

cradle of his sleeping infant. And then he spoke to Alcimide, his wife,

telling her of a parting that made her weep. That evening the slave

came in and Æson took the child from the arms of the mournful-eyed

mother and put him in the slave's arms. Also he gave him a horn and a

ring with a great ruby in it and mystic images engraved on its gold.

Then when the ways were dark the slave mounted a horse, and, with the

child in his arms, rode through the city that King Pelias ruled over.

In the morning he came to that mountain that is all covered with

forest, the Mountain Pelion. And that evening he came back to the

village and to Æson's hidden house, and he told his master how he had

prospered.

Æson was content thereafter although he was lonely and although his

wife was lonely in their childlessness. But the time came when they

rejoiced that their child had been sent into an unreachable place. For

messengers from King Pelias came inquiring about the boy. They told the

king's messengers that the child had strayed off from his nurse, and

that whether he had been slain by a wild beast or had been drowned in

the swift River Anaurus they did not know.

The years went by and Pelias felt secure upon the throne he had taken

from his brother. Once he sent to the oracle of the gods to ask of it

whether he should be fearful of anything. What the oracle answered was

this: that King Pelias had but one thing to dread--the coming of a

half-shod man.

The centaur nourished the child Jason on roots and fruits and honey;

for shelter they had a great cave that Chiron had lived in for

numberless years. When he had grown big enough to leave the cave Chiron

would let Jason mount on his back; with the child holding on to his

great mane he would trot gently through the ways of the forest.

Jason began to know the creatures of the forest and their haunts.

Sometimes Chiron would bring his great bow with him; then Jason, on his

back, would hold the quiver and would hand him the arrows. The centaur

would let the boy see him kill with a single arrow the bear, the boar,

or the deer. And soon Jason, running beside him, hunted too.

No heroes were ever better trained than those whose childhood and youth

had been spent with Chiron the king-centaur. He made them more swift of

foot than any other of the children of men. He made them stronger and

more ready with the spear and bow. Jason was trained by Chiron as

Heracles just before him had been trained, and as Achilles was to be

trained afterward.

Moreover, Chiron taught him the knowledge of the stars and the wisdom

that had to do with the ways of the gods.

Once, when they were hunting together, Jason saw a form at the end of

an alley of trees--the form of a woman it was--of a woman who had on

her head a shining crown. Never had Jason dreamt of seeing a form so

wondrous. Not very near did he come, but he thought he knew that the

woman smiled upon him. She was seen no more, and Jason knew that he had

looked upon one of the immortal goddesses.

All day Jason was filled with thought of her whom he had seen. At

night, when the stars were out, and when they were seated outside the

cave, Chiron and Jason talked together, and Chiron told the youth that

she whom he had seen was none other than Hera, the wife of Zeus, who

had for his father Æson and for himself an especial friendliness.

So Jason grew up upon the mountain and in the forest fastnesses. When

he had reached his full height and had shown himself swift in the hunt

and strong with the spear and bow, Chiron told him that the time had

come when he should go back to the world of men and make his name

famous by the doing of great deeds.

And when Chiron told him about his father Æson--about how he had been

thrust out of the kingship by Pelias, his uncle a great longing came

upon Jason to see his father and a fierce anger grew up in his heart

against Pelias.

Then the time came when he bade good-by to Chiron his great instructor;

the time came when he went from the centaur's cave for the last time,

and went through the wooded ways and down the side of the Mountain

Pelion. He came to the river, to the swift Anaurus, and he found it

high in flood. The stones by which one might cross were almost all

washed over; far apart did they seem in the flood.

Now as he stood there pondering on what he might do there came up to

him an old woman who had on her back a load of brushwood. "Wouldst thou

cross?" asked the old woman. "Wouldst thou cross and get thee to the

city of Iolcus, Jason, where so many things await thee?"

Greatly was the youth astonished to hear his name spoken by this old

woman, and to hear her give the name of the city he was bound for.

"Wouldst thou cross the Anaurus?" she asked again. "Then mount upon my

back, holding on to the wood I carry, and I will bear thee over the

river."

Jason smiled. How foolish this old woman was to think that she could

bear him across the flooded river! She came near him and she took him

in her arms and lifted him up on her shoulders. Then, before he knew

what she was about to do, she had stepped into the water.

From stone to stepping-stone she went, Jason holding on to the wood

that she had drawn to her shoulders. She left him down upon the bank.

As she was lifting him down one of his feet touched the water; the

swift current swept away a sandal.

He stood on the bank knowing that she who had carried him across the

flooded river had strength from the gods. He looked upon her, and

behold! she was transformed. Instead of an old woman there stood before

him one who had on a golden robe and a shining crown. Around her was a

wondrous light--the light of the sun when it is most golden. Then Jason

knew that she who had carried him across the broad Anaurus was the

goddess whom he had seen in the ways of the forest--Hera, great Zeus's

wife.

"Go into Iolcus, Jason," said great Hera to him, "go into Iolcus, and

in whatever chance doth befall thee act as one who has the eyes of the

immortals upon him."

She spoke and she was seen no more. Then Jason went on his way to the

city that Cretheus, his grandfather, had founded and that his father

Æson had once ruled over. He came into that city, a tall, great-limbed,

unknown youth, dressed in a strange fashion, and having but one sandal

on.

II. KING PELIAS

That day King Pelias, walking through the streets of his city, saw

coming toward him a youth who was half shod. He remembered the words of

the oracle that bade him beware of a half-shod man, and straightway he

gave orders to his guards to lay hands upon the youth.

But the guards wavered when they went toward him, for there was

something about the youth that put them in awe of him. He came with the

guards, however, and he stood before the king's judgment seat.

Fearfully did Pelias look upon him. But not fearfully did the youth

look upon the king. With head lifted high he cried out, "Thou art

Pelias, but I do not salute thee as king. Know that I am Jason, the son

of Æson from whom thou hast taken the throne and scepter that were

rightfully his."

King Pelias looked to his guards. He would have given them a sign to

destroy the youth's life with their spears, but behind his guards he

saw a threatening multitude--the dwellers of the city of Iolcus; they

gathered around, and Pelias knew that he had become more and more hated

by them. And from the multitude a cry went up, "Æson, Æson! May Æson

come back to us! Jason, son of Æson! May nothing evil befall thee,

brave youth!"

Then Pelias knew that the youth might not be slain. He bent his head

while he plotted against him in his heart. Then he raised his eyes, and

looking upon Jason he said, "O goodly youth, it well may be that thou

art the son of Æson, my brother. I am well pleased to see thee here. I

have had hopes that I might be friends with Æson, and thy coming here

may be the means to the renewal of our friendship. We two brothers may

come together again. I will send for thy father now, and he will be

brought to meet thee in my royal palace. Go with my guards and with

this rejoicing people, and in a little while thou and I and thy father

Æson will sit at a feast of friends."

So Pelias said, and Jason went with the guards and the crowd of people,

and he came to the palace of the king and he was brought within. The

maids led him to the bath and gave him new robes to wear. Dressed in

these Jason looked a prince indeed.

But all that while King Pelias remained on his judgment seat with his

crowned head bent down. When he raised his head his dark brows were

gathered together and his thin lips were very close. He looked to the

swords and spears of his guards, and he made a sign to the men to stand

close to him. Then he left the judgment seat and he went to the palace.

