HOW THEY BUILT THE SHIP ‘ARGO’ IN IOLCOS
So the heralds went out, and cried to all the heroes of the Minuai, ‘Who
dare come to the adventure of the golden fleece?’
And Hera stirred the hearts of all the princes, and they came from all
their valleys to the yellow sands of Pagasai. And first came Heracles
the mighty, with his lion’s skin and club, and behind him Hylas his young
squire, who bore his arrows and his bow; and Tiphys, the skilful
steersman; and Butes, the fairest of all men; and Castor and Polydeuces
the twins, the sons of the magic swan; and Cæneus, the strongest of
mortals, whom the Centaurs tried in vain to kill, and overwhelmed him
with trunks of pine-trees, but even so he would not die; and thither came
Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the north wind; and Peleus, the
father of Achilles, whose bride was silver-footed Thetis, the goddess of
the sea. And thither came Telamon and Oileus, the fathers of the two
Aiantes, who fought upon the plains of Troy; and Mopsus, the wise
soothsayer, who knew the speech of birds; and Idmon, to whom Phoebus gave
a tongue to prophesy of things to come; and Ancaios, who could read the
stars, and knew all the circles of the heavens; and Argus, the famed
shipbuilder, and many a hero more, in helmets of brass and gold with tall
dyed horse-hair crests, and embroidered shirts of linen beneath their
coats of mail, and greaves of polished tin to guard their knees in fight;
with each man his shield upon his shoulder, of many a fold of tough
bull’s hide, and his sword of tempered bronze in his silver-studded belt;
and in his right hand a pair of lances, of the heavy white ash-staves.
So they came down to Iolcos, and all the city came out to meet them, and
were never tired with looking at their height, and their beauty, and
their gallant bearing and the glitter of their inlaid arms. And some
said, ‘Never was such a gathering of the heroes since the Hellens
conquered the land.’ But the women sighed over them, and whispered,
‘Alas! they are all going to their death!’
Then they felled the pines on Pelion, and shaped them with the axe, and
Argus taught them to build a galley, the first long ship which ever
sailed the seas. They pierced her for fifty oars—an oar for each hero of
the crew—and pitched her with coal-black pitch, and painted her bows with
vermilion; and they named her _Argo_ after Argus, and worked at her all
day long. And at night Pelias feasted them like a king, and they slept
in his palace-porch.
But Jason went away to the northward, and into the land of Thrace, till
he found Orpheus, the prince of minstrels, where he dwelt in his cave
under Rhodope, among the savage Cicon tribes. And he asked him, ‘Will
you leave your mountains, Orpheus, my fellow-scholar in old times, and
cross Strymon once more with me, to sail with the heroes of the Minuai,
and bring home the golden fleece, and charm for us all men and all
monsters with your magic harp and song?’
Then Orpheus sighed, ‘Have I not had enough of toil and of weary
wandering, far and wide since I lived in Cheiron’s cave, above Iolcos by
the sea? In vain is the skill and the voice which my goddess mother gave
me; in vain have I sung and laboured; in vain I went down to the dead,
and charmed all the kings of Hades, to win back Eurydice my bride. For I
won her, my beloved, and lost her again the same day, and wandered away
in my madness, even to Egypt and the Libyan sands, and the isles of all
the seas, driven on by the terrible gadfly, while I charmed in vain the
hearts of men, and the savage forest beasts, and the trees, and the
lifeless stones, with my magic harp and song, giving rest, but finding
none. But at last Calliope my mother delivered me, and brought me home
in peace; and I dwell here in the cave alone, among the savage Cicon
tribes, softening their wild hearts with music and the gentle laws of
Zeus. And now I must go out again, to the ends of all the earth, far
away into the misty darkness, to the last wave of the Eastern Sea. But
what is doomed must be, and a friend’s demand obeyed; for prayers are the
daughters of Zeus, and who honours them honours him.’
Then Orpheus rose up sighing, and took his harp, and went over Strymon.
And he led Jason to the south-west, up the banks of Haliacmon and over
the spurs of Pindus, to Dodona the town of Zeus, where it stood by the
side of the sacred lake, and the fountain which breathed out fire, in the
darkness of the ancient oakwood, beneath the mountain of the hundred
springs. And he led him to the holy oak, where the black dove settled in
old times, and was changed into the priestess of Zeus, and gave oracles
to all nations round. And he bade him cut down a bough, and sacrifice to
Hera and to Zeus; and they took the bough and came to Iolcos, and nailed
it to the beak-head of the ship.
And at last the ship was finished, and they tried to launch her down the
beach; but she was too heavy for them to move her, and her keel sank deep
into the sand. Then all the heroes looked at each other blushing; but
Jason spoke, and said, ‘Let us ask the magic bough; perhaps it can help
us in our need.’
Then a voice came from the bough, and Jason heard the words it said, and
bade Orpheus play upon the harp, while the heroes waited round, holding
the pine-trunk rollers, to help her toward the sea.
Then Orpheus took his harp, and began his magic song—‘How sweet it is to
ride upon the surges, and to leap from wave to wave, while the wind sings
cheerful in the cordage, and the oars flash fast among the foam! How
sweet it is to roam across the ocean, and see new towns and wondrous
lands, and to come home laden with treasure, and to win undying fame!’
And the good ship _Argo_ heard him, and longed to be away and out at sea;
till she stirred in every timber, and heaved from stem to stern, and
leapt up from the sand upon the rollers, and plunged onward like a
gallant horse; and the heroes fed her path with pine-trunks, till she
rushed into the whispering sea.
Then they stored her well with food and water, and pulled the ladder up
on board, and settled themselves each man to his oar, and kept time to
Orpheus’ harp; and away across the bay they rowed southward, while the
people lined the cliffs; and the women wept, while the men shouted, at
the starting of that gallant crew.