THE GOLDEN FLEECE AND THE HEROES WHO LIVED BEFORE ACHILLES

BY

PADRAIC COLUM

1921

CONTENTS

PART I. The Voyage to Colchis

 I. THE YOUTH JASON II. KING PELIAS III. THE GOLDEN FLEECE IV. THE ASSEMBLING OF THE HEROES AND THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP V. THE ARGO VI. POLYDEUCES' VICTORY AND HERACLES' LOSS VII. KING PHINEUS VIII. KING PHINEUS'S COUNSEL; THE LANDING IN LEMNOS IX. THE LEMNIAN MAIDENS X. THE DEPARTURE FROM LEMNOS XI. THE PASSAGE OF THE SYMPLEGADES XII. THE MOUNTAIN CAUCASUS

PART II. The Return To Greece

 I. KING ÆETES II. MEDEA THE SORCERESS III. THE WINNING OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE IV. THE SLAYING OF APSYRTUS V. MEDEA COMES TO CIRCE VI. IN THE LAND OF THE PHAEACIANS VII. THEY COME TO THE DESERT LAND VIII. THE CARRYING OF THE ARGO IX. NEAR TO IOLCUS AGAIN

PART III. The Heroes of the Quest

 I. ATALANTA THE HUNTRESS II. PELEUS AND HIS BRIDE FROM THE SEA III. THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR IV. THE LIFE AND LABORS OF HERACLES V. ADMETUS VI. HOW ORPHEUS THE MINSTREL WENT DOWN TO THE WORLD OF THE DEAD VII. JASON AND MEDEA

PART I. The Voyage to Colchis

I. THE YOUTH JASON

A man in the garb of a slave went up the side of that mountain that isall covered with forest, the Mountain Pelion. He carried in his arms alittle child. 

When it was full noon the slave came into a clearing of the forest sosilent that it seemed empty of all life. He laid the child down on thesoft moss, and then, trembling with the fear of what might come beforehim, he raised a horn to his lips and blew three blasts upon it. 

Then he waited. The blue sky was above him, the great trees stood awayfrom him, and the little child lay at his feet. He waited, and then heheard the thud-thud of great hooves. And then from between the trees hesaw coming toward him the strangest of all beings, one who was half manand half horse; this was Chiron the centaur. 

Chiron came toward the trembling slave. Greater than any horse wasChiron, taller than any man. The hair of his head flowed back into hishorse's mane, his great beard flowed over his horse's chest; in hisman's hand he held a great spear. 

Not swiftly he came, but the slave could see that in those great limbsof his there was speed like to the wind's. The slave fell upon hisknees. And with eyes that were full of majesty and wisdom and limbsthat were full of strength and speed, the king-centaur stood above him. "O my lord, " the slave said, "I have come before thee sent by Æson, mymaster, who told me where to come and what blasts to blow upon thehorn. And Æson, once King of Iolcus, bade me say to thee that if thoudost remember his ancient friendship with thee thou wilt, perchance, take this child and guard and foster him, and, as he grows, instructhim with thy wisdom. "

"For Æson's sake I will rear and foster this child, " said Chiron theking-centaur in a deep voice. 

The child lying on the moss had been looking up at the four-footed andtwo-handed centaur. Now the slave lifted him up and placed him in thecentaur's arms. He said:

"Æson bade me tell thee that the child's name is Jason. He bade me givethee this ring with the great ruby in it that thou mayst give it to thechild when he is grown. By this ring with its ruby and the imagesengraved on it Æson may know his son when they meet after many yearsand many changes. And another thing Æson bade me say to thee, O my lordChiron: not presumptuous is he, but he knows that this child has theregard of the immortal Goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus. "

Chiron held Æson's son in his arms, and the little child put hands intohis great beard. Then the centaur said, "Let Æson know that his sonwill be reared and fostered by me, and that, when they meet again, there will be ways by which they will be known to each other. "

Saying this Chiron the centaur, holding the child in his arms, wentswiftly toward the forest arches; then the slave took up the horn andwent down the side of the Mountain Pelion. He came to where a horse washidden, and he mounted and rode, first to a city, and then to a villagethat was beyond the city. 

All this was before the famous walls of Troy were built; before KingPriam had come to the throne of his father and while he was stillknown, not as Priam, but as Podarces. And the beginning of all thesehappenings was in Iolcus, a city in Thessaly. 

Cretheus founded the city and had ruled over it in days before KingPriam was born. He left two sons, Æson and Pelias. Æson succeeded hisfather. And because he was a mild and gentle man, the men of war didnot love Æson; they wanted a hard king who would lead them to conquests. 

Pelias, the brother of Æson, was ever with the men of war; he knew whatmind they had toward Æson and he plotted with them to overthrow hisbrother. This they did, and they brought Pelias to reign as king inIolcus. 

The people loved Æson; and they feared Pelias. And because the peopleloved him and would be maddened by his slaying, Pelias and the men ofwar left him living. With his wife, Alcimide, and his infant son, Æsonwent from the city, and in a village that was at a distance from Iolcushe found a hidden house and went to dwell in it. 

Æson would have lived content there were it not that he was fearful forJason, his infant son. Jason, he knew, would grow into a strong and abold youth, and Pelias, the king, would be made uneasy on his account. Pelias would slay the son, and perhaps would slay the father for theson's sake when his memory would come to be less loved by the people. Æson thought of such things in his hidden house, and he pondered onways to have his son reared away from Iolcus and the dread and thepower of King Pelias. 

He had for a friend one who was the wisest of all creatures Chiron thecentaur; Chiron who was half man and half horse; Chiron who had livedand was yet to live measureless years. Chiron had fostered Heracles, and it might be that he would not refuse to foster Jason, Æson's child. 

Away in the fastnesses of Mount Pelion Chiron dwelt; once Æson had beenwith him and had seen the centaur hunt with his great bow and his greatspears. And Æson knew a way that one might come to him; Chiron himselfhad told him of the way. 

Now there was a slave in his house who had been a huntsman and who knewall the ways of the Mountain Pelion. Æson talked with this slave oneday, and after he had talked with him he sat for a long time over thecradle of his sleeping infant. And then he spoke to Alcimide, his wife, telling her of a parting that made her weep. That evening the slavecame in and Æson took the child from the arms of the mournful-eyedmother and put him in the slave's arms. Also he gave him a horn and aring with a great ruby in it and mystic images engraved on its gold. Then when the ways were dark the slave mounted a horse, and, with thechild in his arms, rode through the city that King Pelias ruled over. In the morning he came to that mountain that is all covered withforest, the Mountain Pelion. And that evening he came back to thevillage and to Æson's hidden house, and he told his master how he hadprospered. 

Æson was content thereafter although he was lonely and although hiswife was lonely in their childlessness. But the time came when theyrejoiced that their child had been sent into an unreachable place. Formessengers from King Pelias came inquiring about the boy. They told theking's messengers that the child had strayed off from his nurse, andthat whether he had been slain by a wild beast or had been drowned inthe swift River Anaurus they did not know. 

The years went by and Pelias felt secure upon the throne he had takenfrom his brother. Once he sent to the oracle of the gods to ask of itwhether he should be fearful of anything. What the oracle answered wasthis: that King Pelias had but one thing to dread--the coming of ahalf-shod man. 

The centaur nourished the child Jason on roots and fruits and honey;for shelter they had a great cave that Chiron had lived in fornumberless years. When he had grown big enough to leave the cave Chironwould let Jason mount on his back; with the child holding on to hisgreat mane he would trot gently through the ways of the forest. 

Jason began to know the creatures of the forest and their haunts. Sometimes Chiron would bring his great bow with him; then Jason, on hisback, would hold the quiver and would hand him the arrows. The centaurwould let the boy see him kill with a single arrow the bear, the boar, or the deer. And soon Jason, running beside him, hunted too. 

No heroes were ever better trained than those whose childhood and youthhad been spent with Chiron the king-centaur. He made them more swift offoot than any other of the children of men. He made them stronger andmore ready with the spear and bow. Jason was trained by Chiron asHeracles just before him had been trained, and as Achilles was to betrained afterward. 

Moreover, Chiron taught him the knowledge of the stars and the wisdomthat had to do with the ways of the gods. 

Once, when they were hunting together, Jason saw a form at the end ofan alley of trees--the form of a woman it was--of a woman who had onher head a shining crown. Never had Jason dreamt of seeing a form sowondrous. Not very near did he come, but he thought he knew that thewoman smiled upon him. She was seen no more, and Jason knew that he hadlooked upon one of the immortal goddesses. 

All day Jason was filled with thought of her whom he had seen. Atnight, when the stars were out, and when they were seated outside thecave, Chiron and Jason talked together, and Chiron told the youth thatshe whom he had seen was none other than Hera, the wife of Zeus, whohad for his father Æson and for himself an especial friendliness. 

So Jason grew up upon the mountain and in the forest fastnesses. Whenhe had reached his full height and had shown himself swift in the huntand strong with the spear and bow, Chiron told him that the time hadcome when he should go back to the world of men and make his namefamous by the doing of great deeds. 

And when Chiron told him about his father Æson--about how he had beenthrust out of the kingship by Pelias, his uncle a great longing cameupon Jason to see his father and a fierce anger grew up in his heartagainst Pelias. 

Then the time came when he bade good-by to Chiron his great instructor;the time came when he went from the centaur's cave for the last time, and went through the wooded ways and down the side of the MountainPelion. He came to the river, to the swift Anaurus, and he found ithigh in flood. The stones by which one might cross were almost allwashed over; far apart did they seem in the flood. 

Now as he stood there pondering on what he might do there came up tohim an old woman who had on her back a load of brushwood. "Wouldst thoucross?" asked the old woman. "Wouldst thou cross and get thee to thecity of Iolcus, Jason, where so many things await thee?"

Greatly was the youth astonished to hear his name spoken by this oldwoman, and to hear her give the name of the city he was bound for. "Wouldst thou cross the Anaurus?" she asked again. "Then mount upon myback, holding on to the wood I carry, and I will bear thee over theriver. "

Jason smiled. How foolish this old woman was to think that she couldbear him across the flooded river! She came near him and she took himin her arms and lifted him up on her shoulders. Then, before he knewwhat she was about to do, she had stepped into the water. 

From stone to stepping-stone she went, Jason holding on to the woodthat she had drawn to her shoulders. She left him down upon the bank. As she was lifting him down one of his feet touched the water; theswift current swept away a sandal. 

He stood on the bank knowing that she who had carried him across theflooded river had strength from the gods. He looked upon her, andbehold! she was transformed. Instead of an old woman there stood beforehim one who had on a golden robe and a shining crown. Around her was awondrous light--the light of the sun when it is most golden. Then Jasonknew that she who had carried him across the broad Anaurus was thegoddess whom he had seen in the ways of the forest--Hera, great Zeus'swife. 

"Go into Iolcus, Jason, " said great Hera to him, "go into Iolcus, andin whatever chance doth befall thee act as one who has the eyes of theimmortals upon him. "

She spoke and she was seen no more. Then Jason went on his way to thecity that Cretheus, his grandfather, had founded and that his fatherÆson had once ruled over. He came into that city, a tall, great-limbed, unknown youth, dressed in a strange fashion, and having but one sandalon. 

II. KING PELIAS

That day King Pelias, walking through the streets of his city, sawcoming toward him a youth who was half shod. He remembered the words ofthe oracle that bade him beware of a half-shod man, and straightway hegave orders to his guards to lay hands upon the youth. 

But the guards wavered when they went toward him, for there wassomething about the youth that put them in awe of him. He came with theguards, however, and he stood before the king's judgment seat. 

Fearfully did Pelias look upon him. But not fearfully did the youthlook upon the king. With head lifted high he cried out, "Thou artPelias, but I do not salute thee as king. Know that I am Jason, the sonof Æson from whom thou hast taken the throne and scepter that wererightfully his. "

King Pelias looked to his guards. He would have given them a sign todestroy the youth's life with their spears, but behind his guards hesaw a threatening multitude--the dwellers of the city of Iolcus; theygathered around, and Pelias knew that he had become more and more hatedby them. And from the multitude a cry went up, "Æson, Æson! May Æsoncome back to us! Jason, son of Æson! May nothing evil befall thee, brave youth!"

Then Pelias knew that the youth might not be slain. He bent his headwhile he plotted against him in his heart. Then he raised his eyes, andlooking upon Jason he said, "O goodly youth, it well may be that thouart the son of Æson, my brother. I am well pleased to see thee here. Ihave had hopes that I might be friends with Æson, and thy coming heremay be the means to the renewal of our friendship. We two brothers maycome together again. I will send for thy father now, and he will bebrought to meet thee in my royal palace. Go with my guards and withthis rejoicing people, and in a little while thou and I and thy fatherÆson will sit at a feast of friends. "

So Pelias said, and Jason went with the guards and the crowd of people, and he came to the palace of the king and he was brought within. Themaids led him to the bath and gave him new robes to wear. Dressed inthese Jason looked a prince indeed. 

But all that while King Pelias remained on his judgment seat with hiscrowned head bent down. When he raised his head his dark brows weregathered together and his thin lips were very close. He looked to theswords and spears of his guards, and he made a sign to the men to standclose to him. Then he left the judgment seat and he went to the palace. 

III. THE GOLDEN FLEECE

They brought Jason into a hall where Æson, his father, waited. Verystrange did this old and grave-looking man appear to him. But when Æsonspoke, Jason remembered even without the sight of the ruby ring thetone of his father's voice and he clasped him to him. And his fatherknew him even without the sight of the ruby ring which Jason had uponhis finger. 

Then the young man began to tell of the centaur and of his life uponthe Mountain Pelion. As they were speaking together Pelias came towhere they stood, Pelias in the purple robe of a king and with thecrown upon his head. Æson tightly clasped Jason as if he had becomefearful for his son. Pelias smilingly took the hand of the young manand the hand of his brother, and he bade them both welcome to hispalace. 

Then, walking between them, the king brought the two into the feastinghall. The youth who had known only the forest and the mountainside hadto wonder at the beauty and the magnificence of all he saw around him. On the walls were bright pictures; the tables were of polished wood, and they had vessels of gold and dishes of silver set upon them; alongthe walls were vases of lovely shapes and colors, and everywhere therewere baskets heaped with roses white and red. 

The king's guests were already in the hall, young men and elders, andmaidens went amongst them carrying roses which they strung into wreathsfor the guests to put upon their heads. A soft-handed maiden gave Jasona wreath of roses and he put it on his head as he sat down at theking's table. When he looked at all the rich and lovely things in thathall, and when he saw the guests looking at him with friendly eyes, Jason felt that he was indeed far away from the dim spaces of themountain forest and from the darkness of the centaur's cave. 

Rich food and wine such as he had never dreamt of tasting were broughtto the tables. He ate and drank, and his eyes followed the fair maidenswho went through the hall. He thought how glorious it was to be a king. He heard Pelias speak to Æson, his father, telling him that he was oldand that he was weary of ruling; that he longed to make friends, andthat he would let no enmity now be between him and his brother. And heheard the king say that he, Jason, was young and courageous, and thathe would call upon him to help to rule the land, and that, in a while, Jason would bear full sway over the kingdom that Cretheus had founded. 

So Pelias spoke to Æson as they both sat together at the king's hightable. But Jason, looking on them both, saw that the eyes that hisfather turned on him were full of warnings and mistrust. 

After they had eaten King Pelias made a sign, and a cupbearer bringinga richly wrought cup came and stood before the king. The king stood up, holding the cup in his hands, and all in the hall waited silently. ThenPelias put the cup into Jason's hands and he cried out in a voice thatwas heard all through the hall, "Drink from this cup, O nephew Jason!Drink from this cup, O man who will soon come to rule over the kingdomthat Cretheus founded!"

All in the hall stood up and shouted with delight at that speech. Butthe king was not delighted with their delight, Jason saw. He took thecup and he drank the rich wine; pride grew in him; he looked down thehall and he saw faces all friendly to him; he felt as a king mightfeel, secure and triumphant. And then he heard King Pelias speakingonce more. 

"This is my nephew Jason, reared and fostered in the centaur's cave. Hewill tell you of his life in the forest and the mountains, his lifethat was like to the life of the half gods. "

Then Jason spoke to them, telling them of his life on the MountainPelion. When he had spoken, Pelias said:

"I was bidden by the oracle to beware of the man whom I should seecoming toward me half shod. But, as you all see, I have brought thehalf-shod man to my palace and my feasting hall, so little do I dreadthe anger of the gods. 

"And I dread it little because I am blameless. This youth, the son ofmy brother, is strong and courageous, and I rejoice in his strength andcourage, for I would have him take my place and reign over you. Ali, that I were as young as he is now! Ali, that I had been reared andfostered as he was reared and fostered by the wise centaur and underthe eyes of the immortals! Then would I do that which in my youth Ioften dreamed of doing! Then would I perform a deed that would make myname and the name of my city famous throughout all Greece! Then would Ibring from far Colchis, the famous Fleece of Gold that King Æetes keepsguard over!"

He finished speaking, and all in the hall shouted out, "The GoldenFleece, the Golden Fleece from Colchis!" Jason stood up, and hisfather's hand gripped him. But he did not heed the hold of his father'shand, for "The Golden Fleece, the Golden Fleece!" rang in his ears, andbefore his eyes were the faces of those who were all eager for thesight of the wonder that King Æetes kept guard over. 

Then said Jason, "Thou hast spoken well, O King Pelias! Know, and knowall here assembled, that I have heard of the Golden Fleece and of thedangers that await on any one who should strive to win it from KingÆetes's care. But know, too, that I would strive to win the Fleece andbring it to Iolcus, winning fame both for myself and for the city. "

When he had spoken he saw his father's stricken eyes; they were fixedupon him. But he looked from them to the shining eyes of the young menwho were even then pressing around where he stood. "Jason, Jason!" theyshouted. "The Golden Fleece for Iolcus!"

"King Pelias knows that the winning of the Golden Fleece is a feat mostdifficult, " said Jason. "But if he will have built for me a ship thatcan make the voyage to far Colchis, and if he will send throughout allGreece the word of my adventuring so that all the heroes who would winfame might come with me, and if ye, young heroes of Iolcus, will comewith me, I will peril my life to win the wonder that King Æetes keepsguard over. "

He spoke and those in the hall shouted again and made clamor aroundhim. But still his father sat gazing at him with stricken eyes. 

King Pelias stood up in the hall and holding up his scepter he said, "Omy nephew Jason, and O friends assembled here, I promise that I willhave built for the voyage the best ship that ever sailed from a harborin Greece. And I promise that I will send throughout all Greece a wordtelling of Jason's voyage so that all heroes desirous of winning famemay come to help him and to help all of you who may go with him to winfrom the keeping of King Æetes the famous Fleece of Gold. "

So King Pelias said, but Jason, looking to the king from his father'sstricken eyes, saw that he had been led by the king into the acceptanceof the voyage so that he might fare far from Iolcus, and perhaps losehis life in striving to gain the wonder that King Æetes kept guarded. By the glitter in Pelias's eyes he knew the truth. Nevertheless Jasonwould not take back one word that he had spoken; his heart was strongwithin him, and he thought that with the help of the bright-eyed youthsaround and with the help of those who would come to him at the word ofthe voyage, he would bring the Golden Fleece to Iolcus and make famousfor all time his own name. 

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

First there came the youths Castor and Polydeuces. They came riding onwhite horses, two noble-looking brothers. From Sparta they came, andtheir mother was Leda, who, after the twin brothers, had another childborn to her--Helen, for whose sake the sons of many of Jason's friendswere to wage war against the great city of Troy. These were the firstheroes who came to Iolcus after the word had gone forth through Greeceof Jason's adventuring in quest of the Golden Fleece. 

And then there came one who had both welcome and reverence from Jason;this one came without spear or bow, bearing in his hands a lyre only. He was Orpheus, and he knew all the ways of the gods and all thestories of the gods; when he sang to his lyre the trees would listenand the beasts would follow him. It was Chiron who had counseledOrpheus to go with Jason; Chiron the centaur had met him as he waswandering through the forests on the Mountain Pelion and had sent himdown into Iolcus. 

Then there came two men well skilled in the handling of ships--Tiphysand Nauplius. Tiphys knew all about the sun and winds and stars, andall about the signs by which a ship might be steered, and Nauplius hadthe love of Poseidon, the god of the sea. 

Afterward there came, one after the other, two who were famous fortheir hunting. No two could be more different than these two were. Thefirst was Arcas. He was dressed in the skin of a bear; he had red hairand savage-looking eyes, and for arms he carried a mighty bow withbronze-tipped arrows. The folk were watching an eagle as he came intothe city, an eagle that was winging its way far, far up in the sky. Arcas drew his bow, and with one arrow he brought the eagle down. 

The other hunter was a girl, Atalanta. Tall and brighthaired wasAtalanta, swift and good with the bow. She had dedicated herself toArtemis, the guardian of the wild things, and she had vowed that shewould remain unwedded. All the heroes welcomed Atalanta as a comrade, and the maiden did all the things that the young men did. 

There came a hero who was less youthful than Castor or Polydeuces; hewas a man good in council named Nestor. Afterward Nestor went to thewar against Troy, and then he was the oldest of the heroes in the campof Agamemnon. 

Two brothers came who were to be special friends of Jason's--Peleus andTelamon. Both were still youthful and neither had yet achieved anynotable deed. Afterward they were to be famous, but their sons were tobe even more famous, for the son of Telamon was strong Aias, and theson of Peleus was great Achilles. 

Another who came was Admetus; afterward he became a famous king. TheGod Apollo once made himself a shepherd and he kept the flocks of KingAdmetus. 

And there came two brothers, twins, who were a wonder to all who beheldthem. Zetes and Calais they were named; their mother was Oreithyia, thedaughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens, and their father was Boreas, the North Wind. These two brothers had on their ankles wings thatgleamed with golden scales; their black hair was thick upon theirshoulders, and it was always being shaken by the wind. 

With Zetes and Calais there came a youth armed with a great sword whosename was Theseus. Theseus's father was an unknown king; he had biddenthe mother show their son where his sword was hidden. Under a greatstone the king had hidden it before Theseus was born. Before he hadgrown out of his boyhood Theseus had been able to raise the stone anddraw forth his father's sword. As yet he had done no great deed, but hewas resolved to win fame and to find his unknown father. 

On the day that the messengers had set out to bring through Greece theword of Jason's going forth in quest of the Golden Fleece thewoodcutters made their way up into the forests of Mount Pelion; theybegan to fell trees for the timbers of the ship that was to make thevoyage to far Colchis. 

Great timbers were cut and brought down to Pagasae, the harbor ofIolcus. On the night of the day he had helped to bring them down Jasonhad a dream. He dreamt that she whom he had seen in the forest ways andafterward by the River Anaurus appeared to him. And in his dream thegoddess bade him rise early in the morning and welcome a man whom hewould meet at the city's gate--a tall and gray-haired man who wouldhave on his shoulders tools for the building of a ship. 

He went to the city's gate and he met such a man. Argus was his name. He told Jason that a dream had sent him to the city of Iolcus. Jasonwelcomed him and lodged him in the king's palace, and that day the wordwent through the city that the building of the great ship would soon bebegun. 

But not with the timbers brought from Mount Pelion did Argus begin. Walking through the palace with Jason he noted a great beam in theroof. That beam, he said, had been shown him in his dream; it was froman oak tree in Dodona, the grove of Zeus. A sacred power was in thebeam, and from it the prow of the ship should be fashioned. Jason hadthem take the beam from the roof of the palace; it was brought to wherethe timbers were, and that day the building of the great ship was begun. 

Then all along the waterside came the noise of hammering; in the streetwhere the metalworkers were came the noise of beating upon metals asthe smiths fashioned out of bronze armor for the heroes and swords andspears. Every day, under the eyes of Argus the master, the ship thathad in it the beam from Zeus's grove was built higher and wider. Andthose who were building the ship often felt going through it tremors asof a living creature. 

When the ship was built and made ready for the voyage a name was givento it--the Argo it was called. And naming themselves from the ship theheroes called themselves the Argonauts. All was ready for the voyage, and now Jason went with his friends to view the ship before she wasbrought into the water. 

Argus the master was on the ship, seeing to it that the last thingswere being done before Argo was launched. Very grave and wise lookedArgus--Argus the builder of the ship. And wonderful to the heroes theship looked now that Argus, for their viewing, had set up the mast withthe sails and had even put the oars in their places. Wonderful to theheroes Argo looked with her long oars and her high sails, with hertimbers painted red and gold and blue, and with a marvelous figurecarved upon her prow. All over the ship Jason's eyes went. He saw afigure standing by the mast; for a moment he looked on it, and then thefigure became shadowy. But Jason knew that he had looked upon thegoddess whom he had seen in the ways of the forest and had seenafterward by the rough Anaurus. 

Then mast and sails were taken down and the oars were left in the ship, and the Argo was launched into the water. The heroes went back to thepalace of King Pelias to feast with the king's guests before they tooktheir places on the ship, setting out on the voyage to far Colchis. 

When they came into the palace they saw that another hero had arrived. His shield was hung in the hall; the heroes all gathered around, amazedat the size and the beauty of it. The shield shone all over with gold. In its center was the figure of Fear--of Fear that stared backward witheyes burning as with fire. The mouth was open and the teeth were shown. And other figures were wrought around the figure of Fear--Strife andPursuit and Flight; Tumult and Panic and Slaughter. The figure of Fatewas there dragging a dead man by the feet; on her shoulders Fate had agarment that was red with the blood of men. 

Around these figures were heads of snakes, heads with black jaws andglittering eyes, twelve heads such as might affright any man. And onother parts of the shield were shown the horses of Ares, the grim godof war. The figure of Ares himself was shown also. He held a spear inhis hand, and he was urging the warriors on. 

Around the inner rim of the shield the sea was shown, wrought in whitemetal. Dolphins swam in the sea, fishing for little fishes that wereshown there in bronze. Around the rim chariots were racing along withwheels running close together; there were men fighting and womenwatching from high towers. The awful figure of the Darkness of Deathwas shown there, too, with mournful eyes and the dust of battles uponher shoulders. The outer rim of the shield showed the Stream of Ocean, the stream that encircles the world; swans were soaring above andswimming on its surface. 

All in wonder the heroes gazed on the great shield, telling each otherthat only one man in all the world could carry it--Heracles the son ofZeus. Could it be that Heracles had come amongst them? They went intothe feasting hall and they saw one there who was tall as a pine tree, with unshorn tresses of hair upon his head. Heracles indeed it was! Heturned to them a smiling face with smiling eyes. Heracles! They allgathered around the strongest hero in the world, and he took the handof each in his mighty hand. 

V. THE ARGO

The heroes went the next day through the streets of Iolcus down towhere the ship lay. The ways they went through were crowded; the heroeswere splendid in their appearance, and Jason amongst them shone like astar. 

The people praised him, and one told the other that it would not belong until they would win back to Iolcus, for this band of heroes wasstrong enough, they said, to take King Æetes's city and force him togive up to them the famous Fleece of Gold. Many of the bright-eyedyouths of Iolcus went with the heroes who had come from the differentparts of Greece. 

As they marched past a temple a priestess came forth to speak to Jason;Iphias was her name. She had a prophecy to utter about the voyage. ButIphias was very old, and she stammered in her speech to Jason. What shesaid was not heard by him. The heroes went on, and ancient Iphias wasleft standing there as the old are left by the young. 

The heroes went aboard the Argo. They took their seats as at anassembly. Then Jason faced them and spoke to them all. 

"Heroes of the quest, " said Jason, "we have come aboard the great shipthat Argus has built, and all that a ship needs is in its place or isready to our hands. All that we wait for now is the coming of themorning's breeze that will set us on our way for far Colchis. 

"One thing we have first to do--that is, to choose a leader who willdirect us all, one who will settle disputes amongst ourselves and whowill make treaties between us and the strangers that we come amongst. We must choose such a leader now. "

Jason spoke, and some looked to him and some looked to Heracles. ButHeracles stood up, and, stretching out his hand, said:

"Argonauts! Let no one amongst you offer the leadership to me. I willnot take it. The hero who brought us together and made all things readyfor our going--it is he and no one else who should be our leader inthis voyage. "

So Heracles said, and the Argonauts all stood up and raised a cry forJason. Then Jason stepped forward, and he took the hand of eachArgonaut in his hand, and he swore that he would lead them with all themind and all the courage that he possessed. And he prayed the gods thatit would be given to him to lead them back safely with the GoldenFleece glittering on the mast of the Argo. 

They drew lots for the benches they would sit at; they took the placesthat for the length of the voyage they would have on the ship. Theymade sacrifice to the gods and they waited for the breeze of themorning that would help them away from Iolcus. 

And while they waited Æson, the father of Jason, sat at his own hearth, bowed and silent in his grief. Alcimide, his wife, sat near him, butshe was not silent; she lamented to the women of Iolcus who weregathered around her. "I did not go down to the ship, " she said, "forwith my grief I would not be a bird of ill omen for the voyage. By thishearth my son took farewell of me--the only son I ever bore. From thedoorway I watched him go down the street of the city, and I heard thepeople shout as he went amongst them, they glorying in my son'ssplendid appearance. Ah, that I might live to see his return and tohear the shout that will go up when the people look on Jason again! ButI know that my life will not be spared so long; I will not look on myson when he comes back from the dangers he will run in the quest of theGolden Fleece. "

Then the women of Iolcus asked her to tell them of the Golden Fleece, and Alcimide told them of it and of the sorrows that were upon the raceof Aeolus. 

Cretheus, the father of Æson, and Pelias, was of the race of Aeolus, and of the race of Aeolus, too, was Athamas, the king who ruled inThebes at the same time that Cretheus ruled in Iolcus. And the firstchildren of Athamas were Phrixus and Helle. 

"Ah, Phrixus and ah, Helle, " Alcimide lamented, "what griefs you havebrought on the race of Aeolus! And what griefs you yourselves suffered!The evil that Athamas, your father, did you lives to be a curse to theline of Aeolus!

"Athamas was wedded first to Nephele, the mother of Phrixus and Helle, the youth and maiden. But Athamas married again while the mother ofthese children was still living, and Ino, the new queen, drove Nepheleand her children out of the king's palace. 

"And now was Nephele most unhappy. She had to live as a servant, andher children were servants to the servants of the palace. They wereclad in rags and had little to eat, and they were beaten often by theservants who wished to win the favor of the new queen. 

"But although they wore rags and had menial tasks to do, Phrixus andHelle looked the children of a queen. The boy was tall, and in his eyesthere often came the flash of power, and the girl looked as if shewould grow into a lovely maiden. And when Athamas, their father, wouldmeet them by chance he would sigh, and Queen Ino would know by thatsigh that he had still some love for them in his heart. Afterward shewould have to use all the power she possessed to win the king back fromthinking upon his children. 

"And now Queen Ino had children of her own. She knew that the peoplereverenced the children of Nephele and cared nothing for her children. And because she knew this she feared that when Athamas died Phrixus andHelle, the children of Nephele, would be brought to rule in Thebes. Then she and her children would be made to change places with them. 

"This made Queen Ino think on ways by which she could make Phrixus andHelle lose their lives. She thought long upon this, and at last adesperate plan came into her mind. 

"When it was winter she went amongst the women of the countryside, andshe gave them jewels and clothes for presents. Then she asked them todo secretly an unheard-of thing. She asked the women to roast overtheir fires the grains that had been left for seed. This the women did. Then spring came on, and the men sowed in the fields the grain that hadbeen roasted over the fires. No shoots grew up as the spring went by. In summer there was no waving greenness in the fields. Autumn came, andthere was no grain for the reaping. Then the men, not knowing what hadhappened, went to King Athamas and told him that there would be faminein the land. 

"The king sent to the temple of Artemis to ask how the people might besaved from the famine. And the guardians of the temple, having takengold from Queen Ino, told them that there would be worse and worsefamine and that all the people of Thebes would die of hunger unless theking was willing to make a great sacrifice. 

"When the king asked what sacrifice he should make he was told by theguardians of the temple that he must sacrifice to the goddess his twochildren, Phrixus and Helle. Those who were around the king, to savethemselves from famine after famine, clamored to have the childrensacrificed. Athamas, to save his people, consented to the sacrifice. 

"They went toward the king's palace. They found Helle by the bank ofthe river washing clothes. They took her and bound her. They foundPhrixus, half naked, digging in a field, and they took him, too, andbound him. That night they left brother and sister in the same prison. Helle wept over Phrixus, and Phrixus wept to think that he was not ableto do anything to save his sister. 

"The servants of the palace went to Nephele, and they mocked at her, telling her that her children would be sacrificed on the morrow. Nephele nearly went wild in her grief. And then, suddenly, there cameinto her mind the thought of a creature that might be a helper to herand to her children. 

"This creature was a ram that had wings and a wonderful fleece of gold. The god of the sea, Poseidon, had sent this wonderful ram to Athamasand Nephele as a marriage gift. And the ram had since been kept in aspecial fold. 

"To that fold Nephele went. She spent the night beside the ram prayingfor its help. The morning came and the children were taken from theirprison and dressed in white, and wreaths were put upon their heads tomark them as things for sacrifice. They were led in a procession to thetemple of Artemis. Behind that procession King Athamas walked, his headbowed in shame. 

"But Queen Ino's head was not bowed; rather she carried it high, forher thought was all upon her triumph. Soon Phrixus and Helle would bedead, and then, whatever happened, her own children would reign afterAthamas in Thebes. 

"Phrixus and Helle, thinking they were taking their last look at thesun, went on. And even then Nephele, holding the horns of the goldenram, was making her last prayer. The sun rose and as it did the ramspread out its great wings and flew through the air. It flew to thetemple of Artemis. Down beside the altar came the golden ram, and itstood with its horns threatening those who came. All stopped insurprise. Still the ram stood with threatening head and great goldenwings spread out. Then Phrixus ran from those who were holding him andlaid his hands upon the ram. He called to Helle and she, too, came tothe golden creature. Phrixus mounted on the ram and he pulled Helle upbeside him. Then the golden ram flew upward. Up, up, it went, and withthe children upon its back it became like a star in the day-lit sky. 

"Then Queen Ino, seeing the children saved by the golden ram, shriekedand fled away from that place. Athamas ran after her. As she ran and ashe followed hatred for her grew up within him. Ino ran on and on untilshe came to the cliffs that rose over the sea. Fearing Athamas who camebehind her she plunged down. But as she fell she was changed byPoseidon, the god of the sea. She became a seagull. Athamas, whofollowed her, was changed also; he became the sea eagle that, with beakand talons ever ready to strike, flies above the sea. 

"And the golden ram with wings outspread flew on and on. Over the seait flew while the wind whistled around the children. On and on theywent, and the children saw only the blue sea beneath them. Then poorHelle, looking downward, grew dizzy. She fell off the golden ram beforeher brother could take hold of her. Down she fell, and still the ramflew on and on. She was drowned in that sea. The people afterward namedit in memory of her, calling it 'Hellespont'--'Helle's Sea. '

"On and on the ram flew. Over a wild and barren country it flew andtoward a river. Upon that river a white city was built. Down the ramflew, and alighting on the ground, stood before the gate of that city. It was the city of Aea, in the land of Colchis. 

"The king was in the street of the city, and he joined with the crowdthat gathered around the strange golden creature that had a youth uponits back. The ram folded its wings and then the youth stood beside it. He spoke to the people, and then the king--Æetes was his name--spoke tohim, asking him from what place he had come, and what was the strangecreature upon whose back he had flown. 

"To the king and to the people Phrixus told his story, weeping to tellof Helle and her fall. Then King Æetes brought him into the city, andhe gave him a place in the palace, and for the golden ram he had aspecial fold made. 

"Soon after the ram died, and then King Æetes took its golden fleeceand hung it upon an oak tree that was in a place dedicated to Ares, thegod of war. Phrixus wed one of the daughters of the king, and men saythat afterward he went back to Thebes, his own land. 

"And as for the Golden Fleece it became the greatest of King Æetes'streasures. Well indeed does he guard it, and not with armed men only, but with magic powers. Very strong and very cunning is King Æetes, anda terrible task awaits those who would take away from him that Fleeceof Gold. "

So Alcimide spoke, sorrowfully telling to the women the story of theGolden Fleece that her son Jason was going in quest of. So she spoke, and the night waned, and the morning of the sailing of the Argo came on. 

And when the Argonauts beheld the dawn upon the high peaks of Pelionthey arose and poured out wine in offering to Zeus, the highest of thegods. Then Argo herself gave forth a strange cry, for the beam fromDodona that had been formed into her prow had endued her with life. Sheuttered a strange cry, and as she did the heroes took their places atthe benches, one after the other, as had been arranged by lot, andTiphys, the helmsman, went to the steering place. To the sound ofOrpheus's lyre they smote with oars the rushing sea water, and thesurge broke over the oar blades. The sails were let out and the breezecame into them, piping shrilly, and the fishes came darting through thegreen sea, great and small, and followed them, gamboling along thewatery paths. And Chiron, the king-centaur, came down from the MountainPelion, and standing with his feet in the foam cried out, "Good speed, O Argonauts, good speed, and a sorrowless return. "

THE BEGINNING OF THINGS

Orpheus sang to his lyre, Orpheus the minstrel, who knew the ways andthe stories of the gods; out in the open sea on the first morning ofthe voyage Orpheus sang to them of the beginning of things. 

He sang how at first Earth and Heaven and Sea were all mixed andmingled together. There was neither Light nor Darkness then, but only aDimness. This was Chaos. And from Chaos came forth Night and Erebus. From Night was born Aether, the Upper Air, and from Night and Erebuswedded there was born Day. 

And out of Chaos came Earth, and out of Earth came the starry Heaven. And from Heaven and Earth wedded there were born the Titan gods andgoddesses--Oceanus, Coeus, Crius, Hyperion, Iapetus; Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, gold-crowned Phoebe, and lovely Tethys. And thenHeaven and Earth had for their child Cronos, the most cunning of all. 

Cronos wedded Rhea, and from Cronos and Rhea were born the gods whowere different from the Titan gods. 

But Heaven and Earth had other children--Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes. These were giants, each with fifty heads and a hundred arms. And Heavengrew fearful when he looked on these giant children, and he hid themaway in the deep places of the Earth. 

Cronos hated Heaven, his father. He drove Heaven, his father, andEarth, his mother, far apart. And far apart they stay, for they havenever been able to come near each other since. And Cronos married toRhea had for children Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Aidoneus, and Poseidon, and these all belonged to the company of the deathless gods. Cronos wasfearful that one of his sons would treat him as he had treated Heaven, his father. So when another child was born to him and his wife Rhea hecommanded that the child be given to him so that he might swallow him. But Rhea wrapped a great stone in swaddling clothes and gave the stoneto Cronos. And Cronos swallowed the stone, thinking to swallow hislatest-born child. 

That child was Zeus. Earth took Zeus and hid him in a deep cave andthose who minded and nursed the child beat upon drums so that his criesmight not be heard. His nurse was Adrastia; when he was able to playshe gave him a ball to play with. All of gold was the ball, with adark-blue spiral around it. When the boy Zeus would play with this ballit would make a track across the sky, flaming like a star. 

Hyperion the Titan god wed Theia the Titan goddess, and their childrenwere Hellos, the bright Sun, and Selene, the clear Moon. And Coeus wedPhoebe, and their children were Leto, who is kind to gods and men, andAsteria of happy name, and Hecate, whom Zeus honored above all. Now thegods who were the children of Cronos and Rhea went up unto the MountainOlympus, and there they built their shining palaces. But the Titan godswho were born of Heaven and Earth went up to the Mountain Othrys, andthere they had their thrones. 

Between the Olympians and the Titan gods of Othrys a war began. Neitherside might prevail against the other. But now Zeus, grown up to be ayouth, thought of how he might help the Olympians to overthrow theTitan gods. 

He went down into the deep parts of the Earth where the giants Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes had been hidden by their father. Cronos had boundthem, weighing them down with chains. But now Zeus loosed them and thehundred-armed giants in their gratitude gave him the lightning andshowed him how to use the thunderbolt. 

Zeus would have the giants fight against the Titan gods. But althoughthey had mighty strength Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes had no fire ofcourage in their hearts. Zeus thought of a way to give them thiscourage; he brought the food and drink of the gods to them, ambrosiaand nectar, and when they had eaten and drunk their spirits grew withinthe giants, and they were ready to make war upon the Titan gods. 

"Sons of Earth and Heaven, " said Zeus to the hundred-armed giants, "along time now have the Dwellers on Olympus been striving with the Titangods. Do you lend your unconquerable might to the gods and help them tooverthrow the Titans. "

Cottus, the eldest of the giants, answered, "Divine One, through yourdevising we are come back again from the murky gloom of the mid Earthand we have escaped from the hard bonds that Cronos laid upon us. Ourminds are fixed to aid you in the war against the Titan gods. "

So the hundred-armed giants said, and thereupon Zeus went and hegathered around him all who were born of Cronos and Rhea. Cronoshimself hid from Zeus. Then the giants, with their fifty heads growingfrom their shoulders and their hundred hands, went forth against theTitan gods. The boundless sea rang terribly and the earth crashedloudly; wide Heaven was shaken and groaned, and high Olympus reeledfrom its foundation. Holding huge rocks in their hands the giantsattacked the Titan gods. 

