Argonautenschiff
Lorenzo Costa
Book 4
NOW DO you yourself, goddess Muse, daughter of Zeus, tell of the
labour and wiles of the Colchian maiden. Surely my soul within
me wavers with speechless amazement as I ponder whether I should
call it the lovesick grief of mad passion or a panic flight,
through which she left the Colchian folk.
Aeetes all night long with the bravest captains of his people
was devising in his halls sheer treachery against the heroes,
with fierce wrath in his heart at the issue of the hateful
contest; nor did he deem at all that these things were being
accomplished without the knowledge of his daughters.
But into Medea's heart Hera cast most grievous fear; and she
trembled like a nimble fawn whom the baying of hounds has
terrified amid the thicket of a deep copse. For at once she
truly forboded that the aid she had given was not hidden from
her father, and that quickly she would fill up the cup of woe.
And she dreaded the guilty knowledge of her handmaids; her eyes
were filled with fire and her ears rung with a terrible cry.
Often did she clutch at her throat, and often did she drag out
her hair by the roots and groan in wretched despair. There on
that very day the maiden would have tasted the drugs and
perished and so have made void the purposes of Hera, had not the
goddess driven her, all bewildered, to flee with the sons of
Phrixus; and her fluttering soul within her was comforted; and
then she poured from her bosom all the drugs back again into the
casket. Then she kissed her bed, and the folding-doors on both
sides, and stroked the walls, and tearing away in her hands a
long tress of hair, she left it in the chamber for her mother, a
memorial of her maidenhood, and thus lamented with passionate
voice:
"I go, leaving this long tress here in my stead, mother mine;
take this farewell from me as I go far hence; farewell
Chalciope, and all my home. Would that the sea, stranger, had
dashed you to pieces, before you came to the Colchian land!"
Thus she spoke, and from her eyes shed copious tears. And as
a bondmaid steals away from a wealthy house, whom fate has
lately severed from her native land, nor yet has she made trial
of grievous toil, but still unschooled to misery and shrinking
in terror from slavish tasks, goes about beneath the cruel hands
of a mistress; even so the lovely maiden rushed forth from her
home. But to her the bolts of the doors gave way self-moved,
leaping backwards at the swift strains of her magic song. And
with bare feet she sped along the narrow paths, with her left
hand holding her robe over her brow to veil her face and fair
cheeks, and with her right lifting up the hem of her tunic.
Quickly along the dark track, outside the towers of the spacious
city, did she come in fear; nor did any of the warders note her,
but she sped on unseen by them. Thence she was minded to go to
the temple; for well she knew the way, having often aforetime
wandered there in quest of corpses and noxious roots of the
earth, as a sorceress is wont to do; and her soul fluttered with
quivering fear. And the Titanian goddess, the moon, rising from
a far land, saw her as she fled distraught, and fiercely exulted
over her, and thus spoke to her own heart:
"Not I alone then stray to the Latinian cave, nor do I alone
burn with love for fair Endymion; oft times with thoughts of
love have I been driven away by your crafty spells, in order
that in the darkness of night you might work your sorcery at
ease, even the deeds dear to you. And now you yourself too have
part in a like mad passion; and some god of affection has given
you Jason to be your grievous woe. Well, go on, and steel your
heart, wise though you be, to take up your burden of pain,
fraught with many sighs."
Thus spoke the goddess; but swiftly the maiden's feet bore
her, hasting on. And gladly did she gain the high-bank of the
river and saw on the opposite side the gleam of fire, which all
night long the heroes were kindling in joy at the contest's
issue. Then through the gloom, with clear-pealing voice from
across the stream, she called on Phrontis, the youngest of
Phrixus' sons, and he with his brothers and Aeson's son
recognised the maiden's voice; and in silence his comrades
wondered when they knew that it was so in truth. Thrice she
called, and thrice at the bidding of the company Phrontis called
out in reply; and meantime the heroes were rowing with
swift-moving oars in search of her. Not yet were they casting
the ship's hawsers on the opposite bank, when Jason with light
feet leapt to land from the deck above, and after him Phrontis
and Argus, sons of Phrixus, leapt to the ground; and she,
clasping their knees with both hands, thus addressed them:
"Save me, the hapless one, my friends, from Aeetes, and
yourselves too, for all is brought to light, nor doth any remedy
come. But let us flee on the ship, before the king mounts his
swift chariot. And I will lull to sleep the guardian serpent and
give you the fleece of gold; but do you, stranger, amid your
comrades make the gods witness of the vows you have taken on
yourself for my sake; and now that I have fled far from my
country, make me not a mark for blame and dishonour for want of
kinsmen."
She spoke in anguish; but greatly did the heart of Aeson's
son rejoice, and at once, as she fell at his knees, he raised
her gently and embraced her, and spoke words of comfort: "Lady,
let Zeus of Olympus himself be witness to my oath, and Hera,
queen of marriage, bride of Zeus, that I will set you in my
halls my own wedded wife, when we have reached the land of
Hellas on our return."
Thus he spoke, and straightway clasped her right hand in his;
and she bade them row the swift ship to the sacred grove near at
hand, in order that, while it was still night, they might seize
and carry off the fleece against the will of Aeetes. Word and
deed were one to the eager crew. For they took her on board, and
straightway thrust the ship from shore; and loud was the din as
the chieftains strained at their oars, but she, starting back,
held out her hands in despair towards the shore. But Jason spoke
cheering words and restrained her grief.
Now at the hour when men have cast sleep from their
eyes~huntsmen, who, trusting to their bounds, never slumber away
the end of night, but avoid the light of dawn lest, smiting with
its white beams, it efface the track and scent of the quarry —
then did Aeson's son and the maiden step forth from the ship
over a grassy spot, the "Ram's couch" as men call it, where it
first bent its wearied knees in rest, bearing on its back the
Minyan son of Athamas. And close by, all smirched with soot, was
the base of the altar, which the Aeolid Phrixus once set up to
Zeus, the alder of fugitives, when he sacrificed the golden
wonder at the bidding of Hermes who graciously met him on the
way. There by the counsels of Argus the chieftains put them
ashore.
And they two by the pathway came to the sacred grove, seeking
the huge oak tree on which was hung the fleece, like to a cloud
that blushes red with the fiery beams of the rising sun. But
right in front the serpent with his keen sleepless eyes saw them
coming, and stretched out his long neck and hissed in awful
wise; and all round the long banks of the river echoed and the
boundless grove. Those heard it who dwelt in the Colchian land
very far from Titanian Aea, near the outfall of Lycus, the river
which parts from loud-roaring Araxes and blends his sacred
stream with Phasis, and they twain flow on together in one and
pour their waters into the Caucasian Sea. And through fear young
mothers awoke, and round their new-born babes, who were sleeping
in their arms, threw their hands in agony, for the small limbs
started at that hiss. And as when above a pile of smouldering
wood countless eddies of smoke roll up mingled with soot, and
one ever springs up quickly after another, rising aloft from
beneath in wavering wreaths; so at that time did that monster
roll his countless coils covered with hard dry scales. And as he
writhed, the maiden came before his eyes, with sweet voice
calling to her aid sleep, highest of gods, to charm the monster;
and she cried to the queen of the underworld, the
night-wanderer, to be propitious to her enterprise. And Aeson's
son followed in fear, but the serpent, already charmed by her
song, was relaxing the long ridge of his giant spine, and
lengthening out his myriad coils, like a dark wave, dumb and
noiseless, rolling over a sluggish sea; but still he raised
aloft his grisly head, eager to enclose them both in his
murderous jaws. But she with a newly cut spray of juniper,
dipping and drawing untempered charms from her mystic brew,
sprinkled his eyes, while she chanted her song; and all around
the potent scent of the charm cast sleep; and on the very spot
he let his jaw sink down; and far behind through the wood with
its many trees were those countless coils stretched out.
Hereupon Jason snatched the golden fleece from the oak, at
the maiden bidding; and she, standing firm, smeared with the
charm the monster's head, till Jason himself bade her turn back
towards their ship, and she left the grove of Ares, dusky with
shade. And as a maiden catches on her finely wrought robe the
gleam of the moon at the full, as it rises above her high-roofed
chamber; and her heart rejoices as she beholds the fair ray; so
at that time did Jason uplift the mighty fleece in his hands;
and from the shimmering of the flocks of wool there settled on
his fair cheeks and brow a red flush like a flame. And great as
is the hide of a yearling ox or stag, which huntsmen call a
brocket, so great in extent was the fleece all golden above.
Heavy it was, thickly clustered with flocks; and as he moved
along, even beneath his feet the sheen rose up from the earth.
And he strode on now with the fleece covering his left shoulder
from the height of his neck to his feet, and now again he
gathered it up in his hands; for he feared exceedingly, lest
some god or man should meet him and deprive him thereof.
Dawn was spreading over the earth when they reached the
throng of heroes; and the youths marvelled to behold the mighty
fleece, which gleamed like the lightning of Zeus. And each one
started up eager to touch it and clasp it in his hands. But the
son of Aeson restrained them all, and threw over it a mantle
newly-woven; and he led the maiden to the stern and seated her
there, and spoke to them all as follows:
"No longer now, my friends, forbear to return to your
fatherland. For now the task for which we dared this grievous
voyage, toiling with bitter sorrow of heart, has been lightly
fulfilled by the maiden's counsels. Her — for such is her will —
I will bring home to be my wedded wife; do you preserve her, the
glorious saviour of all Achaea and of yourselves. For of a
surety, I ween, will Aeetes come with his host to bar our
passage from the river into the sea. But do some of you toil at
the oars in turn, sitting man by man; and half of you raise your
shields of oxhide, a ready defence against the darts of the
enemy, and guard our return. And now in our hands we hold the
fate of our children and dear country and of our aged parents;
and on our venture all Hellas depends, to reap either the shame
of failure or great renown."
Thus he spoke, and donned his armour of war; and they cried
aloud, wondrously eager. And he drew his sword from the sheath
and cut the hawsers at the stern. And near the maiden he took
his stand ready armed by the steersman Aneaeus, and with their
rowing the ship sped on as they strained desperately to drive
her clear of the river.
By this time Medea's love and deeds had become known to
haughty Aeetes and to all the Colchians. And they thronged to
the assembly in arms; and countless as the waves of the stormy
sea when they rise crested by the wind, or as the leaves that
fall to the ground from the wood with its myriad branches in the
month when the leaves fall — who could reckon their tale? — so
they in countless number poured along the banks of the river
shouting in frenzy; and in his shapely chariot Aeetes shone
forth above all with his steeds, the gift of Helios, swift as
the blasts of the wind. In his left hand he raised his curved
shield, and in his right a huge pine-torch, and near him in
front stood up his mighty spear. And Apsyrtus held in his hands
the reins of the steeds. But already the ship was cleaving the
sea before her, urged on by stalwart oarsmen, and the stream of
the mighty river rushing down. But the king in grievous anguish
lifted his hands and called on Helios and Zeus to bear witness
to their evil deeds; and terrible threats he uttered against all
his people, that unless they should with their own hands seize
the maiden, either on the land or still finding the ship on the
swell of the open sea, and bring her back, that so he might
satisfy his eager soul with vengeance for all those deeds, at
the cost of their own lives they should learn and abide all his
rage and revenge.