III. THE GOLDEN FLEECE

They brought Jason into a hall where Æson, his father, waited. Very

strange did this old and grave-looking man appear to him. But when Æson

spoke, Jason remembered even without the sight of the ruby ring the

tone of his father's voice and he clasped him to him. And his father

knew him even without the sight of the ruby ring which Jason had upon

his finger.

Then the young man began to tell of the centaur and of his life upon

the Mountain Pelion. As they were speaking together Pelias came to

where they stood, Pelias in the purple robe of a king and with the

crown upon his head. Æson tightly clasped Jason as if he had become

fearful for his son. Pelias smilingly took the hand of the young man

and the hand of his brother, and he bade them both welcome to his

palace.

Then, walking between them, the king brought the two into the feasting

hall. The youth who had known only the forest and the mountainside had

to wonder at the beauty and the magnificence of all he saw around him.

On the walls were bright pictures; the tables were of polished wood,

and they had vessels of gold and dishes of silver set upon them; along

the walls were vases of lovely shapes and colors, and everywhere there

were baskets heaped with roses white and red.

The king's guests were already in the hall, young men and elders, and

maidens went amongst them carrying roses which they strung into wreaths

for the guests to put upon their heads. A soft-handed maiden gave Jason

a wreath of roses and he put it on his head as he sat down at the

king's table. When he looked at all the rich and lovely things in that

hall, and when he saw the guests looking at him with friendly eyes,

Jason felt that he was indeed far away from the dim spaces of the

mountain forest and from the darkness of the centaur's cave.

Rich food and wine such as he had never dreamt of tasting were brought

to the tables. He ate and drank, and his eyes followed the fair maidens

who went through the hall. He thought how glorious it was to be a king.

He heard Pelias speak to Æson, his father, telling him that he was old

and that he was weary of ruling; that he longed to make friends, and

that he would let no enmity now be between him and his brother. And he

heard the king say that he, Jason, was young and courageous, and that

he would call upon him to help to rule the land, and that, in a while,

Jason would bear full sway over the kingdom that Cretheus had founded.

So Pelias spoke to Æson as they both sat together at the king's high

table. But Jason, looking on them both, saw that the eyes that his

father turned on him were full of warnings and mistrust.

After they had eaten King Pelias made a sign, and a cupbearer bringing

a richly wrought cup came and stood before the king. The king stood up,

holding the cup in his hands, and all in the hall waited silently. Then

Pelias put the cup into Jason's hands and he cried out in a voice that

was heard all through the hall, "Drink from this cup, O nephew Jason!

Drink from this cup, O man who will soon come to rule over the kingdom

that Cretheus founded!"

All in the hall stood up and shouted with delight at that speech. But

the king was not delighted with their delight, Jason saw. He took the

cup and he drank the rich wine; pride grew in him; he looked down the

hall and he saw faces all friendly to him; he felt as a king might

feel, secure and triumphant. And then he heard King Pelias speaking

once more.

"This is my nephew Jason, reared and fostered in the centaur's cave. He

will tell you of his life in the forest and the mountains, his life

that was like to the life of the half gods."

Then Jason spoke to them, telling them of his life on the Mountain

Pelion. When he had spoken, Pelias said:

"I was bidden by the oracle to beware of the man whom I should see

coming toward me half shod. But, as you all see, I have brought the

half-shod man to my palace and my feasting hall, so little do I dread

the anger of the gods.

"And I dread it little because I am blameless. This youth, the son of

my brother, is strong and courageous, and I rejoice in his strength and

courage, for I would have him take my place and reign over you. Ali,

that I were as young as he is now! Ali, that I had been reared and

fostered as he was reared and fostered by the wise centaur and under

the eyes of the immortals! Then would I do that which in my youth I

often dreamed of doing! Then would I perform a deed that would make my

name and the name of my city famous throughout all Greece! Then would I

bring from far Colchis, the famous Fleece of Gold that King Æetes keeps

guard over!"

He finished speaking, and all in the hall shouted out, "The Golden

Fleece, the Golden Fleece from Colchis!" Jason stood up, and his

father's hand gripped him. But he did not heed the hold of his father's

hand, for "The Golden Fleece, the Golden Fleece!" rang in his ears, and

before his eyes were the faces of those who were all eager for the

sight of the wonder that King Æetes kept guard over.

Then said Jason, "Thou hast spoken well, O King Pelias! Know, and know

all here assembled, that I have heard of the Golden Fleece and of the

dangers that await on any one who should strive to win it from King

Æetes's care. But know, too, that I would strive to win the Fleece and

bring it to Iolcus, winning fame both for myself and for the city."

When he had spoken he saw his father's stricken eyes; they were fixed

upon him. But he looked from them to the shining eyes of the young men

who were even then pressing around where he stood. "Jason, Jason!" they

shouted. "The Golden Fleece for Iolcus!"

"King Pelias knows that the winning of the Golden Fleece is a feat most

difficult," said Jason. "But if he will have built for me a ship that

can make the voyage to far Colchis, and if he will send throughout all

Greece the word of my adventuring so that all the heroes who would win

fame might come with me, and if ye, young heroes of Iolcus, will come

with me, I will peril my life to win the wonder that King Æetes keeps

guard over."

He spoke and those in the hall shouted again and made clamor around

him. But still his father sat gazing at him with stricken eyes.

King Pelias stood up in the hall and holding up his scepter he said, "O

my nephew Jason, and O friends assembled here, I promise that I will

have built for the voyage the best ship that ever sailed from a harbor

in Greece. And I promise that I will send throughout all Greece a word

telling of Jason's voyage so that all heroes desirous of winning fame

may come to help him and to help all of you who may go with him to win

from the keeping of King Æetes the famous Fleece of Gold."

So King Pelias said, but Jason, looking to the king from his father's

stricken eyes, saw that he had been led by the king into the acceptance

of the voyage so that he might fare far from Iolcus, and perhaps lose

his life in striving to gain the wonder that King Æetes kept guarded.

By the glitter in Pelias's eyes he knew the truth. Nevertheless Jason

would not take back one word that he had spoken; his heart was strong

within him, and he thought that with the help of the bright-eyed youths

around and with the help of those who would come to him at the word of

the voyage, he would bring the Golden Fleece to Iolcus and make famous

for all time his own name.

IV. THE ASSEMBLING OF THE HEROES AND THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP

First there came the youths Castor and Polydeuces. They came riding on

white horses, two noble-looking brothers. From Sparta they came, and

their mother was Leda, who, after the twin brothers, had another child

born to her--Helen, for whose sake the sons of many of Jason's friends

were to wage war against the great city of Troy. These were the first

heroes who came to Iolcus after the word had gone forth through Greece

of Jason's adventuring in quest of the Golden Fleece.

And then there came one who had both welcome and reverence from Jason;

this one came without spear or bow, bearing in his hands a lyre only.

He was Orpheus, and he knew all the ways of the gods and all the

stories of the gods; when he sang to his lyre the trees would listen

and the beasts would follow him. It was Chiron who had counseled

Orpheus to go with Jason; Chiron the centaur had met him as he was

wandering through the forests on the Mountain Pelion and had sent him

down into Iolcus.