Then Zeus entered the war. He hurled the lightning; the bolts flewthick and fast from his strong hand, with thunder and lightning andflame. The earth crashed around in burning, the forests crackled withfire, the ocean seethed. And hot flames wrapped the earth-born Titansall around. Three hundred rocks, one upon another, did Cottus, Briareus, and Gyes hurl upon the Titans. And when their ranks werebroken the giants seized upon them and held them for Zeus. 

But some of the Titan gods, seeing that the strife for them was vain, went over to the side of Zeus. These Zeus became friendly with. But theother Titans he bound in chains and he hurled them down to Tartarus. 

As far as Earth is from Heaven so is Tartarus from Earth. A brazenanvil falling down from Heaven to Earth nine days and nine nights wouldreach the earth upon the tenth day. And again, a brazen anvil fallingfrom Earth nine nights and nine days would reach Tartarus upon thetenth night. Around Tartarus runs a fence of bronze and Night spreadsin a triple line all about it, as a necklace circles the neck. ThereZeus imprisoned the Titan gods who had fought against him; they arehidden in the misty gloom, in a dank place, at the ends of the Earth. And they may not go out, for Poseidon fixed gates of bronze upon theirprison, and a wall runs all round it. There Cottus, Briareus, and Gyesstay, guarding them. 

And there, too, is the home of Night. Night and Day meet each other atthat place, as they pass a threshold of bronze. They draw near and theygreet one another, but the house never holds them both together, forwhile one is about to go down into the house, the other is leavingthrough the door. One holds Light in her hand and the other holds inher arms Sleep. 

There the children of dark Night have their dwellings--Sleep, andDeath, his brother. The sun never shines upon these two. Sleep may roamover the wide earth, and come upon the sea, and he is kindly to men. But Death is not kindly, and whoever he seizes upon, him he holds fast. 

There, too, stands the hall of the lord of the Underworld, Aidoneus, the brother of Zeus. Zeus gave him the Underworld to be his dominionwhen he shared amongst the Olympians the world that Cronos had ruledover. A fearful hound guards the hall of Aidoneus: Cerberus he iscalled; he has three heads. On those who go within that hall Cerberusfawns, but on those who would come out of it he springs and woulddevour them. 

Not all the Titans did Zeus send down to Tartarus. Those of them whohad wisdom joined him, and by their wisdom Zeus was able to overcomeCronos. Then Cronos went to live with the friendly Titan gods, whileZeus reigned over Olympus, becoming the ruler of gods and men. 

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

VI. POLYDEUCES' VICTORY AND HERACLES' LOSS

All the places that the Argonauts came nigh to and went past need notbe told--Meliboea, where they escaped a stormy beach; Homole, fromwhere they were able to look on Ossa and holy Olympus; Lemnos, theisland that they were to return to; the unnamed country where theEarth-born Men abide, each having six arms, two growing from hisshoulders, and four fitting close to his terrible sides; and then theMountain of the Bears, where they climbed, to make sacrifice there toRhea, the mighty mother of the gods. 

Afterward, for a whole day, no wind blew and the sail of the Argo hungslack. But the heroes swore to each other that they would make theirship go as swiftly as if the storm-footed steeds of Poseidon wereracing to overtake her. Mightily they labored at the oars, and no onewould be first to leave his rower's bench. 

And then, just as the breeze of the evening came up, and just as therest of the heroes were leaning back, spent with their labor, the oarthat Heracles still pulled at broke, and half of it was carried away bythe waves. Heracles sat there in ill humor, for he did not know what todo with his unlaboring hands. 

All through the night they went on with a good breeze filling theirsails, and next day they came to the mouth of the River Cius. Therethey landed so that Heracles might get himself an oar. No sooner didthey set their feet upon the shore than the hero went off into theforest, to pull up a tree that he might shape into an oar. 

Where they had landed was near to the country of the Bebrycians, a rudepeople whose king was named Amycus. Now while Heracles was away fromthem this king came with his followers, huge, rude men, all armed withclubs, down to where the Argonauts were lighting their fires on thebeach. 

He did not greet them courteously, asking them what manner of men theywere and whither they were bound, nor did he offer them hospitality. Instead, he shouted at them insolently:

"Listen to something that you rovers had better know. I am Amycus, andany stranger that comes to this land has to get into a boxing bout withme. That's the law that I have laid down. Unless you have one amongstyou who can stand up to me you won't be let go back to your ship. Ifyou don't heed my law, look out, for something's going to happen toyou. "

So he shouted, that insolent king, and his followers raised their clubsand growled approval of what their master said. But the Argonauts werenot dismayed at the words of Amycus. One of them stepped toward theBebrycians. He was Polydeuces, good at boxing. 

"Offer us no violence, king, " said Polydeuces. "We are ready to obeythe law that you have laid down. Willingly do I take up your challenge, and I will box a bout with you. "

The Argonauts cheered when they saw Polydeuces, the good boxer, stepforward, and when they heard what he had to say. Amycus turned andshouted to his followers, and one of them brought up two pairs ofboxing gauntlets--of rough cowhide they were. The Argonauts feared thatPolydeuces' hands might have been made numb with pulling at the oar, and some of them went to him, and took his hands and rubbed them tomake them supple; others took from off his shoulders his beautifullycolored mantle. 

Amycus straightway put on his gauntlets and threw off his mantle; hestood there amongst his followers with his great arms crossed, glowering at the Argonauts as a wild beast might glower. And when thetwo faced each other Amycus seemed like one of the Earthborn Men, darkand hugely shaped, while Helen's brother stood there light andbeautiful. Polydeuces was like that star whose beams are lovely atevening-tide. 

Like the wave that breaks over a ship and gives the sailors no respiteAmycus came on at Polydeuces. He pushed in upon him, thinking to bearhim down and overwhelm him. But as the skillful steersman keeps theship from being overwhelmed by the monstrous wave, so Polydeuces, allskill and lightness, baffled the rushes of Amycus. At last Amycus, standing on the tips of his toes and rising high above him, tried tobring down his great fist upon the head of Polydeuces. The hero swungaside and took the blow on his shoulder. Then he struck his blow. Itwas a strong one, and under it the king of the Bebrycians staggered andfell down. "You see, " said Polydeuces, "that we keep your law. "

The Argonauts shouted, but the rude Bebrycians raised their clubs torush upon them. Then would the heroes have been hard pressed, andforced, perhaps, to get back to the Argo. But suddenly Heraclesappeared amongst them, coming up from the forest. 

He carried a pine tree in his hands with all its branches still uponit, and seeing this mighty-statured man appear with the great tree inhis hands, the Bebrycians hurried off, carrying their fallen king withthem. Then the Argonauts gathered around Polydeuces, saluted him astheir champion, and put a crown of victory upon his head. Heracles, meanwhile, lopped off the branches of the pine tree and began tofashion it into an oar. 

The fires were lighted upon the shore, and the thoughts of all wereturned to supper. Then young Hylas, who used to sit by Heracles andkeep bright the hero's arms and armor, took a bronze vessel and went tofetch water. 

Never was there a boy so beautiful as young Hylas. He had golden curlsthat tumbled over his brow. He had deep blue eyes and a face thatsmiled at every glance that was given him, at every word that was saidto him. Now as he walked through the flowering grasses, with his kneesbare, and with the bright vessel swinging in his hand, he looked mostlovely. Heracles had brought the boy with him from the country of theDryopians; he would have him sit beside him on the bench of the Argo, and the ill humors that often came upon him would go at the words andthe smile of Hylas. 

Now the spring that Hylas was going toward was called Pegae, and it washaunted by the nymphs. They were dancing around it when they heardHylas singing. They stole softly off to watch him. Hidden behind treesthe nymphs saw the boy come near, and they felt such love for him thatthey thought they could never let him go from their sight. 

They stole back to their spring, and they sank down below its clearsurface. Then came Hylas singing a song that he had heard from hismother. He bent down to the spring, and the brimming water flowed intothe sounding bronze of the pitcher. Then hands came out of the water. One of the nymphs caught Hylas by the elbow; another put her armsaround his neck, another took the hand that held the vessel of bronze. The pitcher sank down to the depths of the spring. The hands of thenymphs clasped Hylas tighter, tighter; the water bubbled around him asthey drew him down. Down, down they drew him, and into the cold andglimmering cave where they live. 

There Hylas stayed. But although the nymphs kissed him and sang to him, and showed him lovely things, Hylas was not content to be there. 

Where the Argonauts were the fires burned, the moon arose, and stillHylas did not return. Then they began to fear lest a wild beast haddestroyed the boy. One went to Heracles and told him that young Hylashad not come back, and that they were fearful for him. Heracles flungdown the pine tree that he was fashioning into an oar, and he dashedalong the way that Hylas had gone as if a gadfly were stinging him. "Hylas, Hylas, " he cried. But Hylas, in the cold and glimmering cavethat the nymphs had drawn him into, did not hear the call of his friendHeracles. 

All the Argonauts went searching, calling as they went through theisland, "Hylas, Hylas, Hylas!" But only their own calls came back tothem. The morning star came up, and Tiphys, the steersman, called tothem from the Argo. And when they came to the ship Tiphys told themthat they would have to go aboard and make ready to sail from thatplace. 

They called to Heracles, and Heracles at last came down to the ship. They spoke to him, saying that they would have to sail away. Heracleswould not go on board. "I will not leave this island, " he said, "untilI find young Hylas or learn what has happened to him. "

Then Jason arose to give the command to depart. But before the wordswere said Telamon stood up and faced him. "Jason, " he said angrily, "you do not bid Heracles come on board, and you would have the Argoleave without him. You would leave Heracles here so that he may not bewith us on the quest where his glory might overshadow your glory, Jason. "

Jason said no word, but he sat back on his bench with head bowed. Andthen, even as Telamon said these angry words, a strange figure rose upout of the waves of the sea. 

It was the figure of a man, wrinkled and old, with seaweed in his beardand his hair. There was a majesty about him, and the Argonauts all knewthat this was one of the immortals--he was Nereus, the ancient one ofthe sea. 

"To Heracles, and to you, the rest of the Argonauts, I have a thing tosay, " said the ancient one, Nereus. "Know, first, that Hylas has beentaken by the nymphs who love him and who think to win his love, andthat he will stay forever with them in their cold and glimmering cave. For Hylas seek no more. And to you, Heracles, I will say this: Goaboard the Argo again; the ship will take you to where a great laborawaits you, and which, in accomplishing, you will work out the will ofZeus. You will know what this labor is when a spirit seizes on you. " Sothe ancient one of the sea said, and he sank back beneath the waves. 

Heracles went aboard the Argo once more, and he took his place on thebench, the new oar in his hand. Sad he was to think that young Hylaswho used to sit at his knee would never be there again. The breezefilled the sail, the Argonauts pulled at the oars, and in sadness theywatched the island where young Hylas had been lost to them recede fromtheir view. 

VII. KING PHINEUS

Said Tiphys, the steersman: "If we could enter the Sea of Pontus, wecould make our way across that sea to Colchis in a short time. But thepassage into the Sea of Pontus is most perilous, and few mortals dareeven to make approach to it. "

Said Jason, the chieftain of the host: "The dangers of the passage, Tiphys, we have spoken of, and it may be that we shall have to carryArgo overland to the Sea of Pontus. But You, Tiphys, have spoken of awise king who is hereabouts, and who might help us to make thedangerous passage. Speak again to us, and tell us what the dangers ofthe passage are, and who the king is who may be able to help us to makethese dangers less. "

Then said Tiphys, the steersman of the Argo: "No ship sailed by mortalshas as yet gone through the passage that brings this sea into the Seaof Pontus. In the way are the rocks that mariners call The Clashers. These rocks are not fixed as rocks should be, but they rush one againstthe other, dashing up the sea, and crushing whatever may be between. Yea, if Argo were of iron, and if she were between these rocks whenthey met, she would be crushed to bits. I have sailed as far as thatpassage, but seeing The Clashers strike together I turned back my ship, and journeyed as far as the Sea of Pontus overland. 

"But I have been told of one who knows how a ship may be taken throughthe passage that The Clashers make so perilous. He who knows is a kinghereabouts, Phineus, who has made himself as wise as the gods. To noone has Phineus told how the passage may be made, but knowing what highfavor has been shown to us, the Argonauts, it may be that he will tellus. "

So Tiphys said, and Jason commanded him to steer the Argo toward thecity where ruled Phineus, the wise king. 

To Salmydessus, then, where Phineus ruled, Tiphys steered the Argo. They left Heracles with Tiphys aboard to guard the ship, and, with therest of the heroes, Jason went through the streets of the city. Theymet many men, but when they asked any of them how they might come tothe palace of King Phineus the men turned fearfully away. 

They found their way to the king's palace. Jason spoke to the servantsand bade them tell the king of their coming. The servants, too, seemedfearful, and as Jason and his comrades were wondering what there wasabout him that made men fearful at his name, Phineus, the king, cameamongst them. 

Were it not that he had a purple border to his robe no one would haveknown him for the king, so miserable did this man seem. He crept along, touching the walls, for the eyes in his head were blind and withered. His body was shrunken, and when he stood before them leaning on hisstaff he was like to a lifeless thing. He turned his blinded eyes uponthem, looking from one to the other as if he were searching for a face. 

Then his sightless eyes rested upon Zetes and Calais, the sons ofBoreas, the North Wind. A change came into his face as it turned uponthem. One would think that he saw the wonder that these two wereendowed with--the wings that grew upon their ankles. It was awhilebefore he turned his face from them; then he spoke to Jason and said:

"You have come to have counsel with one who has the wisdom of the gods. Others before you have come for such counsel, but seeing the miserythat is visible upon me they went without asking for counsel: I wouldstrive to hold you here for a while. Stay, and have sight of the miserythe gods visit upon those who would be as wise as they. And when youhave seen the thing that is wont to befall me, it may be that help willcome from you for me. "

Then Phineus, the blind king, left them, and after a while the heroeswere brought into a great hall, and they were invited to restthemselves there while a banquet was being prepared for them. The hallwas richly adorned, but it looked to the heroes as if it had knownstrange happenings; rich hangings were strewn upon the ground, an ivorychair was overturned, and the dais where the king sat had stains uponit. The servants who went through the hall making ready the banquetwere white-faced and fearful. 

The feast was laid on a great table, and the heroes were invited to sitdown to it. The king did not come into the hall before they sat down, but a table with food was set before the dais. When the heroes hadfeasted, the king came into the hall. He sat at the table, blind, white-faced, and shrunken, and the Argonauts all turned their faces tohim. 

Said Phineus, the blind king: "You see, O heroes, how much my wisdomavails me. You see me blind and shrunken, who tried to make myself inwisdom equal to the gods. And yet you have not seen all. Watch now andsee what feasts Phineus, the wise king, has to delight him. "

He made a sign, and the white-faced and trembling servants brought foodand set it upon the table that was before him. The king bent forward asif to eat, and they saw that his face was covered with the damp offear. He took food from the dish and raised it to his mouth. As he did, the doors of the hall were flung open as if by a storm. Strange shapesflew into the hall and set themselves beside the king. And when theArgonauts looked upon them they saw that these were terrible andunsightly shapes. 

They were things that had the wings and claws of birds and the heads ofwomen. Black hair and gray feathers were mixed upon them; they had redeyes, and streaks of blood were upon their breasts and wings. And asthe king raised the food to his mouth they flew at him and buffeted hishead with their wings, and snatched the food from his hands. Then theydevoured or scattered what was upon the table, and all the time theyscreamed and laughed and mocked. 

"Ah, now ye see, " Phineus panted, "what it is to have wisdom equal tothe wisdom of the gods. Now ye all see my misery. Never do I strive toput food to my lips but these foul things, the Harpies, the Snatchers, swoop down and scatter or devour what I would eat. Crumbs they leave methat my life may not altogether go from me, but these crumbs they makefoul to my taste and my smell. "

And one of the Harpies perched herself on the back of the king's throneand looked upon the heroes with red eyes. "Hah, " she screamed, "youbring armed men into your feasting hall, thinking to scare us away. Never, Phineus, can you scare us from you! Always you will have us, theSnatchers, beside you when you would still your ache of hunger. Whatcan these men do against us who are winged and who can travel throughthe ways of the air?"

So said the unsightly Harpy, and the heroes drew together, made fearfulby these awful shapes. All drew back except Zetes and Calais, the sonsof the North Wind. They laid their hands upon their swords. The wingson their shoulders spread out and the wings at their heels trembled. Phineus, the king, leaned forward and panted: "By the wisdom I have Iknow that there are two amongst you who can save me. O make haste tohelp me, ye who can help me, and I will give the counsel that youArgonauts have come to me for, and besides I will load down your shipwith treasure and costly stuffs. Oh, make haste, ye who can help me!"

Hearing the king speak like this, the Harpies gathered together andgnashed with their teeth, and chattered to one another. Then, seeingZetes and Calais with their hands upon their swords, they rose up ontheir wings and flew through the wide doors of the hall. The king criedout to Zetes and Calais. But the sons of the North Wind had alreadyrisen with their wings, and they were after the Harpies, their brightswords in their hands. 

On flew the Harpies, screeching and gnashing their teeth in anger anddismay, for now they felt that they might be driven from Salmydessus, where they had had such royal feasts. They rose high in the air andflew out toward the sea. But high as the Harpies rose, the sons of theNorth Wind rose higher. The Harpies cried pitiful cries as they flewon, but Zetes and Calais felt no pity for them, for they knew thatthese dread Snatchers, with the stains of blood upon their breasts andwings, had shown pity neither to Phineus nor to any other. 

On they flew until they came to the island that is called the FloatingIsland. There the Harpies sank down with wearied wings. Zetes andCalais were upon them now, and they would have cut them to pieces withtheir bright swords, if the messenger of Zeus, Iris, with the goldenwings, had not come between. 

"Forbear to slay the Harpies, sons of Boreas, " cried Iris warningly, "forbear to slay the Harpies that are the hounds of Zeus. Let themcower here and hide themselves, and I, who come from Zeus, will swearthe oath that the gods most dread, that they will never again come toSalmydessus to trouble Phineus, the king. "

The heroes yielded to the words of Iris. She took the oath that thegods most dread--the oath by the Water of Styx--that never again wouldthe Harpies show themselves to Phineus. Then Zetes and Calais turnedback toward the city of Salmydessus. The island that they drove theHarpies to had been called the Floating Island, but thereafter it wascalled the Island of Turning. It was evening when they turned back, andall night long the Argonauts and King Phineus sat in the hall of thepalace and awaited the return of Zetes and Calais, the sons of theNorth Wind. 

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

They came into King Phineus's hall, their bright swords in their hands. The Argonauts crowded around them and King Phineus raised his head andstretched out his thin hands to them. And Zetes and Calais told theircomrades and told the king how they had driven the Harpies down to theFloating Island, and how Iris, the messenger of Zeus, had sworn thegreat oath that was by the Water of Styx that never again would theSnatchers show themselves in the palace. 

Then a great golden cup brimming with wine was brought to the king. Hestood holding it in his trembling hands, fearful even then that theHarpies would tear the cup out of his hands. He drank--long and deeplyhe drank--and the dread shapes of the Snatchers did not appear. Downamongst the heroes he came and he took into his the hands of Zetes andCalais, the sons of the North Wind. 

"O heroes greater than any kings, " he said, "ye have delivered me fromthe terrible curse that the gods had sent upon me. I thank ye, and Ithank ye all, heroes of the quest. And the thanks of Phineus will muchavail you all. "

Clasping the hands of Zetes and Calais he led the heroes through hallafter hall of his palace and down into his treasure chamber. There hebestowed upon the banishers of the Harpies crowns and arm rings of goldand richly-colored garments and brazen chests in which to store thetreasure that he gave. And to Jason he gave an ivory-hilted andgolden-cased sword, and on each of the voyagers he bestowed a richgift, not forgetting the heroes who had remained on the Argo, Heraclesand Tiphys. 

They went back to the great hall, and a feast was spread for the kingand for the Argonauts. They ate from rich dishes and they drank fromflowing wine cups. Phineus ate and drank as the heroes did, and nodread shapes came before him to snatch from him nor to buffet him. Butas Jason looked upon the man who had striven to equal the gods inwisdom, and noted his blinded eyes and shrunken face, he resolved neverto harbor in his heart such presumption as Phineus had harbored. 

When the feast was finished the king spoke to Jason, telling him howthe Argo might be guided through the Symplegades, the dread passageinto the Sea of Pontus. He told them to bring their ship near to theClashing Rocks. And one who had the keenest sight amongst them was tostand at the prow of the ship holding a pigeon in his hands. As therocks came together he was to loose the pigeon. If it found a space tofly through they would know that the Argo could make the passage, andthey were to steer straight toward where the pigeon had flown. But ifit fluttered down to the sea, or flew back to them, or became lost inthe clouds of spray, they were to know that the Argo might not makethat passage. Then the heroes would have to take their ship overland towhere they might reach the Sea of Pontus. 

That day they bade farewell to Phineus, and with the treasures he hadbestowed upon them they went down to the Argo. To Heracles and Tiphysthey gave the presents that the king had sent them. In the morning theydrew the Argo out of the harbor of Salmydessus, and set sail again. 

But not until long afterward did they come to the Symplegades, thepassage that was to be their great trial. For they landed first in acountry that was full of woods, where they were welcomed by a king whohad heard of the voyagers and of their quest. There they stayed andhunted for many days in the woods. And there a great loss befell theArgonauts, for Tiphys, as he went through the woods, was bitten by asnake and died. He who had braved so many seas and so many storms losthis life away from the ship. The Argonauts made a tomb for him on theshore of that land--a great pile of stones, in which they fixed uprighthis steering oar. Then they set sail again, and Nauplius was made thesteersman of the ship. 

The course was not so clear to Nauplius as it had been to Tiphys. Thesteersman did not find his bearings, and for many days and nights theArgo was driven on a backward course. They came to an island that theyknew to be that Island of Lemnos that they had passed on the first daysof the voyage, and they resolved to rest there for a while, and then topress on for the passage into the Sea of Pontus. 

They brought the Argo near the shore. They blew trumpets and set theloudest-voiced of the heroes to call out to those upon the island. Butno answer came to them, and all day the Argo lay close to the island. 

There were hidden people watching them, people with bows in their handsand arrows laid along the bowstrings. And the people who thusthreatened the unknowing Argonauts were women and young girls. 

There were no men upon the Island of Lemnos. Years before a curse hadfallen upon the people of that island, putting strife between the menand the women. And the women had mastered the men and had driven themaway from Lemnos. Since then some of the women had grown old, and thegirls who were children when their fathers and brothers had beenbanished were now of an age with Atalanta, the maiden who went with theArgonauts. 

They chased the wild beasts of the island, and they tilled the fields, and they kept in good repair the houses that were built before thebanishing of the men. The older women served those who were younger, and they had a queen, a girl whose name was Hypsipyle. 

The women who watched with bows in their hands would have shot theirarrows at the Argonauts if Hypsipyle's nurse, Polyxo, had not stayedthem. She forbade them to shoot at the strangers until she had broughtto them the queen's commands. 

She hastened to the palace and she found the young queen weaving at aloom. She told her about the ship and the strangers on board the ship, and she asked the queen what word she should bring to the guardianmaidens. 

"Before you give a command, Hypsipyle, " said Polyxo, the nurse, "consider these words of mine. We, the elder women, are becomingancient now; in a few years we will not be able to serve you, theyounger women, and in a few years more we will have gone into the graveand our places will know us no more. And you, the younger women, willbe becoming strengthless, and no more will be you able to hunt in thewoods nor to till the fields, and a hard old age will be before you. 

"The ship that is beside our shore may have come at a good time. Thoseon board are goodly heroes. Let them land in Lemnos, and stay if theywill. Let them wed with the younger women so that there may be husbandsand wives, helpers and helpmeets, again in Lemnos. "

Hypsipyle, the queen, let the shuttle fall from her hands and stayedfor a while looking full into Polyxo's face. Had her nurse heard hersay something like this out of her dreams, she wondered? She bade thenurse tell the guardian maidens to let the heroes land in safety, andthat she herself would put the crown of King Thoas, her father, uponher head, and go down to the shore to welcome them. 

And now the Argonauts saw people along the shore and they caught sightof women's dresses. The loudest-voiced amongst them shouted again, andthey heard an answer given in a woman's voice. They drew up the Argoupon the shore, and they set foot upon the land of Lemnos. 

Jason stepped forth at the head of his comrades, and he was met byHypsipyle, her father's crown upon her head, at the head of hermaidens. They greeted each other, and Hypsipyle bade the heroes comewith them to their town that was called Myrine and to the palace thatwas there. 

Wonderingly the Argonauts went, looking on women's forms and faces andseeing no men. They came to the palace and went within. Hypsipylemounted the stone throne that was King Thoas's and the four maidens whowere her guards stood each side of her. She spoke to the heroes ingreeting and bade them stay in peace for as long as they would. Shetold them of the curse that had fallen upon the people of Lemnos, andof how the menfolk had been banished. Jason, then, told the queen whatvoyage he and his companions were upon and what quest they were making. Then in friendship the Argonauts and the women of Lemnos stayedtogether--all the Argonauts except Heracles, and he, grieving still forHylas, stayed aboard the Argo. 

IX. THE LEMNIAN MAIDENS

And now the Argonauts were no longer on a ship that was being dashed onby the sea and beaten upon by the winds. They had houses to live in;they had honey-tasting things to eat, and when they went through theisland each man might have with him one of the maidens of Lemnos. Itwas a change that was welcome to the wearied voyagers. 

They helped the women in the work of the fields; they hunted the beastswith them, and over and over again they were surprised at howskillfully the women had ordered all affairs. Everything in Lemnos wasstrange to the Argonauts, and they stayed day after day, thinking eachday a fresh adventure. 

Sometimes they would leave the fields and the chase, and this hero orthat hero, with her who was his friend amongst the Lemnian maidens, would go far into that strange land and look upon lakes that were allcovered with golden and silver water lilies, or would gather the blueflowers from creepers that grew around dark trees, or would hidethemselves so that they might listen to the quick-moving birds thatsang in the thickets. Perhaps on their way homeward they would see theArgo in the harbor, and they would think of Heracles who was aboard, and they would call to him. But the ship and the voyage they had beenon now seemed far away to them, and the Quest of the Golden Fleeceseemed to them a story they had heard and that they had thought of, butthat they could never think on again with all that fervor. 

When Jason looked on Hypsipyle he saw one who seemed to him to be onlychildlike in size. Greatly was he amazed at the words that poured forthfrom her as she stood at the stone throne of King Thoas--he was amazedas one is amazed at the rush of rich notes that comes from the throatof a little bird; all that she said was made lightning-like by hereyes--her eyes that were not clear and quiet like the eyes of themaidens he had seen in Iolcus, but that were dark and burning. Hermouth was heavy and this heavy mouth gave a shadow to her face that, but for it, was all bright and lovely. 

Hypsipyle spoke two languages--one, the language of the mothers of thewomen of Lemnos, which was rough and harsh, a speech to be flung out toslaves, and the other the language of Greece, which their fathers hadspoken, and which Hypsipyle spoke in a way that made it sound likestrange music. She spoke and walked and did all things in a queenlikeway, and Jason could see that, for all her youth and childlike size, Hypsipyle was one who was a ruler. 

From the moment she took his hand it seemed that she could not bear tobe away from him. Where he walked, she walked too; where he sat she satbefore him, looking at him with her great eyes while she laughed orsang. 

Like the perfume of strange flowers, like the savor of strange fruitwas Hypsipyle to Jason. Hours and hours he would spend sitting besideher or watching her while she arrayed herself in white or in brightlycolored garments. Not to the chase and not into the fields did Jasongo, nor did he ever go with the others into the Lemnian land; all dayhe sat in the palace with her, watching her, or listening to hersinging, or to the long, fierce speeches that she used to make to hernurse or to the four maidens who attended her. 

In the evening they would gather in the hall of the palace, theArgonauts and the Lemnian maidens who were their comrades. There weredances, and always Jason and Hypsipyle danced together. All the Lemnianmaidens sang beautifully, but none of them had any stories to tell. 

And when the Argonauts would have stories told, the Lemnian maidenswould forbid any tale that was about a god or a hero; only stories thatwere about the goddesses or about some maiden would they let be told. 

Orpheus, who knew the histories of the gods, would have told them manystories, but the only story of his that they would come from the danceto listen to was a story of the goddesses, of Demeter and her daughterPersephone. 

Demeter And Persephone

I

Once when Demeter was going through the world, giving men grain to besown in their fields, she heard a cry that came to her from across highmountains and that mounted up to her from the sea. Demeter's heartshook when she heard that cry, for she knew that it came to her fromher daughter, from her only child, young Persephone. 

She stayed not to bless the fields in which the grain was being sown, but she hurried, hurried away, to Sicily and to the fields of Enna, where she had left Persephone. All Enna she searched, and all Sicily, but she found no trace of Persephone, nor of the maidens whomPersephone had been playing with. From all whom she met she begged fortidings, but although some had seen maidens gathering flowers andplaying together, no one could tell Demeter why her child had cried outnor where she had since gone to. 

There were some who could have told her. One was Cyane, a water nymph. But Cyane, before Demeter came to her, had been changed into a springof water. And now, not being able to speak and tell Demeter where herchild had gone to and who had carried her away, she showed in the waterthe girdle of Persephone that she had caught in her hands. And Demeter, finding the girdle of her child in the spring, knew that she had beencarried off by violence. She lighted a torch at Etna's burningmountain, and for nine days and nine nights she went searching for herthrough the darkened places of the earth. 

Then, upon a high and a dark hill, the Goddess Demeter came face toface with Hecate, the Moon. Hecate, too, had heard the cry ofPersephone; she had sorrow for Demeter's sorrow: she spoke to her asthe two stood upon that dark, high hill, and told her that she shouldgo to Helios for tidings--to bright Helios, the watcher for the gods, and beg Helios to tell her who it was who had carried off by violenceher child Persephone. 

Demeter came to Helios. He was standing before his shining steeds, before the impatient steeds that draw the sun through the course of theheavens. Demeter stood in the way of those impatient steeds; she beggedof Helios who sees all things upon the earth to tell her who it was hadcarried off by violence, Persephone, her child. 

And Helios, who may make no concealment, said: "Queenly Demeter, knowthat the king of the Underworld, dark Aidoneus, has carried offPersephone to make her his queen in the realm that I never shine upon. "He spoke, and as he did, his horses shook their manes and breathed outfire, impatient to be gone. Helios sprang into his chariot and wentflashing away. 

Demeter, knowing that one of the gods had carried off Persephoneagainst her will, and knowing that what was done had been done by thewill of Zeus, would go no more into the assemblies of the gods. Shequenched the torch that she had held in her hands for nine days andnine nights; she put off her robe of goddess, and she went wanderingover the earth, uncomforted for the loss of her child. And no longerdid she appear as a gracious goddess to men; no longer did she givethem grain; no longer did she bless their fields. None of the thingsthat it had pleased her once to do would Demeter do any longer. 

II

Persephone had been playing with the nymphs who are the daughters ofOcean--Phaeno, Ianthe, Melita, Ianeira, Acast--in the lovely fields ofEnna. They went to gather flowers--irises and crocuses, lilies, narcissus, hyacinths and roseblooms--that grow in those fields. As theywent, gathering flowers in their baskets, they had sight of Pergus, thepool that the white swans come to sing in. 

Beside a deep chasm that had been made in the earth a wonder flower wasgrowing--in color it was like the crocus, but it sent forth a perfumethat was like the perfume of a hundred flowers. And Persephone thoughtas she went toward it that having gathered that flower she would havesomething much more wonderful than her companions had. 

She did not know that Aidoneus, the lord of the Underworld, had causedthat flower to grow there so that she might be drawn by it to the chasmthat he had made. 

As Persephone stooped to pluck the wonder flower, Aidoneus, in hischariot of iron, dashed up through the chasm, and grasping the maidenby the waist, set her beside him. Only Cyane, the nymph, tried to savePersephone, and it was then that she caught the girdle in her hands. 

The maiden cried out, first because her flowers had been spilled, andthen because she was being reft away. She cried out to her mother, andher cry went over high mountains and sounded up from the sea. Thedaughters of Ocean, affrighted, fled and sank down into the depths ofthe sea. 

In his great chariot of iron that was drawn by black steeds Aidoneusrushed down through the chasm he had made. Into the Underworld he went, and he dashed across the River Styx, and he brought his chariot upbeside his throne. And on his dark throne he seated Persephone, thefainting daughter of Demeter. 

III

No more did the Goddess Demeter give grain to men; no more did shebless their fields: weeds grew where grain had been growing, and menfeared that in a while they would famish for lack of bread. 

She wandered through the world, her thought all upon her child, Persephone, who had been taken from her. Once she sat by a well by awayside, thinking upon the child that she might not come to and whomight not come to her. 

She saw four maidens come near; their grace and their youth remindedher of her child. They stepped lightly along, carrying bronze pitchersin their hands, for they were coming to the Well of the Maiden besidewhich Demeter sat. 

The maidens thought when they looked upon her that the goddess was someancient woman who had a sorrow in her heart. Seeing that she was sonoble and so sorrowful-looking, the maidens, as they drew the clearwater into their pitchers, spoke kindly to her. 

"Why do you stay away from the town, old mother?" one of the maidenssaid. "Why do you not come to the houses? We think that you look as ifyou were shelterless and alone, and we should like to tell you thatthere are many houses in the town where you would be welcomed. "

Demeter's heart went out to the maidens, because they looked so youngand fair and simple and spoke out of such kind hearts. She said tothem: "Where can I go, dear children? My people are far away, and thereare none in all the world who would care to be near me. "

Said one of the maidens: "There are princes in the land who wouldwelcome you in their houses if you would consent to nurse one of theiryoung children. But why do I speak of other princes beside Celeus, ourfather? In his house you would indeed have a welcome. But lately a babyhas been born to our mother, Metaneira, and she would greatly rejoiceto have one as wise as you mind little Demophoon. "

All the time that she watched them and listened to their voices Demeterfelt that the grace and youth of the maidens made them like Persephone. She thought that it would ease her heart to be in the house where thesemaidens were, and she was not loath to have them go and ask of theirmother to have her come to nurse the infant child. 

Swiftly they ran back to their home, their hair streaming behind themlike crocus flowers; kind and lovely girls whose names are wellremembered--Callidice and Cleisidice, Demo and Callithoe. They went totheir mother and they told her of the stranger-woman whose name wasDoso. She would make a wise and a kind nurse for little Demophoon, theysaid. Their mother, Metaneira, rose up from the couch she was sittingon to welcome the stranger. But when she saw her at the doorway, awecame over her, so majestic she seemed. 

Metaneira would have her seat herself on the couch but the goddess tookthe lowliest stool, saying in greeting: "May the gods give you allgood, lady. "

"Sorrow has set you wandering from your good home, " said Metaneira tothe goddess, "but now that you have come to this place you shall haveall that this house can bestow if you will rear up to youth the infantDemophoon, child of many hopes and prayers. "

The child was put into the arms of Demeter; she clasped him to herbreast, and little Demophoon looked up into her face and smiled. ThenDemeter's heart went out to the child and to all who were in thehousehold. 

He grew in strength and beauty in her charge. And little Demophoon wasnot nourished as other children are nourished, but even as the gods intheir childhood were nourished. Demeter fed him on ambrosia, breathingon him with her divine breath the while. And at night she laid him onthe hearth, amongst the embers, with the fire all around him. This shedid that she might make him immortal, and like to the gods. 

But one night Metaneira looked out from the chamber where she lay, andshe saw the nurse take little Demophoön and lay him in a place on thehearth with the burning brands all around him. Then Metaneira startedup, and she sprang to the hearth, and she snatched the child frombeside the burning brands. "Demophoön, my son, " she cried, "what wouldthis stranger-woman do to you, bringing bitter grief to me that ever Ilet her take you in her arms?"

Then said Demeter: "Foolish indeed are you mortals, and not able toforesee what is to come to you of good or of evil. "

"Foolish indeed are you, Metaneira, for in your heedlessness you havecut off this child from an immortality like to the immortality of thegods themselves. For he had lain in my bosom and had become dear to meand I would have bestowed upon him the greatest gift that the DivineOnes can bestow, for I would have made him deathless and unaging. Allthis, now, has gone by. Honor he shall have indeed, but Demophoon willknow age and death. "

The seeming old age that was upon her had fallen from Demeter; beautyand stature were hers, and from her robe there came a heavenlyfragrance. There came such light from her body that the chamber shone. Metaneira remained trembling and speechless, unmindful even to take upthe child that had been laid upon the ground. 

It was then that his sisters heard Demophoon wail; one ran from herchamber and took the child in her arms; another kindled again the fireupon the hearth, and the others made ready to bathe and care for theinfant. All night they cared for him, holding him in their arms and attheir breasts, but the child would not be comforted, becauses thenurses who handled him now were less skillful than was thegoddess-nurse. 

And as for Demeter, she left the house of Celeus and went upon her way, lonely in her heart, and unappeased. And in the world that she wanderedthrough, the plow went in vain through the ground; the furrow was sownwithout any avail, and the race of men saw themselves near perishingfor lack of bread. 

But again Demeter came near the Well of the Maiden. She thought of thedaughters of Celeus as they came toward the well that day, the bronzepitchers in their hands, and with kind looks for the stranger--shethought of them as she sat by the well again. And then she thought oflittle Demophoon, the child she had held at her breast. No stir ofliving was in the land near their home, and only weeds grew in theirfields. As she sat there and looked around her there came intoDemeter's heart a pity for the people in whose house she had dwelt. 

She rose up and she went to the house of Celeus. She found him besidehis house measuring out a little grain. The goddess went to him and shetold him that because of the love she bore his household she wouldbless his fields so that the seed he had sown in them would come togrowth. Celeus rejoiced, and he called all the people together, andthey raised a temple to Demeter. She went through the fields andblessed them, and the seed that they had sown began to grow. And thegoddess for a while dwelt amongst that people, in her temple at Eleusis. 

IV

But still she kept away from the assemblies of the gods. Zeus sent amessenger to her, Iris with the golden wings, bidding her to Olympus. Demeter would not join the Olympians. Then, one after the other, thegods and goddesses of Olympus came to her; none were able to make hercease from grieving for Persephone, or to go again into the company ofthe immortal gods. 

And so it came about that Zeus was compelled to send a messenger downto the Underworld to bring Persephone back to the mother who grieved somuch for the loss of her. Hermes was the messenger whom Zeus sent. Through the darkened places of the earth Hermes went, and he came tothat dark throne where the lord Aidoneus sat, with Persephone besidehim. Then Hermes spoke to the lord of the Underworld, saying that Zeuscommanded that Persephone should come forth from the Underworld thather mother might look upon her. 

Then Persephone, hearing the words of Zeus that might not be gainsaid, uttered the only cry that had left her lips since she had sent out thatcry that had reached her mother's heart. And Aidoneus, hearing thecommand of Zeus that might not be denied, bowed his dark, majestic head. 

She might go to the Upperworld and rest herself in the arms of hermother, he said. And then he cried out: "Ah, Persephone, strive to feelkindliness in your heart toward me who carried you off by violence andagainst your will. I can give to you one of the great kingdoms that theOlympians rule over. And I, who am brother to Zeus, am no unfittinghusband for you, Demeter's child. "

So Aidoneus, the dark lord of the Underworld said, and he made readythe iron chariot with its deathless horses that Persephone might go upfrom his kingdom. 

Beside the single tree in his domain Aidoneus stayed the chariot. Asingle fruit grew on that tree, a bright pomegranate fruit. Persephonestood up in the chariot and plucked the fruit from the tree. Then didAidoneus prevail upon her to divide the fruit, and, having divided it, Persephone ate seven of the pomegranate seeds. 

It was Hermes who took the whip and the reins of the chariot. He droveon, and neither the sea nor the water-courses, nor the glens nor themountain peaks stayed the deathless horses of Aidoneus, and soon thechariot was brought near to where Demeter awaited the coming of herdaughter. 

And when, from a hilltop, Demeter saw the chariot approaching, she flewlike a wild bird to clasp her child. Persephone, when she saw hermother's dear eyes, sprang out of the chariot and fell upon her neckand embraced her. Long and long Demeter held her dear child in herarms, gazing, gazing upon her. Suddenly her mind misgave her. With agreat fear at her heart she cried out: "Dearest, has any food passedyour lips in all the time you have been in the Underworld?"

She had not tasted food in all the time she was there, Persephone said. And then, suddenly, she remembered the pomegranate that Aidoneus hadasked her to divide. When she told that she had eaten seven seeds fromit Demeter wept, and her tears fell upon Persephone's face. 

"Ah, my dearest, " she cried, "if you had not eaten the pomegranateseeds you could have stayed with me, and always we should have beentogether. But now that you have eaten food in it, the Underworld has aclaim upon you. You may not stay always with me here. Again you willhave to go back and dwell in the dark places under the earth and situpon Aidoneus's throne. But not always you will be there. When theflowers bloom upon the earth you shall come up from the realm ofdarkness, and in great joy we shall go through the world together, Demeter and Persephone. "

And so it has been since Persephone came back to her mother afterhaving eaten of the pomegranate seeds. For two seasons of the year shestays with Demeter, and for one season she stays in the Underworld withher dark lord. While she is with her mother there is springtime uponthe earth. Demeter blesses the furrows, her heart being glad becauseher daughter is with her once more. The furrows become heavy withgrain, and soon the whole wide earth has grain and fruit, leaves andflowers. When the furrows are reaped, when the grain has been gathered, when the dark season comes, Persephone goes from her mother, and goingdown into the dark places, she sits beside her mighty lord Aidoneus andupon his throne. Not sorrowful is she there; she sits with headunbowed, for she knows herself to be a mighty queen. She has joy, too, knowing of the seasons when she may walk with Demeter, her mother, onthe wide places of the earth, through fields of flowers and fruit andripening grain. 

