HOW THE ARGONAUTS SAILED TO COLCHIS
And what happened next, my children, whether it be true or not, stands
written in ancient songs, which you shall read for yourselves some day.
And grand old songs they are, written in grand old rolling verse; and
they call them the Songs of Orpheus, or the Orphics, to this day. And
they tell how the heroes came to Aphetai, across the bay, and waited for
the south-west wind, and chose themselves a captain from their crew: and
how all called for Heracles, because he was the strongest and most huge;
but Heracles refused, and called for Jason, because he was the wisest of
them all. So Jason was chosen captain; and Orpheus heaped a pile of
wood, and slew a bull, and offered it to Hera, and called all the heroes
to stand round, each man’s head crowned with olive, and to strike their
swords into the bull. Then he filled a golden goblet with the bull’s
blood, and with wheaten flour, and honey, and wine, and the bitter
salt-sea water, and bade the heroes taste. So each tasted the goblet,
and passed it round, and vowed an awful vow: and they vowed before the
sun, and the night, and the blue-haired sea who shakes the land, to stand
by Jason faithfully in the adventure of the golden fleece; and whosoever
shrank back, or disobeyed, or turned traitor to his vow, then justice
should minister against him, and the Erinnues who track guilty men.
Then Jason lighted the pile, and burnt the carcase of the bull; and they
went to their ship and sailed eastward, like men who have a work to do;
and the place from which they went was called Aphetai, the sailing-place,
from that day forth. Three thousand years and more they sailed away,
into the unknown Eastern seas; and great nations have come and gone since
then, and many a storm has swept the earth; and many a mighty armament,
to which _Argo_ would be but one small boat; English and French, Turkish
and Russian, have sailed those waters since; yet the fame of that small
_Argo_ lives for ever, and her name is become a proverb among men.
So they sailed past the Isle of Sciathos, with the Cape of Sepius on
their left, and turned to the northward toward Pelion, up the long
Magnesian shore. On their right hand was the open sea, and on their left
old Pelion rose, while the clouds crawled round his dark pine-forests,
and his caps of summer snow. And their hearts yearned for the dear old
mountain, as they thought of pleasant days gone by, and of the sports of
their boyhood, and their hunting, and their schooling in the cave beneath
the cliff. And at last Peleus spoke, ‘Let us land here, friends, and
climb the dear old hill once more. We are going on a fearful journey;
who knows if we shall see Pelion again? Let us go up to Cheiron our
master, and ask his blessing ere we start. And I have a boy, too, with
him, whom he trains as he trained me once—the son whom Thetis brought me,
the silver-footed lady of the sea, whom I caught in the cave, and tamed
her, though she changed her shape seven times. For she changed, as I
held her, into water, and to vapour, and to burning flame, and to a rock,
and to a black-maned lion, and to a tall and stately tree. But I held
her and held her ever, till she took her own shape again, and led her to
my father’s house, and won her for my bride. And all the rulers of
Olympus came to our wedding, and the heavens and the earth rejoiced
together, when an Immortal wedded mortal man. And now let me see my son;
for it is not often I shall see him upon earth: famous he will be, but
short-lived, and die in the flower of youth.’
So Tiphys the helmsman steered them to the shore under the crags of
Pelion; and they went up through the dark pine-forests towards the
Centaur’s cave.
And they came into the misty hall, beneath the snow-crowned crag; and saw
the great Centaur lying, with his huge limbs spread upon the rock; and
beside him stood Achilles, the child whom no steel could wound, and
played upon his harp right sweetly, while Cheiron watched and smiled.
Then Cheiron leapt up and welcomed them, and kissed them every one, and
set a feast before them of swine’s flesh, and venison, and good wine; and
young Achilles served them, and carried the golden goblet round. And
after supper all the heroes clapped their hands, and called on Orpheus to
sing; but he refused, and said, ‘How can I, who am the younger, sing
before our ancient host?’ So they called on Cheiron to sing, and
Achilles brought him his harp; and he began a wondrous song; a famous
story of old time, of the fight between the Centaurs and the Lapithai,
which you may still see carved in stone. {96} He sang how his brothers
came to ruin by their folly, when they were mad with wine; and how they
and the heroes fought, with fists, and teeth, and the goblets from which
they drank; and how they tore up the pine-trees in their fury, and hurled
great crags of stone, while the mountains thundered with the battle, and
the land was wasted far and wide; till the Lapithai drove them from their
home in the rich Thessalian plains to the lonely glens of Pindus, leaving
Cheiron all alone. And the heroes praised his song right heartily; for
some of them had helped in that great fight.