Then there came two men well skilled in the handling of ships--Tiphys

and Nauplius. Tiphys knew all about the sun and winds and stars, and

all about the signs by which a ship might be steered, and Nauplius had

the love of Poseidon, the god of the sea.

Afterward there came, one after the other, two who were famous for

their hunting. No two could be more different than these two were. The

first was Arcas. He was dressed in the skin of a bear; he had red hair

and savage-looking eyes, and for arms he carried a mighty bow with

bronze-tipped arrows. The folk were watching an eagle as he came into

the city, an eagle that was winging its way far, far up in the sky.

Arcas drew his bow, and with one arrow he brought the eagle down.

The other hunter was a girl, Atalanta. Tall and brighthaired was

Atalanta, swift and good with the bow. She had dedicated herself to

Artemis, the guardian of the wild things, and she had vowed that she

would remain unwedded. All the heroes welcomed Atalanta as a comrade,

and the maiden did all the things that the young men did.

There came a hero who was less youthful than Castor or Polydeuces; he

was a man good in council named Nestor. Afterward Nestor went to the

war against Troy, and then he was the oldest of the heroes in the camp

of Agamemnon.

Two brothers came who were to be special friends of Jason's--Peleus and

Telamon. Both were still youthful and neither had yet achieved any

notable deed. Afterward they were to be famous, but their sons were to

be even more famous, for the son of Telamon was strong Aias, and the

son of Peleus was great Achilles.

Another who came was Admetus; afterward he became a famous king. The

God Apollo once made himself a shepherd and he kept the flocks of King

Admetus.

And there came two brothers, twins, who were a wonder to all who beheld

them. Zetes and Calais they were named; their mother was Oreithyia, the

daughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens, and their father was Boreas,

the North Wind. These two brothers had on their ankles wings that

gleamed with golden scales; their black hair was thick upon their

shoulders, and it was always being shaken by the wind.

With Zetes and Calais there came a youth armed with a great sword whose

name was Theseus. Theseus's father was an unknown king; he had bidden

the mother show their son where his sword was hidden. Under a great

stone the king had hidden it before Theseus was born. Before he had

grown out of his boyhood Theseus had been able to raise the stone and

draw forth his father's sword. As yet he had done no great deed, but he

was resolved to win fame and to find his unknown father.

On the day that the messengers had set out to bring through Greece the

word of Jason's going forth in quest of the Golden Fleece the

woodcutters made their way up into the forests of Mount Pelion; they

began to fell trees for the timbers of the ship that was to make the

voyage to far Colchis.

Great timbers were cut and brought down to Pagasae, the harbor of

Iolcus. On the night of the day he had helped to bring them down Jason

had a dream. He dreamt that she whom he had seen in the forest ways and

afterward by the River Anaurus appeared to him. And in his dream the

goddess bade him rise early in the morning and welcome a man whom he

would meet at the city's gate--a tall and gray-haired man who would

have on his shoulders tools for the building of a ship.

He went to the city's gate and he met such a man. Argus was his name.

He told Jason that a dream had sent him to the city of Iolcus. Jason

welcomed him and lodged him in the king's palace, and that day the word

went through the city that the building of the great ship would soon be

begun.

But not with the timbers brought from Mount Pelion did Argus begin.

Walking through the palace with Jason he noted a great beam in the

roof. That beam, he said, had been shown him in his dream; it was from

an oak tree in Dodona, the grove of Zeus. A sacred power was in the

beam, and from it the prow of the ship should be fashioned. Jason had

them take the beam from the roof of the palace; it was brought to where

the timbers were, and that day the building of the great ship was begun.

Then all along the waterside came the noise of hammering; in the street

where the metalworkers were came the noise of beating upon metals as

the smiths fashioned out of bronze armor for the heroes and swords and

spears. Every day, under the eyes of Argus the master, the ship that

had in it the beam from Zeus's grove was built higher and wider. And

those who were building the ship often felt going through it tremors as

of a living creature.

When the ship was built and made ready for the voyage a name was given

to it--the Argo it was called. And naming themselves from the ship the

heroes called themselves the Argonauts. All was ready for the voyage,

and now Jason went with his friends to view the ship before she was

brought into the water.

Argus the master was on the ship, seeing to it that the last things

were being done before Argo was launched. Very grave and wise looked

Argus--Argus the builder of the ship. And wonderful to the heroes the

ship looked now that Argus, for their viewing, had set up the mast with

the sails and had even put the oars in their places. Wonderful to the

heroes Argo looked with her long oars and her high sails, with her

timbers painted red and gold and blue, and with a marvelous figure

carved upon her prow. All over the ship Jason's eyes went. He saw a

figure standing by the mast; for a moment he looked on it, and then the

figure became shadowy. But Jason knew that he had looked upon the

goddess whom he had seen in the ways of the forest and had seen

afterward by the rough Anaurus.

Then mast and sails were taken down and the oars were left in the ship,

and the Argo was launched into the water. The heroes went back to the

palace of King Pelias to feast with the king's guests before they took

their places on the ship, setting out on the voyage to far Colchis.

When they came into the palace they saw that another hero had arrived.

His shield was hung in the hall; the heroes all gathered around, amazed

at the size and the beauty of it. The shield shone all over with gold.

In its center was the figure of Fear--of Fear that stared backward with

eyes burning as with fire. The mouth was open and the teeth were shown.

And other figures were wrought around the figure of Fear--Strife and

Pursuit and Flight; Tumult and Panic and Slaughter. The figure of Fate

was there dragging a dead man by the feet; on her shoulders Fate had a

garment that was red with the blood of men.

Around these figures were heads of snakes, heads with black jaws and

glittering eyes, twelve heads such as might affright any man. And on

other parts of the shield were shown the horses of Ares, the grim god

of war. The figure of Ares himself was shown also. He held a spear in

his hand, and he was urging the warriors on.

Around the inner rim of the shield the sea was shown, wrought in white

metal. Dolphins swam in the sea, fishing for little fishes that were

shown there in bronze. Around the rim chariots were racing along with

wheels running close together; there were men fighting and women

watching from high towers. The awful figure of the Darkness of Death

was shown there, too, with mournful eyes and the dust of battles upon

her shoulders. The outer rim of the shield showed the Stream of Ocean,

the stream that encircles the world; swans were soaring above and

swimming on its surface.

All in wonder the heroes gazed on the great shield, telling each other

that only one man in all the world could carry it--Heracles the son of

Zeus. Could it be that Heracles had come amongst them? They went into

the feasting hall and they saw one there who was tall as a pine tree,

with unshorn tresses of hair upon his head. Heracles indeed it was! He

turned to them a smiling face with smiling eyes. Heracles! They all

gathered around the strongest hero in the world, and he took the hand

of each in his mighty hand.

V. THE ARGO

The heroes went the next day through the streets of Iolcus down to

where the ship lay. The ways they went through were crowded; the heroes

were splendid in their appearance, and Jason amongst them shone like a

star.

The people praised him, and one told the other that it would not be

long until they would win back to Iolcus, for this band of heroes was

strong enough, they said, to take King Æetes's city and force him to

give up to them the famous Fleece of Gold. Many of the bright-eyed

youths of Iolcus went with the heroes who had come from the different

parts of Greece.