Such was the story that Orpheus told--Orpheus who knew the histories ofthe gods. 

A day came when the heroes, on their way back from a journey they hadmade with the Lemnian maidens, called out to Heracles upon the Argo. Then Heracles, standing on the prow of the ship, shouted angrily tothem. Terrible did he seem to the Lemnian maidens, and they ran off, drawing the heroes with them. Heracles shouted to his comrades again, saying that if they did not come aboard the Argo and make ready for thevoyage to Colchis, he would go ashore and carry them to the ship, andforce them again to take the oars in their hands. 

Not all of what Heracles said did the Argonauts hear. 

That evening the men were silent in Hypsipyle's hall, and it wasAtalanta, the maiden, who told the evening's story. 

Atalanta's Race

There are two Atalantas, she said; she herself, the Huntress, andanother who is noted for her speed of foot and her delight in therace--the daughter of Schoeneus, King of Boeotia, Atalanta of the SwiftFoot. 

So proud was she of her swiftness that she made a vow to the gods thatnone would be her husband except the youth who won past her in therace. Youth after youth came and raced against her, but Atalanta, whogrew fleeter and fleeter of foot, left each one of them far behind her. The youths who came to the race were so many and the clamor they madeafter defeat was so great, that her father made a law that, as hethought, would lessen their number. The law that he made was that theyouth who came to race against Atalanta and who lost the race shouldlose his life into the bargain. After that the youths who had care fortheir lives stayed away from Boeotia. 

Once there came a youth from a far part of Greece into the country thatAtalanta's father ruled over. Hippomenes was his name. He did not knowof the race, but having come into the city and seeing the crowd ofpeople, he went with them to the course. He looked upon the youths whowere girded for the race, and he heard the folk say amongst themselves, "Poor youths, as mighty and as high-spirited as they look, by sunsetthe life will be out of each of them, for Atalanta will run past themas she ran past the others. " Then Hippomenes spoke to the folk inwonder, and they told him of Atalanta's race and of what would befallthe youths who were defeated in it. "Unlucky youths, " cried Hippomenes, "how foolish they are to try to win a bride at the price of theirlives. "

Then, with pity in his heart, he watched the youths prepare for therace. Atalanta had not yet taken her place, and he was fearful oflooking upon her. "She is a witch, " he said to himself, "she must be awitch to draw so many youths to their deaths, and she, no doubt, willshow in her face and figure the witch's spirit. "

But even as he said this, Hippomenes saw Atalanta. She stood with theyouths before they crouched for the first dart in the race. He saw thatshe was a girl of a light and a lovely form. Then they crouched for therace; then the trumpets rang out, and the youths and the maiden dartedlike swallows over the sand of the course. 

On came Atalanta, far, far ahead of the youths who had started withher. Over her bare shoulders her hair streamed, blown backward by thewind that met her flight. Her fair neck shone, and her little feet werelike flying doves. It seemed to Hippomenes as he watched her that therewas fire in her lovely body. On and on she went as swift as the arrowthat the Scythian shoots from his bow. And as he watched the race hewas not sorry that the youths were being left behind. Rather would hehave been enraged if one came near overtaking her, for now his heartwas set upon winning her for his bride, and he cursed himself for nothaving entered the race. 

She passed the last goal mark and she was given the victor's wreath offlowers. Hippomenes stood and watched her and he did not see the youthswho had started with her--they had thrown themselves on the ground intheir despair. 

Then wild, as though he were one of the doomed youths, Hippomenes madehis way through the throng and came before the black-bearded King ofBoeotia. The king's brows were knit, for even then he was pronouncingdoom upon the youths who had been left behind in the race. He lookedupon Hippomenes, another youth who would make the trial, and the frownbecame heavier upon his face. 

But Hippomenes saw only Atalanta. She came beside her father; thewreath was upon her head of gold, and her eyes were wide and tender. She turned her face to him, and then she knew by the wildness that wasin his look that he had come to enter the race with her. Then the flushthat was on her face died away, and she shook her head as if she wereimploring him to go from that place. 

The dark-bearded king bent his brows upon him and said, "Speak, Oyouth, speak and tell us what brings you here. "

Then cried Hippomenes as if his whole life were bursting out with hiswords: "Why does this maiden, your daughter, seek an easy renown byconquering weakly youths in the race? She has not striven yet. Herestand I, one of the blood of Poseidon, the god of the sea. Should I bedefeated by her in the race, then, indeed, might Atalanta havesomething to boast of. "

Atalanta stepped forward and said: "Do not speak of it, youth. Indeed Ithink that it is some god, envious of your beauty and your strength, who sent you here to strive with me and to meet your doom. Ah, think ofthe youths who have striven with me even now! Think of the hard doomthat is about to fall upon them! You venture your life in the race, butindeed I am not worthy of the price. Go hence, O stranger youth, gohence and live happily, for indeed I think that there is some maidenwho loves you well. "

"Nay, maiden, " said Hippomenes, "I will enter the race and I willventure my life on the chance of winning you for my bride. What goodwill my life and my spirit be to me if they cannot win this race forme?"

She drew away from him then and looked upon him no more, but bent downto fasten the sandals upon her feet. And the black-bearded king lookedupon Hippomenes and said, "Face, then, this race to-morrow. You will bethe only one who will enter it. But bethink thee of the doom thatawaits thee at the end of it. " The king said no more, and Hippomeneswent from him and from Atalanta, and he came again to the place wherethe race had been run. 

He looked across the sandy course with its goal marks, and in his mindhe saw again Atalanta's swift race. He would not meet doom at the handsof the king's soldiers, he knew, for his spirit would leave him withthe greatness of the effort he would make to reach the goal before her. And he thought it would be well to die in that effort and on that sandyplace that was so far from his own land. 

Even as he looked across the sandy course now deserted by the throng, he saw one move across it, coming toward him with feet that did notseem to touch the ground. She was a woman of wonderful presence. AsHippomenes looked upon her he knew that she was Aphrodite, the goddessof beauty and of love. 

"Hippomenes, " said the immortal goddess, "the gods are mindful of youwho are sprung from one of the gods, and I am mindful of you because ofyour own worth. I have come to help you in your race with Atalanta, forI would not have you slain, nor would I have that maiden go unwed. Giveyour greatest strength and your greatest swiftness to the race, andbehold! here are wonders that will prevent the fleet-footed Atalantafrom putting all her spirit into the race. "

And then the immortal goddess held out to Hippomenes a branch that hadupon it three apples of shining gold. 

"In Cyprus, " said the goddess, "where I have come from, there is a treeon which these golden apples grow. Only I may pluck them. I havebrought them to you, Hippomenes. Keep them in your girdle, and in therace you will find out what to do with them, I think. "

So Aphrodite said, and then she vanished, leaving a fragrance in theair and the three shining apples in the hands of Hippomenes. Long helooked upon their brightness. They were beside him that night, and whenhe arose in the dawn he put them in his girdle. Then, before thethrong, he went to the place of the race. 

When he showed himself beside Atalanta, all around the course weresilent, for they all admired Hippomenes for his beauty and for thespirit that was in his face; they were silent out of compassion, forthey knew the doom that befell the youths who raced with Atalanta. 

And now Schoeneus, the black-bearded king, stood up, and he spoke tothe throng, saying, "Hear me all, both young and old: this youth, Hippomenes, seeks to win the race from my daughter, winning her for hisbride. Now, if he be victorious and escape death I will give him mydear child, Atalanta, and many fleet horses besides as gifts from me, and in honor he shall go back to his native land. But if he fail in therace, then he will have to share the doom that has been meted out tothe other youths who raced with Atalanta hoping to win her for a bride. "

Then Hippomenes and Atalanta crouched for the start. The trumpets weresounded and they darted off. 

Side by side with Atalanta, Hippomenes went. Her flying hair touchedhis breast, and it seemed to him that they were skimming the sandycourse as if they were swallows. But then Atalanta began to draw awayfrom him. He saw her ahead of him, and then he began to hear the wordsof cheer that came from the throng "Bend to the race, Hippomenes! Goon, go on! Use your strength to the utmost. " He bent himself to therace, but further and further from him Atalanta drew. 

Then it seemed to him that she checked her swiftness a little to lookback at him. He gained on her a little. And then his hand touched theapples that were in his girdle. As it touched them it came into hismind what to do with the apples. 

He was not far from her now, but already her swiftness was drawing herfurther and further away. He took one of the apples into his hand andtossed it into the air so that it fell on the track before her. 

Atalanta saw the shining apple. She checked her speed and stooped inthe race to pick it up. And as she stooped Hippomenes darted past her, and went flying toward the goal that now was within his sight. 

But soon she was beside him again. He looked, and he saw that the goalmarks were far, far ahead of him. Atalanta with the flying hair passedhim, and drew away and away from him. He had not speed to gain upon hernow, he thought, so he put his strength into his hand and he flung thesecond of the shining apples. The apple rolled before her and rolledoff the course. Atalanta turned off the course, stooped and picked upthe apple. 

Then did Hippomenes draw all his spirit into his breast as he raced on. He was now nearer to the goal than she was. But he knew that she wasbehind him, going lightly where he went heavily. And then she wasbeside him, and then she went past him. She paused in her speed for amoment and she looked back on him. 

As he raced on, his chest seemed weighted down and his throat wascrackling dry. The goal marks were far away still, but Atalanta wasnearing them. He took the last of the golden apples into his hand. Perhaps she was now so far that the strength of his throw would not begreat enough to bring the apple before her. 

But with all the strength he could put into his hand he flung theapple. It struck the course before her feet and then went boundingwide. Atalanta swerved in her race and followed where the apple went. Hippomenes marvelled that he had been able to fling it so far. He sawAtalanta stoop to pick up the apple, and he bounded on. And then, although his strength was failing, he saw the goal marks near him. Heset his feet between them and then fell down on the ground. 

The attendants raised him up and put the victor's wreath upon his head. The concourse of people shouted with joy to see him victor. But helooked around for Atalanta and he saw her standing there with thegolden apples in her hands. "He has won, " he heard her say, "and I havenot to hate myself for bringing a doom upon him. Gladly, gladly do Igive up the race, and glad am I that it is this youth who has won thevictory from me. "

She took his hand and brought him before the king. Then Schoeneus, inthe sight of all the rejoicing people, gave Atalanta to Hippomenes forhis bride, and he bestowed upon him also a great gift of horses. Withhis dear and hard-won bride, Hippomenes went to his own country, andthe apples that she brought with her, the golden apples of Aphrodite, were reverenced by the people. 

X. THE DEPARTURE FROM LEMNOS

A day came when Heracles left the Argo and went on the Lemnian land. Hegathered the heroes about him, and they, seeing Heracles come amongstthem, clamored to go to hunt the wild bulls that were inland from thesea. 

So, for once, the heroes left the Lemnian maidens who were theirfriends. Jason, too, left Hypsipyle in the palace and went withHeracles. And as they went, Heracles spoke to each of the heroes, saying that they were forgetting the Fleece of Gold that they hadsailed to gain. 

Jason blushed to think that he had almost let go out of his mind thequest that had brought him from Iolcus. And then he thought uponHypsipyle and of how her little hand would stay in his, and his ownhand became loose upon the spear so that it nearly fell from him. Howcould he, he thought, leave Hypsipyle and this land of Lemnos behind?

He heard the clear voice of Atalanta as she, too, spoke to theArgonauts. What Heracles said was brave and wise, said Atalanta. Forgetfulness would cover their names if they stayed longer inLemnos--forgetfulness and shame, and they would come to despisethemselves. Leave Lemnos, she cried, and draw Argo into the sea, anddepart for Colchis. 

All day the Argonauts stayed by themselves, hunting the bulls. On theirway back from the chase they were met by Lemnian maidens who carriedwreaths of flowers for them. Very silent were the heroes as the maidensgreeted them. Heracles went with Jason to the palace, and Hypsipyle, seeing the mighty stranger coming, seated herself, not on the couchwhere she was wont to sit looking into the face of Jason, but on thestone throne of King Thoas, her father. And seated on that throne shespoke to Jason and to Heracles as a queen might speak. 

In the hall that night the heroes and the Lemnian maidens who were withthem were quiet. A story was told; Castor began it and Polydeuces endedit. And the story that Helen's brothers told was:

The Golden Maid

Epimetheus the Titan had a brother who was the wisest of allBeings--Prometheus called the Foreseer. But Epimetheus himself wasslow-witted and scatter-brained. His wise brother once sent him amessage bidding him beware of the gifts that Zeus might send him. Epimetheus heard, but he did not heed the warning, and thereby hebrought upon the race of men troubles and cares. 

Prometheus, the wise Titan, had saved men from a great trouble thatZeus would have brought upon them. Also he had given them the gift offire. Zeus was the more wroth with men now because fire, stolen fromhim, had been given them; he was wroth with the race of Titans, too, and he pondered in his heart how he might injure men, and how he mightuse Epimetheus, the mindless Titan, to further his plan. 

While he pondered there was a hush on high Olympus, the mountain of thegods. Then Zeus called upon the artisan of the gods, lame Hephaestus, and he commanded him to make a being out of clay that would have thelikeness of a lovely maiden. With joy and pride Hephaestus worked atthe task that had been given him, and he fashioned a being that had thelikeness of a lovely maiden, and he brought the thing of his makingbefore the gods and the goddesses. 

All strove to add a grace or a beauty to the work of Hephaestus. Zeusgranted that the maiden should see and feel. Athene dressed her ingarments that were as lovely as flowers. Aphrodite, the goddess oflove, put a charm on her lips and in her eyes. The Graces put necklacesaround her neck and set a golden crown upon her head. The Hours broughther a girdle of spring flowers. Then the herald of the gods gave herspeech that was sweet and flowing. All the gods and goddesses had givengifts to her, and for that reason the maiden of Hephaestus's making wascalled Pandora, the All-endowed. 

She was lovely, the gods knew; not beautiful as they themselves are, who have a beauty that awakens reverence rather than love, but lovely, as flowers and bright waters and earthly maidens are lovely. Zeussmiled to himself when he looked upon her, and he called to Hermes whoknew all the ways of the earth, and he put her into the charge ofHermes. Also he gave Hermes a great jar to take along; this jar wasPandora's dower. 

Epimetheus lived in a deep-down valley. Now one day, as he was sittingon a fallen pillar in the ruined place that was now forsaken by therest of the Titans, he saw a pair coming toward him. One had wings, andhe knew him to be Hermes, the messenger of the gods. The other was amaiden. Epimetheus marveled at the crown upon her head and at herlovely garments. There was a glint of gold all around her. He rose fromwhere he sat upon the broken pillar and he stood to watch the pair. Hermes, he saw, was carrying by its handle a great jar. 

In wonder and delight he looked upon the maiden. Epimetheus had seen nolovely thing for ages. Wonderful indeed was this Golden Maid, and asshe came nearer the charm that was on her lips and in her eyes came tothe Earth-born One, and he smiled with more and more delight. 

Hermes came and stood before him. He also smiled, but his smile hadsomething baleful in it. He put the hands of the Golden Maid into thegreat soft hand of the Titan, and he said, "O Epimetheus, Father Zeuswould be reconciled with thee, and as a sign of his good will he sendsthee this lovely goddess to be thy companion. "

Oh, very foolish was Epimetheus the Earth-born One! As he looked uponthe Golden Maid who was sent by Zeus he lost memory of the wars thatZeus had made upon the Titans and the Elder Gods; he lost memory of hisbrother chained by Zeus to the rock; he lost memory of the warning thathis brother, the wisest of all beings, had sent him. He took the handsof Pandora, and he thought of nothing at all in all the world but her. Very far away seemed the voice of Hermes saying, "This jar, too, isfrom Olympus; it has in it Pandora's dower. "

The jar stood forgotten for long, and green plants grew over it whileEpimetheus walked in the garden with the Golden Maid, or watched herwhile she gazed on herself in the stream, or searched in the untendedplaces for the fruits that the Elder Gods would eat, when they feastedwith the Titans in the old days, before Zeus had come to his power. Andlost to Epimetheus was the memory of his brother now suffering upon therock because of the gift he had given to men. 

And Pandora, knowing nothing except the brightness of the sunshine andthe lovely shapes and colors of things and the sweet taste of thefruits that Epimetheus brought to her, could have stayed forever inthat garden. 

But every day Epimetheus would think that the men and women of theworld should be able to talk to him about this maiden with thewonderful radiance of gold, and with the lovely garments, and themarvelous crown. And one day he took Pandora by the hand, and hebrought her out of that deep-lying valley, and toward the homes of men. He did not forget the jar that Hermes had left with her. All thingsthat belonged to the Golden Maid were precious, and Epimetheus took thejar along. 

The race of men at the time were simple and content. Their days werepassed in toil, but now, since Prometheus had given them fire, they hadgood fruits of their toil. They had well-shaped tools to dig the earthand to build houses. Their homes were warmed with fire, and fire burnedupon the altars that were upon their ways. 

Greatly they reverenced Prometheus, who had given them fire, andgreatly they reverenced the race of the Titans. So when Epimetheus cameamongst them, tall as a man walking with stilts, they welcomed him andbrought him and the Golden Maid to their hearths. And Epimetheus showedPandora the wonderful element that his brother had given to men, andshe rejoiced to see the fire, clapping her hands with delight. The jarthat Epimetheus brought he left in an open place. 

In carrying it up the rough ways out of the valley Epimetheus may haveknocked the jar about, for the lid that had been tight upon it nowfitted very loosely. But no one gave heed to the jar as it stood in theopen space where Epimetheus had left it. 

At first the men and women looked upon the beauty of Pandora, upon herlovely dresses, and her golden crown and her girdle of flowers, withwonder and delight. Epimetheus would have every one admire and praiseher. The men would leave off working in the fields, or hammering oniron, or building houses, and the women would leave off spinning orweaving, and come at his call, and stand about and admire the GoldenMaid. But as time went by a change came upon the women: one woman wouldweep, and another would look angry, and a third would go back sullenlyto her work when Pandora was admired or praised. 

Once the women were gathered together, and one who was the wisestamongst them said: "Once we did not think about ourselves, and we werecontent. But now we think about ourselves, and we say to ourselves thatwe are harsh and ill-favored indeed compared to the Golden Maid thatthe Titan is so enchanted with. And we hate to see our own men praiseand admire her, and often, in our hearts, we would destroy her if wecould. "

"That is true, " the women said. And then a young woman cried out in amost yearnful voice, "O tell us, you who are wise, how can we makeourselves as beautiful as Pandora!"

Then said that woman who was thought to be wise, "This Golden Maid isLovely to look upon because she has lovely apparel and all the means ofkeeping herself lovely. The gods have given her the ways, and, so herskin remains fair, and her hair keeps its gold, and her lips are everred and her eyes shining. And I think that the means that she has ofkeeping lovely are all in that jar that Epimetheus brought with her. "

When the woman who was thought to be wise said this, those around herwere silent for a while. But then one arose and another arose, and theystood and whispered together, one saying to the other that they shouldgo to the place where the jar had been left by Epimetheus, and thatthey should take out of it the salves and the charms and the washesthat would leave them as beautiful as Pandora. 

So the women went to that place. On their way they stopped at a pooland they bent over to see themselves mirrored in it, and they sawthemselves with dusty and unkempt hair, with large and knotted hands, with troubled eyes, and with anxious mouths. 

They frowned as they looked upon their images, and they said in harshvoices that in a while they would have ways of making themselves aslovely as the Golden Maid. 

And as they went on they saw Pandora. She was playing in a floweringfield, while Epimetheus, high as a man upon stilts, went gathering theblossoms of the bushes for her. They went on, and they came at last tothe place where Epimetheus had left the jar that held Pandora's dower. 

A great stone jar it was; there was no bird, nor flower, nor branchpainted upon it. It stood high as a woman's shoulder. And as the womenlooked on it they thought that there were things enough in it to keepthem beautiful for all the days of their lives. But each one thoughtthat she should not be the last to get her hands into it. 

Once the lid had been fixed tightly down on the jar. But the lid wasshifted a little now. As the hands of the women grasped it to take offthe lid the jar was cast down, and the things that were inside spilledthemselves forth. 

They were black and gray and red; they were crawling and flying things. And, as the women looked, the things spread themselves abroad orfastened themselves upon them. 

The jar, like Pandora herself, had been made and filled out of the illwill of Zeus. And it had been filled, not with salves and charms andwashes, as the women had thought, but with Cares and Troubles. Beforethe women came to it one Trouble had already come forth from thejar--Self-thought that was upon the top of the heap. It wasSelf-thought that had afflicted the women, making them troubled abouttheir own looks, and envious of the graces of the Golden Maid. 

And now the others spread themselves out--Sickness and War and Strifebetween friends. They spread themselves abroad and entered the houses, while Epimetheus, the mindless Titan, gathered flowers for Pandora, theGolden Maid. 

Lest she should weary of her play he called to her. He would take herinto the houses of men. As they drew near to the houses they saw awoman seated on the ground, weeping; her husband had suddenly becomehard to her and had shut the door on her face. 

They came upon a child crying because of a pain that he could notunderstand. And then they found two men struggling, their strife beingon account of a possession that they had both held peaceably before. 

In every house they went to Epimetheus would say, "I am the brother ofPrometheus, who gave you the gift of fire. " But instead of giving thema welcome the men would say, "We know nothing about your relation toPrometheus. We see you as a foolish man upon stilts. "

Epimetheus was troubled by the hard looks and the cold words of the menwho once had reverenced him. He turned from the houses and went away. In a quiet place he sat down, and for a while he lost sight of Pandora. And then it seemed to him that he heard the voice of his wise andsuffering brother saying, "Do not accept any gift that Zeus may sendyou. "

He rose up and he hurried away from that place, leaving Pandora playingby herself. There came into his scattered mind Regret and Fear. As hewent on he stumbled. He fell from the edge of a cliff, and the seawashed away the body of the mindless brother of Prometheus. 

Not everything had been spilled out of the jar that had been broughtwith Pandora into the world of men. A beautiful, living thing was inthat jar also. This was Hope. And this beautiful, living thing had gotcaught under the rim of the jar and had not come forth with the others. One day a weeping woman found Hope under the rim of Pandora's jar andbrought this living thing into the house of men. And now because ofHope they could see an end to their troubles. And the men and womenroused themselves in the midst of their afflictions and they lookedtoward gladness. Hope, that had been caught under the rim of the jar, stayed behind the thresholds of their houses. 

As for Pandora, the Golden Maid, she played on, knowing only thebrightness of the sunshine and the lovely shapes of things. Beautifulwould she have seemed to any being who saw her, but now she had strayedaway from the houses of men and Epimetheus was not there to look uponher. Then Hephaestus, the lame artisan of the gods, left down his toolsand went to seek her. He found Pandora, and he took her back toOlympus. And in his brazen house she stays, though sometimes at thewill of Zeus she goes down into the world of men. 

When Polydeuces had ended the story that Castor had begun, Heraclescried out: "For the Argonauts, too, there has been a Golden Maid--nay, not one, but a Golden Maid for each. Out of the jar that has been withher ye have taken forgetfulness of your honor. As for me, I go back tothe Argo lest one of these Golden Maids should hold me back from thelabors that make great a man. "

So Heracles said, and he went from Hypsipyle's hall. The heroes lookedat each other, and they stood up, and shame that they had stayed solong away from the quest came over each of them. The maidens took theirhands; the heroes unloosed those soft hands and turned away from them. 

Hypsipyle left the throne of King Thoas and stood before Jason. Therewas a storm in all her body; her mouth was shaken, and a whole life'strouble was in her great eyes. Before she spoke Jason cried out: "WhatHeracles said is true, O Argonauts! On the Quest of the Golden Fleeceour lives and our honors depend. To Colchis--to Colchis must we go!"

He stood upright in the hall, and his comrades gathered around him. TheLemnian maidens would have held out their arms and would have madetheir partings long delayed, but that a strange cry came to themthrough the night. Well did the Argonauts know that cry--it was the cryof the ship, of Argo herself. They knew that they must go to her now orstay from the voyage for ever. And the maidens knew that there wassomething in the cry of the ship that might not be gainsaid, and theyput their hands before their faces, and they said no other word. 

Then said Hypsipyle, the queen, "I, too, am a ruler, Jason, and I knowthat there are great commands that we have to obey. Go, then, to theArgo. Ah, neither I nor the women of Lemnos will stay your going now. But to-morrow speak to us from the deck of the ship and bid usfarewell. Do not go from us in the night, Jason. "

Jason and the Argonauts went from Hypsipyle's hall. The maidens whowere left behind wept together. All but Hypsipyle. She sat on thethrone of King Thoas and she had Polyxo, her nurse, tell her of theways of Jason's voyage as he had told of them, and of all that he wouldhave to pass through. When the other Lemnian women slept she put herhead upon her nurse's, knees and wept; bitterly Hypsipyle wept, butsoftly, for she would not have the others hear her weeping. 

By the coming of the morning's light the Argonauts had made all readyfor their sailing. They were standing on the deck when the light came, and they saw the Lemnian women come to the shore. Each looked at herfriend aboard the Argo, and spoke, and went away. And last, Hypsipyle, the queen, came. "Farewell, Hypsipyle, " Jason said to her, and she, inher strange way of speaking, said:

"What you told us I have remembered--how you will come to the dangerouspassage that leads into the Sea of Pontus, and how by the flight of apigeon you will know whether or not you may go that way. O Jason, letthe dove you fly when you come to that dangerous place be Hypsipyle's. "

She showed a pigeon held in her hands. She loosed it, and the pigeonalighted on the ship, and stayed there on pink feet, a white-featheredpigeon. Jason took up the pigeon and held it in his hands, and the Argodrew swiftly away from the Lemnian land. 

XI. THE PASSAGE OF THE SYMPLEGADES

They came near Salmydessus, where Phineus, the wise king, ruled, andthey sailed past it; they sighted the pile of stones, with the oarupright upon it that they had raised on the seashore over the body ofTiphys, the skillful steersman whom they had lost; they sailed on untilthey heard a sound that grew more and more thunderous, and then theheroes said to each other, "Now we come to the Symplegades and thedread passage into the Sea of Pontus. "

It was then that Jason cried out: "Ah, when Pelias spoke of this questto me, why did I not turn my head away and refuse to be drawn into it?Since we came near the dread passage that is before us I have passedevery night in groans. As for you who have come with me, you may takeyour ease, for you need care only for your own lives. But I have tocare for you all, and to strive to win for you all a safe return toGreece. Ah, greatly am I afflicted now, knowing to what a great peril Ihave brought you!"

So Jason said, thinking to make trial of the heroes. They, on theirpart, were not dismayed, but shouted back cheerful words to him. Thenhe said: "O friends of mine, by your spirit my spirit is quickened. Nowif I knew that I was being borne down into the black gulfs of Hades, Ishould fear nothing, knowing that you are constant and faithful ofheart. "

As he said this they came into water that seethed all around the ship. Then into the hands of Euphemus, a youth of Iolcus, who was thekeenest-eyed amongst the Argonauts, Jason put the pigeon that Hypsipylehad given him. He bade him stand by the prow of the Argo, ready toloose the pigeon as the ship came nigh that dreadful gate of rock. 

They saw the spray being dashed around in showers; they saw the seaspread itself out in foam; they saw the high, black rocks rushtogether, sounding thunderously as they met. The caves in the highrocks rumbled as the sea surged into them, and the foam of the dashingwaves spurted high up the rocks. 

Jason shouted to each man to grip hard on the oars. The Argo dashed onas the rocks rushed toward each other again. Then there was such noisethat no man's voice could be heard above it. 

As the rocks met, Euphemus loosed the pigeon. With his keen eyes hewatched her fly through the spray. Would she, not finding an opening tofly through, turn back? He watched, and meanwhile the Argonauts grippedhard on the oars to save the ship from being dashed on the rocks. Thepigeon fluttered as though she would sink down and let the spray drownher. And then Euphemus saw her raise herself and fly forward. Towardthe place where she had flown he pointed. The rowers gave a loud cry, and Jason called upon them to pull with might and main. 

The rocks were parting asunder, and to the right and left broad Pontuswas seen by the heroes. Then suddenly a huge wave rose before them, andat the sight of it they all uttered a cry and bent their heads. Itseemed to them that it would dash down on the whole ship's length andoverwhelm them all. But Nauplius was quick to ease the ship, and thewave rolled away beneath the keel, and at the stern it raised the Argoand dashed her away from the rocks. 

They felt the sun as it streamed upon them through the sundered rocks. They strained at the oars until the oars bent like bows in their hands. The ship sprang forward. Surely they were now in the wide Sea of Pontus!

The Argonauts shouted. They saw the rocks behind them with the sea fowlscreaming upon them. Surely they were in the Sea of Pontus--the seathat had never been entered before through the Rocks Wandering. Therocks no longer dashed together; each remained fixed in its place, forit was the will of the gods that these rocks should no more clashtogether after a mortal's ship had passed between them. 

They were now in the Sea of Pontus, the sea into which flowed the riverthat Colchis was upon--the River Phasis. And now above Jason's head thebird of peaceful days, the Halcyon, fluttered, and the Argonauts knewthat this was a sign from the gods that the voyage would not any morebe troublous. 

XII. THE MOUNTAIN CAUCASUS

They rested in the harbor of Thynias, the desert island, and sailingfrom there they came to the land of the Mariandyni, a people who wereconstantly at war with the Bebrycians; there the hero Polydeuces waswelcomed as a god. Twelve days afterward they passed the mouth of theRiver Callichorus; then they came to the mouth of that river that flowsthrough the land of the Amazons, the River Thermodon. Fourteen daysfrom that place brought them to the island that is filled with thebirds of Ares, the god of war. These birds dropped upon the heroesheavy, pointed feathers that would have pierced them as arrows if theyhad not covered themselves with their shields; then by shouting, and bystriking their shields with their spears, they raised such a clamor asdrove the birds away. 

They sailed on, borne by a gentle breeze, until a gulf of the seaopened before them, and lo! a mountain that they knew bore some mightyname. Orpheus, looking on its peak and its crags, said, "Lo, now! We, the Argonauts, are looking upon the mountain that is named Caucasus!"

When he declared the name the heroes all stood up and looked on themountain with awe. And in awe they cried out a name, and that name was"Prometheus!"

For upon that mountain the Titan god was held, his limbs bound upon thehard rocks by fetters of bronze. Even as the Argonauts looked towardthe mountain a great shadow fell upon their ship, and looking up theysaw a monstrous bird flying. The beat of the bird's wings filled outthe sail and drove the Argo swiftly onward. "It is the bird sent byZeus, " Orpheus said. "It is the vulture that every day devours theliver of the Titan god. " They cowered down on the ship as they heardthat word--all the Argonauts save Heracles; he stood upright and lookedout toward where the bird was flying. Then, as the bird came near tothe mountain, the Argonauts heard a great cry of anguish go up from therocks. 

"It is Prometheus crying out as the bird of Zeus flies down upon him, "they said to one another. Again they cowered down on the ship, all saveHeracles, who stayed looking toward where the great vulture had flown. 

The night came and the Argonauts sailed on in silence, thinking in aweof the Titan god and of the doom that Zeus had inflicted upon him. Then, as they sailed on under the stars, Orpheus told them ofPrometheus, of his gift to men, and of the fearful punishment that hadbeen meted out to him by Zeus. 

Prometheus

The gods more than once made a race of men: the first was a GoldenRace. Very close to the gods who dwell on Olympus was this Golden Race;they lived justly although there were no laws to compel them. In thetime of the Golden Race the earth knew only one season, and that seasonwas everlasting Spring. The men and women of the Golden Race livedthrough a span of life that was far beyond that of the men and women ofour day, and when they died it was as though sleep had becomeeverlasting with them. They had all good things, and that withoutlabor, for the earth without any forcing bestowed fruits and crops uponthem. They had peace all through their lives, this Golden Race, andafter they had passed away their spirits remained above the earth, inspiring the men of the race that came after them to do great andgracious things and to act justly and kindly to one another. 

After the Golden Race had passed away, the gods made for the earth asecond race--a Silver Race. Less noble in spirit and in body was thisSilver Race, and the seasons that visited them were less gracious. Inthe time of the Silver Race the gods made the seasons--Summer andSpring, and Autumn and Winter. They knew parching heat, and the bitterwinds of winter, and snow and rain and hail. It was the men of theSilver Race who first built houses for shelter. They lived through aspan of life that was longer than our span, but it was not long enoughto give wisdom to them. Children were brought up at their mothers'sides for a hundred years, playing at childish things. And when theycame to years beyond a hundred they quarreled with one another, andwronged one another, and did not know enough to give reverence to theimmortal gods. Then, by the will of Zeus, the Silver Race passed awayas the Golden Race had passed away. Their spirits stay in theUnderworld, and they are called by men the blessed spirits of theUnderworld. 

And then there was made the third race--the Race of Bronze. They were arace great of stature, terrible and strong. Their armor was of bronze, their swords were of bronze, their implements were of bronze, and ofbronze, too, they made their houses. No great span of life was theirs, for with the weapons that they took in their terrible hands they slewone another. Thus they passed away, and went down under the earth toHades, leaving no name that men might know them by. 

Then the gods created a fourth race--our own: a Race of Iron. We havenot the justice that was amongst the men of the Golden Race, nor thesimpleness that was amongst the men of the Silver Race, nor the staturenor the great strength that the men of the Bronze Race possessed. Weare of iron that we may endure. It is our doom that we must never ceasefrom labor and that we must very quickly grow old. 

But miserable as we are to-day, there was a time when the lot of menwas more miserable. With poor implements they had to labor on a hardground. There was less justice and kindliness amongst men in those daysthan there is now. 

Once it came into the mind of Zeus that he would destroy the fourthrace and leave the earth to the nymphs and the satyrs. He would destroyit by a great flood. But Prometheus, the--Titan god who had given aidto Zeus against the other Titans--Prometheus, who was called theForeseer--could not consent to the race of men being destroyed utterly, and he considered a way of saving some of them. To a man and a woman, Deucalion and Pyrrha, just and gentle people, he brought word of theplan of Zeus, and he showed them how to make a ship that would bearthem through what was about to be sent upon the earth. 

Then Zeus shut up in their cave all the winds but the wind that bringsrain and clouds. He bade this wind, the South Wind, sweep over theearth, flooding it with rain. He called upon Poseidon and bade him tolet the sea pour in upon the land. And Poseidon commanded the rivers toput forth all their strength, and sweep dykes away, and overflow theirbanks. 

The clouds and the sea and the rivers poured upon the earth. The floodrose higher and higher, and in the places where the pretty lambs hadplayed the ugly sea calves now gambolled; men in their boats drewfishes out of the tops of elm trees, and the water nymphs were amazedto come on men's cities under the waves. 

Soon even the men and women who had boats were overwhelmed by the riseof water--all perished then except Deucalion and Pyrrha, his wife; themthe waves had not overwhelmed, for they were in a ship that Prometheushad shown them how to build. The flood went down at last, and Deucalionand Pyrrha climbed up to a high and a dry ground. Zeus saw that two ofthe race of men had been left alive. But he saw that these two werejust and kindly, and had a right reverence for the gods. He sparedthem, and he saw their children again peopling the earth. 

Prometheus, who had saved them, looked on the men and women of theearth with compassion. Their labor was hard, and they wrought much togain little. They were chilled at night in their houses, and the windsthat blew in the daytime made the old men and women bend double like awheel. Prometheus thought to himself that if men and women had theelement that only the gods knew of--the element of fire--they couldmake for themselves implements for labor; they could build houses thatwould keep out the chilling winds, and they could warm themselves atthe blaze. 

But the gods had not willed that men should have fire, and to goagainst the will of the gods would be impious. Prometheus went againstthe will of the gods. He stole fire from the altar of Zeus, and he hidit in a hollow fennel stalk, and he brought it to men. 

Then men were able to hammer iron into tools, and cut down forests withaxes, and sow grain where the forests had been. Then were they able tomake houses that the storms could not overthrow, and they were able towarm themselves at hearth fires. They had rest from their labor attimes. They built cities; they became beings who no longer had headsand backs bent but were able to raise their faces even to the gods. 

And Zeus spared the race of men who had now the sacred element of fire. But he knew that Prometheus had stolen this fire even from his ownaltar and had given it to men. And he thought on how he might punishthe great Titan god for his impiety. 

He brought back from the Underworld the giants that he had put there toguard the Titans that had been hurled down to Tartarus. He brought backGyes, Cottus, and Briareus, and he commanded them to lay hands uponPrometheus and to fasten him with fetters to the highest, blackest cragupon Caucasus. And Briareus, Cottus, and Gyes seized upon the Titangod, and carried him to Caucasus, and fettered him with fetters ofbronze to the highest, blackest crag--with fetters of bronze that maynot be broken. There they have left the Titan stretched, under the sky, with the cold winds blowing upon him, and with the sun streaming downon him. And that his punishment might exceed all other punishments Zeushad sent a vulture to prey upon him--a vulture that tears at his livereach day. 

And yet Prometheus does not cry out that he has repented of his gift toman; although the winds blow upon him, and the sun streams upon him, and the vulture tears at his liver, Prometheus will not cry out hisrepentance to heaven. And Zeus may not utterly destroy him. ForPrometheus the Foreseer knows a secret that Zeus would fain have himdisclose. He knows that even as Zeus overthrew his father and madehimself the ruler in his stead, so, too, another will overthrow Zeus. And one day Zeus will have to have the fetters broken from around thelimbs of Prometheus, and will have to bring from the rock and thevulture, and into the Council of the Olympians, the unyielding Titangod. 

When the light of the morning came the Argo was very near to theMountain Caucasus. The voyagers looked in awe upon its black crags. They saw the great vulture circling over a high rock, and from beneathwhere the vulture circled they heard a weary cry. Then Heracles, whoall night had stood by the mast, cried out to the Argonauts to bringthe ship near to a landing place. 

But Jason would not have them go near; fear of the wrath of Zeus wasstrong upon him; rather, he bade the Argonauts put all their strengthinto their rowing, and draw far off from that forbidden mountain. Heracles, not heeding what Jason ordered, declared that it was hispurpose to make his way up to the black crag, and, with his shield andhis sword in his hands, slay the vulture that preyed upon the liver ofPrometheus. 

Then Orpheus in a clear voice spoke to the Argonauts. "Surely somespirit possesses Heracles, " he said. "Despite all we do or say he willmake his way to where Prometheus is fettered to the rock. Do notgainsay him in this! Remember what Nereus, the ancient one of the sea, declared! Did Nereus not say that a great labor awaited Heracles, andthat in the doing of it he should work out the will of Zeus? Stay himnot! How just it would be if he who is the son of Zeus freed from historments the much-enduring Titan god!"

So Orpheus said in his clear, commanding voice. They drew near to theMountain Caucasus. Then Heracles, gripping the sword and shield thatwere the gifts of the gods, sprang out on the landing place. TheArgonauts shouted farewell to him. But he, filled as he was with anovermastering spirit, did not heed their words. 

A strong breeze drove them onward; darkness came down, and the Argowent on through the night. With the morning light those who weresleeping were awakened by the cry of Nauplius--"Lo! The Phasis, and theutmost bourne of the sea!" They sprang up, and looked with many strangefeelings upon the broad river they had come to. 

Here was the Phasis emptying itself into the Sea of Pontus! Up thatriver was Colchis and the city of King Æetes, the end of their voyage, the place where was kept the Golden Fleece! Quickly they let down thesail; they lowered the mast and they laid it along the deck; stronglythey grasped the oars; they swung the Argo around, and they entered thebroad stream of the Phasis. 

Up the river they went with the Mountain Caucasus on their left hand, and on their right the groves and gardens of Aea, King Æetes's city. Asthey went up the stream, Jason poured from a golden cup an offering tothe gods. And to the dead heroes of that country the Argonauts prayedfor good fortune to their enterprise. 

It was Jason's counsel that they should not at once appear before KingÆetes, but visit him after they had seen the strength of his city. Theydrew their ship into a shaded backwater, and there they stayed whileday grew and faded around them. 

Night came, and the heroes slept upon the deck of Argo. Many thingscame back to them in their dreams or through their half-sleep: theythought of the Lemnian maidens they had parted from; of the ClashingRocks they had passed between; of the look in the eyes of Heracles ashe raised his face to the high, black peak of Caucasus. They slept, andthey thought they saw before them THE GOLDEN FLEECE; darknesssurrounded it; it seemed to the dreaming Argonauts that the darknesswas the magic power that King Æetes possessed. 

PART II. The Return To Greece

I. KING ÆETES

They had come into a country that was the strangest of all countries, and amongst a people that were the strangest of all peoples. They werein the land, this people said, before the moon had come into the sky. And it is true that when the great king of Egypt had come so far, finding in all other places men living on the high hills and eating theacorns that grew on the oaks there, he found in Colchis the city of Aeawith a wall around it and with pillars on which writings were graven. That was when Egypt was called the Morning Land. 

And many of the magicians of Egypt who had come with King Sesostrisstayed in that city of Aea, and they taught people spells that couldstay the moon in her going and coming, in her rising and setting. Priests of the Moon ruled the city of Aea until King Æetes came. 