Then Orpheus took the lyre, and sang of Chaos, and the making of the
wondrous World, and how all things sprang from Love, who could not live
alone in the Abyss. And as he sang, his voice rose from the cave, above
the crags, and through the tree-tops, and the glens of oak and pine. And
the trees bowed their heads when they heard it, and the gray rocks
cracked and rang, and the forest beasts crept near to listen, and the
birds forsook their nests and hovered round. And old Cheiron claps his
hands together, and beat his hoofs upon the ground, for wonder at that
magic song.
Then Peleus kissed his boy, and wept over him, and they went down to the
ship; and Cheiron came down with them, weeping, and kissed them one by
one, and blest them, and promised to them great renown. And the heroes
wept when they left him, till their great hearts could weep no more; for
he was kind and just and pious, and wiser than all beasts and men. Then
he went up to a cliff, and prayed for them, that they might come home
safe and well; while the heroes rowed away, and watched him standing on
his cliff above the sea, with his great hands raised toward heaven, and
his white locks waving in the wind; and they strained their eyes to watch
him to the last, for they felt that they should look on him no more.
So they rowed on over the long swell of the sea, past Olympus, the seat
of the Immortals, and past the wooded bays of Athos, and Samothrace the
sacred isle; and they came past Lemnos to the Hellespont, and through the
narrow strait of Abydos, and so on into the Propontis, which we call
Marmora now. And there they met with Cyzicus, ruling in Asia over the
Dolions, who, the songs say, was the son of Æneas, of whom you will hear
many a tale some day. For Homer tells us how he fought at Troy, and
Virgil how he sailed away and founded Rome; and men believed until late
years that from him sprang our old British kings. Now Cyzicus, the songs
say, welcomed the heroes, for his father had been one of Cheiron’s
scholars; so he welcomed them, and feasted them, and stored their ship
with corn and wine, and cloaks and rugs, the songs say, and shirts, of
which no doubt they stood in need.
But at night, while they lay sleeping, came down on them terrible men,
who lived with the bears in the mountains, like Titans or giants in
shape; for each of them had six arms, and they fought with young firs and
pines. But Heracles killed them all before morn with his deadly poisoned
arrows; but among them, in the darkness, he slew Cyzicus the kindly
prince.
Then they got to their ship and to their oars, and Tiphys bade them cast
off the hawsers and go to sea. But as he spoke a whirlwind came, and
spun the _Argo_ round, and twisted the hawsers together, so that no man
could loose them. Then Tiphys dropped the rudder from his hand, and
cried, ‘This comes from the Gods above.’ But Jason went forward, and
asked counsel of the magic bough.
Then the magic bough spoke, and answered, ‘This is because you have slain
Cyzicus your friend. You must appease his soul, or you will never leave
this shore.’
Jason went back sadly, and told the heroes what he had heard. And they
leapt on shore, and searched till dawn; and at dawn they found the body,
all rolled in dust and blood, among the corpses of those monstrous
beasts. And they wept over their kind host, and laid him on a fair bed,
and heaped a huge mound over him, and offered black sheep at his tomb,
and Orpheus sang a magic song to him, that his spirit might have rest.
And then they held games at the tomb, after the custom of those times,
and Jason gave prizes to each winner. To Ancæus he gave a golden cup,
for he wrestled best of all; and to Heracles a silver one, for he was the
strongest of all; and to Castor, who rode best, a golden crest; and
Polydeuces the boxer had a rich carpet, and to Orpheus for his song a
sandal with golden wings. But Jason himself was the best of all the
archers, and the Minuai crowned him with an olive crown; and so, the
songs say, the soul of good Cyzicus was appeased and the heroes went on
their way in peace.
But when Cyzicus’ wife heard that he was dead she died likewise of grief;
and her tears became a fountain of clear water, which flows the whole
year round.
Then they rowed away, the songs say, along the Mysian shore, and past the
mouth of Rhindacus, till they found a pleasant bay, sheltered by the long
ridges of Arganthus, and by high walls of basalt rock. And there they
ran the ship ashore upon the yellow sand, and furled the sail, and took
the mast down, and lashed it in its crutch. And next they let down the
ladder, and went ashore to sport and rest.
