The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales For My Children by Charles Kingsley
Scanned and proofed by David Price, email ccx074@coventry.ac.uk





The Heroes





PREFACE



MY DEAR CHILDREN,

Some of you have heard already of the old Greeks; and all of 
you, as you grow up, will hear more and more of them.  Those 
of you who are boys will, perhaps, spend a great deal of time 
in reading Greek books; and the girls, though they may not 
learn Greek, will be sure to come across a great many stories 
taken from Greek history, and to see, I may say every day, 
things which we should not have had if it had not been for 
these old Greeks.  You can hardly find a well-written book 
which has not in it Greek names, and words, and proverbs; you 
cannot walk through a great town without passing Greek 
buildings; you cannot go into a well-furnished room without 
seeing Greek statues and ornaments, even Greek patterns of 
furniture and paper; so strangely have these old Greeks left 
their mark behind them upon this modern world in which we now 
live.  And as you grow up, and read more and more, you will 
find that we owe to these old Greeks the beginners of all our 
mathematics and geometry - that is, the science and knowledge 
of numbers, and of the shapes of things, and of the forces 
which make things move and stand at rest; and the beginnings 
of our geography and astronomy; and of our laws, and freedom, 
and politics - that is, the science of how to rule a country, 
and make it peaceful and strong.  And we owe to them, too, 
the beginning of our logic - that is, the study of words and 
of reasoning; and of our metaphysics - that is, the study of 
our own thoughts and souls.  And last of all, they made their 
language so beautiful that foreigners used to take to it 
instead of their own; and at last Greek became the common 
language of educated people all over the old world, from 
Persia and Egypt even to Spain and Britain.  And therefore it 
was that the New Testament was written in Greek, that it 
might be read and understood by all the nations of the Roman 
empire; so that, next to the Jews, and the Bible which the 
Jews handed down to us, we owe more to these old Greeks than 
to any people upon earth.

Now you must remember one thing - that 'Greeks' was not their 
real name.  They called themselves always 'Hellens,' but the 
Romans miscalled them Greeks; and we have taken that wrong 
name from the Romans - it would take a long time to tell you 
why.  They were made up of many tribes and many small 
separate states; and when you hear in this book of Minuai, 
and Athenians, and other such names, you must remember that 
they were all different tribes and peoples of the one great 
Hellen race, who lived in what we now call Greece, in the 
islands of the Archipelago, and along the coast of Asia Minor 
(Ionia, as they call it), from the Hellespont to Rhodes, and 
had afterwards colonies and cities in Sicily, and South Italy 
(which was called Great Greece), and along the shores of the 
Black Sea at Sinope, and Kertch, and at Sevastopol.  And 
after that, again, they spread under Alexander the Great, and 
conquered Egypt, and Syria, and Persia, and the whole East.  
But that was many hundred years after my stories; for then 
there were no Greeks on the Black Sea shores, nor in Sicily, 
or Italy, or anywhere but in Greece and in Ionia.  And if you 
are puzzled by the names of places in this book, you must 
take the maps and find them out.  It will be a pleasanter way 
of learning geography than out of a dull lesson-book.

Now, I love these old Hellens heartily; and I should be very 
ungrateful to them if I did not, considering all that they 
have taught me; and they seem to me like brothers, though 
they have all been dead and gone many hundred years ago.  So 
as you must learn about them, whether you choose or not, I 
wish to be the first to introduce you to them, and to say, 
'Come hither, children, at this blessed Christmas time, when 
all God's creatures should rejoice together, and bless Him 
who redeemed them all.  Come and see old friends of mine, 
whom I knew long ere you were born.  They are come to visit 
us at Christmas, out of the world where all live to God; and 
to tell you some of their old fairy tales, which they loved 
when they were young like you.'

For nations begin at first by being children like you, though 
they are made up of grown men.  They are children at first 
like you - men and women with children's hearts; frank, and 
affectionate, and full of trust, and teachable, and loving to 
see and learn all the wonders round them; and greedy also, 
too often, and passionate and silly, as children are.

Thus these old Greeks were teachable, and learnt from all the 
nations round.  From the Phoenicians they learnt 
shipbuilding, and some say letters beside; and from the 
Assyrians they learnt painting, and carving, and building in 
wood and stone; and from the Egyptians they learnt astronomy, 
and many things which you would not understand.  In this they 
were like our own forefathers the Northmen, of whom you love 
to hear, who, though they were wild and rough themselves, 
were humble, and glad to learn from every one.  Therefore God 
rewarded these Greeks, as He rewarded our forefathers, and 
made them wiser than the people who taught them in everything 
they learnt; for He loves to see men and children open-
hearted, and willing to be taught; and to him who uses what 
he has got, He gives more and more day by day.  So these 
Greeks grew wise and powerful, and wrote poems which will 
live till the world's end, which you must read for yourselves 
some day, in English at least, if not in Greek.  And they 
learnt to carve statues, and build temples, which are still 
among the wonders of the world; and many another wondrous 
thing God taught them, for which we are the wiser this day.

For you must not fancy, children, that because these old 
Greeks were heathens, therefore God did not care for them, 
and taught them nothing.

The Bible tells us that it was not so, but that God's mercy 
is over all His works, and that He understands the hearts of 
all people, and fashions all their works.  And St. Paul told 
these old Greeks in after times, when they had grown wicked 
and fallen low, that they ought to have known better, because 
they were God's offspring, as their own poets had said; and 
that the good God had put them where they were, to seek the 
Lord, and feel after Him, and find Him, though He was not far 
from any one of them.  And Clement of Alexandria, a great 
Father of the Church, who was as wise as he was good, said 
that God had sent down Philosophy to the Greeks from heaven, 
as He sent down the Gospel to the Jews.

For Jesus Christ, remember, is the Light who lights every man 
who comes into the world.  And no one can think a right 
thought, or feel a right feeling, or understand the real 
truth of anything in earth and heaven, unless the good Lord 
Jesus teaches him by His Spirit, which gives man 
understanding.

But these Greeks, as St. Paul told them, forgot what God had 
taught them, and, though they were God's offspring, 
worshipped idols of wood and stone, and fell at last into sin 
and shame, and then, of course, into cowardice and slavery, 
till they perished out of that beautiful land which God had 
given them for so many years.

For, like all nations who have left anything behind them, 
beside mere mounds of earth, they believed at first in the 
One True God who made all heaven and earth. But after a 
while, like all other nations, they began to worship other 
gods, or rather angels and spirits, who (so they fancied) 
lived about their land.  Zeus, the Father of gods and men 
(who was some dim remembrance of the blessed true God), and 
Hera his wife, and Phoebus Apollo the Sun-god, and Pallas 
Athene who taught men wisdom and useful arts, and Aphrodite 
the Queen of Beauty, and Poseidon the Ruler of the Sea, and 
Hephaistos the King of the Fire, who taught men to work in 
metals.  And they honoured the Gods of the Rivers, and the 
Nymph-maids, who they fancied lived in the caves, and the 
fountains, and the glens of the forest, and all beautiful 
wild places.  And they honoured the Erinnues, the dreadful 
sisters, who, they thought, haunted guilty men until their 
sins were purged away.  And many other dreams they had, which 
parted the One God into many; and they said, too, that these 
gods did things which would be a shame and sin for any man to 
do.  And when their philosophers arose, and told them that 
God was One, they would not listen, but loved their idols, 
and their wicked idol feasts, till they all came to ruin.  
But we will talk of such sad things no more.

But, at the time of which this little book speaks, they had 
not fallen as low as that.  They worshipped no idols, as far 
as I can find; and they still believed in the last six of the 
ten commandments, and knew well what was right and what was 
wrong.  And they believed (and that was what gave them 
courage) that the gods loved men, and taught them, and that 
without the gods men were sure to come to ruin.  And in that 
they were right enough, as we know - more right even than 
they thought; for without God we can do nothing, and all 
wisdom comes from Him.

Now, you must not think of them in this book as learned men, 
living in great cities, such as they were afterwards, when 
they wrought all their beautiful works, but as country 
people, living in farms and walled villages, in a simple, 
hard-working way; so that the greatest kings and heroes 
cooked their own meals, and thought it no shame, and made 
their own ships and weapons, and fed and harnessed their own 
horses; and the queens worked with their maid-servants, and 
did all the business of the house, and spun, and wove, and 
embroidered, and made their husbands' clothes and their own.  
So that a man was honoured among them, not because he 
happened to be rich, but according to his skill, and his 
strength, and courage, and the number of things which he 
could do.  For they were but grown-up children, though they 
were right noble children too; and it was with them as it is 
now at school - the strongest and cleverest boy, though he be 
poor, leads all the rest.

Now, while they were young and simple they loved fairy tales, 
as you do now.  All nations do so when they are young:  our 
old forefathers did, and called their stories 'Sagas.'  I 
will read you some of them some day - some of the Eddas, and 
the VoluspÖ, and Beowulf, and the noble old Romances.  The 
old Arabs, again, had their tales, which we now call the 
'Arabian Nights.'  The old Romans had theirs, and they called 
them 'Fabulae,' from which our word 'fable' comes; but the 
old Hellens called theirs 'Muthoi,' from which our new word 
'myth' is taken.  But next to those old Romances, which were 
written in the Christian middle age, there are no fairy tales 
like these old Greek ones, for beauty, and wisdom, and truth, 
and for making children love noble deeds, and trust in God to 
help them through.

Now, why have I called this book 'The Heroes'?  Because that 
was the name which the Hellens gave to men who were brave and 
skilful, and dare do more than other men.  At first, I think, 
that was all it meant:  but after a time it came to mean 
something more; it came to mean men who helped their country; 
men in those old times, when the country was half-wild, who 
killed fierce beasts and evil men, and drained swamps, and 
founded towns, and therefore after they were dead, were 
honoured, because they had left their country better than 
they found it.  And we call such a man a hero in English to 
this day, and call it a 'heroic' thing to suffer pain and 
grief, that we may do good to our fellow-men.  We may all do 
that, my children, boys and girls alike; and we ought to do 
it, for it is easier now than ever, and safer, and the path 
more clear.  But you shall hear how the Hellens said their 
heroes worked, three thousand years ago.  The stories are not 
all true, of course, nor half of them; you are not simple 
enough to fancy that; but the meaning of them is true, and 
true for ever, and that is - Do right, and God will help 
you.'

FARLEY COURT,

ADVENT, 1855.



STORY I. - PERSEUS



PART I - HOW PERSEUS AND HIS MOTHER CAME TO SERIPHOS



ONCE upon a time there were two princes who were twins.  
Their names were Acrisius and Proetus, and they lived in the 
pleasant vale of Argos, far away in Hellas.  They had 
fruitful meadows and vineyards, sheep and oxen, great herds 
of horses feeding down in Lerna Fen, and all that men could 
need to make them blest:  and yet they were wretched, because 
they were jealous of each other.  From the moment they were 
born they began to quarrel; and when they grew up each tried 
to take away the other's share of the kingdom, and keep all 
for himself.  So first Acrisius drove out Proetus; and he 
went across the seas, and brought home a foreign princess for 
his wife, and foreign warriors to help him, who were called 
Cyclopes; and drove out Acrisius in his turn; and then they 
fought a long while up and down the land, till the quarrel 
was settled, and Acrisius took Argos and one half the land, 
and Proetus took Tiryns and the other half.  And Proetus and 
his Cyclopes built around Tiryns great walls of unhewn stone, 
which are standing to this day.

But there came a prophet to that hard-hearted Acrisius and 
prophesied against him, and said, 'Because you have risen up 
against your own blood, your own blood shall rise up against 
you; because you have sinned against your kindred, by your 
kindred you shall be punished.  Your daughter Danae shall 
bear a son, and by that son's hands you shall die.  So the 
Gods have ordained, and it will surely come to pass.'

And at that Acrisius was very much afraid; but he did not 
mend his ways.  He had been cruel to his own family, and, 
instead of repenting and being kind to them, he went on to be 
more cruel than ever:  for he shut up his fair daughter Danae 
in a cavern underground, lined with brass, that no one might 
come near her.  So he fancied himself more cunning than the 
Gods:  but you will see presently whether he was able to 
escape them.

Now it came to pass that in time Danae bore a son; so 
beautiful a babe that any but King Acrisius would have had 
pity on it.  But he had no pity; for he took Danae and her 
babe down to the seashore, and put them into a great chest 
and thrust them out to sea, for the winds and the waves to 
carry them whithersoever they would.

The north-west wind blew freshly out of the blue mountains, 
and down the pleasant vale of Argos, and away and out to sea.  
And away and out to sea before it floated the mother and her 
babe, while all who watched them wept, save that cruel 
father, King Acrisius.

So they floated on and on, and the chest danced up and down 
upon the billows, and the baby slept upon its mother's 
breast:  but the poor mother could not sleep, but watched and 
wept, and she sang to her baby as they floated; and the song 
which she sang you shall learn yourselves some day.

And now they are past the last blue headland, and in the open 
sea; and there is nothing round them but the waves, and the 
sky, and the wind.  But the waves are gentle, and the sky is 
clear, and the breeze is tender and low; for these are the 
days when Halcyone and Ceyx build their nests, and no storms 
ever ruffle the pleasant summer sea.