Æetes had no need of their magic, for Helios, the bright Sun, was hisfather, as he thought. Also, Hephaestus, the artisan of the gods, washis friend, and Hephaestus made for him many wonderful things to be hisprotection. Medea, too, his wise daughter, knew the secrets taught bythose who could sway the moon. 

But Æetes once was made afraid by a dream that he had: he dreamt that aship had come up the Phasis, and then, sailing on a mist, had rammedhis palace that was standing there in all its strength and beauty untilit had fallen down. On the morning of the night that he had had thisdream Æetes called Medea, his wise daughter, and he bade her go to thetemple of Hecate, the Moon, and search out spells that might destroythose who came against his city. 

That morning the Argonauts, who had passed the night in the backwaterof the river, had two youths come to them. They were in a broken ship, and they had one oar only. When Jason, after giving them food and freshgarments, questioned them, he found out that these youths were of thecity of Aea, and that they were none others than the sons ofPhrixus--of Phrixus who had come there with the Golden Ram. 

And the youths, Phrontis and Melas, were as amazed as was Jason whenthey found out whose ship they had come aboard. For Jason was thegrandson of Cretheus, and Cretheus was the brother of Athamas, theirgrandfather. They had ventured from Aea, where they had been reared, thinking to reach the country of Athamas and lay claim to hispossessions. But they had been wrecked at a place not far from themouth of the Phasis, and with great pain and struggle they had madetheir way back. 

They were fearful of Aea and of their uncle King Æetes, and they wouldgladly go with Jason and the Argonauts back to Greece. They would helpJason, they said, to persuade Æetes to give the Golden Fleece peaceablyto them. Their mother was the daughter of Æetes--Chalciope, whom theking had given in marriage to Phrixus, his guest. 

A council of the Argonauts was held, and it was agreed that Jasonshould go with two comrades to King Æetes, Phrontis and Melas goingalso. They were to ask the king to give them the Golden Fleece and tooffer him a recompense. Jason took Peleus and Telamon with him. 

As they came to the city a mist fell, and Jason and his comrades withthe sons of Phrixus went through the city without being seen. They camebefore the palace of King Æetes. Then Phrontis and Melas were some waybehind. The mist lifted, and before the heroes was the wonder of thepalace in the bright light of the morning. 

Vines with broad leaves and heavy clusters of fruit grew from column tocolumn, the columns holding a gallery up. And under the vines were thefour fountains that Hephaestus had made for King Æetes. They gushed outinto golden, silver, bronze, and iron basins. And one fountain gushedout clear water, and another gushed out milk; another gushed out wine;and another oil. On each side of the courtyard were the palacebuildings; in one King Æetes lived with Apsyrtus, his son, and in theother Chalciope and Medea lived with their handmaidens. 

Medea was passing from her father's house. The mist lifted suddenly andshe saw three strangers in the palace courtyard. One had a crimsonmantle on; his shoulders were such as to make him seem a man that awhole world could not overthrow, and his eyes had all the sun's lightin them. 

Amazed, Medea stood looking upon Jason, wondering at his bright hairand gleaming eyes and at the lightness and strength of the hand that hehad raised. And then a dove flew toward her: it was being chased by ahawk, and Medea saw the hawk's eyes and beak. As the dove lighted uponher shoulder she threw her veil around it, and the hawk dashed itselfagainst a column. And as Medea, trembling, leaned against the columnshe heard a cry from her sister, who was within. 

For now Phrontis and Melas had come up, and Chalciope who was spinningby the door saw them and cried out. All the servants rushed out. SeeingChalciope's sons there they, too, uttered loud cries, and made suchcommotion that Apsyrtus and then King Æetes came out of the palace. 

Jason saw King Æetes. He was old and white, but he had great greeneyes, and the strength of a leopard was in all he did. And Jason lookedupon Apsyrtus too; the son of Æetes looked like a Phoenician merchant, black of beard and with rings in his ears, with a hooked nose and agleam of copper in his face. 

Phrontis and Melas went from their mother's embrace and made reverenceto King Æetes. Then they spoke of the heroes who were with them, ofJason and his two comrades. Æetes bade all enter the palace; baths weremade ready for them, and a banquet was prepared. 

After the banquet, when they all sat together, Æetes addressing theeldest of Chalciope's sons, said:

"Sons of Phrixus, of that man whom I honored above all men who came tomy halls, speak now and tell me how it is that you have come back toAea so soon, and who they are, these men who come with you?"

Æetes, as he spoke, looked sharply upon Phrontis and Melas, for hesuspected them of having returned to Aea, bringing these armed men withthem, with an evil intent. Phrontis looked at the King, and said:

"Æetes, our ship was driven upon the Island of Ares, where it wasalmost broken upon the rocks. That was on a murky night, and in themorning the birds of Ares shot their sharp feathers upon us. We pulledaway from that place, and thereafter we were driven by the winds backto the mouth of the Phasis. There we met with these heroes who werefriendly to us. Who they are, what they have come to your city for, Ishall now tell you. 

"A certain king, longing to drive one of these heroes from his land, and hoping that the race of Cretheus might perish utterly, led him toenter a most perilous adventure. He came here upon a ship that was madeby the command of Hera, the wife of Zeus, a ship more wonderful thanmortals ever sailed in before. With him there came the mightiest of theheroes of Greece. He is Jason, the grandson of Cretheus, and he hascome to beg that you will grant him freely the famous Fleece of Goldthat Phrixus brought to Aea. 

"But not without recompense to you would he take the Fleece. Already hehas heard of your bitter foes, the Sauromatae. He with his comradeswould subdue them for you. And if you would ask of the names and thelineage of the heroes who are with Jason I shall tell you. This isPeleus and this is Telamon; they are brothers, and they are sons ofAEacus, who was of the seed of Zeus. And all the other heroes who havecome with them are of the seed of the gods. "

So Phrontis said, but the King was not placated by what he said. Hethought that the sons of Chalciope had returned to Aea bringing thesewarriors with them so that they might wrest the kingship from him, or, failing that, plunder the city. Æetes's heart was filled with wrath ashe looked upon them, and his eyes shone as a leopard's eyes. 

"Begone from my sight, " he cried, "robbers that ye are! Tricksters! Ifyou had not eaten at my table, assuredly I should have had your tonguescut out for speaking falsehoods about the blessed gods, saying thatthis one and that of your companions was of their divine race. "

Telamon and Peleus strode forward with angry hearts; they would havelaid their hands upon King Æetes only Jason held them back. And thenspeaking to the king in a quiet voice, Jason said:

"Bear with us, King Æetes, I pray you. We have not come with such evilintent as you think. Ah, it was the evil command of an evil king thatsent me forth with these companions of mine across dangerous gulfs ofthe sea, and to face your wrath and the armed men you can bring againstus. We are ready to make great recompense for the friendliness you mayshow to us. We will subdue for you the Sauromatae, or any other peoplethat you would lord it over. "

But Æetes was not made friendly by Jason's words. His heart was dividedas to whether he should summon his armed men and have them slain uponthe spot, or whether he should put them into danger by the trial hewould make of them. 

At last he thought that it would be better to put them to the trialthat he had in mind, slaying them afterward if need be. And then hespoke to Jason, saying:

"Strangers to Colchis, it may be true what my nephews have said. It maybe that ye are truly of the seed of the immortals. And it may be that Ishall give you the Golden Fleece to bear away after I have made trialof you. "

As he spoke Medea, brought there by his messenger so that she mightobserve the strangers, came into the chamber. She entered softly andshe stood away from her father and the four who were speaking with him. Jason looked upon her, and even although his mind was filled with thethought of bending King Æetes to his will, he saw what manner ofmaiden she was, and what beauty and what strength was hers. 

She had a dark face that was made very strange by her crown of goldenhair. Her eyes, like her father's, were wide and full of light, and herlips were so full and red that they made her mouth like an openingrose. But her brows were always knit as if there was some secret angerwithin her. 

"With brave men I have no quarrel, " said Æetes "I will make a trial ofyour bravery, and if your bravery wins through the trial, be very surethat you will have the Golden Fleece to bring back in triumph to Iolcus. 

"But the trial that I would make of you is hard for a great hero even. Know that on the plain of Ares yonder I have two fire-breathing bullswith feet of brass. These bulls were once conquered by me; I yoked themto a plow of adamant, and with them I plowed the field of Ares for fourplow-gates. Then I sowed the furrows, not with the seed that Demetergives, but with teeth of a dragon. And from the dragon's teeth that Isowed in the field of Ares armed men sprang up. I slew them with myspear as they rose around me to slay me. If you can accomplish thisthat I accomplished in days gone by I shall submit to you and give youthe Golden Fleece. But if you cannot accomplish what I onceaccomplished you shall go from my city empty-handed; for it is notright that a brave man should yield aught to one who cannot showhimself as brave. "

So Æetes said. Then Jason, utterly confounded, cast his eyes upon theground. He raised them to speak to the king, and as he did he found thestrange eyes of Medea upon him. With all the courage that was in him hespoke:

"I will dare this contest, monstrous as it is. I will face this doom. Ihave come far, and there is nothing else for me to do but to yoke yourfire-breathing bulls to the plow of adamant, and plow the furrows inthe field of Ares, and struggle with the Earth-born Men. " As he saidthis he saw the eyes of Medea grow wide as with fear. 

Then Æetes, said, "Go back to your ship and make ready for the trial. "Jason, with Peleus and Telamon, left the chamber, and the king smiledgrimly as he saw them go. Phrontis and Melas went to where their motherwas. But Medea stayed, and Æetes looked upon her with his greatleopard's eyes. "My daughter, my wise Medea, " he said, "go, put spellsupon the Moon, that Hecate may weaken that man in his hour of trial. "Medea turned away from her father's eyes, and went to her chamber. 

II. MEDEA THE SORCERESS

She turned away from her father's eyes and she went into her ownchamber. For a long time she stood there with her hands claspedtogether. She heard the voice of Chalciope lamenting because Æetes hadtaken a hatred to her sons and might strive to destroy them. She heardthe voice of her sister lamenting, but Medea thought that the causethat her sister had for grieving was small compared with the causethat she herself had. 

She thought on the moment when she had seen Jason for the firsttime--in the courtyard as the mist lifted and the dove flew to her; shethought of him as he lifted those bright eyes of his; then she thoughtof his voice as he spoke after her father had imposed the dreadfultrial upon him. She would have liked then to have cried out to him, "Oyouth, if others rejoice at the doom that you go to, I do not rejoice. "

Still her sister lamented. But how great was her own grief compared toher sister's! For Chalciope could try to help her sons and could lamentfor the danger they were in and no one would blame her. But she mightnot strive to help Jason nor might she lament for the danger he was in. How terrible it would be for a maiden to help a stranger against herfather's design! How terrible it would be for a woman of Colchis tohelp a stranger against the will of the king! How terrible it would befor a daughter to plot against King Æetes in his own palace!

And then Medea hated Aea, her city. She hated the furious people whocame together in the assembly, and she hated the brazen bulls thatHephaestus had given her father. And then she thought that there wasnothing in Aea except the furious people and the fire-breathing bulls. O how pitiful it was that the strange hero and his friends should havecome to such a place for the sake of the Golden Fleece that was watchedover by the sleepless serpent in the grove of Ares!

Still Chalciope lamented. Would Chalciope come to her and ask her, Medea, to help her sons? If she should come she might speak of thestrangers, too, and of the danger they were in. Medea went to her couchand lay down upon it. She longed for her sister to come to her or tocall to her. 

But Chalciope stayed in her own chamber. Medea, lying upon her couch, listened to her sister's laments. At last she went near where Chalciopewas. Then shame that she should think so much about the stranger cameover her. She stood there without moving; she turned to go back to thecouch, and then trembled so much that she could not stir. As she stoodbetween her couch and her sister's chamber she heard the voice ofChalciope calling to her. 

She went into the chamber where her sister stood. Chalciope flung herarms around her. "Swear, " said she to Medea, "swear by Hecate, theMoon, that you will never speak of something I am going to ask you. "Medea swore that she would never speak of it. 

Chalciope spoke of the danger her sons were in. She asked Medea todevise a way by which they could escape with the stranger from Aea. "InAea and in Colchis, " she said, "there will be no safety for my sonshenceforth. " And to save Phrontis and Melas, she said, Medea would haveto save the strangers also. Surely she knew of a charm that would savethe stranger from the brazen bulls in the contest on the morrow!

So Chalciope came to the very thing that was in Medea's mind. Her heartbounded with joy and she embraced her. "Chalciope, " she said, "Ideclare that I am your sister, indeed--aye, and your daughter, too, fordid you not care for me when I was an infant? I will strive to saveyour sons. I will strive to save the strangers who came with your sons. Send one to the strangers--send him to the leader of the strangers, andtell him that I would see him at daybreak in the temple of Hecate. "

When Medea said this Chalciope embraced her again. She was amazed tosee how Medea's tears were flowing. "Chalciope, " she said, "no one willknow the dangers that I shall go through to save them. "

Swiftly then Chalciope went from the chamber. But Medea stayed therewith her head bowed and the blush of shame on her face. She thoughtthat already she had deceived her sister, making her think that it wasPhrontis and Melas and not Jason that was in her mind to save. And shethought on how she would have to plot against her father and againsther own people, and all for the sake of a stranger who would sail awaywithout thought of her, without the image of her in his mind. 

Jason, with Peleus and Telamon, went back to the Argo. His comradesasked how he had fared, and when he spoke to them of the fire-breathingbulls with feet of brass, of the dragon's teeth that had to be sown, and of the Earth-born Men that had to be overcome, the Argonauts weregreatly cast down, for this task, they thought, was one that could notbe accomplished. He who stood before the fire-breathing bulls wouldperish on the moment. But they knew that one amongst them must striveto accomplish the task. And if Jason held back, Peleus, Telamon, Theseus, Castor, Polydeuces, or any one of the others would undertakeit. 

But Jason would not hold back. On the morrow, he said, he would striveto yoke the fire-breathing, brazen-footed bulls to the plow of adamant. If he perished the Argonauts should then do what they thought wasbest--make other trials to gain the Golden Fleece, or turn their shipand sail back to Greece. 

While they were speaking, Phrontis, Chalciope's son, came to the ship. The Argonauts welcomed him, and in a while he began to speak of hismother's sister and of the help she could give. They grew eager as hespoke of her, all except rough Arcas, who stood wrapped in his bear'sskin. "Shame on us, " rough Arcas cried, "shame on us if we have comehere to crave the help of girls! Speak no more of this! Let us, theArgonauts, go with swords into the city of Aea, and slay this king, andcarry off the Fleece of Gold. "

Some of the Argonauts murmured approval of what Arcas said. But Orpheussilenced him and them, for in his prophetic mind Orpheus saw somethingof the help that Medea would give them. It would be well, Orpheus said, to take help from this wise maiden; Jason should go to her in thetemple of Hecate. The Argonauts agreed to this; they listened to whatPhrontis told them about the brazen bulls, and the night wore on. 

When darkness came upon the earth; when, at sea, sailors looked to theBear arid the stars of Orion; when, in the city, there was no longerthe sound of barking dogs nor of men's voices, Medea went from thepalace. She came to a path; she followed it until it brought her intothe part of the grove that was all black with the shadow that oak treesmade. 

She raised up her hands and she called upon Hecate, the Moon. As shedid, there was a blaze as from torches all around, and she saw horribleserpents stretching themselves toward her from the branches of thetrees. Medea shrank back in fear. But again she called upon Hecate. Andnow there was a howling as from the hounds of Hades all around her. Fearful, indeed, Medea grew as the howling came near her; almost sheturned to flee. But she raised her hands again and called upon Hecate. Then the nymphs who haunted the marsh and the river shrieked, and atthose shrieks Medea crouched down in fear. 

She called upon Hecate, the Moon, again. She saw the moon rise abovethe treetops, and then the hissing and shrieking and howling died away. Holding up a goblet in her hand Medea poured out a libation of honey toHecate, the Moon. 

And then she went to where the moon made a brightness upon the ground. There she saw a flower that rose above the other flowers--a flower thatgrew from two joined stalks, and that was of the color of a crocus. Medea cut the stalks with a brazen knife, and as she did there came adeep groan out of the earth. 

This was the Promethean flower. It had come out of the earth first whenthe vulture that tore at Prometheus's liver had let fall to earth adrop of his blood. With a Caspian shell that she had brought with herMedea gathered the dark juice of this flower--the juice that went tomake her most potent charm. All night she went through the grovegathering the juice of secret herbs; then she mingled them in a phialthat she put away in her girdle. 

She went from that grove and along the river. When the sun shed itsfirst rays upon snowy Caucasus she stood outside the temple of Hecate. She waited, but she had not long to wait, for, like the bright starSirius rising out of Ocean, soon she saw Jason coming toward her. Shemade a sign to him, and he came and stood beside her in the portals ofthe temple. 

They would have stood face to face if Medea did not have her head bent. A blush had come upon her face, and Jason seeing it, and seeing how herhead was bent, knew how grievous it was to her to meet and speak to astranger in this way. He took her hand and he spoke to her reverently, as one would speak to a priestess. 

"Lady, " he said, "I implore you by Hecate and by Zeus who helps allstrangers and suppliants to be kind to me and to the men who have cometo your country with me. Without your help I cannot hope to prevail inthe grievous trial that has been laid upon me. If you will help us, Medea, your name will be renowned throughout all Greece. And I havehopes that you will help us, for your face and form show you to be onewho can be kind and gracious. "

The blush of shame had gone from Medea's face and a softer blush cameover her as Jason spoke. She looked upon him and she knew that shecould hardly live if the breath of the brazen bulls withered his lifeor if the Earth-born Men slew him. She took the charm from out hergirdle; ungrudgingly she put it into Jason's hands. And as she gave himthe charm that she had gained with such danger, the fear and troublethat was around her heart melted as the dew melts from around the rosewhen it is warmed by the first light of the morning. 

Then they spoke standing close together in the portal of the temple. She told him how he should anoint his body all over with the charm; itwould give him, she said, boundless and untiring strength, and make himso that the breath of the bulls could not wither him nor the horns ofthe bulls pierce him. She told him also to sprinkle his shield and hissword with the charm. 

And then they spoke of the dragon's teeth and of the Earth-born Men whowould spring from them. Medea told Jason that when they arose out ofthe earth he was to cast a great stone amongst them. The Earth-born Menwould struggle about the stone, and they would slay each other in thecontest. 

Her dark and delicate face was beautiful. Jason looked upon her, and itcame into his mind that in Colchis there was something else of worthbesides the Golden Fleece. And he thought that after he had won theFleece there would be peace between the Argonauts and King Æetes, andthat he and Medea might sit together in the king's hall. But when hespoke of being joined in friendship with her father, Medea cried:

"Think not of treaties nor of covenants. In Greece such are regarded, but not here. Ah, do not think that the king, my father, will keep anypeace with you! When you have won the Fleece you must hasten away. Youmust not tarry in Aea. "

She said this and her cheeks were wet with tears to think that heshould go so soon, that he would go so far, and that she would neverlook upon him again. She bent her head again and she said: "Tell meabout your own land; about the place of your father, the place whereyou will live when you win back from Colchis. "

Then Jason told her of Icolus; he told her how it was circled bymountains not so lofty as her Caucasus; he told her of the pasturelands of Iolcus with their flocks of sheep; he told her of the MountainPelion where he had been reared by Chiron, the ancient centaur; he toldher of his father who lingered out his life in waiting for his return. 

Medea said: "When you go back to Iolcus do not forget me, Medea. Ishall remember you, Jason, even in my father's despite. And it will bemy hope that some rumor of you will come to me like somemessenger-bird. If you forget me may some blast of wind sweep me awayto Iolcus, and may I sit in your hall an unknown and an unexpectedguest!"

Then they parted; Medea went swiftly back to the palace, and Jason, turning to the river, went to where the Argo was moored. 

The heroes embraced and questioned him; he told them of Medea's counseland he showed them the charm she had given him. That savage man Arcasscoffed at Medea's counsel and Medea's charm, saying that the Argonautshad become poor-spirited indeed when they had to depend upon a girl'shelp. 

Jason bathed in the river; then he anointed himself with the charm; hesprinkled his spear and shield and sword with it. He came to Arcas whosat upon his bench, still nursing his anger, and he held the speartoward him. 

Arcas took up his heavy sword and he hewed at the butt of the spear. The edge of the sword turned. The blade leaped back in his hand as ifit had been struck against an anvil. And Jason, feeling within him aboundless and tireless strength, laughed aloud. 

III. THE WINNING OF THE GOLDEN FLEECE

They took the ship out of the backwater and they brought her to a wharfin the city. At a place that was called "The Ram's Couch" they fastenedthe Argo. Then they marched to the field of Ares, where the king andthe Colchian people were. 

Jason, carrying his shield and spear, went before the king. From theking's hand he took the gleaming helmet that held the dragon's teeth. This he put into the hands of Theseus, who went with him. Then with thespear and shield in his hands, with his sword girt across hisshoulders, and with his mantle stripped off, Jason looked across thefield of Ares. 

He saw the plow that he was to yoke to the bulls; he saw the yoke ofbronze near it; he saw the tracks of the bulls' hooves. He followed thetracks until he came to the lair of the fire-breathing bulls. Out ofthat lair, which was underground, smoke and fire belched. He set hisfeet firmly upon the ground and he held his shield before him. Heawaited the onset of the bulls. They came clanging up with loudbellowing, breathing out fire. They lowered their heads, and withmighty, iron-tipped horns they came to gore and trample him. 

Medea's charm had made him strong; Medea's charm had made his shieldimpregnable. The rush of the bulls did not overthrow him. His comradesshouted to see him standing firmly there, and in wonder the Colchiansgazed upon him. All round him, as from a furnace, there came smoke andfire. 

The bulls roared mightily. Grasping the horns of the bull that was uponhis right hand, Jason dragged him until he had brought him beside theyoke of bronze. Striking the brazen knees of the bull suddenly with hisfoot he forced him down. Then he smote the other bull as it rushed uponhim, and it too he forced down upon its knees. 

Castor and Polydeuces held the yoke to him. Jason bound it upon thenecks of the bulls. He fastened the plow to the yoke. Then he took hisshield and set it upon his back, and grasping the handles of the plowhe started to make the furrow. 

With his long spear he drove the bulls before him as with a goad. Terribly they raged, furiously they breathed out fire. Beside JasonTheseus went holding the helmet that held the dragon's teeth. The hardground was torn up by the plow of adamant, and the clods groaned asthey were cast up. Jason flung the teeth between the open sods, oftenturning his head in fear that the deadly crop of the Earth-born Menwere rising behind him. 

By the time that a third of the day was finished the field of Ares hadbeen plowed and sown. As yet the furrows were free of the Earth-bornMen. Jason went down to the river and filled his helmet full of waterand drank deeply. And his knees that were stiffened with the plowing hebent until they were made supple again. 

He saw the field rising into mounds. It seemed that there were gravesall over the field of Ares. Then he saw spears and shields and helmetsrising up out of the earth. Then armed warriors sprang up, a fiercebattle cry upon their lips. 

Jason remembered the counsel of Medea. He raised a boulder that fourmen could hardly raise and with arms hardened by the plowing he castit. The Colchians shouted to see such a stone cast by the hands of oneman. Right into the middle of the Earth-born Men the stone came. Theyleaped upon it like hounds, striking at one another as they cametogether. Shield crashed on shield, spear rang upon spear as theystruck at each other. The Earth-born Men, as fast as they arose, wentdown before the weapons in the hands of their brethren. 

Jason rushed upon them, his sword in his hand. He slew some that hadrisen out of the earth only as far as the shoulders; he slew otherswhose feet were still in the earth; he slew others who were ready tospring upon him. Soon all the Earth-born Men were slain, and thefurrows ran with their dark blood as channels run with water inspringtime. 

The Argonauts shouted loudly for Jason's victory. King Æetes rose fromhis seat that was beside the river and he went back to the city. TheColchians followed him. Day faded, and Jason's contest was ended. 

But it was not the will of Æetes that the strangers should be letdepart peaceably with the Golden Fleece that Jason had won. In theassembly place, with his son Apsyrtus beside him, and with the furiousColchians all around him, the king stood: on his breast was thegleaming corselet that Ares had given him, and on his head was thatgolden helmet with its four plumes that made him look as if he weretruly the son of Helios, the Sun. Lightnings flashed from his greateyes; he spoke fiercely to the Colchians, holding in his hand hisbronze-topped spear. 

He would have them attack the strangers and burn the Argo. He wouldhave the sons of Phrixus slain for bringing them to Aea. There was aprophecy, he declared, that would have him be watchful of the treacheryof his own offspring: this prophecy was being fulfilled by the childrenof Chalciope; he feared, too, that his daughter, Medea, had aided thestrangers. So the king spoke, and the Colchians, hating all strangers, shouted around him. 

Word of what her father had said was brought to Medea. She knew thatshe would have to go to the Argonauts and bid them flee hastily fromAea. They would not go, she knew, without the Golden Fleece; then she, Medea, would have to show them how to gain the Fleece. 

Then she could never again go back to her father's palace, she couldnever again sit in this chamber and talk to her handmaidens, and bewith Chalciope, her sister. Forever afterward she would be dependent onthe kindness of strangers. Medea wept when she thought of all this. Andthen she cut off a tress of her hair and she left it in her chamber asa farewell from one who was going afar. Into the chamber whereChalciope was she whispered farewell. 

The palace doors were all heavily bolted, but Medea did not have topull back the bolts. As she chanted her Magic Song the bolts softlydrew back, the doors softly opened. Swiftly she went along the waysthat led to the river. She came to where fires were blazing and sheknew that the Argonauts were there. 

She called to them, and Phrontis, Chalciope's son, heard the cry andknew the voice. To Jason he spoke, and Jason quickly went to whereMedea stood. 

She clasped Jason's hand and she drew him with her. "The GoldenFleece, " she said, "the time has come when you must pluck the GoldenFleece off the oak in the grove of Ares. " When she said these words allJason's being became taut like the string of a bow. 

It was then the hour when huntsmen cast sleep from their eyes--huntsmenwho never sleep away the end of the night, but who are ever ready to beup and away with their hounds before the beams of the sun efface thetrack and the scent of the quarry. Along a path that went from theriver Medea drew Jason. They entered a grove. Then Jason saw somethingthat was like a cloud filled with the light of the rising sun. It hungfrom a great oak tree. In awe he stood and looked upon it, knowing thatat last he looked upon THE GOLDEN FLEECE. 

His hand let slip Medea's hand and he went to seize the Fleece. As hedid he heard a dreadful hiss. And then he saw the guardian of theGolden Fleece. Coiled all around the tree, with outstretched neck andkeen and sleepless eyes, was a deadly serpent. Its hiss ran all throughthe grove and the birds that were wakening up squawked in terror. 

Like rings of smoke that rise one above the other, the coils of theserpent went around the tree--coils covered by hard and gleamingscales. It uncoiled, stretched itself, and lifted its head to strike. Then Medea dropped on her knees before it, and began to chant her MagicSong. 

As she sang, the coils around the tree grew slack. Like a dark, noiseless wave the serpent sank down on the ground. But still its jawswere open, and those dreadful jaws threatened Jason. Medea, with anewly cut spray of juniper dipped in a mystic brew, touched its deadlyeyes. And still she chanted her Magic Song. The serpent's jaws closed;its eyes became deadened; far through the grove its length wasstretched out. 

Then Jason took the Golden Fleece. As he raised his hands to it, itsbrightness was such as to make a flame on his face. Medea called tohim. He strove to gather it all up in his arms; Medea was beside him, and they went swiftly on. 

They came to the river and down to the place where the Argo was moored. The heroes who were aboard started up, astonished to see the Fleecethat shone as with the lightning of Zeus. Over Medea Jason cast it, andhe lifted her aboard the Argo. 

"O friends, " he cried, "the quest on which we dared the gulfs of thesea and the wrath of kings is accomplished, thanks to the help of thismaiden. Now may we return to Greece; now have we the hope of lookingupon our fathers and our friends once more. And in all honor will webring this maiden with us, Medea, the daughter of King Æetes. "

Then he drew his sword and cut the hawsers of the ship, calling uponthe heroes to drive the Argo on. There was a din and a strain and asplash of oars, and away from Aea the Argo dashed. Beside the mastMedea stood; the Golden Fleece had fallen at her feet, and her head andface were covered by her silver veil. 

IV. THE SLAYING OF APSYRTUS

That silver veil was to be splashed with a brother's blood, and theArgonauts, because of that calamity, were for a long time to be heldback from a return to their native land. 

Now as they went down the river they saw that dangers were comingswiftly upon them. The chariots of the Colchians were upon the banks. Jason saw King Æetes in his chariot, a blazing torch lighting hiscorselet and his helmet. Swiftly the Argo went, but there were shipsbehind her, and they went swiftly too. 

They came into the Sea of Pontus, and Phrontis, the son of Phrixus, gave counsel to them. "Do not strive to make the passage of theSymplegades, " he said. "All who live around the Sea of Pontus arefriendly to King Æetes they will be warned by him, and they will beready to slay us and take the Argo. Let us journey up the River Ister, and by that way we can come to the Thrinacian Sea that is close to yourland. "

The Argonauts thought well of what Phrontis said; into the waters ofthe Ister the ship was brought. Many of the Colchian ships passed bythe mouth of the river, and went seeking the Argo toward the passage ofthe Symplegades. 

But the Argonauts were on a way that was dangerous for them. ForApsyrtus had not gone toward the Symplegades seeking the Argo. He hadled his soldiers overland to the River Ister at a place that was at adistance above its mouth. There were islands in the river at thatplace, and the soldiers of Apsyrtus landed on the islands, whileApsyrtus went to the kings of the people around and claimed theirsupport. 

The Argo came and the heroes found themselves cut off. They could notmake their way between the islands that were filled with the Colchiansoldiers, nor along the banks that were lined with men friendly to KingÆetes. Argo was stayed. Apsyrtus sent for the chiefs; he had men enoughto overwhelm them, but he shrank from a fight with the heroes, and hethought that he might gain all he wanted from them without a struggle. 

Theseus and Peleus went to him. Apsyrtus would have them give up theGolden Fleece; he would have them give up Medea and the sons of Phrixusalso. 

Theseus and Peleus appealed to the judgment of the kings who supportedApsyrtus. Æetes, they said, had no more claim on the Golden Fleece. Hehad promised it to Jason as a reward for tasks that he had imposed. Thetasks had been accomplished and the Fleece, no matter in what way itwas taken from the grove of Ares, was theirs. So Theseus and Peleussaid, and the kings who supported Apsyrtus gave judgment for theArgonauts. 

But Medea would have to be given to her brother. If that were done theArgo would be let go on her course, Apsyrtus said, and the GoldenFleece would be left with them. Apsyrtus said, too, that he would nottake Medea back to the wrath of her father; if the Argonauts gave herup she would be let stay on the island of Artemis and under theguardianship of the goddess. 

The chiefs brought Apsyrtus's words back. There was a council of theArgonauts, and they agreed that they should leave Medea on the islandof Artemis. 

But grief and wrath took hold of Medea when she heard of this resolve. Almost she would burn the Argo. She went to where Jason stood, and shespoke again of all she had done to save his life and win the GoldenFleece for the Argonauts. Jason made her look on the ships and thesoldiers that were around them; he showed her how these could overwhelmthe Argonauts and slay them all. With all the heroes slain, he said, Medea would come into the hands of Apsyrtus, who then could leave heron the island of Artemis or take her back to the wrath of her father. 

But Medea would not consent to go nor could Jason's heart consent tolet her go. Then these two made a plot to deceive Apsyrtus. 

"I have not been of the council that agreed to give you up to him, "Jason said. "After you have been left there I will take you off theisland of Artemis secretly. The Colchians and the kings who supportthem, not knowing that you have been taken off and hidden on the Argo, will let us pass. " This Medea and Jason planned to do, and it was anill thing, for it was breaking the covenant that the chiefs had enteredwith Apsyrtus. 

Medea then was left by the Argonauts on the island of Artemis. NowApsyrtus had been commanded by his father to bring her back to Aea; hethought that when she had been left by the Argonauts he could force herto come with him. So he went over to the island. Jason, secretlyleaving his companions, went to the island from the other side. 

Before the temple of Artemis Jason and Apsyrtus came face to face. Bothmen, thinking they had been betrayed to their deaths, drew theirswords. Then, before the vestibule of the temple and under the eyes ofMedea, Jason and Apsyrtus fought. Jason's sword pierced the son ofÆetes as he fell Apsyrtus cried out bitter words against Medea, sayingthat it was on her account that he had come on his death. And as hefell the blood of her brother splashed Medea's silver veil. 

Jason lifted Medea up and carried her to the Argo. They hid the maidenunder the Fleece of Gold and they sailed past the ships of theColchians. When darkness came they were far from the island of Artemis. It was then that they heard a loud wailing, and they knew that theColchians had discovered that their prince had been slain. 

The Colchians did not pursue them. Fearing the wrath of Æetes they madesettlements in the lands of the kings who had supported A Apsyrtus;they never went back to Aea; they called themselves Apsyrtianshenceforward, naming themselves after the prince they had come with. 

They had escaped the danger that had hemmed them in, but the Argonauts, as they sailed on, were not content; covenants had been broken, andblood had been shed in a bad cause. And as they went on through thedarkness the voice of the ship was heard; at the sound of that voicefear and sorrow came upon the voyagers, for they felt that it had aprophecy of doom. 

Castor and Polydeuces went to the front of the ship; holding up theirhands, they prayed. Then they heard the words that the voice uttered:in the night as they went on the voice proclaimed the wrath of Zeus onaccount of the slaying of Apsyrtus. 

What was their doom to be? It was that the Argonauts would have towander forever over the gulfs of the sea unless Medea had herselfcleansed of her brother's blood. There was one who could cleanseMedea--Circe, the daughter of Helios and Perse. The voice urged theheroes to pray to the immortal gods that the way to the island of Circebe shown to them. 

V. MEDEA COMES TO CIRCE

They sailed up the River Ister until they came to the Eridanus, thatriver across which no bird can fly. Leaving the Eridanus they enteredthe Rhodanus, a river that rises in the extreme north, where Nightherself has her habitation. And voyaging up this river they came to theStormy Lakes. A mist lay upon the lakes night and day; voyaging throughthem the Argonauts at last brought out their ship upon the Sea ofAusonia. 

It was Zetes and Calais, the sons of the North Wind, who brought theArgo safely along this dangerous course. And to Zetes and Calais Iris, the messenger of the gods, appeared and revealed to them where Circe'sisland lay. 

Deep blue water was all around that island, and on its height a marblehouse was to be seen. But a strange haze covered everything as with aveil. As the Argonauts came near they saw what looked to them likegreat dragonflies; they came down to the shore, and then the heroes sawthat they were maidens in gleaming dresses. 

The maidens waved their hands to the voyagers, calling them to come onthe island. Strange beasts came up to where the maidens were and madewhimpering cries. 

The Argonauts would have drawn the ship close and would have sprungupon the island only that Medea cried out to them. She showed them thebeasts that whimpered around the maidens, and then, as the Argonautslooked upon them, they saw that these were not beasts of the wild. There was something strange and fearful about them; the heroes gazedupon them with troubled eyes. They brought the ship near, but theystayed upon their benches, holding the oars in their hands. 

Medea sprang to the island; she spoke to the maidens so that theyshrank away; then the beasts came and whimpered around her. "Forbear toland here, O Argonauts, " Medea cried, "for this is the island where menare changed into beasts. " She called to Jason to come; only Jason wouldshe have come upon the island. 

They went swiftly toward the marble house, and the beasts followedthem, looking up at Jason and Medea with pitiful human eyes. They wentinto the marble house of Circe, and as suppliants they seatedthemselves at the hearth. 

Circe stood at her loom, weaving her many-colored threads. Swiftly sheturned to the suppliants; she looked for something strange in them, forjust before they came the walls of her house dripped with blood and theflame ran over and into her pot, burning up all the magic herbs she wasbrewing. She went toward where they sat, Medea with her face hidden byher hands, and Jason, with his head bent, --holding with its point inthe ground the sword with which he had slain the son of Æetes WhenMedea took her hands away from before her face, Circe knew that, likeherself, this maiden was of the race of Helios. Medea spoke to her, telling her first of the voyage of the heroes and of their toils;telling her then of how she had given help to Jason against the will ofÆetes her father; telling her then, fearfully, of the slaying ofApsyrtus. She covered her face with her robe as she spoke of it. Andthen she told Circe she had come, warned by the judgment of Zeus, toask of Circe, the daughter of Helios, to purify her from the stain ofher brother's blood. 

Like all the children of Helios, Circe had eyes that were wide and fullof life, but she had stony lips--lips that were heavy and moveless. Bright golden hair hung smoothly along each of her sides. First sheheld a cup to them that was filled with pure water, and Jason and Medeadrank from that cup. 

Then Circe stayed by the hearth; she burnt cakes in the flame, and allthe while she prayed to Zeus to be gentle with these suppliants. Shebrought both to the seashore. There she washed Medea's body and hergarments with the spray of the sea. 

Medea pleaded with Circe to tell her of the life she foresaw for her, but Circe would not speak of it. She told Medea that one day she wouldmeet a woman who knew nothing about enchantments but who had much humanwisdom. She was to ask of her what she was to do in her life or whatshe was to leave undone. And whatever this woman out of her wisdom toldher, that Medea was to regard. Once more Circe offered them the cupfilled with clear water, and when they had drunken of it she left themupon the seashore. As she went toward her marble house the strangebeasts followed Circe, whimpering as they went. Jason and Medea wentaboard the Argo, and the heroes drew away from Circe's island. 

VI. IN THE LAND OF THE PHAEACIANS

Wearied were the heroes now. They would have fain gone upon the islandof Circe to rest there away from the oars and the sound of the sea. Butthe wisest of them, looking upon the beasts that were men transformed, held the Argo far off the shore. Then Jason and Medea came aboard, andwith heavy hearts and wearied arms they turned to the open sea again. 

No longer had they such high hearts as when they drove the Argo betweenthe Clashers and into the Sea of Pontus. Now their heads drooped asthey went on, and they sang such songs as slaves sing in their hopelesslabor. Orpheus grew fearful for them now. 

For Orpheus knew that they were drawing toward a danger. There was noother way for them, he knew, but past the Island Anthemoessa in theTyrrhenian Sea where the Sirens were. 

Once they had been nymphs and had tended Persephone before she wascarried off by Aidoneus to be his queen in the Underworld. Kind theyhad been, but now they were changed, and they cared only for thedestruction of men. 

All set around with rocks was the island where they were. As the Argocame near, the Sirens, ever on the watch to draw mariners to theirdestruction, saw them and came to the rocks and sang to them, holdingeach other's hands. 

They sang all together their lulling song. That song made the weariedvoyagers long to let their oars go with the waves, and drift, drift towhere the Sirens were. Bending down to them the Sirens, with soft handsand white arms, would lift them to soft resting places. Then each ofthe Sirens sang a clear, piercing song that called to each of thevoyagers. Each man thought that his own name was in that song. "O howwell it is that you have come near, " each one sang, "how well it isthat you have come near where I have awaited you, having all delightprepared for you!"

Orpheus took up his lyre as the Sirens began to sing. He sang to theheroes of their own toils. He sang of them, how, gaunt and weary asthey were, they were yet men, men who were the strength of Greece, menwho had been fostered by the love and hope of their country. They werethe winners of the Golden Fleece and their story would be told forever. And for the fame that they had won men would forego all rest and alldelight. Why should they not toil, they who were born for great laborsand to face dangers that other men might not face? Soon hands would bestretched out to them--the welcoming hands of the men and women oftheir own land. 

So Orpheus sang, and his voice and the music of his lyre prevailedabove the Sirens' voices. Men dropped their oars, but other menremained at their benches, and pulled steadily, if wearily, on. Onlyone of the Argonauts, Butes, a youth of Iolcus, threw himself into thewater and swam toward the rocks from which the Sirens sang. 

But an anguish that nearly parted their spirits from their bodies wasupon them as they went wearily on. Toward the end of the day theybeheld another island--an island that seemed very fair; they longed toland and rest themselves there and eat the fruits of the island. ButOrpheus would not have them land. The island, he said, was Thrinacia. Upon that island the Cattle of the Sun pastured, and if one of thecattle perished through them their return home might not be won. Theyheard the lowing of the cattle through the mist, and a deep longing forthe sight of their own fields, with a white house near, and flocks andherds at pasture, came over the heroes. They came near the Island ofThrinacia, and they saw the Cattle of the Sun feeding by the meadowstreams; not one of them was black; all were white as milk, and thehorns upon their heads were golden. They saw the two nymphs who herdedthe kine--Phaethusa and Lampetia, one with a staff of silver and theother with a staff of gold. 

Driven by the breeze that came over the Thrinacian Sea the Argonautscame to the land of the Phaeacians. It was a good land as they saw whenthey drew near; a land of orchards and fresh pastures, with a white andsun-lit city upon the height. Their spirits came back to them as theydrew into the harbor; they made fast the hawsers, and they went uponthe ways of the city. 

And then they saw everywhere around them the dark faces of Colchiansoldiers. These were the men of King Æetes, and they had come overlandto the Phaeacian city, hoping to cut off the Argonauts. Jason, when hesaw the soldiers, shouted to those who had been left on the Argo, andthey drew out of the harbor, fearful lest the Colchians should grapplewith the ship and wrest from them the Fleece of Gold. Then Jason madean encampment upon the shore, and the captain of the Colchians wenthere and there, gathering together his men. 

