Jason and the Argonauts (Penguin Classics)

by Apollonius Of Rhodes

  Zeus was a baby in a cave on Ida

  and liked to play, so Adrasteia, his nanny,

  made him this pretty toy. Handy Hephaestus

  himself could not devise a finer plaything:

  180 (137)Golden circlets hold the whole together.

  Parallel hoops are sewn slantwise around them

  to cinch them tight, and blue streaks round these hoops

  in spirals wind and wander, hiding all

  the seams and stitches. Toss it up, a train

  185trails after, glittering like a comet’s tail—

  this will be your reward, but not before

  you shoot Medea full of love for Jason.

  Now go and do the deed; don’t drag your feet,

  for Mommy’s kindness, later, may be less.”

  190So spoke she, and the words fell welcome on

  his eager ears. Scattering dice before him,

  he ran to hang upon his mother’s skirts

  with clenched fists and demanded his reward:

  Now, Mommy, no, right now! To soothe the fit,

  195 (150)she pinched his cheeks and kissed him, hugged him close,

  and, smirking, promised:

  “Let your head and mine

  attest the bargain: I shall not deceive you.

  There—I have sworn. Now, if you want the toy,

  go sink a shaft deep in Aeëtes’ daughter.”

  200So spoke she, and the god snatched up the dice,

  reckoned the sum, and stuffed his mother’s pockets

  full of them. Then he ran and grabbed his quiver

  from where it leaned, ready, against a tree,

  slung it about him with a strap of gold,

  205and gathered up his crooked little bow.

  Brilliant around him bloomed the garden of Zeus,

  the groves and orchards, but the boy rushed on,

  flew through the gates of high Olympus.

  Thence

  opens the downward path; there double peaks

  210 (162)like pillars of the earth vault ever upward

  to keep the sky from falling; there the sun,

  first upon rising in the morning, ruddies

  the summits with extended beam. As Eros

  was coasting unobstructed through the air,

  215plump tilth and bustling towns and nymph-abounding

  waterways passed into his view and then

  strange ridges and a rounded swatch of sea.

  The heroes, though, remained apart, concealed

  among the river rushes, strategizing.

  220Jason was speaking, and the men were seated

  in order bench by bench, in silence, listening:

  “Comrades, the plan I now shall lay before you

  strikes me as wisest. Yours will be the task

  of bringing it to pass. Our need is shared,

  225 (174)and counsel, too, is shared among us all.

  The man who locks his thoughts and wisdom up

  in reticence should know that he alone

  is keeping all of us from heading home.

  While you remain at ease but under arms

  230here on the Argo, I shall make my way

  to King Aeëtes’ palace—I myself,

  the sons of Phrixus, and two other men.

  Once I am granted audience, I shall test him

  with words to find out whether he is willing

  235to give the golden fleece up out of friendship

  or whether he will balk, trust in his strength,

  and block our quest. Thus we can sound the depth

  of our distress and next consider whether

  the implements of war will serve us better

  240 (185)or double-dealing, if we rule out war.

  We shouldn’t simply take the man’s possession

  until we have at least assessed his mind.

  Surely it’s wiser to approach him first

  and try to win him over with entreaties.

  245In rough spots words have often smoothed the way

  and won what valor only could have won

  with toil and sweat.

  Consider this: Aeëtes

  once welcomed worthy Phrixus when the latter

  was running from his stepmother’s deceit

  250and slaughter at his father’s hands. All men,

  even the most contemptuous of them,

  dread and revere the covenants of Zeus

  the God of Guest and Host.”

  So Jason spoke,

  and all the heroes rushed to voice approval.

  255 (195)No one proposed a different course, so Jason

  bade Telamon, Augeas, and the sons

  of Phrixus join him in his embassy

  and took the staff of Hermes in his hand.

  They wasted no time disembarking over

  260the rushes where the upward sloping bank

  afforded solid ground. This tract is known

  as Circe’s Plain, and tamarisks and willows

  grow there in rows, and corpses wrapped in cables

  dangle earthward from the overstory.

  265Down to this very day it is taboo

  among the Colchians to cremate males

  upon their death. Nor does their faith allow them

  to lay the bodies in the earth and heap

  barrows above them. Rather, they are shrouded

  270 (207)in uncured hide and dangled from the treetops

  outside the city. Still, the earth receives

  as many corpses as the air because

  their females’ bodies are, in fact, interred.

  Such are the equitable customs there.

  275Hera helped the heroes travel safely

  by casting thick mist down around the city

  so that they would escape the notice of

  the multitudinous throngs of Colchians.

  Soon as the heroes passed out of the plain

  280into the town and palace, Hera scattered

  the cloud away. They stood there in the entry

  marveling at the royal court—the wide

  gateways, the columns standing, rank on rank,

  along the walls, and, higher up, the bronze

  285 (218)capitals holding up a marble cornice.