And who were Halcyone and Ceyx?  You shall hear while the 
chest floats on.  Halcyone was a fairy maiden, the daughter 
of the beach and of the wind.  And she loved a sailor-boy, 
and married him; and none on earth were so happy as they.  
But at last Ceyx was wrecked; and before he could swim to the 
shore the billows swallowed him up.  And Halcyone saw him 
drowning, and leapt into the sea to him; but in vain.  Then 
the Immortals took pity on them both, and changed them into 
two fair sea-birds; and now they build a floating nest every 
year, and sail up and down happily for ever upon the pleasant 
seas of Greece.

So a night passed, and a day, and a long day it was for 
Danae; and another night and day beside, till Danae was faint 
with hunger and weeping, and yet no land appeared.  And all 
the while the babe slept quietly; and at last poor Danae 
drooped her head and fell asleep likewise with her cheek 
against the babe's.

After a while she was awakened suddenly; for the chest was 
jarring and grinding, and the air was full of sound.  She 
looked up, and over her head were mighty cliffs, all red in 
the setting sun, and around her rocks and breakers, and 
flying flakes of foam.  She clasped her hands together, and 
shrieked aloud for help.  And when she cried, help met her:  
for now there came over the rocks a tall and stately man, and 
looked down wondering upon poor Danae tossing about in the 
chest among the waves.

He wore a rough cloak of frieze, and on his head a broad hat 
to shade his face; in his hand he carried a trident for 
spearing fish, and over his shoulder was a casting-net; but 
Danae could see that he was no common man by his stature, and 
his walk, and his flowing golden hair and beard; and by the 
two servants who came behind him, carrying baskets for his 
fish.  But she had hardly time to look at him, before he had 
laid aside his trident and leapt down the rocks, and thrown 
his casting-net so surely over Danae and the chest, that he 
drew it, and her, and the baby, safe upon a ledge of rock.

Then the fisherman took Danae by the hand, and lifted her out 
of the chest, and said -

'O beautiful damsel, what strange chance has brought you to 
this island in so flail a ship?  Who are you, and whence?  
Surely you are some king's daughter; and this boy has 
somewhat more than mortal.'

And as he spoke he pointed to the babe; for its face shone 
like the morning star.

But Danae only held down her head, and sobbed out -

'Tell me to what land I have come, unhappy that I am; and 
among what men I have fallen!'

And he said, 'This isle is called Seriphos, and I am a 
Hellen, and dwell in it.  I am the brother of Polydectes the 
king; and men call me Dictys the netter, because I catch the 
fish of the shore.'

Then Danae fell down at his feet, and embraced his knees, and 
cried -

'Oh, sir, have pity upon a stranger, whom a cruel doom has 
driven to your land; and let me live in your house as a 
servant; but treat me honourably, for I was once a king's 
daughter, and this my boy (as you have truly said) is of no 
common race.  I will not be a charge to you, or eat the bread 
of idleness; for I am more skilful in weaving and embroidery 
than all the maidens of my land.'

And she was going on; but Dictys stopped her, and raised her 
up, and said -

'My daughter, I am old, and my hairs are growing gray; while 
I have no children to make my home cheerful.  Come with me 
then, and you shall be a daughter to me and to my wife, and 
this babe shall be our grandchild.  For I fear the Gods, and 
show hospitality to all strangers; knowing that good deeds, 
like evil ones, always return to those who do them.'

So Danae was comforted, and went home with Dictys the good 
fisherman, and was a daughter to him and to his wife, till 
fifteen years were past.


PART II - HOW PERSEUS VOWED A RASH VOW


FIFTEEN years were past and gone, and the babe was now grown 
to be a tall lad and a sailor, and went many voyages after 
merchandise to the islands round.  His mother called him 
Perseus; but all the people in Seriphos said that he was not 
the son of mortal man, and called him the son of Zeus, the 
king of the Immortals.  For though he was but fifteen, he was 
taller by a head than any man in the island; and he was the 
most skilful of all in running and wrestling and boxing, and 
in throwing the quoit and the javelin, and in rowing with the 
oar, and in playing on the harp, and in all which befits a 
man.  And he was brave and truthful, gentle and courteous, 
for good old Dictys had trained him well; and well it was for 
Perseus that he had done so.  For now Danae and her son fell 
into great danger, and Perseus had need of all his wit to 
defend his mother and himself.

I said that Dictys' brother was Polydectes, king of the 
island.  He was not a righteous man, like Dictys; but greedy, 
and cunning, and cruel.  And when he saw fair Danae, he 
wanted to marry her.  But she would not; for she did not love 
him, and cared for no one but her boy, and her boy's father, 
whom she never hoped to see again.  At last Polydectes became 
furious; and while Perseus was away at sea he took poor Danae 
away from Dictys, saying, 'If you will not be my wife, you 
shall be my slave.'  So Danae was made a slave, and had to 
fetch water from the well, and grind in the mill, and perhaps 
was beaten, and wore a heavy chain, because she would not 
marry that cruel king.  But Perseus was far away over the 
seas in the isle of Samos, little thinking how his mother was 
languishing in grief.

Now one day at Samos, while the ship was lading, Perseus 
wandered into a pleasant wood to get out of the sun, and sat 
down on the turf and fell asleep.  And as he slept a strange 
dream came to him - the strangest dream which he had ever had 
in his life.

There came a lady to him through the wood, taller than he, or 
any mortal man; but beautiful exceedingly, with great gray 
eyes, clear and piercing, but strangely soft and mild.  On 
her head was a helmet, and in her hand a spear.  And over her 
shoulder, above her long blue robes, hung a goat-skin, which 
bore up a mighty shield of brass, polished like a mirror.  
She stood and looked at him with her clear gray eyes; and 
Perseus saw that her eye-lids never moved, nor her eyeballs, 
but looked straight through and through him, and into his 
very heart, as if she could see all the secrets of his soul, 
and knew all that he had ever thought or longed for since the 
day that he was born.  And Perseus dropped his eyes, 
trembling and blushing, as the wonderful lady spoke.

'Perseus, you must do an errand for me.'

'Who are you, lady?  And how do you know my name?'

'I am Pallas Athene; and I know the thoughts of all men's 
hearts, and discern their manhood or their baseness.  And 
from the souls of clay I turn away, and they are blest, but 
not by me.  They fatten at ease, like sheep in the pasture, 
and eat what they did not sow, like oxen in the stall.  They 
grow and spread, like the gourd along the ground; but, like 
the gourd, they give no shade to the traveller, and when they 
are ripe death gathers them, and they go down unloved into 
hell, and their name vanishes out of the land.

'But to the souls of fire I give more fire, and to those who 
are manful I give a might more than man's.  These are the 
heroes, the sons of the Immortals, who are blest, but not 
like the souls of clay.  For I drive them forth by strange 
paths, Perseus, that they may fight the Titans and the 
monsters, the enemies of Gods and men.  Through doubt and 
need, danger and battle, I drive them; and some of them are 
slain in the flower of youth, no man knows when or where; and 
some of them win noble names, and a fair and green old age; 
but what will be their latter end I know not, and none, save 
Zeus, the father of Gods and men.  Tell me now, Perseus, 
which of these two sorts of men seem to you more blest?'

Then Perseus answered boldly:  'Better to die in the flower 
of youth, on the chance of winning a noble name, than to live 
at ease like the sheep, and die unloved and unrenowned.'

Then that strange lady laughed, and held up her brazen 
shield, and cried:  'See here, Perseus; dare you face such a 
monster as this, and slay it, that I may place its head upon 
this shield?'

And in the mirror of the shield there appeared a face, and as 
Perseus looked on it his blood ran cold.  It was the face of 
a beautiful woman; but her cheeks were pale as death, and her 
brows were knit with everlasting pain, and her lips were thin 
and bitter like a snake's; and instead of hair, vipers 
wreathed about her temples, and shot out their forked 
tongues; while round her head were folded wings like an 
eagle's, and upon her bosom claws of brass.

And Perseus looked awhile, and then said:  'If there is 
anything so fierce and foul on earth, it were a noble deed to 
kill it.  Where can I find the monster?'

Then the strange lady smiled again, and said:  'Not yet; you 
are too young, and too unskilled; for this is Medusa the 
Gorgon, the mother of a monstrous brood.  Return to your 
home, and do the work which waits there for you.  You must 
play the man in that before I can think you worthy to go in 
search of the Gorgon.'

Then Perseus would have spoken, but the strange lady 
vanished, and he awoke; and behold, it was a dream.  But day 
and night Perseus saw before him the face of that dreadful 
woman, with the vipers writhing round her head.

So he returned home; and when he came to Seriphos, the first 
thing which he heard was that his mother was a slave in the 
house of Polydectes.

Grinding his teeth with rage, he went out, and away to the 
king's palace, and through the men's rooms, and the women's 
rooms, and so through all the house (for no one dared stop 
him, so terrible and fair was he), till he found his mother 
sitting on the floor, turning the stone hand-mill, and 
weeping as she turned it.  And he lifted her up, and kissed 
her, and bade her follow him forth.  But before they could 
pass out of the room Polydectes came in, raging.  And when 
Perseus saw him, he flew upon him as the mastiff flies on the 
boar.  'Villain and tyrant!' he cried; 'is this your respect 
for the Gods, and thy mercy to strangers and widows?  You 
shall die!'  And because he had no sword he caught up the 
stone hand-mill, and lifted it to dash out Polydectes' 
brains.

But his mother clung to him, shrieking, 'Oh, my son, we are 
strangers and helpless in the land; and if you kill the king, 
all the people will fall on us, and we shall both die.'

Good Dictys, too, who had come in, entreated him.  'Remember 
that he is my brother.  Remember how I have brought you up, 
and trained you as my own son, and spare him for my sake.'

Then Perseus lowered his hand; and Polydectes, who had been 
trembling all this while like a coward, because he knew that 
he was in the wrong, let Perseus and his mother pass.

Perseus took his mother to the temple of Athene, and there 
the priestess made her one of the temple-sweepers; for there 
they knew she would be safe, and not even Polydectes would 
dare to drag her away from the altar.  And there Perseus, and 
the good Dictys, and his wife, came to visit her every day; 
while Polydectes, not being able to get what he wanted by 
force, cast about in his wicked heart how he might get it by 
cunning.

Now he was sure that he could never get back Danae as long as 
Perseus was in the island; so he made a plot to rid himself 
of him.  And first he pretended to have forgiven Perseus, and 
to have forgotten Danae; so that, for a while, all went as 
smoothly as ever.

Next he proclaimed a great feast, and invited to it all the 
chiefs, and landowners, and the young men of the island, and 
among them Perseus, that they might all do him homage as 
their king, and eat of his banquet in his hall.

On the appointed day they all came; and as the custom was 
then, each guest brought his present with him to the king:  
one a horse, another a shawl, or a ring, or a sword; and 
those who had nothing better brought a basket of grapes, or 
of game; but Perseus brought nothing, for he had nothing to 
bring, being but a poor sailor-lad.

He was ashamed, however, to go into the king's presence 
without his gift; and he was too proud to ask Dictys to lend 
him one.  So he stood at the door sorrowfully, watching the 
rich men go in; and his face grew very red as they pointed at 
him, and smiled, and whispered, 'What has that foundling to 
give?'

Now this was what Polydectes wanted; and as soon as he heard 
that Perseus stood without, he bade them bring him in, and 
asked him scornfully before them all, 'Am I not your king, 
Perseus, and have I not invited you to my feast?  Where is 
your present, then?'

Perseus blushed and stammered, while all the proud men round 
laughed, and some of them began jeering him openly.  'This 
fellow was thrown ashore here like a piece of weed or drift-
wood, and yet he is too proud to bring a gift to the king.'

'And though he does not know who his father is, he is vain 
enough to let the old women call him the son of Zeus.'

And so forth, till poor Perseus grew mad with shame, and 
hardly knowing what he said, cried out, - 'A present! who are 
you who talk of presents?  See if I do not bring a nobler one 
than all of yours together!'

So he said boasting; and yet he felt in his heart that he was 
braver than all those scoffers, and more able to do some 
glorious deed.

'Hear him!  Hear the boaster!  What is it to be?' cried they 
all, laughing louder than ever.

Then his dream at Samos came into his mind, and he cried 
aloud, 'The head of the Gorgon.'

He was half afraid after he had said the words for all 
laughed louder than ever, and Polydectes loudest of all.

'You have promised to bring me the Gorgon's head?  Then never 
appear again in this island without it.  Go!'

Perseus ground his teeth with rage, for he saw that he had 
fallen into a trap; but his promise lay upon him, and he went 
out without a word.

Down to the cliffs he went, and looked across the broad blue 
sea; and he wondered if his dream were true, and prayed in 
the bitterness of his soul.

'Pallas Athene, was my dream true? and shall I slay the 
Gorgon?  If thou didst really show me her face, let me not 
come to shame as a liar and boastful.  Rashly and angrily I 
promised; but cunningly and patiently will I perform.'

But there was no answer, nor sign; neither thunder nor any 
appearance; not even a cloud in the sky.

And three times Perseus called weeping, 'Rashly and angrily I 
promised; but cunningly and patiently will I perform.'

Then he saw afar off above the sea a small white cloud, as 
bright as silver.  And it came on, nearer and nearer, till 
its brightness dazzled his eyes.