Thus spoke Aeetes; and on that same day the Colchians
launched their ships and cast the tackle on board, and on that
same day sailed forth on the sea; you would not say so mighty a
host was a fleet of ships, but that a countless flight of birds,
swarm on swarm, was clamouring over the sea.
Swiftly the wind blew, as the goddess Hera planned, so that
most quickly Aeaean Medea might reach the Pelasgian land, a bane
to the house of Pelias, and on the third morn they bound the
ship's stern cables to the shores of the Paphlagonians, at the
mouth of the river Halys. For Medea bade them land and
propitiate Hecate with sacrifice. Now all that the maiden
prepared for offering the sacrifice may no man know, and may my
soul not urge me to sing thereof. Awe restrains my lips, yet
from that time the altar which the heroes raised on the beach to
the goddess remains till now, a sight to men of a later day.
And straightway Aeson's son and the rest of the heroes
bethought them of Phineus, how that he had said that their
course from Aea should be different, but to all alike his
meaning was dim. Then Argus spoke, and they eagerly hearkened:
"We go to Orchomenus, where that unerring seer, whom you met
aforetime, foretold your voyage. For there is another course,
signified by those priests of the immortal gods, who have sprung
from Tritonian Thebes. As yet all the stars that wheel in the
heaven were not, nor yet, though one should inquire, could aught
be heard of the sacred race of the Danai. Apidanean Arcadians
alone existed, Arcadians who lived even before the moon, it is
said, eating acorns on the hills; nor at that time was the
Pelasgian land ruled by the glorious sons of Deucalion, in the
days when Egypt, mother of men of an older time, was called the
fertile Morning-land, and the river fair-flowing Triton, by
which all the Morning-land is watered; and never does the rain
from Zeus moisten the earth; but from the flooding of the river
abundant crops spring up. From this land, it is said, a king (1)
made his way all round through the whole of Europe and Asia,
trusting in the might and strength and courage of his people;
and countless cities did he found wherever he came, whereof some
are still inhabited and some not; many an age has passed since
then. But Aea abides unshaken even now and the sons of those men
whom that king settled to dwell in Aea. They preserve the
writings of their fathers, graven on pillars, whereon are marked
all the ways and the limits of sea and land as you journey on
all sides round. There is a river, the uttermost horn of Ocean,
broad and exceeding deep, that a merchant ship may traverse;
they call it Ister and have marked it far off; and for a while
it cleaves the boundless tilth alone in one stream; for beyond
the blasts of the north wind, far off in the Rhipaean mountains,
its springs burst forth with a roar. But when it enters the
boundaries of the Thracians and Scythians, here, dividing its
stream into two, it sends its waters partly into the Ionian sea,
(2) and partly to the south into a deep gulf that bends upwards
from the Trinaerian sea, that sea which lies along your land, if
indeed Achelous flows forth from your land."
Thus he spoke, and to them the goddess granted a happy
portent, and all at the sight shouted approval, that this was
their appointed path. For before them appeared a trail of
heavenly light, a sign where they might pass. And gladly they
left behind there the son of Lyeus and with canvas outspread
sailed over the sea, with their eyes on the Paphlagonian
mountains. But they did not round Carambis, for the winds and
the gleam of the heavenly fire stayed with them till they
reached Ister's mighty stream.
Now some of the Colchians, in a vain search, passed out from
Pontus through the Cyanean rocks; but the rest went to the
river, and them Apsyrtus led, and, turning aside, he entered the
mouth called Fair. Wherefore he outstripped the heroes by
crossing a neck of land into the furthest gulf of the Ionian
sea. For a certain island is enclosed by Ister, by name Peuee,
three-cornered, its base stretching along the coast, and with a
sharp angle towards the river; and round it the outfall is cleft
in two. One mouth they call the mouth of Narex, and the other,
at the lower end, the Fair mouth. And through this Apsyrtus and
his Colchians rushed with all speed; but the heroes went upwards
far away towards the highest part of the island. And in the
meadows the country shepherds left their countless flocks for
dread of the ships, for they deemed that they were beasts coming
forth from the monster-teeming sea. For never yet before had
they seen seafaring ships, neither the Scythians mingled with
the Thracians, nor the Sigynni, nor yet the Graucenii, nor the
Sindi that now inhabit the vast desert plain of Laurium. But
when they had passed near the mount Angurum, and the cliff of
Cauliacus, far from the mount Angurum, round which Ister,
dividing his stream, falls into the sea on this side and on
that, and the Laurian plain, then indeed the Colchians went
forth into the Cronian sea and cut off all the ways, to prevent
their foes' escape. And the heroes came down the river behind
and reached the two Brygean isles of Artemis near at hand. Now
in one of them was a sacred temple; and on the other they
landed, avoiding the host of Apsyrtus; for the Colchians had
left these islands out of many within the river, just as they
were, through reverence for the daughter of Zeus; but the rest,
thronged by the Colchians, barred the ways to the sea. And so on
other islands too, close by, Apsyrtus left his host as far as
the river Salangon and the Nestian land.
There the Minyae would at that time have yielded in grim
fight, a few to many; but before then they made a covenant,
shunning a dire quarrel; as to the golden fleece, that since
Aeetes himself had so promised them if they should fulfill the
contests, they should keep it as justly won, whether they
carried it off by craft or even openly in the king's despite;
but as to Medea — for that was the cause of strife — that they
should give her in ward to Leto's daughter apart from the
throng, till some one of the kings that dispense justice should
utter his doom, whether she must return to her father's home or
follow the chieftains to the land of Hellas.
Now when the maiden had mused on all this, sharp anguish
shook her heart unceasingly; and quickly she called forth Jason
alone apart from his comrades, and led him aside till they were
far away, and before his face uttered her speech all broken with
sobs:
"What is this purpose that you are now devising about me, son
of Aeson? Has your triumph utterly cast forgetfulness on you,
and do you reek nothing of all that you spoke when held fast by
necessity? Where are fled the oaths by Zeus the suppliants' god,
where are fled your honied promises? For which in no seemly
wise, with shameless will, I have left my country, the glories
of my home and even my parents — things that were dearest to me;
and far away all alone I am borne over the sea with the
plaintive kingfishers because of your trouble, in order that I
might save your life in fulfilling the contests with the oxen
and the earthborn men. Last of all the fleece — when the matter
became known, it was by my folly you did win it; and a foul
reproach have I poured on womankind. Wherefore I say that as
your child, your bride and your sister, I follow you to the land
of Hellas. Be ready to stand by me to the end, abandon me not
left forlorn of you when you visit the kings. But only save me;
let justice and right, to which we have both agreed, stand firm;
or else do you at once shear through this neck with the sword,
that I may gain the guerdon due to my mad passion. Poor wretch!
if the king, to whom you both commit your cruel covenant, doom
me to belong to my brother. How shall I come to my father's
sight? Will it be with a good name? What revenge, what heavy
calamity shall I not endure in agony for the terrible deeds I
have done? And will you win the return that your heart desires?
Never may Zeus' bride, the queen of all, in whom you glory,
bring that to pass. May you some time remember me when you are
racked with anguish; may the fleece like a dream vanish into the
nether darkness on the wings of the wind! And may my avenging
Furies forthwith drive you from your country, for all that I
have suffered through your cruelty! These curses will not be
allowed to fall unaccomplished to the ground. A mighty oath have
you transgressed, ruthless one; but not long shall you and your
comrades sit at ease casting eyes of mockery on me, for all your
covenants."
Thus she spoke, seething with fierce wrath; and she longed to
set fire to the ship and to hew it utterly in pieces, and
herself to fall into the raging flame. But Jason, half afraid,
thus addressed her with gentle words:
"Forbear, lady; me too this pleases not. But we seek some
respite from battle, for such a cloud of hostile men, like to a
fire, surrounds us, on your account. For all that inhabit this
land are eager to aid Apsyrtus, that they may lead you back home
to your father, like some captured maid. And all of us would
perish in hateful destruction, if we closed with them in fight;
and bitterer still will be the pain, if we are slain and leave
you to be their prey. But this covenant will weave a web of
guile to lead him to ruin. Nor will the people of the land for
your sake oppose us, to favour the Colchians, when their prince
is no longer with them, who is your champion and your brother;
nor will I shrink from matching myself in fight with the
Colchians, if they bar my way homeward."
Thus he spoke soothing her; and she uttered a deadly speech:
"Take heed now. For when sorry deeds are done we must needs
devise sorry counsel, since at first I was distraught by my
error, and by heaven's will it was I wrought the accomplishment
of evil desires. Do you in the turmoil shield me from the
Colchians' spears; and I will beguile Apsyrtus to come into your
hands — do you greet him with splendid gifts — if only I could
persuade the heralds on their departure to bring him alone to
hearken to my words. Thereupon if this deed pleases you, slay
him and raise a conflict with the Colchians, I care not.
So they two agreed and prepared a great web of guile for
Apsyrtus, and provided many gifts such as are due to guests, and
among them gave a sacred robe of Hypsipyle, of crimson hue. The
Graces with their own hands had wrought it for Dionysus in
sea-girt Dia, and he gave it to his son Thoas thereafter, and
Thoas left it to Hypsipyle, and she gave that fair-wrought
guest-gift with many another marvel to Aeson's son to wear.
Never could you satisfy your sweet desire by touching it or
gazing on it. And from it a divine fragrance breathed from the
time when the king of Nysa himself lay to rest thereon, flushed
with wine and nectar as he clasped the beauteous breast of the
maiden-daughter of Minos, whom once Theseus forsook in the
island of Dia, when she had followed him from Cnossus. And when
she had worked on the heralds to induce her brother to come, as
soon as she reached the temple of the goddess, according to the
agreement, and the darkness of night surrounded them, that so
she might devise with him a cunning plan for her to take the
mighty fleece of gold and return to the home of Aeetes, for, she
said, the sons of Phrixus had given her by force to the
strangers to carry off; with such beguiling words she scattered
to the air and the breezes her witching charms, which even from
afar would have drawn down the savage beast from the steep
mountain-height.
