Part 16 (1/2)
[Sidenote: Phryxus and h.e.l.le.]
To surrender power and wealth and return to obscurity was not to be thought of; but Pelias artfully concealed his displeasure, and told his nephew that they would discuss the matter and come to an amicable understanding after the banquet, which was already spread and awaiting their presence. During the festive meal, bards sang of all the heroic deeds accomplished by great men; and Pelias, by judicious flattery, stimulated Jason to attempt similar feats. At last the musicians recited the story of Phryxus and h.e.l.le, the son and daughter of Athamas and Nephele, who, to escape the cruel treatment of their stepmother, Ino (p. 174), mounted a winged, golden-fleeced ram sent by Neptune to transport them to Colchis.
The ram flew over land and sea; but h.e.l.le, frightened at the sight of the waves tossing far beneath her, suddenly lost her hold on the golden fleece, and tumbled off the ram's back into a portion of the sea since known as the h.e.l.lespont, ”Where beauteous h.e.l.le found a watery grave.”
Meleager.
Phryxus, more fortunate than his sister, reached Colchis in safety, and in grat.i.tude to the G.o.ds sacrificed the ram they had sent to deliver him, and hung its golden fleece on a tree, near which he stationed a dragon to guard it night and day. The bards then went on to relate that the glittering trophy still hung there, awaiting a hand bold enough to slay the dragon and bear it off.
[Sidenote: The golden fleece.]
This tale and his liberal potations greatly excited the youth Jason; and Pelias, perceiving it, hypocritically regretted his inability to win the golden fleece, and softly insinuated that young men of the present generation were not brave enough to risk their lives in such a glorious cause. The usurper's crafty remarks had the desired effect; for Jason suddenly sprang from his seat, and vowed he would go in quest of the golden fleece. Pelias, quite certain that the rash youth would lose his life in the attempt, and thus cause no more trouble, with much difficulty restrained all expressions of joy, and dared him to make the attempt.
”With terror struck, lest by young Jason's hand His crown should be rent from him, Pelias sought By machinations dark to slay his foe. From Colchis' realm to bring the golden fleece He charged the youth.”
Orphic Argonautics.
[Sidenote: The Speaking Oak.]
When Jason, sobered and refreshed by a long night's rest, perceived how foolish had been his vow, he would fain have recalled it; but, mindful of Chiron's teachings ever to be true to his word, he resolved to depart for Colchis. To secure Juno's a.s.sistance, he began by visiting her shrine at Dodona, where the oracle, a Speaking Oak, a.s.sured him of the G.o.ddess's good will and efficacious protection. Next the Speaking Oak bade him cut off one of its own mighty limbs, and carve from it a figurehead for the swift-sailing vessel which Minerva, at Juno's request, would build for his use from pine trees grown on Mount Pelion.
[Sidenote: The Argo and crew.]
Jason, having finished his figurehead, found that it too had the gift of speech, and that it would occasionally vouchsafe sage counsel in the direction of his affairs. When quite completed, Jason called his vessel the Argo (swift-sailing), and speedily collected a crew of heroes as brave as himself, among whom were Hercules, Castor, Pollux, Peleus, Admetus, Theseus, and Orpheus, who were all glad to undertake the perilous journey to lands unknown. To speed them on their way, Juno then bargained with AEolus for favorable winds, and forbade any tempest which might work them harm.
”Then with a whistling breeze did Juno fill the sail, And Argo, self-impell'd, shot swift before the gale.”
Onomacritus (Elton's tr.).
[Sidenote: Story of Hylas.]
On several occasions the heroes landed, either to renew their stock of provisions or to recruit their strength, but in general every delay brought them some misfortune. Once Hercules, having landed with a youth named Hylas to cut wood for new oars, bade the youth go to a neighboring spring and draw a pitcher of water to quench the thirst produced by his exertions. The youth promptly departed; but as he bent over the fountain, the nymphs, enamored with his beauty, drew him down into their moist abode to keep them company. Hercules, after vainly waiting for Hylas' return, went in search of him, but could find no trace of him, and, in his grief and disappointment at the death of his young friend, refused to continue the expedition, and, deserting the Argonauts, made his way home alone and on foot.
[Sidenote: Phineus and the Harpies.]
On another occasion, when Jason visited Phineus, the blind king of Thrace, he heard that this monarch's life was imbittered by the Harpies, vile monsters, part woman, part bird, who ate or befouled all the food placed before him, and never let him eat a mouthful in peace. Having repeated this tale to his companions, the two sons of Boreas, who were also in the Argo, begged permission to drive them away. Jason could not refuse their request; and the two youths, with drawn swords, pursued the Harpies to the Strophades Islands, where the birds promised to remain.
Jason, sailing on in the mean while, was attacked by a flock of brazen-feathered birds, which rained their sharp plumage down upon the Argonauts, wounding many of them sorely. The captain of the expedition, seeing weapons were of no avail against these foes, consulted the figurehead, and, in obedience to its directions, clashed his arms against his s.h.i.+eld, until, terrified by the din, the brazen-feathered birds flew rapidly away, uttering discordant cries of terror.
[Sidenote: The Symplegades.]