Perseus wondered at that strange cloud, for there was no 
other cloud all round the sky; and he trembled as it touched 
the cliff below.  And as it touched, it broke, and parted, 
and within it appeared Pallas Athene, as he had seen her at 
Samos in his dream, and beside her a young man more light-
limbed than the stag, whose eyes were like sparks of fire.  
By his side was a scimitar of diamond, all of one clear 
precious stone, and on his feet were golden sandals, from the 
heels of which grew living wings.

They looked upon Perseus keenly, and yet they never moved 
their eyes; and they came up the cliffs towards him more 
swiftly than the sea-gull, and yet they never moved their 
feet, nor did the breeze stir the robes about their limbs; 
only the wings of the youth's sandals quivered, like a hawk's 
when he hangs above the cliff.  And Perseus fell down and 
worshipped, for he knew that they were more than man.

But Athene stood before him and spoke gently, and bid him 
have no fear.  Then -

'Perseus,' she said, 'he who overcomes in one trial merits 
thereby a sharper trial still.  You have braved Polydectes, 
and done manfully.  Dare you brave Medusa the Gorgon?'

And Perseus said, 'Try me; for since you spoke to me in Samos 
a new soul has come into my breast, and I should be ashamed 
not to dare anything which I can do.  Show me, then, how I 
can do this!'

'Perseus,' said Athene, 'think well before you attempt; for 
this deed requires a seven years' journey, in which you 
cannot repent or turn back nor escape; but if your heart 
fails you, you must die in the Unshapen Land, where no man 
will ever find your bones.'

'Better so than live here, useless and despised,' said 
Perseus.  'Tell me, then, oh tell me, fair and wise Goddess, 
of your great kindness and condescension, how I can do but 
this one thing, and then, if need be, die!'

Then Athene smiled and said -

'Be patient, and listen; for if you forget my words, you will 
indeed die.  You must go northward to the country of the 
Hyperboreans, who live beyond the pole, at the sources of the 
cold north wind, till you find the three Gray Sisters, who 
have but one eye and one tooth between them.  You must ask 
them the way to the Nymphs, the daughters of the Evening 
Star, who dance about the golden tree, in the Atlantic island 
of the west.  They will tell you the way to the Gorgon, that 
you may slay her, my enemy, the mother of monstrous beasts.  
Once she was a maiden as beautiful as morn, till in her pride 
she sinned a sin at which the sun hid his face; and from that 
day her hair was turned to vipers, and her hands to eagle's 
claws; and her heart was filled with shame and rage, and her 
lips with bitter venom; and her eyes became so terrible that 
whosoever looks on them is turned to stone; and her children 
are the winged horse and the giant of the golden sword; and 
her grandchildren are Echidna the witch-adder, and Geryon the 
three-headed tyrant, who feeds his herds beside the herds of 
hell.  So she became the sister of the Gorgons, Stheino and 
Euryte the abhorred, the daughters of the Queen of the Sea.  
Touch them not, for they are immortal; but bring me only 
Medusa's head.'

'And I will bring it!' said Perseus; 'but how am I to escape 
her eyes?  Will she not freeze me too into stone?'

'You shall take this polished shield,' said Athene, 'and when 
you come near her look not at her herself, but at her image 
in the brass; so you may strike her safely.  And when you 
have struck off her head, wrap it, with your face turned 
away, in the folds of the goat-skin on which the shield 
hangs, the hide of Amaltheie, the nurse of the AEgis-holder.  
So you will bring it safely back to me, and win to yourself 
renown, and a place among the heroes who feast with the 
Immortals upon the peak where no winds blow.'

Then Perseus said, 'I will go, though I die in going.  But 
how shall I cross the seas without a ship?  And who will show 
me my way?  And when I find her, how shall I slay her, if her 
scales be iron and brass?'

Then the young man spoke:  'These sandals of mine will bear 
you across the seas, and over hill and dale like a bird, as 
they bear me all day long; for I am Hermes, the far-famed 
Argus-slayer, the messenger of the Immortals who dwell on 
Olympus.'

Then Perseus fell down and worshipped, while the young man 
spoke again:

'The sandals themselves will guide you on the road, for they 
are divine and cannot stray; and this sword itself, the 
Argus-slayer, will kill her, for it is divine, and needs no 
second stroke.  Arise, and gird them on, and go forth.'

So Perseus arose, and girded on the sandals and the sword.

And Athene cried, 'Now leap from the cliff and be gone.'

But Perseus lingered.

'May I not bid farewell to my mother and to Dictys?  And may 
I not offer burnt-offerings to you, and to Hermes the far-
famed Argus-slayer, and to Father Zeus above?'

'You shall not bid farewell to your mother, lest your heart 
relent at her weeping.  I will comfort her and Dictys until 
you return in peace.  Nor shall you offer burnt-offerings to 
the Olympians; for your offering shall be Medusa's head.  
Leap, and trust in the armour of the Immortals.'

Then Perseus looked down the cliff and shuddered; but he was 
ashamed to show his dread.  Then he thought of Medusa and the 
renown before him, and he leaped into the empty air.

And behold, instead of falling he floated, and stood, and ran 
along the sky.  He looked back, but Athene had vanished, and 
Hermes; and the sandals led him on northward ever, like a 
crane who follows the spring toward the Ister fens.


PART III - HOW PERSEUS SLEW THE GORGON


SO Perseus started on his journey, going dry-shod over land 
and sea; and his heart was high and joyful, for the winged 
sandals bore him each day a seven days' journey.

And he went by Cythnus, and by Ceos, and the pleasant 
Cyclades to Attica; and past Athens and Thebes, and the 
Copaic lake, and up the vale of Cephissus, and past the peaks 
of OEta and Pindus, and over the rich Thessalian plains, till 
the sunny hills of Greece were behind him, and before him 
were the wilds of the north.  Then he passed the Thracian 
mountains, and many a barbarous tribe, Paeons and Dardans and 
Triballi, till he came to the Ister stream, and the dreary 
Scythian plains.  And he walked across the Ister dry-shod, 
and away through the moors and fens, day and night toward the 
bleak north-west, turning neither to the right hand nor the 
left, till he came to the Unshapen Land, and the place which 
has no name.

And seven days he walked through it, on a path which few can 
tell; for those who have trodden it like least to speak of 
it, and those who go there again in dreams are glad enough 
when they awake; till he came to the edge of the everlasting 
night, where the air was full of feathers, and the soil was 
hard with ice; and there at last he found the three Gray 
Sisters, by the shore of the freezing sea, nodding upon a 
white log of drift-wood, beneath the cold white winter moon; 
and they chaunted a low song together, 'Why the old times 
were better than the new.'

There was no living thing around them, not a fly, not a moss 
upon the rocks.  Neither seal nor sea-gull dare come near, 
lest the ice should clutch them in its claws.  The surge 
broke up in foam, but it fell again in flakes of snow; and it 
frosted the hair of the three Gray Sisters, and the bones in 
the ice-cliff above their heads.  They passed the eye from 
one to the other, but for all that they could not see; and 
they passed the tooth from one to the other, but for all that 
they could not eat; and they sat in the full glare of the 
moon, but they were none the warmer for her beams.  And 
Perseus pitied the three Gray Sisters; but they did not pity 
themselves.

So he said, 'Oh, venerable mothers, wisdom is the daughter of 
old age.  You therefore should know many things.  Tell me, if 
you can, the path to the Gorgon.'

Then one cried, 'Who is this who reproaches us with old age?'  
And another, 'This is the voice of one of the children of 
men.'

And he, 'I do not reproach, but honour your old age, and I am 
one of the sons of men and of the heroes.  The rulers of 
Olympus have sent me to you to ask the way to the Gorgon.'

Then one, 'There are new rulers in Olympus, and all new 
things are bad.'  And another, 'We hate your rulers, and the 
heroes, and all the children of men.  We are the kindred of 
the Titans, and the Giants, and the Gorgons, and the ancient 
monsters of the deep.'  And another, 'Who is this rash and 
insolent man who pushes unbidden into our world?'  And the 
first, 'There never was such a world as ours, nor will be; if 
we let him see it, he will spoil it all.'

Then one cried, 'Give me the eye, that I may see him;' and 
another, 'Give me the tooth, that I may bite him.'  But 
Perseus, when he saw that they were foolish and proud, and 
did not love the children of men, left off pitying them, and 
said to himself, 'Hungry men must needs be hasty; if I stay 
making many words here, I shall be starved.'  Then he stepped 
close to them, and watched till they passed the eye from hand 
to hand.  And as they groped about between themselves, he 
held out his own hand gently, till one of them put the eye 
into it, fancying that it was the hand of her sister.  Then 
he sprang back, and laughed, and cried -

'Cruel and proud old women, I have your eye; and I will throw 
it into the sea, unless you tell me the path to the Gorgon, 
and swear to me that you tell me right.'

Then they wept, and chattered, and scolded; but in vain.  
They were forced to tell the truth, though, when they told 
it, Perseus could hardly make out the road.

'You must go,' they said, 'foolish boy, to the southward, 
into the ugly glare of the sun, till you come to Atlas the 
Giant, who holds the heaven and the earth apart.  And you 
must ask his daughters, the Hesperides, who are young and 
foolish like yourself.  And now give us back our eye, for we 
have forgotten all the rest.'

So Perseus gave them back their eye; but instead of using it, 
they nodded and fell fast asleep, and were turned into blocks 
of ice, till the tide came up and washed them all away.  And 
now they float up and down like icebergs for ever, weeping 
whenever they meet the sunshine, and the fruitful summer and 
the warm south wind, which fill young hearts with joy.

But Perseus leaped away to the southward, leaving the snow 
and the ice behind:  past the isle of the Hyperboreans, and 
the tin isles, and the long Iberian shore, while the sun rose 
higher day by day upon a bright blue summer sea.  And the 
terns and the sea-gulls swept laughing round his head, and 
called to him to stop and play, and the dolphins gambolled up 
as he passed, and offered to carry him on their backs.  And 
all night long the sea-nymphs sang sweetly, and the Tritons 
blew upon their conchs, as they played round Galataea their 
queen, in her car of pearled shells.  Day by day the sun rose 
higher, and leaped more swiftly into the sea at night, and 
more swiftly out of the sea at dawn; while Perseus skimmed 
over the billows like a sea-gull, and his feet were never 
wetted; and leapt on from wave to wave, and his limbs were 
never weary, till he saw far away a mighty mountain, all 
rose-red in the setting sun.  Its feet were wrapped in 
forests, and its head in wreaths of cloud; and Perseus knew 
that it was Atlas, who holds the heavens and the earth apart.

He came to the mountain, and leapt on shore, and wandered 
upward, among pleasant valleys and waterfalls, and tall trees 
and strange ferns and flowers; but there was no smoke rising 
from any glen, nor house, nor sign of man.

At last he heard sweet voices singing; and he guessed that he 
was come to the garden of the Nymphs, the daughters of the 
Evening Star.

They sang like nightingales among the thickets, and Perseus 
stopped to hear their song; but the words which they spoke he 
could not understand; no, nor no man after him for many a 
hundred years.  So he stepped forward and saw them dancing, 
hand in hand around the charmed tree, which bent under its 
golden fruit; and round the tree-foot was coiled the dragon, 
old Ladon the sleepless snake, who lies there for ever, 
listening to the song of the maidens, blinking and watching 
with dry bright eyes.

Then Perseus stopped, not because he feared the dragon, but 
because he was bashful before those fair maids; but when they 
saw him, they too stopped, and called to him with trembling 
voices -

'Who are you?  Are you Heracles the mighty, who will come to 
rob our garden, and carry off our golden fruit?'  And he 
answered -

'I am not Heracles the mighty, and I want none of your golden 
fruit.  Tell me, fair Nymphs, the way which leads to the 
Gorgon, that I may go on my way and slay her.'

'Not yet, not yet, fair boy; come dance with us around the 
tree in the garden which knows no winter, the home of the 
south wind and the sun.  Come hither and play with us awhile; 
we have danced alone here for a thousand years, and our 
hearts are weary with longing for a playfellow.  So come, 
come, come!'

'I cannot dance with you, fair maidens; for I must do the 
errand of the Immortals.  So tell me the way to the Gorgon, 
lest I wander and perish in the waves.'

Then they sighed and wept; and answered - 'The Gorgon! she 
will freeze you into stone.'

'It is better to die like a hero than to live like an ox in a 
stall.  The Immortals have lent me weapons, and they will 
give me wit to use them.'

Then they sighed again and answered, 'Fair boy, if you are 
bent on your own ruin, be it so.  We know not the way to the 
Gorgon; but we will ask the giant Atlas, above upon the 
mountain peak, the brother of our father, the silver Evening 
Star.  He sits aloft and sees across the ocean, and far away 
into the Unshapen Land.'

So they went up the mountain to Atlas their uncle, and 
Perseus went up with them.  And they found the giant 
kneeling, as he held the heavens and the earth apart.

They asked him, and he answered mildly, pointing to the sea-
board with his mighty hand, 'I can see the Gorgons lying on 
an island far away, but this youth can never come near them, 
unless he has the hat of darkness, which whosoever wears 
cannot be seen.'

Then cried Perseus, 'Where is that hat, that I may find it?'

But the giant smiled.  'No living mortal can find that hat, 
for it lies in the depths of Hades, in the regions of the 
dead.  But my nieces are immortal, and they shall fetch it 
for you, if you will promise me one thing and keep your 
faith.'

