heron come flying mast-high toward the rocks, and hover awhile before
them, as if looking for a passage through. Then he cried, "Hera has
sent us a pilot; let us follow the bird."
The heron flapped to and fro a moment till he saw a hidden gap, and
into it he rushed like an arrow, while the heroes watched what would
befall.
And the blue rocks dashed together as the bird fled swiftly through,
but they struck but one feather from his tail, and then rebounded at
the shock.
Then the helmsman cheered the heroes, and they shouted, while the
oars bent beneath their strokes as they rushed between those toppling
ice-crags. But ere the rocks could meet again they had passed them,
and were safe out in the open sea.
After that they sailed on wearily along the coast, past many a mighty
river's mouth, and past many a barbarous tribe. And at day dawn they
looked eastward, till, shining above the tree-tops, they saw the
golden roofs of King Aietes, the Child of the Sun.
Then out spoke the helmsman, "We are come to our goal at last, for
there are the roofs of Aietes, and the woods where all poisons grow.
But who can tell us where among them is hid the Golden Fleece?"
But Jason cheered the heroes, for his heart was high and bold, and he
said, "I will go alone to Aietes, and win him with soft words. Better
so than to go altogether and to come to blows at once." But the heroes
would not stay behind so they rowed boldly up the stream.
And a dream came to Aietes and filled his heart with fear. Then he
leapt up and bade his servants bring his chariot, that he might go
down to the river-side, and appease the nymphs and the heroes whose
spirits haunt the bank.
So he went down in his golden chariot, and his daughters by his side,
Medeia, the fair witch-maiden, and Chalciope, who had been Phrixus'
wife, and behind him a crowd of servants and soldiers, for he was a
rich and mighty prince.
And as he drove down by the reedy river, he saw the Argo sliding up
beneath the bank, and many a hero in her, like Immortals for beauty
and strength. But Jason was the noblest of all, for Hera, who loved
him, gave him beauty and height and terrible manhood.
When they came near together and looked into each other's eyes, the
heroes were awed before Aietes as he shone in his chariot like his
father, the glorious Sun. For his robes were of rich gold tissue, and
the rays of his diadem flashed fire. And in his hand he bore a jeweled
scepter, which glittered like the stars.
Sternly Aietes looked at the heroes, and sternly he spoke and loud,
"Who are you, and what want you here that you come to our shore? Know
this is my kingdom and these are my people who serve me. Never yet
grew they tired in battle, and well they know how to face a foe."
And the heroes sat silent awhile before the face of that ancient King.
But Hera, the awful goddess, put courage into Jason's heart, and he
rose and shouted loudly in answer to the King.
"We are no lawless men. We come, not to plunder or carry away slaves
from your land, but we have come on a quest to bring home the Golden
Fleece. And these too, my bold comrades, they are no nameless men, for
some are the sons of Immortals, and some of heroes far renowned. We
too never tire in battle, and know well how to give blows and to
take. Yet we wish to be guests at your table; it will be better so for
both."
Then Aietes' rage rushed up like a whirlwind, and his eyes flashed
fire as he heard; but he crushed his anger down in his heart and spoke
mildly.
"If you will fight, then many a man must die. But if you will be ruled
by me you will find it better far to choose the best man among you,
and let him fulfil the labors which I demand. Then I will give him the
Golden Fleece for a prize and a glory to you all."
So he said, and then turned his horses and drove back in silence to
the town.
The heroes sat dumb with sorrow, for there was no facing the thousands
of King Aietes' men and the fearful chance of war.
But Chalciope, the widow of Phrixus, went weeping to the town, for she
remembered her husband and all the pleasures of her youth while she
watched the fair face of his kinsmen and their long locks of golden
hair.
And she whispered to Medeia, her sister, "Why should all these brave
men die? Why does not my father give up the fleece, that my husband's
spirit may have rest?"
Medeia's heart pitied the heroes, and Jason most of all, and she
answered, "Our father is stern and terrible, and who can win the
Golden Fleece?"
But Chalciope said, "These men are not like our men; there is nothing
which they cannot dare nor do."
Then Medeia thought of Jason and his brave countenance, and said, "If
there was one among them who knew no fear, I could show him how to win
the fleece."
So in the dusk of the evening they went down to the river-side,
Chalciope and Medeia the witch-maiden, and with them a lad. And the
lad crept forward, among the beds of reeds, till he came to where
Jason kept ward on shore, leaning upon his lance, full of thought.