Medea left Jason's side and hastened through the city. To the palace ofAlcinous, king of the Phaeacians, she went. Within the palace she foundArete, the queen. And Arete was sitting by her hearth, spinning goldenand silver threads. 

Arete was young at that time, as young as Medea, and as yet no childhad been born to her. But she had the clear eyes of one whounderstands, and who knows how to order things well. Stately, too, wasArete, for she had been reared in the house of a great king. Medea cameto her, and fell upon her knees before her, and told her how she hadfled from the house of her father, King Æetes. 

She told Arete, too, how she had helped Jason to win the Golden Fleece, and she told her how through her her brother had been led to his death. As she told this part of her story she wept and prayed at the knees ofthe queen. 

Arete was greatly moved by Medea's tears and prayers. She went toAlcinous in his garden, and she begged of him to save the Argonautsfrom the great force of the Colchians that had come to cut them off. "The Golden Fleece, " said Arete, "has been won by the tasks that Jasonperformed. If the Colchians should take Medea, it would be to bring herback to Aea and to a bitter doom. And the maiden, " said the queen, "hasbroken my heart by her prayers and tears. "

King Alcinous said: "Æetes is strong, and although his kingdom is farfrom ours, he can bring war upon us. " But still Arete pleaded with himto protect Medea from the Colchians. Alcinous went within; he raised upMedea from where she crouched on the floor of the palace, and hepromised her that the Argonauts would be protected in his city. 

Then the king mounted his chariot; Medea went with him, and they camedown to the seashore where the heroes had made their encampment. TheArgonauts and the Colchians were drawn up against each other, and theColchians far outnumbered the wearied heroes. 

Alcinous drove his chariot between the two armies. The Colchians prayedhim to have the strangers make surrender to them. But the king drovehis chariot to where the heroes stood, and he took the hand of each, and received them as his guests. Then the Colchians knew that theymight not make war upon the heroes. They drew off. The next day theymarched away. 

It was a rich land that they had come to. Once Aristaeus dwelt there, the king who discovered how to make bees store up their honey for menand how to make the good olive grow. Macris, his daughter, tendedDionysus, the son of Zeus, when Hermes brought him of the flame, andmoistened his lips with honey. She tended him in a cave in thePhaeacian land, and ever afterward the Phaeacians were blessed with allgood things. 

Now as the heroes marched to the palace of King Alcinous the peoplecame to meet them, bringing them sheep and calves and jars of wine andhoney. The women brought them fresh garments; to Medea they gave finelinen and golden ornaments. 

Amongst the Phaeacians who loved music and games and the telling ofstories the heroes stayed for long. There were dances, and to thePhaeacians who honored him as a god, Orpheus played upon his lyre. Andevery day, for the seven days that they stayed amongst them, thePhaeacians brought rich presents to the heroes. 

And Medea, looking into the clear eyes of Queen Arete, knew that shewas the woman of whom Circe had prophesied, the woman who knew nothingof enchantments, but who had much human wisdom. She was to ask of herwhat she was to do in her life and what she was to leave undone. Andwhat this woman told her Medea was to regard. Arete told her that shewas to forget all the witcheries and enchantments that she knew, andthat she was never to practice against the life of any one. This shetold Medea upon the shore, before Jason lifted her aboard the Argo. 

VII. THEY COME TO THE DESERT LAND

And now with sail spread wide the Argo went on, and the heroes restedat the oars. The wind grew stronger. It became a great blast, and fornine days and nine nights the ship was driven fearfully along. 

The blast drove them into the Gulf of Libya, from whence there is noreturn for ships. On each side of the gulf there are rocks and shoals, and the sea runs toward the limitless sand. On the top of a mighty tidethe Argo was lifted, and she was flung high up on the desert sands. 

A flood tide such as might not come again for long left the Argonautson the empty Libyan land. And when they came forth and saw that vastlevel of sand stretching like a mist away into the distance, a deadlyfear came over each of them. No spring of water could they descry; nopath; no herdsman's cabin; over all that vast land there was silenceand dead calm. And one said to the other: "What land is this? Whitherhave we come? Would that the tempest had overwhelmed us, or would thatwe had lost the ship and our lives between the Clashing Rocks at thetime when we were making our way into the Sea of Pontus. "

And the helmsman, looking before him, said with a breaking heart: "Outof this we may not come, even should the breeze blow from the land, forall around us are shoals and sharp rocks--rocks that we can seefretting the water, line upon line. Our ship would have been shatteredfar from the shore if the tide had not borne her far up on the sand. But now the tide rushes back toward the sea, leaving only foam on whichno ship can sail to cover the sand. And so all hope of our return iscut off. "

He spoke with tears flowing upon his cheeks, and all who had knowledgeof ships agreed with what the helmsman had said. No dangers that theyhad been through were as terrible as this. Hopelessly, like lifelessspecters, the heroes strayed about the endless strand. 

They embraced each other and they said farewell as they laid down uponthe sand that might blow upon them and overwhelm them in the night. They wrapped their heads in their cloaks, and, fasting, they laidthemselves down. 

Jason crouched beside the ship, so troubled that his life nearly wentfrom him. He saw Medea huddled against a rock and with her hairstreaming on the sand. He saw the men who, with all the bravery oftheir lives, had come with him, stretched on the desert sand, weary andwithout hope. He thought that they, the best of men, might die in thisdesert with their deeds all unknown; he thought that he might never winhome with Medea, to make her his queen in Iolcus. 

He lay against the side of the ship, his cloak wrapped around his head. And there death would have come to him and to the others if the nymphsof the desert had been unmindful of these brave men. They came toJason. It was midday then, and the fierce rays of the sun werescorching all Libya. They drew off the cloak that wrapped his head;they stood near him, three nymphs girded around with goatskins. 

"Why art thou so smitten with despair?" the nymphs said to Jason. "Whyart thou smitten with despair, thou who hast wrought so much and hastwon so much? Up! Arouse thy comrades! We are the solitary nymphs, thewarders of the land of Libya, and we have come to show a way of escapeto you, the Argonauts. 

"Look around and watch for the time when Poseidon's great horse shallbe unloosed. Then make ready to pay recompense to the mother that boreyou all. What she did for you all, that you all must do for her; bydoing it you will win back to the land of Greece. " Jason heard them saythese words and then he saw them no more; the nymphs vanished amongstthe desert mounds. 

Then Jason rose up. He did not know what to make out of what had beentold him, but there was courage now and hope in his heart. He shouted;his voice was like the roar of a lion calling to his mate. At his shouthis comrades roused themselves; all squalid with the dust of the desertthe Argonauts stood around him. 

"Listen, comrades, to me, " Jason said, "while I speak of a strangething that has befallen me. While I lay by the side of our ship threenymphs came before me. With light hands they drew away the cloak thatwrapped my head. They declared themselves to be the solitary nymphs, the warders, of Libya. Very strange were the words they said to me. When Poseidon's great horse shall be unloosed, they said, we were tomake the mother of us all a recompense, doing for her what she had donefor us all. This the nymphs told me to say, but I cannot understand themeaning of their words. "

There were some there who would not have given heed to Jason's words, deeming them words without meaning. But even as he spoke a wonder camebefore their eyes. Out of the far-off sea a great horse leaped. Vast hewas of size and he had a golden mane. He shook the spray of the sea offhis sides and mane. Past them he trampled and away toward the horizon, leaving great tracks in the sand. 

Then Nestor spoke rejoicingly. "Behold the great horse! It is the horsethat the desert nymphs spoke of, Poseidon's horse. Even now has thehorse been unloosed, and now is the time to do what the nymphs bade usdo. 

"Who but Argo is the mother of us all? She has carried us. Now we mustmake her a recompense and carry her even as she carried us. Withuntiring shoulders we must bear Argo across this great desert. 

"And whither shall we bear her? Whither but along the tracks thatPoseidon's horse has left in the sand! Poseidon's horse will not gounder the earth--once again he will plunge into the sea!"

So Nestor said and the Argonauts saw truth in his saying. Hope came tothem again--the hope of leaving that desert and coming to the sea. Surely when they came to the sea again, and spread the sail and heldthe oars in their hands, their sacred ship would make swift course totheir native land!

VIII. THE CARRYING OUT OF THE ARGO

With the terrible weight of the ship upon their shoulders the Argonautsmade their way across the desert, following the tracks of Poseidon'sgolden-maned horse. Like a rounded serpent that drags with pain itslength along, they went day after day across that limitless land. 

A day came when they saw the great tracks of the horse no more. A windhad come up and had covered them with sand. With the mighty weight ofthe ship upon their shoulders, with the sun beating upon their heads, and with no marks on the desert to guide them, the heroes stood there, and it seemed to them that the blood must gush up and out of theirhearts. 

Then Zetes and Calais, sons of the North Wind, rose up upon their wingsto strive to get sight of the sea. Up, up, they soared. And then as aman sees, or thinks he sees, at the month's beginning, the moon througha bank of clouds, Zetes and Calais, looking over the measureless land, saw the gleam of water. They shouted to the Argonauts; they marked theway for them, and wearily, but with good hearts, the heroes went uponthe way. 

They came at last to the shore of what seemed to be a wide inland sea. They set Argo down from off their over-wearied shoulders and they lether keel take water once more. 

All salt and brackish was that water; they dipped their hands into andtasted the salt. Orpheus was able to name the water they had come to;it was that lake that was called after Triton, the son of Nereus, theancient one of the sea. They set up an altar and they made sacrificesin thanksgiving to the gods. 

They had come to water at last, but now they had to seek for otherwater--for the sweet water that they could drink. All around them theylooked, but they saw no sign of a spring. And then they felt a windblow upon them--a wind that had in it not the dust of the desert butthe fragrance of growing things. Toward where that wind blew from theywent. 

As they went on they saw a great shape against the sky; they sawmountainous shoulders bowed. Orpheus bade them halt and turn theirfaces with reverence toward that great shape: for this was Atlas theTitan, the brother of Prometheus, who stood there to hold up the sky onhis shoulders. 

Then they were near the place that the fragrance had blown from: therewas a garden there; the only fence that ran around it was a lattice ofsilver. "Surely there are springs in the garden, " the Argonauts said. "We will enter this fair garden now and slake our thirst. "

Orpheus bade them walk reverently, for all around them, he said, wassacred ground. This garden was the Garden of the Hesperides that waswatched over by the Daughters of the Evening Land. The Argonauts lookedthrough the silver lattice; they saw trees with lovely fruit, and theysaw three maidens moving through the garden with watchful eyes. In thisgarden grew the tree that had the golden apples that Zeus gave to Heraas a wedding gift. 

They saw the tree on which the golden apples grew. The maidens went toit and then looked watchfully all around them. They saw the faces ofthe Argonauts looking through the silver lattice and they cried out, one to the other, and they joined their hands around the tree. 

But Orpheus called to them, and the maidens understood the divinespeech of Orpheus. He made the Daughters of the Evening Land know thatthey who stood before the lattice were men who reverenced the gods, whowould not strive to enter the forbidden garden. The maidens came towardthem. Beautiful as the singing of Orpheus was their utterance, but whatthey said was a complaint and a lament. 

Their lament was for the dragon Ladon, that dragon with a hundred headsthat guarded sleeplessly the tree that had the golden apples. Now thatdragon was slain. With arrows that had been dipped in the poison of theHydra's blood their dragon, Ladon, had been slain. 

The Daughters of the Evening Land sang of how a mortal had come intothe garden that they watched over. He had a great bow, and with hisarrow he slew the dragon that guarded the golden apples. The goldenapples he had taken away; they had come back to the tree they had beenplucked from, for no mortal might keep them in his possession. So themaidens sang Hespere, Eretheis, and Aegle--and they complained thatnow, unhelped by the hundred-headed dragon, they had to keep guard overthe tree. 

The Argonauts knew of whom they told the tale--Heracles, their comrade. Would that Heracles were with them now!

The Hesperides told them of Heracles--of how the springs in the gardendried up because of his plucking the golden apples. He came out of thegarden thirsting. Nowhere could he find a spring of water. To yondergreat rock he went. He smote it with his foot and water came out infull floe. . Then he, leaning on his hands and with his chest upon theground, drank and drank from the water that flowed from the rifted rock. 

The Argonauts looked to where the rock stood. They caught the sound ofwater. They carried Medea over. And then, company after company, allhuddled together, they stooped down and drank their fill of the cleargood water. With lips wet with the water they cried to each other, "Heracles! Although he is not with us, in very truth Heracles has savedhis comrades from deadly thirst!"

They saw his footsteps printed upon the rocks, and they followed themuntil they led to the sand where no footsteps stay. Heracles! How gladhis comrades would have been if they could have had sight of him then!But it was long ago before he had sailed with them--that Heracles hadbeen here. 

Still hearing their complaint they turned back to the lattice, to wherethe Daughters of the Evening Land stood. The Daughters of the EveningLand bent their heads to listen to what the Argonauts told one another, and, seeing them bent to listen, Orpheus told a story about one who hadgone across the Libyan desert, about one who was a hero like untoHeracles. 

THE STORY OF PERSEUS

Beyond where Atlas stands there is a cave where the strange women, theancient daughters of Phorcys, live. They have been gray from theirbirth. They have but one eye and one tooth between them, and they passthe eye and the tooth, one to the other, when they would see or eat. They are called the Graiai, these two sisters. 

Up to the cave where they lived a youth once came. He was beardless, and the garb he wore was torn and travel-stained, but he hadshapeliness and beauty. In his leathern belt there was an exceedinglybright sword; this sword was not straight like the swords we carry, butit was hooked like a sickle. The strange youth with the bright, strangesword came very quickly and very silently up to the cave where theGraiai lived and looked over a high boulder into it. 

One was sitting munching acorns with the single tooth. The other hadthe eye in her hand. She was holding it to her forehead and lookinginto the back of the cave. These two ancient women, with their grayhair falling over them like thick fleeces, and with faces that wereonly forehead and cheeks and nose and mouth, were strange creaturestruly. Very silently the youth stood looking at them. 

"Sister, sister, " cried the one who was munching acorns, "sister, turnyour eye this way. I heard the stir of something. "

The other turned, and with the eye placed against her forehead lookedout to the opening of the cave. The youth drew back behind the boulder. "Sister, sister, there is nothing there, " said the one with the eye. 

Then she said: "Sister, give me the tooth for I would eat my acorns. Take the eye and keep watch. "

The one who was eating held out the tooth, and the one who was watchingheld out the eye. The youth darted into the cave. Standing between theeyeless sisters, he took with one hand the tooth and with the other theeye. 

"Sister, sister, have you taken the eye?"

"I have not taken the eye. Have you taken the tooth?"

"I have not taken the tooth. "

"Some one has taken the eye, and some one has taken the tooth. "

They stood together, and the youth watched their blinking faces as theytried to discover who had come into the cave, and who had taken the eyeand the tooth. 

Then they said, screaming together: "Who ever has taken the eye and thetooth from the Graiai, the ancient daughters of Phorcys, may MotherNight smother him. "

The youth spoke. "Ancient daughters of Phorcys, " he said, "Graiai, Iwould not rob from you. I have come to your cave only to ask the way toa place. "

"Ah, it is a mortal, a mortal, " screamed the sisters. "Well, mortal, what would you have from the Graiai?"

"Ancient Graiai, " said the youth, "I would have you tell me, for youalone know, where the nymphs dwell who guard the three magictreasures--the cap of darkness, the shoes of flight, and the magicpouch. "

"We will not tell you, we will not tell you that, " screamed the twoancient sisters. 

"I will keep the eye and the tooth, " said the youth, "and I will givethem to one who will help me. "

"Give me the eye and I will tell you, " said one. "Give me the tooth andI will tell you, " said the other. The youth put the eye in the hand ofone and the tooth in the hand of the other, but he held their skinnyhands in his strong hands until they should tell him where the nymphsdwelt who guarded the magic treasures. The Gray Ones told him. Then theyouth with the bright sword left the cave. As he went out he saw on theground a shield of bronze, and he took it with him. 

To the other side of where Atlas stands he went. There he came upon thenymphs in their valley. They had long dwelt there, hidden from gods andmen, and they were startled to see a stranger youth come into theirhidden valley. They fled away. Then the youth sat on the ground, hishead bent like a man who is very sorrowful. 

The youngest and the fairest of the nymphs came to him at last. "Whyhave you come, and why do you sit here in such great trouble, youth?"said she. And then she said: "What is this strange sickle-sword thatyou wear? Who told you the way to our dwelling place? What name haveyou?"

"I have come here, " said the youth, and he took the bronze shield uponhis knees and began to polish it, "I have come here because I want you, the nymphs who guard them, to give to me the cap of darkness and theshoes of flight and the magic pouch. I must gain these things; withoutthem I must go to my death. Why I must gain them you will know from mystory. "

When he said that he had come for the three magic treasures that theyguarded, the kind nymph was more startled than she and her sisters hadbeen startled by the appearance of the strange youth in their hiddenvalley. She turned away from him. But she looked again and she saw thathe was beautiful and brave looking. He had spoken of his death. Thenymph stood looking at him pitifully, and the youth, with the bronzeshield laid beside his knees and the strange hooked sword lying acrossit, told her his story. 

"I am Perseus, " he said, "and my grandfather, men say, is king inArgos. His name is Acrisius. Before I was born a prophecy was made tohim that the son of Danae, his daughter, would slay him. Acrisius wasfrightened by the prophecy, and when I was born he put my mother andmyself into a chest, and he sent us adrift upon the waves of the sea. 

"I did not know what a terrible peril I was in, for I was an infantnewly born. My mother was so hopeless that she came near to death. Butthe wind and the waves did not destroy us: they brought us to a shore;a shepherd found the chest, and he opened it and brought my mother andmyself out of it alive. The land we had come to was Seriphus. Theshepherd who found the chest and who rescued my mother and myself wasthe brother of the king. His name was Dictys. 

"In the shepherd's wattled house my mother stayed with me, a littleinfant, and in that house I grew from babyhood to childhood, and fromchildhood to boyhood. He was a kind man, this shepherd Dictys. Hisbrother Polydectes had put him away from the palace, but Dictys did notgrieve for that, for he was happy minding his sheep upon the hillside, and he was happy in his little but of wattles and clay. 

"Polydectes, the king, was seldom spoken to about his brother, and itwas years before he knew of the mother and child who had been broughtto live in Dictys's hut. But at last he heard of us, for strange thingsbegan to be said about my mother--how she was beautiful, and how shelooked like one who had been favored by the gods. Then one day when hewas hurting, Polydectes the king came to the but of Dictys the shepherd. 

"He saw Danae, my mother, there. By her looks he knew that she was aking's daughter and one who had been favored by the gods. He wanted herfor his wife. But my mother hated this harsh and overbearing king, andshe would not wed with him. Often he came storming around theshepherd's hut, and at last my mother had to take refuge from him in atemple. There she became the priestess of the goddess. 

"I was taken to the palace of Polydectes, and there I was brought up. The king still stormed around where my mother was, more and more benton making her marry him. If she had not been in the temple where shewas under the protection of the goddess he would have wed her againsther will. 

"But I was growing up now, and I was able to give some protection to mymother. My arm was a strong one, and Polydectes knew that if he wrongedmy mother in any way, I had the will and the power to be deadly to him. One day I heard him say before his princes and his lords that he wouldwed, and would wed one who was not Danae, I was overjoyed to hear himsay this. He asked the lords and the princes to come to the weddingfeast; they declared they would, and they told him of the presents theywould bring. 

"Then King Polydectes turned to me and he asked me to come to thewedding feast. I said I would come. And then, because I was young andfull of the boast of youth, and because the king was now ceasing to bea terror to me, I said that I would bring to his wedding feast the headof the Gorgon. 

"The king smiled when he heard me say this, but he smiled not as a goodman smiles when he hears the boast of youth. He smiled, and he turnedto the princes and lords, and he said 'Perseus will come, and he willbring a greater gift than any of you, for he will bring the head of herwhose gaze turns living creatures into stone. '

"When I heard the king speak so grimly about my boast the fearfulnessof the thing I had spoken of doing came over me. I thought for aninstant that the Gorgon's head appeared before me, and that I was thenand there turned into stone. 

"The day of the wedding feast came. I came and I brought no gift. Istood with my head hanging for shame. Then the princes and the lordscame forward, and they showed the great gifts of horses that they hadbrought. I thought that the king would forget about me and about myboast. And then I heard him call my name. 'Perseus, ' he said, 'Perseus, bring before us now the Gorgon's head that, as you told us, you wouldbring for the wedding gift. '

"The princes and lords and people looked toward me, and I was filledwith a deeper shame. I had to say that I had failed to bring a present. Then that harsh and overbearing king shouted at me. 'Go forth, ' hesaid, 'go forth and fetch the present that you spoke of. If you do notbring it remain forever out of my country, for in Seriphus we will haveno empty boasters. ' The lords and the princes applauded what the kingsaid; the people were sad for me and sad for my mother, but they mightnot do anything to help me, so just and so due to me did the words ofthe king seem. There was no help for it, and I had to go from thecountry of Seriphus, leaving my mother at the mercy of Polydectes. 

"I bade good-by to my sorrowful mother and I went from Seriphus--fromthat land that I might not return to without the Gorgon's head. Itraveled far from that country. One day I sat down in a lonely placeand prayed to the gods that my strength might be equal to the will thatnow moved in me--the will to take the Gorgon's head, and take from myname the shame of a broken promise, and win back to Seriphus to save mymother from the harshness of the king. 

"When I looked up I saw one standing before me. He was a youth, too, but I knew by the way he moved, and I knew by the brightness of hisface and eyes, that he was of the immortals. I raised my hands inhomage to him, and he came near me. 'Perseus, ' he said, 'if you havethe courage to strive, the way to win the Gorgon's head will be shownyou. ' I said that I had the courage to strive, and he knew that I wasmaking no boast. 

"He gave me this bright sickle-sword that I carry. He told me by whatways I might come near enough to the Gorgons without being turned intostone by their gaze. He told me how I might slay the one of the threeGorgons who was not immortal, and how, having slain her, I might takeher head and flee without being torn to pieces by her sister Gorgons. 

"Then I knew that I should have to come on the Gorgons from the air. Iknew that having slain the one that could be slain I should have to flywith the speed of the wind. And I knew that that speed even would notsave me--I should have to be hidden in my flight. To win the head andsave myself I would need three magic things--the shoes of flight andthe magic pouch, and the dogskin cap of Hades that makes its wearerinvisible. 

"The youth said: 'The magic pouch and the shoes of flight and thedogskin cap of Hades are in the keeping of the nymphs whose dwellingplace no mortal knows. I may not tell you where their dwelling placeis. But from the Gray Ones, from the ancient daughters of Phorcys wholive in a cave near where Atlas stands, you may learn where theirdwelling place is. '

"Thereupon he told me how I might come to the Graiai, and how I mightget them to tell me where you, the nymphs, had your dwelling. The onewho spoke to me was Hermes, whose dwelling is on Olympus. By thissickle-sword that he gave me you will know that I speak the truth. "

Perseus ceased speaking, and she who was the youngest and fairest ofthe nymphs came nearer to him. She knew that he spoke truthfully, andbesides she had pity for the youth. "But we are the keepers of themagic treasures, " she said, "and some one whose need is greater eventhan yours may some time require them from us. But will you swear thatyou will bring the magic treasures back to us when you have slain theGorgon and have taken her head?"

Perseus declared that he would bring the magic treasures back to thenymphs and leave them once more in their keeping. Then the nymph whohad compassion for him called to the others. They spoke together whilePerseus stayed far away from them, polishing his shield of bronze. Atlast the nymph who had listened to him came back, the others followingher. They brought to Perseus and they put into his hands the thingsthey had guarded--the cap made from dogskin that had been brought upout of Hades, a pair of winged shoes, and a long pouch that he couldhang across his shoulder. 

And so with the shoes of flight and the cap of darkness and the magicpouch, Perseus went to seek the Gorgons. The sickle-sword that Hermesgave him was at his side, and on his arm he held the bronze shield thatwas now well polished. 

He went through the air, taking a way that the nymphs had shown him. Hecame to Oceanus that was the rim around the world. He saw forms thatwere of living creatures all in stone, and he knew that he was near theplace where the Gorgons had their lair. 

Then, looking upon the surface of his polished shield, he saw theGorgons below him. Two were covered with hard serpent scales; they hadtusks that were long and were like the tusks of boars, and they hadhands of gleaming brass and wings of shining gold. Still looking uponthe shining surface of his shield Perseus went down and down. He sawthe third sister--she who was not immortal. She had a woman's face andform, and her countenance was beautiful, although there was somethingdeadly in its fairness. The two scaled and winged sisters were asleep, but the third, Medusa, was awake, and she was tearing with her hands alizard that had come near her. 

Upon her head was a tangle of serpents all with heads raised as thoughthey were hissing. Still looking into the mirror of his shield Perseuscame down and over Medusa. He turned his head away from her. Then, witha sweep of the sickle-sword he took her head off. There was no screamfrom the Gorgon, but the serpents upon her head hissed loudly. 

Still with his face turned from it he lifted up the head by its tangleof serpents. He put it into the magic pouch. He rose up in the air. Butnow the Gorgon sisters were awake. They had heard the hiss of Medusa'sserpents, and now they looked upon her headless body. They rose up ontheir golden wings, and their brazen hands were stretched out to tearthe one who had slain Medusa. As they flew after him they screamedaloud. 

Although he flew like the wind the Gorgon sisters would have overtakenhim if he had been plain to their eyes. But the dogskin cap of Hadessaved him, for the Gorgon sisters did not know whether he was above orbelow them, behind or before them. On Perseus went, flying toward whereAtlas stood. He flew over this place, over Libya. Drops of blood fromMedusa's head fell down upon the desert. They were changed and becamethe deadly serpents that are on these sands and around these rocks. Onand on Perseus flew toward Atlas and toward the hidden valley where thenymphs who were again to guard the magic treasures had their dwellingplace. But before he came to the nymphs Perseus had another adventure. 

In Ethopia, which is at the other side of Libya, there ruled a kingwhose name was Cepheus. This king had permitted his queen to boast thatshe was more beautiful than the nymphs of the sea. In punishment forthe queen's impiety and for the king's folly Poseidon sent a monsterout of the sea to waste that country. Every year the monster came, destroying more and more of the country of Ethopia. Then the king askedof an oracle what he should do to save his land and his people. Theoracle spoke of a dreadful thing that he would have to do--he wouldhave to sacrifice his daughter, the beautiful Princess Andromeda. 

The king was forced by his savage people to take the maiden Andromedaand chain her to a rock on the seashore, leaving her there for themonster to devour her, satisfying himself with that prey. 

Perseus, flying near, heard the maiden's laments. He saw her lovelybody bound with chains to the rock. He came near her, taking the cap ofdarkness off his head. She saw him, and she bent her head in shame, forshe thought that he would think that it was for some dreadful fault ofher own that she had been left chained in that place. 

Her father had stayed near. Perseus saw him, and called to him, andbade him tell why the maiden was chained to the rock. The king toldPerseus of the sacrifice that he had been forced to make. Then Perseuscame near the maiden, and he saw how she looked at him with pleadingeyes. 

Then Perseus made her father promise that he would give Andromeda tohim for his wife if he should slay the sea monster. Gladly Cepheuspromised this. Then Perseus once again drew his sickle-sword; by therock to which Andromeda was still chained he waited for sight of thesea monster. 

It came rolling in from the open sea, a shapeless and unsightly thing. With the shoes of flight upon his feet Perseus rose above it. Themonster saw his shadow upon the water, and savagely it went to attackthe shadow. Perseus swooped down as an eagle swoops down; with hissickle-sword he attacked it, and he struck the hook through themonster's shoulder. Terribly it reared up from the sea. Perseus roseover it, escaping its wide-opened mouth with its treble rows of fangs. Again he swooped and struck at it. Its hide was covered all over withhard scales and with the shells of sea things, but Perseus's swordstruck through it. It reared up again, spouting water mixed with blood. On a rock near the rock that Andromeda was chained to Perseus alighted. The monster, seeing him, bellowed and rushed swiftly through the waterto overwhelm him. As it reared up he plunged the sword again and againinto its body. Down into the water the monster sank, and water mixedwith blood was spouted up from the depths into which it sank. 

Then was Andromeda loosed from her chains. Perseus, the conqueror, lifted up the fainting maiden and carried her back to the king'spalace. And Cepheus there renewed his promise to give her in marriageto her deliverer. 

Perseus went on his way. He came to the hidden valley where the nymphshad their dwelling place, and he restored to them the three magictreasures that they had given him--the cap of darkness, the shoes offlight, and the magic pouch. And these treasures are still there, andthe hero who can win his way to the nymphs may have them as Perseus hadthem. 

Again he returned to the place where he had found Andromeda chained. With face averted he drew forth the Gorgon's head from where he hadhidden it between the rocks. He made a bag for it out of the horny skinof the monster he had slain. Then, carrying his tremendous trophy, hewent to the palace of King Cepheus to claim his bride. 

Now before her father had thought of sacrificing her to the sea monsterhe had offered Andromeda in marriage to a prince of Ethopia--to aprince whose name was Phineus. Phineus did not strive to saveAndromeda. But, hearing that she had been delivered from the monster, he came to take her for his wife; he came to Cepheus's palace, and hebrought with him a thousand armed men. 

The palace of Cepheus was filled with armed men when Perseus enteredit. He saw Andromeda on a raised place in the hall. She was pale aswhen she was chained to the rock, and when she saw him in the palaceshe uttered a cry of gladness. 

Cepheus, the craven king, would have let him who had come with thearmed bands take the maiden. Perseus came beside Andromeda and he madehis claim. Phineus spoke insolently to him, and then he urged one ofhis captains to strike Perseus down. Many sprang forward to attack him. Out of the bag Perseus drew Medusa's head. He held it before those whowere bringing strife into the hall. They were turned to stone. One ofCepheus's men wished to defend Perseus: he struck at the captain whohad come near; his sword made a clanging sound as it struck this onewho had looked upon Medusa's head. 

Perseus went from the land of Ethopia taking fair Andromeda with him. They went into Greece, for he had thought of going to Argos, to thecountry that his grandfather ruled over. At this very time Acrisius gottidings of Danae, and her son, and he knew that they had not perishedon the waves of the sea. Fearful of the prophecy that told he would beslain by his grandson and fearing that he would come to Argos to seekhim, Acrisius fled out of his country. 

He came into Thessaly. Perseus and Andromeda were there. Now, one daythe old king was brought to games that were being celebrated in honorof a dead hero. He was leaning on his staff, watching a youth throw ametal disk, when something in that youth's appearance made him want towatch him more closely. About him there was something of a being of theupper air; it made Acrisius think of a brazen tower and of a daughterwhom he had shut up there. 

He moved so that he might come nearer to the disk-thrower. But as heleft where he had been standing he came into the line of the throwndisk. It struck the old man on the temple. He fell down dead, and as hefell the people cried out his name--"Acrisius, King Acrisius!" ThenPerseus knew whom the disk, thrown by his hand, had slain. 

And because he had slain the king by chance Perseus would not go toArgos, nor take over the kingdom that his grandfather had reigned over. With Andromeda he went to Seriphus where his mother was. And inSeriphus there still reigned Polydectes, who had put upon him theterrible task of winning the Gorgon's head. 

He came to Seriphus and he left Andromeda in the but of Dictys theshepherd. No one knew him; he heard his name spoken of as that of ayouth who had gone on a foolish quest and who would never again beheard of. To the temple where his mother was a priestess he came. Guards were placed all around it. He heard his mother's voice and itwas raised in lament: "Walled up here and given over to hunger I shallbe made go to Polydectes's house and become his wife. O ye gods, haveye no pity for Danae, the mother of Perseus?"

Perseus cried aloud, and his mother heard his voice and her moansceased. He turned around and he went to the palace of Polydectes, theking. 

The king received him with mockeries. "I will let you stay in Seriphusfor a day, " he said, "because I would have you at a marriage feast. Ihave vowed that Danae, taken from the temple where she sulks, will bemy wife by to-morrow's sunset. "

So Polydectes said, and the lords and princes who were around himmocked at Perseus and flattered the king. Perseus went from them then. The next day he came back to the palace. But in his hands now there wasa dread thing--the bag made from the hide of the sea monster that hadin it the Gorgon's head. 

He saw his mother. She was brought in white and fainting, thinking thatshe would now have to wed the harsh and overbearing king. Then she sawher son, and hope came into her face. 

The king seeing Perseus, said: "Step forward, O youngling, and see yourmother wed to a mighty man. Step forward to witness a marriage, andthen depart, for it is not right that a youth that makes promises anddoes not keep them should stay in a land that I rule over. Step forwardnow, you with the empty hands. "

But not with empty hands did Perseus step forward. He shouted out: "Ihave brought something to you at last, O king--a present to you andyour mocking friends. But you, O my mother, and you, O my friends, avert your faces from what I have brought. " Saying this Perseus drewout the Gorgon's head. Holding it by the snaky locks he stood beforethe company. His mother and his friends averted their faces. ButPolydectes and his insolent friends looked full upon what Perseusshowed. "This youth would strive to frighten us with some conjuror'strick, " they said. They said no more, for they became as stones, and asstone images they still stand in that hall in Seriphus. 

He went to the shepherd's hut, and he brought Dictys from it withAndromeda. Dictys he made king in Polydectes's stead. Then with Danaeand Andromeda, his mother and his wife, he went from Seriphus. 

He did not go to Argos, the country that his grandfather had ruledover, although the people there wanted Perseus to come to them, and beking over them. He took the kingdom of Tiryns in exchange for that ofArgos, and there he lived with Andromeda, his lovely wife out ofEthopia. They had a son named Perses who became the parent of thePersian people. 

The sickle-sword that had slain the Gorgon went back to Hermes, andHermes took Medusa's head also. That head Hermes's divine sister setupon her shield-Medusa's head upon the shield of Pallas Athene. O mayPallas Athene guard us all, and bring us out of this land of sands andstone where are the deadly serpents that have come from the drops ofblood that fell from the Gorgon's head!

They turned away from the Garden of the Daughters of the Evening Land. The Argonauts turned from where the giant shape of Atlas stood againstthe sky and they went toward the Tritonian Lake. But not all of themreached the Argo. On his way back to the ship, Nauplius, the helmsman, met his death. 

A sluggish serpent was in his way--it was not a serpent that wouldstrike at one who turned from it. Nauplius trod upon it, and theserpent lifted its head up and bit his foot. They raised him on theirshoulders and they hurried back with him. But his limbs became numb, and when they laid him down on the shore of the lake he stayedmoveless. Soon he grew cold. They dug a grave for Nauplius beside thelake, and in that desert land they set up his helmsman's oar in themiddle of his tomb of heaped stones. 

And now like a snake that goes writhing this way and that way and thatcannot find the cleft in the rock that leads to its lair, the Argo wenthither and thither striving to find an outlet from that lake. No outletcould they find and the way of their home-going seemed lost to themagain. Then Orpheus prayed to the son of Nereus, to Triton, whose namewas on that lake, to aid them. 

Then Triton appeared. He stretched out his hand and showed them theoutlet to the sea. And Triton spoke in friendly wise to the heroes, bidding them go upon their way in joy. "And as for labor, " he said, "let there be no grieving because of that, for limbs that have youthfulvigor should still toil. "

They took up the oars and they pulled toward the sea, and Triton, thefriendly immortal, helped them on. He laid hold upon Argo's keel and heguided her through the water. The Argonauts saw him beneath the water;his body, from his head down to his waist, was fair and great and liketo the body of one of the other immortals. But below his body was likea great fish's, forking this way and that. He moved with fins that werelike the horns of the new moon. Triton helped Argo along until theycame into the open sea. Then he plunged down into the abyss. The heroesshouted their thanks to him. Then they looked at each other andembraced each other with joy, for the sea that touched upon the land ofGreece was open before them. 

IX. NEAR TO IOLCUS AGAIN

The sun sank; then that star came that bids the shepherd bring hisflock to the fold, that brings the wearied plowman to his rest. But norest did that star bring to the Argonauts. The breeze that filled thesail died down; they furled the sail and lowered the mast; then, onceagain, they pulled at the oars. All night they rowed, and all day, andagain when the next day came on. Then they saw the island that ishalfway to Greece the great and fair island of Crete. 

It was Theseus who first saw Crete--Theseus who was to come to Creteupon another ship. They drew the Argo near the great island; theywanted water, and they were fain to rest there. 

Minos, the great king, ruled over Crete. He left the guarding of theisland to one of the race of bronze, to Talos, who had lived on afterthe rest of the bronze men had been destroyed. Thrice a day would Talosstride around the island; his brazen feet were tireless. 

Now Talos saw the Argo drawing near. He took up great rocks and hehurled them at the heroes, and very quickly they had to draw their shipout of range. 

They were wearied and their thirst was consuming them. But still thatbronze man stood there ready to sink their ship with the great rocksthat he took up in his hands. Medea stood forward upon the ship, readyto use her spells against the man of bronze. 

In body and limbs he was made of bronze and in these he wasinvulnerable. But beneath a sinew in his ankle there was a vein thatran up to his neck and that was covered by a thin skin. If that veinwere broken Talos would perish. 

Medea did not know about this vein when she stood forward upon the shipto use her spells against him. Upon a cliff of Crete, all gleaming, stood that huge man of bronze. Then, as she was ready to fling herspells against him, Medea thought upon the words that Arete, the wisequeen, had given her that she was not to use spells and not to practiceagainst the life of any one. 

But she knew that there was no impiety in using spells and practicingagainst Talos, for Zeus had already doomed all his race. She stood uponthe ship, and with her Magic Song she enchanted him. He whirled roundand round. He struck his ankle against a jutting stone. The vein broke, and that which was the blood of the bronze man flowed out of him likemolten lead. He stood towering upon the cliff. Like a pine upon amountaintop that the woodman had left half hewn through and that amighty wind pitches against, Talos stood upon his tireless feet, swaying to and fro. Then, emptied of all his strength, Minos's man ofbronze fell into the Cretan Sea. 

The heroes landed. That night they lay upon the land of Crete andrested and refreshed themselves. When dawn came they drew water from aspring, and once more they went on board the Argo. 

A day came when the helmsman said, "To-morrow we shall see the shore ofThessaly, and by sunset we shall be in the harbor of Pagasae. Soon, Ovoyagers, we shall be back in the city from which we went to gain theGolden Fleece. "

Then Jason brought Medea to the front of the ship so that they mightwatch together for Thessaly, the homeland. The Mountain Pelion cameinto sight. Jason exulted as he looked upon that mountain; again hetold Medea about Chiron, the ancient centaur, and about the days of hisyouth in the forests of Pelion. 

The Argo went on; the sun sank, and darkness came on. Never was theredarkness such as there was on that night. They called that nightafterward the Pall of Darkness. To the heroes upon the Argo it seemedas if black chaos had come over the world again; they knew not whetherthey were adrift upon the sea or upon the River of Hades. No starpierced the darkness nor no beam from the moon. 

After a night that seemed many nights the dawn came. In the sunrisethey saw the land of Thessaly with its mountain, its forests, and itsfields. They hailed each other as if they had met after a long parting. They raised the mast and unfurled the sail. 

But not toward Pagasae did they go. For now the voice of Argo came tothem, shaking their hearts: Jason and Orpheus, Castor and Polydeuces, Zetes and Calais, Peleus and Telamon, Theseus, Admetus, Nestor, andAtalanta, heard the cry of their ship. And the voice of Argo warnedthem not to go into the harbor of Pagasae. 

As they stood upon the ship, looking toward Iolcus, sorrow came overall the heroes, such sorrow as made their hearts nearly break. For longthey stood there in utter numbness. 

Then Admetus spoke--Admetus who was the happiest of all those who wentin quest of the Golden Fleece. "Although we may not go into the harborof Pagasae, nor into the city of Iolcus, " Admetus said, "still we havecome to the land of Greece. There are other harbors and other citiesthat we may go into. And in all the places that we go to we will behonored, for we have gone through toils and dangers, and we havebrought to Greece the famous Fleece of Gold. "

So Admetus said, and their spirits came back again to the heroes--cameback to all of them save Jason. The rest had other cities to go to, andfathers and mothers and friends to greet them in other places, but forJason there was only Iolcus. 

Medea took his hand, and sorrow for him overcame her. For Medea coulddivine what had happened in Iolcus and why it was that the heroes mightnot go there. 

It was to Corinth that the Argo went. Creon, the king of Corinth, welcomed them and gave great honor to the heroes who had faced suchlabors and such dangers to bring the world's wonder to Greece. 

The Argonauts stayed together until they went to Calydon, to hunt theboar that ravaged Prince Meleagrus's country. After that theyseparated, each one going to his own land. Jason came back to Corinthwhere Medea stayed. And in Corinth he had tidings of the happenings inIolcus. 

King Pelias now ruled more fearfully in Iolcus, having brought downfrom the mountains more and fiercer soldiers. And Æson, Jason's father, and Alcimide, his mother, were now dead, having been slain by KingPelias. 

This Jason heard from men who came into Corinth from Thessaly. Andbecause of the great army that Pelias had gathered there, Jason mightnot yet go into Iolcus, either to exact a vengeance, or to show thepeople THE GOLDEN FLEECE that he had gone so far to gain. 