Then Perseus promised; and the giant said, 'When you come 
back with the head of Medusa, you shall show me the beautiful 
horror, that I may lose my feeling and my breathing, and 
become a stone for ever; for it is weary labour for me to 
hold the heavens and the earth apart.'

Then Perseus promised, and the eldest of the Nymphs went 
down, and into a dark cavern among the cliffs, out of which 
came smoke and thunder, for it was one of the mouths of Hell.

And Perseus and the Nymphs sat down seven days, and waited 
trembling, till the Nymph came up again; and her face was 
pale, and her eyes dazzled with the light, for she had been 
long in the dreary darkness; but in her hand was the magic 
hat.

Then all the Nymphs kissed Perseus, and wept over him a long 
while; but he was only impatient to be gone.  And at last 
they put the hat upon his head, and he vanished out of their 
sight.

But Perseus went on boldly, past many an ugly sight, far away 
into the heart of the Unshapen Land, beyond the streams of 
Ocean, to the isles where no ship cruises, where is neither 
night nor day, where nothing is in its right place, and 
nothing has a name; till he heard the rustle of the Gorgons' 
wings and saw the glitter of their brazen talons; and then he 
knew that it was time to halt, lest Medusa should freeze him 
into stone.

He thought awhile with himself, and remembered Athene's 
words.  He rose aloft into the air, and held the mirror of 
the shield above his head, and looked up into it that he 
might see all that was below him.

And he saw the three Gorgons sleeping as huge as elephants.  
He knew that they could not see him, because the hat of 
darkness hid him; and yet he trembled as he sank down near 
them, so terrible were those brazen claws.

Two of the Gorgons were foul as swine, and lay sleeping 
heavily, as swine sleep, with their mighty wings outspread; 
but Medusa tossed to and fro restlessly, and as she tossed 
Perseus pitied her, she looked so fair and sad.  Her plumage 
was like the rainbow, and her face was like the face of a 
nymph, only her eyebrows were knit, and her lips clenched, 
with everlasting care and pain; and her long neck gleamed so 
white in the mirror that Perseus had not the heart to strike, 
and said, 'Ah, that it had been either of her sisters!'

But as he looked, from among her tresses the vipers' heads 
awoke, and peeped up with their bright dry eyes, and showed 
their fangs, and hissed; and Medusa, as she tossed, threw 
back her wings and showed her brazen claws; and Perseus saw 
that, for all her beauty, she was as foul and venomous as the 
rest.

Then he came down and stepped to her boldly, and looked 
steadfastly on his mirror, and struck with Herpe stoutly 
once; and he did not need to strike again.

Then he wrapped the head in the goat-skin, turning away his 
eyes, and sprang into the air aloft, faster than he ever 
sprang before.

For Medusa's wings and talons rattled as she sank dead upon 
the rocks; and her two foul sisters woke, and saw her lying 
dead.

Into the air they sprang yelling and looked for him who had 
done the deed.  Thrice they swung round and round, like hawks 
who beat for a partridge; and thrice they snuffed round and 
round, like hounds who draw upon a deer.  At last they struck 
upon the scent of the blood, and they checked for a moment to 
make sure; and then on they rushed with a fearful howl, while 
the wind rattled hoarse in their wings.

On they rushed, sweeping and flapping, like eagles after a 
hare; and Perseus' blood ran cold, for all his courage, as he 
saw them come howling on his track; and he cried, 'Bear me 
well now, brave sandals, for the hounds of Death are at my 
heels!'

And well the brave sandals bore him, aloft through cloud and 
sunshine, across the shoreless sea; and fast followed the 
hounds of Death, as the roar of their wings came down the 
wind.  But the roar came down fainter and fainter, and the 
howl of their voices died away; for the sandals were too 
swift, even for Gorgons, and by nightfall they were far 
behind, two black specks in the southern sky, till the sun 
sank and he saw them no more.

Then he came again to Atlas, and the garden of the Nymphs; 
and when the giant heard him coming he groaned, and said, 
'Fulfil thy promise to me.'  Then Perseus held up to him the 
Gorgon's head, and he had rest from all his toil; for he 
became a crag of stone, which sleeps for ever far above the 
clouds.

Then he thanked the Nymphs, and asked them, 'By what road 
shall I go homeward again, for I wandered far round in coming 
hither?'

And they wept and cried, 'Go home no more, but stay and play 
with us, the lonely maidens, who dwell for ever far away from 
Gods and men.'

But he refused, and they told him his road, and said, 'Take 
with you this magic fruit, which, if you eat once, you will 
not hunger for seven days.  For you must go eastward and 
eastward ever, over the doleful Lybian shore, which Poseidon 
gave to Father Zeus, when he burst open the Bosphorus and the 
Hellespont, and drowned the fair Lectonian land.  And Zeus 
took that land in exchange, a fair bargain, much bad ground 
for a little good, and to this day it lies waste and desert 
with shingle, and rock, and sand.'

Then they kissed Perseus, and wept over him, and he leapt 
down the mountain, and went on, lessening and lessening like 
a sea-gull, away and out to sea.


PART IV - HOW PERSEUS CAME TO THE AETHIOPS


SO Perseus flitted onward to the north-east, over many a 
league of sea, till he came to the rolling sand-hills and the 
dreary Lybian shore.

And he flitted on across the desert:  over rock-ledges, and 
banks of shingle, and level wastes of sand, and shell-drifts 
bleaching in the sunshine, and the skeletons of great sea-
monsters, and dead bones of ancient giants, strewn up and 
down upon the old sea-floor.  And as he went the blood-drops 
fell to the earth from the Gorgon's head, and became 
poisonous asps and adders, which breed in the desert to this 
day.

Over the sands he went, - he never knew how far or how long, 
feeding on the fruit which the Nymphs had given him, till he 
saw the hills of the Psylli, and the Dwarfs who fought with 
cranes.  Their spears were of reeds and rushes, and their 
houses of the egg-shells of the cranes; and Perseus laughed, 
and went his way to the north-east, hoping all day long to 
see the blue Mediterranean sparkling, that he might fly 
across it to his home.

But now came down a mighty wind, and swept him back southward 
toward the desert.  All day long he strove against it; but 
even the winged sandals could not prevail.  So he was forced 
to float down the wind all night; and when the morning dawned 
there was nothing to be seen, save the same old hateful waste 
of sand.

And out of the north the sandstorms rushed upon him, blood-
red pillars and wreaths, blotting out the noonday sun; and 
Perseus fled before them, lest he should be choked by the 
burning dust.  At last the gale fell calm, and he tried to go 
northward again; but again came down the sandstorms, and 
swept him back into the waste, and then all was calm and 
cloudless as before.  Seven days he strove against the 
storms, and seven days he was driven back, till he was spent 
with thirst and hunger, and his tongue clove to the roof of 
his mouth.  Here and there he fancied that he saw a fair 
lake, and the sunbeams shining on the water; but when he came 
to it it vanished at his feet, and there was nought but 
burning sand.  And if he had not been of the race of the 
Immortals, he would have perished in the waste; but his life 
was strong within him, because it was more than man's.

Then he cried to Athene, and said -

'Oh, fair and pure, if thou hearest me, wilt thou leave me 
here to die of drought?  I have brought thee the Gorgon's 
head at thy bidding, and hitherto thou hast prospered my 
journey; dost thou desert me at the last?  Else why will not 
these immortal sandals prevail, even against the desert 
storms?  Shall I never see my mother more, and the blue 
ripple round Seriphos, and the sunny hills of Hellas?'

So he prayed; and after he had prayed there was a great 
silence.

The heaven was still above his head, and the sand was still 
beneath his feet; and Perseus looked up, but there was 
nothing but the blinding sun in the blinding blue; and round 
him, but there was nothing but the blinding sand.

And Perseus stood still a while, and waited, and said, 
'Surely I am not here without the will of the Immortals, for 
Athene will not lie.  Were not these sandals to lead me in 
the right road?  Then the road in which I have tried to go 
must be a wrong road.'

Then suddenly his ears were opened, and he heard the sound of 
running water.

And at that his heart was lifted up, though he scarcely dare 
believe his ears; and weary as he was, he hurried forward, 
though he could scarcely stand upright; and within a bowshot 
of him was a glen in the sand, and marble rocks, and date-
trees, and a lawn of gay green grass.  And through the lawn a 
streamlet sparkled and wandered out beyond the trees, and 
vanished in the sand.

The water trickled among the rocks, and a pleasant breeze 
rustled in the dry date-branches and Perseus laughed for joy, 
and leapt down the cliff, and drank of the cool water, and 
ate of the dates, and slept upon the turf, and leapt up and 
went forward again:  but not toward the north this time; for 
he said, 'Surely Athene hath sent me hither, and will not 
have me go homeward yet.  What if there be another noble deed 
to be done, before I see the sunny hills of Hellas?'

So he went east, and east for ever, by fresh oases and 
fountains, date-palms, and lawns of grass, till he saw before 
him a mighty mountain-wall, all rose-red in the setting sun.

Then he towered in the air like an eagle, for his limbs were 
strong again; and he flew all night across the mountain till 
the day began to dawn, and rosy-fingered Eos came blushing up 
the sky.  And then, behold, beneath him was the long green 
garden of Egypt and the shining stream of Nile.

And he saw cities walled up to heaven, and temples, and 
obelisks, and pyramids, and giant Gods of stone.  And he came 
down amid fields of barley, and flax, and millet, and 
clambering gourds; and saw the people coming out of the gates 
of a great city, and setting to work, each in his place, 
among the water-courses, parting the streams among the plants 
cunningly with their feet, according to the wisdom of the 
Egyptians.  But when they saw him they all stopped their 
work, and gathered round him, and cried -

'Who art thou, fair youth? and what bearest thou beneath thy 
goat-skin there?  Surely thou art one of the Immortals; for 
thy skin is white like ivory, and ours is red like clay.  Thy 
hair is like threads of gold, and ours is black and curled.  
Surely thou art one of the Immortals;' and they would have 
worshipped him then and there; but Perseus said -

'I am not one of the Immortals; but I am a hero of the 
Hellens.  And I have slain the Gorgon in the wilderness, and 
bear her head with me.  Give me food, therefore, that I may 
go forward and finish my work.'

Then they gave him food, and fruit, and wine; but they would 
not let him go.  And when the news came into the city that 
the Gorgon was slain, the priests came out to meet him, and 
the maidens, with songs and dances, and timbrels and harps; 
and they would have brought him to their temple and to their 
king; but Perseus put on the hat of darkness, and vanished 
away out of their sight.

Therefore the Egyptians looked long for his return, but in 
vain, and worshipped him as a hero, and made a statue of him 
in Chemmis, which stood for many a hundred years; and they 
said that he appeared to them at times, with sandals a cubit 
long; and that whenever he appeared the season was fruitful, 
and the Nile rose high that year.

Then Perseus went to the eastward, along the Red Sea shore; 
and then, because he was afraid to go into the Arabian 
deserts, he turned northward once more, and this time no 
storm hindered him.

He went past the Isthmus, and Mount Casius, and the vast 
Serbonian bog, and up the shore of Palestine, where the dark-
faced AEthiops dwelt.

He flew on past pleasant hills and valleys, like Argos 
itself, or Lacedaemon, or the fair Vale of Tempe.  But the 
lowlands were all drowned by floods, and the highlands 
blasted by fire, and the hills heaved like a babbling 
cauldron, before the wrath of King Poseidon, the shaker of 
the earth.

And Perseus feared to go inland, but flew along the shore 
above the sea; and he went on all the day, and the sky was 
black with smoke; and he went on all the night, and the sky 
was red with flame.

And at the dawn of day he looked toward the cliffs; and at 
the water's edge, under a black rock, he saw a white image 
stand.

'This,' thought he, 'must surely be the statue of some sea-
God; I will go near and see what kind of Gods these 
barbarians worship.'

So he came near; but when he came, it was no statue, but a 
maiden of flesh and blood; for he could see her tresses 
streaming in the breeze; and as he came closer still, he 
could see how she shrank and shivered when the waves 
sprinkled her with cold salt spray.  Her arms were spread 
above her head, and fastened to the rock with chains of 
brass; and her head drooped on her bosom, either with sleep, 
or weariness, or grief.  But now and then she looked up and 
wailed, and called her mother; yet she did not see Perseus, 
for the cap of darkness was on his head.

Full of pity and indignation, Perseus drew near and looked 
upon the maid.  Her cheeks were darker than his were, and her 
hair was blue-black like a hyacinth; but Perseus thought, 'I 
have never seen so beautiful a maiden; no, not in all our 
isles.  Surely she is a king's daughter.  Do barbarians treat 
their kings' daughters thus?  She is too fair, at least, to 
have done any wrong I will speak to her.'

And, lifting the hat from his head, he flashed into her 
sight.  She shrieked with terror, and tried to hide her face 
with her hair, for she could not with her hands; but Perseus 
cried -

'Do not fear me, fair one; I am a Hellen, and no barbarian.  
What cruel men have bound you?  But first I will set you 
free.'

And he tore at the fetters, but they were too strong for him; 
while the maiden cried -

'Touch me not; I am accursed, devoted as a victim to the sea-
Gods.  They will slay you, if you dare to set me free.'

'Let them try,' said Perseus; and drawing, Herpe from his 
thigh, he cut through the brass as if it had been flax.

'Now,' he said, 'you belong to me, and not to these sea-Gods, 
whosoever they may be!'  But she only called the more on her 
mother.