And the lad said, "Chalciope waits for you, to talk about the Golden
Fleece."
Then Jason went boldly with the boy and found the two Princesses. When
Chalciope saw him, she wept and took his hands and cried, "O cousin of
my beloved Phrixus, go home before you die!"
"It would be base to go home now, fair Princess, and to have sailed
all these seas in vain."
Then both the Princesses besought him, but Jason said, "It is too late
to return!"
"But you know not," said Medeia, "what he must do who would win
the fleece. He must tame the two brazen-footed bulls, which breathe
devouring flame, and with them he must plow ere nightfall four acres
in a field. He must sow the acres with serpents' teeth, of which each
tooth springs up into an armed man. Then he must fight with all these
warriors. And little will it profit him to conquer them, for the
fleece is guarded by a serpent more huge than any mountain pine. Over
his body you must step if you would reach the Golden Fleece."
Then Jason laughed bitterly: "Unjustly is that fleece kept here, and
by an unjust and lawless King, and unjustly shall I die in my youth,
for I will attempt it ere another sun be set."
Medeia trembled and said, "No mortal man can reach that fleece unless
I guide him through."
But Jason cried, "No wall so high but it may be climbed at last, and
no wood so thick but it may be crawled through. No serpent so wary
but he may be charmed, and I may yet win the Golden Fleece, if a wise
maiden help bold men."
And he looked at Medeia with his glittering eye, till she blushed and
trembled and said, "Who can face the fire of the bulls' breath and
fight ten thousand armed men?"
"He whom you help," said Jason, flattering her, "for your fame is
spread over all the earth."
And Medeia said slowly, "Why should you die? I have an ointment here.
I made it from the magic ice-flower. Anoint yourself with that, and
you shall have in you the strength of seven, and anoint your shield
with it, and neither fire nor sword shall harm you. Anoint your helmet
with it, before you sow the serpents' teeth, and when the sons of
earth spring up, cast your helmet among them, and every man of them
shall perish."
Then Jason fell on his knees before her, and thanked her and kissed
her hands, and she gave him the vase of ointment, and fled trembling
through the reeds.
And Jason told his comrades what had happened, and showed them the box
of ointment.
So at sunrise Jason went and bathed and anointed himself from head to
foot, and his shield and his helmet and his weapons. And when the sun
had risen, Jason sent two of his heroes to tell Aietes that he was
ready for the fight.
Up among the marble walls they went, and beneath the roofs of gold,
and stood in the hall of Aietes, while he grew pale with rage.
"Fulfil your promise to us, Child of the blazing Sun," the heroes
cried to King Aietes. "Give us the serpents' teeth, and let loose the
fiery bulls, for we have found a champion among us, who can win the
Golden Fleece!"
Aietes grew more pale with rage, for he had fancied that they had fled
away by night, but he could not break his promise, so he gave them the
serpents' teeth. Then he called his chariot and his horses, and sent
heralds through all the town, and all the people went out with him to
the dreadful War-god's field.
There Aietes sat upon his throne, with his warriors on each hand,
thousands and tens of thousands clothed from head to foot in steel
chain mail. And the people and women crowded to every window and bank
and wall, while the heroes stood together, a mere handful in the midst
of that great host.
Chalciope was there, and Medeia, wrapped closely in her veil; but
Aietes did not know that she was muttering cunning spells between her
lips.
Then Jason cried, "Fulfil your promise, and let your fiery bulls come
forth!"
Aietes bade open the gates, and the magic bulls leapt out. Their
brazen hoofs rang upon the ground as they rushed with lowered heads
upon Jason, but he never flinched a step. The flame of their breath
swept round him, but it singed not a hair of his head. And the bulls
stopped short and trembled when Medeia began her spell.
Then Jason sprang upon the nearest, and seized him by the horns, and
up and down they wrestled, till the bull fell groveling on his knees.
For the heart of the bull died within him, beneath the steadfast eye
of that dark witch-maiden and the magic whisper of her lips.
So both the bulls were tamed and yoked, and Jason bound them to the
plow and goaded them onward with his lance, till he had plowed the
sacred field. And all the heroes shouted, but Aietes bit his lips with
rage, for half of Jason's work was done.
Then Jason took the serpents' teeth and sowed them, and waited what
would befall.
And Medeia looked at him and at his helmet, lest he should forget the
lesson she had taught him.
Now every furrow heaved and bubbled, and out of every clod arose a
man. Out of the earth they arose by thousands, each clad from head
to foot in steel, and drew their swords and rushed on Jason where he
stood in the midst alone.