As they marched past a temple a priestess came forth to speak to Jason;

Iphias was her name. She had a prophecy to utter about the voyage. But

Iphias was very old, and she stammered in her speech to Jason. What she

said was not heard by him. The heroes went on, and ancient Iphias was

left standing there as the old are left by the young.

The heroes went aboard the Argo. They took their seats as at an

assembly. Then Jason faced them and spoke to them all.

"Heroes of the quest," said Jason, "we have come aboard the great ship

that Argus has built, and all that a ship needs is in its place or is

ready to our hands. All that we wait for now is the coming of the

morning's breeze that will set us on our way for far Colchis.

"One thing we have first to do--that is, to choose a leader who will

direct us all, one who will settle disputes amongst ourselves and who

will make treaties between us and the strangers that we come amongst.

We must choose such a leader now."

Jason spoke, and some looked to him and some looked to Heracles. But

Heracles stood up, and, stretching out his hand, said:

"Argonauts! Let no one amongst you offer the leadership to me. I will

not take it. The hero who brought us together and made all things ready

for our going--it is he and no one else who should be our leader in

this voyage."

So Heracles said, and the Argonauts all stood up and raised a cry for

Jason. Then Jason stepped forward, and he took the hand of each

Argonaut in his hand, and he swore that he would lead them with all the

mind and all the courage that he possessed. And he prayed the gods that

it would be given to him to lead them back safely with the Golden

Fleece glittering on the mast of the Argo.

They drew lots for the benches they would sit at; they took the places

that for the length of the voyage they would have on the ship. They

made sacrifice to the gods and they waited for the breeze of the

morning that would help them away from Iolcus.

And while they waited Æson, the father of Jason, sat at his own hearth,

bowed and silent in his grief. Alcimide, his wife, sat near him, but

she was not silent; she lamented to the women of Iolcus who were

gathered around her. "I did not go down to the ship," she said, "for

with my grief I would not be a bird of ill omen for the voyage. By this

hearth my son took farewell of me--the only son I ever bore. From the

doorway I watched him go down the street of the city, and I heard the

people shout as he went amongst them, they glorying in my son's

splendid appearance. Ah, that I might live to see his return and to

hear the shout that will go up when the people look on Jason again! But

I know that my life will not be spared so long; I will not look on my

son when he comes back from the dangers he will run in the quest of the

Golden Fleece."

Then the women of Iolcus asked her to tell them of the Golden Fleece,

and Alcimide told them of it and of the sorrows that were upon the race

of Aeolus.

Cretheus, the father of Æson, and Pelias, was of the race of Aeolus,

and of the race of Aeolus, too, was Athamas, the king who ruled in

Thebes at the same time that Cretheus ruled in Iolcus. And the first

children of Athamas were Phrixus and Helle.

"Ah, Phrixus and ah, Helle," Alcimide lamented, "what griefs you have

brought on the race of Aeolus! And what griefs you yourselves suffered!

The evil that Athamas, your father, did you lives to be a curse to the

line of Aeolus!

"Athamas was wedded first to Nephele, the mother of Phrixus and Helle,

the youth and maiden. But Athamas married again while the mother of

these children was still living, and Ino, the new queen, drove Nephele

and her children out of the king's palace.

"And now was Nephele most unhappy. She had to live as a servant, and

her children were servants to the servants of the palace. They were

clad in rags and had little to eat, and they were beaten often by the

servants who wished to win the favor of the new queen.

"But although they wore rags and had menial tasks to do, Phrixus and

Helle looked the children of a queen. The boy was tall, and in his eyes

there often came the flash of power, and the girl looked as if she

would grow into a lovely maiden. And when Athamas, their father, would

meet them by chance he would sigh, and Queen Ino would know by that

sigh that he had still some love for them in his heart. Afterward she

would have to use all the power she possessed to win the king back from

thinking upon his children.

"And now Queen Ino had children of her own. She knew that the people

reverenced the children of Nephele and cared nothing for her children.

And because she knew this she feared that when Athamas died Phrixus and

Helle, the children of Nephele, would be brought to rule in Thebes.

Then she and her children would be made to change places with them.

"This made Queen Ino think on ways by which she could make Phrixus and

Helle lose their lives. She thought long upon this, and at last a

desperate plan came into her mind.

"When it was winter she went amongst the women of the countryside, and

she gave them jewels and clothes for presents. Then she asked them to

do secretly an unheard-of thing. She asked the women to roast over

their fires the grains that had been left for seed. This the women did.

Then spring came on, and the men sowed in the fields the grain that had

been roasted over the fires. No shoots grew up as the spring went by.

In summer there was no waving greenness in the fields. Autumn came, and

there was no grain for the reaping. Then the men, not knowing what had

happened, went to King Athamas and told him that there would be famine

in the land.

"The king sent to the temple of Artemis to ask how the people might be

saved from the famine. And the guardians of the temple, having taken

gold from Queen Ino, told them that there would be worse and worse

famine and that all the people of Thebes would die of hunger unless the

king was willing to make a great sacrifice.

"When the king asked what sacrifice he should make he was told by the

guardians of the temple that he must sacrifice to the goddess his two

children, Phrixus and Helle. Those who were around the king, to save

themselves from famine after famine, clamored to have the children

sacrificed. Athamas, to save his people, consented to the sacrifice.

"They went toward the king's palace. They found Helle by the bank of

the river washing clothes. They took her and bound her. They found

Phrixus, half naked, digging in a field, and they took him, too, and

bound him. That night they left brother and sister in the same prison.

Helle wept over Phrixus, and Phrixus wept to think that he was not able

to do anything to save his sister.

"The servants of the palace went to Nephele, and they mocked at her,

telling her that her children would be sacrificed on the morrow.

Nephele nearly went wild in her grief. And then, suddenly, there came

into her mind the thought of a creature that might be a helper to her

and to her children.

"This creature was a ram that had wings and a wonderful fleece of gold.

The god of the sea, Poseidon, had sent this wonderful ram to Athamas

and Nephele as a marriage gift. And the ram had since been kept in a

special fold.

"To that fold Nephele went. She spent the night beside the ram praying

for its help. The morning came and the children were taken from their

prison and dressed in white, and wreaths were put upon their heads to

mark them as things for sacrifice. They were led in a procession to the

temple of Artemis. Behind that procession King Athamas walked, his head

bowed in shame.

"But Queen Ino's head was not bowed; rather she carried it high, for

her thought was all upon her triumph. Soon Phrixus and Helle would be

dead, and then, whatever happened, her own children would reign after

Athamas in Thebes.

"Phrixus and Helle, thinking they were taking their last look at the

sun, went on. And even then Nephele, holding the horns of the golden

ram, was making her last prayer. The sun rose and as it did the ram

spread out its great wings and flew through the air. It flew to the

temple of Artemis. Down beside the altar came the golden ram, and it

stood with its horns threatening those who came. All stopped in

surprise. Still the ram stood with threatening head and great golden

wings spread out. Then Phrixus ran from those who were holding him and

laid his hands upon the ram. He called to Helle and she, too, came to

the golden creature. Phrixus mounted on the ram and he pulled Helle up

beside him. Then the golden ram flew upward. Up, up, it went, and with

the children upon its back it became like a star in the day-lit sky.