'Why call on your mother?  She can be no mother to have left 
you here.  If a bird is dropped out of the nest, it belongs 
to the man who picks it up.  If a jewel is cast by the 
wayside, it is his who dare win it and wear it, as I will win 
you and will wear you.  I know now why Pallas Athene sent me 
hither.  She sent me to gain a prize worth all my toil and 
more.'

And he clasped her in his arms, and cried, 'Where are these 
sea-Gods, cruel and unjust, who doom fair maids to death?  I 
carry the weapons of Immortals.  Let them measure their 
strength against mine!  But tell me, maiden, who you are, and 
what dark fate brought you here.'

And she answered, weeping -

"I am the daughter of Cepheus, King of Iopa, and my mother is 
Cassiopoeia of the beautiful tresses, and they called me 
Andromeda, as long as life was mine.  And I stand bound here, 
hapless that I am, for the sea-monster's food, to atone for 
my mother's sin.  For she boasted of me once that I was 
fairer than Atergatis, Queen of the Fishes; so she in her 
wrath sent the sea-floods, and her brother the Fire King sent 
the earthquakes, and wasted all the land, and after the 
floods a monster bred of the slime, who devours all living 
things.  And now he must devour me, guiltless though I am - 
me who never harmed a living thing, nor saw a fish upon the 
shore but I gave it life, and threw it back into the sea; for 
in our land we eat no fish, for fear of Atergatis their 
queen.  Yet the priests say that nothing but my blood can 
atone for a sin which I never committed.'

But Perseus laughed, and said, 'A sea-monster?  I have fought 
with worse than him:  I would have faced Immortals for your 
sake; how much more a beast of the sea?'

Then Andromeda looked up at him, and new hope was kindled in 
her breast, so proud and fair did he stand, with one hand 
round her, and in the other the glittering sword.  But she 
only sighed, and wept the more, and cried -

'Why will you die, young as you are?  Is there not death and 
sorrow enough in the world already?  It is noble for me to 
die, that I may save the lives of a whole people; but you, 
better than them all, why should I slay you too?  Go you your 
way; I must go mine.'

But Perseus cried, 'Not so; for the Lords of Olympus, whom I 
serve, are the friends of the heroes, and help them on to 
noble deeds.  Led by them, I slew the Gorgon, the beautiful 
horror; and not without them do I come hither, to slay this 
monster with that same Gorgon's head.  Yet hide your eyes 
when I leave you, lest the sight of it freeze you too to 
stone.'

But the maiden answered nothing, for she could not believe 
his words.  And then, suddenly looking up, she pointed to the 
sea, and shrieked -

'There he comes, with the sunrise, as they promised.  I must 
die now.  How shall I endure it?  Oh, go!  Is it not dreadful 
enough to be torn piece-meal, without having you to look on?'  
And she tried to thrust him away.

But he said, 'I go; yet promise me one thing ere I go:  that 
if I slay this beast you will be my wife, and come back with 
me to my kingdom in fruitful Argos, for I am a king's heir.  
Promise me, and seal it with a kiss.'

Then she lifted up her face, and kissed him; and Perseus 
laughed for joy, and flew upward, while Andromeda crouched 
trembling on the rock, waiting for what might befall.

On came the great sea-monster, coasting along like a huge 
black galley, lazily breasting the ripple, and stopping at 
times by creek or headland to watch for the laughter of girls 
at their bleaching, or cattle pawing on the sand-hills, or 
boys bathing on the beach.  His great sides were fringed with 
clustering shells and sea-weeds, and the water gurgled in and 
out of his wide jaws, as he rolled along, dripping and 
glistening in the beams of the morning sun.

At last he saw Andromeda, and shot forward to take his prey, 
while the waves foamed white behind him, and before him the 
fish fled leaping.

Then down from the height of the air fell Perseus like a 
shooting star; down to the crests of the waves, while 
Andromeda hid her face as he shouted; and then there was 
silence for a while.

At last she looked up trembling, and saw Perseus springing 
toward her; and instead of the monster a long black rock, 
with the sea rippling quietly round it.

Who then so proud as Perseus, as he leapt back to the rock, 
and lifted his fair Andromeda in his arms, and flew with her 
to the cliff-top, as a falcon carries a dove?

Who so proud as Perseus, and who so joyful as all the AEthiop 
people?  For they had stood watching the monster from the 
cliffs, wailing for the maiden's fate.  And already a 
messenger had gone to Cepheus and Cassiopoeia, where they sat 
in sackcloth and ashes on the ground, in the innermost palace 
chambers, awaiting their daughter's end.  And they came, and 
all the city with them, to see the wonder, with songs and 
with dances, with cymbals and harps, and received their 
daughter back again, as one alive from the dead.

Then Cepheus said, 'Hero of the Hellens, stay here with me 
and be my son-in-law, and I will give you the half of my 
kingdom.'

'I will be your son-in-law,' said Perseus, 'but of your 
kingdom I will have none, for I long after the pleasant land 
of Greece, and my mother who waits for me at home.'

Then Cepheus said, 'You must not take my daughter away at 
once, for she is to us like one alive from the dead.  Stay 
with us here a year, and after that you shall return with 
honour.'  And Perseus consented; but before he went to the 
palace he bade the people bring stones and wood, and built 
three altars, one to Athene, and one to Hermes, and one to 
Father Zeus, and offered bullocks and rams.

And some said, 'This is a pious man;' yet the priests said, 
'The Sea Queen will be yet more fierce against us, because 
her monster is slain.'  But they were afraid to speak aloud, 
for they feared the Gorgon's head.  So they went up to the 
palace; and when they came in, there stood in the hall 
Phineus, the brother of Cepheus, chafing like a bear robbed 
of her whelps, and with him his sons, and his servants, and 
many an armed man; and he cried to Cepheus -

'You shall not marry your daughter to this stranger, of whom 
no one knows even the name.  Was not Andromeda betrothed to 
my son?  And now she is safe again, has he not a right to 
claim her?'

But Perseus laughed, and answered, 'If your son is in want of 
a bride, let him save a maiden for himself.  As yet he seems 
but a helpless bride-groom.  He left this one to die, and 
dead she is to him.  I saved her alive, and alive she is to 
me, but to no one else.  Ungrateful man! have I not saved 
your land, and the lives of your sons and daughters, and will 
you requite me thus?  Go, or it will be worse for you.'  But 
all the men-at-arms drew their swords, and rushed on him like 
wild beasts.

Then he unveiled the Gorgon's head, and said, 'This has 
delivered my bride from one wild beast:  it shall deliver her 
from many.'  And as he spoke Phineus and all his men-at-arms 
stopped short, and stiffened each man as he stood; and before 
Perseus had drawn the goat-skin over the face again, they 
were all turned into stone.

Then Persons bade the people bring levers and roll them out; 
and what was done with them after that I cannot tell.

So they made a great wedding-feast, which lasted seven whole 
days, and who so happy as Perseus and Andromeda?

But on the eighth night Perseus dreamed a dream; and he saw 
standing beside him Pallas Athene, as he had seen her in 
Seriphos, seven long years before; and she stood and called 
him by name, and said -

'Perseus, you have played the man, and see, you have your 
reward.  Know now that the Gods are just, and help him who 
helps himself.  Now give me here Herpe the sword, and the 
sandals, and the hat of darkness, that I may give them back 
to their owners; but the Gorgon's head you shall keep a 
while, for you will need it in your land of Greece.  Then you 
shall lay it up in my temple at Seriphos, that I may wear it 
on my shield for ever, a terror to the Titans and the 
monsters, and the foes of Gods and men.  And as for this 
land, I have appeased the sea and the fire, and there shall 
be no more floods nor earthquakes.  But let the people build 
altars to Father Zeus, and to me, and worship the Immortals, 
the Lords of heaven and earth.'

And Perseus rose to give her the sword, and the cap, and the 
sandals; but he woke, and his dream vanished away.  And yet 
it was not altogether a dream; for the goat-skin with the 
head was in its place; but the sword, and the cap, and the 
sandals were gone, and Perseus never saw them more.

Then a great awe fell on Perseus; and he went out in the 
morning to the people, and told his dream, and bade them 
build altars to Zeus, the Father of Gods and men, and to 
Athene, who gives wisdom to heroes; and fear no more the 
earthquakes and the floods, but sow and build in peace.  And 
they did so for a while, and prospered; but after Perseus was 
gone they forgot Zeus and Athene, and worshipped again 
Atergatis the queen, and the undying fish of the sacred lake, 
where Deucalion's deluge was swallowed up, and they burnt 
their children before the Fire King, till Zeus was angry with 
that foolish people, and brought a strange nation against 
them out of Egypt, who fought against them and wasted them 
utterly, and dwelt in their cities for many a hundred years.


PART V - HOW PERSEUS CAME HOME AGAIN


AND when a year was ended Perseus hired Phoenicians from 
Tyre, and cut down cedars, and built himself a noble galley; 
and painted its cheeks with vermilion, and pitched its sides 
with pitch; and in it he put Andromeda, and all her dowry of 
jewels, and rich shawls, and spices from the East; and great 
was the weeping when they rowed away.  But the remembrance of 
his brave deed was left behind; and Andromeda's rock was 
shown at Iopa in Palestine till more than a thousand years 
were past.

So Perseus and the Phoenicians rowed to the westward, across 
the sea of Crete, till they came to the blue AEgean and the 
pleasant Isles of Hellas, and Seriphos, his ancient home.

Then he left his galley on the beach, and went up as of old; 
and he embraced his mother, and Dictys his good foster-
father, and they wept over each other a long while, for it 
was seven years and more since they had met.

Then Perseus went out, and up to the hall of Polydectes; and 
underneath the goat-skin he bore the Gorgon's head.

And when he came into the hall, Polydectes sat at the table-
head, and all his nobles and landowners on either side, each 
according to his rank, feasting on the fish and the goat's 
flesh, and drinking the blood-red wine.  The harpers harped, 
and the revellers shouted, and the wine-cups rang merrily as 
they passed from hand to hand, and great was the noise in the 
hall of Polydectes.

Then Persons stood upon the threshold, and called to the king 
by name.  But none of the guests knew Perseus, for he was 
changed by his long journey.  He had gone out a boy, and he 
was come home a hero; his eye shone like an eagle's, and his 
beard was like a lion's beard, and he stood up like a wild 
bull in his pride.

But Polydectes the wicked knew him, and hardened his heart 
still more; and scornfully he called -

'Ah, foundling! have you found it more easy to promise than 
to fulfil?'

'Those whom the Gods help fulfil their promises; and those 
who despise them, reap as they have sown.  Behold the 
Gorgon's head!'

Then Perseus drew back the goat-skin, and held aloft the 
Gorgon's head.

Pale grew Polydectes and his guests as they looked upon that 
dreadful face.  They tried to rise up from their seats:  but 
from their seats they never rose, but stiffened, each man 
where he sat, into a ring of cold gray stones.

Then Perseus turned and left them, and went down to his 
galley in the bay; and he gave the kingdom to good Dictys, 
and sailed away with his mother and his bride.

And Polydectes and his guests sat still, with the wine-cups 
before them on the board, till the rafters crumbled down 
above their heads, and the walls behind their backs, and the 
table crumbled down between them, and the grass sprung up 
about their feet:  but Polydectes and his guests sit on the 
hillside, a ring of gray stones until this day.

But Perseus rowed westward toward Argos, and landed, and went 
up to the town.  And when he came, he found that Acrisius his 
grandfather had fled.  For Proetus his wicked brother had 
made war against him afresh; and had come across the river 
from Tiryns, and conquered Argos, and Acrisius had fled to 
Larissa, in the country of the wild Pelasgi.

Then Perseus called the Argives together, and told them who 
he was, and all the noble deeds which he had done.  And all 
the nobles and the yeomen made him king, for they saw that he 
had a royal heart; and they fought with him against Argos, 
and took it, and killed Proetus, and made the Cyclopes serve 
them, and build them walls round Argos, like the walls which 
they had built at Tiryns; and there were great rejoicings in 
the vale of Argos, because they had got a king from Father 
Zeus.

But Perseus' heart yearned after his grandfather, and he 
said, 'Surely he is my flesh and blood, and he will love me 
now that I am come home with honour:  I will go and find him, 
and bring him home, and we will reign together in peace.'

So Perseus sailed away with his Phoenicians, round Hydrea and 
Sunium, past Marathon and the Attic shore, and through 
Euripus, and up the long Euboean sea, till he came to the 
town of Larissa, where the wild Pelasgi dwelt.

And when he came there, all the people were in the fields, 
and there was feasting, and all kinds of games; for 
Teutamenes their king wished to honour Acrisius, because he 
was the king of a mighty land.

So Perseus did not tell his name, but went up to the games 
unknown; for he said, 'If I carry away the prize in the 
games, my grandfather's heart will be softened toward me.'

So he threw off his helmet, and his cuirass, and all his 
clothes, and stood among the youths of Larissa, while all 
wondered at him, and said, 'Who is this young stranger, who 
stands like a wild bull in his pride?  Surely he is one of 
the heroes, the sons of the Immortals, from Olympus.'

And when the games began, they wondered yet more; for Perseus 
was the best man of all at running, and leaping, and 
wrestling and throwing the javelin; and he won four crowns, 
and took them, and then he said to himself, 'There is a fifth 
crown yet to be won:  I will win that, and lay them all upon 
the knees of my grandfather.'