Some time during the course of their journey the Argonauts came to the Symplegades,--floating rocks which continually crashed together, and ground to powder all objects caught between them. Jason knew he was obliged to pa.s.s between these rocks or give up the expedition: so, calculating that the speed of his vessel was equal to that of a dove on the wing, he sent one out before him. The dove flew safely between the rocks, losing only one of its tail feathers as they again clashed together. Watching his opportunity, therefore, Jason bade his men row swiftly. The Argo darted through the opening, and, when the rocks again came into contact, they merely grazed the rudder. As a vessel had pa.s.sed between them unharmed, their power for evil left them, and they were chained fast to the bottom of the sea, near the mouth of the Bosporus, where they remained immovable like any other rocks.
[Sidenote: Arrival at Colchis.]
The Argonauts, after other adventures far too numerous to recount in detail, reached the Colchian sh.o.r.es, and presented themselves before AEetes, the king, to whom they made known their errand. Loath to part with his golden treasure, AEetes declared, that, before Jason could obtain the fleece, he must catch and harness two wild, fire-breathing bulls dedicated to Vulcan, and make use of them to plow a stony piece of ground sacred to Mars. This done, he must sow the field with some dragon's teeth, as Cadmus had done (p. 48), conquer the giants which would spring up, and, last of all, slay the guardian dragon, or the fleece would never be his.
[Sidenote: Medea's aid.]
One of these tasks would have sufficed to dismay many a brave youth; but Jason was of the dauntless kind, and merely hastened down to his vessel to ask the figurehead how he had better proceed. On his way to the seash.o.r.e he met the king's daughter, Medea, a beautiful young sorceress, who had been charmed by his modest but firm bearing, and who was quite ready to bring her magic to his aid if he would but promise to marry her. Jason, susceptible to her attractions, and free from any conflicting ties, readily agreed to her proposal, and, carrying out her directions, caught and harnessed the fiery bulls, plowed the field, and sowed it with the dragon's teeth.
”And how he yoked the bulls, whose breathings fiery glow'd, And with the dragons' teeth the furrow'd acres sow'd.”
Onomacritus (Elton's tr.).
But when he saw glittering spears and helmets grow out of the ground, and beheld the close ranks of giants in full armor, he was filled with dismay, and would have fled had it been possible. However, aware that such a performance would insure his ruin, he stood his ground, and, when the phalanx was quite near him, threw a handful of dust full in the giants' faces. Blinded with the sand, the giants attacked one another, and in a short time were exterminated.
”They, like swift dogs, Ranging in fierceness, on each other turn'd Tumultuous battle. On their mother earth By their own spears they sank; like pines, or oaks, Strew'd by a whirlwind in the mountain dale.”
Apollonius Rhodius (Elton's tr.).
[Sidenote: The fleece captured.]
Accompanied by Medea, Jason next hastened to the tree where the dragon kept guard over his treasure. An opiate prepared by Medea's magic skill soon made the dragon forget his charge in a profound sleep, and enabled Jason to draw near enough to sever his frightful head from his hideous trunk. Jason then tore the coveted fleece from the branch where it had hung for many a year, and bore it in triumph to the Argo.
”Exulting Jason grasped the s.h.i.+ning hide, His last of labors, and his envied pride. Slow from the groaning branch the fleece was rent.”
Flaccus (Elton's tr.).
His companions, who had made ready for a hasty departure, were already seated at their oars; and, as soon as he had embarked with Medea and her attendants, the Argo shot out of the Colchian harbor.
[Ill.u.s.tration: JASON AND THE DRAGON.--Salvator Rosa.]
”How softly stole from home the luckless-wedded maid, Through darkness of the night, in linen robe array'd; By Fate to Argo led, and urged by soft desire, Nor yet regarding aught her father's furious ire.”
Onomacritus (Elton's tr.).
When morning dawned and AEetes awoke, he heard that the dragon was slain, the fleece stolen, his daughter gone, and the Grecian s.h.i.+p far out of sight. No time was lost in useless wailing, but a vessel was hurriedly launched and manned, and the king in person set out in pursuit of the fugitives, who had, moreover, taken his most precious treasure, his only son and heir, Absyrtus. Although the Colchian men were good sailors and skillful rowers, they did not catch sight of the Argo until they came near the mouth of the Danube, and AEetes wildly called to his daughter to return to her home and to her father.
”'Stay thy rash flight! and, from the distant main,-- For oh! thou canst, my daughter,--turn again. Whither depart? the vessel backward steer; Thy friends, thy still fond father, wait thee here.'”
Flaccus (Elton's tr.).
[Sidenote: Death of Absyrtus.]
But Medea had no wish to be torn away from Jason's arms, and, instead of listening to her father's entreaties, urged the Argonauts to redoubled efforts. Little by little the distance between the two vessels grew less; the Colchian rowers were gaining upon the Greek; and Medea saw, that, unless she found means to delay her father, he would overtake her and compel her to return. With her own hands she therefore slew her little brother, Absyrtus, and cut his body into pieces, which she dropped over the side of the vessel one by one. AEetes, a helpless witness of this cruel, awful deed, piously collected his son's remains, and, in pausing to do so, lost sight of the Argo, and all hope of recovering his unnatural daughter: so he returned sadly to Colchis, where he buried his son's remains with due solemnity.
[Ill.u.s.tration: MEDEA.--Sichel.]
[Sidenote: Pelias dethroned.]
In the mean while, Pelias had reigned contentedly over Thessaly, confident that Jason would never return. Imagine his dismay, therefore, when he heard that the Argo had arrived, bearing Jason, now the proud possessor of the renowned golden fleece. Ere he could take measures to maintain his usurped authority, Jason appeared, and compelled him to resign the throne in favor of the rightful king, AEson.