Ruthless Love, great bane, great curse to mankind, from you
come deadly strifes and lamentations and groans, and countless
pains as well have their stormy birth from you. Arise, you god,
and arm yourself against the sons of our foes in such guise as
when you did fill Medea's heart with accursed madness. How then
by evil doom did she slay Apsyrtus when he came to meet her? For
that must our song tell next.
When the heroes had left the maiden on the island of Artemis,
according to the covenant, both sides ran their ships to land
separately. And Jason went to the ambush to lie in wait for
Apsyrtus and then for his comrades. But he, beguiled by these
dire promises, swiftly crossed the swell of the sea in his ship,
and in dark night set foot on the sacred island; and faring all
alone to meet her he made trial in speech of his sister, as a
tender child tries a wintry torrent which not even strong men
can pass through, to see if she would devise some guile against
the strangers. And so they two agreed together on everything;
and straightway Aeson's son leapt forth from the thick ambush,
lifting his bare sword in his hand; and quickly the maiden
turned her eyes aside and covered them with her veil that she
might not see the blood of her brother when he was smitten. And
Jason marked him and struck him down, as a butcher strikes down
a mighty strong-horned bull, hard by the temple which the Brygi
on the mainland opposite had once built for Artemis. In its
vestibule he fell on his knees; and at last the hero breathing
out his life caught up in both hands the dark blood as it welled
from the wound; and he dyed with red his sister's silvery veil
and robe as she shrank away. And with swift side-glance the
irresistible pitiless Fury saw the deadly deed they had done.
And the hero, Aeson's son, cut off the extremities of the dead
man, and thrice licked up some blood and thrice spat the
pollution from his teeth, as it is right for the slayer to do,
to atone for a treacherous murder. And the clammy corpse he hid
in the ground where even now those bones lie among the
Apsyrtians.
Now as soon as the heroes saw the blaze of a torch, which the
maiden raised for them as a sign to pursue, they laid their own
ship near the Colchian ship, and they slaughtered the Colchian
host, as kites slay the tribes of wood-pigeons, or as lions of
the wold, when they have leapt amid the steading, drive a great
flock of sheep huddled together. Nor did one of them escape
death, but the heroes rushed on the whole crew, destroying them
like a flame; and at last Jason met them, and was eager to give
aid where none was needed; but already they were taking thought
for him too. Thereupon they sat to devise some) prudent counsel
for their voyage, and the maiden came on them as they pondered,
but Peleus spoke his word first:
"I now bid you embark while it is still night, and take with
your oars the passage opposite to that which the enemy guards,
for at dawn when they see their plight I deem that no word
urging to further pursuit of us will prevail with them; but as
people bereft of their king, they will be scattered in grievous
dissension. And easy, when the people are scattered, will this
path be for us on our return."
Thus he spoke; and the youths assented to the words of
Aeacus' son. And quickly they entered the ship, and toiled at
their oars unceasingly till they reached the sacred isle of
Electra, the highest of them all, near the river Eridanus.
But when the Colchians learnt the death of their prince,
verily they were eager to pursue Argo and the Minyans through
all the Cronian sea. But Hera restrained them by terrible
lightnings from the sky. And at last they loathed their own
homes in the Cytaean land, quailing before Aeetes' fierce wrath;
so they landed and made abiding homes there, scattered far and
wide. Some set foot on those very islands where the heroes had
stayed, and they still dwell there, bearing a name derived from
Apsyrtus; and others built a fenced city by the dark deep
Illyrian river, where is the tomb of Harmonia and Cadmus,
dwelling among the Encheleans; and others live amid the
mountains which are called the Thunderers, from the day when the
thunders of Zeus, son of Cronos, prevented them from crossing
over to the island opposite.
Now the heroes, when their return seemed safe for them, fared
onward and made their hawsers fast to the land of the Hylleans.
For the islands lay thick in the river and made the path
dangerous for those who sailed thereby. Nor, as aforetime, did
the Hylleans devise their hurt, but of their own accord
furthered their passage, winning as guerdon a mighty tripod of
Apollo. For tripods twain had Phoebus given to Aeson's son to
carry afar in the voyage he had to make, at the time when he
went to sacred Pytho to enquire about this very voyage; and it
was ordained by fate that in whatever land they should be
placed, that land should never be ravaged by the attacks of
foemen. Therefore even now this tripod is hidden in that land
near the pleasant city of Hyllus, far beneath the earth, that it
may ever be unseen by mortals. Yet they found not King Hyllus
still alive in the land, whom fair Melite bare to Heracles in
the land of the Phaeacians. For he came to the abode of
Nausithous and to Macris, the nurse of Dionysus, to cleanse
himself from the deadly murder of his children; here he loved
and overcame the water nymph Melite, the daughter of the river
Aegaeus, and she bare mighty Hyllus. But when he had grown up he
desired not to dwell in that island under the rule of Nausithous
the king; but he collected a host of native Phaeacians and came
to the Cronian sea; for the hero King Nausithous aided his
journey, and there he settled, and the Mentores slew him as he
was fighting for the oxen of his field.
Now, goddesses, say how it is that beyond this sea, near the
land of Ausonia and the Ligystian isles, which are called
Stoechades, the mighty tracks of the ship Argo are clearly sung
of? What great constraint and need brought the heroes so far?
What breezes wafted them?
When Apsyrtus had fallen in mighty overthrow Zeus himself,
king of gods, was seized with wrath at what they had done. And
he ordained that by the counsels of Aeaean Circe they should
cleanse themselves from the terrible stain of blood and suffer
countless woes before their return. Yet none of the chieftains
knew this; but far onward they sped starting from the Hyllean
land, and they left behind all the islands that were beforetime
thronged by the Colchians — the Liburnian isles, isle after
isle, Issa, Dysceladus, and lovely Pityeia. Next after them they
came to Corcyra, where Poseidon settled the daughter of Asopus,
fair-haired Corcyra, far from the land of Phlius, whence he had
carried her off through love; and sailors beholding it from the
sea, all black with its sombre woods, call it Corcyra the Black.
And next they passed Melite, rejoicing in the soft-blowing
breeze, and steep Cerossus, and Nymphaea at a distance, where
lady Calypso, daughter of Atlas, dwelt; and they deemed they saw
the misty mountains of Thunder. And then Hera bethought her of
the counsels and wrath of Zeus concerning them. And she devised
an ending of their voyage and stirred up storm-winds before
them, by which they were caught and borne back to the rocky isle
of Electra. And straightway on a sudden there called to them in
the midst of their course, speaking with a human voice, the beam
of the hollow ship, which Athena had set in the centre of the
stem, made of Dodonian oak. And deadly fear seized them as they
heard the voice that told of the grievous wrath of Zeus. For it
proclaimed that they should not escape the paths of an endless
sea nor grievous tempests, unless Circe should purge away the
guilt of the ruthless murder of Apsyrtus; and it bade Polydeuces
and Castor pray to the immortal gods first to grant a path
through the Ausonian sea where they should find Circe, daughter
of Perse and Helios.
Thus Argo cried through the darkness; and the sons of
Tyndareus uprose, and lifted their hands to the immortals
praying for each boon: but dejection held the rest of the Minyan
heroes. And far on sped Argo under sail, and entered deep into
the stream of Eridanus; where once, smitten on the breast by the
blazing bolt, Phaethon half-consumed fell from the chariot of
Helios into the opening of that deep lake; and even now it
belchesup heavy steam clouds from the smouldering wound. And no
bird spreading its light wings can cross that water; but in
mid-course it plunges into the flame, fluttering. And all around
the maidens, the daughters of Helios, enclosed in tall poplars,
wretchedly wail a piteous plaint; and from their eyes they shed
on the ground bright drops of amber. These are dried by the sun
on the sand; but whenever the waters of the dark lake flow over
the strand before the blast of the wailing wind, then they roll
on in a mass into Eridanus with swelling tide. But the Celts
have attached this story to them, that these are the tears of
Leto's son, Apollo, that are borne along by the eddies, the
countless tears that he shed aforetime when he came to the
sacred race of the Hyperboreans and left shining heaven at the
chiding of his father, being in wrath concerning his son whom
divine Coronis bare in bright Lacereia at the mouth of Amyrus.
And such is the story told among these men. But no desire for
food or drink seized the heroes nor were their thoughts turned
to joy. But they were sorely afflicted all day, heavy and faint
at heart, with the noisome stench, hard to endure, which the
streams of Eridanus sent forth from Phaethon still burning; and
at night they heard the piercing lament of the daughters of
Helios, wailing with shrill voice; and, as they lamented, their
tears were borne on the water like drops of oil.
Thence they entered the deep stream of Rhodanus which flows
into Eridanus; and where they meet there is a roar of mingling
waters. Now that river, rising from the ends of the earth, where
are the portals and mansions of Night, on one side bursts forth
on the beach of Ocean, at another pours into the Ionian sea, and
on the third through seven mouths sends its stream to the
Sardinian sea and its limitless bay. (3) And from Rhodanus they
entered stormy lakes, which spread throughout the Celtic
mainland of wondrous size; and there they would have met with an
inglorious calamity; for a certain branch of the river was
bearing them towards a gulf of Ocean which in ignorance they
were about to enter, and never would they have returned from
there in safety. But Hera leaping forth from heaven pealed her
cry from the Hercynian rock; and all together were shaken with
fear of her cry; for terribly crashed the mighty firmament. And
backward they turned by reason of the goddess, and noted the
path by which their return was ordained. And after a long while
they came to the beach of the surging sea by the devising of
Hera, passing unharmed through countless tribes of the Celts and
Ligyans. For round them the goddess poured a dread mist day by
day as they fared on. And so, sailing through the midmost mouth,
they reached the Stoechades islands in safety by the aid of the
sons of Zeus; wherefore altars and sacred rites are established
in their honour for ever; and not that sea-faring alone did they
attend to succour; but Zeus granted to them the ships of future
sailors too. Then leaving the Stoechades they passed on to the
island Aethalia, where after their toil they wiped away with
pebbles sweat in abundance; and pebbles like skin in colour are
strewn on the beach; (4) and there are their quoits and their
wondrous armour; and there is the Argoan harbour called after
them.
And quickly from there they passed through the sea, beholding
the Tyrrhenian shores of Ausonia; and they came to the famous
harbour of Aeaea, and from the ship they cast hawsers to the
shore near at hand. And here they found Circe bathing her head
in the salt sea-spray, for sorely had she been scared by visions
of the night. With blood her chambers and all the walls of her
palace seemed to be running, and flame was devouring all the
magic herbs with which she used to bewitch strangers whoever
came; and she herself with murderous blood quenched the glowing
flame, drawing it up in her hands; and she ceased from deadly
fear. Wherefore when morning came she rose, and with sea-spray
was bathing her hair and her garments. And beasts, not
resembling the beasts of the wild, nor yet like men in body, but
with a medley of limbs, went in a throng, as sheep from the fold
in multitudes follow the shepherd. Such creatures, compacted of
various limbs, did each herself produce from the primeval slime
when she had not yet grown solid beneath a rainless sky nor yet
had received a drop of moisture from the rays of the scorching
sun; but time combined these forms and marshalled them in their
ranks; in such wise these monsters shapeless of form followed
her. And exceeding wonder seized the heroes, and at once, as
each gazed on the form and face of Circe, they readily guessed
that she was the sister of Aeetes.