And as he spoke, he saw where Acrisius sat, by the side of 
Teutamenes the king, with his white beard flowing down upon 
his knees, and his royal staff in his hand; and Perseus wept 
when he looked at him, for his heart yearned after his kin; 
and he said, 'Surely he is a kingly old man, yet he need not 
be ashamed of his grandson.'

Then he took the quoits, and hurled them, five fathoms beyond 
all the rest; and the people shouted, 'Further yet, brave 
stranger!  There has never been such a hurler in this land.'

Then Perseus put out all his strength, and hurled.  But a 
gust of wind came from the sea, and carried the quoit aside, 
and far beyond all the rest; and it fell on the foot of 
Acrisius, and he swooned away with the pain.

Perseus shrieked, and ran up to him; but when they lifted the 
old man up he was dead, for his life was slow and feeble.

Then Perseus rent his clothes, and cast dust upon his head, 
and wept a long while for his grandfather.  At last he rose, 
and called to all the people aloud, and said -

'The Gods are true, and what they have ordained must be.  I 
am Perseus, the grandson of this dead man, the far-famed 
slayer of the Gorgon.'

Then he told them how the prophecy had declared that he 
should kill his grandfather, and all the story of his life.

So they made a great mourning for Acrisius, and burnt him on 
a right rich pile; and Perseus went to the temple, and was 
purified from the guilt of the death, because he had done it 
unknowingly.

Then he went home to Argos, and reigned there well with fair 
Andromeda; and they had four sons and three daughters, and 
died in a good old age.

And when they died, the ancients say, Athene took them up 
into the sky, with Cepheus and Cassiopoeia.  And there on 
starlight nights you may see them shining still; Cepheus with 
his kingly crown, and Cassiopoeia in her ivory chair, 
plaiting her star-spangled tresses, and Perseus with the 
Gorgon's head, and fair Andromeda beside him, spreading her 
long white arms across the heaven, as she stood when chained 
to the stone for the monster.

All night long, they shine, for a beacon to wandering 
sailors; but all day they feast with the Gods, on the still 
blue peaks of Olympus.



STORY II. - THE ARGONAUTS



PART I - HOW THE CENTAUR TRAINED THE HEROES ON PELION



I HAVE told you of a hero who fought with wild beasts and 
with wild men; but now I have a tale of heroes who sailed 
away into a distant land, to win themselves renown for ever, 
in the adventure of the Golden Fleece.

Whither they sailed, my children, I cannot clearly tell.  It 
all happened long ago; so long that it has all grown dim, 
like a dream which you dreamt last year.  And why they went I 
cannot tell:  some say that it was to win gold.  It may be 
so; but the noblest deeds which have been done on earth have 
not been done for gold.  It was not for the sake of gold that 
the Lord came down and died, and the Apostles went out to 
preach the good news in all lands.  The Spartans looked for 
no reward in money when they fought and died at Thermopylae; 
and Socrates the wise asked no pay from his countrymen, but 
lived poor and barefoot all his days, only caring to make men 
good.  And there are heroes in our days also, who do noble 
deeds, but not for gold.  Our discoverers did not go to make 
themselves rich when they sailed out one after another into 
the dreary frozen seas; nor did the ladies who went out last 
year to drudge in the hospitals of the East, making 
themselves poor, that they might be rich in noble works.  And 
young men, too, whom you know, children, and some of them of 
your own kin, did they say to themselves, 'How much money 
shall I earn?' when they went out to the war, leaving wealth, 
and comfort, and a pleasant home, and all that money can 
give, to face hunger and thirst, and wounds and death, that 
they might fight for their country and their Queen?  No, 
children, there is a better thing on earth than wealth, a 
better thing than life itself; and that is, to have done 
something before you die, for which good men may honour you, 
and God your Father smile upon your work.

Therefore we will believe - why should we not? - of these 
same Argonauts of old, that they too were noble men, who 
planned and did a noble deed; and that therefore their fame 
has lived, and been told in story and in song, mixed up, no 
doubt, with dreams and fables, and yet true and right at 
heart.  So we will honour these old Argonauts, and listen to 
their story as it stands; and we will try to be like them, 
each of us in our place; for each of us has a Golden Fleece 
to seek, and a wild sea to sail over ere we reach it, and 
dragons to fight ere it be ours.


And what was that first Golden Fleece?  I do not know, nor 
care.  The old Hellens said that it hung in Colchis, which we 
call the Circassian coast, nailed to a beech-tree in the war-
God's wood; and that it was the fleece of the wondrous ram 
who bore Phrixus and Helle across the Euxine sea.  For 
Phrixus and Helle were the children of the cloud-nymph, and 
of Athamas the Minuan king.  And when a famine came upon the 
land, their cruel step-mother Ino wished to kill them, that 
her own children might reign, and said that they must be 
sacrificed on an altar, to turn away the anger of the Gods.  
So the poor children were brought to the altar, and the 
priest stood ready with his knife, when out of the clouds 
came the Golden Ram, and took them on his back, and vanished.  
Then madness came upon that foolish king, Athamas, and ruin 
upon Ino and her children.  For Athamas killed one of them in 
his fury, and Ino fled from him with the other in her arms, 
and leaped from a cliff into the sea, and was changed into a 
dolphin, such as you have seen, which wanders over the waves 
for ever sighing, with its little one clasped to its breast.

But the people drove out King Athamas, because he had killed 
his child; and he roamed about in his misery, till he came to 
the Oracle in Delphi.  And the Oracle told him that he must 
wander for his sin, till the wild beasts should feast him as 
their guest.  So he went on in hunger and sorrow for many a 
weary day, till he saw a pack of wolves.  The wolves were 
tearing a sheep; but when they saw Athamas they fled, and 
left the sheep for him, and he ate of it; and then he knew 
that the oracle was fulfilled at last.  So he wandered no 
more; but settled, and built a town, and became a king again.

But the ram carried the two children far away over land and 
sea, till he came to the Thracian Chersonese, and there Helle 
fell into the sea.  So those narrow straits are called 
'Hellespont,' after her; and they bear that name until this 
day.

Then the ram flew on with Phrixus to the north-east across 
the sea which we call the Black Sea now; but the Hellens call 
it Euxine.  And at last, they say, he stopped at Colchis, on 
the steep Circassian coast; and there Phrixus married 
Chalciope, the daughter of Aietes the king; and offered the 
ram in sacrifice; and Aietes nailed the ram's fleece to a 
beech, in the grove of Ares the war-God.

And after awhile Phrixus died, and was buried, but his spirit 
had no rest; for he was buried far from his native land, and 
the pleasant hills of Hellas.  So he came in dreams to the 
heroes of the Minuai, and called sadly by their beds, 'Come 
and set my spirit free, that I may go home to my fathers and 
to my kinsfolk, and the pleasant Minuan land.'

And they asked, 'How shall we set your spirit free?'

'You must sail over the sea to Colchis, and bring home the 
golden fleece; and then my spirit will come back with it, and 
I shall sleep with my fathers and have rest.'

He came thus, and called to them often; but when they woke 
they looked at each other, and said, 'Who dare sail to 
Colchis, or bring home the golden fleece?'  And in all the 
country none was brave enough to try it; for the man and the 
time were not come.

Phrixus had a cousin called AEson, who was king in Iolcos by 
the sea.  There he ruled over the rich Minuan heroes, as 
Athamas his uncle ruled in Boeotia; and, like Athamas, he was 
an unhappy man.  For he had a step-brother named Pelias, of 
whom some said that he was a nymph's son, and there were dark 
and sad tales about his birth.  When he was a babe he was 
cast out on the mountains, and a wild mare came by and kicked 
him.  But a shepherd passing found the baby, with its face 
all blackened by the blow; and took him home, and called him 
Pelias, because his face was bruised and black.  And he grew 
up fierce and lawless, and did many a fearful deed; and at 
last he drove out AEson his step-brother, and then his own 
brother Neleus, and took the kingdom to himself, and ruled 
over the rich Minuan heroes, in Iolcos by the sea.

And AEson, when he was driven out, went sadly away out of the 
town, leading his little son by the hand; and he said to 
himself, 'I must hide the child in the mountains; or Pelias 
will surely kill him, because he is the heir.'

So he went up from the sea across the valley, through the 
vineyards and the olive groves, and across the torrent of 
Anauros, toward Pelion the ancient mountain, whose brows are 
white with snow.

He went up and up into the mountain, over marsh, and crag, 
and down, till the boy was tired and footsore, and AEson had 
to bear him in his arms, till he came to the mouth of a 
lonely cave, at the foot of a mighty cliff.

Above the cliff the snow-wreaths hung, dripping and cracking 
in the sun; but at its foot around the cave's mouth grew all 
fair flowers and herbs, as if in a garden, ranged in order, 
each sort by itself.  There they grew gaily in the sunshine, 
and the spray of the torrent from above; while from the cave 
came the sound of music, and a man's voice singing to the 
harp.

Then AEson put down the lad, and whispered -

'Fear not, but go in, and whomsoever you shall find, lay your 
hands upon his knees, and say, "In the name of Zeus, the 
father of Gods and men, I am your guest from this day 
forth."'

Then the lad went in without trembling, for he too was a 
hero's son; but when he was within, he stopped in wonder to 
listen to that magic song.

And there he saw the singer lying upon bear-skins and 
fragrant boughs:  Cheiron, the ancient centaur, the wisest of 
all things beneath the sky.  Down to the waist he was a man, 
but below he was a noble horse; his white hair rolled down 
over his broad shoulders, and his white beard over his broad 
brown chest; and his eyes were wise and mild, and his 
forehead like a mountain-wall.

And in his hands he held a harp of gold, and struck it with a 
golden key; and as he struck, he sang till his eyes 
glittered, and filled all the cave with light.

And he sang of the birth of Time, and of the heavens and the 
dancing stars; and of the ocean, and the ether, and the fire, 
and the shaping of the wondrous earth.  And he sang of the 
treasures of the hills, and the hidden jewels of the mine, 
and the veins of fire and metal, and the virtues of all 
healing herbs, and of the speech of birds, and of prophecy, 
and of hidden things to come.

Then he sang of health, and strength, and manhood, and a 
valiant heart; and of music, and hunting, and wrestling, and 
all the games which heroes love:  and of travel, and wars, 
and sieges, and a noble death in fight; and then he sang of 
peace and plenty, and of equal justice in the land; and as he 
sang the boy listened wide-eyed, and forgot his errand in the 
song.

And at the last old Cheiron was silent, and called the lad 
with a soft voice.

And the lad ran trembling to him, and would have laid his 
hands upon his knees; but Cheiron smiled, and said, 'Call 
hither your father AEson, for I know you, and all that has 
befallen, and saw you both afar in the valley, even before 
you left the town.'

Then AEson came in sadly, and Cheiron asked him, 'Why camest 
you not yourself to me, AEson the AEolid?'

And AEson said -

'I thought, Cheiron will pity the lad if he sees him come 
alone; and I wished to try whether he was fearless, and dare 
venture like a hero's son.  But now I entreat you by Father 
Zeus, let the boy be your guest till better times, and train 
him among the sons of the heroes, that he may avenge his 
father's house.'

Then Cheiron smiled, and drew the lad to him, and laid his 
hand upon his golden locks, and said, 'Are you afraid of my 
horse's hoofs, fair boy, or will you be my pupil from this 
day?'

'I would gladly have horse's hoofs like you, if I could sing 
such songs as yours.'

And Cheiron laughed, and said, 'Sit here by me till sundown, 
when your playfellows will come home, and you shall learn 
like them to be a king, worthy to rule over gallant men.'

Then he turned to AEson, and said, 'Go back in peace, and 
bend before the storm like a prudent man.  This boy shall not 
cross the Anauros again, till he has become a glory to you 
and to the house of AEolus.'

And AEson wept over his son and went away; but the boy did 
not weep, so full was his fancy of that strange cave, and the 
centaur, and his song, and the playfellows whom he was to 
see.

Then Cheiron put the lyre into his hands, and taught him how 
to play it, till the sun sank low behind the cliff, and a 
shout was heard outside.

And then in came the sons of the heroes, AEneas, and 
Heracles, and Peleus, and many another mighty name.

And great Cheiron leapt up joyfully, and his hoofs made the 
cave resound, as they shouted, 'Come out, Father Cheiron; 
come out and see our game.'  And one cried, 'I have killed 
two deer;' and another, 'I took a wild cat among the crags;' 
and Heracles dragged a wild goat after him by its horns, for 
he was as huge as a mountain crag; and Coeneus carried a 
bear-cub under each arm, and laughed when they scratched and 
bit, for neither tooth nor steel could wound him.

And Cheiron praised them all, each according to his deserts.

Only one walked apart and silent, Asclepius, the too-wise 
child, with his bosom full of herbs and flowers, and round 
his wrist a spotted snake; he came with downcast eyes to 
Cheiron, and whispered how he had watched the snake cast its 
old skin, and grow young again before his eyes, and how he 
had gone down into a village in the vale, and cured a dying 
man with a herb which he had seen a sick goat eat.

And Cheiron smiled, and said, 'To each Athene and Apollo give 
some gift, and each is worthy in his place; but to this child 
they have given an honour beyond all honours, to cure while 
others kill.'