The heroes grew pale with fear for him, but Aietes laughed an angry
laugh.
Then Jason snatched off his helmet and hurled it into the thickest of
the throng. And hate and fear and suspicion came upon them, and one
cried to his fellows, "Thou didst strike me," and another, "Thou art
Jason, thou shalt die," and each turned his hand against the rest,
and they fought and were never weary, till they all lay dead upon the
ground.
And the magic furrows opened, and the kind earth took them home again,
and Jason's work was done.
Then the heroes rose and shouted, and Jason cried to the King, "Lead
me to the Golden Fleece this moment before the sun goes down."
But Aietes thought, "Who is this, who is proof against all magic? He
may kill the serpent yet!" So he delayed, and sat taking counsel with
his princes. Afterwards he bade a herald cry, "To-morrow we will meet
these heroes and speak about the Golden Fleece!"
Then he turned and looked at Medeia. "This is your doing, false
witch-maid," he said; "you have helped these yellow-haired strangers."
Medeia shrank and trembled, and her face grew pale with fear, and
Aietes knew that she was guilty, and he whispered, "If they win the
fleece, you die."
Now the heroes went marching toward their ship, growling, like lions
cheated of their prey. "Let us go together to the grove and take
the fleece by force," they said. But Jason held them back, while he
praised them for brave heroes, for he hoped for Medeia's help.
And after a time she came trembling, and wept a long while before she
spoke. At last she said, "I must die, for my father has found out that
I have helped you."
But all the heroes cried, "If you die we die with you, for without you
we cannot win the fleece, and home we will never go without it."
"You need not die," said Jason to the witch-maiden. "Flee home with
us across the sea. Show us but how to win the fleece, and come with us
and you shall be my queen, and rule over the rich princes in Iolcos by
the sea."
And all the heroes pressed round and vowed to her that she should be
their queen.
Medeia wept and hid her face in her hands. "Must I leave my home and
my people?" she sobbed. "But the lot is cast: I will show you how to
win the Golden Fleece. Bring up your ship to the woodside, and moor
her there against the bank. And let Jason come up at midnight and one
brave comrade with him, and meet me beneath the wall."
Then all the heroes cried together, "I will go--and I--and I!"
But Medeia calmed them and said, "Orpheus shall go with Jason, and
take his magic harp."
And Orpheus laughed for joy and clapped his hands, because the choice
had fallen on him.
So at midnight they went up the bank and found Medeia, and she brought
them to a thicket beside the War-god's gate.
And the base of the gate fell down and the brazen doors flew wide,
and Medeia and the heroes ran forward, and hurried through the poison
wood, guided by the gleam of the Golden Fleece, until they saw it
hanging on one vast tree in the midst.
Jason would have sprung to seize it, but Medeia held him back and
pointed to the tree-foot, where a mighty serpent lay, coiled in and
out among the roots.
When the serpent saw them coming, he lifted up his head and watched
them with his small bright eyes, and flashed his forked tongue.
But Medeia called gently to him, and he stretched out his long spotted
neck, and licked her hand. Then she made a sign to Orpheus, and he
began his magic song.
And as he sung, the forest grew calm, and the leaves on every tree
hung still, and the serpent's head sank down and his coils grew limp,
and his glittering eyes closed lazily, till he breathed as gently as a
child.
Jason leapt forward warily and stept across that mighty snake, and
tore the fleece from off the tree-trunk. Then the witch-maiden with
Jason and Orpheus turned and rushed down to the bank where the Argo
lay.
There was silence for a moment, when Jason held the Golden Fleece on
high. Then he cried, "Go now, good Argo, swift and steady, if ever you
would see Pelion more."
And she went, as the heroes drove her, grim and silent all, with
muffled oars. On and on, beneath the dewy darkness, they fled swiftly
down the swirling stream, on and on till they heard the merry music of
the surge.
Into the surge they rushed, and the Argo leapt the breakers like a
horse, till the heroes stopped, all panting, each man upon his oar, as
she slid into the broad sea.
Then Orpheus took his harp and sang a song of praise, till the heroes'
hearts rose high again, and they rowed on, stoutly and steadfastly,
away into the darkness of the West.
V
HOW THE ARGONAUTS REACHED HOME
So the heroes fled away in haste, but Aietes manned his fleet and
followed them.
