Jason and the Argonauts

by Apollonius Of Rhodes

together into one, and briny spume

  420 (323)boils above them, and the rugged shores

  roar hoarsely. Therefore, if you are endowed

  with prudent thoughts and truly fear the gods,

  if you are not mere reckless adolescents

  heading for a self-assured destruction,

  heed my instructions now:

  425Send out a dove

  to fly before the ship and as an omen

  test the Rocks. If it survives the flight

  through them into the Pontus, all of you

  no longer hold off on your outward journey

  430but grip the oars solidly in your hands

  and cleave that narrow stretch of sea. Survival

  will then depend less on how hard you pray

  than on how strong your hands are. Scorn distraction

  and heave, heave all your strength into the oars—

  435 (336)though, mind you, I do not forbid you prayer

  before that time.

  However, if the dove

  dies halfway through, you may as well start sailing

  for home again, since it is far, far better

  to bow before god’s will. No, even if

  440your ship had iron planks, you couldn’t then

  escape a dismal fate between the Rocks.

  Unlucky men, do not then disregard

  my prophecy, not even if you think

  the gods upon Olympus loathe me three times

  445more than in fact they do—no, even if

  you think they loathe me more than that—do not

  defy the dove and push the Argo onward.

  What will come to pass will come to pass.

  But if you do outrun the Rocks’ concussion

  450 (346)and coast, unscathed, into the Pontic Sea,

  sail with the land of the Bithynians

  to port and guard against the barrier reefs

  until you round the swiftly flowing Rhebas

  and Sable Promontory and at last

  455make landfall on the Isle of Thynias.

  From Thynias row out across the sea

  and put in at the Mariandynian land

  opposite. There a footpath switchbacks down

  to Hades, and the Acherousian headland

  460pierces the sky, and Acheron’s white spate

  shoots out of an unfathomable chasm

  and flows back down by cutting through the cape.

  Once you have passed this river, you will pass

  the uplands of the Paphlagonians.

  465 (359)Their patriarch was Enetean Pelops—

  such is the blood that courses through their veins.

  There, underneath the astral Bear Helica,

  a headland rises steep on all sides round.

  Carambis is its name. The seaward face

  470projects so high that Boreas’ squalls

  split on its summit. You will find the Long Shore

  stretching beyond it. At the farther end,

  beyond a jutting cape, the river Halys

  disgorges a bewilderment of froth.

  475Not at all far from there, the Iris drains

  its less tumultuously churning current

  into the sea. Still farther on from there

  a large, sharp cape projects out of the coast.

  Beyond it you will find the Thermodon,

  480 (370)which, after wandering across the mainland,

  ends in a tranquil harbor at the base

  of the Themiscyreian promontory.

  Here are the steppes of Doeas, and the three

  forts of the Amazons that stand upon them.

  485Next you will reach those miserable wretches

  the Chalybes who live upon a pinched,

  illiberal soil. They are heavy drudges,

  workers in iron. Tibarenians,

  men rich in sheep, dwell on a plain nearby

  490beneath the Genetaen cape, a site

  sacred to Zeus the God of Guests and Hosts.

  Next in line and neighbors to these men

  the Mossynoeci dwell on woodland plains

  and mountain spurs and cols. They build their homes

  495 (381)from bark inside of towers made of timber,

  rugged towers. They call the things ‘mossynes’

  and take their name from them.

  Once you have passed them,

  make landfall on the barren isle nearby,

  but only after using every means

  500to drive off the repugnant, homicidal

  birds who nest on it in countless numbers.

  Here Otrera and Antiope,

  two Amazonian queens, once built a shrine

  in Ares’ name when they were on campaign.

  505Here from the unforgiving sea a boon

  will come to you, a boon I dare not name.

  Still, I exhort you with benign insistence

  to harbor there. Why should I go too far

  a second time with my prophetic art?

  510 (391)Why tell you everything from start to finish?

  Beyond this island and the facing coastline

  dwell the Philyres; the Macrones next,

  and next in turn the multitudinous tribes

  of the Becheirieans. Next in order

  515dwell the Sapeires, the Byzeri, then

  the warlike Colchians themselves at last.

  Still, you should travel farther on until

  you reach the limit of the Pontic Sea.

  Here on the mainland near the city Cyta

  520the raucous Phasis, after racing down

  the Amarantian mountains and across

  the plain of Circe, empties liberally

  into the sea.

  While rowing up that river

  you will discern the towers of Aeëtes

  525 (403)at Cyta, and the gloomy grove of Ares

  where a serpent dreadful to behold,

  a monster, glares all round, forever guarding

  the fleece that lies across an oak tree’s crown.