PART III. The Heroes of the Quest

I. ATALANTA THE HUNTRESS

I

They came once more together, the heroes of the quest, to hunt a boarin Calydon--Jason and Peleus came, Telamon, Theseus, and rough Arcas, Nestor and Helen's brothers Polydeuces and Castor. And, most noted ofall, there came the Arcadian huntress maid, Atalanta. 

Beautiful they all thought her when they knew her aboard the Argo. Buteven more beautiful Atalanta seemed to the heroes when she came amongstthem in her hunting gear. Her lovely hair hung in two bands across hershoulders, and over her breast hung an ivory quiver filled with arrows. They said that her face with its wide and steady eyes was maidenly fora boy's, and boyish for a maiden's face. Swiftly she moved with herhead held high, and there was not one amongst the heroes who did notsay, "Oh, happy would that man be whom Atalanta the unwedded would takefor her husband!"

All the heroes said it, but the one who said it most feelingly was theprince of Calydon, young Meleagrus. He more than the other heroes feltthe wonder of Atalanta's beauty. 

Now the boar they had come to hunt was a monster boar. It had come intoCalydon and it was laying waste the fields and orchards and destroyingthe people's cattle and horses. That boar had been sent into Calydon byan angry divinity. For when Oeneus, the king of the country, was makingsacrifice to the gods in thanksgiving for a bounteous harvest, he hadneglected to make sacrifice to the goddess of the wild things, Artemis. In her anger Artemis had sent the monster boar to lay waste Oeneus'srealm. 

It was a monster boar indeed--one as huge as a bull, with tusks asgreat as an elephant's; the bristles on its back stood up like spearpoints, and the hot breath of the creature withered the growth on theground. The boar tore up the corn in the fields and trampled down thevines with their clusters and heavy bunches of grapes; also it rushedagainst the cattle and destroyed them in the fields. And no hounds thehuntsmen were able to bring could stand before it. And so it came topass that men had to leave their farms and take refuge behind the wallsof the city because of the ravages of the boar. It was then that therulers of Calydon sent for the heroes of the quest to join with them inhunting the monster. 

Calydon itself sent Prince Meleagrus and his two uncles, Plexippus andToxeus. They were brothers to Meleagrus's mother, Althæa. Now Althæawas a woman who had sight to see mysterious things, but who had also awayward and passionate heart. Once, after her son Meleagrus was born, she saw the three Fates sitting by her hearth. They were spinning thethreads of her son's life, and as they spun they sang to each other, "An equal span of life we give to the newborn child, and to the billetof wood that now rests above the blaze of the fire. " Hearing what theFates sang and understanding it Althæa had sprung up from her bed, hadseized the billet of wood, and had taken it out of the fire before theflames had burnt into it. 

That billet of wood lay in her chest, hidden away. And Meleagrus norany one else save Althæa knew of it, nor knew that the prince's lifewould last only for the space it would be kept from the burning. On theday of the hunting he appeared as the strongest and bravest of theyouths of Calydon. And he knew not, poor Meleagrus, that the love forAtalanta that had sprung into his heart was to bring to the fire thebillet of wood on which his life depended. 

II

As Atalanta went, the bow in her hands, Prince Meleagrus pressed behindher. Then came Jason and Peleus, Telamon, Theseus and Nestor. Behindthem came Meleagrus's dark-browed uncles, Plexippus and Toxeus. Theycame to a forest that covered the side of a mountain. Huntsmen hadassembled here with hounds held in leashes and with nets to hold therushing quarry. And when they had all gathered together they wentthrough the forest on the track of the monster boar. 

It was easy to track the boar, for it had left a broad trail throughthe forest. The heroes and the huntsmen pressed on. They came to amarshy covert where the boar had its lair. There was a thickness ofosiers and willows and tall bullrushes, making a place that it was hardfor the hunters to go through. 

They roused the boar with the blare of horns and it came rushing out. Foam was on its tusks, and its eyes had in them the blaze of fire. Onthe boar came, breaking down the thicket in its rush. But the heroesstood steadily with the points of their spears toward the monster. 

The hounds were loosed from their leashes and they dashed toward theboar. The boar slashed them with its tusks and trampled them into theground. Jason flung his spear. The spear went wide of the mark. Another, Arcas, cast his, but the wood, not the point of the spear, struck the boar, rousing it further. Then its eyes flamed, and like agreat stone shot from a catapult the boar rushed on the huntsmen whowere stationed to the right. In that rush it flung two youths proneupon the ground. 

Then might Nestor have missed his going to Troy and his part in thatstory, for the boar swerved around and was upon him in an instant. Using his spear as a leaping pole he vaulted upward and caught thebranches of a tree as the monster dashed the spear down in its rush. Inrage the beast tore at the trunk of the tree. The heroes might havebeen scattered at this moment, for Telamon had fallen, tripped by theroots of a tree, and Peleus had had to throw himself upon him to pullhim out of the way of danger, if Polydeuces and Castor had not dashedup to their aid. They came riding upon high white horses, spears intheir hands. The brothers cast their spears, but neither spear struckthe monster boar. 

Then the boar turned and was for drawing back into the thicket. Theymight have lost it then, for its retreat was impenetrable. But beforeit got clear away Atalanta put an arrow to the string, drew the bow toher shoulder, and let the arrow fly. It struck the boar, and a patch ofblood was seen upon its bristles. Prince Meleagrus shouted out, "Ofirst to strike the monster! Honor indeed shall you receive for this, Arcadian maid. "

His uncles were made wroth by this speech, as was another, theArcadian, rough Arcas. Arcas dashed forward, holding in his hands atwo-headed axe. "Heroes and huntsmen, " he cried, "you shall see how aman's strokes surpass a girl's. " He faced the boar, standing on tiptoewith his axe raised for the stroke. Meleagrus's uncles shouted toencourage him. But the boar's tusks tore him before Arcas's axe fell, and the Arcadian was trampled upon the ground. 

The boar, roused again by Atalanta's arrow, turned on the hunters. Jason hurled a spear again. It swerved and struck a hound and pinned itto the ground. Then, speaking the name of Atalanta, Meleagrus sprangbefore the heroes and the huntsmen. He had two spears in his hands. Thefirst missed and stuck quivering in the ground. But the second wentright through the back of the monster boar. It whirled round and round, spouting out blood and foam. Meleagrus pressed on, and drove hishunting knife through the shoulders of the monster. 

His uncles, Plexippus and Toxeus, were the first to come to where themonster boar was lying outstretched. "It is well, the deed you havedone, boy, " said one; "it is well that none of the strangers to ourcountry slew the boar. Now will the head and tusks of the monster adornour hall, and men will know that the arms of our house can well protectthis land. "

But one word only did Meleagrus say, and that word was the name, "Atalanta. " The maiden came and Meleagrus, his spear upon the head, said, "Take, O fair Arcadian, the spoil of the chase. All know that itwas you who inflicted the first wound upon the boar. "

Plexippus and Toxeus tried to push him away, as if Meleagrus was stilla boy under their tutoring. He shouted to them to stand off, and thenhe hacked out the terrible tusks and held them toward Atalanta. 

She would have taken them, for she, who had never looked lovingly upona youth, was moved by the beauty and the generosity of PrinceMeleagrus. She would have taken from him the spoil of the chase. But asshe held out her arms Meleagrus's uncles struck them with the poles oftheir spears. Heavy marks were made on the maiden's white arms. Madnessthen possessed Meleagrus, and he took up his spear and thrust it, firstinto the body of Plexippus and then into the body of Toxeus. Histhrusts were terrible, for he was filled with the fierceness of thehunt, and his uncles fell down in death. 

Then a great horror came over all the heroes. They raised up the bodiesof Plexippus and Toxeus and carried them on their spears away from theplace of the hunting and toward the temple of the gods. Meleagruscrouched down upon the ground in horror of what he had done. Atalantastood beside him, her hand upon his head. 

III

Althæa was in the temple making sacrifice to the gods. She saw men comein carrying across their spears the bodies of two men. She looked andshe saw that the dead men were her two brothers, Plexippus and Toxeus. 

Then she beat her breast and she filled the temple with the cries ofher lamentation. "Who has slain my brothers? Who has slain mybrothers?" she kept crying out. 

Then she was told that her son Meleagrus had slain her brothers. Shehad no tears to shed then, and in a hard voice she asked, "Why did myson slay Plexippus and Toxeus, his uncles?"

The one who was wroth with Atalanta, Arcas the Arcadian, came to herand told her that her brothers had been slain because of a quarrelabout the girl Atalanta. 

"My brothers have been slain because a girl bewitched my son; thenaccursed be that son of mine, " Althæa cried. She took off thegold-fringed robe of a priestess, and she put on a black robe ofmourning. 

Her brothers, the only sons of her father, had been slain, and for thesake of a girl. The image of Atalanta came before her, and she felt shecould punish dreadfully her son. But her son was not there to punish;he was far away, and the girl for whose sake he had killed Plexippusand Toxeus was with him. 

The rage she had went back into her heart and made her truly mad. "Igave Meleagrus life when I might have let it go from him with theburning billet of wood, " she cried, "and now he has taken the lives ofmy brothers. " And then her thought went to the billet of wood that washidden in the chest. 

Back to her house she went, and when she went within she saw a fire ofpine knots burning upon the hearth. As she looked upon their burning ascorching pain went through her. But she went from the hearth, nevertheless, and into the inner room. There stood the chest that shehad not opened for years. She opened it now, and out of it she took thebillet of wood that had on it the mark of the burning. 

She brought it to the hearth fire. Four times she went to throw it intothe fire, and four times she stayed her hand. The fire was before her, but it was in her too. She saw the images of her brothers lying dead, and, saying that he who had slain them should lose his life, she threwthe billet of wood into the fire of pine knots. 

Straightway it caught fire and began to burn. And Althæa cried, "Lethim die, my son, and let naught remain; let all perish with mybrothers, even the kingdom that Oeneus, my husband, founded. "

Then she turned away and remained stiffly standing by the hearth, thelife withered up within her. Her daughters came and tried to draw heraway, but they could not--her two daughters, Gorge and Deianira. 

Meleagrus was crouching upon the ground with Atalanta watching besidehim. Now he stood up, and taking her hand he said, "Let me go with youto the temple of the gods where I shall strive to make atonement forthe deed I have done to-day. "

She went with him. But even as they came to the street of the city asharp and a burning pain seized upon Meleagrus. More and more burningit grew, and weaker and weaker he became. He could not have movedfurther if it had not been for the aid of Atalanta. Jason and Peleuslifted him across the threshold and carried him into the temple of thegods. 

They laid him down with his head upon Atalanta's lap. The pain withinhim grew fiercer and fiercer, but at last it died down as the burningbillet of wood sank down into the ashes. The heroes of the quest stoodaround, all overcome with woe. In the street they heard thelamentations for Plexippus and Toxeus, for Prince Meleagrus, and forthe passing of the kingdom founded by Oeneus. Atalanta left the temple, and attended by the two brothers on the white horses, Polydeuces andCastor, she went back to Arcady. 

II. PELEUS AND HIS BRIDE FROM THE SEA

I

Prince Peleus came on his ship to a bay on the coast of Thessaly. Hispainted ship lay between two great rocks, and from its poop he saw asight that enchanted him. Out from the sea, riding on a dolphin, came alovely maiden. And by the radiance of her face and limbs Peleus knewher for one of the immortal goddesses. 

Now Peleus had borne himself so nobly in all things that he had won thefavor of the gods themselves. Zeus, who is highest amongst the gods, had made this promise to Peleus he would honor him as no one amongstthe sons of men had been honored before, for he would give him animmortal goddess to be his bride. 

She who came out of the sea went into a cave that was overgrown withvines and roses. Peleus looked into the cave and he saw her sleepingupon skins of the beasts of the sea. His heart was enchanted by thesight, and he knew that his life would be broken if he did not see thisgoddess day after day. So he went back to his ship and he prayed: "OZeus, now I claim the promise that you once made to me. Let it be thatthis goddess come with me, or else plunge my ship and me beneath thewaves of the sea. "

And when Peleus said this he looked over the land and the water for asign from Zeus. 

Even then the goddess sleeping in the cave had dreams such as had neverbefore entered that peaceful resting place of hers. She dreamt that shewas drawn away from the deep and the wide sea. She dreamt that she wasbrought to a place that was strange and unfree to her. And as she layin the cave, sleeping, tears that might never come into the eyes of animmortal lay around her heart. 

But Peleus, standing on his painted ship, saw a rainbow touch upon thesea. He knew by that sign that Iris, the messenger of Zeus, had comedown through the air. Then a strange sight came before his eyes. Out ofthe sea rose the head of a man; wrinkled and bearded it was, and theeyes were very old. Peleus knew that he who was there before him wasNereus, the ancient one of the sea. 

Said old Nereus: "Thou hast prayed to Zeus, and I am here to speak ananswer to thy prayer. She whom you have looked upon is Thetis, thegoddess of the sea. Very loath will she be to take Zeus's command andwed with thee. It is her desire to remain in the sea, unwedded, and shehas refused marriage even with one of the immortal gods. "

Then said Peleus, "Zeus promised me an immortal bride. If Thetis maynot be mine I cannot wed any other, goddess or mortal maiden. "

"Then thou thyself wilt have to master Thetis, " said Nereus, the wiseone of the sea. "If she is mastered by thee, she cannot go back to thesea. She will strive with all her strength and all her wit to escapefrom thee; but thou must hold her no matter what she does, and nomatter how she shows herself. When thou hast seen her again as thoudidst see her at first, thou wilt know that thou hast mastered her. "And when he had said this to Peleus, Nereus, the ancient one of thesea, went under the waves. 

II

With his hero's heart beating more than ever it had beaten yet, Peleuswent into the cave. Kneeling beside her he looked down upon thegoddess. The dress she wore was like green and silver mail. Her faceand limbs were pearly, but through them came the radiance that belongsto the immortals. 

He touched the hair of the goddess of the sea, the yellow hair that wasso long that it might cover her all over. As he touched her hair shestarted up, wakening suddenly out of her sleep. His hands touched herhands and held them. Now he knew that if he should loose his hold uponher she would escape from him into the depths of the sea, and thatthereafter no command from the immortals would bring her to him. 

She changed into a white bird that strove to bear itself away. Peleusheld to its wings and struggled with the bird. She changed and became atree. Around the trunk of the tree Peleus clung. She changed once more, and this time her form became terrible: a spotted leopard she was now, with burning eyes; but Peleus held to the neck of the fierce-appearingleopard and was not affrighted by the burning eyes. Then she changedand became as he had seen her first--a lovely maiden, with the brow ofa goddess, and with long yellow hair. 

But now there was no radiance in her face or in her limbs. She lookedpast Peleus, who held her, and out to the wide sea. "Who is he, " shecried, "who has been given this mastery over me?"

Then said the hero: "I am Peleus, and Zeus has given me the masteryover thee. Wilt thou come with me, Thetis? Thou art my bride, given meby him who is highest amongst the gods, and if thou wilt come with me, thou wilt always be loved and reverenced by me. "

"Unwillingly I leave the sea, " she cried, "unwillingly I go with thee, Peleus. "

But life in the sea was not for her any more now that she was mastered. She went to Peleus's ship and she went to Phthia, his country. And whenthe hero and the sea goddess were wedded the immortal gods andgoddesses came to their hall and brought the bride and the bridegroomwondrous gifts. The three sisters who are called the Fates came also. These wise and ancient women said that the son born of the marriage ofPeleus and Thetis would be a man greater than Peleus himself. 

III

Now although a son was born to her, and although this son had somethingof the radiance of the immortals about him, Thetis remained forlorn andestranged. Nothing that her husband did was pleasing to her. PrincePeleus was in fear that the wildness of the sea would break out in her, and that some great harm would be wrought in his house. 

One night he wakened suddenly. He saw the fire upon his hearth and hesaw a figure standing by the fire. It was Thetis, his wife. The firewas blazing around something that she held in her hands. And while shestood there she was singing to herself a strange-sounding song. 

And then he saw what Thetis held in her hands and what the fire wasblazing around; it was the child, Achilles. 

Prince Peleus sprang from the bed and caught Thetis around the waistand lifted her and the child away from the blazing fire. He put themboth upon the bed, and he took from her the child that she held by theheel. His heart was wild within him, for the thought that wildness hadcome over his wife, and that she was bent upon destroying their child. But Thetis looked on him from under those goddess brows of hers and shesaid to him: "By the divine power that I still possess I would havemade the child invulnerable; but the heel by which I held him has notbeen endued by the fire and in that place some day he may be stricken. All that the fire covered is invulnerable, and no weapon that strikesthere can destroy his life. His heel I cannot now make invulnerable, for now the divine power is gone out of me. "

When she said this Thetis looked full upon her husband, and never hadshe seemed so unforgiving as she was then. All the divine radiance thathad remained with her was gone from her now, and she seemed awhite-faced and bitter-thinking woman. And when Peleus saw that such agreat bitterness faced him he fled from his house. 

He traveled far from his own land, and first he went to the help ofHeracles, who was then in the midst of his mighty labors. Heracles wasbuilding a wall around a city. Peleus labored, helping him to raise thewall for King Laomedon. Then, one night, as he walked by the wall hehad helped to build, he heard voices speaking out of the earth. And onevoice said: "Why has Peleus striven so hard to raise a wall that hisson shall fight hard to overthrow?" No voice replied. The wall wasbuilt, and Peleus departed. The city around which the wall was builtwas the great city of Troy. 

In whatever place he went Peleus was followed by the hatred of thepeople of the sea, and above all by the hatred of the nymph who iscalled Psamathe. Far, far from his own country he went, and at last hecame to a country of bright valleys that was ruled over by a kindlyking--by Ceyx, who was called the Son of the Morning Star. 

Bright of face and kindly and peaceable in all his ways was this king, and kindly and peaceable was the land that he ruled over. And whenPrince Peleus went to him to beg for his protection, and to beg forunfurrowed fields where he might graze his cattle, Ceyx raised him upfrom where he knelt. "Peaceable and plentiful is the land, " he said, "and all who come here may have peace and a chance to earn their food. Live where you will, O stranger, and take the unfurrowed fields by theseashore for pasture for your cattle. "

Peace came into Peleus's heart as he looked into the untroubled face ofCeyx, and as he looked over the bright valleys of the land he had comeinto. He brought his cattle to the unfurrowed fields by the seashoreand he left herdsmen there to tend them. And as he walked along thesebright valleys he thought upon his wife and upon his son Achilles, andthere were gentle feelings in his breast. But then he thought upon theenmity of Psamathe, the woman of the sea, and great trouble came overhim again. He felt he could not stay in the palace of the kindly king. He went where his herdsmen camped and he lived with them. But the seawas very near and its sound tormented him, and as the days went by, Peleus, wild looking and shaggy, became more and more unlike the herowhom once the gods themselves had honored. 

One day as he was standing near the palace having speech with the king, a herdsman ran to him and cried out: "Peleus, Peleus, a dread thing hashappened in the unfurrowed fields. " And when he had got his breath theherdsman told of the thing that had happened. 

They had brought the herd down to the sea. Suddenly, from the marsheswhere the sea and land came together, a monstrous beast rushed out uponthe herd; like a wolf this beast was, but with mouth and jaws that weremore terrible than a wolf's even. The beast seized upon the cattle. Yetit was not hunger that made it fierce, for the beasts that it killed ittore, but did not devour. Tit rushed on and on, killing and tearingmore and more of the herd. "Soon, " said the herdsman, "it will havedestroyed all in the herd, and then it will not spare to destroy theother flocks and herds that are in the land. "

Peleus was stricken to hear that his herd was being destroyed, but morestricken to know that the land of a friendly king would be ravaged, andravaged on his account. For he knew that the terrible beast that hadcome from where the sea and the land joined had been sent by Psamathe. He went up on the tower that stood near the king's palace. He was ableto look out on the sea and able to look over all the land. And lookingacross the bright valleys he saw the dread beast. He saw it rushthrough his own mangled cattle and fall upon the herds of the kindlyking. He looked toward the sea and he prayed to Psamathe to spare theland that he had come to. But, even as he prayed, he knew that Psamathewould not harken to him. Then he made a prayer to Thetis, to his wifewho had seemed so unforgiving. He prayed her to deal with Psamathe sothat the land of Ceyx would not be altogether destroyed. 

As he looked from the tower he saw the king come forth with arms in hishands for the slaying of the terrible beast. Peleus felt fear for thelife of the kindly king. Down from the tower he came, and taking up hisspear he went with Ceyx. 

Soon, in one of the brightest of the valleys, they came upon the beast;they came between it and a herd of silken-coated cattle. Seeing the menit rushed toward them with blood and foam upon its jaws. Then Peleusknew that the spears they carried would be of little use against theraging beast. His only thought was to struggle with it so that the kingmight be able to save himself. 

Again he lifted up his hands and prayed to Thetis to draw awayPsamathe's enmity. The beast rushed toward them; but suddenly itstopped. The bristles upon its body seemed to stiffen. The gaping jawsbecame fixed. The hounds that were with them dashed upon the beast, butthen fell back with yelps of disappointment. And when Peleus and Ceyxcame to where it stood they found that the monstrous beast had beenturned into stone. 

And a stone it remains in that bright valley, a wonder to all the menof Ceyx's land. The country was spared the ravages of the beast. Andthe heart of Peleus was uplifted to think that Thetis had harkened tohis prayer and had prevailed upon Psamathe to forego her enmity. Notaltogether unforgiving was his wife to him. 

That day he went from the land of the bright valleys, from the landruled over by the kindly Ceyx, and he came back to rugged Phthia, hisown country. When he came near his hall he saw two at the doorwayawaiting him. Thetis stood there, and the child Achilles was by herside. The radiance of the immortals was in her face no longer, butthere was a glow there, a glow of welcome for the hero Peleus. And thusPeleus, long tormented by the enmity of the sea-born ones, came back tothe wife he had won from the sea. 

III. THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR

I

Thereafter Theseus made up his mind to go in search of his father, theunknown king, and Medea, the wise woman, counseled him to go to Athens. After the hunt in Calydon he set forth. On his way he fought with andslew two robbers who harassed countries and treated people unjustly. 

The first was Sinnias. He was a robber who slew men cruelly by tyingthem to strong branches of trees and letting the branches fly apart. Onhim Theseus had no mercy. The second was a robber also, Procrustes: hehad a great iron bed on which he made his captives lie; if they weretoo long for that bed he chopped pieces off them, and if they were tooshort he stretched out their bodies with terrible racks. On him, likewise, Theseus had no mercy; he slew Procrustes and gave liberty tohis captives. 

The King of Athens at the time was named Ægeus. He was father ofTheseus, but neither Theseus nor he knew that this was so. Aethra washis mother, and she was the daughter of the King of Troezen. BeforeTheseus was born his father left a great sword under a stone, tellingAethra that the boy was to have the sword when he was able to move thatstone away. 

King Ægeus was old and fearful now: there were wars and troubles in thecity; besides, there was in his palace an evil woman, a witch, to whomthe king listened. This woman heard that a proud and fearless young manhad come into Athens, and she at once thought to destroy him. 

So the witch spoke to the fearful king, and she made him believe thatthis stranger had come into Athens to make league with his enemies anddestroy him. Such was her power over Ægeus that she was able topersuade him to invite the stranger youth to a feast in the palace, andto give him a cup that would have poison in it. 

Theseus came to the palace. He sat down to the banquet with the king. But before the cup was brought something moved him to stand up and drawforth the sword that he carried. Fearfully the king looked upon thesword. Then he saw the heavy ivory hilt with the curious carving on it, and he knew that this was the sword that he had once laid under thestone near the palace of the King of Troezen. He questioned Theseus asto how he had come by the sword, and Theseus told him how Aethra hismother, had shown him where it was hidden, and how he had been able totake it from under the stone before he was grown a youth. More and moreÆgeus questioned him, and he came to know that the youth before him washis son indeed. He dashed down the cup that had been brought to thetable, and he shook all over with the thought of how near he had beento a terrible crime. The witch-woman watched all that passed; mountingon a car drawn by dragons she made flight from Athens. 

And now the people of the city, knowing that it was he who had slainthe robbers Sinnias and Procrustes, rejoiced to have Theseus amongstthem. When he appeared as their prince they rejoiced still more. Soonhe was able to bring to an end the wars in the city and the troublesthat afflicted Athens. 

II

The greatest king in the world at that time was Minos, King of Crete. Minos had sent his son to Athens to make peace and friendship betweenhis kingdom and the kingdom of King Ægeus. But the people of Athensslew the son of King Minos, and because Ægeus had not given him theprotection that a king should have given a stranger come upon such anerrand he was deemed to have some part in the guilt of his slaying. 

Minos, the great king, was wroth, and he made war on Athens, wreakinggreat destruction upon the country and the people. Moreover, the godsthemselves were wroth with Athens; they punished the people withfamine, making even the rivers dry up. The Athenians went to the oracleand asked Apollo what they should do to have their guilt taken away. Apollo made answer that they should make peace with Minos and fulfillall his demands. 

All this Theseus now heard, learning for the first time that behind thewars and troubles in Athens there was a deed of evil that Ægeus, hisfather, had some guilt in. 

The demands that King Minos made upon Athens were terrible. He demandedthat the Athenians should send into Crete every year seven youths andseven maidens as a price for the life of his son. And these youths andmaidens were not to meet death merely, nor were they to be reared inslavery they were to be sent that a monster called the Minotaur mightdevour them. 

Youths and maidens had been sent, and for the third time the messengersof King Minos were coming to Athens. The tribute for the Minotaur wasto be chosen by lot. The fathers and mothers were in fear andtrembling, for each man and woman thought that his or her son ordaughter would be taken for a prey for the Minotaur. 

They came together, the people of Athens, and they drew the lotsfearfully. And on the throne above them all sat their pale-faced king, Ægeus, the father of Theseus. 

Before the first lot was drawn Theseus turned to all of them and said, "People of Athens, it is not right that your children should go andthat I, who am the son of King Ægeus, should remain behind. Surely, ifany of the youths of Athens should face the dread monster of Crete, Ishould face it. There is one lot that you may leave undrawn. I will goto Crete. "

His father, on hearing the speech of Theseus, came down from his throneand pleaded with him, begging him not to go. But the will of Theseuswas set; he would go with the others and face the Minotaur. And hereminded his father of how the people had complained, saying that ifÆgeus had done the duty of a king, Minos's son would not have beenslain and the tribute to the Minotaur would have not been demanded. Itwas the passing about of such complaints that had led to the war andtroubles that Theseus found on his coming to Athens. 

Also Theseus told his father and told the people that he had hope inhis hands--that the hands that were strong enough to slay Sinnias andProcrustes, the giant robbers, would be strong enough to slay the dreadmonster of Crete. His father at last consented to his going. AndTheseus was able to make the people willing to believe that he would beable to overcome the Minotaur, and so put an end to the terribletribute that was being exacted from them. 

With six other youths and seven maidens Theseus went on board of theship that every year brought to Crete the grievous tribute. This shipalways sailed with black sails. But before it sailed this time KingÆgeus gave to Nausitheus, the master of the ship, a white sail to takewith him. And he begged Theseus, that in case he should be able toovercome the monster, to hoist the white sail he had given. Theseuspromised he would do this. His father would watch for the return of theship, and if the sail were black he would know that the Minotaur haddealt with his son as it had dealt with the other youths who had gonefrom Athens. And if the sail were white Ægeus would have indeed causeto rejoice. 

III

And now the black-sailed ship had come to Crete, and the youths andmaidens of Athens looked from its deck on Knossos, the marvelous citythat Daedalus the builder had built for King Minos. And they saw thepalace of the king, the red and black palace in which was thelabyrinth, made also by Daedalus, where the dread Minotaur was hidden. 

In fear they looked upon the city and the palace. But not in fear didTheseus look, but in wonder at the magnificence of it all--the harborwith its great steps leading up into the city, the far-spreading palaceall red and black, and the crowds of ships with their white and redsails. They were brought through the city of Knossos to the palace ofthe king. And there Theseus looked upon Minos. In a great red chamberon which was painted the sign of the axe, King Minos sat. 

On a low throne he sat, holding in his hand a scepter on which a birdwas perched. Not in fear, but steadily, did Theseus look upon the king. And he saw that Minos had the face of one who has thought long upontroublesome things, and that his eyes were strangely dark and deep. Theking noted that the eyes of Theseus were upon him, and he made a signwith his head to an attendant and the attendant laid his hand upon himand brought Theseus to stand beside the king. Minos questioned him asto who he was and what lands he had been in, and when he learned thatTheseus was the son of Ægeus, the King of Athens, he said the name ofhis son who had been slain, "Androgeus, Androgeus, " over and overagain, and then spoke no more. 

While he stood there beside the king there came into the chamber threemaidens; one of them, Theseus knew, was the daughter of Minos. Not likethe maidens of Greece were the princess and her two attendants: insteadof having on flowing garments and sandals and wearing their hair bound, they had on dresses of gleaming material that were tight at the waistsand bell-shaped; the hair that streamed on their shoulders was madewavy; they had on high shoes of a substance that shone like glass. Never had Theseus looked upon maidens who were so strange. 

They spoke to the king in the strange Cretan language; then Minos'sdaughter made reverence to her father, and they went from the chamber. Theseus watched them as they went through a long passage, walkingslowly on their high-heeled shoes. 

Through the same passage the youths and maidens of Athens wereafterward brought. They came into a great hall. The walls were red andon them were paintings in black--pictures of great bulls with girls andslender youths struggling with them. It was a place for games andshows, and Theseus stood with the youths and maidens of Athens and withthe people of the palace and watched what was happening. 

They saw women charming snakes; then they saw a boxing match, andafterward they all looked on a bout of wrestling. Theseus looked pastthe wrestlers and he saw, at the other end of the hall, the daughter ofKing Minos and her two attendant maidens. 

One broad-shouldered and bearded man--overthrew all the wrestlers whocame to grips with him. He stood there boastfully, and Theseus was madeangry by the man's arrogance. Then, when no other wrestler would comeagainst him, he turned to leave the arena. 

But Theseus stood in his way and pushed him back. The boastful man laidhands upon him and pulled him into the arena. He strove to throwTheseus as he had thrown the others; but he soon found that the youthfrom Greece was a wrestler, too, and that he would have to strive hardto overthrow him. 

More eagerly than they had watched anything else the people of thepalace and the youths and maidens of Athens watched the bout betweenTheseus and the lordly wrestler. Those from Athens who looked upon himnow thought that they had never seen Theseus look so tall and soconquering before; beside the slender, dark-haired people of Crete helooked like a statue of one of the gods. 

Very adroit was the Cretan wrestler, and Theseus had to use all hisstrength to keep upon his feet; but soon he mastered the tricks thatthe wrestler was using against him. Then the Cretan left aside histricks and began to use all his strength to throw Theseus. 

Steadily Theseus stood and the Cretan wrestler was spent and gasping inthe effort to throw him. Then Theseus made him feel his grip. He benthim backward, and then, using all his strength suddenly, forced him tothe ground. All were filled with wonder at the strength and power ofthis youth from overseas. 

Food and wine were given the youths and maidens of Athens, and theywith Theseus were let wander through the grounds of the palace. Butthey could make no escape, for guards followed them and the way to theships was filled with strangers who would not let them pass. Theytalked to each other about the Minotaur, and there was fear in everyword they said. But Theseus went from one to the other, telling themthat perhaps there was a way by which he could come to the monster anddestroy it. And the youths and maidens, remembering how he hadoverthrown the lordly wrestler, were comforted a little, thinking thatTheseus might indeed be able to destroy the Minotaur and so save all ofthem. 

IV

Theseus was awakened by some one touching him. He arose and he saw adark-faced servant, who beckoned to him. He left the little chamberwhere he had been sleeping, and then he saw outside one who wore thestrange dress of the Cretans. 

When Theseus looked full upon her he saw that she was none other thanthe daughter of King Minos. "I am Ariadne, " she said, "and, O youthfrom Greece, I have come to save you from the dread Minotaur. "

He looked upon Ariadne's strange face with its long, dark eyes, and hewondered how this girl could think that she could save him and save theyouths and maidens of Athens from the Minotaur. Her hand rested uponhis arm, and she led him into the chamber where Minos had sat. It waslighted now by many little lamps. 

"I will show the way of escape to you, " said Ariadne. 

Then Theseus looked around, and he saw that none of the other youthsand maidens were near them, and he looked on Ariadne again, and he sawthat the strange princess had been won to help him, and to help himonly. 

"Who will show the way of escape to the others?" asked Theseus. 

"Ah, " said the Princess Ariadne, "for the others there is no way ofescape. "

"Then, " said Theseus, "I will not leave the youths and maidens ofAthens who came with me to Crete to be devoured by the Minotaur. "

"Ah, Theseus, " said Ariadne, "they cannot escape the Minotaur. One onlymay escape, and I want you to be that one. I saw you when you wrestledwith Deucalion, our great wrestler, and since then I have longed tosave you. "

"I have come to slay the Minotaur, " said Theseus, "and I cannot hold mylife as my own until I have slain it. "

Said Ariadne, "If you could see the Minotaur, Theseus, and if you couldmeasure its power, you would know that you are not the one to slay it. I think that only Talos, that giant who was all of bronze, could haveslain the Minotaur. "

"Princess, " said Theseus, "can you help me to come to the Minotaur andlook upon it so that I can know for certainty whether this hand of minecan slay the monster?"

"I can help you to come to the Minotaur and look upon it, " said Ariadne. 

"Then help me, princess, " cried Theseus; "help me to come to theMinotaur and look upon it, and help me, too, to get back the sword thatI brought with me to Crete. "

"Your sword will not avail you against the Minotaur, " said Ariadne;"when you look upon the monster you will know that it is not for yourhand to slay. "

"Oh, but bring me my sword, princess, " cried Theseus, and his handswent out to her in supplication. 

"I will bring you your sword, " said she. 

She took up a little lamp and went through a doorway, leaving Theseusstanding by the low throne in the chamber of Minos. Then after a littlewhile she came back, bringing with her Theseus's great ivory-hiltedsword. 

"It is a great sword, " she said; "I marked it before because it is yoursword, Theseus. But even this great sword will not avail against theMinotaur. "

"Show me the way to come to the Minotaur, O Ariadne, " cried Theseus. 

He knew that she did not think that he would deem himself able tostrive with the Minotaur, and that when he looked upon the dreadmonster he would return to her and then take the way of his escape. 

She took his hand and led him from the chamber of Minos. She was nottall, but she stood straight and walked steadily, and Theseus saw inher something of the strange majesty that he had seen in Minos the king. 

They came to high bronze gates that opened into a vault. "Here, " saidAriadne, "the labyrinth begins. Very devious is the labyrinth, built byDaedalus, in which the Minotaur is hidden, and without the clue nonecould find a way through the passages. But I will give you the clue sothat you may look upon the Minotaur and then come back to me. Theseus, now I put into your hand the thread that will guide you through all thewindings of the labyrinth. And outside the place where the Minotaur isyou will find another thread to guide you back. "

A cone was on the ground and it had a thread fastened to it. Ariadnegave Theseus the thread and the cone to wind it around. The thread ashe held it and wound it around the cone would bring him through all thewindings and turnings of the labyrinth. 

She left him, and Theseus went on. Winding the thread around the conehe went along a wide passage in the vault. He turned and came into apassage that was very long. He came to a place in this passage where adoor seemed to be, but within the frame of the doorway there was only ablank wall. But below that doorway there was a flight of six steps, anddown these steps the thread led him. On he went, and he crossed themarks that he himself had made in the dust, and he thought he must havecome back to the place where he had parted from Ariadne. He went on, and he saw before him a flight of steps. The thread did not lead up thesteps; it led into the most winding of passages. So sudden were theturnings in it that one could not see three steps before one. He wasdazed by the turnings of this passage, but still he went on. He went upwinding steps and then along a narrow wall. The wall overhung a broadflight of steps, and Theseus had to jump to them. Down the steps hewent and into a wide, empty hall that had doorways to the right handand to the left hand. Here the thread had its end. It was fastened to acone that lay on the ground, and beside this cone was another--the cluethat was to bring him back. 

Now Theseus, knowing he was in the very center of the labyrinth, lookedall around for sight of the Minotaur. There was no sight of the monsterhere. He went to all the doors and pushed at them, and some opened andsome remained fast. The middle door opened. As it did Theseus feltaround him a chilling draft of air. 

That chilling draft was from the breathing of the monster. Theseus thensaw the Minotaur. It lay on the ground, a strange, bull-faced thing. 

When the thought came to Theseus that he would have to fight thatmonster alone and in that hidden and empty place all delight left him;he grew like a stone; he groaned, and it seemed to him that he heardthe voice of Ariadne calling him back. He could find his way backthrough the labyrinth and come to her. He stepped back, and the doorclosed on the Minotaur, the dread monster of Crete. 

In an instant Theseus pushed the door again. He stood within the hallwhere the Minotaur was, and the heavy door shut behind him. He lookedagain on that dark, bull-faced thing. It reared up as a horse rears andTheseus saw that it would crash down on him and tear him with itsdragon claws. With a great bound he went far away from where themonster crashed down. Then Theseus faced it: he saw its thick lips andits slobbering mouth; he saw that its skin was thick and hard. 

He drew near the monster, his sword in his hand. He struck at its eyes, and his sword made a great dint. But no blood came, for the Minotaurwas a bloodless monster. From its mouth and nostrils came a draft thatcovered him with a chilling slime. 

Then it rushed upon him and overthrew him, and Theseus felt itsterrible weight upon him. But he thrust his sword upward, and it rearedup again, screaming with pain. Theseus drew himself away, and then hesaw it searching around and around, and he knew he had made itsightless. Then it faced him; all the more fearful it was because fromits wounds no blood came. 

Anger flowed into Theseus when he saw the monster standing frightfullybefore him; he thought of all the youths and maidens that thisbloodless thing had destroyed, and all the youths and maidens that itwould destroy if he did not slay it now. Angrily he rushed upon it withhis great sword. It clawed and tore him, and it opened wide its mostevil mouth as if to draw him into it. But again he sprang at it; hethrust his great sword through its neck, and he left his sword there. 

With the last of his strength he pulled open the heavy door and he wentout from the hall where the Minotaur was. He picked up the thread andhe began to wind it as he had wound the other thread on his way down. On he went, through passage after passage, through chamber afterchamber. His mind was dizzy, and he had little thought for the way hewas going. His wounds and the chill that the monster had breathed intohim and his horror of the fearful and bloodless thing made his mindalmost forsake him. He kept the thread in his hand and he wound it ashe went on through the labyrinth. He stumbled and the thread broke. Hewent on for a few steps and then he went back to find the thread thathad fallen out of his hands. In an instant he was in a part of thelabyrinth that he had not been in before. 

He walked a long way, and then he came on his own footmarks as theycrossed themselves in the dust. He pushed open a door and came into theair. He was now by the outside wall of the palace, and he saw birdsflying by him. He leant against the wall of the palace, thinking thathe would strive no more to find his way through the labyrinth. 

V

That day the youths and maidens of Athens were brought through thelabyrinth and to the hall where the Minotaur was. They went through thepassages weeping and lamenting. Some cried out for Theseus, and somesaid that Theseus had deserted them. The heavy door was opened. Thenthose who were with the youths and maidens saw the Minotaur lying starkand stiff with Theseus's sword through its neck. They shouted and blewtrumpets and the noise of their trumpets filled the labyrinth. Thenthey turned back, bringing the youths and maidens with them, and awhisper went through the whole palace that the Minotaur had been slain. The youths and maidens were lodged in the chamber where Minos gave hisjudgments. 

VI

Theseus, wearied and overcome, fell into a deep sleep by the wall ofthe palace. He awakened with a feeling that the claw of the Minotaurwas upon him. There were stars in the sky above the high palace wall, and he saw a dark-robed and ancient man standing beside him. Theseusknew that this was Daedalus, the builder of the palace and thelabyrinth. Daedalus called and a slim youth came Icarus, the son ofDaedalus. Minos had set father and son apart from the rest of thepalace, and Theseus had come near the place where they were confined. Icarus came and brought him to a winding stairway and showed him a wayto go. 

A dark-faced servant met and looked him full in the face. Then, as ifhe knew that Theseus was the one whom he had been searching for, he ledhim into a little chamber where there were three maidens. One startedup and came to him quickly, and Theseus again saw Ariadne. 

She hid him in the chamber of the palace where her singing birds were, and she would come and sit beside him, asking about his own country andtelling him that she would go with him there. "I showed you how youmight come to the Minotaur, " she said, "and you went there and you slewthe monster, and now I may not stay in my father's palace. "

And Theseus thought all the time of his return, and of how he mightbring the youths and maidens of Athens back to their own people. ForAriadne, that strange princess, was not dear to him as Medea was dearto Jason, or Atalanta the Huntress to young Meleagrus. 

One sunset she led him to a roof of the palace and she showed him theharbor with the ships, and she showed him the ship with the black sailthat had brought him to Knossos. She told him she would take him aboardthat ship, and that the youths and maidens of Athens could go withthem. She would bring to the master of the ship the seal of King Minos, and the master, seeing it, would set sail for whatever place Theseusdesired to go. 

Then did she become dear to Theseus because of her great kindness, andhe kissed her eyes and swore that he would not go from the palaceunless she would come with him to his own country. The strange princesssmiled and wept as if she doubted what he said. Nevertheless, she ledhim from the roof and down into one of the palace gardens. He waitedthere, and the youths and maidens of Athens were led into the garden, all wearing cloaks that hid their forms and faces. Young Icarus ledthem from the grounds of the palace and down to the ships. And Ariadnewent with them, bringing with her the seal of her father, King Minos. 