Now when she had dismissed the fears of her nightly visions,
straightway she fared backwards, and in her subtlety she bade
the heroes follow, charming them on with her hand. Thereupon the
host remained stedfast at the bidding of Aeson's son, but Jason
drew with him the Colchian maid. And both followed the selfsame
path till they reached the hall of Circe, and she in amaze at
their coming bade them sit on brightly burnished seats. And
they, quiet and silent, sped to the hearth and sat there, as is
the wont of wretched suppliants. Medea hid her face in both her
hands, but Jason fixed in the ground the mighty hilted sword
with which he had slain Aeetes' son; nor did they raise their
eyes to meet her look. And straightway Circe became aware of the
doom of a suppliant and the guilt of murder. Wherefore in
reverence for the ordinance of Zeus, the god of suppliants, who
is a god of wrath yet mightily aids slayers of men, she began to
offer the sacrifice with which ruthless suppliants are cleansed
from guilt when they approach the altar. First, to atone for the
murder still unexpiated, she held above their heads the young of
a sow whose dugs yet swelled from the fruit of the womb, and,
severing its neck, sprinkled their hands with the blood; and
again she made propitiation with other drink offerings, calling
on Zeus the Cleanser, the protector of murder-stained
suppliants. And all the defilements in a mass her attendants
bore forth from the palace — the Naiad nymphs who ministered all
things to her. And within, Circe, standing by the hearth, kept
burning atonement-cakes without wine, praying the while that she
might stay from their wrath the terrible Furies, and that Zeus
himself might be propitious and gentle to them both, whether
with hands stained by the blood of a stranger or, as kinsfolk,
by the blood of a kinsman, they should implore his grace.
But when she had wrought all her task, then she raised them
up and seated them on well polished seats, and herself sat near,
face to face with them. And at once she asked them clearly of
their business and their voyaging, and whence they had come to
her land and palace, and had thus seated themselves as
suppliants at her hearth. For in truth the hideous remembrance
of her dreams entered her mind as she pondered; and she longed
to hear the voice of the maiden, her kinswoman, as soon as she
saw that she had raised her eyes from the ground. For all those
of the race of Helios were plain to discern, since by the far
flashing of their eyes they shot in front of them a gleam as of
gold. So Medea told her all she asked — the daughter of Aeetes
of the gloomy heart, speaking gently in the Colchian tongue,
both of the quest and the journeyings of the heroes, and of
their toils in the swift contests, and how she had sinned
through the counsels of her much-sorrowing sister, and how with
the sons of Phrixus she had fled afar from the tyrannous horrors
of her father; but she shrank from telling of the murder of
Apsyrtus. Yet she escaped not Circe's ken; nevertheless, in
spite of all, she pitied the weeping maiden, and spoke thus:
"Poor wretch, an evil and shameful return have you planned.
Not for long, I ween, will you escape the heavy wrath of Aeetes;
but soon will he go even to the dwellings of Hellas to avenge
the blood of his son, for intolerable are the deeds you have
done. But since you are my suppliant and my kinswoman, no
further ill shall I devise against you at your coming; but
begone from my halls, companioning the stranger, whoever he be,
this unknown one that you have taken in your father's despite;
and kneel not to me at my hearth, for never will I approve your
counsels and your shameful flight."
Thus she spoke, and measureless anguish seized the maid; and
over her eyes she cast her robe and poured forth a lamentation,
till the hero took her by the hand and led her forth from the
hall quivering with fear. So they left the home of Circe.
But they were not unmarked by the spouse of Zeus, son of
Cronos; but Iris told her when she saw them faring from the
hall. For Hera had bidden her watch what time they should come
to the ship; so again she urged her and spoke:
"Dear Iris, now come, if ever you have fulfilled my bidding,
hie you away on light pinions, and bid Thetis arise from the sea
and come here. For need of her is come on me. Then go to the
sea-beaches where the bronze anvils of Hephaestus are smitten by
sturdy hammers, and tell him to still the blasts of fire till
Argo pass by them. Then go to Aeolus too, Aeolus who rules the
winds, children of the clear sky; and to him also tell my
purpose so that he may make all winds cease under heaven and no
breeze may ruffle the sea; yet let the breath of the west wind
blow till the heroes have reached the Phaeacian isle of
Alcinous."
So she spoke, and straightway Iris leapt down from Olympus
and cleft her way, with light wings outspread. And she plunged
into the Aegean Sea, where is the dwelling of Nereus. And she
came to Thetis first and, by the promptings of Hera, told her
tale and roused her to go to the goddess. Next she came to
Hephaestus, and quickly made him cease from the clang of his
iron hammers; and the smoke-grimed bellows were stayed from
their blast. And thirdly she came to Aeolus, the famous son of
Hippotas. And when she had given her message to him also and
rested her swift knees from her course, then Thetis leaving
Nereus and her sisters had come from the sea to Olympus to the
goddess Hera; and the goddess made her sit by her side and
uttered her word:
"Hearken now, lady Thetis, to what I am eager to tell you.
You know how honoured in my heart is the hero, Aeson's son, and
the others that have helped him in the contest, and how I saved
them when they passed between the Wandering rocks, (5) where
roar terrible storms of fire and the waves foam round the rugged
reefs. And now past the mighty rock of Scylla and Charybdis
horribly belching, a course awaits them. But you indeed from
your infancy did I tend with my own hands and love beyond all
others that dwell in the salt sea because you did refuse to
share the couch of Zeus, for all his desire. For to him such
deeds are ever dear, to embrace either goddesses or mortal
women. But in reverence for me and with fear in your heare you
did shrink from his love; and he then swore a mighty oath that
you should never be called the bride of an immortal god. Yet he
ceased not from spying you against your will, till reverend
Themis declared to him the whole truth, how that it was your
fate to bear a son mightier than his sire; wherefore he gave you
up, for all his desire, fearing lest another should be his match
and rule the immortals, and in order that he might ever hold his
own dominion. But I gave you the best of the sons of earth to be
your husband, that you might find a marriage dear to your heart
and bear children; and I summoned to the feast the gods, one and
all. And with my own hand I raised the bridal torch, in return
for the kindly honour you did pay me. But come, let me tell a
tale that errsnot. When your son shall come to the Elysian
plain, he whom now in the home of Cheiron the Centaur
water-nymphs are tending, though he still craves your mother
milk, it is fated that he be the husband of Medea, Aeetes'
daughter; do you aid your daughter-in-law as a mother-in-law
should, and aid Peleus himself. Why is your wrath so steadfast?
He was blinded by folly. For blindness comes even on the gods.
Surely at my behest I deem that Hephaestus will cease from
kindling the fury of his flame, and that Aeolus, son of
Hippotas, will check his swift rushing winds, all but the steady
west wind, till they reach the havens of the Phaeacians; do you
devise a return without bane. The rocks and the tyrannous waves
are my fear, they alone, and them you can foil with your
sisters' aid. And let them not fall in their helplessness into
Charybdis lest she swallow them at one gulp, or approach the
hideous lair of Scylla, Ausonian Scylla the deadly, whom
night-wandering Hecate, who is called Crataeis, (6) bare to
Phoreys, lest swooping on them with her horrible jaws she
destroy the chiefest of the heroes. But guide their ship in the
course where there shall be still a hair's breadth escape from
destruction."
Thus she spoke, and Thetis answered with these words: "If the
fury of the ravening flame and the stormy winds cease in very
deed, surely will I promise boldly to save the ship, even though
the waves bar the way, if only the west wind blows fresh and
clear. But it is time to fare on a long and measureless path, in
quest of my sisters who will aid me, and to the spot where the
ship's hawsers are fastened, that at early dawn the heroes may
take thought to win their home-return."
She spoke, and darting down from the sky fell amid the eddies
of the dark blue sea; and she called to aid her the rest of the
Nereids, her own sisters; and they heard her and gathered
together; and Thetis declared to them Hera's behests, and
quickly sped them all on their way to the Ausonian sea. And
herself, swifter than the flash of an eye or the shafts of the
sun, when it rises upwards from a far-distant land, hastened
swiftly through the sea, till she reached the Aeaean beach of
the Tyrrhenian mainland. And the heroes she found by the ship
taking their pastime with quoits and shooting of arrows; and she
drew near and just touched the hand of Aeaeus' son Peleus, for
he was her husband; nor could anyone see her clearly, but she
appeared to his eyes alone, and thus addressed him:
"No longer now must you stay sitting on the Tyrrhenian beach,
but at dawn loosen the hawsers of your swift ship, in obedience
to Hera, your helper. For at her behest the maiden daughters of
Nereus have met together to draw your ship through the midst of
the rocks which are called Planctae, (7) for that is your
destined path. But do you show my person to no one, when you see
us come to meet time, but keep it secret in your mind, lest you
anger me still more than you did anger me before so recklessly."
She spoke, and vanished into the depths of the sea; but sharp
pain smote Peleus, for never before had he seen her come, since
first she left her bridal chamber and bed in anger, on account
of noble Achilles, then a babe. For she ever encompassed the
child's mortal flesh in the night with the flame of fire; and
day by day she anointed with ambrosia his tender frame, so that
he might become immortal and that she might keep off from his
body loathsome old age. But Peleus leapt up from his bed and saw
his dear son gasping in the flame; and at the sight he uttered a
terrible cry, fool that he was; and she heard it, and catching
up the child threw him screaming to the ground, and herself like
a breath of wind passed swiftly from the hall as a dream and
leapt into the sea, exceeding wroth, and thereafter returned not
again. Wherefore blank amazement fettered his soul; nevertheless
he declared to his comrades all the bidding of Thetis. And they
broke off in the midst and hurriedly ceased their contests, and
prepared their meal and earth-strewn beds, whereon after supper
they slept through the night as aforetime.
Now when dawn the light-bringer was touching the edge of
heaven, then at the coming of the swift west wind they went to
their thwarts from the land; and gladly did they draw up the
anchors from the deep and made the tackling ready in due order;
and above spread the sail, stretching it taut with the sheets
from the yard-arm. And a fresh breeze wafted the ship on. And
soon they saw a fair island, Anthemoessa, where the clear-voiced
Sirens, daughters of Achelous, used to beguile with their sweet
songs whoever cast anchor there, and then destroy him. Them
lovely Terpsichore, one of the Muses, bare, united with
Achelous; and once they tended Demeter's noble daughter still
unwed, and sang to her in chorus; and at that time they were
fashioned in part like birds and in part like maidens to behold.