Then Medeia, the dark witch-maiden, laid a cruel plot, for she killed
her young brother who had come with her, and cast him into the sea,
and said, "Ere my father can take up his body and bury it, he must
wait long and be left far behind."
And all the heroes shuddered, and looked one at the other in shame.
When Aietes came to the place he stopped a long while and bewailed his
son, and took him up and went home.
So the heroes escaped for a time, but Zeus saw that evil deed, and out
of the heavens he sent a storm and swept the Argo far from her course.
And at last she struck on a shoal, and the waves rolled over her and
through her, and the heroes lost all hope of life.
Then out spoke the magic bough, which stood upon the Argo's prow, "For
your guilt, you must sail a weary way to where Circe, Medeia's sister,
dwells among the islands of the West; she shall cleanse you of your
guilt."
Whither they went I cannot tell, nor how they came to Circe's isle,
but at last they reached the fairy island of the West.
And Jason bid them land, and as they went ashore they met Circe coming
down toward the ship, and they trembled when they saw her, for her
hair and face and robes shone flame.
Then Circe cried to Medeia, "Ah, wretched girl, have you forgotten
your sins that you come hither, where the flowers bloom all the year
round? Where is your aged father, and the brother whom you killed? I
will send you food and wine, but your ship must not stay here, for she
is black with your wickedness."
And the heroes prayed, but in vain, and cried, "Cleanse us from our
guilt!" but she sent them away and said, "Go eastward, that you may be
cleansed, and after that you may go home."
Slowly and wearily they sailed on, till one summer's eve they came to
a flowery island, and as they neared it they heard sweet songs.
[Illustration: ORPHEUS SANG TILL HIS VOICE DROWNED THE SONG OF THE
SIRENS.]
Medeia started when she heard, and cried, "Beware, O heroes, for here
are the rocks of the Sirens. You must pass close by them, but those
who listen to that song are lost."
Then Orpheus spoke, he, the king of all minstrels, "Let them match
their song against mine;" so he caught up his lyre and began his magic
song.
Now they could see the Sirens. Three fair maidens, sitting on the
beach, beneath a rock red in the setting sun.
Slowly they sung and sleepily, and as the heroes listened the oars
fell from their hands, and their heads dropped, and they closed their
heavy eyes, and all their toil seemed foolishness, and they thought of
their renown no more.
Then Medeia clapped her hands together and cried, "Sing louder,
Orpheus, sing louder."
And Orpheus sang till his voice drowned the song of the Sirens, and
the heroes caught their oars again and cried, "We will be men, and we
will dare and suffer to the last."
And as Orpheus sang, they dashed their oars into the sea and kept
time to his music as they fled fast away, and the Sirens' voices died
behind them, in the hissing of the foam.
But when the Sirens saw that they were conquered, they shrieked for
envy and rage and leapt into the sea, and were changed into rocks.
Then, as the Argonauts rowed on, they came to a fearful whirlpool, and
they could neither go back nor forward, for the waves caught them and
spun them round and round. While they struggled in the whirlpool,
they saw near them on the other side of the strait a rock stand in the
water--a rock smooth and slippery, and half way up a misty cave.
When Orpheus saw the rock he groaned. "Little will it help us," he
cried, "to escape the jaws of the whirlpool. For in that cave lives a
sea-hag, and from her cave she fishes for all things that pass by, and
never ship's crew boasted that they came safe past her rock."
Then out of the depths came Thetis, the silver-footed bride of one of
the heroes. She came with all her nymphs around her, and they played
like snow-white dolphins, diving in from wave to wave before the ship,
and in her wake and beside her, as dolphins play. And they caught the
ship and guided her, and passed her on from hand to hand, and tossed
her through the billows, as maidens do the ball.
And when the sea-hag stooped to seize the ship, they struck her, and
she shrank back into her cave affrighted, and the Argo leapt safe past
her, while a fair breeze rose behind.
Then Thetis and her nymphs sank down to their coral caves beneath the
sea, and their gardens of green and purple, where flowers bloom all
the year round, while the heroes went on rejoicing, yet dreading what
might come next.
They rowed away for many a weary day till their water was spent and
their food eaten, but at last they saw a long steep island.
"We will land here," they cried, "and fill our water casks upon the
shore."
But when they came nearer to the island they saw a wondrous sight. For
on the cliffs stood a giant, taller than any mountain pine.
When he saw the Argo and her crew he came toward them, more swiftly
than the swiftest horse, and he shouted to them, "You are pirates, you
are robbers! If you land you shall die the death."