"Then Queen Ino, seeing the children saved by the golden ram, shrieked

and fled away from that place. Athamas ran after her. As she ran and as

he followed hatred for her grew up within him. Ino ran on and on until

she came to the cliffs that rose over the sea. Fearing Athamas who came

behind her she plunged down. But as she fell she was changed by

Poseidon, the god of the sea. She became a seagull. Athamas, who

followed her, was changed also; he became the sea eagle that, with beak

and talons ever ready to strike, flies above the sea.

"And the golden ram with wings outspread flew on and on. Over the sea

it flew while the wind whistled around the children. On and on they

went, and the children saw only the blue sea beneath them. Then poor

Helle, looking downward, grew dizzy. She fell off the golden ram before

her brother could take hold of her. Down she fell, and still the ram

flew on and on. She was drowned in that sea. The people afterward named

it in memory of her, calling it 'Hellespont'--'Helle's Sea.'

"On and on the ram flew. Over a wild and barren country it flew and

toward a river. Upon that river a white city was built. Down the ram

flew, and alighting on the ground, stood before the gate of that city.

It was the city of Aea, in the land of Colchis.

"The king was in the street of the city, and he joined with the crowd

that gathered around the strange golden creature that had a youth upon

its back. The ram folded its wings and then the youth stood beside it.

He spoke to the people, and then the king--Æetes was his name--spoke to

him, asking him from what place he had come, and what was the strange

creature upon whose back he had flown.

"To the king and to the people Phrixus told his story, weeping to tell

of Helle and her fall. Then King Æetes brought him into the city, and

he gave him a place in the palace, and for the golden ram he had a

special fold made.

"Soon after the ram died, and then King Æetes took its golden fleece

and hung it upon an oak tree that was in a place dedicated to Ares, the

god of war. Phrixus wed one of the daughters of the king, and men say

that afterward he went back to Thebes, his own land.

"And as for the Golden Fleece it became the greatest of King Æetes's

treasures. Well indeed does he guard it, and not with armed men only,

but with magic powers. Very strong and very cunning is King Æetes, and

a terrible task awaits those who would take away from him that Fleece

of Gold."

So Alcimide spoke, sorrowfully telling to the women the story of the

Golden Fleece that her son Jason was going in quest of. So she spoke,

and the night waned, and the morning of the sailing of the Argo came on.

And when the Argonauts beheld the dawn upon the high peaks of Pelion

they arose and poured out wine in offering to Zeus, the highest of the

gods. Then Argo herself gave forth a strange cry, for the beam from

Dodona that had been formed into her prow had endued her with life. She

uttered a strange cry, and as she did the heroes took their places at

the benches, one after the other, as had been arranged by lot, and

Tiphys, the helmsman, went to the steering place. To the sound of

Orpheus's lyre they smote with oars the rushing sea water, and the

surge broke over the oar blades. The sails were let out and the breeze

came into them, piping shrilly, and the fishes came darting through the

green sea, great and small, and followed them, gamboling along the

watery paths. And Chiron, the king-centaur, came down from the Mountain

Pelion, and standing with his feet in the foam cried out, "Good speed,

O Argonauts, good speed, and a sorrowless return."

THE BEGINNING OF THINGS

Orpheus sang to his lyre, Orpheus the minstrel, who knew the ways and

the stories of the gods; out in the open sea on the first morning of

the voyage Orpheus sang to them of the beginning of things.

He sang how at first Earth and Heaven and Sea were all mixed and

mingled together. There was neither Light nor Darkness then, but only a

Dimness. This was Chaos. And from Chaos came forth Night and Erebus.

From Night was born Aether, the Upper Air, and from Night and Erebus

wedded there was born Day.

And out of Chaos came Earth, and out of Earth came the starry Heaven.

And from Heaven and Earth wedded there were born the Titan gods and

goddesses--Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus; Theia, Rhea,

Themis, Mnemosyne, gold-crowned Phoebe, and lovely Tethys. And then

Heaven and Earth had for their child Cronos, the most cunning of all.

Cronos wedded Rhea, and from Cronos and Rhea were born the gods who

were different from the Titan gods.

But Heaven and Earth had other children--Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes.

These were giants, each with fifty heads and a hundred arms. And Heaven

grew fearful when he looked on these giant children, and he hid them

away in the deep places of the Earth.

Cronos hated Heaven, his father. He drove Heaven, his father, and

Earth, his mother, far apart. And far apart they stay, for they have

never been able to come near each other since. And Cronos married to

Rhea had for children Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Aidoneus, and Poseidon,

and these all belonged to the company of the deathless gods. Cronos was

fearful that one of his sons would treat him as he had treated Heaven,

his father. So when another child was born to him and his wife Rhea he

commanded that the child be given to him so that he might swallow him.

But Rhea wrapped a great stone in swaddling clothes and gave the stone

to Cronos. And Cronos swallowed the stone, thinking to swallow his

latest-born child.

That child was Zeus. Earth took Zeus and hid him in a deep cave and

those who minded and nursed the child beat upon drums so that his cries

might not be heard. His nurse was Adrastia; when he was able to play

she gave him a ball to play with. All of gold was the ball, with a

dark-blue spiral around it. When the boy Zeus would play with this ball

it would make a track across the sky, flaming like a star.

Hyperion the Titan god wed Theia the Titan goddess, and their children

were Hellos, the bright Sun, and Selene, the clear Moon. And Coeus wed

Phoebe, and their children were Leto, who is kind to gods and men, and

Asteria of happy name, and Hecate, whom Zeus honored above all. Now the

gods who were the children of Cronos and Rhea went up unto the Mountain

Olympus, and there they built their shining palaces. But the Titan gods

who were born of Heaven and Earth went up to the Mountain Othrys, and

there they had their thrones.

Between the Olympians and the Titan gods of Othrys a war began. Neither

side might prevail against the other. But now Zeus, grown up to be a

youth, thought of how he might help the Olympians to overthrow the

Titan gods.

He went down into the deep parts of the Earth where the giants Cottus,

Briareus, and Gyes had been hidden by their father. Cronos had bound

them, weighing them down with chains. But now Zeus loosed them and the

hundred-armed giants in their gratitude gave him the lightning and

showed him how to use the thunderbolt.

Zeus would have the giants fight against the Titan gods. But although

they had mighty strength Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes had no fire of

courage in their hearts. Zeus thought of a way to give them this

courage; he brought the food and drink of the gods to them, ambrosia

and nectar, and when they had eaten and drunk their spirits grew within

the giants, and they were ready to make war upon the Titan gods.

"Sons of Earth and Heaven," said Zeus to the hundred-armed giants, "a

long time now have the Dwellers on Olympus been striving with the Titan

gods. Do you lend your unconquerable might to the gods and help them to

overthrow the Titans."

Cottus, the eldest of the giants, answered, "Divine One, through your

devising we are come back again from the murky gloom of the mid Earth

and we have escaped from the hard bonds that Cronos laid upon us. Our

minds are fixed to aid you in the war against the Titan gods."

So the hundred-armed giants said, and thereupon Zeus went and he

gathered around him all who were born of Cronos and Rhea. Cronos

himself hid from Zeus. Then the giants, with their fifty heads growing

from their shoulders and their hundred hands, went forth against the

Titan gods. The boundless sea rang terribly and the earth crashed

loudly; wide Heaven was shaken and groaned, and high Olympus reeled

from its foundation. Holding huge rocks in their hands the giants

attacked the Titan gods.