And ever on the watch from their place of prospect with its fair
haven, often from many had they taken away their sweet return,
consuming them with wasting desire; and suddenly to the heroes,
too, they sent forth from their lips a lily-like voice. And they
were already about to cast from the ship the hawsers to the
shore, had not Thracian Orpheus, son of Oeagrus, stringing in
his hands his Bistonian lyre, rung forth the hasty snatch of a
rippling melody so that their ears might be filled with the
sound of his twanging; and the lyre overcame the maidens' voice.
And the west wind and the sounding wave rushing astern bore the
ship on; and the Sirens kept uttering their ceaseless song. But
even so the goodly son of Teleon alone of the comrades leapt
before them all from the polished bench into the sea, even
Butes, his soul melted by the clear ringing voice of the Sirens;
and he swam through the dark surge to mount the beach, poor
wretch. Quickly would they have robbed him of his return then
and there, but the goddess that rules Eryx, Cypris, in pity
snatched him away, while yet in the eddies, and graciously
meeting him saved him to dwell on the Lilybean height. And the
heroes, seized by anguish, left the Sirens, but other perils
still worse, destructive to ships, awaited them in the
meeting-place of the seas.
For on one side appeared the smooth rock of Scylla; on the
other Charybdis ceaselessly spouted and roared; in another part
the Wandering rocks were booming beneath the mighty surge, where
before the burning flame spurted forth from the top of the
crags, above the rock glowing with fire, and the air was misty
with smoke, nor could you have seen the sun's light. Then,
though Hephaestus had ceased from his toils, the sea was still
sending up a warm vapour. Hereupon on this side and on that the
daughters of Nereus met them; and behind, lady Thetis set her
hand to the rudder-blade, to guide them amid the Wandering
rocks. And as when in fair weather herds of dolphins come up
from the depths and sport in circles round a ship as it speeds
along, now seen in front, now behind, now again at the side and
delight comes to the sailors; so the Nereids darted upward and
circled in their ranks round the ship Argo, while Thetis guided
its course. And when they were about to touch the Wandering
rocks, straightway they raised the edge of their garments over
their snow-white knees, and aloft, on the very rocks and where
the waves broke, they hurried along on this side and on that
apart from one another. And the ship was raised aloft as the
current smote her, and all around the furious wave mounting up
broke over the rocks, which at one time touched the sky like
towering crags, at another, down in the depths, were fixed fast
at the bottom of the sea and the fierce waves poured over them
in floods. And the Nereids, even as maidens near some sandy
beach roll their garments up to their waists out of their way
and sport with a shapely-rounded ball; then they catch it one
from another and send it high into the air; and it never touches
the ground; so they in turn one from another sent the ship
through the air over the waves, as it sped on ever away from the
rocks; and round them the water spouted and foamed. And lord
Hephaestus himself standing on the summit of a smooth rock and
resting his massy shoulder on the handle of his hammer, saw
them, and the spouse of Zeus saw them as she stood above the
gleaming heaven; and she threw her arms round Athena, such fear
seized her as she gazed. And as long as the space of a day is
lengthened out in springtime, so long a time did they toil,
heaving the ship between the loud-echoing rocks; then again the
heroes caught the wind and sped onward; and swiftly they passed
the mead of Thrinacia, where the kine of Helios fed. There the
nymphs, like sea-mews, plunged beneath the depths, when they had
fulfilled the behests of the spouse of Zeus. And at the same
time the bleating of sheep came to the heroes through the mist
and the lowing of kine, near at hand, smote their ears. And over
the dewy leas Phaethusa, the youngest of the daughters of
Helios, tended the sheep, bearing in her hand a silver crook;
while Lampetia, herding the kine, wielded a staff of glowing
orichalcum (8) as she followed. These kine the heroes saw
feeding by the river's stream, over the plain and the
water-meadow; not one of them was dark in hue but all were white
as milk and glorying in their horns of gold. So they passed them
by in the day-time, and when night came on they were cleaving a
great sea-gulf, rejoicing, till again early rising dawn threw
light on their course.
Fronting the Ionian gulf there lies an island in the
Ceraunian sea, rich in soil, with a harbour on both sides,
beneath which lies the sickle, as legend saith — grant me grace,
Muses, not willingly do I tell this tale of olden days —
wherewith Cronos pitilessly mutilated his father; but others
call it the reaping-hook of Demeter, goddess of the nether
world. For Demeter once dwelt in that island, and taught the
Titans to reap the ears of corn, all for the love of Macris.
Whence it is called Drepane, (9) the sacred nurse of the
Phaeacians; and thus the Phaeacians themselves are by birth of
the blood of Uranus. To them came Argo, held fast by many toils,
borne by the breezes from the Thrinacian sea; and Alcinous and
his people with kindly sacrifice gladly welcomed their coming;
and over them all the city made merry; you would say they were
rejoicing over their own sons. And the heroes themselves strode
in gladness through the throng, even as though they had set foot
in the heart of Haemonia; but soon were they to arm and raise
the battle-cry; so near to them appeared a boundless host of
Colchians, who had passed through the mouth of Pontus and
between the Cyanean rocks in search of the chieftains. They
desired forthwith to carry off Medea to her father's house apart
from the rest, or else they threatened with fierce cruelty to
raise the dread war-cry both then and thereafter on the coming
of Aeetes. But lordly Alcinous checked them amid their eagerness
for war. For he longed to allay the lawless strife between both
sides without the clash of battle. And the maiden in deadly fear
often implored the comrades of Aeson's son, and often with her
hands touched the knees of Arete, the bride of Aleinous:
"I beseech you, queen, be gracious and deliver me not to the
Colchians to be borne to my father, if you yourself too are one
of the race of mortals, whose heart rushes swiftly to ruin from
light transgressions. For my firm sense forsook me — it was not
for wantonness. Be witness the sacred light of Helios, be
witness the rites of the maiden that wanders by night, daughter
of Perses. Not willingly did I haste from my home with men of an
alien race; but a horrible fear wrought on me to bethink me of
flight when I sinned; other device was there none. Still my
maiden's girdle remains, as in the halls of my father,
unstained, untouched. Pity me, lady, and turn your lord to
mercy; and may the immortals grant you a perfect life, and joy,
and children, and the glory of a city unravaged!"
Thus did she implore Arete, shedding tears, and thus each of
the chieftains in turn:
"On your account, you men of peerless might, and on account
of my toils in your ventures am I sorely afflicted; even I, by
whose help you yoked the bulls, and reaped the deadly harvest of
the earthborn men; even I, through whom on your homeward path
you shall bear to Haemonia the golden fleece. Lo, here am I, who
have lost my country and my parents, who have lost my home and
all the delights of life; to you have I restored your country
and your homes; with eyes of gladness you will see again your
parents; but from me a heavy-handed god has raft all joy; and
with strangers I wander, an accursed thing. Fear your covenant
and your oaths, fear the Fury that avenges suppliants and the
retribution of heaven, if I fall into Aeetes' hands and am slain
with grievous outrage. To no shrines, no tower of defence, no
other refuge do I pay heed, but only to you. Hard and pitiless
in your cruelty! No reverence have you for me in your heart
though you see me helpless, stretching my hands towards the
knees of a stranger queen; yet, when you longed to seize the
fleece, you would have met all the Colchians face to you and
haughty Aeetes himself; but now you have forgotten your courage,
now that they are all alone and cut off."
Thus she spoke, beseeching; and to whomever she bowed in
prayer, that man tried to give her heart and to check her
anguish. And in their hands they shook their sharp pointed
spears, and drew the swords from their sheaths; and they swore
they would not hold back from giving succour, if she should meet
with an unrighteous judgement. And the host were all wearied and
Night came on them, Night that puts to rest the works of men,
and lulled all the earth to sleep; but to the maid no sleep
brought rest, but in her bosom her heart was wrung with anguish.
Even as when a toiling woman turns her spindle through the
night, and round her moan her orphan children, for she is a
widow, and down her cheeks fall the tears, as she bethinks her
how dreary a lot has seized her; so Medea's cheeks were wet; and
her heart within her was in agony, pierced with sharp pain.
Now within the palace in the city, as aforetime, lay lordly
Alcinous and Arete, the revered wife of Alcinous, and on their
couch through the night they were devising plans about the
maiden; and him, as her wedded husband, the wife addressed with
loving words:
"Yea, my friend, come, save the woe-stricken maid from the
Colchians and show grace to the Minyae. Argos is near our isle
and the men of Haemonia; but Aeetes dwells not near, nor do we
know of Aeetes one whit: we hear but his name; but this maiden
of dread suffering has broken my heart by her prayers. King,
give her not up to the Colchians to be borne back to her
father's home. She was distraught when first she gave him the
drugs to charm the oxen; and next, to cure one ill by another,
as in our sinning we do often, she fled from her haughty sire's
heavy wrath. But Jason, as I hear, is bound to her by mighty
oaths that he will make her his wedded wife within his halls.
Wherefore, my friend, make not, of your will, Aeson's son to be
forsworn, nor let the father, if you can help, work with angry
heart some intolerable mischief on his child. For fathers are
all too jealous against their children; what wrong did Nycteus
devise against Antiope, fair of face! What woes did Danae endure
on the wide sea through her sire's mad rage! Of late, and not
far away, Echetus in wanton cruelty thrust spikes of bronze in
his daughter's eyes; and by a grievous fate is she wasting away,
grinding grains of bronze in a dungeon's gloom."
Thus she spoke, beseeching; and by his wife's words his heart
was softened, and thus he spoke:
"Arete, with arms I could drive forth the Colchians, showing
grace to the heroes for the maiden's sake. But I fear to set at
nought the righteous judgment of Zeus. Nor is it well to take no
thought of Aeetes, as you sayest: for none is more lordly than
Aeetes. And, if he willed, he might bring war on Hellas, though
he dwell afar. Wherefore it is right for me to deliver the
judgement that in all men's eyes shall be best; and I will not
hide it from you. If she be yet a maid I decree that they carry
her back to her father; but if she shares a husband's bed, I
will not separate her from her lord; nor, if she bear a child
beneath her breast, will I give it up to an enemy."
Thus he spoke, and at once sleep laid him to rest. And she
stored up in her heart the word of wisdom, and straightway rose
from her couch and went through the palace; and her handmaids
came hasting together, eagerly tending their mistress. But
quietly she summoned her herald and addressed him, in her
prudence urging Aeson's son to wed the maiden, and not to
implore Alcinous; for he himself, she said, will decree to the
Colchians that if she is still a maid he will deliver her up to
be borne to her father's house, but that if she shares a
husband's bed he will not sever her from wedded love.