  They softly crossed the threshold. All around them

  high-climbing vines, prolific strands of leaves,

  had broken into bloom. Beneath them bubbled

  four ever-flowing springs for which Hephaestus

  290himself had dug the channels. One was flowing

  with milk, and one with wine, a third contained

  a stream of fragrant oil, and the fourth

  was limpid water that, they say, ran hot

  after the setting of the Pleiades

  295but at their rising jetted chill as crystal

  out of the hollow rock. Such were the wonders

  Hephaestus fashioned for Aeëtes’ palace

  at Cyta.

  He had forged for him as well

  bronze-footed bulls with brazen mouths that breathed

  300 (231)shocking, abominable blasts of flame.

  What’s more, he made an indestructible plow

  out of a single block of adamant

  to pay a favor back to Helius

  who had picked up Hephaestus in his war car

  305when he was faint from waging war at Phlegra.

  A central iron door was built there, too.

  Beyond it many sturdy double doors

  and living chambers ran in both directions.

  Along each side a fine arcade extended,

  310and crosswise to them in the wings loftier

  apartments stood. In one of them, the highest,

  Aeëtes slept beside his wife. Absyrtus,

  his son, inhabited another of them.

  Asterodeia, a Caucasian nymph,

  315 (243)bore him before Aeëtes wed Eidyia,

  Tethys’ and Ocean’s youngest
daughter.

  The Colchians, however, took to calling

  Absyrtus “Phaëthon” (the Shining One)

  since he outshone the other boys his age.

  320In other lower rooms, Aeëtes’ daughters

  Medea and Chalciope resided,

  along with all their maids.

  It was Medea

  that Jason and his party met by chance

  when they were wandering from room to room

  325to find Chalciope. Hera had made

  Medea stay at home that day on purpose.

  The girl, you see, was rarely at the palace

  but usually working all day long

  as priestess at the shrine of Hecate.

  330 (253)Soon as the maiden saw that men were coming,

  she shrieked. Chalciope could not but hear it,

  and when her handmaids dropped their wool and spindles

  and rushed out all together in a crowd,

  she went as well and, when she saw her sons,

  335flung out her hands for joy. Her sons as well

  flung out their hands for joy at seeing her

  and hugged her warmly. Sobbing, she exclaimed:

  “So, you were not, in fact, about to leave me

  so thoughtlessly and travel far away.

  340Fate has returned you. How distraught I was!

  A wild and senseless lust to sail to Greece

  had taken hold of you, a dire delusion,

  all at your father Phrixus’ behest.

  His dying proclamation to you tortured

  345 (265)my heart with netherworldly afflictions.

  Why risk a voyage to the place they call

  Orchomenus, whatever that might be,

  to claim some King Athamas’ estate?

  Why leave me here to bear my grief alone?”

  350So she lamented. Last of all, Aeëtes

  emerged from his apartment with the queen,

  Eidyia, when they heard Chalciope.

  A bustle filled the court, the sounds of servants—

  some of them readying a massive bull

  355for slaughter, some with brazen axes splitting

  wood for the fire, and others boiling water

  for baths before the feast. Not one of them

  was stinting in his service to the king.

  And Eros was descending all the while,

  360 (276)descending through the lustrous air, unseen

  but as rambunctious as the stinging fly

  that oxherds call the “goad,” the kind that nettles

  heifers. In an instant he was there,

  bracing his back against the antechamber’s

  365doorpost. He deftly strung his little bow

  and from the quiver chose a virgin arrow

  laden with future groans. His speedy feet

  whisked him across the threshold, he himself

  unnoticed as he keenly scanned the scene.

  370Then, crouching low beneath the son of Aeson,

  he nocked the arrow midway up the string,

  and, parting bow and string with both hands, shot

  Medea. Sudden muteness gripped her spirit.

  The god, then, fluttered from the high-roofed hall,

  375 (286)cackling, and the arrow burned like fire

  deep, deep down beneath the maiden’s heart.

  She fired scintillating glances over

  and over at the son of Aeson. Anguish

  quickened her heart and panted in her breast,

  380and she could think of him, him only, nothing

  but him, as sweet affliction drained her soul.

  As when a workwoman, a hireling drudge

  whose livelihood is spinning yarn from wool,

  piles kindling around a burning brand

  385so that there might be light beneath the roof

  at night, since she has woken very early,

  and from that one small brand a fire spreads

  marvelously and eats up all the twigs,

  so all-consuming Eros curled around

  390 (296)Medea’s heart and blazed there secretly.

  Her tender cheeks kept turning pale, then crimson,

  pale, then crimson, in her mind’s confusion.