Then the heroes lay on their oars in fear, but Medeia spoke: "I know
this giant. If strangers land he leaps into his furnace, which flames
there among the hills, and when he is red-hot he rushes on them, and
burns them in his brazen hands. But he has but one vein in all his
body filled with liquid fire, and this vein is closed with a nail. I
will find out where the nail is placed, and when I have got it into my
hands you shall water your ship in peace."
So they took the witch-maiden and left her alone on the shore. And she
stood there all alone in her beauty till the giant strode back red-hot
from head to heel.
When he saw the maiden he stopped. And she looked boldly up into his
face and sang a magic song, and she held up a flash of crystal and
said, "I am Medeia, the witch-maiden. My sister Circe gave me this and
said, 'Go, reward Talus, the faithful giant, for his fame is gone out
into all lands.' So come and I will pour this into your veins, that
you may live for ever young."
And he listened to her false words, that simple Talus, and came near.
But Medeia said, "Dip yourself in the sea first and cool yourself,
lest you burn my tender hands. Then show me the nail in your vein, and
in that will I pour the liquid from the crystal flask."
Then that simple Talus dipped himself in the sea, and came and knelt
before Medeia and showed the secret nail.
And she drew the nail out gently, but she poured nothing in, and
instead the liquid fire streamed forth.
Talus tried to leap up, crying, "You have betrayed me, false
witch-maiden."
But she lifted up her hands before him and sang, till he sank beneath
her spell.
And as he sank, the earth groaned beneath his weight and the liquid
fire ran from his heel, like a stream of lava, to the sea.
Then Medeia laughed and called to the heroes, "Come and water your
ship in peace."
So they came and found the giant lying dead, and they fell down and
kissed Medeia's feet, and watered their ship, and took sheep and oxen,
and so left that inhospitable shore.
At the next island they went ashore and offered sacrifices, and
Orpheus purged them from their guilt.
And at last, after many weary days and nights, all worn and tired, the
heroes saw once more Pelion and Iolcos by the sea.
They ran the ship ashore, but they had no strength left to haul her
up the beach, and they crawled out on the pebbles and wept, till they
could weep no more.
For the houses and the trees were all altered, and all the faces they
saw were strange, so that their joy was swallowed up in sorrow.
The people crowded round and asked them, "Who are you, that you sit
weeping here?"
"We are the sons of your princes, who sailed in search of the Golden
Fleece, and we have brought it home. Give us news of our fathers and
mothers, if any of them be left alive on earth."
Then there was shouting and laughing and weeping, and all the kings
came to the shore, and they led away the heroes to their homes, and
bewailed the valiant dead.
And Jason went up with Medeia to the palace of his uncle Pelias. And
when he came in, Pelias and Æson, Jason's father, sat by the fire, two
old men, whose heads shook together as they tried to warm themselves
before the fire.
Jason fell down at his father's knee and wept and said, "I am your own
son Jason, and I have brought home the Golden Fleece and a Princess of
the Sun's race for my bride."
Then his father clung to him like a child, and wept, and would not let
him go, and cried, "Promise never to leave me till I die."
And Jason turned to his uncle Pelias, "Now give me up the kingdom and
fulfil your promise, as I have fulfilled mine." And his uncle gave him
his kingdom.
So Jason stayed at Iolcos by the sea.
THESEUS
ADAPTED BY MARY MACGREGOR
I
HOW THESEUS LIFTED THE STONE
Once upon a time there was a Princess called Aithra. She had one fair
son named Theseus, the bravest lad in all the land. And Aithra never
smiled but when she looked at him, for her husband had forgotten her,
and lived far away.
Aithra used to go up to the temple of the gods, and sit there all day,
looking out across the bay, over the purple peaks of the mountains to
the Attic shore beyond.
When Theseus was full fifteen years old, she took him up with her to
the temple, and into the thickets which grew in the temple yard. She
led him to a tall plane-tree, and there she sighed and said, "Theseus,
my son, go into that thicket and you will find at the plane-tree foot
a great flat stone. Lift it, and bring me what lies underneath."
Then Theseus pushed his way in through the thick bushes, and searching
among their roots he found a great flat stone, all overgrown with ivy
and moss.
He tried to lift it, but he could not. And he tried till the sweat ran
down his brow from the heat, and the tears from his eyes for shame,
but all was of no avail. And at last he came back to his mother and
said, "I have found the stone, but I cannot lift it, nor do I think
that any man could, in all the land."