Then Zeus entered the war. He hurled the lightning; the bolts flew

thick and fast from his strong hand, with thunder and lightning and

flame. The earth crashed around in burning, the forests crackled with

fire, the ocean seethed. And hot flames wrapped the earth-born Titans

all around. Three hundred rocks, one upon another, did Cottus,

Briareus, and Gyes hurl upon the Titans. And when their ranks were

broken the giants seized upon them and held them for Zeus.

But some of the Titan gods, seeing that the strife for them was vain,

went over to the side of Zeus. These Zeus became friendly with. But the

other Titans he bound in chains and he hurled them down to Tartarus.

As far as Earth is from Heaven so is Tartarus from Earth. A brazen

anvil falling down from Heaven to Earth nine days and nine nights would

reach the earth upon the tenth day. And again, a brazen anvil falling

from Earth nine nights and nine days would reach Tartarus upon the

tenth night. Around Tartarus runs a fence of bronze and Night spreads

in a triple line all about it, as a necklace circles the neck. There

Zeus imprisoned the Titan gods who had fought against him; they are

hidden in the misty gloom, in a dank place, at the ends of the Earth.

And they may not go out, for Poseidon fixed gates of bronze upon their

prison, and a wall runs all round it. There Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes

stay, guarding them.

And there, too, is the home of Night. Night and Day meet each other at

that place, as they pass a threshold of bronze. They draw near and they

greet one another, but the house never holds them both together, for

while one is about to go down into the house, the other is leaving

through the door. One holds Light in her hand and the other holds in

her arms Sleep.

There the children of dark Night have their dwellings--Sleep, and

Death, his brother. The sun never shines upon these two. Sleep may roam

over the wide earth, and come upon the sea, and he is kindly to men.

But Death is not kindly, and whoever he seizes upon, him he holds fast.

There, too, stands the hall of the lord of the Underworld, Aidoneus,

the brother of Zeus. Zeus gave him the Underworld to be his dominion

when he shared amongst the Olympians the world that Cronos had ruled

over. A fearful hound guards the hall of Aidoneus: Cerberus he is

called; he has three heads. On those who go within that hall Cerberus

fawns, but on those who would come out of it he springs and would

devour them.

Not all the Titans did Zeus send down to Tartarus. Those of them who

had wisdom joined him, and by their wisdom Zeus was able to overcome

Cronos. Then Cronos went to live with the friendly Titan gods, while

Zeus reigned over Olympus, becoming the ruler of gods and men.

So Orpheus sang, Orpheus who knew the ways and the histories of the

gods.

VI. POLYDEUCES' VICTORY AND HERACLES' LOSS

All the places that the Argonauts came nigh to and went past need not

be told--Meliboea, where they escaped a stormy beach; Homole, from

where they were able to look on Ossa and holy Olympus; Lemnos, the

island that they were to return to; the unnamed country where the

Earth-born Men abide, each having six arms, two growing from his

shoulders, and four fitting close to his terrible sides; and then the

Mountain of the Bears, where they climbed, to make sacrifice there to

Rhea, the mighty mother of the gods.

Afterward, for a whole day, no wind blew and the sail of the Argo hung

slack. But the heroes swore to each other that they would make their

ship go as swiftly as if the storm-footed steeds of Poseidon were

racing to overtake her. Mightily they labored at the oars, and no one

would be first to leave his rower's bench.

And then, just as the breeze of the evening came up, and just as the

rest of the heroes were leaning back, spent with their labor, the oar

that Heracles still pulled at broke, and half of it was carried away by

the waves. Heracles sat there in ill humor, for he did not know what to

do with his unlaboring hands.

All through the night they went on with a good breeze filling their

sails, and next day they came to the mouth of the River Cius. There

they landed so that Heracles might get himself an oar. No sooner did

they set their feet upon the shore than the hero went off into the

forest, to pull up a tree that he might shape into an oar.

Where they had landed was near to the country of the Bebrycians, a rude

people whose king was named Amycus. Now while Heracles was away from

them this king came with his followers, huge, rude men, all armed with

clubs, down to where the Argonauts were lighting their fires on the

beach.

He did not greet them courteously, asking them what manner of men they

were and whither they were bound, nor did he offer them hospitality.

Instead, he shouted at them insolently:

"Listen to something that you rovers had better know. I am Amycus, and

any stranger that comes to this land has to get into a boxing bout with

me. That's the law that I have laid down. Unless you have one amongst

you who can stand up to me you won't be let go back to your ship. If

you don't heed my law, look out, for something's going to happen to

you."

So he shouted, that insolent king, and his followers raised their clubs

and growled approval of what their master said. But the Argonauts were

not dismayed at the words of Amycus. One of them stepped toward the

Bebrycians. He was Polydeuces, good at boxing.

"Offer us no violence, king," said Polydeuces. "We are ready to obey

the law that you have laid down. Willingly do I take up your challenge,

and I will box a bout with you."

The Argonauts cheered when they saw Polydeuces, the good boxer, step

forward, and when they heard what he had to say. Amycus turned and

shouted to his followers, and one of them brought up two pairs of

boxing gauntlets--of rough cowhide they were. The Argonauts feared that

Polydeuces' hands might have been made numb with pulling at the oar,

and some of them went to him, and took his hands and rubbed them to

make them supple; others took from off his shoulders his beautifully

colored mantle.

Amycus straightway put on his gauntlets and threw off his mantle; he

stood there amongst his followers with his great arms crossed,

glowering at the Argonauts as a wild beast might glower. And when the

two faced each other Amycus seemed like one of the Earthborn Men, dark

and hugely shaped, while Helen's brother stood there light and

beautiful. Polydeuces was like that star whose beams are lovely at

evening-tide.

Like the wave that breaks over a ship and gives the sailors no respite

Amycus came on at Polydeuces. He pushed in upon him, thinking to bear

him down and overwhelm him. But as the skillful steersman keeps the

ship from being overwhelmed by the monstrous wave, so Polydeuces, all

skill and lightness, baffled the rushes of Amycus. At last Amycus,

standing on the tips of his toes and rising high above him, tried to

bring down his great fist upon the head of Polydeuces. The hero swung

aside and took the blow on his shoulder. Then he struck his blow. It

was a strong one, and under it the king of the Bebrycians staggered and

fell down. "You see," said Polydeuces, "that we keep your law."

The Argonauts shouted, but the rude Bebrycians raised their clubs to

rush upon them. Then would the heroes have been hard pressed, and

forced, perhaps, to get back to the Argo. But suddenly Heracles

appeared amongst them, coming up from the forest.

He carried a pine tree in his hands with all its branches still upon

it, and seeing this mighty-statured man appear with the great tree in

his hands, the Bebrycians hurried off, carrying their fallen king with

them. Then the Argonauts gathered around Polydeuces, saluted him as

their champion, and put a crown of victory upon his head. Heracles,

meanwhile, lopped off the branches of the pine tree and began to

fashion it into an oar.

The fires were lighted upon the shore, and the thoughts of all were

turned to supper. Then young Hylas, who used to sit by Heracles and

keep bright the hero's arms and armor, took a bronze vessel and went to

fetch water.