Then the lads brought in wood, and split it, and lighted a 
blazing fire; and others skinned the deer and quartered them, 
and set them to roast before the fire; and while the venison 
was cooking they bathed in the snow-torrent, and washed away 
the dust and sweat.

And then all ate till they could eat no more (for they had 
tasted nothing since the dawn), and drank of the clear spring 
water, for wine is not fit for growing lads.  And when the 
remnants were put away, they all lay down upon the skins and 
leaves about the fire, and each took the lyre in turn, and 
sang and played with all his heart.

And after a while they all went out to a plot of grass at the 
cave's mouth, and there they boxed, and ran, and wrestled, 
and laughed till the stones fell from the cliffs.

Then Cheiron took his lyre, and all the lads joined hands; 
and as be played, they danced to his measure, in and out, and 
round and round.  There they danced hand in hand, till the 
night fell over land and sea, while the black glen shone with 
their broad white limbs and the gleam of their golden hair.

And the lad danced with them, delighted, and then slept a 
wholesome sleep, upon fragrant leaves of bay, and myrtle, and 
marjoram, and flowers of thyme; and rose at the dawn, and 
bathed in the torrent, and became a schoolfellow to the 
heroes' sons, and forgot Iolcos, and his father, and all his 
former life.  But he grew strong, and brave and cunning, upon 
the pleasant downs of Pelion, in the keen hungry mountain 
air.  And he learnt to wrestle, and to box, and to hunt, and 
to play upon the harp; and next he learnt to ride, for old 
Cheiron used to mount him on his back; and he learnt the 
virtues of all herbs and how to cure all wounds; and Cheiron 
called him Jason the healer, and that is his name until this 
day.


PART II - HOW JASON LOST HIS SANDAL IN ANAUROS


AND ten years came and went, and Jason was grown to be a 
mighty man.  Some of his fellows were gone, and some were 
growing up by his side.  Asclepius was gone into Peloponnese 
to work his wondrous cures on men; and some say he used to 
raise the dead to life.  And Heracles was gone to Thebes to 
fulfil those famous labours which have become a proverb among 
men.  And Peleus had married a sea-nymph, and his wedding is 
famous to this day.  And AEneas was gone home to Troy, and 
many a noble tale you will read of him, and of all the other 
gallant heroes, the scholars of Cheiron the just.  And it 
happened on a day that Jason stood on the mountain, and 
looked north and south and east and west; and Cheiron stood 
by him and watched him, for he knew that the time was come.

And Jason looked and saw the plains of Thessaly, where the 
Lapithai breed their horses; and the lake of Boibe, and the 
stream which runs northward to Peneus and Tempe; and he 
looked north, and saw the mountain wall which guards the 
Magnesian shore; Olympus, the seat of the Immortals, and 
Ossa, and Pelion, where he stood. Then he looked east and saw 
the bright blue sea, which stretched away for ever toward the 
dawn.  Then he looked south, and saw a pleasant land, with 
white-walled towns and farms, nestling along the shore of a 
land-locked bay, while the smoke rose blue among the trees; 
and he knew it for the bay of Pagasai, and the rich lowlands 
of Haemonia, and Iolcos by the sea.

Then he sighed, and asked, 'Is it true what the heroes tell 
me - that I am heir of that fair land?'

'And what good would it be to you, Jason, if you were heir of 
that fair land?'

'I would take it and keep it.'

'A strong man has taken it and kept it long.  Are you 
stronger than Pelias the terrible?'

'I can try my strength with his,' said Jason; but Cheiron 
sighed, and said -

'You have many a danger to go through before you rule in 
Iolcos by the sea:  many a danger and many a woe; and strange 
troubles in strange lands, such as man never saw before.'

'The happier I,' said Jason, 'to see what man never saw 
before.'

And Cheiron sighed again, and said, 'The eaglet must leave 
the nest when it is fledged.  Will you go to Iolcos by the 
sea?  Then promise me two things before you go.'

Jason promised, and Cheiron answered, 'Speak harshly to no 
soul whom you may meet, and stand by the word which you shall 
speak.'

Jason wondered why Cheiron asked this of him; but he knew 
that the Centaur was a prophet, and saw things long before 
they came.  So he promised, and leapt down the mountain, to 
take his fortune like a man.

He went down through the arbutus thickets, and across the 
downs of thyme, till he came to the vineyard walls, and the 
pomegranates and the olives in the glen; and among the olives 
roared Anauros, all foaming with a summer flood.

And on the bank of Anauros sat a woman, all wrinkled, gray, 
and old; her head shook palsied on her breast, and her hands 
shook palsied on her knees; and when she saw Jason, she spoke 
whining, 'Who will carry me across the flood?'

Jason was bold and hasty, and was just going to leap into the 
flood:  and yet he thought twice before he leapt, so loud 
roared the torrent down, all brown from the mountain rains, 
and silver-veined with melting snow; while underneath he 
could hear the boulders rumbling like the tramp of horsemen 
or the roll of wheels, as they ground along the narrow 
channel, and shook the rocks on which he stood.

But the old woman whined all the more, 'I am weak and old, 
fair youth.  For Hera's sake, carry me over the torrent.'

And Jason was going to answer her scornfully, when Cheiron's 
words came to his mind.

So he said, 'For Hera's sake, the Queen of the Immortals on 
Olympus, I will carry you over the torrent, unless we both 
are drowned midway.'

Then the old dame leapt upon his back, as nimbly as a goat; 
and Jason staggered in, wondering; and the first step was up 
to his knees.

The first step was up to his knees, and the second step was 
up to his waist; and the stones rolled about his feet, and 
his feet slipped about the stones; so he went on staggering, 
and panting, while the old woman cried from off his back -

'Fool, you have wet my mantle!  Do you make game of poor old 
souls like me?'

Jason had half a mind to drop her, and let her get through 
the torrent by herself; but Cheiron's words were in his mind, 
and he said only, 'Patience, mother; the best horse may 
stumble some day.'

At last he staggered to the shore, and set her down upon the 
bank; and a strong man he needed to have been, or that wild 
water he never would have crossed.

He lay panting awhile upon the bank, and then leapt up to go 
upon his journey; but he cast one look at the old woman, for 
he thought, 'She should thank me once at least.'

And as he looked, she grew fairer than all women, and taller 
than all men on earth; and her garments shone like the summer 
sea, and her jewels like the stars of heaven; and over her 
forehead was a veil woven of the golden clouds of sunset; and 
through the veil she looked down on him, with great soft 
heifer's eyes; with great eyes, mild and awful, which filled 
all the glen with light.

And Jason fell upon his knees, and hid his face between his 
hands.

And she spoke, 'I am the Queen of Olympus, Hera the wife of 
Zeus.  As thou hast done to me, so will I do to thee.  Call 
on me in the hour of need, and try if the Immortals can 
forget.'

And when Jason looked up, she rose from off the earth, like a 
pillar of tall white cloud, and floated away across the 
mountain peaks, toward Olympus the holy hill.

Then a great fear fell on Jason:  but after a while he grew 
light of heart; and he blessed old Cheiron, and said, 'Surely 
the Centaur is a prophet, and guessed what would come to 
pass, when he bade me speak harshly to no soul whom I might 
meet.'

Then he went down toward Iolcos; and as he walked he found 
that he had lost one of his sandals in the flood.

And as he went through the streets, the people came out to 
look at him, so tall and fair was he; but some of the elders 
whispered together; and at last one of them stopped Jason, 
and called to him, 'Fair lad, who are you, and whence come 
you; and what is your errand in the town?'

'My name, good father, is Jason, and I come from Pelion up 
above; and my errand is to Pelias your king; tell me then 
where his palace is.'

But the old man started, and grew pale, and said, 'Do you not 
know the oracle, my son, that you go so boldly through the 
town with but one sandal on?'

'I am a stranger here, and know of no oracle; but what of my 
one sandal?  I lost the other in Anauros, while I was 
struggling with the flood.'

Then the old man looked back to his companions; and one 
sighed, and another smiled; at last he said, 'I will tell 
you, lest you rush upon your ruin unawares.  The oracle in 
Delphi has said that a man wearing one sandal should take the 
kingdom from Pelias, and keep it for himself.  Therefore 
beware how you go up to his palace, for he is the fiercest 
and most cunning of all kings.'

Then Jason laughed a great laugh, like a war-horse in his 
pride.  'Good news, good father, both for you and me.  For 
that very end I came into the town.'

Then he strode on toward the palace of Pelias, while all the 
people wondered at his bearing.

And he stood in the doorway and cried, 'Come out, come out, 
Pelias the valiant, and fight for your kingdom like a man.'

Pelias came out wondering, and 'Who are you, bold youth?' he 
cried.

'I am Jason, the son of AEson, the heir of all this land.'

Then Pelias lifted up his hands and eyes, and wept, or seemed 
to weep; and blessed the heavens which had brought his nephew 
to him, never to leave him more.  'For,' said he, 'I have but 
three daughters, and no son to be my heir.  You shall be my 
heir then, and rule the kingdom after me, and marry 
whichsoever of my daughters you shall choose; though a sad 
kingdom you will find it, and whosoever rules it a miserable 
man.  But come in, come in, and feast.'

So he drew Jason in, whether he would or not, and spoke to 
him so lovingly and feasted him so well, that Jason's anger 
passed; and after supper his three cousins came into the 
hall, and Jason thought that he should like well enough to 
have one of them for his wife.

But at last he said to Pelias, 'Why do you look so sad, my 
uncle?  And what did you mean just now when you said that 
this was a doleful kingdom, and its ruler a miserable man?'

Then Pelias sighed heavily again and again and again, like a 
man who had to tell some dreadful story, and was afraid to 
begin; but at last -

'For seven long years and more have I never known a quiet 
night; and no more will he who comes after me, till the 
golden fleece be brought home.'

Then he told Jason the story of Phrixus, and of the golden 
fleece; and told him, too, which was a lie, that Phrixus' 
spirit tormented him, calling to him day and night.  And his 
daughters came, and told the same tale (for their father had 
taught them their parts), and wept, and said, 'Oh who will 
bring home the golden fleece, that our uncle's spirit may 
rest; and that we may have rest also, whom he never lets 
sleep in peace?'

Jason sat awhile, sad and silent; for he had often heard of 
that golden fleece; but he looked on it as a thing hopeless 
and impossible for any mortal man to win it.

But when Pelias saw him silent, he began to talk of other 
things, and courted Jason more and more, speaking to him as 
if he was certain to be his heir, and asking his advice about 
the kingdom; till Jason, who was young and simple, could not 
help saying to himself, 'Surely he is not the dark man whom 
people call him.  Yet why did he drive my father out?'  And 
he asked Pelias boldly, 'Men say that you are terrible, and a 
man of blood; but I find you a kind and hospitable man; and 
as you are to me, so will I be to you.  Yet why did you drive 
my father out?'

Pelias smiled, and sighed.  'Men have slandered me in that, 
as in all things.  Your father was growing old and weary, and 
he gave the kingdom up to me of his own will.  You shall see 
him to-morrow, and ask him; and he will tell you the same.'

Jason's heart leapt in him when he heard that he was to see 
his father; and he believed all that Pelias said, forgetting 
that his father might not dare to tell the truth.

'One thing more there is,' said Pelias, 'on which I need your 
advice; for, though you are young, I see in you a wisdom 
beyond your years.  There is one neighbour of mine, whom I 
dread more than all men on earth.  I am stronger than he now, 
and can command him; but I know that if he stay among us, he 
will work my ruin in the end.  Can you give me a plan, Jason, 
by which I can rid myself of that man?'

After awhile Jason answered, half laughing, 'Were I you, I 
would send him to fetch that same golden fleece; for if he 
once set forth after it you would never be troubled with him 
more.'

And at that a bitter smile came across Pelias' lips, and a 
flash of wicked joy into his eyes; and Jason saw it, and 
started; and over his mind came the warning of the old man, 
and his own one sandal, and the oracle, and he saw that he 
was taken in a trap.

But Pelias only answered gently, 'My son, he shall be sent 
forthwith.'

'You mean me?' cried Jason, starting up, 'because I came here 
with one sandal?'  And he lifted his fist angrily, while 
Pelias stood up to him like a wolf at bay; and whether of the 
two was the stronger and the fiercer it would be hard to 
tell.

But after a moment Pelias spoke gently, 'Why then so rash, my 
son?  You, and not I, have said what is said; why blame me 
for what I have not done?  Had you bid me love the man of 
whom I spoke, and make him my son-in-law and heir, I would 
have obeyed you; and what if I obey you now, and send the man 
to win himself immortal fame?  I have not harmed you, or him.  
One thing at least I know, that he will go, and that gladly; 
for he has a hero's heart within him, loving glory, and 
scorning to break the word which he has given.'

Jason saw that he was entrapped; but his second promise to 
Cheiron came into his mind, and he thought, 'What if the 
Centaur were a prophet in that also, and meant that I should 
win the fleece!'  Then he cried aloud -

'You have well spoken, cunning uncle of mine!  I love glory, 
and I dare keep to my word.  I will go and fetch this golden 
fleece.  Promise me but this in return, and keep your word as 
I keep mine.  Treat my father lovingly while I am gone, for 
the sake of the all-seeing Zeus; and give me up the kingdom 
for my own on the day that I bring back the golden fleece.'