And when they came on board of the black-sailed ship they showed theseal to the master, Nausitheus, and the master of the ship let the sailtake the breeze of the evening, and so Theseus went away from Crete. 

VII

To the Island of Naxos they sailed. And when they reached that placethe master of the ship, thinking that what had been done was not inaccordance with the will of King Minos, stayed the ship there. Hewaited until other ships came from Knossos. And when they came theybrought word that Minos would not slay nor demand back Theseus nor theyouths and maidens of Athens. His daughter, Ariadne, he would haveback, to reign with him over Crete. 

Then Ariadne left the black-sailed ship, and went back to Crete fromNaxos. Theseus let the princess go, although he might have struggled tohold her. But more strange than dear did Ariadne remain to Theseus. 

And all this time his father, Ægeus, stayed on the tower of his palace, watching for the return of the ship that had sailed for Knossos. Thelife of the king wasted since the departure of Theseus, and now it wasbut a thread. Every day he watched for the return of the ship, hopingagainst hope that Theseus would return alive to him. Then a ship cameinto the harbor. It had black sails. Ægeus did not know that Theseuswas aboard of it, and that Theseus in the hurry of his flight and inthe sadness of his parting from Ariadne had not thought of taking outthe white sail that his father had given to Nausitheus. 

Joyously Theseus sailed into the harbor, having slain the Minotaur andlifted for ever the tribute put upon Athens. Joyously he sailed intothe harbor, bringing back to their parents the youths and maidens ofAthens. But the king, his father, saw the black sails on his ship, andstraightway the thread of his life broke, and he died on the roof ofthe tower which he had built to look out on the sea. 

Theseus landed on the shore of his own country. He had the ship drawnup on the beach and he made sacrifices of thanksgiving to the gods. Then he sent messengers to the city to announce his return. They wenttoward the city, these joyful messengers, but when they came to thegate they heard the sounds of mourning and lamentation. The mourningand the lamentation were for the death of the king, Theseus's father. They hurried back and they came to Theseus where he stood on the beach. They brought a wreath of victory for him, but as they put it into hishand they told him of the death of his father. Then Theseus left thewreath on the ground, and he wept for the death of Ægeus--of Ægeus, thehero, who had left the sword under the stone for him before he was born. 

The men and women who came to the beach wept and laughed as theyclasped in their arms the children brought back to them. And Theseusstood there, silent and bowed; the memory of his last moments with hisfather, of his fight with the Minotaur, of his parting withAriadne--all flowed back upon him. He stood there with head bowed, theman who might not put upon his brows the wreath of victory that hadbeen brought to him. 

VIII

There had come into the city a youth of great valor whose name wasPeirithous: from a far country he had come, filled with a desire ofmeeting Theseus, whose fame had come to him. The youth was in Athens atthe time Theseus returned. He went down to the beach with thetownsfolk, and he saw Theseus standing alone with his head bowed down. He went to him and he spoke, and Theseus lifted his head and he sawbefore him a young man of strength and beauty. He looked upon him, andthe thought of high deeds came into his mind again. He wanted thisyoung man to be his comrade in dangers and upon quests. And Peirithouslooked upon Theseus, and he felt that he was greater and nobler than hehad thought. They became friends and sworn brothers, and together theywent into far countries. 

Now there was in Epirus a savage king who had a very fair daughter. Hehad named this daughter Persephone, naming her thus to show that shewas held as fast by him as that other Persephone was held who ruled inthe Underworld. No man might see her, and no man might wed her. ButPeirithous had seen the daughter of this king, and he desired above allthings to take her from her father and make her his wife. He beggedTheseus to help him enter that king's palace and carry off the maiden. 

So they came to Epirus, Theseus and Peirithous, and they entered theking's palace, and they heard the bay of the dread hound that was thereto let no one out who had once come within the walls. Suddenly theguards of the savage king came upon them, and they took Theseus andPeirithous and they dragged them down into dark dungeons. 

Two great chairs of stone were there, and Theseus and Peirithous wereleft seated in them. And the magic powers that were in the chairs ofstone were such that the heroes could not lift themselves out of them. There they stayed, held in the great stone chairs in the dungeons ofthat savage king. 

Then it so happened that Heracles came into the palace of the king. Theharsh king feasted Heracles and abated his savagery before him. But hecould not forbear boasting of how he had trapped the heroes who hadcome to carry off Persephone. And he told how they could not get out ofthe stone chairs and how they were held captive in his dark dungeon. Heracles listened, his heart full of pity for the heroes from Greecewho had met with such a harsh fate. And when the king mentioned thatone of the heroes was Theseus, Heracles would feast no more with himuntil he had promised that the one who had been his comrade on the Argowould be let go. 

The king said he would give Theseus his liberty if Heracles would carrythe stone chair on which he was seated out of the dungeon and into theouter world. Then Heracles went down into the dungeon. He found the twoheroes in the great chairs of stone. But one of them, Peirithous, nolonger breathed. Heracles took the great chair of stone that Theseuswas seated in, and he carried it up, up, from the dungeon and out intothe world. It was a heavy task even for Heracles. He broke the chair inpieces, and Theseus stood up, released. 

Thereafter the world was before Theseus. He went with Heracles, and inthe deeds that Heracles was afterward to accomplish Theseus shared. 

IV. THE LIFE AND LABORS OF HERACLES

I

Heracles was the son of Zeus, but he was born into the family of amortal king. When he was still a youth, being overwhelmed by a madnesssent upon him by one of the goddesses, he slew the children of hisbrother Iphicles. Then, coming to know what he had done, sleep and restwent from him: he went to Delphi, to the shrine of Apollo, to bepurified of his crime. 

At Delphi, at the shrine of Apollo, the priestess purified him, andwhen she had purified him she uttered this prophecy: "From this dayforth thy name shall be, not Alcides, but Heracles. Thou shalt go toEurystheus, thy cousin, in Mycenæ, and serve him in all things. Whenthe labors he shall lay upon thee are accomplished, and when the restof thy life is lived out, thou shalt become one of the immortals. "Heracles, on hearing these words, set out for Mycenæ. 

He stood before his cousin who hated him; he, a towering man, stoodbefore a king who sat there weak and trembling. And Heracles said, "Ihave come to take up the labors that you will lay upon me; speak now, Eurystheus, and tell me what you would have me do. "

Eurystheus, that weak king, looking on the young man who stood as talland as firm as one of the immortals, had a heart that was filled withhatred. He lifted up his head and he said with a frown:

"There is a lion in Nemea that is stronger and more fierce than anylion known before. Kill that lion, and bring the lion's skin to me thatI may know that you have truly performed your task. " So Eurystheussaid, and Heracles, with neither shield nor arms, went forth from theking's palace to seek and to combat the dread lion of Nemea. 

He went on until he came into a country where the fences wereoverthrown and the fields wasted and the houses empty and fallen. Hewent on until he came to the waste around that land: there he came onthe trail of the lion; it led up the side of a mountain, and Heracles, without shield or arms, followed the trail. 

He heard the roar of the lion. Looking up he saw the beast standing atthe mouth of a cavern, huge and dark against the sunset. The lionroared three times, and then it went within the cavern. 

Around the mouth were strewn the bones of creatures it had killed andcarried there. Heracles looked upon them when he came to the cavern. Hewent within. Far into the cavern he went, and then he came to where hesaw the lion. It was sleeping. 

Heracles viewed the terrible bulk of the lion, and then he looked uponhis own knotted hands and arms. He remembered that it was told of himthat, while still a child of eight months, he had strangled a greatserpent that had come to his cradle to devour him. He had grown and hisstrength had grown too. 

So he stood, measuring his strength and the size of the lion. Thebreath from its mouth and nostrils came heavily to him as the beastslept, gorged with its prey. Then the lion yawned. Heracles sprang onit and put his great hands upon its throat. No growl came out of itsmouth, but the great eyes blazed while the terrible paws tore atHeracles. Against the rock Heracles held the beast; strongly he heldit, choking it through the skin that was almost impenetrable. Terriblythe lion struggled; but the strong hands of the hero held around itsthroat until it struggled no more. 

Then Heracles stripped off that impenetrable skin from the lion's body;he put it upon himself for a cloak. Then, as he went through theforest, he pulled up a young oak tree and trimmed it and made a clubfor himself. With the lion's skin over him--that skin that no spear orarrow could pierce--and carrying the club in his hand he journeyed onuntil he came to the palace of King Eurystheus. 

The king, seeing coming toward him a towering man all covered with thehide of a monstrous lion, ran and hid himself in a great jar. He liftedthe lid up to ask the servants what was the meaning of this terribleappearance. And the servants told him that it was Heracles come backwith the skin of the lion of Nemea. On hearing this Eurystheus hidhimself again. 

He would not speak with Heracles nor have him come near him, so fearfulwas he. But Heracles was content to be left alone. He sat down in thepalace and feasted himself. 

The servants came to the king; Eurystheus lifted the lid of the jar andthey told him how Heracles was feasting and devouring all the goods inthe palace. The king flew into a rage, but still he was fearful ofhaving the hero before him. He issued commands through his heraldsordering Heracles to go forth at once and perform the second of histasks. 

It was to slay the great water snake that made its lair in the swampsof Lerna. Heracles stayed to feast another day, and then, with thelion's skin across his shoulders and the great club in his hands, hestarted off. But this time he did not go alone; the boy Iolaus wentwith him. 

Heracles and Iolaus went on until they came to the vast swamp of Lerna. Right in the middle of the swamp was the water snake that was calledthe Hydra. Nine heads it had, and it raised them up out of the water asthe hero and his companion came near. They could not cross the swamp tocome to the monster, for man or beast would sink and be lost in it. 

The Hydra remained in the middle of the swamp belching mud at the heroand his companion. Then Heracles took up his bow and he shot flamingarrows at its heads. It grew into such a rage that it came through theswamp to attack him. Heracles swung his club. As the Hydra came near heknocked head after head off its body. 

But for every head knocked off two grew upon the Hydra. And as hestruggled with the monster a huge crab came out of the swamp, andgripping Heracles by the foot tried to draw him in. Then Heracles criedout. The boy Iolaus came; he killed the crab that had come to theHydra's aid. 

Then Heracles laid hands upon the Hydra and drew it out of the swamp. With his club he knocked off a head and he had Iolaus put fire to whereit had been, so that two heads might not grow in that place. The lifeof the Hydra was in its middle head; that head he had not been able toknock off with his club. Now, with his hands he tore it off, and heplaced this head under a great stone so that it could not rise intolife again. The Hydra's life was now destroyed. Heracles dipped hisarrows into the gall of the monster, making his arrows deadly; no thingthat was struck by these arrows afterward could keep its life. 

Again he came to Eurystheus's palace, and Eurystheus, seeing him, ranagain and hid himself in the jar. Heracles ordered the servants to tellthe king that he had returned and that the second labor wasaccomplished. 

Eurystheus, hearing from the servants that Heracles was mild in hisways, came out of the jar. Insolently he spoke. "Twelve labors you haveto accomplish for me, " said he to Heracles, "and eleven yet remain tobe accomplished. "

"How?" said Heracles. "Have I not performed two of the labors? Have Inot slain the lion of Nemea and the great water snake of Lerna?"

"In the killing of the water snake you were helped by Iolaus, " said theking, snapping out his words and looking at Heracles with shiftingeyes. "That labor cannot be allowed you. "

Heracles would have struck him to the ground. But then he rememberedthat the crime that he had committed in his madness would have to beexpiated by labors performed at the order of this man. He looked fullupon Eurystheus and he said, "Tell me of the other labors, and I willgo forth from Mycenæ and accomplish them. "

Then Eurystheus bade him go and make clean the stables of King Augeias. Heracles came into that king's country. The smell from the stables wasfelt for miles around. Countless herds of cattle and goats had been inthe stables for years, and because of the uncleanness and the smellthat came from it the crops were withered all around. Heracles told theking that he would clean the stables if he were given one tenth of thecattle and the goats for a reward. 

The king agreed to this reward. Then Heracles drove the cattle and thegoats out of the stables; he broke through the foundations and he madechannels for the two rivers Alpheus and Peneius. The waters flowedthrough the stables, and in a day all the uncleanness was washed away. Then Heracles turned the rivers back into their own courses. 

He was not given the reward he had bargained for, however. 

He went back to Mycenæ with the tale of how he had cleaned the stables. "Ten labors remain for me to do now, " he said. 

"Eleven, " said Eurystheus. "How can I allow the cleaning of KingAugeias's stables to you when you bargained for a reward for doing it?"

Then while Heracles stood still, holding himself back from strikinghim, Eurystheus ran away and hid himself in the jar. Through hisheralds he sent word to Heracles, telling him what the other laborswould be. 

He was to clear the marshes of Stymphalus of the maneating birds thatgathered there; he was to capture and bring to the king thegolden-horned deer of Coryneia; he was also to capture and bring aliveto Myceaæ the boar of Erymanthus. 

Heracles came to the marshes of Stymphalus. The growth of jungle was sodense that he could not cut his way through to where the man-eatingbirds were; they sat upon low bushes within the jungle, gorgingthemselves upon the flesh they had carried there. 

For days Heracles tried to hack his way through. He could not get towhere the birds were. Then, thinking he might not be able to accomplishthis labor, he sat upon the ground in despair. 

It was then that one of the immortals appeared to him; for the firstand only time he was given help from the gods. 

It was Athena who came to him. She stood apart from Heracles, holdingin her hands brazen cymbals. These she clashed together. At the soundof this clashing the Stymphalean birds rose up from the low bushesbehind the jungle. Heracles shot at them with those unerring arrows ofhis. The maneating birds fell, one after the other, into the marsh. 

Then Heracles went north to where the Coryneian deer took her pasture. So swift of foot was she that no hound nor hunter had ever been able toovertake her. For the whole of a year Heracles kept Golden Horns inchase, and at last, on the side of the Mountain Artemision, he caughther. Artemis, the goddess of the wild things, would have punishedHeracles for capturing the deer, but the hero pleaded with her, and sherelented and agreed to let him bring the deer to Mycenæ and show her toKing Eurystheus. And Artemis took charge of Golden Horns while Heracleswent off to capture the Erymanthean boar. 

He came to the city of Psophis, the inhabitants of which were in deadlyfear because of the ravages of the boar. Heracles made his way up themountain to hunt it. Now on this mountain a band of centaurs lived, andthey, knowing him since the time he had been fostered by Chiron, welcomed Heracles. One of them, Pholus, took Heracles to the greathouse where the centaurs had their wine stored. 

Seldom did the centaurs drink wine; a draft of it made them wild, andso they stored it away, leaving it in the charge of one of their band. Heracles begged Pholus to give him a draft of wine; after he had beggedagain and again the centaur opened one of his great jars. 

Heracles drank wine and spilled it. Then the centaurs that were withoutsmelt the wine and came hammering at the door, demanding the draftsthat would make them wild. Heracles came forth to drive them away. Theyattacked him. Then he shot at them with his unerring arrows and hedrove them away. Up the mountain and away to far rivers the centaursraced, pursued by Heracles with his bow. 

One was slain, Pholus, the centaur who had entertained him. By accidentHeracles dropped a poisoned arrow on his foot. He took the body ofPholus up to the top of the mountain and buried the centaur there. Afterward, on the snows of Erymanthus, he set a snare for the boar andcaught him there. 

Upon his shoulders he carried the boar to Myceaæ and he led the deer byher golden horns. When Eurystheus bad looked upon them the boar wasslain, but the deer was loosed and she fled back to the MountainArtemision. 

King Eurystheus sat hidden in the great jar, and he thought of moreterrible labors he would make Heracles engage in. Now he would send himoversea and make him strive with fierce tribes and more dread monsters. When he had it all thought out he had Heracles brought before him andhe told him of these other labors. 

He was to go to savage Thrace and there destroy the man-eating horsesof King Diomedes; afterward he was to go amongst the dread women, theAmazons, daughters of Ares, the god of war, and take from their queen, Hippolyte, the girdle that Ares had given her; then he was to go toCrete and take from the keeping of King Minos the beautiful bull thatPoseidon had given him; afterward he was to go to the Island ofErytheia and take away from Geryoneus, the monster that had threebodies instead of one, the herd of red cattle that the two-headed houndOrthus kept guard over; then he was to go to the Garden of theHesperides, and from that garden he was to take the golden apples thatZeus had given to Hera for a marriage gift--where the Garden of theHesperides was no mortal knew. 

So Heracles set out on a long and perilous quest. First he went toThrace, that savage land that was ruled over by Diomedes, son of Ares, the war god. Heracles broke into the stable where the horses were; hecaught three of them by their heads, and although they kicked and bitand trampled he forced them out of the stable and down to the seashore, where his companion, Abderus, waited for him. The screams of the fiercehorses were heard by the men of Thrace, and they, with their king, cameafter Heracles. He left the horses in charge of Abderus while he foughtthe Thracians and their savage king. 

Heracles shot his deadly arrows amongst them, and then he fought withtheir king. He drove them from the seashore, and then he came back towhere he had left Abderus with the fierce horses. 

They had thrown Abderus upon the ground, and they were trampling uponhim. Heracles drew his bow and he shot the horses with the unerringarrows that were dipped with the gall of the Hydra he had slain. Screaming, the horses of King Diomedes raced toward the sea, but onefell and another fell, and then, as it came to the line of the foam, the third of the fierce horses fell. They were all slain with theunerring arrows. Then Heracles took up the body of his companion and heburied it with proper rights, and over it he raised a column. Afterward, around that column a city that bore the name of Heracles'sfriend was built. 

Then toward the Euxine Sea he went. There, where the River Themiscyraflows into the sea he saw the abodes of the Amazons. And upon the rocksand the steep place he saw the warrior women standing with drawn bowsin their hands. Most dangerous did they seem to Heracles. He did notknow how to approach them; he might shoot at them with his unerringarrows, but when his arrows were all shot away, the Amazons, from theirsteep places, might be able to kill him with the arrows from their bows. 

While he stood at a distance, wondering what he might do, a horn wassounded and an Amazon mounted upon a white stallion rode toward him. When the warrior-woman came near she cried out, "Heracles, the QueenHippolyte permits you to come amongst the Amazons. Enter her tent anddeclare to the queen what has brought you amongst the never-conqueredAmazons. "

Heracles came to the tent of the queen. There stood tall Hippolyte withan iron crown upon her head and with a beautiful girdle of bronze andiridescent glass around her waist. Proud and fierce as a mountain eaglelooked the queen of the Amazons: Heracles did not know in what way hemight conquer her. Outside the tent the Amazons stood; they strucktheir shields with their spears, keeping up a continuous savage din. 

"For what has Heracles come to the country of the Amazons?" QueenHippolyte asked. 

"For the girdle you wear, " said Heracles, and he held his hands readyfor the struggle. 

"Is it for the girdle given me by Ares, the god of war, that you havecome, braving the Amazons, Heracles?" asked the queen. 

"For that, " said Heracles. 

"I would not have you enter into strife with the Amazons, " said QueenHippolyte. And so saying she drew off the girdle of bronze andiridescent glass, and she gave it into his hands. 

Heracles took the beautiful girdle into his hands. Fearful he was thatsome piece of guile was being played upon him, but then he looked intothe open eyes of the queen and he saw that she meant no guile. He tookthe girdle and he put it around his great brows; then he thankedHippolyte and he went from the tent. He saw the Amazons standing on therocks and the steep places with bows bent; unchallenged he went on, andhe came to his ship and he sailed away from that country with one morelabor accomplished. 

The labor that followed was not dangerous. He sailed over sea and hecame to Crete, to the land that King Minos ruled over. And there hefound, grazing in a special pasture, the bull that Poseidon had givenKing Minos. He laid his hands upon the bull's horns and he struggledwith him and he overthrew him. Then he drove the bull down to theseashore. 

His next labor was to take away the herd of red cattle that was ownedby the monster Geryoneus. In the Island of Erytheia, in the middle ofthe Stream of Ocean, lived the monster, his herd guarded by thetwo-headed hound Orthus--that hound was the brother of Cerberus, thethree-headed hound that kept guard in the Underworld. 

Mounted upon the bull given Minos by Poseidon, Heracles fared acrossthe sea. He came even to the straits that divide Europe from Africa, and there he set up two pillars as a memorial of his journey--thePillars of Heracles that stand to this day. He and the bull restedthere. Beyond him stretched the Stream of Ocean; the Island of Erytheiawas there, but Heracles thought that the bull would not be able to bearhim so far. 

And there the sun beat upon him, and drew all strength away from him, and he was dazed and dazzled by the rays of the sun. He shouted outagainst the sun, and in his anger he wanted to strive against the sun. Then he drew his bow and shot arrows upward. Far, far out of sight thearrows of Heracles went. And the sun god, Helios, was filled withadmiration for Heracles, the man who would attempt the impossible byshooting arrows at him; then did Helios fling down to Heracles hisgreat golden cup. 

Down, and into the Stream of Ocean fell the great golden cup of Helios. It floated there wide enough to hold all the men who might be in aship. Heracles put the bull of Minos into the cup of Helios, and thecup bore them away, toward the west, and across the Stream of Ocean. 

Thus Heracles came to the Island of Erytheia. All over the islandstraggled the red cattle of Geryoneus, grazing upon the rich pastures. Heracles, leaving the bull of Minos in the cup, went upon the island;he made a club for himself out of a tree and he went toward the cattle. 

The hound Orthus bayed and ran toward him; the two-headed hound thatwas the brother of Cerberus sprang at Heracles with poisonous foam uponhis jaws. Heracles swung his club and struck the two heads off thehound. And where the foam of the hound's jaws dropped down a poisonousplant sprang up. Heracles took up the body of the hound, and swung itaround and flung it far out into the Ocean. 

Then the monster Geryoneus came upon him. Three bodies he had insteadof one; he attacked Heracles by hurling great stones at him. Heracleswas hurt by the stones. And then the monster beheld the cup of Helios, and he began to hurl stones at the golden thing, and it seemed that hemight sink it in the sea, and leave Heracles without a way of gettingfrom the island. Heracles took up his bow and he shot arrow after arrowat the monster, and he left him dead in the deep grass of the pastures. 

Then he rounded up the red cattle, the bulls and the cows, and he drovethem down to the shore and into the golden cup of Helios where the bullof Minos stayed. Then back across the Stream of Ocean the cup floated, and the bull of Crete and the cattle of Geryoneus were brought pastSicily and through the straits called the Hellespont. To Thrace, thatsavage land, they came. Then Heracles took the cattle out, and the cupof Helios sank in the sea. Through the wild lands of Thrace he drovethe herd of Geryoneus and the bull of Minos, and he came into Myceaæonce more. 

But he did not stay to speak with Eurystheus. He started off to findthe Garden of the Hesperides, the Daughters of the Evening Land. Longdid he search, but he found no one who could tell him where the gardenwas. And at last he went to Chiron on the Mountain Pelion, and Chirontold Heracles what journey he would have to make to come to theHesperides, the Daughters of the Evening Land. 

Far did Heracles journey; weary he was when he came to where Atlasstood, bearing the sky upon his weary shoulders. As he came near hefelt an undreamt-of perfume being wafted toward him. So weary was hewith his journey and all his toils that he would fain sink down anddream away in that evening land. But he roused himself, and hejourneyed on toward where the perfume came from. Over that place a starseemed always about to rise. 

He came to where a silver lattice fenced a garden that was full of thequiet of evening. Golden bees hummed through the air, and there was thesound of quiet waters. How wild and laborious was the world he had comefrom, Heracles thought! He felt that it would be hard for him to returnto that world. 

He saw three maidens. They stood with wreaths upon their heads andblossoming branches in their hands. When the maidens saw him they cametoward him crying out: "O man who has come into the Garden of theHesperides, go not near the tree that the sleepless dragon guards!"Then they went and stood by a tree as if to keep guard over it. Allaround were trees that bore flowers and fruit, but this tree had goldenapples amongst its bright green leaves. 

Then he saw the guardian of the tree. Beside its trunk a dragon lay, and as Heracles came near the dragon showed its glittering scales andits deadly claws. 

The apples were within reach, but the dragon, with its glitteringscales and claws, stood in the way. Heracles shot an arrow; then atremor went through Ladon, the sleepless dragon; it screamed and thenlay stark. The maidens cried in their grief; Heracles went to the tree, and he plucked the golden apples and he put them into the pouch hecarried. Down on the ground sank the Hesperides, the Daughters of theEvening Land, and he heard their laments as he went from the enchantedgarden they had guarded. 

Back from the ends of the earth came Heracles, back from the placewhere Atlas stood holding the sky upon his weary shoulders. He wentback through Asia and Libya and Egypt, and he came again to Myceaæ andto the palace of Eurystheus. 

He brought to the king the herd of Geryoneus; he brought to the kingthe bull of Minos; he brought to the king the girdle of Hippolyte; hebrought to the king the golden apples of the Hesperides. And KingEurystheus, with his thin white face, sat upon his royal throne and helooked over all the wonderful things that the hero had brought him. Notpleased was Eurystheus; rather was he angry that one he hated could winsuch wonderful things. 

He took into his hands the golden apples of the Hesperides. But thisfruit was not for such as he. An eagle snatched the branch from hishand, and the eagle flew and flew until it came to where the Daughtersof the Evening Land wept in their garden. There the eagle let fall thebranch with the golden apples, and the maidens set it back upon thetree, and behold! it grew as it had been growing before Heraclesplucked it. 

The next day the heralds of Eurystheus came to Heracles and they toldhim of the last labor that he would have to set out to accomplish--thistime he would have to go down into the Underworld, and bring up fromKing Aidoneus's realm Cerberus, the three-headed hound. 

Heracles put upon him the impenetrable lion's skin and set forth oncemore. This might indeed be the last of his life's labors: Cerberus wasnot an earthly monster, and he who would struggle with Cerberus in theUnderworld would have the gods of the dead against him. 

But Heracles went on. He journeyed to the cave Tainaron, which was anentrance to the Underworld. Far into that dismal cave he went, and thendown, down, until he came to Acheron, that dim river that has beyond itonly the people of the dead. Cerberus bayed at him from the place wherethe dead cross the river. Knowing that he was no shade, the houndsprang at Heracles, but he could neither bite nor tear through thatimpenetrable lion's skin. Heracles held him by the neck of his middlehead so that Cerberus was neither able to bite nor tear nor bellow. 

Then to the brink of Acheron came Persephone, queen of the Underworld. She declared to Heracles that the gods of the dead would not striveagainst him if he promised to bring Cerberus back to the Underworld, carrying the hound downward again as he carried him upward. 

This Heracles promised. He turned around and he carried Cerberus, hishands around the monster's neck while foam dripped from his jaws. Hecarried him on and upward toward the world of men. Out through a cavethat was in the land of Troezen Heracles came, still carrying Cerberusby the neck of his middle head. 

From Troezen to Myceaæ the hero went and men fled before him at thesight of the monster that he carried. On he went toward the king'spalace. Eurystheus was seated outside his palace that day, looking atthe great jar that he had often hidden in, and thinking to himself thatHeracles would never appear to affright him again. Then Heraclesappeared. He called to Eurystheus, and when the king looked up he heldthe hound toward him. The three heads grinned at Eurystheus; he gave acry and scrambled into the jar. But before his feet touched the bottomof it Eurystheus was dead of fear. The jar rolled over, and Heracleslooked upon the body that was all twisted with fright. Then he turnedaround and made his way back to the Underworld. On the brink of Acheronhe loosed Cerberus, and the bellow of the three-headed hound was heardagain. 

II

It was then that Heracles was given arms by the gods the sword ofHermes, the bow of Apollo, the shield made by Hephaestus; it was thenthat Heracles joined the Argonauts and journeyed with them to the edgeof the Caucasus, where, slaying the vulture that preyed uponPrometheus's liver, he, at the will of Zeus, liberated the Titan. Thereafter Zeus and Prometheus were reconciled, and Zeus, that neithermight forget how much the enmity between them had cost gods and men, had a ring made for Prometheus to wear; that ring was made out of thefetter that had been upon him, and in it was set a fragment of the rockthat the Titan had been bound to. 

The Argonauts had now won back to Greece. But before he saw any of themhe had been in Oichalia, and had seen the maiden Iole. 

The king of Oichalia had offered his daughter Iole in marriage to thehero who could excel himself and his sons in shooting with arrows. Heracles saw Iole, the blue-eyed and childlike maiden, and he longed totake her with him to some place near the Garden of the Hesperides. AndIole looked on him, and he knew that she wondered to see him so talland so strongly knit even as he wondered to see her so childlike anddelicate. 

Then the contest began. The king and his sons shot wonderfully well, and none of the heroes who stood before Heracles had a chance ofwinning. Then Heracles shot his arrows. No matter how far away theymoved the mark, Heracles struck it and struck the very center of it. The people wondered who this great archer might be. And then a name wasguessed at and went around--Heracles!

When the king heard the name of Heracles he would not let him strive inthe contest any more. For the maiden Iole would not be given as a prizeto one who had been mad and whose madness might afflict him again. Sothe king said, speaking in judgment in the market place. 

Rage came on Heracles when he heard this judgment given. He would notlet his rage master him lest the madness that was spoken of should comewith his rage. So he left the city of Oichalia declaring to the kingand the people that he would return. 

It was then that, wandering down to Crete, he heard of the Argonautsbeing near. And afterward he heard of them being in Calydon, huntingthe boar that ravaged Oeneus's country. To Calydon Heracles went. Theheroes had departed when he came into the country, and all the city wasin grief for the deaths of Prince Meleagrus and his two uncles. 

On the steps of the temple where Meleagrus and his uncles had beenbrought Heracles saw Deianira, Meleagrus's sister. She was pale withher grief, this tall woman of the mountains; she looked like apriestess, but also like a woman who could cheer camps of men with hercounsel, her bravery, and her good companionship; her hair was verydark and she had dark eyes. 

Straightway she became friends with Heracles; and when they saw eachother for a while they loved each other. And Heracles forgot Iole, thechildlike maiden whom he had seen in Oichalia. 

He made himself a suitor for Deianira, and those who protected her wereglad of Heracles's suit, and they told him they would give him themaiden to marry as soon as the mourning for Prince Meleagrus and hisuncles was over. Heracles stayed in Calydon, happy with Deianira, whohad so much beauty, wisdom, and bravery. 

But then a dreadful thing happened in Calydon; by an accident, whileusing his strength unthinkingly, Heracles killed a lad who was relatedto Deianira. He might not marry her now until he had taken punishmentfor slaying one who was close to her in blood. 

As a punishment for the slaying it was judged that Heracles should besold into slavery for three years. At the end of his three years'slavery he could come back to Calydon and wed Deianira. 

And so Heracles and Deianira were parted. He was sold as a slave inLydia; the one who bought him was a woman, a widow named Omphale. Toher house Heracles went, carrying his armor and wearing his lion'sskin. And Omphale laughed to see this tall man dressed in a lion's skincoming to her house to do a servant's tasks for her. 

She and all in her house kept up fun with Heracles. They would set himto do housework, to carry water, and set vessels on the tables, andclear the vessels away. Omphale set him to spin with a spindle as thewomen did. And often she would put on Heracles's lion skin and go aboutdragging his club, while he, dressed in woman's garb, washed dishes andemptied pots. 

But he would lose patience with these servant's tasks, and then Omphalewould let him go away and perform some great exploit. Often he went onlong journeys and stayed away for long times. It was while he was inslavery to Omphale that he liberated Theseus from the dungeon in whichhe was held with Peirithous, and it was while he still was in slaverythat he made his journey to Troy. 

At Troy he helped to repair for King Laomedon the great walls thatyears before Apollo and Poseidon had built around the city. As a rewardfor this labor he was offered the Princess Hesione in marriage; she wasthe daughter of King Laomedon, and the sister of Priam, who was thencalled, not Priam but Podarces. He helped to repair the wall, and twoof the Argonauts were there to aid him: one was Peleus and the otherwas Telamon. Peleus did not stay for long: Telamon stayed, and toreward Telamon Heracles withdrew his own claim for the hand of thePrincess Hesione. It was not hard on Heracles to do this, for histhoughts were ever upon Deianira. 

But Telamon rejoiced, for he loved Hesione greatly. On the day theymarried Heracles showed the two an eagle in the sky. He said it wassent as an omen to them--an omen for their marriage. And in memory ofthat omen Telamon named his son "Aias"; that is, "Eagle. "

Then the walls of Troy were repaired and Heracles turned toward Lydia, Omphale's home. Not long would he have to serve Omphale now, for histhree years' slavery was nearly over. Soon he would go back to Calydonand wed Deianira. 

As he went along the road to Lydia he thought of all the pleasantriesthat had been made in Omphale's house and he laughed at the memory ofthem. Lydia was a friendly country, and even though he had been inslavery Heracles had had his good times there. 

He was tired with the journey and made sleepy with the heat of the sun, and when he came within sight of Omphale's house he lay down by theside of the road, first taking off his armor, and laying aside his bow, his quiver, and his shield. He wakened up to see two men looking downupon him; he knew that these were the Cercopes, robbers who waylaidtravelers upon this road. They were laughing as they looked down onhim, and Heracles saw that they held his arms and his armor in theirhands. 

They thought that this man, for all his tallness, would yield to themwhen he saw that they had his arms and his armor. But Heracles sprangup, and he caught one by the waist and the other by the neck, and heturned them upside down and tied them together by the heels. Now heheld them securely and he would take them to the town and give themover to those whom they had waylaid and robbed. He hung them by theirheels across his shoulders and marched on. 

But the robbers, as they were being bumped along, began to relatepleasantries and mirthful tales to each other, and Heracles, listening, had to laugh. And one said to the other, "O my brother, we are in theposition of the frogs when the mice fell upon them with such fury. " Andthe other said, "Indeed nothing can save us if Zeus does not send anally to us as he sent an ally to the frogs. " And the first robber said, "Who began that conflict, the frogs or the mice?" And thereupon thesecond robber, his head reaching down to Heracles's waist, began:

THE BATTLE OF THE FROGS AND MICE

A warlike mouse came down to the brink of a pond for no other reasonthan to take a drink of water. Up to him hopped a frog. Speaking in thevoice of one who had rule and authority, the frog said:

"Stranger to our shore, you may not know it, but I am Puff Jaw, king ofthe frogs. I do not speak to common mice, but you, as I judge, belongto the noble and kingly sort. Tell me your race. If I know it to be anoble one I shall show you my kingly friendship. "

The mouse, speaking haughtily, said: "I am Crumb Snatcher, and my raceis a famous one. My father is the heroic Bread Nibbler, and he marriedQuern Licker, the lovely daughter of a king. Like all my race I am awarrior who has never been wont to flinch in battle. Moreover, I havebeen brought up as a mouse of high degree, and figs and nuts, cheeseand honeycakes is the provender that I have been fed on. "

Now this reply of Crumb Snatcher pleased the kingly frog greatly. "Comewith me to my abode, illustrious Crumb Snatcher, " said he, "and I shallshow you such entertainment as may be found in the house of a king. "

But the mouse looked sharply at him. "How may I get to your house?" heasked. "We live in different elements, you and I. We mice want to be inthe driest of dry places, while you frogs have your abodes in thewater. "

"Ah, " answered Puff jaw, "you do not know how favored the frogs areabove all other creatures. To us alone the gods have given the power tolive both in the water and on the land. I shall take you to my landpalace that is the other side of the pond. "

"How may I go there with you?" asked Crumb Snatcher the mouse, doubtfully. 

"Upon my back, " said the frog. "Up now, noble Crumb Snatcher. And as wego I will show you the wonders of the deep. "

He offered his back and Crumb Snatcher bravely mounted. The mouse puthis forepaws around the frog's neck. Then Puff jaw swam out. CrumbSnatcher at first was pleased to feel himself moving through the water. But as the dark waves began to rise his mighty heart began to quail. Helonged to be back upon the land. He groaned aloud. 

"How quickly we get on, " cried Puff Jaw; "soon we shall be at my landpalace. "

Heartened by this speech, Crumb Snatcher put his tail into the waterand worked it as a steering oar. On and on they went, and CrumbSnatcher gained heart for the adventure. What a wonderful tale he wouldhave to tell to the clans of the mice!

But suddenly, out of the depths of the pond, a water snake raised hishorrid head. Fearsome did that head seem to both mouse and frog. Andforgetful of the guest that he carried upon his back, Puff jaw diveddown into the water. He reached the bottom of the pond and lay on themud in safety. 

But far from safety was Crumb Snatcher the mouse. He sank and rose, andsank again. His wet fur weighed him down. But before he sank for thelast time he lifted up his voice and cried out and his cry was heard atthe brink of the pond:

"Ah, Puff Jaw, treacherous frog! An evil thing you have done, leavingme to drown in the middle of the pond. Had you faced me on the land Ishould have shown you which of us two was the better warrior. Now Imust lose my life in the water. But I tell you my death shall not gounavenged--the cowardly frogs will be punished for the ill they havedone to me who am the son of the king of the mice. "

Then Crumb Snatcher sank for the last time. But Lick Platter, who wasat the brink of the pond, had heard his words. Straightway this mouserushed to the hole of Bread Nibbler and told him of the death of hisprincely son. 

Bread Nibbler called out the clans of the mice. The warrior mice armedthemselves, and this was the grand way of their arming:

First, the mice put on greaves that covered their forelegs. These theymade out of bean shells broken in two. For shield, each had a lamp'scenterpiece. For spears they had the long bronze needles that they hadcarried out of the houses of men. So armed and so accoutered they wereready to war upon the frogs. And Bread Nibbler, their king, shouted tothem: "Fall upon the cowardly frogs, and leave not one alive upon thebank of the pond. Henceforth that bank is ours, and ours only. Forward!"

And, on the other side, Puff jaw was urging the frogs to battle. "Letus take our places on the edge of the pond, " he said, "and when themice come amongst us, let each catch hold of one and throw him into thepond. Thus we will get rid of these dry bobs, the mice. "

The frogs applauded the speech of their king, and straightway they wentto their armor and their weapons. Their legs they covered with theleaves of mallow. For breastplates they had the leaves of beets. Cabbage leaves, well cut, made their strong shields. They took theirspears from the pond side--deadly pointed rushes they were, and theyplaced upon their heads helmets that were empty snail shells. So armedand so accoutered they were ready to meet the grand attack of the mice. 

When the robber came to this part of the story Heracles halted hismarch, for he was shaking with laughter. The robber stopped in hisstory. Heracles slapped him on the leg and said: "What more of theheroic exploits of the mice?" The second robber said, "I know no more, but perhaps my brother at the other side of you can tell you of themighty combat between them and the frogs. " Then Heracles shifted thefirst robber from his back to his front, and the first robber said: "Iwill tell you what I know about the heroical combat between the frogsand the mice. " And thereupon he began:

The gnats blew their trumpets. This was the dread signal for war. 

Bread Nibbler struck the first blow. He fell upon Loud Crier the frog, and overthrew him. At this Loud Crier's friend, Reedy, threw down spearand shield and dived into the water. This seemed to presage victory forthe mice. But then Water Larker, the most warlike of the frogs, took upa great pebble and flung it at Ham Nibbler who was then pursuing Reedy. Down fell Ham Nibbler, and there was dismay in the ranks of the mice. 

Then Cabbage Climber, a great-hearted frog, took up a clod of mud andflung it full at a mouse that was coming furiously upon him. Thatmouse's helmet was knocked off and his forehead was plastered with theclod of mud, so that he was well-nigh blinded. 

It was then that victory inclined to the frogs. Bread Nibbler againcame into the fray. He rushed furiously upon Puff jaw the king. 

Leeky, the trusted friend of Puff jaw, opposed Bread Nibbler'sonslaught. Mightily he drove his spear at the king of the mice. But thepoint of the spear broke upon Bread Nibbler's shield, and then Leekywas overthrown. 

Bread Nibbler came upon Puff jaw, and the two great kings faced eachother. The frogs and the mice drew aside, and there was a pause in thecombat. Bread Nibbler the mouse struck Puff jaw the frog terribly uponthe toes. 

Puff jaw drew out of the battle. Now all would have been lost for thefrogs had not Zeus, the father of the gods, looked down upon the battle. 

"Dear, dear, " said Zeus, "what can be done to save the frogs? They willsurely be annihilated if the charge of yonder mouse is not halted. "

For the father of the gods, looking down, saw a warrior mouse coming onin the most dreadful onslaught of the whole battle. Slice Snatcher wasthe name of this warrior. He had come late into the field. He waited tosplit a chestnut in two and to put the halves upon his paws. Then, furiously dashing amongst the frogs, he cried out that he would notleave the ground until he had destroyed the race, leaving the bank ofthe pond a playground for the mice and for the mice alone. 

To stop the charge of Slice Snatcher there was nothing for Zeus to dobut to hurl the thunderbolt that is the terror of gods and men. 

Frogs and mice were awed by the thunder and the flame. But still themice, urged on by Slice Snatcher, did not hold back from theironslaught upon the frogs. 

Now would the frogs have been utterly destroyed; but, as they dashedon, the mice encountered a new and a dreadful army. The warriors inthese ranks had mailed backs and curving claws. They had bandy legs andlong-stretching arms. They had eyes that looked behind them. They cameon sideways. These were the crabs, creatures until now unknown to themice. And the crabs had been sent by Zeus to save the race of the frogsfrom utter destruction. 