Never was there a boy so beautiful as young Hylas. He had golden curls

that tumbled over his brow. He had deep blue eyes and a face that

smiled at every glance that was given him, at every word that was said

to him. Now as he walked through the flowering grasses, with his knees

bare, and with the bright vessel swinging in his hand, he looked most

lovely. Heracles had brought the boy with him from the country of the

Dryopians; he would have him sit beside him on the bench of the Argo,

and the ill humors that often came upon him would go at the words and

the smile of Hylas.

Now the spring that Hylas was going toward was called Pegae, and it was

haunted by the nymphs. They were dancing around it when they heard

Hylas singing. They stole softly off to watch him. Hidden behind trees

the nymphs saw the boy come near, and they felt such love for him that

they thought they could never let him go from their sight.

They stole back to their spring, and they sank down below its clear

surface. Then came Hylas singing a song that he had heard from his

mother. He bent down to the spring, and the brimming water flowed into

the sounding bronze of the pitcher. Then hands came out of the water.

One of the nymphs caught Hylas by the elbow; another put her arms

around his neck, another took the hand that held the vessel of bronze.

The pitcher sank down to the depths of the spring. The hands of the

nymphs clasped Hylas tighter, tighter; the water bubbled around him as

they drew him down. Down, down they drew him, and into the cold and

glimmering cave where they live.

There Hylas stayed. But although the nymphs kissed him and sang to him,

and showed him lovely things, Hylas was not content to be there.

Where the Argonauts were the fires burned, the moon arose, and still

Hylas did not return. Then they began to fear lest a wild beast had

destroyed the boy. One went to Heracles and told him that young Hylas

had not come back, and that they were fearful for him. Heracles flung

down the pine tree that he was fashioning into an oar, and he dashed

along the way that Hylas had gone as if a gadfly were stinging him.

"Hylas, Hylas," he cried. But Hylas, in the cold and glimmering cave

that the nymphs had drawn him into, did not hear the call of his friend

Heracles.

All the Argonauts went searching, calling as they went through the

island, "Hylas, Hylas, Hylas!" But only their own calls came back to

them. The morning star came up, and Tiphys, the steersman, called to

them from the Argo. And when they came to the ship Tiphys told them

that they would have to go aboard and make ready to sail from that

place.

They called to Heracles, and Heracles at last came down to the ship.

They spoke to him, saying that they would have to sail away. Heracles

would not go on board. "I will not leave this island," he said, "until

I find young Hylas or learn what has happened to him."

Then Jason arose to give the command to depart. But before the words

were said Telamon stood up and faced him. "Jason," he said angrily,

"you do not bid Heracles come on board, and you would have the Argo

leave without him. You would leave Heracles here so that he may not be

with us on the quest where his glory might overshadow your glory,

Jason."

Jason said no word, but he sat back on his bench with head bowed. And

then, even as Telamon said these angry words, a strange figure rose up

out of the waves of the sea.

It was the figure of a man, wrinkled and old, with seaweed in his beard

and his hair. There was a majesty about him, and the Argonauts all knew

that this was one of the immortals--he was Nereus, the ancient one of

the sea.

"To Heracles, and to you, the rest of the Argonauts, I have a thing to

say," said the ancient one, Nereus. "Know, first, that Hylas has been

taken by the nymphs who love him and who think to win his love, and

that he will stay forever with them in their cold and glimmering cave.

For Hylas seek no more. And to you, Heracles, I will say this: Go

aboard the Argo again; the ship will take you to where a great labor

awaits you, and which, in accomplishing, you will work out the will of

Zeus. You will know what this labor is when a spirit seizes on you." So

the ancient one of the sea said, and he sank back beneath the waves.

Heracles went aboard the Argo once more, and he took his place on the

bench, the new oar in his hand. Sad he was to think that young Hylas

who used to sit at his knee would never be there again. The breeze

filled the sail, the Argonauts pulled at the oars, and in sadness they

watched the island where young Hylas had been lost to them recede from

their view.

VII. KING PHINEUS

Said Tiphys, the steersman: "If we could enter the Sea of Pontus, we

could make our way across that sea to Colchis in a short time. But the

passage into the Sea of Pontus is most perilous, and few mortals dare

even to make approach to it."

Said Jason, the chieftain of the host: "The dangers of the passage,

Tiphys, we have spoken of, and it may be that we shall have to carry

Argo overland to the Sea of Pontus. But You, Tiphys, have spoken of a

wise king who is hereabouts, and who might help us to make the

dangerous passage. Speak again to us, and tell us what the dangers of

the passage are, and who the king is who may be able to help us to make

these dangers less."

Then said Tiphys, the steersman of the Argo: "No ship sailed by mortals

has as yet gone through the passage that brings this sea into the Sea

of Pontus. In the way are the rocks that mariners call The Clashers.

These rocks are not fixed as rocks should be, but they rush one against

the other, dashing up the sea, and crushing whatever may be between.

Yea, if Argo were of iron, and if she were between these rocks when

they met, she would be crushed to bits. I have sailed as far as that

passage, but seeing The Clashers strike together I turned back my ship,

and journeyed as far as the Sea of Pontus overland.

"But I have been told of one who knows how a ship may be taken through

the passage that The Clashers make so perilous. He who knows is a king

hereabouts, Phineus, who has made himself as wise as the gods. To no

one has Phineus told how the passage may be made, but knowing what high

favor has been shown to us, the Argonauts, it may be that he will tell

us."

So Tiphys said, and Jason commanded him to steer the Argo toward the

city where ruled Phineus, the wise king.

To Salmydessus, then, where Phineus ruled, Tiphys steered the Argo.

They left Heracles with Tiphys aboard to guard the ship, and, with the

rest of the heroes, Jason went through the streets of the city. They

met many men, but when they asked any of them how they might come to

the palace of King Phineus the men turned fearfully away.

They found their way to the king's palace. Jason spoke to the servants

and bade them tell the king of their coming. The servants, too, seemed

fearful, and as Jason and his comrades were wondering what there was

about him that made men fearful at his name, Phineus, the king, came

amongst them.

Were it not that he had a purple border to his robe no one would have

known him for the king, so miserable did this man seem. He crept along,

touching the walls, for the eyes in his head were blind and withered.

His body was shrunken, and when he stood before them leaning on his

staff he was like to a lifeless thing. He turned his blinded eyes upon

them, looking from one to the other as if he were searching for a face.

Then his sightless eyes rested upon Zetes and Calais, the sons of

Boreas, the North Wind. A change came into his face as it turned upon

them. One would think that he saw the wonder that these two were

endowed with--the wings that grew upon their ankles. It was awhile

before he turned his face from them; then he spoke to Jason and said:

"You have come to have counsel with one who has the wisdom of the gods.

Others before you have come for such counsel, but seeing the misery

that is visible upon me they went without asking for counsel: I would

strive to hold you here for a while. Stay, and have sight of the misery

the gods visit upon those who would be as wise as they. And when you

have seen the thing that is wont to befall me, it may be that help will

come from you for me."

Then Phineus, the blind king, left them, and after a while the heroes

were brought into a great hall, and they were invited to rest

themselves there while a banquet was being prepared for them. The hall

was richly adorned, but it looked to the heroes as if it had known

strange happenings; rich hangings were strewn upon the ground, an ivory

chair was overturned, and the dais where the king sat had stains upon

it. The servants who went through the hall making ready the banquet

were white-faced and fearful.