And there Heracles went away into the woods, bow in hand, to hunt wild
deer; and Hylas the fair boy slipt away after him, and followed him by
stealth, until he lost himself among the glens, and sat down weary to
rest himself by the side of a lake; and there the water nymphs came up to
look at him, and loved him, and carried him down under the lake to be
their playfellow, for ever happy and young. And Heracles sought for him
in vain, shouting his name till all the mountains rang; but Hylas never
heard him, far down under the sparkling lake. So while Heracles wandered
searching for him, a fair breeze sprang up, and Heracles was nowhere to
be found; and the _Argo_ sailed away, and Heracles was left behind, and
never saw the noble Phasian stream.
Then the Minuai came to a doleful land, where Amycus the giant ruled, and
cared nothing for the laws of Zeus, but challenged all strangers to box
with him, and those whom he conquered he slew. But Polydeuces the boxer
struck him a harder blow than he ever felt before, and slew him; and the
Minuai went on up the Bosphorus, till they came to the city of Phineus,
the fierce Bithynian king; for Zetes and Calais bade Jason land there,
because they had a work to do.
And they went up from the shore toward the city, through forests white
with snow; and Phineus came out to meet them with a lean and woful face,
and said, ‘Welcome, gallant heroes, to the land of bitter blasts, the
land of cold and misery; yet I will feast you as best I can.’ And he led
them in, and set meat before them; but before they could put their hands
to their mouths, down came two fearful monsters, the like of whom man
never saw; for they had the faces and the hair of fair maidens, but the
wings and claws of hawks; and they snatched the meat from off the table,
and flew shrieking out above the roofs.
Then Phineus beat his breast and cried, ‘These are the Harpies, whose
names are the Whirlwind and the Swift, the daughters of Wonder and of the
Amber-nymph, and they rob us night and day. They carried off the
daughters of Pandareus, whom all the Gods had blest; for Aphrodite fed
them on Olympus with honey and milk and wine; and Hera gave them beauty
and wisdom, and Athené skill in all the arts; but when they came to their
wedding, the Harpies snatched them both away, and gave them to be slaves
to the Erinnues, and live in horror all their days. And now they haunt
me, and my people, and the Bosphorus, with fearful storms; and sweep away
our food from off our tables, so that we starve in spite of all our
wealth.’
Then up rose Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the North-wind, and
said, ‘Do you not know us, Phineus, and these wings which grow upon our
backs?’ And Phineus hid his face in terror; but he answered not a word.
‘Because you have been a traitor, Phineus, the Harpies haunt you night
and day. Where is Cleopatra our sister, your wife, whom you keep in
prison? and where are her two children, whom you blinded in your rage, at
the bidding of an evil woman, and cast them out upon the rocks? Swear to
us that you will right our sister, and cast out that wicked woman; and
then we will free you from your plague, and drive the whirlwind maidens
to the south; but if not, we will put out your eyes, as you put out the
eyes of your own sons.’
Then Phineus swore an oath to them, and drove out the wicked woman; and
Jason took those two poor children, and cured their eyes with magic
herbs.
But Zetes and Calais rose up sadly and said, ‘Farewell now, heroes all;
farewell, our dear companions, with whom we played on Pelion in old
times; for a fate is laid upon us, and our day is come at last, in which
we must hunt the whirlwinds over land and sea for ever; and if we catch
them they die, and if not, we die ourselves.’
At that all the heroes wept; but the two young men sprang up, and aloft
into the air after the Harpies, and the battle of the winds began.
The heroes trembled in silence as they heard the shrieking of the blasts;
while the palace rocked and all the city, and great stones were torn from
the crags, and the forest pines were hurled earthward, north and south
and east and west, and the Bosphorus boiled white with foam, and the
clouds were dashed against the cliffs.
But at last the battle ended, and the Harpies fled screaming toward the
south, and the sons of the North-wind rushed after them, and brought
clear sunshine where they passed. For many a league they followed them,
over all the isles of the Cyclades, and away to the south-west across
Hellas, till they came to the Ionian Sea, and there they fell upon the
Echinades, at the mouth of the Achelous; and those isles were called the
Whirlwind Isles for many a hundred years. But what became of Zetes and
Calais I know not, for the heroes never saw them again: and some say that
Heracles met them, and quarrelled with them, and slew them with his
arrows; and some say that they fell down from weariness and the heat of
the summer sun, and that the Sun-god buried them among the Cyclades, in
the pleasant Isle of Tenos; and for many hundred years their grave was
shown there, and over it a pillar, which turned to every wind. But those
dark storms and whirlwinds haunt the Bosphorus until this day.