  Neither day nor night does honeyed slumber

  530vanquish the thing’s insatiable surveillance.”

  Such was his prophecy, and terror gripped

  the heroes. Long they stood there gaping, dumbstruck.

  At last the son of Aeson, at a loss

  before the terror of it all, spoke out:

  535“Venerable man, thus far you have foretold

  the ways and worries of our quest’s completion

  and warned us of the omen we must heed

  when passing through those dreadful Clashing Rocks

  into the Pontic Sea. But I am eager

  540 (414)to learn as well if we must suffer through them

  a second time while sailing back to Greece.

  How can I do it? How can I survive

  a second endless journey through the sea?

  I am an untried man, my comrades, too,

  545are untried men, and Colchian Aea

  lies at the limit of the Pontic Sea,

  the far end of the earth!”

  So Jason spoke.

  The hoary prophet uttered in response:

  “Once you have passed those deadly Rocks alive,

  550my son, have confidence. Some god will guide you

  along a different path out of Aea,

  and on the way there you’ll have guides enough.

  But I advise you, friends, do not dismiss

  the goddess Cypris and her slippery

  555 (424)assistance, since the glorious fulfillment

  of your adventure
lies with her. No further,

  ask me no further questions on these matters.”

  So prophesied the son of Agenor.

  Just then the sons of Thracian Boreas

  560came swooping down out of sky and brought

  their feathered feet to rest upon the threshold.

  All the heroes leapt out of their seats

  at their return. Still panting from exertion,

  Zetes informed his eager audience

  565how far they drove the Harpies, how the goddess

  Iris had flown in, blocked the slaughter of them,

  and kindly sworn an oath, and how the Harpies

  had taken refuge in a giant cave

  within Mount Dicte.

  Their report delighted

  570 (436)everyone, but Phineus most of all,

  and Jason son of Aeson, overflowing

  with kindliness, addressed the aged man:

  “Phineus, certainly some god has looked

  warmly on your distress and brought us here

  575from Hellas so that Boreas’ sons

  could save you. Now, if only light could shine

  again within your eyes, I’d be as happy

  as if I had returned to Greece in safety.”

  So he proclaimed, but Phineus glumly answered:

  580“My blindness, Jason, cannot be undone,

  nor is there hope it will be in the future.

  My eyes are void, completely withered. No,

  I wish some god would grant me death instead.

  When I am dead and gone, I shall be basking

  in perfect brilliance.”

  585 (448)Thus the two men spoke,

  and soon thereafter, while they were conversing,

  Dawn the Early Riser came again,

  and Phineus’ neighbors gathered round him—

  the men who, in the time before the Harpies,

  590came every morning, bearing him some food

  out of their stores. An old man even then,

  he gave his prophecies and heartfelt blessings

  to all who came, even the poorest of them,

  and soothed the woes of many with his art.

  595That’s why the people came and cared for him.

  Among them was a certain man, Paraebius,

  Phineus’ most devoted friend,

  and he was glad to find the strangers there

  because the seer had long ago proclaimed

  600 (459)a band of heroes on a voyage bound

  from Hellas to Aeëtes’ citadel

  would tie their cables to the Thynian land

  and, with divine approval, stop the Harpies

  from landing there. Once Phineus had sated

  605these guests with prudent words, he sent them out

  and asked Paraebius alone to stay

  among the heroes. Then he sent him out

  to lead the finest sheep out of the folds.

  Once he had left them, Phineus explained

  610gently about him to the gathered oarsmen:

  “My friends, not everyone is arrogant

  and heedless of a favor done to him.

  This man, such as he is, once came to me

  to learn about his destiny. You see,

  615 (471)though he had labored much and struggled more,

  an ever-growing scarcity of means

  kept grinding him away. Day after day

  matters were worse for him until no ease

  relieved his toil.

  In fact, he had been paying

  620the dire wages of his father’s error.

  One day his father, in the act of felling

  trees in the mountains, scorned a wood nymph’s plea.

  You see, she had been weeping, begging him

  please not to chop her oak tree down, her age-mate.

  625She had been living in its trunk and boughs

  for many years. He was a young man, though,

  and scornful, so he rashly cut it down.

  The wood nymph fixed the fate of constant failure

  on him and all his heirs as retribution.

  630 (484)When Paraebius, that fellow’s son,

  came to me, I discerned the curse and told him

  to build an altar to that Thynian nymph

  and lavish gifts upon it in atonement,

  begging her, all the while, please to forgive

  635his father’s malice. Ever since he slipped

  that god-sent doom, he has remembered me.