The feast was laid on a great table, and the heroes were invited to sit

down to it. The king did not come into the hall before they sat down,

but a table with food was set before the dais. When the heroes had

feasted, the king came into the hall. He sat at the table, blind,

white-faced, and shrunken, and the Argonauts all turned their faces to

him.

Said Phineus, the blind king: "You see, O heroes, how much my wisdom

avails me. You see me blind and shrunken, who tried to make myself in

wisdom equal to the gods. And yet you have not seen all. Watch now and

see what feasts Phineus, the wise king, has to delight him."

He made a sign, and the white-faced and trembling servants brought food

and set it upon the table that was before him. The king bent forward as

if to eat, and they saw that his face was covered with the damp of

fear. He took food from the dish and raised it to his mouth. As he did,

the doors of the hall were flung open as if by a storm. Strange shapes

flew into the hall and set themselves beside the king. And when the

Argonauts looked upon them they saw that these were terrible and

unsightly shapes.

They were things that had the wings and claws of birds and the heads of

women. Black hair and gray feathers were mixed upon them; they had red

eyes, and streaks of blood were upon their breasts and wings. And as

the king raised the food to his mouth they flew at him and buffeted his

head with their wings, and snatched the food from his hands. Then they

devoured or scattered what was upon the table, and all the time they

screamed and laughed and mocked.

"Ah, now ye see," Phineus panted, "what it is to have wisdom equal to

the wisdom of the gods. Now ye all see my misery. Never do I strive to

put food to my lips but these foul things, the Harpies, the Snatchers,

swoop down and scatter or devour what I would eat. Crumbs they leave me

that my life may not altogether go from me, but these crumbs they make

foul to my taste and my smell."

And one of the Harpies perched herself on the back of the king's throne

and looked upon the heroes with red eyes. "Hah," she screamed, "you

bring armed men into your feasting hall, thinking to scare us away.

Never, Phineus, can you scare us from you! Always you will have us, the

Snatchers, beside you when you would still your ache of hunger. What

can these men do against us who are winged and who can travel through

the ways of the air?"

So said the unsightly Harpy, and the heroes drew together, made fearful

by these awful shapes. All drew back except Zetes and Calais, the sons

of the North Wind. They laid their hands upon their swords. The wings

on their shoulders spread out and the wings at their heels trembled.

Phineus, the king, leaned forward and panted: "By the wisdom I have I

know that there are two amongst you who can save me. O make haste to

help me, ye who can help me, and I will give the counsel that you

Argonauts have come to me for, and besides I will load down your ship

with treasure and costly stuffs. Oh, make haste, ye who can help me!"

Hearing the king speak like this, the Harpies gathered together and

gnashed with their teeth, and chattered to one another. Then, seeing

Zetes and Calais with their hands upon their swords, they rose up on

their wings and flew through the wide doors of the hall. The king cried

out to Zetes and Calais. But the sons of the North Wind had already

risen with their wings, and they were after the Harpies, their bright

swords in their hands.

On flew the Harpies, screeching and gnashing their teeth in anger and

dismay, for now they felt that they might be driven from Salmydessus,

where they had had such royal feasts. They rose high in the air and

flew out toward the sea. But high as the Harpies rose, the sons of the

North Wind rose higher. The Harpies cried pitiful cries as they flew

on, but Zetes and Calais felt no pity for them, for they knew that

these dread Snatchers, with the stains of blood upon their breasts and

wings, had shown pity neither to Phineus nor to any other.

On they flew until they came to the island that is called the Floating

Island. There the Harpies sank down with wearied wings. Zetes and

Calais were upon them now, and they would have cut them to pieces with

their bright swords, if the messenger of Zeus, Iris, with the golden

wings, had not come between.

"Forbear to slay the Harpies, sons of Boreas," cried Iris warningly,

"forbear to slay the Harpies that are the hounds of Zeus. Let them

cower here and hide themselves, and I, who come from Zeus, will swear

the oath that the gods most dread, that they will never again come to

Salmydessus to trouble Phineus, the king."

The heroes yielded to the words of Iris. She took the oath that the

gods most dread--the oath by the Water of Styx--that never again would

the Harpies show themselves to Phineus. Then Zetes and Calais turned

back toward the city of Salmydessus. The island that they drove the

Harpies to had been called the Floating Island, but thereafter it was

called the Island of Turning. It was evening when they turned back, and

all night long the Argonauts and King Phineus sat in the hall of the

palace and awaited the return of Zetes and Calais, the sons of the

North Wind.

VIII. KING PHINEUS'S COUNSEL; THE LANDING IN LEMNOS

They came into King Phineus's hall, their bright swords in their hands.

The Argonauts crowded around them and King Phineus raised his head and

stretched out his thin hands to them. And Zetes and Calais told their

comrades and told the king how they had driven the Harpies down to the

Floating Island, and how Iris, the messenger of Zeus, had sworn the

great oath that was by the Water of Styx that never again would the

Snatchers show themselves in the palace.

Then a great golden cup brimming with wine was brought to the king. He

stood holding it in his trembling hands, fearful even then that the

Harpies would tear the cup out of his hands. He drank--long and deeply

he drank--and the dread shapes of the Snatchers did not appear. Down

amongst the heroes he came and he took into his the hands of Zetes and

Calais, the sons of the North Wind.

"O heroes greater than any kings," he said, "ye have delivered me from

the terrible curse that the gods had sent upon me. I thank ye, and I

thank ye all, heroes of the quest. And the thanks of Phineus will much

avail you all."

Clasping the hands of Zetes and Calais he led the heroes through hall

after hall of his palace and down into his treasure chamber. There he

bestowed upon the banishers of the Harpies crowns and arm rings of gold

and richly-colored garments and brazen chests in which to store the

treasure that he gave. And to Jason he gave an ivory-hilted and

golden-cased sword, and on each of the voyagers he bestowed a rich

gift, not forgetting the heroes who had remained on the Argo, Heracles

and Tiphys.

They went back to the great hall, and a feast was spread for the king

and for the Argonauts. They ate from rich dishes and they drank from

flowing wine cups. Phineus ate and drank as the heroes did, and no

dread shapes came before him to snatch from him nor to buffet him. But

as Jason looked upon the man who had striven to equal the gods in

wisdom, and noted his blinded eyes and shrunken face, he resolved never

to harbor in his heart such presumption as Phineus had harbored.

When the feast was finished the king spoke to Jason, telling him how

the Argo might be guided through the Symplegades, the dread passage

into the Sea of Pontus. He told them to bring their ship near to the

Clashing Rocks. And one who had the keenest sight amongst them was to

stand at the prow of the ship holding a pigeon in his hands. As the

rocks came together he was to loose the pigeon. If it found a space to

fly through they would know that the Argo could make the passage, and

they were to steer straight toward where the pigeon had flown. But if

it fluttered down to the sea, or flew back to them, or became lost in

the clouds of spray, they were to know that the Argo might not make

that passage. Then the heroes would have to take their ship overland to

where they might reach the Sea of Pontus.

That day they bade farewell to Phineus, and with the treasures he had

bestowed upon them they went down to the Argo. To Heracles and Tiphys

they gave the presents that the king had sent them. In the morning they

drew the Argo out of the harbor of Salmydessus, and set sail again.