Coming upon the mice they nipped their paws. The mice turned around andthey nipped their tails. In vain the boldest of the mice struck at thecrabs with their sharpened spears. Not upon the hard shells on thebacks of the crabs did the spears of the mice make any dint. On and on, on their queer feet and with their terrible nippers, the crabs went. Bread Nibbler could not rally them any more, and Slice Snatcher ceasedto speak of the monument of victory that the mice would erect upon thebank of the pond. With their heads out of the water they had retreatedto, the frogs watched the finish of the battle. The mice threw downtheir spears and shields and fled from the battleground. On went thecrabs as if they cared nothing for their victory, and the frogs cameout of the water and sat upon the bank and watched them in awe. 

Heracles had laughed at the diverting tale that the robbers had toldhim; he could not bring them then to a place where they would meet withcaptivity or death. He let them loose upon the highway, and the robbersthanked him with high-flowing speeches, and they declared that if theyshould ever find him sleeping by the roadway again they would let himlie. Saying this they went away, and Heracles, laughing as he thoughtupon the great exploits of the frogs and mice, went on to Omphale'shouse. 

Omphale, the widow, received him mirthfully, and then set him to dotasks in the kitchen while she sat and talked to him about Troy and theaffairs of King Laomedon. And afterward she put on his lion's skin, andwent about in the courtyard dragging the heavy club after her. Mirthfully and pleasantly she made the rest of his time in Lydia passfor Heracles, and the last day of his slavery soon came, and he badegood-by to Omphale, that pleasant widow, and to Lydia, and he startedoff for Calydon to claim his bride Deianira. 

Beautiful indeed Deianira looked now that she had ceased to mourn forher brother, for the laughter that had been under her grief always nowflashed out even while she looked priestess-like and of good counsel;her dark eyes shone like stars, and her being had the spirit of one whowanders from camp to camp, always greeting friends and leaving friendsbehind her. Heracles and Deianira wed, and they set out for Tiryns, where a king had left a kingdom to Heracles. 

They came to the River Evenus. Heracles could have crossed the river byhimself, but he could not cross it at the part he came to, carryingDeianira. He and she went along the river, seeking a ferry that mighttake them across. They wandered along the side of the river, happy witheach other, and they came to a place where they had sight of a centaur. 

Heracles knew this centaur. He was Nessus, one of the centaurs whom hehad chased up the mountain the time when he went to hunt theErymanthean boar. The centaurs knew him, and Nessus spoke to Heraclesas if he had friendship for him. He would, he said, carry Heracles'sbride across the river. 

Then Heracles crossed the river, and he waited on the other side forNessus and Deianira. Nessus went to another part of the river to makehis crossing. Then Heracles, upon the other bank, heard screams--thescreams of his wife, Deianira. He saw that the centaur was savagelyattacking her. 

Then Heracles leveled his bow and he shot at Nessus. Arrow after arrowhe shot into the centaur's body. Nessus loosed his hold on Deianira, and he lay down on the bank of the river, his lifeblood streaming fromhim. 

Then Nessus, dying, but with his rage against Heracles unabated, thought of a way by which the hero might be made to suffer for thedeath he had brought upon him. He called to Deianira, and she, seeinghe could do her no more hurt, came close to him. He told her that inrepentance for his attack upon her he would bestow a great gift uponher. She was to gather up some of the blood that flowed from him; hisblood, the centaur said, would be a love philter, and if ever herhusband's love for her waned it would grow fresh again if she gave tohim something from her hands that would have this blood upon it. 

Deianira, who had heard from Heracles of the wisdom of the centaurs, believed what Nessus told her. She took a phial and let the blood pourinto it. Then Nessus plunged into the river and died there as Heraclescame up to where Deianira stood. 

She did not speak to him about the centaur's words to her, nor did shetell him that she had hidden away the phial that had Nessus's blood init. They crossed the river at another point and they came after a timeto Tiryns and to the kingdom that had been left to Heracles. 

There Heracles and Deianira lived, and a son who was named Hyllos wasborn to them. And after a time Heracles was led into a war withEurytus--Eurytus who was king of Oichalia. 

Word came to Deianira that Oichalia was taken by Heracles, and that theking and his daughter Iole were held captive. Deianira knew thatHeracles had once tried to win this maiden for his wife, and she fearedthat the sight of Iole would bring his old longing back to him. 

She thought upon the words that Nessus had said to her, and even as shethought upon them messengers came from Heracles to ask her to send hima robe--a beautifully woven robe that she had--that he might wear itwhile making a sacrifice. Deianira took down the robe; through thisrobe, she thought, the blood of the centaur could touch Heracles andhis love for her would revive. Thinking this she poured Nessus's bloodover the robe. 

Heracles was in Oichalia when the messengers returned to him. He tookthe robe that Deianira sent, and he went to a mountain that overlookedthe sea that he might make the sacrifice there. Iole went with him. Then he put on the robe that Deianira had sent. When it touched hisflesh the robe burst into flame. Heracles tried to tear it off, butdeeper and deeper into his flesh the flames went. They burned andburned and none could quench them. 

Then Heracles knew that his end was near. He would die by fire, andknowing that he piled up a great heap of wood and he climbed upon it. There he stayed with the flaming robe burning into him, and he beggedof those who passed to fire the pile that his end might come morequickly. 

None would fire the pile. But at last there came that way a youngwarrior named Philoctetes, and Heracles begged of him to fire the pile. Philoctetes, knowing that it was the will of the gods that Heraclesshould die that way, lighted the pile. For that Heracles bestowed uponhim his great bow and his unerring arrows. And it was this bow andthese arrows, brought from Philoctetes, that afterward helped to takePriam's city. 

The pile that Heracles stood upon was fired. High up, above the sea, the pile burned. All who were near that burning fled--all except Iole, that childlike maiden. She stayed and watched the flames mount up andup. They wrapped the sky, and the voice of Heracles was heard callingupon Zeus. Then a great chariot came and Heracles was borne away toOlympus. Thus, after many labors, Heracles passed away, a mortalpassing into an immortal being in a great burning high above the sea. 

V. ADMETUS

I

It happened once that Zeus would punish Apollo, his son. Then hebanished him from Olympus, and he made him put off his divinity andappear as a mortal man. And as a mortal Apollo sought to earn his breadamongst men. He came to the house of King Admetus and took service withhim as his herdsman. 

For a year Apollo served the young king, minding his herds of blackcattle. Admetus did not know that it was one of the immortal gods whowas in his house and in his fields. But he treated him in friendlywise, and Apollo was happy whilst serving Admetus. 

Afterward people wondered at Admetus's ever-smiling face andever-radiant being. It was the god's kindly thought of him that gavehim such happiness. And when Apollo was leaving his house and hisfields he revealed himself to Admetus, and he made a promise to himthat when the god of the Underworld sent Death for him he would haveone more chance of baffling Death than any mortal man. 

That was before Admetus sailed on the Argo with Jason and thecompanions of the quest. The companionship of Admetus brought happinessto many on the voyage, but the hero to whom it gave the most happinesswas Heracles. And often Heracles would have Admetus beside him to tellhim about the radiant god Apollo, whose bow and arrows Heracles hadbeen given. 

After that voyage and after the hunt in Calydon Admetus went back tohis own land. There he wed that fair and loving woman, Alcestis. Hemight not wed her until he had yoked lions and leopards to the chariotthat drew her. This was a feat that no hero had been able toaccomplish. With Apollo's aid he accomplished it. Thereafter Admetus, having the love of Alcestis, was even more happy than he had beenbefore. 

One day as he walked by fold and through pasture field he saw a figurestanding beside his herd of black cattle. A radiant figure it was, andAdmetus knew that this was Apollo come to him again. He went toward thegod and he made reverence and began to speak to him. But Apollo turnedto Admetus a face that was without joy. 

"What years of happiness have been mine, O Apollo, through yourfriendship for me, " said Admetus. "Ah, as I walked my pasture landtoday it came into my mind how much I loved this green earth and theblue sky! And all that I know of love and happiness has come to methrough you. "

But still Apollo stood before him with a face that was without joy. Hespoke and his voice was not that clear and vibrant voice that he hadonce in speaking to Admetus. "Admetus, Admetus, " he said, "it is for meto tell you that you may no more look on the blue sky nor walk upon thegreen earth. It is for me to tell you that the god of the Underworldwill have you come to him. Admetus, Admetus, know that even now the godof the Underworld is sending Death for you. "

Then the light of the world went out for Admetus, and he heard himselfspeaking to Apollo in a shaking voice: "O Apollo, Apollo, thou art agod, and surely thou canst save me! Save me now from this Death thatthe god of the Underworld is sending for me!"

But Apollo said, "Long ago, Admetus, I made a bargain with the god ofthe Underworld on thy behalf. Thou hast been given a chance more thanany mortal man. If one will go willingly in thy place with Death, thoucanst still live on. Go, Admetus. Thou art well loved, and it may bethat thou wilt find one to take thy place. "

Then Apollo went up unto the mountaintop and Admetus stayed for a whilebeside the cattle. It seemed to him that a little of the darkness hadlifted from the world. He would go to his palace. There were aged menand women there, servants and slaves, and one of them would surely bewilling to take the king's place and go with Death down to theUnderworld. 

So Admetus thought as he went toward the palace. And then he came uponan ancient woman who sat upon stones in the courtyard, grinding cornbetween two stones. Long had she been doing that wearisome labor. Admetus had known her from the first time he had come into thatcourtyard as a little child, and he had never seen aught in her facebut a heavy misery. There she was sitting as he had first known her, with her eyes bleared and her knees shaking, and with the dust of thecourtyard and the husks of the corn in her matted hair. He went to herand spoke to her, and he asked her to take the place of the king and gowith Death. 

But when she heard the name of Death horror came into the face of theancient woman, and she cried out that she would not let Death come nearher. Then Admetus left her, and he came upon another, upon a sightlessman who held out a shriveled hand for the food that the servants of thepalace might bestow upon him. Admetus took the man's shriveled hand, and he asked him if he would not take the king's place and go withDeath that was coming for him. The sightless man, with howls andshrieks, said he would not go. 

Then Admetus went into the palace and into the chamber where his bedwas, and he lay down upon the bed and he lamented that he would have togo with Death that was coming for him from the god of the Underworld, and he lamented that none of the wretched ones around the palace wouldtake his place. 

A hand was laid upon him. He looked up and he saw his tall andgrave-eyed wife, Alcestis, beside him. Alcestis spoke to him slowly andgravely. "I have heard what you have said, O my husband, " said she. "One should go in your place, for you are the king and have many greataffairs to attend to. And if none other will go, I, Alcestis, will goin your place, Admetus. "

It had seemed to Admetus that ever since he had heard the words ofApollo that heavy footsteps were coming toward him. Now the footstepsseemed to stop. It was not so terrible for him as before. He sprang up, and he took the hands of Alcestis and he said, "You, then, will take myplace?"

"I will go with Death in your place, Admetus, " Alcestis said. 

Then, even as Admetus looked into her face, he saw a pallor come uponher; her body weakened and she sank down upon the bed. Then, watchingover her, he knew that not he but Alcestis would go with Death. And thewords he had spoken he would have taken back--the words that hadbrought her consent to go with Death in his place. 

Paler and weaker Alcestis grew. Death would soon be here for her. No, not here, for he would not have Death come into the palace. He liftedAlcestis from the bed and he carried her from the palace. He carriedher to the temple of the gods. He laid her there upon the bier andwaited there beside her. No more speech came from her. He went back tothe palace where all was silent--the servants moved about with headsbowed, lamenting silently for their mistress. 

II

As Admetus was coming back from the temple he heard a great shout; helooked up and saw one standing at the palace doorway. He knew him byhis lion's skin and his great height. This was Heracles--Heracles cometo visit him, but come at a sad hour. He could not now rejoice in thecompany of Heracles. And yet Heracles might be on his way from theaccomplishment of some great labor, and it would not be right to say aword that might turn him away from his doorway; he might have much needof rest and refreshment. 

Thinking this Admetus went up to Heracles and took his hand andwelcomed him into his house. "How is it with you, friend Admetus?"Heracles asked. Admetus would only say that nothing was happening inhis house and that Heracles, his hero-companion, was welcome there. Hismind was upon a great sacrifice, he said, and so he would not be ableto feast with him. 

The servants brought Heracles to the bath, and then showed him where afeast was laid for him. And as for Admetus, he went within the chamber, and knelt beside the bed on which Alcestis had lain, and thought of histerrible loss. 

Heracles, after the bath, put on the brightly colored tunic that theservants of Admetus brought him. He put a wreath upon his head and satdown to the feast. It was a pity, he thought, that Admetus was notfeasting with him. But this was only the first of many feasts. Andthinking of what companionship he would have with Admetus, Heraclesleft the feasting hall and came to where the servants were standingabout in silence. 

"Why is the house of Admetus so hushed to-day?" Heracles asked. 

"It is because of what is befalling, " said one of the servants. 

"Ah, the sacrifice that the king is making, " said Heracles. "To whatgod is that sacrifice due?"

"To the god of the Underworld, " said the servant. "Death is coming toAlcestis the queen where she lies on a bier in the temple of the gods. "

Then the servant told Heracles the story of how Alcestis had taken herhusband's place, going in his stead with Death. Heracles thought uponthe sorrow of his friend, and of the great sacrifice that his wife wasmaking for him. How noble it was of Admetus to bring him into his houseand give entertainment to him while such sorrow was upon him. And thenHeracles felt that another labor was before him. 

"I have dragged up from the Underworld, " he thought, "the hound thatguards those whom Death brings down into the realm of the god of theUnderworld. Why should I not strive with Death? And what a noble thingit would be to bring back this faithful woman to her house and to herhusband! This is a labor that has not been laid upon me, and it is alabor I will undertake. " So Heracles said to himself. 

He left the palace of Admetus and he went to the temple of the gods. Hestood inside the temple and he saw the bier on which Alcestis was laid. He looked upon the queen. Death had not touched her yet, although shelay so still and so silent. Heracles would watch beside her and strivewith Death for her. 

Heracles watched and Death came. When Death entered the temple Heracleslaid hands upon him. Death had never been gripped by mortal hands andhe strode on as if that grip meant nothing to him. But then he had togrip Heracles. In Death's grip there was a strength beyond strength. And upon Heracles a dreadful sense of loss came as Death laid handsupon him a sense of the loss of light and the loss of breath and theloss of movement. But Heracles struggled with Death although his breathwent and his strength seemed to go from him. He held that stony body tohim, and the cold of that body went through him, and its stoninessseemed to turn his bones to stone, but still Heracles strove with him, and at last he overthrew him and he held Death down upon the ground. 

"Now you are held by me, Death, " cried Heracles. "You are held by me, and the god of the Underworld will be--made angry because you cannot goabout his business--either this business or any other business. You areheld by me, Death, and you will not be let go unless you promise to goforth from this temple without bringing one with you. " And Death, knowing that Heracles could hold him there, and that the business ofthe god of the Underworld would be left undone if he were held, promised that he would leave the temple without bringing one with him. Then Heracles took his grip off Death, and that stony shape went fromthe temple. 

Soon a flush came into the face of Alcestis as Heracles watched overher. Soon she arose from the bier on which she had been laid. Shecalled out to Admetus, and Heracles went to her and spoke to her, telling her that he would bring her back to her husband's house. 

III

Admetus left the chamber where his wife had lain and stood before thedoor of his palace. Dawn was coming, and as he looked toward the templehe saw Heracles coming to the palace. A woman came with him. She wasveiled, and Admetus could not see her features. 

"Admetus, " Heracles said, when he came before him, "Admetus, there issomething I would have you do for me. Here is a woman whom I ambringing back to her husband. I won her from an enemy. Will you nottake her into your house while I am away on a journey?"

"You cannot ask me to do this, Heracles, " said Admetus. "No woman maycome into the house where Alcestis, only yesterday, had her life. "

"For my sake take her into your house, " said Heracles. "Come now, Admetus, take this woman by the hand. "

A pang came to Admetus as he looked at the woman who stood besideHeracles and saw that she was the same stature as his lost wife. Hethought that he could not bear to take her hand. But Heracles pleadedwith him, and he took her by the hand. 

"Now take her across your threshold, Admetus, " said Heracles. 

Hardly could Admetus bear to do this--hardly could he bear to think ofa strange woman being in his house and his own wife gone with Death. But Heracles pleaded with him, and by the hand he held he drew thewoman across his threshold. 

"Now raise her veil, Admetus, " said Heracles. 

"This I cannot do, " said Admetus. "I have had pangs enough. How can Ilook upon a woman's face and remind myself that I cannot look uponAlcestis's face ever again?"

"Raise her veil, Admetus, " said Heracles. Then Admetus raised the veilof the woman he had taken across the threshold of his house. He saw theface of Alcestis. He looked again upon his wife brought back from thegrip of Death by Heracles, the son of Zeus. And then a deeper joy thanhe had ever known came to Admetus. Once more his wife was with him, andAdmetus the friend of Apollo and the friend of Heracles had all that hecared to have. 

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

Many were the minstrels who, in the early days, went through the world, telling to men the stories of the gods, telling of their wars and theirbirths. Of all these minstrels none was so famous as Orpheus who hadgone with the Argonauts; none could tell truer things about the gods, for he himself was half divine. 

But a great grief came to Orpheus, a grief that stopped his singing andhis playing upon the lyre. His young wife Eurydice was taken from him. One day, walking in the garden, she was bitten on the heel by aserpent, and straightway she went down to the world of the dead. 

Then everything in this world was dark and bitter for the minstrelOrpheus; sleep would not come to him, and for him food had no taste. Then Orpheus said: "I will do that which no mortal has ever donebefore; I will do that which even the immortals might shrink fromdoing: I will go down into the world of the dead, and I will bring backto the living and to the light my bride Eurydice. "

Then Orpheus went on his way to the valley of Acherusia which goesdown, down into the world of the dead. He would never have found hisway to that valley if the trees had not shown him the way. For as hewent along Orpheus played upon his lyre and sang, and the trees heardhis song and they were moved by his grief, and with their arms andtheir heads they showed him the way to the deep, deep valley ofAcherusia. 

Down, down by winding paths through that deepest and most shadowy ofall valleys Orpheus went. He came at last to the great gate that opensupon the world of the dead. And the silent guards who keep watch therefor the rulers of the dead were affrighted when they saw a livingbeing, and they would not let Orpheus approach the gate. 

But the minstrel, knowing the reason for their fear, said: "I am notHeracles come again to drag up from the world of the dead yourthree-headed dog Cerberus. I am Orpheus, and all that my hands can dois to make music upon my lyre. "

And then he took the lyre in his hands and played upon it. As heplayed, the silent watchers gathered around him, leaving the gateunguarded. And as he played the rulers of the dead came forth, Aidoneusand Persephone, and listened to the words of the living man. 

"The cause of my coming through the dark and fearful ways, " sangOrpheus, "is to strive to gain a fairer fate for Eurydice, my bride. All that is above must come down to you at last, O rulers of the mostlasting world. But before her time has Eurydice been brought here. Ihave desired strength to endure her loss, but I cannot endure it. And Icome before you, Aidoneus and Persephone, brought here by Love. "

When Orpheus said the name of Love, Persephone, the queen of the dead, bowed her young head, and bearded Aidoneus, the king, bowed his headalso. Persephone remembered how Demeter, her mother, had sought her allthrough the world, and she remembered the touch of her mother's tearsupon her face. And Aidoneus remembered how his love for Persephone hadled him to carry her away from the valley in the upper world where shehad been gathering flowers. He and Persephone bowed their heads andstood aside, and Orpheus went through the gate and came amongst thedead. 

Still upon his lyre he played. Tantalus--who, for his crimes, had beencondemned to stand up to his neck in water and yet never be able toassuage his thirst--Tantalus heard, and for a while did not strive toput his lips toward the water that ever flowed away from him;Sisyphus--who had been condemned to roll up a hill a stone that everrolled back Sisyphus heard the music that Orpheus played, and for awhile he sat still upon his stone. And even those dread ones who bringto the dead the memories of all their crimes and all their faults, eventhe Eumenides had their cheeks wet with tears. 

In the throng of the newly come dead Orpheus saw Eurydice. She lookedupon her husband, but she had not the power to come near him. Butslowly she came when Aidoneus called her. Then with joy Orpheus tookher hands. 

It would be granted them--no mortal ever gained such privilege beforeto leave, both together, the world of the dead, and to abide foranother space in the world of the living. One condition there wouldbe--that on their way up through the valley of Acherusia neitherOrpheus nor Eurydice should look back. 

They went through the gate and came amongst the watchers that arearound the portals. These showed them the path that went up through thevalley of Acherusia. That way they went, Orpheus and Eurydice, he goingbefore her. 

Up and up through the darkened ways they went, Orpheus knowing, thatEurydice was behind him, but never looking back upon her. But as hewent, his heart was filled with things to tell--how the trees wereblossoming in the garden she had left; how the water was sparkling inthe fountain; how the doors of the house stood open, and how they, sitting together, would watch the sunlight on the laurel bushes. Allthese things were in his heart to tell her, to tell her who came behindhim, silent and unseen. 

And now they were nearing the place where the valley of Acherusiaopened on the world of the living. Orpheus looked on the blue of thesky. A white-winged bird flew by. Orpheus turned around and cried, "OEurydice, look upon the world that I have won you back to!"

He turned to say this to her. He saw her with her long dark hair andpale face. He held out his arms to clasp her. But in that instant sheslipped back into the depths of the valley. And all he heard spoken wasa single word, "Farewell!" Long, long had it taken Eurydice to climb sofar, but in the moment of his turning around she had fallen back to herplace amongst the dead. 

Down through the valley of Acherusia Orpheus went again. Again he camebefore the watchers of the gate. But now he was not looked at norlistened to, and, hopeless, he had to return to the world of the living. 

The birds were his friends now, and the trees and the stones. The birdsflew around him and mourned with him; the trees and stones oftenfollowed him, moved by the music of his lyre. But a savage band slewOrpheus and threw his severed head and his lyre into the River Hebrus. It is said by the poets that while they floated in midstream the lyregave out some mournful notes and the head of Orpheus answered the noteswith song. 

And now that he was no longer to be counted with the living, Orpheuswent down to the world of the dead, not going now by that steep descentthrough the valley of Acherusia, but going down straightway. The silentwatchers let him pass, and he went amongst the dead and saw hisEurydice in the throng. Again they were together, Orpheus and Eurydice, and as they went through the place that King Aidoneus ruled over, theyhad no fear of looking back, one upon the other. 

VII. JASON AND MEDEA

Jason and Medea, unable to win to Iolcus, staved at Corinth, at thecourt of King Creon. Creon was proud to have Jason in his city, but ofMedea the king was fearful, for he had heard how she had brought aboutthe death of Apsyrtus, her brother. 

Medea wearied of this long waiting in the palace of King Creon. Alonging came upon her to exercise her powers of enchantment. She didnot forget what Queen Arete had said to her--that if she wished toappease the wrath of the gods she should have no more to do withenchantments. She did not forget this, but still there grew in her alonging to use all her powers of enchantment. 

And Jason, at the court of King Creon, had his longings, too. He longedto enter Iolcus and to show the people the Golden Fleece that he hadwon; he longed to destroy Pelias, the murderer of his mother andfather; above all he longed to be a king, and to rule in the kingdomthat Cretheus had founded. 

Once Jason spoke to Medea of his longing. "O Jason, " Medea said, "Ihave done many things for thee and this thing also I will do. I will gointo Iolcus, and by my enchantments I will make clear the way for thereturn of the Argo and for thy return with thy comrades-yea, and forthy coming to the kingship, O Jason. "

He should have remembered then the words of Queen Arete to Medea, butthe longing that he had for his triumph and his revenge was in the wayof his remembering. He said, "O Medea, help me in this with all thineenchantments and thou wilt be more dear to me than ever before thouwert. "

Medea then went forth from the palace of King Creon and she made moreterrible spells than ever she had made in Colchis. All night she stayedin a tangled place weaving her spells. Dawn came, and she knew that thespells she had woven had not been in vain, for beside her there stood acar that was drawn by dragons. 

Medea the Enchantress had never looked on these dragon shapes before. When she looked upon them now she was fearful of them. But then shesaid to herself, "I am Medea, and I would be a greater enchantress anda more cunning woman than I have been, and what I have thought of, thatwill I carry out. " She mounted the car drawn by the dragons, and in thefirst light of the day she went from Corinth. 

To the places where grew the herbs of magic Medea journeyed in herdragon-drawn car--to the Mountains Ossa, Pelion, Oethrys, Pindus, andOlympus; then to the rivers Apidanus, Enipeus, and Peneus. She gatheredherbs on the mountains and grasses on the rivers' banks; some sheplucked up by the roots and some she cut with the curved blade of aknife. When she had gathered these herbs and grasses she went back toCorinth on her dragon-drawn car. 

Then Jason saw her; pale and drawn was her face, and her eyes werestrange and gleaming. He saw her standing by the car drawn by thedragons, and a terror of Medea came into his mind. He went toward her, but in a harsh voice she bade him not come near to disturb the brewingthat she was going to begin. Jason turned away. As he went toward thepalace he saw Glauce, King Creon's daughter; the maiden was coming fromthe well and she carried a pitcher of water. He thought how fair Glaucelooked in the light of the morning, how the wind played with her hairand her garments, and how far away she was from witcheries andenchantments. 

As for Medea, she placed in a heap beside her the magic herbs andgrasses she had gathered. Then she put them in a bronze pot and boiledthem in water from the stream. Soon froth came on the boiling, andMedea stirred the pot with a withered branch of an apple tree. Thebranch was withered it was indeed no more than a dry stick, but as shestirred the herbs and grasses with it, first leaves, then flowers, andlastly, bright gleaming apples came on it. And when the pot boiled overand drops from it fell upon the ground, there grew up out of the dryearth soft grasses and flowers. Such was the power of renewal that wasin the magical brew that Medea had made. 

She filled a phial with the liquid she had brewed, and she scatteredthe rest in the wild places of the garden. Then, taking the phial andthe apples that had grown on the withered branch, she mounted the cardrawn by the dragons, and she went once more from Corinth. 

On she journeyed in her dragon-drawn car until she came to a place thatwas near to Iolcus. There the dragons descended. They had come to adark pool. Medea, making herself naked, stood in that dark pool. For awhile she looked down upon herself, seeing in the dark water her whitebody and her lovely hair. Then she bathed herself in the water. Soon adread change came over her: she saw her hair become scant and gray, andshe saw her body become bent and withered. She stepped out of the poola withered and witchlike woman; when she dressed herself the richclothes that she had worn before hung loosely upon her, and she lookedthe more forbidding because of them. She bade the dragons go, and theyflew through the air with the empty car. Then she hid in her dress thephial with the liquid she had brewed and, the apples that had grownupon the withered branch. She picked up a stick to lean upon, and withthe gait of an ancient woman she went hobbling upon the road to Iolcus. 

On the streets of the city the fierce fighting men that Pelias hadbrought down from the mountains showed themselves; few of the men orwomen of the city showed themselves even in the daytime. Medea wentthrough the city and to the palace of King Pelias. But no one mightenter there, and the guards laid hands upon her and held her. 

Medea did not struggle with them. She drew from the folds of her dressone of the gleaming apples that she carried and she gave it to one ofthe guards. "It is for King Pelias, " she said. "Give the apple to himand then do with me as the king would have you do. "

The guards brought the gleaming apple to the king. When he had taken itinto his hand and had smelled its fragrance, old trembling Pelias askedwhere the apple had come from. The guards told him it had been broughtby an ancient woman who was now outside seated on a stone in thecourtyard. 

He looked on the shining apple and he felt its fragrance and he couldnot help thinking, old trembling Pelias, that this apple might be themeans of bringing him back to the fullness of health and courage thathe had had before. He sent for the ancient woman who had brought itthat she might tell him where it had come from and who it was that hadsent it to him. Then the guards brought Medea before him. 

She saw an old man, white-faced and trembling, with shaking hands andeyes that looked on her fearfully. "Who are you, " he asked, "and fromwhence came the apple that you had them bring me?"

Medea, standing before him, looked a withered and shrunken beldame, awoman bent with years, but yet with eyes that were bright and living. She came near him and she said: "The apple, O King, came from thegarden that is watched over by the Daughters of the Evening Land. Hewho eats it has a little of the weight of old age taken from him. Butthings more wonderful even than the shining apples grow in that fargarden. There are plants there the juices of which make youthful againall aged and failing things. The apple would bring you a little waytoward the vigor of your prime. But the juices I have can bring you toa time more wonderful--back even to the strength and the glory of youryouth. "

When the king heard her say this a light came into his heavy eyes, andhis hands caught Medea and drew her to him. "Who are you?" he cried, "who speak of the garden watched over by the Daughters of the EveningLand? Who are you who speak of juices that can bring back one to thestrength and glory of his youth?"

Medea answered: "I am a woman who has known many and great griefs, Oking. My griefs have brought me through the world. Many have searchedfor the garden watched over by the Daughters of the Evening Land, but Icame to it unthinkingly, and without wanting them I gathered thegleaming apples and took from the plants there the juices that canbring youth back. "

Pelias said: "If you have been able to come by those juices, how is itthat you remain in woeful age and decrepitude?"

She said: "Because of my many griefs, king, I would not renew my life. I would be ever nearer death and the end of all things. But you are aking and have all things you desire at your hand--beauty and state andpower. Surely if any one would desire it, you would desire to haveyouth back to you. "

Pelias, when he heard her say this, knew that besides youth there wasnothing that he desired. After crimes that had gone through the wholeof his manhood he had secured for himself the kingdom that Cretheus hadfounded. But old age had come on him, and the weakness of old age, andthe power he had won was falling from his hands. He would be overthrownin his weakness, or else he would soon come to die, and there would bean end then to his name and to his kingship. 

How fortunate above all kings he would be, he thought, if it could bethat some one should come to him with juices that would renew hisyouth! He looked longingly into the eyes of the ancient-seeming womanbefore him, and he said: "How is it that you show no gains from thejuices that you speak of? You are old and in woeful decrepitude. Evenif you would not win back to youth you could have got riches and statefor that which you say you possess. "

Then Medea said: "I have lost so much and have suffered so much that Iwould not have youth back at the price of facing the years. I wouldsink down to the quiet of the grave. But I hope for some ease before Idie--for the ease that is in king's houses, with good food to eat, andrest, and servants to wait upon one's aged body. These are the things Idesire, O Pelias, even as you desire youth. You can give me suchthings, and I have come to you who desire youth eagerly rather than tokings who have a less eager desire for it. To you I will give thejuices that bring one back to the strength and the glory of youth. "

Pelias said: "I have only your word for it that you possess thesejuices. Many there are who come and say deceiving things to a king. "

Said Medea: "Let there be no more words between us, O king. To-morrow Iwill show you the virtue of the juices I have brought with me. Have agreat vat prepared--a vat that a man could lay himself in with thewater covering him. Have this vat filled with water, and bring to itthe oldest creature you can get--a ram or a goat that is the oldest oftheir flock. Do this, O king, and you will be shown a thing to wonderat and to be hopeful over. "

So Medea said, and then she turned around and left the king's presence. Pelias called to his guards and he bade them take the woman into theircharge and treat her considerately. The guards took Medea away. Thenall day the king mused on what had been told him and a wild hope keptbeating about his heart. He had the servants prepare a great vat in thelower chambers, and he had his shepherd bring him a ram that was theoldest in the flock. 

Only Medea was permitted to come into that chamber with the king; theways to it were guarded, and all that took place in it was secret. Medea was brought to the closed door by her guard. She opened it andshe saw the king there and the vat already prepared; she saw a ramtethered near the vat. 

Medea looked upon the king. In the light of the torches his face waswhite and fierce and his mouth moved gaspingly. She spoke to himquietly, and said: "There is no need for you to hear me speak. You willwatch a great miracle, for behold! the ram which is the oldest andfeeblest in the flock will become young and invigorated when it comesforth from this vat. "

She untethered the ram, and with the help of Pelias drew it to the vat. This was not hard to do, for the beast was very feeble; its feet couldhardly bear it upright, its wool was yellow and stayed only in patcheson its shrunken body. Easily the beast was forced into the vat. ThenMedea drew the phial out of her bosom and poured into the water some ofthe brew she had made in Creon's garden in Corinth. The water in thevat took on a strange bubbling, and the ram sank down. 

Then Medea, standing beside the vat, sang an incantation. 

"O Earth, " she sang, "O Earth who dost provide wise men with potentherbs, O Earth help me now. I am she who can drive the clouds; I am shewho can dispel the winds; I am she who can break the jaws of serpentswith my incantations; I am she who can uproot living trees and rocks;who can make the mountains shake; who can bring the ghosts from theirtombs. O Earth, help me now. " At this strange incantation the mixturein the vat boiled and bubbled more and more. Then the boiling andbubbling ceased. Up to the surface came the ram. Medea helped it tostruggle out of the vat, and then it turned and smote the vat with itshead. 

Pelias took down a torch and stood before the beast. Vigorous indeedwas the ram, and its wool was white and grew evenly upon it. They couldnot tether it again, and when the servants were brought into thechamber it took two of them to drag away the ram. 

The king was most eager to enter the vat and have Medea put in the brewand speak the incantation over it. But Medea bade him wait until themorrow. All night the king lay awake, thinking of how he might regainhis youth and his strength and be secure and triumphant thereafter. 

At the first light he sent for Medea and he told her that he would havethe vat made ready and that he would go into it that night. Medealooked upon him, and the helplessness that he showed made her want towork a greater evil upon him, or, if not upon him, upon his house. Howsoon it would have reached its end, all her plot for the destruction ofthis king! But she would leave in the king's house a misery that wouldnot have an end so soon. 

So she said to the king: "I would say the incantation over a beast ofthe field, but over a king I could not say it. Let those of your ownblood be with you when you enter the vat that will bring such change toyou. Have your daughters there. I will give them the juice to mix inthe vat, and I will teach them the incantation that has to be said. "

So she said, and she made Pelias consent to having his daughters andnot Medea in the chamber of the vat. They were sent for and they camebefore Medea, the daughters of King Pelias. 

They were women who had been borne down by the tyranny of their father;they stood before him now, two dim-eyed creatures, very feeble andfearful. To them Medea gave the phial that had in it the liquid to mixin the vat; also she taught them the words of the incantation, but shetaught them to use these words wrongly. 

The vat was prepared in the lower chambers; Pelias and his daughterswent there, and the chamber was guarded, and what happened there was insecret. Pelias went into the vat; the brew was thrown into it, and thevat boiled and bubbled as before. Pelias sank down in it. Over him thenhis daughters said the magic words as Medea had taught them. 

Pelias sank down, but he did not rise again. The hours went past andthe morning came, and the daughters of King Pelias raised frightenedlaments. Over the sides of the vat the mixture boiled and bubbled, andPelias was to be seen at the bottom with his limbs stiffened in death. 

Then the guards came, and they took King Pelias out of the vat and lefthim in his royal chamber. The word went through the palace that theking was dead. There was a hush in the palace then, but not the hush ofgrief. One by one servants and servitors stole away from the palacethat was hated by all. Then there was clatter in the streets as thefierce fighting men from the mountains galloped away with what plunderthey could seize. And through all this the daughters of King Pelias satcrouching in fear above the body of their father. 

And Medea, still an ancient woman seemingly, went through the crowdsthat now came on the streets of the city. She told those she wentamongst that the son of Æson was alive and would soon be in theirmidst. Hearing this the men of the city formed a council of elders torule the people until Jason's coming. In such way Medea brought aboutthe end of King Pelias's reign. 

In triumph she went through the city. But as she was passing the templeher dress was caught and held, and turning around she faced the ancientpriestess of Artemis, Iphias. "Thou art Æetes's daughter, " Iphias said, "who in deceit didst come into Iolcus. Woe to thee and woe to Jason forwhat thou hast done this day! Not for the slaying of Pelias art thoublameworthy, but for the misery that thou hast brought upon hisdaughters by bringing them into the guilt of the slaying. Go from thecity, daughter of King Ætes; never, never wilt thou come back into it. "

But little heed did Medea pay to the ancient priestess, Iphias. Stillin the guise of an old woman she went through the streets of the city, and out through the gate and along the highway that led from Iolcus. Tothat dark pool she came where she had bathed herself before. But nowshe did not step into the pool nor pour its water over her shrinkingflesh; instead she built up two altars of green sods an altar to Youthand an altar to Hecate, queen of the witches; she wreathed them withgreen boughs from the forest, and she prayed before each. Then she madeherself naked, and she anointed herself with the brew she had made fromthe magical herbs and grasses. All marks of age and decrepitude lefther, and when she stood over the dark pool and looked down on herselfshe saw that her body was white and shapely as before, and that herhair was soft and lovely. 

She stayed all night between the tangled wood and the dark pool, andwith the first light the car drawn by the scaly dragons came to her. She mounted the car, and she journeyed back to Corinth. 

Into Jason's mind a fear of Medea had come since the hour when he hadseen her mount the car drawn by the scaly dragons. He could not thinkof her any more as the one who had been his companion on the Argo. Hethought of her as one who could help him and do wonderful things forhim, but not as one whom he could talk softly and lovingly to. Ah, butif Jason had thought less of his kingdom and less of his triumphingwith the Fleece of Gold, Medea would not have had the dragons come toher. 

And now that his love for Medea had altered, Jason noted the lovelinessof another--of Glauce, the daughter of Creon, the King of Corinth. AndGlauce, who had red lips and the eyes of a child, saw in Jason who hadbrought the Golden Fleece out of Colchis the image of every hero shehad heard about in stories. Creon, the king, often brought Jason andGlauce together, for his hope was that the hero would wed his daughterand stay in Corinth and strengthen his kingdom. He thought that Medea, that strange woman, could not keep a companionship with Jason. 

Two were walking in the king's garden, and they were Jason and Glauce. A shadow fell between them, and when Jason looked up he saw Medea'sdragon car. Down flew the dragons, and Medea came from the car andstood between Jason and the princess. Angrily she spoke to him. "I havemade the kingdom ready for your return, " she said, "but if you would gothere you must first let me deal in my own way with this prettymaiden. " And so fiercely did Medea look upon her that Glance shrankback and clung to Jason for protection. "O, Jason, " she cried, "thoudidst say that I am such a one as thou didst dream of when in theforest with Chiron, before the adventure of the Golden Fleece drew theeaway from the Grecian lands. Oh, save me now from the power of her whocomes in the dragon car. " And Jason said: "I said all that thou hastsaid, and I will protect thee, O Glauce. "

And then Medea thought of the king's house she had left for Jason, andof the brother whom she had let be slain, and of the plot she hadcarried out to bring Jason back to Iolcus, and a great fury came overher. In her hand she took foam from the jaws of the dragons, and shecast the foam upon Glauce, and the princess fell back into the arms ofJason with the dragon foam burning into her. 

Then, seeing in his eyes that he had forgotten all that he owed to herthe winning of the Golden Fleece, and the safety of Argo, and thedestruction of the power of King Pelias seeing in his eyes that Jasonhad forgotten all this, Medea went into her dragon-borne car and spokethe words that made the scaly dragons bear her aloft. She flew fromCorinth, leaving Jason in King Creon's garden with Glauce dying in hisarms. He lifted her up and laid her upon a bed, but even as her friendscame around her the daughter of King Creon died. 

And Jason? For long he stayed in Corinth, a famous man indeed, but onesorrowful and alone. But again there grew in him the desire to rule andto have possessions. He called around him again the men whose home wasin Iolcus--those who had followed him as bright-eyed youths when hefirst proclaimed his purpose of winning the Fleece of Gold. He calledthem around him, and he led them on board the Argo. Once more theylifted sails, and once more they took the Argo into the open sea. 

Toward Iolcus they sailed; their passage was fortunate, and in a shorttime they brought the Argo safely into the harbor of Pagasae. Oh, happywere the crowds that came thronging to see the ship that had the famousFleece of Gold upon her masthead, and green and sweet smelling were thegarlands that the people brought to wreathe the heads of Jason and hiscompanions! Jason looked upon the throngs, and he thought that much hadgone from him, but he thought that whatever else had gone somethingremained to him--to be a king and a great ruler over a people. 

And so Jason came back to Iolcus. The Argo he made a blazing pile of insacrifice to Poseidon, the god of the sea. The Golden Fleece he hung inthe temple of the gods. Then he took up the rule of the kingdom thatCretheus had founded, and he became the greatest of the kings of Greece. 

And to Iolcus there came, year after year, young men who would lookupon the gleaming thing that was hung there in the temple of the gods. And as they looked upon it, young man after young man, the thoughtwould come to each that he would make himself strong enough and heroicenough to win for his country something as precious as Jason's GOLDENFLEECE. And for all their lives they kept in mind the words that Jasonhad inscribed upon a pillar that was placed beside the Fleece ofGold--the words that Triton spoke to the Argonauts when they were fainto win their way out of the inland sea:--

THAT IS THE OUTLET TO THE SEA, WHERE THE DEEP WATER LIES UNMOVED ANDDARK; ON EACH SIDE ROLL WHITE BREAKERS WITH SHINING CRESTS; AND THE WAYBETWEEN FOR YOUR PASSAGE OUT IS NARROW. BUT GO IN JOY, AND AS FOR LABORLET THERE BE NO GRIEVING THAT LIMBS IN YOUTHFUL VIGOR SHOULD STILL TOIL.