Thus she spoke, and quickly from the hall his feet bore him,
that he might declare to Jason the fair-omened speech of Arete
and the counsel of godfearing Alcinous. And he found the heroes
watching in full armour in the haven of Hyllus, near the city;
and out he spoke the whole message; and each hero's heart
rejoiced; for the word that he spoke was welcome.
And straightway they mingled a bowl to the blessed ones, as
is right, and reverently led sheep to the altar, and for that
very night prepared for the maiden the bridal couch in the
sacred cave, where once dwelt Macris, the daughter of Aristaeus,
lord of honey, who discovered the works of bees and the fatness
of the olive, the fruit of labour. She it was that first
received in her bosom the Nysean son of Zeus in Abantian Euboea,
and with honey moistened his parched lips when Hermes bore him
out of the flame. And Hera saw it, and in wrath drove her from
the whole island. And she accordingly came to dwell far off, in
the sacred cave of the Phaeacians, and granted boundless wealth
to the inhabitants. There at that time did they spread a mighty
couch; and thereon they laid the glittering fleece of gold, that
so the marriage might be made honoured and the theme of song.
And for them nymphs gathered flowers of varied hue and bore them
there in their white bosoms; and a splendour as of flame played
round them all, such a light gleamed from the golden tufts. And
in their eyes it kindled a sweet longing; yet for all her
desire, awe withheld each one from laying her hand thereon. Some
were called daughters of the river Aegaeus; others dwelt round
the crests of the Meliteian mount; and others were woodland
nymphs from the plains. For Hera herself, the spouse of Zeus,
had sent them to do honour to Jason. That cave is to this day
called the sacred cave of Medea, where they spread the fine and
fragrant linen and brought these two together. And the heroes in
their hands wielded their spears for war, lest first a host of
foes should burst on them for battle unawares, and, their heads
enwreathed with leafy sprays, all in harmony, while Orpheus'
harp rang clear, sang the marriage song at the entrance to the
bridal chamber. Yet not in the house of Alcinous was the hero,
Aeson's son, minded to complete his marriage, but in his
father's hall when he had returned home to Ioleus; and such was
the mind of Medea herself; but necessity led them to wed at this
time. For never in truth do we tribes of woe-stricken mortals
tread the path of delight with sure foot; but still some bitter
affliction keeps pace with our joy. Wherefore they too, though
their souls were melted with sweet love, were held by fear,
whether the sentence of Alcinous would be fulfilled.
Now dawn returning with her beams divine scattered the gloomy
night through the sky; and the island beaches laughed out and
the paths over the plains far off, drenched with dew, and there
was a din in the streets; the people were astir throughout the
city, and far away the Colchians were astir at the bounds of the
isle of Macris. And straightway to them went Alcinous, by reason
of his covenant, to declare his purpose concerning the maiden,
and in his hand he held a golden staff, his staff of justice,
whereby the people had righteous judgments meted out to them
throughout the city. And with him in order due and arrayed in
their harness of war went marching, band by band, the chiefs of
the Phaeacians. And from the towers came forth the women in
crowds to gaze on the heroes; and the country folk came to meet
them when they heard the news, for Hera had sent forth a true
report. And one led the chosen ram of his flock, and another a
heifer that had never toiled; and others set hard by jars of
wine for mixing; and the smoke of sacrifice leapt up far away.
And women bore fine linen, the fruit of much toil, as women
will, and gifts of gold and varied ornaments as well, such as
are brought to newly-wedded brides; and they marvelled when they
saw the shapely forms and beauty of the gallant heroes, and
among them the son of Oeagrus, oft beating the ground with
gleaming sandal, to the time of his loud-ringing lyre and song.
And all the nymphs together, whenever he recalled the marriage,
uplifted the lovely bridal-chant; and at times again they sang
alone as they circled in the dance, Hera, in your honour; for it
was you that did put it into the heart of Arete to proclaim the
wise word of Alcinous. And as soon as he had uttered the decree
of his righteous judgement, and the completion of the marriage
had been proclaimed, he took care that thus it should abide
fixed; and no deadly fear touched him nor Aeetes' grievous
wrath, but he kept his judgement fast bound by unbroken oaths.
So when the Colchians learnt that they were beseeching in vain
and he bade them either observe his judgements or hold their
ships away from his harbours and land, then they began to dread
the threats of their own king and besought Alcinous to receive
them as comrades; and there in the island long time they dwelt
with the Phaeacians, till in the course of years, the
Bacchiadae, a race sprung from Ephyra, (10) settled among them;
and the Colchians passed to an island opposite; and thence they
were destined to reach the Ceraunian hills of the Abantes, and
the Nestaeans and Oricum; but all this was fulfilled after long
ages had passed. And still the altars which Medea built on the
spot sacred to Apollo, god of shepherds, receive yearly
sacrifices in honour of the Fates and the Nymphs. And when the
Minyae departed many gifts of friendship did Alcinous bestow,
and many Arete; moreover she gave Medea twelve Phaeacian
handmaids from the palace, to bear her company. And on the
seventh day they left Drepane; and at dawn came a fresh breeze
from Zeus. And onward they sped borne along by the wind's
breath. Howbeit not yet was it ordained for the heroes to set
foot on Achaea, till they had toiled even in the furthest bounds
of Libya.
Now had they left behind the gulf named after the Ambracians,
now with sails wide spread the land of the Curetes, and next in
order the narrow islands with the Echinades, and the land of
Pelops was just descried; even then a baleful blast of the north
wind seized them in mid-course and swept them towards the Libyan
sea nine nights and as many days, till they came far within
Syrtis, wherefrom is no return for ships, when they are once
forced into that gulf. For on every hand are shoals, on every
hand masses of seaweed from the depths; and over them the light
foam of the wave washes without noise; and there is a stretch of
sand to the dim horizon; and there movesnothing that creeps or
flies. Here accordingly the flood-tide — for this tide often
retreats from the land and bursts back again over the beach
coming on with a rush and roar — thrust them suddenly on to the
innermost shore, and but little of the keel was left in the
water. And they leapt forth from the ship, and sorrow seized
them when they gazed on the mist and the levels of vast land
stretching far like a mist and continuous into the distance; no
spot for water, no path, no steading of herdsmen did they descry
afar off, but all the scene was possessed by a dead calm. And
thus did one hero, vexed in spirit, ask another:
"What land is this? Where has the tempest hurled us? Would
that, reckless of deadly fear, we had dared to rush on by that
same path between the clashing rocks! Better were it to have
overleapt the will of Zeus and perished in venturing some mighty
deed. But now what should we do, held back by the winds to stay
here, if ever so short a time? How desolate looms before us the
edge of the limitless land!"
Thus one spoke; and among them Ancaeus the helmsman, in
despair at their evil case, spoke with grieving heart: "Verily
we are undone by a terrible doom; there is no escape from ruin;
we must suffer the cruellest woes, having fallen on this
desolation, even though breezes should blow from the land; for,
as I gaze far around, on every side do I behold a sea of shoals,
and masses of water, fretted line on line, run over the hoary
sand. And miserably long ago would our sacred ship have been
shattered far from the shore; but the tide itself bore her high
on to the land from the deep sea. But now the tide rushes back
to the sea, and only the foam, whereon no ship can sail, rolls
round us, just covering the land. Wherefore I deem that all hope
of our voyage and of our return is cut off. Let someone else
show his skill; let him sit at the helm the man that is eager
for our deliverance. But Zeus has no will to fulfil our day of
return after all our toils."
Thus he spoke with tears, and all of them that had knowledge
of ships agreed thereto; but the hearts of all grew numb, and
pallor overspread their cheeks. And as, like lifeless spectres,
men roam through a city awaiting the issue of war or of
pestilence, or some mighty storm which overwhelms the countless
labours of oxen, when the images of their own accord sweat and
run down with blood, and bellowings are heard in temples, or
when at mid-day the sun draws on night from heaven, and the
stars shine clear through the mist; so at that time along the
endless strand the chieftains wandered, groping their way. Then
straightway dark evening came on them; and piteously did they
embrace each other and say farewell with tears, that they might,
each one apart from his fellow, fall on the sand and die. And
this way and that they went further to choose a resting-place;
and they wrapped their heads in their cloaks and, fasting and
unfed, lay down all that night and the day, awaiting a piteous
death. But apart the maidens huddled together lamented beside
the daughter of Aeetes. And as when, forsaken by their mother,
unfledged birds that have fallen from a cleft in the rock chirp
shrilly; or when by the banks of fair-flowing Pactolus, swans
raise their song, and all around the dewy meadow echoes and the
river's fair stream; so these maidens, laying in the dust their
golden hair, all through the night wailed their piteous lament.
And there all would have parted from life without a name and
unknown to mortal men, those bravest of heroes, with their task
unfulfilled; but as they pined in despair, the heroine-nymphs,
warders of Libya, had pity on them, they who once found Athena,
what time she leapt in gleaming armour from her father's head,
and bathed her by Trito's waters. It was noon-tide and the
fiercest rays of the sun were scorching Libya; they stood near
Aeson's son, and lightly drew the cloak from his head. And the
hero cast down his eyes and looked aside, in reverence for the
goddesses, and as he lay bewildered all alone they addressed him
openly with gentle words:
"Ill-starred one, why are you so smitten with despair? We
know how you went in quest of the golden fleece; we know each
toil of yours, all the mighty deeds you wrought in your
wanderings over land and sea. We are the solitary ones,
goddesses of the land, speaking with human voice, the heroines,
Libya's warders and daughters. Up then; do not be thus afflicted
in your misery, and rouse your comrades. And when Amphitrite has
straightway loosed Poseidon's swift-wheeled car, then do you pay
to your mother a recompense for all her travail when she bare
you so long in her womb; and so you may return to the divine
land of Achaea."
Thus they spoke, and with the voice vanished at once, where
they stood. But Jason sat on the earth as he gazed around, and
thus cried:
"Be gracious, noble goddesses of the desert, yet the saying
about our return I understand not clearly. Surely I will gather
together my comrades and tell them, if haply we can find some
token of our escape, for the counsel of many is better."
He spoke, and leapt to his feet, and shouted afar to his
comrades, all squalid with dust, like a lion when he roars
through the woodland seeking his mate; and far off in the
mountains the glens tremble at the thunder of his voice; and the
oxen of the field and the herdsmen shudder with fear; yet to
them Jason's voice was no whit terrible the voice of a comrade
calling to his friends. And with looks downcast they gathered
near, and hard by where the ship lay he made them sit down in
their grief and the women with them, and addressed them and told
them everything:
"Listen, friends; as I lay in my grief, three goddesses
girded with goat-skins from the neck downwards round the back
and waist, like maidens, stood over my head nigh at hand; and
they uncovered me, drawing my cloak away with light hand, and
they bade me rise up myself and go and rouse you, and pay to our
mother a bounteous recompense for all her travail when she bare
us so long in her womb, when Amphitrite shall have loosed
Poseidon's swift-wheeled car. But I cannot fully understand
concerning this divine message. They said indeed that they were
heroines, Libya's warders and daughters; and all the toils that
we endured aforetime by land and sea, all these they declared
that they knew full well. Then I saw them no more in their
place, but a mist or cloud came between and hid them from my
sight."