  In fact, whenever I excuse him for a time,

  he grudgingly departs, so scrupulous

  is he in standing by me in my troubles.”

  640So Phineus explained, and there he was,

  Paraebius, at hand again, returning

  with two sheep chosen from his master’s sheepfold.

  Jason arose and, at the old man’s bidding,

  the sons of Boreas stood up beside him.

  645 (493)Then, calling on Apollo God of Prophets,

  Phineus slew the victims on the hearth

  just as the day was drawing to a close.

  The younger men prepared a heartening feast

  for their companions. When they all had eaten,

  650some went to sleep among the Argo’s cables,

  others in clusters all throughout the house.

  That morning the Etesian Winds arose.

  These are the winds that blow throughout the world

  with equal strength, at the behest of Zeus.

  655A maiden named Cyrene, it is said,

  once tended sheep among the men of yore

  along the flats of the Peneus River.

  She plied this trade because virginity

  was sweet to her, and an untainted bed.

  660 (503)One day, while she was pasturing her flocks

  along the riverbank, Apollo snatched her

  up from Haemonia and set her down

  among the nymphs who dwell in Libya

  beside the Hill of Myrtles. There she bore

  665Phoebus a child, a son named Aristaeus

  (though men in barley-rich Haemonia

  know him as Agreus and Nomius).

  The god so loved Cyrene that he made her

  an ageless huntress in her newfound land.

  670He carried off the child, though, to be brought up

  in Cheiron’s cave. When he was grown, the Muses

  arranged his marriage and instructed him

  in all the arts of prophecy and healing.

  They also made him keeper of the sheep

  675 (514)that grazed the Athamantian plain of Phthia

  beside steep Othrys and the holy-flowing

  Apidanus.

  When down out of the heavens

  the Dog Star Sirius was searing all

  the isles of Minos, and for many days

  680the locals suffered but could find no cure,

  they begged assistance from the oracle

  of Phoebus, who commanded them to summon

  Aristaeus to expel the drought.

  So, at his father’s bidding, he set forth

  685from Phthia, rounded up some Parrhasians

  (who are, in fact, the heirs of Lycaon),

  and settled them in Ceos. There he raised

  a mighty shrine to Zeus the God of Rain

  and duly offered on the mountaintops

  690 (524)sacrifice to the Dog Star Sirius

  and Zeus the son of Cronus. That is why

  Etesian winds descend from Zeus to cool

  the earth for forty days, and still today

 
the priests in Ceos offer sacrifice

  695before the Dog Star Sirius appears.

  So runs the story of the winds.

  The heroes

  were held up there awhile and, every day

  they stayed, the Thynians sent them countless presents

  to thank them for relieving Phineus.

  700Then, once the gales had calmed, they built an altar

  in honor of the twelve immortal gods

  on the opposing shore, heaped it with gifts,

  boarded the Argo, and began to row.

  And they did not forget to bring along

  705 (536)a bashful dove—Euphemus was the one

  who seized it, frightened, trembling, in his hand.

  Then they unbound the cables from the land.

  Nor did Athena fail to mark their heading.

  All in an instant she had set her feet

  710upon an airy cloudlet that provided

  swift conveyance, weighty though she was,

  and so she hastened to the Pontic Sea

  to do the crew a favor. When a man

  goes traveling outside his fatherland

  715(as we long-suffering mortals often do),

  no land seems out of reach, the ways and means

  shine in his mind, and he can see his house

  and picture traveling by path and channel

  and with his swift thoughts visit now one country

  720 (546)and now another in imagination,

  so Zeus’ daughter leapt out of the cloud

  and instantly set foot upon the hostile

  Thynian shore.

  Soon as the heroes reached

  the narrows of the mazy strait, they found

  725sharp outcrops closing in on either side

  and hectic whirlpools churning up white water

  around the ship. They made their way in horror.

  The rumble of the Clashing Rocks already

  assailed their senses, and the sea-washed headlands

  echoed the noise.

  730Euphemus then ascended

  the prow beam, dove in hand, and all the oarsmen,

  under the orders of the steersman Tiphys,

  rowed at their ease to save up strength enough

  to pull them through the crisis. When the heroes

  735 (560)rounded the final bend, they saw the Rocks

  dividing, and their spirit drained away.

  Euphemus launched the dove, which on its wings

  shot forth and flew between the ranks of oarsmen.

  They turned their heads to watch it go, and then

  740the two rock faces crashed together. Spouts

  of seething spray shot upward like a mist,

  the sea was far from cheerful in its roaring,

  and everywhere the mighty air was trembling.