Jason and the Argonauts (Penguin Classics)

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by Apollonius Of Rhodes


  into Charybdis—she would suck them down

  and keep them there. Also be sure they skirt

  1060the loathsome lair of Ausonian Scylla,

  fell Scylla, whom the prowling goddess known

  sometimes as Hecate, sometimes Crataeis,

  conceived from Phorcys. Mind their course or else

  this fiend will swoop down with her horrid maws

  1065 (831)and gobble up the finest of my heroes.

  Yes, guide the Argo so that they escape,

  if only by a hairsbreadth, their demise.”

  Such were the queen’s commands, and Thetis answered:

  “If all the gales and furious lightning flashes

  1070do, in fact, relent, then I assure you

  I will be bold and push the ship through safely,

  even if waves arise to check its progress,

  so long as Zephyr keeps on stiffly blowing.

  It’s time for me to go and make my long,

  1075long, indescribable journey through the sea

  to ask my sisters’ help. Then I shall swim

  to where the ship’s stern cables have been fastened

  so that the heroes at the break of dawn

  will turn their thoughts again toward sailing home.”

  1080 (842)With that, the goddess plummeted from heaven

  and splashed into the churning dark-blue waves

  to summon all her sister Nereids.

  They heard and, when they were assembled, Thetis

  delivered Hera’s orders and at once

  1085deployed them all to the Ausonian Sea.

  Then she herself, more rapid than a glint

  of light or sunbeam clearing the horizon,

  shot through the depths until she reached Aeaea

  on the Tyrrhenian coast. She found the heroes

  1090beside the Argo, playing skip-the-stone

  and shooting arrows. Thetis on the sly

  came close and squeezed the hand of Peleus

  son of Aeacus, since he was her husband.

  None of the others could perceive her, no,

  1095 (855)she showed herself to him alone. She told him:

  “No longer rest on the Tyrrhenian coast

  but loose the cables of your speedy ship

  at dawn—thus you will be obeying Hera,

  your helper, since it is at her command

  1100the maiden Nereids have all assembled

  to guard your ship and guide it safely through

  the rocks they call the Ever-Floating Islands,

  because that is your fated route. But you—

  when you perceive me coming with my sisters,

  1105do not divulge my presence to your comrades,

  no, keep it quiet or you will enrage me

  still more than when your reckless shout enraged me.”

  So she explained and plunged into the depths,

  and withering sorrow seized on him because

  1110 (867)his wife had never paid a visit to him

  since she had first bereaved his bed and bedroom—

  their son, the great Achilles, then an infant,

  had been the reason for her anger.

  Thetis,

  you see, was burning off his mortal nature

  1115each night within the hearth fire and by day

  rubbing his tender body with ambrosia

  to make him an immortal and prevent

  grotesque old age from ravaging his body.

  Peleus, though, leapt out of bed one night,

  1120spotted his dear son writhing in the flames

  and raised a frightening cry—the fool.

  When Thetis

  heard him, she snatched the baby up and hurled him,

  screaming, onto the ground, and she herself,

  her body like a breeze or dream, went swiftly

  1125 (878)out of the palace, jumped into the sea,

  and never came back home to him. That’s why

  mute helplessness had bound and gagged his thoughts.

  Nevertheless, he brought himself to tell

  all Thetis’ instructions to his comrades.

  1130They stopped at once and set aside their games.

  Then, after building fires and strewing leaf beds

  along the beach, they dined and slept the night

  as usual.

  When day-reviving Dawn

  had lightened heaven’s rim, a swift west wind

  1135arose with her, and they embarked and mounted

  the rowing benches. Quickly, then, they weighed

  the anchor stone and set the gear in order.

  Once under sail, they used the sheets to pull

  the canvas taut, and stiff winds drove the Argo

  onward.

  1140 (892)Soon they spotted Anthemousa,

  the gorgeous island where the clear-voiced Sirens,

  daughters of Acheloös, sang sweet songs

  to lure in and ruin every sailor

  who passed their shores. Shapely Terpsichore,

  1145a Muse, once bedded down with Acheloös

  and bore them to him. Ages back, the Sirens

  had waited on Demeter’s noble daughter

  and sang their odes to her while she was still

  unmarried. Now, though, they appeared part bird,

  part maiden to the eyes.

  1150Always on lookout

  from their attractive-harbored roost, they often

  seduced seamen from honeyed homecomings

  by withering them with languidness. And so,

  without delay, and this time to the heroes,

  1155 (903)the Sirens hurled lilylike contraltos

  out of their mouths. The heroes would already

  have run aground if Orpheus of Thrace,

  son of Oeagrus, hadn’t taken up

  his lyre, set his fingers to the strings,

  1160and strummed the rhythm of a lively march

  so that their ears were buzzing with a rival

  and upbeat song. And so the lyre’s vibrations

  overpowered all those virgin voices.