  After the slaves had laid the banquet out,

  and all the guests had washed off their exhaustion

  395in nice warm baths, they satisfied their hearts

  with meat and drink. Soon, though, Aeëtes questioned

  his daughter’s sons, addressing them just so:

  “Sons of my daughter, offspring of that Phrixus

  I honored more than any other guest

  400who lived at court, how has it come about

  that you have made your way back to Aea?

  Did some misfortune cut your voyage short?

  No, no, you wouldn’t listen when I warned you

  about the endless distance of the journey.

  405 (309)I saw the whole route once while flying in

  my father Helius’ chariot.

  We were resettling my sister Circe

  way out west and flew a great long while

  before we stopped at the Tyrrhenian coast

  410where she is living to this day, far, far

  from Colchis. But what joy is there in stories?

  Come, tell me what misfortune spoiled your trip,

  who are these men attending you, and where

  you beached your hollow ship on disembarking.”

  415So he demanded. Argus answered first,

  before his brothers, since he was the eldest

  and most intent on aiding Jason’s quest:

  “Furious storms, Aeëtes, quickly splintered

  our ship and, as we huddled on the wreckage,

  420 (322)a roller rose out of the night and swept us

  ashore upon the Isle of Enyalius.

  Clearly some god was guarding us, because

  we never ran into the birds of Ares,

  the ones that used to make that rock their home.

  425These men, you see, had scared the birds away

  when they had disembarked the day before.

  It must have been the will of Zeus, or Fate,

  that pitied us and sent these men to save us.

  As soon as they had heard the famous name

  430of Phrixus (and your name as well), they gave us

  clothes and provisions, more than we required.

  You see, they had been sailing to your city.

  If you would like to know their journey’s purpose,

  it’s not a mystery:

  A certain king

  435 (334)passionately desired to drive this fellow

  far from his homeland and estate because

  he far surpassed all Aeolus’ offspring

  in battle prowess. So the king dispatched him

  on an adventure, an impossible quest.

  440This king maintains the heirs of Aeolus

  will not escape the heart-confounding grudge

  and punishment of unrelenting Zeus,

  nor Phrixus’ insufferable sentence

  and curse on them, until the fleece at last

  returns to Greece.

  445Pallas Athena built

  their ship, a ship unlike the vessels found

  among the Colchians. I swear, we happened

  to take the worst of these—the churning sea

  and gale winds quickly battered it to pieces.

  450 (343)Their tight-knit ship, however, holds together,

  even though every gale at once should storm her.

  She runs with equal speed both under sail

  and when the oarsmen with persistent strokes

  muscle her onward. Here’s the man who gathered

  455the mightiest warriors in Greece aboard her

  and set out for your city. He has traveled

  through many cities and unfathomed seas,

  confident you will give the fleece
to him.

  Their quest will turn out just as you decide

  460because this man has not arrived among us

  with outrage in his hands, but eager, rather,

  to offer fitting payment for the gift—

  he heard from me about the Sauromatae,

  your fiercest rivals, and would gladly force them

  under your scepter.

  465 (354)If you wish to know

  their names and pedigrees, I shall be happy

  to tell you them. This fellow here, the one

  for whom the others gathered out of Hellas,

  is known as Jason, son of Aeson, son

  470of Cretheus. And if he is indeed

  of Cretheus’ stock, he would be kinsman

  to us on our father’s side because

  Cretheus and Athamas both were sons

  of Aeolus, and Phrixus was the son

  475of Aeolid Athamas. Surely, king,

  you’ve heard of Helius’ son Augeas—

  he’s standing here—and this here’s Telamon,

  the son of famed Aeacus, son of Zeus.

  Likewise the others traveling with them

  480 (366)are all the sons or grandsons of immortals.”

  So Argus sought to win Aeëtes over.

  The king, however, when he heard this speech,

  boiled with wrath. His heart shot up in anger.

  He raged widely, but most against the sons of

  485Chalciope, because he thought they’d guided

  the strangers there on purpose. In his fury

  his eyes were flashing underneath his brows:

  “Get from my sight, you scoundrels, right this minute!

  Pack up your tricks and get out of my land

  490before someone starts ogling the fleece

  and visits Phrixus in the Underworld!

  I greatly doubt you fellows leagued together

  and sailed from Hellas to retrieve the fleece—

  no, you desire my realm and royal scepter.

  495 (377)If you had not first tasted of my table,

  rest assured, I would have cut your tongues out,

  lopped your hands off and dispatched you homeward

  wearing your feet alone, so that you never

  come back a second time. What blasphemy

  500you have pronounced against the blessed gods!”

  Thus King Aeëtes raged and so incensed

  Telamon’s spirit that the latter burned

  to utter deadly insults in reply.

  Jason, however, cut him off by speaking

  505gentle words before the curses flew:

  “Aeëtes, I beseech you, please be lenient

  toward this expedition. By no means