But the Argonauts went eastward, and out into the open sea, which we now
call the Black Sea, but it was called the Euxine then. No Hellen had
ever crossed it, and all feared that dreadful sea, and its rocks, and
shoals, and fogs, and bitter freezing storms; and they told strange
stories of it, some false and some half-true, how it stretched northward
to the ends of the earth, and the sluggish Putrid Sea, and the
everlasting night, and the regions of the dead. So the heroes trembled,
for all their courage, as they came into that wild Black Sea, and saw it
stretching out before them, without a shore, as far as eye could see.
And first Orpheus spoke, and warned them, ‘We shall come now to the
wandering blue rocks; my mother warned me of them, Calliope, the immortal
muse.’
And soon they saw the blue rocks shining like spires and castles of gray
glass, while an ice-cold wind blew from them and chilled all the heroes’
hearts. And as they neared they could see them heaving, as they rolled
upon the long sea-waves, crashing and grinding together, till the roar
went up to heaven. The sea sprang up in spouts between them, and swept
round them in white sheets of foam; but their heads swung nodding high in
air, while the wind whistled shrill among the crags.
The heroes’ hearts sank within them, and they lay upon their oars in
fear; but Orpheus called to Tiphys the helmsman, ‘Between them we must
pass; so look ahead for an opening, and be brave, for Hera is with us.’
But Tiphys the cunning helmsman stood silent, clenching his teeth, till
he saw a 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 cunning bird.’
Then 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 clashed together as the bird fled swiftly through; but
they struck but a feather from his tail, and then rebounded apart at the
shock.
Then Tiphys cheered the heroes, and they shouted; and the oars bent like
withes beneath their strokes as they rushed between those toppling
ice-crags and the cold blue lips of death. And ere the rocks could meet
again they had passed them, and were safe out in the open sea.
And after that they sailed on wearily along the Asian coast, by the Black
Cape and Thyneis, where the hot stream of Thymbris falls into the sea,
and Sangarius, whose waters float on the Euxine, till they came to Wolf
the river, and to Wolf the kindly king. And there died two brave heroes,
Idmon and Tiphys the wise helmsman: one died of an evil sickness, and one
a wild boar slew. So the heroes heaped a mound above them, and set upon
it an oar on high, and left them there to sleep together, on the far-off
Lycian shore. But Idas killed the boar, and avenged Tiphys; and Ancaios
took the rudder and was helmsman, and steered them on toward the east.
And they went on past Sinope, and many a mighty river’s mouth, and past
many a barbarous tribe, and the cities of the Amazons, the warlike women
of the East, till all night they heard the clank of anvils and the roar
of furnace-blasts, and the forge-fires shone like sparks through the
darkness in the mountain glens aloft; for they were come to the shores of
the Chalybes, the smiths who never tire, but serve Ares the cruel
War-god, forging weapons day and night.
And at day-dawn they looked eastward, and midway between the sea and the
sky they saw white snow-peaks hanging, glittering sharp and bright above
the clouds. And they knew that they were come to Caucasus, at the end of
all the earth: Caucasus the highest of all mountains, the father of the
rivers of the East. On his peak lies chained the Titan, while a vulture
tears his heart; and at his feet are piled dark forests round the magic
Colchian land.
And they rowed three days to the eastward, while Caucasus rose higher
hour by hour, till they saw the dark stream of Phasis rushing headlong to
the sea, and, shining above the tree-tops, the golden roofs of King
Aietes, the child of the Sun.
Then out spoke Ancaios 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? Many a
toil must we bear ere we find it, and bring it home to Greece.’
But Jason cheered the heroes, for his heart was high and bold; and he
said, ‘I will go alone up to Aietes, though he be the child of the Sun,
and win him with soft words. Better so than to go altogether, and to
come to blows at once.’ But the Minuai would not stay behind, so they
rowed boldly up the stream.
And a dream came to Aietes, and filled his heart with fear. He thought
he saw a shining star, which fell into his daughter’s lap; and that
Medeia his daughter took it gladly, and carried it to the river-side, and
cast it in, and there the whirling river bore it down, and out into the
Euxine Sea.