  Zephyr and the resounding ocean waves

  1165rose up astern and swept the vessel onward,

  and soon the Sirens’ song was less distinct.

  Nevertheless, alone of his companions,

  Boutes the noble son of Teleon

  leapt from his sanded bench into the sea

  1170 (914)because the Sirens’ clear-toned notes had melted

  his spirit, and he swam through somber surges,

  unlucky soul, toward shore. They would have snatched

  his homecoming away right then and there

  if Cypris the Erycian Queen had not,

  1175in pity, picked him up out of the eddies

  and swept him safely to her seaside haven

  at Lilybaeum.

  So, with great regret,

  the heroes left the Sirens. Other dangers

  awaited them, however—ship-destroying

  1180menaces at the crossroads of the seas:

  Scylla appeared atop her sea-washed headland

  on one side; on the other hoarse Charybdis

  was gurgling and coughing water up.

  Not far from them, the Ever-Floating Islands

  1185 (925)were booming as the mighty sea swell struck them.

  Not long before, their summits had been venting

  blazes of fire above the liquid rock,

  and smoke so choked the atmosphere that one

  could not have spotted daylight. Then, although

  1190Hephaestus had retired from the forge,

  the sea was still emitting bursts of steam.

  The Nereids assembled at this spot

  from all directions to assist the heroes,

  and then the goddess Thetis gripped the Argo

  1195and steered it through the Ever-Floating Islands.

  As dolphins during tranquil weather rise
/>   out of the depths and swim about a ship,

  starboard, astern, larboard, and at the prow,

  a joy for sailors, so the Nereids

  1200 (937)emerged and synchronized their circulations

  while Thetis steered the course. Then, when the men

  were just about to hit the Floating Islands,

  Nereus’ daughters hiked their skirts

  above their gleaming knees, clambered atop

  1205the rocks protruding from the froth of surf,

  and stood in two lines, one on either side.

  The current rocked the ship starboard and larboard,

  and all around the heroes ruthless breakers

  were vaulting and exploding on the rocks,

  1210which were like cliff walls towering above them.

  Now would the ship have broken up and sunk

  to the abysmal bottom of the sea,

  and rough waves soon would have been churning fathoms

  above the wreck.

  Imagine maidens standing

  1215 (948)upon a sandy shoreline, how they roll

  their gowns up to their waists, pick up a ball,

  toss it around or high into the air

  so that it never hits the ground—that’s how

  the Nereids passed the ship to one another,

  1220keeping it in the air, above the breakers,

  always above the rocks, and all the while

  sea spray kept shooting up around the heroes.

  Mighty Hephaestus stood atop a cape

  of sea-scoured stone, his brawny shoulder leaning

  1225against a hammer’s haft, to watch them. Hera

  stood there in radiant heaven watching them

  and even threw her arms around Athena,

  so wrenching was the frightful sight she saw.

  So long as springtime stretches out the day,

  1230 (962)the sea nymphs worked at portaging the Argo

  over the roaring rocks until its sail

  picked up the wind and pulled the heroes onward.

  Once they had reached the meadows of Thrinacria

  where Helius’ cattle graze and grow,

  1235the Nereids like sea mews plunged asunder

  because they had fulfilled the will of Hera.

  Then, through the mist, the bleats of sheep arose,

  and lows, the lows of cattle, struck their ears.

  There she was—Helius’ youngest daughter

  1240Phaethousa strolling round a dewy meadow,

  a shepherdess attending to her sheep

  with silver staff in hand, while Lampeteia,

  her cowherd sister, kept a drove in line

  by brandishing a copper prod. The heroes

  1245 (975)could see the cattle feeding on the lowlands

  and flats beside the river—none of them

  were darkly colored, no, they all were white

  as milk and glorying in golden horns.

  They passed the island in the daylight hours

  1250and cleaved the billows in a cheerful mood

  all night, till Dawn the Early Riser cast

  her beams athwart their course. There is an island,

  a curved one, facing the Ionian strait

  in the Ceraunian Sea, its topsoil thick

  1255and bountiful. Beneath the island lies

  the sickle that, as ancient legends tell us—

  Muses, forgive me since I tell this story

  out of necessity—the Titan Cronus

  ruthlessly hacked his father’s privates off.

  1260 (987)Others have claimed it is the scythe that served

  Demeter, goddess of the Underworld,

  who lived upon the island once and taught

  the Titans how to harvest ears of grain.

  The island, therefore, has been called Drepana

  1265or “Scythe,” the nursemaid of the Phaeacians,

  and all of its inhabitants are sprung

  from Ouranus’ blood.

  The heroes rode

  a gale wind in from the Thrinacrian Sea

  and landed there, constrained by great exhaustion.

  1270Alcinoös and all his people greeted

  their coming warmly and with sacrifices.