Thus he spoke, and all marvelled as they heard. Then was
wrought for the Minyae the strangest of portents. From the sea
to the land leapt forth a monstrous horse, of vast size, with
golden mane tossing round his neck; and quickly from his limbs
he shook off abundant spray and started on his course, with feet
like the wind. And at once Peleus rejoiced and spoke among the
throng of his comrades:
"I deem that Poseidon's ear has even now been loosed by the
hands of his dear wife, and I divine that our mother is none
else than our ship herself; for surely she bare us in her womb
and groans unceasingly with grievous travailing. But with
unshaken strength and untiring shoulders will we lift her up and
bear her within this country of sandy wastes, where yon
swift-footed steed has sped before. For he will not plunge
beneath the earth; and his hoof-prints, I ween, will point us to
some bay above the sea."
Thus he spoke, and the fit counsel pleased all. This is the
tale the Muses told; and I sing obedient to the Pierides, and
this report have I heard most truly; that you, mightiest far of
the sons of kings, by your might and your valour over the desert
sands of Libya raised high aloft on your shoulders the ship and
all that you brought therein, and bare her twelve days and
nights alike. Yet who could tell the pain and grief which they
endured in that toil? Surely they were of the blood of the
immortals, such a task did they take on them, constrained by
necessity. How forward and how far they bore her gladly to the
waters of the Tritonian lake! How they strode in and set her
down from their stalwart shoulders!
Then, like raging hounds, they rushed to search for a spring;
for besides their suffering and anguish, a parching thirst lay
on them, and not in vain did they wander; but they came to the
sacred plain where Ladon, the serpent of the land, till
yesterday kept watch over the golden apples in the garden of
Atlas; and all around the nymphs, the Hesperides, were busied,
chanting their lovely song. But at that time, stricken by
Heracles, he lay fallen by the trunk of the apple-tree; only the
tip of his tail was still writhing; but from his head down his
dark spine he lay lifeless; and where the arrows had left in his
blood the bitter gall of the Lernaean hydra, flies withered and
died over the festering wounds. And close at hand the
Hesperides, their white arms flung over their golden heads,
lamented shrilly; and the heroes drew near suddenly; but the
maidens, at their quick approach, at once became dust and earth
where they stood. Orpheus marked the divine portent, and for his
comrades addressed them in prayer: "O divine ones, fair and
kind, be gracious, queens, whether you be numbered among the
heavenly goddesses, or those beneath the earth, or be called the
Solitary nymphs; come, nymphs, sacred race of Oceanus, appear
manifest to our longing eyes and show us some spring of water
from the rock or some sacred flow gushing from the earth,
goddesses, wherewith we may quench the thirst that burns us
unceasingly. And if ever again we return in our voyaging to the
Achaean land, then to you among the first of goddesses with
willing hearts will we bring countless gifts, libations and
banquets."
So he spoke, beseeching them with plaintive voice; and they
from their station near pitied their pain; and lo! First of all
they caused grass to spring from the earth; and above the grass
rose up tall shoots, and then flourishing saplings grew standing
upright far above the earth. Hespere became a poplar and
Eretheis an elm, and Aegle a willow's sacred trunk. And forth
from these trees their forms looked out, as clear as they were
before, a marvel exceeding great, and Aegle spoke with gentle
words answering their longing looks:
"Surely there has come here a mighty succour to your toils,
that most accursed man, who robbed our guardian serpent of life
and plucked the golden apples of the goddesses and is gone; and
has left bitter grief for us. For yesterday came a man most fell
in wanton violence, most grim in form; and his eyes flashed
beneath his scowling brow; a ruthless wretch; and he was clad in
the skin of a monstrous lion of raw hide, untanned; and he bare
a sturdy bow of olive, and a bow, wherewith he shot and killed
this monster here. So he too came, as one traversing the land on
foot, parched with thirst; and he rushed wildly through this
spot, searching for water, but nowhere was he like to see it.
Now here stood a rock near the Tritonian lake; and of his own
device, or by the prompting of some god, he smote it below with
his foot; and the water gushed out in full flow. And he, leaning
both his hands and chest on the ground, drank a huge draught
from the rifted rock, till, stooping like a beast of the field,
he had satisfied his mighty maw."
Thus she spoke; and they gladly with joyful steps ran to the
spot where Aegle had pointed out to them the spring, till they
reached it. And as when earth-burrowing ants gather in swarms
round a narrow cleft, or when flies lighting on a tiny drop of
sweet honey cluster round with insatiate eagerness; so at that
time, huddled together, the Minyae thronged about the spring
from the rock. And thus with wet lips one cried to another in
his delight:
"Strange! In very truth Heracles, though far away, has saved
his comrades, fordone with thirst. Would that we might find him
on his way as we pass through the mainland!"
So they spoke, and those who were ready for this work
answered, and they separated this way and that, each starting to
search. For by the night winds the footsteps had been effaced
where the sand was stirred. The two sons of Boreas started up,
trusting in their wings; and Euphemus, relying on his swift
feet, and Lynceus to cast far his piercing eyes; and with them
darted off Canthus, the fifth. He was urged on by the doom of
the gods and his own courage, that he might learn for certain
from Heracles where he had left Polyphemus, son of Eilatus; for
he was minded to question him on every point concerning his
comrade. But that hero had founded a glorious city among the
Mysians, and, yearning for his home-return, had passed far over
the mainland in search of Argo; and in time he reached the land
of the Chalybes, who dwell near the sea; there it was that his
fate subdued him. And to him a monument stands under a tall
poplar, just facing the sea. But that day Lynceus thought he saw
Heracles all alone, far off, over measureless land, as a man at
the month's beginning sees, or thinks he sees, the moon through
a bank of cloud. And he returned and told his comrades that no
other searcher would find Heracles on his way, and they also
came back, and swift-footed Euphemus and the twin sons of
Thracian Boreas, after a vain toil.
But you, Canthus, the fates of death seized in Libya. On
pasturing flocks did you light; and there followed a shepherd
who, in defence of his own sheep, while you weft leading them
off (11) to your comrades in their need, slew you by the cast of
a stone; for he was no weakling, Caphaurus, the grandson of
Lycoreian Phoebus and the chaste maiden Acacallis, whom once
Minos drove from home to dwell in Libya, his own daughter, when
she was bearing the gods' heavy load; and she bare to Phoebus a
glorious son, whom they call Amphithemis and Garamas. And
Amphithemis wedded a Tritonian nymph; and she bare to him
Nasamon and strong Caphaurus, who on that day in defending his
sheep slew Canthus. But he escaped not the chieftains' avenging
hands, when they learned the deed he had done. And the Minyae,
when they knew it, afterwards took up the corpse and buried it
in the earth, mourning; and the sheep they took with them.
Thereupon on the same day a pitiless fate seized Mopsus too,
son of Ampycus; and he escaped not a bitter doom by his
prophesying; for there is no averting of death. Now there lay in
the sand, avoiding the midday heat, a dread serpent, too
sluggish of his own will to strike at an unwilling foe, nor yet
would he dart full face at one that would shrink back. But into
whatever of all living beings that life-giving earth sustains
that serpent once injects his black venom, his path to Hades
becomes not so much as a cubit's length, not even if Paeeon, if
it is right for me to say this openly, should tend him, when its
teeth have only grazed the skin. For when over Libya flew
godlike Perseus Eurymedon for by that name his mother called him
— bearing to the king the Gorgon's head newly severed, all the
drops of dark blood that fell to the earth, produced a brood of
those serpents. Now Mopsus stepped on the end of its spine,
setting thereon the sole of his left foot; and it writhed round
in pain and bit and tore the flesh between the shin and the
muscles. And Medea and her handmaids fled in terror; but Canthus
bravely felt the bleeding wound; for no excessive pain harassed
him. Poor wretch! Already a numbness that loosed his limbs was
stealing beneath his skin, and a thick mist was spreading over
his eyes. Straightway his heavy limbs sank helplessly to the
ground and he grew cold; and his comrades and the hero, Aeson's
son, gathered round, marvelling at the close-coming doom. Nor
yet though dead might he lie beneath the sun even for a little
space. For at once the poison began to rot his flesh within, and
the hair decayed and fell from the skin. And quickly and in
haste they dug a deep grave with mattocks of bronze; and they
tore their hair, the heroes and the maidens, bewailing the dead
man's piteous suffering; and when he had received due burial
rites, thrice they marched round the tomb in full armour, and
heaped above him a mound of earth.
But when they had gone aboard, as the south wind blew over
the sea, and they were searching for a passage to go forth from
the Tritonian lake, for long they had no device, but all the day
were borne on aimlessly. And as a serpent goes writhing along
his crooked path when the sun's fiercest rays scorch him; and
with a hiss he turns his head to this side and that, and in his
fury his eyes glow like sparks of fire, till he creeps to his
lair through a cleft in the rock; so Argo seeking an outlet from
the lake, a fairway for ships, wandered for a long time. Then
straightway Orpheus bade them bring forth from the ship Apollo's
massy tripod and offer it to the gods of the land as
propitiation for their return. So they went forth and set
Apollo's gift on the shore; then before them stood, in the form
of a youth, farswaying Triton, and he lifted a clod from the
earth and offered it as a stranger's gift, and thus spoke:
"Take it, friends, for no stranger's gift of great worth have
I here by me now to place in the hands of those who beseech me.
But if you are searching for a passage through this sea, as
often is the need of men passing through a strange land, I will
declare it. For my sire Poseidon has made me to be well versed
in this sea. And I rule the shore if haply in your distant land
you have ever heard of Eurypylus, born in Libya, the home of
wild beasts."
Thus he spoke, and readily Euphemus held out his hands
towards the clod, and thus addressed him in reply:
"If haply, hero, you know aught of Apis (12) and the sea of
Minos, tell us truly, who ask it of you. For not of our will
have we come here, but by the stress of heavy storms have we
touched the borders of this land, and have borne our ship aloft
on our shoulders to the waters of this lake over the mainland,
grievously burdened; and we know not where a passage shows
itself for our course to the land of Pelops."