Then he leapt up in fear, 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 _Argo_ sliding up beneath
the bank, and many a hero in her, like Immortals for beauty and for
strength, as their weapons glittered round them in the level morning
sunlight, through the white mist of the stream. But Jason was the
noblest of all; for Hera, who loved him, gave him beauty and tallness and
terrible manhood.
And 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 jewelled
sceptre, which glittered like the stars; and sternly he looked at them
under his brows, and sternly he spoke and loud—
‘Who are you, and what want you here, that you come to the shore of
Cutaia? Do you take no account of my rule, nor of my people the
Colchians who serve me, who never tired yet in the battle, and know well
how to face an invader?’
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, ‘We are no pirates nor lawless men. We
come not to plunder and to ravage, or carry away slaves from your land;
but my uncle, the son of Poseidon, Pelias the Minuan king, he it is who
has set me 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. And 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’ race rushed up like a whirlwind, and his eyes flashed fire
as he heard; but he crushed his anger down in his breast, and spoke
mildly a cunning speech—
‘If you will fight for the fleece with my Colchians, then many a man must
die. But do you indeed expect to win from me the fleece in fight? So
few you are that if you be worsted I can load your ship with your
corpses. 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 labours which I
demand. Then I will give him the golden fleece for a prize and a glory
to you all.’
So saying, he turned his horses and drove back in silence to the town.
And the Minuai sat silent with sorrow, and longed for Heracles and his
strength; for there was no facing the thousands of the Colchians and the
fearful chance of war.
But Chalciope, Phrixus’ widow, went weeping to the town; for she
remembered her Minuan husband, and all the pleasures of her youth, while
she watched the fair faces 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 them up the fleece, that my
husband’s spirit may have rest?’
And 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.’
And 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 evening they went down to the river-side, Chalciope and
Medeia the witch-maiden, and Argus, Phrixus’ son. And Argus the boy
crept forward, among the beds of reeds, till he came where the heroes
were sleeping, on the thwarts of the ship, beneath the bank, while Jason
kept ward on shore, and leant upon his lance full of thought. And the
boy came to Jason, and said—
‘I am the son of Phrixus, your Cousin; and Chalciope my mother waits for
you, to talk about the golden fleece.’
Then Jason went boldly with the boy, and found the two princesses
standing; and when Chalciope saw him she wept, and took his hands, and
cried—‘O cousin of my beloved, 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.’
‘But you know not,’ said Medeia, ‘what he must do who would win the
fleece. He must tame the two brazen-footed bulls, who breathe devouring
flame; and with them he must plough ere nightfall four acres in the field
of Ares; and he must sow them with serpents’ teeth, of which each tooth
springs up into an armed man. Then he must fight with all those
warriors; and little will it profit him to conquer them, for the fleece
is guarded by a serpent, more huge than any mountain pine; and 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.’
Then Medeia trembled, and said, ‘No mortal man can reach that fleece
unless I guide him through. For round it, beyond the river, is a wall
full nine ells high, with lofty towers and buttresses, and mighty gates
of threefold brass; and over the gates the wall is arched, with golden
battlements above. And over the gateway sits Brimo, the wild
witch-huntress of the woods, brandishing a pine-torch in her hands, while
her mad hounds howl around. No man dare meet her or look on her, but
only I her priestess, and she watches far and wide lest any stranger
should come near.’
‘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, or
witch-queen so fierce but spells may soothe her; and I may yet win the
golden fleece, if a wise maiden help bold men.’
And he looked at Medeia cunningly, and held her 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. Are you not the queen of all enchantresses, wiser
even than your sister Circe, in her fairy island in the West?’
‘Would that I were with my sister Circe in her fairy island in the West,
far away from sore temptation and thoughts which tear the heart! But if
it must be so—for why should you die?—I have an ointment here; I made it
from the magic ice-flower which sprang from Prometheus’ wound, above the
clouds on Caucasus, in the dreary fields of snow. Anoint yourself with
that, and you shall have in you seven men’s strength; and anoint your
shield with it, and neither fire nor sword can harm you. But what you
begin you must end before sunset, for its virtue lasts only one day. And
anoint your helmet with it before you sow the serpents’ teeth; and when
the sons of earth spring up, cast your helmet among their ranks, and the
deadly crop of the War-god’s field will mow itself, and 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; and all rejoiced but Idas, and he grew mad with
envy.