  The whole town reveled, and you would have thought

  that they were toasting their own sons’ return.

  The heroes felt as happy meeting them

  1275 (1000)as if they had regained Haemonia.

  Soon, though, they drew their swords and raised the

  war cry—

  in ranks before them stood a countless host

  of Colchians who had passed the Pontic mouth

  and Clashing Rocks to apprehend the heroes.

  1280They swore that they would either seize the girl

  immediately or raise the battle cry

  and fight to win their claim both then and there

  and in the future once their king arrived.

  But King Alcinoös restrained their zeal

  1285to start a battle. He preferred to settle

  the troublesome dispute without both sides

  embracing war. All in a killing fear,

  the maiden pleaded time and time again

  with Jason and his men and grasped the knees

  1290 (1013)of King Alcinoös’ wife Arete:

  “Queen, I beseech you, please have pity on me.

  Do not surrender me unto the Colchians

  to carry to my father. Please do not

  be one among the race of humankind

  1295whose minds by minor errors tumble rashly

  into disaster—so my mind went tumbling . . .

  but no, no, it was not because of lust.

  Let Helius’ sacrosanct resplendence

  and the unspoken rites of Perses’ daughter,

  1300the Nighttime Walker, vouch for the duress

  under which I eloped with all these men.

  Fear, it was dreadful fear that made me think

  of running off when I had gone astray.

  No way around elopement could be found.

  1305 (1024)My virgin belt remains as innocent

  and undefiled as in my father’s palace.

  Pity me, lady, and convince your husband.

  So may the gods bestow on you a perfect

  life, and renown, and children, and the glory

  1310of an eternally unconquered city.”

  So with a flood of tears she begged Arete

  and then approached, in turn, her friends the heroes:

  “Because of you, O mightiest men of all,

  because of your affairs, I now am sunk

  1315in desperation. It was with my help

  you yoked the bulls and reaped the fatal crop

  of earthborn soldiers. Thanks to me, you shortly

  will sail away to bring the golden fleece

  back to Haemonia. And here I am,

  1320 (1036)bereft of country, parents, home, and all

  life’s pleasures, while I have restored to you

  your homes and homeland, and your honeyed eyes

  will gaze again upon your parents. No,

  some grievous god has ripped those pleasures from me,

  1325and I am wandering the sea with strangers,

  a derelict. Beware your oaths and vows;

  beware the Fury who avenges suppliants;

  beware the gods’ resentment when I tumble

  into Aeëtes’ hands and perish piecemeal

  1330under unending agony and torture.

  There stand before me in defense no temples,

  no guardian towers, no battlements, but you,

  just you alone, men ruthless in their coldness,

  wretches who suffer not a hint of shame

  1335 (1048)on seeing me, a helpless little girl,

  embrace the knees of an exotic queen.

  When you were burning to acquire the fleece,

  you would have
rushed to join your spears in battle

  against the Colchians and proud Aeëtes.

  1340Now you forget your courage, though these men

  are all alone and far from reinforcements.”

  So she exclaimed and begged, and every man

  she supplicated tried to hearten her

  and soothe her misery. They drew their swords,

  1345brandished their sharply whetted spears, and swore

  that they would not hold back from saving her

  if she should meet with an unlucky judgment.

  Night, though, the rest from labors, soon subdued

  the weary men and stilled the whole wide world.

  1350 (1060)Slumber, however, never reached the girl,

  but anguish churned her heart, as when a poor,

  hardworking woman twirls and twirls her spindle

  all night long, and all around her wail

  the children orphaned since her husband died,

  1355and tears drip down her cheeks as she considers

  the miserable lot she has been given.

  Like hers, Medea’s cheeks were wet with weeping

  and her heart kept spinning, spinning, spun

  by agonizing pangs.

  Back in the city

  1360Alcinoös and his respected wife

  Arete lay in bed within the palace,

  talking about the maiden late at night.

  As women do when managing their husbands,

  she addressed him intimately:

  “Darling,

  1365 (1073)please do something for me. Please preserve

  this girl of many worries from the Colchians

  and do, thereby, the Minyans a favor.

  Argos and the people of Haemonia

  live closer to our island, and Aeëtes

  1370does not at all live near. In fact, we know

  nothing of this Aeëtes, only hearsay.

  The maiden, though, has undergone harsh trials;

  her pleas have split my heart in two. Therefore,

  do not, my lord, release her to the Colchians

  1375to drag away back to her father’s palace.

  Yes, she was mad with folly when she gave

  Jason the magic drug to beat the oxen.

  Yes, she fled her ruthless father’s wrath,

  trying to cure one error with another,

  1380 (1082)as people often do with a mistake.

  Still, I have heard that Jason since that time

  has taken mighty oaths to marry her

  in proper legal fashion at his palace.

  My love, do not then stubbornly compel

  1385Jason to break his oath, nor let the father

 

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