So he spoke; and Triton stretched out his hand and showed
afar the sea and the lake's deep mouth, and then addressed them:
"That is the outlet to the sea, where the deep water lies
unmoved and dark; on each side roll white breakers with shining
crests; and the way between for your passage out is narrow. And
that sea stretches away in mist to the divine land of Pelops
beyond Crete; but hold to the right, when you have entered the
swell of the sea from the lake, and steer your course hugging
the land, as long as it trends to the north; but when the coast
bends, falling away in the other direction, then your course is
safely laid for you if you go straight forward from the
projecting cape. But go in joy, and as for labour let there be
no grieving that limbs in youthful vigour should still toil."
He spoke with kindly counsel; and they at once went aboard,
intent to come forth from the lake by the use of oars. And
eagerly they sped on; meanwhile Triton took up the mighty
tripod, and they saw him enter the lake; but thereafter did no
one mark how he vanished so near them along with the tripod. But
their hearts were cheered, for that one of the blessed had met
them in friendly guise. And they bade Aeson's son offer to him
the choicest of the sheep and when he had slain it chant the
hymn of praise. And straightway he chose in haste and raising
the victim slew it over the stern, and prayed with these words:
"You god, who have manifested yourself on the borders of this
land, whether the daughters born of the sea call you Triton, the
great sea-marvel, or Phoreys, or Nereus, be gracious, and grant
the return home dear to our hearts."
He spoke, and cut the victim's throat over the water and cast
it from the stern. And the god rose up from the depths in form
such as he really was. And as when a man trains a swift steed
for the broad race-course, and runs along, grasping the bushy
mane, while the steed follows obeying his master, and rears his
neck aloft in his pride, and the gleaming bit rings loud as he
champs it in his jaws from side to side; so the god, seizing
hollow Argo's keel, guided her onward to the sea. And his body,
from the crown of his head, round his back and waist as far as
the belly, was wondrously like that of the blessed ones in form;
but below his sides the tail of a sea monster lengthened far,
forking to this side and that; and he smote the surface of the
waves with the spines, which below parted into curving fins,
like the horns of the new moon. And he guided Argo on till he
sped her into the sea on her course; and quickly he plunged into
the vast abyss; and the heroes shouted when they gazed with
their eyes on that dread portent. There is the harbour of Argo
and there are the signs of her stay, and altars to Poseidon and
Triton; for during that day they tarried. But at dawn with sails
outspread they sped on before the breath of the west wind,
keeping the desert land on their right. And on the next morn
they saw the headland and the recess of the sea, bending inward
beyond the jutting headland. And straightway the west wind
ceased, and there came the breeze of the clear south wind; and
their hearts rejoiced at the sound it made. But when the sun
sank and the star returned that bids the shepherd fold, which
brings rest to wearied ploughmen, at that time the wind died
down in the dark night; so they furled the sails and lowered the
tall mast and vigorously plied their polished oars all night and
through the day, and again when the next night came on. And
rugged Carpathus far away welcomed them; and thence they were to
cross to Crete, which rises in the sea above other islands.
And Talos, the man of bronze, as he broke off rocks from the
hard cliff, stayed them from fastening hawsers to the shore,
when they came to the roadstead of Dicte's haven. He was of the
stock of bronze, of the men sprung from ash-trees, the last left
among the sons of the gods; and the son of Cronos gave him to
Europa to be the warder of Crete and to stride round the island
thrice a day with his feet of bronze. Now in all the rest of his
body and limbs was he fashioned of bronze and invulnerable; but
beneath the sinew by his ankle was a blood-red vein; and this,
with its issues of life and death, was covered by a thin skin.
So the heroes, though outworn with toil, quickly backed their
ship from the land in sore dismay. And now far from Crete would
they have been borne in wretched plight, distressed both by
thirst and pain, had not Medea addressed them as they turned
away:
"Hearken to me. For I deem that I alone can subdue for you
that man, whoever he be, even though his frame be of bronze
throughout, unless his life too is everlasting. But be ready to
keep your ship here beyond the cast of his stones, till he yield
the victory to me."
Thus she spoke; and they drew the ship out of range, resting
on their oars, waiting to see what plan unlooked for she would
bring to pass; and she, holding the fold of her purple robe over
her cheeks on each side, mounted on the deck; and Aeson's son
took her hand in his and guided her way along the thwarts. And
with songs did she propitiate and invoke the Death-spirits,
devourers of life, the swift hounds of Hades, who, hovering
through all the air, swoop down on the living. Kneeling in
supplication, thrice she called on them with songs, and thrice
with prayers; and, shaping her soul to mischief, with her
hostile glance she bewitched the eyes of Talos, the man of
bronze; and her teeth gnashed bitter wrath against him, and she
sent forth baneful phantoms in the frenzy of her rage.
Father Zeus, surely great wonder rises in my mind, seeing
that dire destruction meets us not from disease and wounds
alone, but lo! even from afar, may be, it tortures us! So Talos,
for all his frame of bronze, yielded the victory to the might of
Medea the sorceress. And as he was heaving massy rocks to stay
them from reaching the haven, he grazed his ankle on a pointed
crag; and the ichor gushed forth like melted lead; and not long
thereafter did he stand towering on the jutting cliff. But even
as some huge pine, high up on the mountains, which woodmen have
left half hewn through by their sharp axes when they returned
from the forest — at first it shivers in the wind by night, then
at last snaps at the stump and crashes down; so Talos for a
while stood on his tireless feet, swaying to and fro, when at
last, all strengthless, fell with a mighty thud. For that night
there in Crete the heroes lay; then, just as dawn was growing
bright, they built a shrine to Minoan Athena, and drew water and
went aboard, so that first of all they might by rowing pass
beyond Salmone's height.
But straightway as they sped over the wide Cretan sea night
scared them, that night which they name the Pall of Darkness;
the stars pierced not that fatal night nor the beams of the
moon, but black chaos descended from heaven, or haply some other
darkness came, rising from the nethermost depths. And the
heroes, whether they drifted in Hades or on the waters, knew not
one whit; but they committed their return to the sea in helpless
doubt where it was bearing them. But Jason raised his hands and
cried to Phoebus with mighty voice, calling on him to save them;
and the tears ran down in his distress; and often did he promise
to bring countless offerings to Pytho, to Amyclae, and to
Ortygia. And quickly, son of Leto, swift to hear, did you come
down from heaven to the Melantian rocks, which lie there in the
sea. Then darting on one of the twin peaks, you raisedst aloft
in your right hand your golden bow; and the bow flashed a
dazzling gleam all round. And to their sight appeared a small
island of the Sporades, over against the tiny isle Hippuris, and
there they cast anchor and stayed; and straightway dawn arose
and gave them light; and they made for Apollo a glorious abode
in a shady wood, and a shady altar, calling on Phoebus the
"Gleamer", because of the gleam far-seen; and that bare island
they called Anaphe, (13) for that Phoebus had revealed it to men
sore bewildered. And they sacrificed all that men could provide
for sacrifice on a desolate strand; wherefore when Medea's
Phaeacian handmaids saw them pouring water for libations on the
burning brands, they could no longer restrain laughter within
their bosoms, for that ever they had seen oxen in plenty slain
in the halls of Alcinous. And the heroes delighted in the jest
and attacked them with taunting words; and merry railing and
contention flung to and fro were kindled among them. And from
that sport of the heroes such scoffs do the women fling at the
men in that island whenever they propitiate with sacrifices
Apollo the gleaming god, the warder of Anaphe.
But when they had loosed the hawsers thence in fair weather,
then Euphemus bethought him of a dream of the night, reverencing
the glorious son of Maia. For it seemed to him that the
god-given clod of earth held in his palm close to his breast was
being suckled by white streams of milk, and that from it, little
though it was, grew a woman like a virgin; and he, overcome by
strong desire, lay with her in love's embrace; and united with
her he pitied her, as though she were a maiden whom he was
feeding with his own milk; but she comforted him with gentle
words:
"Daughter of Triton am I, dear friend, and nurse of your
children, no maiden; Triton and Libya are my parents. But
restore me to the daughters of Nereus to dwell in the sea near
Anaphe; I shall return again to the light of the sun, to prepare
a home for your descendants."
Of this he stored in his heart the memory, and declared it to
Aeson's son; and Jason pondered a prophecy of the Far-Darter and
lifted up his voice and said:
"My friend, great and glorious renown has fallen to your lot.
For of this clod when you have cast it into the sea, the gods
will make an island, where your children's children shall dwell;
for Triton gave this to you as a stranger's gift from the Libyan
mainland. None other of the immortals it was than he that gave
you this when he met you."
Thus he spoke; and Euphemus made not vain the answer of
Aeson's son; but, cheered by the prophecy, he cast the clod into
the depths. Therefrom rose up an island, Calliste, sacred nurse
of the sons of Euphemus, who in former days dwelt in Sintian
Lemnos, and from Lemnos were driven forth by Tyrrhenians and
came to Sparta as suppliants; and when they left Sparta, Theras,
the goodly son of Autesion, brought them to the island Calliste,
and from himself he gave it the name of Thera. But this befell
after the days of Euphemus.
And thence they steadily left behind long leagues of sea and
stayed on the beach of Aegina; and at once they contended in
innocent strife about the fetching of water, who first should
draw it and reach the ship. For both their need and the
ceaseless breeze urged them on. There even to this day do the
youths of the Myrmidons take up on their shoulders full-brimming
jars, and with swift feet strive for victory in the race.
Be gracious, race of blessed chieftains! And may these songs
year after year be sweeter to sing among men. For now have I
come to the glorious end of your toils; for no adventure befell
you as you came home from Aegina, and no tempest of winds
opposed you; but quietly did you skirt the Cecropian land and
Aulis inside of Euboea and the Opuntian cities of the Locrians,
and gladly did you step forth on the beach of Pagasae. [End of
"Argonautica"]
ENDNOTES
(1) The allusion is to Sesotris. See Herodotus ii. 102 foll.
(2) Or, reading EMETEREN, "into our sea". The Euxine is meant
in any case and the word Ionian is therefore wrong.
(3) Apollonius seems to have thought that the Po, the Rhone,
and the Rhine are all connected together.
(4) i.e. like the scrapings from skin, APOSTLEGGISMATA; see
Strabo p. 224 for this adventure.
(5) The "Symplegades" are referred to, where help was given
by Athena, not by Hera. It is strange that no mention is made of
the "Planctae", properly so called, past which they are soon to
be helped. Perhaps some lines have fallen out.
(6) i.e. the Mighty One.
(7) i.e. the Wanderers.
(8) A fabulous metal, resembling gold in appearance.
(9) i.e. the Sickle-island.
(10) The old name of Corinth.
(11) This seems to be the only possible translation, but the
optative is quite anomalous. We should expect EKOMIZES.
(12) An old name of the Peloponnesus.
(13) i.e. the isle of Revealing.