And at sunrise Jason went and bathed, and anointed himself from head to
foot, and his shield, and his helmet, and his weapons, and bade his
comrades try the spell. So they tried to bend his lance, but it stood
like an iron bar; and Idas in spite hewed at it with his sword, but the
blade flew to splinters in his face. Then they hurled their lances at
his shield, but the spear-points turned like lead; and Caineus tried to
throw him, but he never stirred a foot; and Polydeuces struck him with
his fist a blow which would have killed an ox, but Jason only smiled, and
the heroes danced about him with delight; and he leapt, and ran, and
shouted in the joy of that enormous strength, till the sun rose, and it
was time to go and to claim Aietes’ promise.
So he sent up Telamon and Aithalides to tell Aietes that he was ready for
the fight; and they went up among the marble walls, and beneath the roofs
of gold, and stood in Aietes’ hall, while he grew pale with rage.
‘Fulfil your promise to us, child of the blazing Sun. 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.’
And Aietes bit his lips, for he fancied that they had fled away by night:
but he could not go back from his promise; so he gave them the serpents’
teeth.
Then he called for 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.
And 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 the women crowded to every window and
bank and wall; while the Minuai stood together, a mere handful in the
midst of that great host.
And Chalciope was there and Argus, trembling, 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.’
Then Aietes bade open the gates, and the magic bulls leapt out. Their
brazen hoofs rang upon the ground, and their nostrils sent out sheets of
flame, 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 horn; and up and
down they wrestled, till the bull fell grovelling on his knees; for the
heart of the brute died within him, and his mighty limbs were loosed,
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
plough, and goaded them onward with his lance till he had ploughed the
sacred field.
And all the Minuai shouted; but Aietes bit his lips with rage, for the
half of Jason’s work was over, and the sun was yet high in heaven.
Then he took the serpents’ teeth and sowed them, and waited what would
befall. But Medeia looked at him and at his helmet, lest he should
forget the lesson she had taught.
And every furrow heaved and bubbled, and out of every clod arose a man.
Out of the earth they rose 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.
Then the Minuai grew pale with fear for him; but Aietes laughed a bitter
laugh. ‘See! if I had not warriors enough already round me, I could call
them out of the bosom of the earth.’
But Jason snatched off his helmet, and hurled it into the thickest of the
throng. And blind madness came upon them, suspicion, hate, and fear; and
one cried to his fellow, ‘Thou didst strike me!’ and another, ‘Thou art
Jason; thou shalt die!’ So fury seized those earth-born phantoms, and
each turned his hand against the rest; and they fought and were never
weary, till they all lay dead upon the ground. Then the magic furrows
opened, and the kind earth took them home into her breast and the grass
grew up all green again above them, and Jason’s work was done.
Then the Minuai rose and shouted, till Prometheus heard them from his
crag. And Jason cried, ‘Lead me to the fleece this moment, before the
sun goes down.’
But Aietes thought, ‘He has conquered the bulls, and sown and reaped the
deadly crop. 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
till the sun went down and all was dark. Then he bade a herald cry,
‘Every man to his home for to-night. 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! You have helped these yellow-haired strangers, and brought
shame upon your father and yourself!’
Medeia shrank and trembled, and her face grew pale with fear; and Aietes
knew that she was guilty, and whispered, ‘If they win the fleece, you
die!’
But the Minuai marched toward their ship, growling like lions cheated of
their prey; for they saw that Aietes meant to mock them, and to cheat
them out of all their toil. And Oileus said, ‘Let us go to the grove
together, and take the fleece by force.’
And Idas the rash cried, ‘Let us draw lots who shall go in first; for,
while the dragon is devouring one, the rest can slay him and carry off
the fleece in peace.’ But Jason held them back, though he praised them;
for he hoped for Medeia’s help.
And after awhile Medeia came trembling, and wept a long while before she
spoke. And at last—
‘My end is come, and I must die; for my father has found out that I have
helped you. You he would kill if he dared; but he will not harm you,
because you have been his guests. Go then, go, and remember poor Medeia
when you are far away across the sea.’ But all the heroes cried—
‘If you die, we die with you; for without you we cannot win the fleece,
and home we will not go without it, but fall here fighting to the last
man.’
‘You need not die,’ said Jason. ‘Flee home with us across the sea. Show
us first how to win the fleece; for you can do it. Why else are you the
priestess of the grove? Show us but how to win the fleece, and come with
us, and you shall be my queen, and rule over the rich princes of the
Minuai, in Iolcos by the sea.’
And all the heroes pressed round, and vowed to her that she should be
their queen.
Medeia wept, and shuddered, and hid her face in her hands; for her heart
yearned after her sisters and her playfellows, and the home where she was
brought up as a child. But at last she looked up at Jason, and spoke
between her sobs—
‘Must I leave my home and my people, to wander with strangers across the
sea? The lot is cast, and I must endure it. I will show you how to win
the golden fleece. Bring up your ship to the wood-side, 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!’ And
Idas the rash grew mad with envy; for he longed to be foremost in all
things. But Medeia calmed them, and said, ‘Orpheus shall go with Jason,
and bring his magic harp; for I hear of him that he is the king of all
minstrels, and can charm all things on earth.’
And Orpheus laughed for joy, and clapped his hands, because the choice
had fallen on him; for in those days poets and singers were as bold
warriors as the best.
So at midnight they went up the bank, and found Medeia; and beside came
Absyrtus her young brother, leading a yearling lamb.
Then Medeia brought them to a thicket beside the War-god’s gate; and
there she bade Jason dig a ditch, and kill the lamb, and leave it there,
and strew on it magic herbs and honey from the honeycomb.
Then sprang up through the earth, with the red fire flashing before her,
Brimo the wild witch-huntress, while her mad hounds howled around. She
had one head like a horse’s, and another like a ravening hound’s, and
another like a hissing snake’s, and a sword in either hand. And she
leapt into the ditch with her hounds, and they ate and drank their fill,
while Jason and Orpheus trembled, and Medeia hid her eyes. And at last
the witch-queen vanished, and fled with her hounds into the woods; and
the bars of the gates fell down, and the brazen doors flew wide, and
Medeia and the heroes ran forward and hurried through the poison wood,
among the dark stems of the mighty beeches, guided by the gleam of the
golden fleece, until they saw it hanging on one vast tree in the midst.
And Jason would have sprung to seize it; but Medeia held him back, and
pointed, shuddering, to the tree-foot, where the mighty serpent lay,
coiled in and out among the roots, with a body like a mountain pine. His
coils stretched many a fathom, spangled with bronze and gold; and half of
him they could see, but no more, for the rest lay in the darkness far
beyond.
And when he saw them coming he lifted up his head, and watched them with
his small bright eyes, and flashed his forked tongue, and roared like the
fire among the woodlands, till the forest tossed and groaned. For his
cries shook the trees from leaf to root, and swept over the long reaches
of the river, and over Aietes’ hall, and woke the sleepers in the city,
till mothers clasped their children in their fear.
But Medeia called gently to him, and he stretched out his long spotted
neck, and licked her hand, and looked up in her face, as if to ask for
food. Then she made a sign to Orpheus, and he began his magic song.
And as he sung, the forest grew calm again, and the leaves on every tree
hung still; and the serpent’s head sank down, and his brazen coils grew
limp, and his glittering eyes closed lazily, till he breathed as gently
as a child, while Orpheus called to pleasant Slumber, who gives peace to
men, and beasts, and waves.
[Picture: Jason takes the fleece]
Then Jason leapt forward warily, and stept across that mighty snake, and
tore the fleece from off the tree-trunk; and the four rushed down the
garden, to the bank where the _Argo_ lay.
There was a silence for a moment, while 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, till the pine-wood bent like willow in their hands, and stout
_Argo_ groaned beneath their strokes.
On and on, beneath the dewy darkness, they fled swiftly down the swirling
stream; underneath black walls, and temples, and the castles of the
princes of the East; past sluice-mouths, and fragrant gardens, and groves
of all strange fruits; past marshes where fat kine lay sleeping, and long
beds of whispering reeds; till they heard the merry music of the surge
upon the bar, as it tumbled in the moonlight all alone.
Into the surge they rushed, and _Argo_ leapt the breakers like a horse;
for she knew the time was come to show her mettle, and win honour for the
heroes and herself.
Into the surge they rushed, and _Argo_ leapt the breakers like a horse,
till the heroes stopped all panting, each man upon his oar, as she slid
into the still broad sea.
Then Orpheus took his harp and sang a pæan, till the heroes’ hearts rose
high again; and they rowed on stoutly and steadfastly, away into the
darkness of the West.