Then Pelias looked at him and almost loved him, in the midst 
of all his hate; and said, 'I promise, and I will perform.  
It will be no shame to give up my kingdom to the man who wins 
that fleece.'  Then they swore a great oath between them; and 
afterwards both went in, and lay down to sleep.

But Jason could not sleep for thinking of his mighty oath, 
and how he was to fulfil it, all alone, and without wealth or 
friends.  So he tossed a long time upon his bed, and thought 
of this plan and of that; and sometimes Phrixus seemed to 
call him, in a thin voice, faint and low, as if it came from 
far across the sea, 'Let me come home to my fathers and have 
rest.'  And sometimes he seemed to see the eyes of Hera, and 
to hear her words again - 'Call on me in the hour of need, 
and see if the Immortals can forget.'

And on the morrow he went to Pelias, and said, 'Give me a 
victim, that I may sacrifice to Hera.'  So he went up, and 
offered his sacrifice; and as he stood by the altar Hera sent 
a thought into his mind; and he went back to Pelias, and said 
-

'If you are indeed in earnest, give me two heralds, that they 
may go round to all the princes of the Minuai, who were 
pupils of the Centaur with me, that we may fit out a ship 
together, and take what shall befall.'

At that Pelias praised his wisdom, and hastened to send the 
heralds out; for he said in his heart, 'Let all the princes 
go with him, and, like him, never return; for so I shall be 
lord of all the Minuai, and the greatest king in Hellas.'


PART III - HOW THEY BUILT THE SHIP 'ARGO' IN IOLCOS


SO the heralds went out, and cried to all the heroes of the 
Minuai, 'Who dare come to the adventure of the golden 
fleece?'

And Hera stirred the hearts of all the princes, and they came 
from all their valleys to the yellow sands of Pagasai.  And 
first came Heracles the mighty, with his lion's skin and 
club, and behind him Hylas his young squire, who bore his 
arrows and his bow; and Tiphys, the skilful steersman; and 
Butes, the fairest of all men; and Castor and Polydeuces the 
twins, the sons of the magic swan; and Caeneus, the strongest 
of mortals, whom the Centaurs tried in vain to kill, and 
overwhelmed him with trunks of pine-trees, but even so he 
would not die; and thither came Zetes and Calais, the winged 
sons of the north wind; and Peleus, the father of Achilles, 
whose bride was silver-footed Thetis, the goddess of the sea.  
And thither came Telamon and Oileus, the fathers of the two 
Aiantes, who fought upon the plains of Troy; and Mopsus, the 
wise soothsayer, who knew the speech of birds; and Idmon, to 
whom Phoebus gave a tongue to prophesy of things to come; and 
Ancaios, who could read the stars, and knew all the circles 
of the heavens; and Argus, the famed shipbuilder, and many a 
hero more, in helmets of brass and gold with tall dyed horse-
hair crests, and embroidered shirts of linen beneath their 
coats of mail, and greaves of polished tin to guard their 
knees in fight; with each man his shield upon his shoulder, 
of many a fold of tough bull's hide, and his sword of 
tempered bronze in his silver-studded belt; and in his right 
hand a pair of lances, of the heavy white ash-staves.

So they came down to Iolcos, and all the city came out to 
meet them, and were never tired with looking at their height, 
and their beauty, and their gallant bearing and the glitter 
of their inlaid arms.  And some said, 'Never was such a 
gathering of the heroes since the Hellens conquered the 
land.'  But the women sighed over them, and whispered, 'Alas! 
they are all going to their death!'

Then they felled the pines on Pelion, and shaped them with 
the axe, and Argus taught them to build a galley, the first 
long ship which ever sailed the seas.  They pierced her for 
fifty oars - an oar for each hero of the crew - and pitched 
her with coal-black pitch, and painted her bows with 
vermilion; and they named her ARGO after Argus, and worked at 
her all day long.  And at night Pelias feasted them like a 
king, and they slept in his palace-porch.

But Jason went away to the northward, and into the land of 
Thrace, till he found Orpheus, the prince of minstrels, where 
he dwelt in his cave under Rhodope, among the savage Cicon 
tribes.  And he asked him, 'Will you leave your mountains, 
Orpheus, my fellow-scholar in old times, and cross Strymon 
once more with me, to sail with the heroes of the Minuai, and 
bring home the golden fleece, and charm for us all men and 
all monsters with your magic harp and song?'

Then Orpheus sighed, 'Have I not had enough of toil and of 
weary wandering, far and wide since I lived in Cheiron's 
cave, above Iolcos by the sea?  In vain is the skill and the 
voice which my goddess mother gave me; in vain have I sung 
and laboured; in vain I went down to the dead, and charmed 
all the kings of Hades, to win back Eurydice my bride.  For I 
won her, my beloved, and lost her again the same day, and 
wandered away in my madness, even to Egypt and the Libyan 
sands, and the isles of all the seas, driven on by the 
terrible gadfly, while I charmed in vain the hearts of men, 
and the savage forest beasts, and the trees, and the lifeless 
stones, with my magic harp and song, giving rest, but finding 
none.  But at last Calliope my mother delivered me, and 
brought me home in peace; and I dwell here in the cave alone, 
among the savage Cicon tribes, softening their wild hearts 
with music and the gentle laws of Zeus.  And now I must go 
out again, to the ends of all the earth, far away into the 
misty darkness, to the last wave of the Eastern Sea.  But 
what is doomed must be, and a friend's demand obeyed; for 
prayers are the daughters of Zeus, and who honours them 
honours him.'

Then Orpheus rose up sighing, and took his harp, and went 
over Strymon.  And he led Jason to the south-west, up the 
banks of Haliacmon and over the spurs of Pindus, to Dodona 
the town of Zeus, where it stood by the side of the sacred 
lake, and the fountain which breathed out fire, in the 
darkness of the ancient oakwood, beneath the mountain of the 
hundred springs.  And he led him to the holy oak, where the 
black dove settled in old times, and was changed into the 
priestess of Zeus, and gave oracles to all nations round.  
And he bade him cut down a bough, and sacrifice to Hera and 
to Zeus; and they took the bough and came to Iolcos, and 
nailed it to the beak-head of the ship.

And at last the ship was finished, and they tried to launch 
her down the beach; but she was too heavy for them to move 
her, and her keel sank deep into the sand.  Then all the 
heroes looked at each other blushing; but Jason spoke, and 
said, 'Let us ask the magic bough; perhaps it can help us in 
our need.'

Then a voice came from the bough, and Jason heard the words 
it said, and bade Orpheus play upon the harp, while the 
heroes waited round, holding the pine-trunk rollers, to help 
her toward the sea.

Then Orpheus took his harp, and began his magic song - 'How 
sweet it is to ride upon the surges, and to leap from wave to 
wave, while the wind sings cheerful in the cordage, and the 
oars flash fast among the foam!  How sweet it is to roam 
across the ocean, and see new towns and wondrous lands, and 
to come home laden with treasure, and to win undying fame!'

And the good ship ARGO heard him, and longed to be away and 
out at sea; till she stirred in every timber, and heaved from 
stem to stern, and leapt up from the sand upon the rollers, 
and plunged onward like a gallant horse; and the heroes fed 
her path with pine-trunks, till she rushed into the 
whispering sea.

Then they stored her well with food and water, and pulled the 
ladder up on board, and settled themselves each man to his 
oar, and kept time to Orpheus' harp; and away across the bay 
they rowed southward, while the people lined the cliffs; and 
the women wept, while the men shouted, at the starting of 
that gallant crew.


PART IV - HOW THE ARGONAUTS SAILED TO COLCHIS


AND what happened next, my children, whether it be true or 
not, stands written in ancient songs, which you shall read 
for yourselves some day.  And grand old songs they are, 
written in grand old rolling verse; and they call them the 
Songs of Orpheus, or the Orphics, to this day.  And they tell 
how the heroes came to Aphetai, across the bay, and waited 
for the south-west wind, and chose themselves a captain from 
their crew:  and how all called for Heracles, because he was 
the strongest and most huge; but Heracles refused, and called 
for Jason, because he was the wisest of them all.  So Jason 
was chosen captain; and Orpheus heaped a pile of wood, and 
slew a bull, and offered it to Hera, and called all the 
heroes to stand round, each man's head crowned with olive, 
and to strike their swords into the bull.  Then he filled a 
golden goblet with the bull's blood, and with wheaten flour, 
and honey, and wine, and the bitter salt-sea water, and bade 
the heroes taste.  So each tasted the goblet, and passed it 
round, and vowed an awful vow:  and they vowed before the 
sun, and the night, and the blue-haired sea who shakes the 
land, to stand by Jason faithfully in the adventure of the 
golden fleece; and whosoever shrank back, or disobeyed, or 
turned traitor to his vow, then justice should minister 
against him, and the Erinnues who track guilty men.

Then Jason lighted the pile, and burnt the carcase of the 
bull; and they went to their ship and sailed eastward, like 
men who have a work to do; and the place from which they went 
was called Aphetai, the sailing-place, from that day forth.  
Three thousand years and more they sailed away, into the 
unknown Eastern seas; and great nations have come and gone 
since then, and many a storm has swept the earth; and many a 
mighty armament, to which ARGO would be but one small boat; 
English and French, Turkish and Russian, have sailed those 
waters since; yet the fame of that small ARGO lives for ever, 
and her name is become a proverb among men.

So they sailed past the Isle of Sciathos, with the Cape of 
Sepius on their left, and turned to the northward toward 
Pelion, up the long Magnesian shore.  On their right hand was 
the open sea, and on their left old Pelion rose, while the 
clouds crawled round his dark pine-forests, and his caps of 
summer snow.  And their hearts yearned for the dear old 
mountain, as they thought of pleasant days gone by, and of 
the sports of their boyhood, and their hunting, and their 
schooling in the cave beneath the cliff.  And at last Peleus 
spoke, 'Let us land here, friends, and climb the dear old 
hill once more.  We are going on a fearful journey; who knows 
if we shall see Pelion again?  Let us go up to Cheiron our 
master, and ask his blessing ere we start.  And I have a boy, 
too, with him, whom he trains as he trained me once - the son 
whom Thetis brought me, the silver-footed lady of the sea, 
whom I caught in the cave, and tamed her, though she changed 
her shape seven times.  For she changed, as I held her, into 
water, and to vapour, and to burning flame, and to a rock, 
and to a black-maned lion, and to a tall and stately tree.  
But I held her and held her ever, till she took her own shape 
again, and led her to my father's house, and won her for my 
bride.  And all the rulers of Olympus came to our wedding, 
and the heavens and the earth rejoiced together, when an 
Immortal wedded mortal man.  And now let me see my son; for 
it is not often I shall see him upon earth:  famous he will 
be, but short-lived, and die in the flower of youth.'

So Tiphys the helmsman steered them to the shore under the 
crags of Pelion; and they went up through the dark pine-
forests towards the Centaur's cave.

And they came into the misty hall, beneath the snow-crowned 
crag; and saw the great Centaur lying, with his huge limbs 
spread upon the rock; and beside him stood Achilles, the 
child whom no steel could wound, and played upon his harp 
right sweetly, while Cheiron watched and smiled.

Then Cheiron leapt up and welcomed them, and kissed them 
every one, and set a feast before them of swine's flesh, and 
venison, and good wine; and young Achilles served them, and 
carried the golden goblet round.  And after supper all the 
heroes clapped their hands, and called on Orpheus to sing; 
but he refused, and said, 'How can I, who am the younger, 
sing before our ancient host?'  So they called on Cheiron to 
sing, and Achilles brought him his harp; and he began a 
wondrous song; a famous story of old time, of the fight 
between the Centaurs and the Lapithai, which you may still 
see carved in stone. (1)  He sang how his brothers came to 
ruin by their folly, when they were mad with wine; and how 
they and the heroes fought, with fists, and teeth, and the 
goblets from which they drank; and how they tore up the pine-
trees in their fury, and hurled great crags of stone, while 
the mountains thundered with the battle, and the land was 
wasted far and wide; till the Lapithai drove them from their 
home in the rich Thessalian plains to the lonely glens of 
Pindus, leaving Cheiron all alone.  And the heroes praised 
his song right heartily; for some of them had helped in that 
great fight.

Then Orpheus took the lyre, and sang of Chaos, and the making 
of the wondrous World, and how all things sprang from Love, 
who could not live alone in the Abyss.  And as he sang, his 
voice rose from the cave, above the crags, and through the 
tree-tops, and the glens of oak and pine.  And the trees 
bowed their heads when they heard it, and the gray rocks 
cracked and rang, and the forest beasts crept near to listen, 
and the birds forsook their nests and hovered round.  And old 
Cheiron claps his hands together, and beat his hoofs upon the 
ground, for wonder at that magic song.

Then Peleus kissed his boy, and wept over him, and they went 
down to the ship; and Cheiron came down with them, weeping, 
and kissed them one by one, and blest them, and promised to 
them great renown.  And the heroes wept when they left him, 
till their great hearts could weep no more; for he was kind 
and just and pious, and wiser than all beasts and men.  Then 
he went up to a cliff, and prayed for them, that they might 
come home safe and well; while the heroes rowed away, and 
watched him standing on his cliff above the sea, with his 
great hands raised toward heaven, and his white locks waving 
in the wind; and they strained their eyes to watch him to the 
last, for they felt that they should look on him no more.

So they rowed on over the long swell of the sea, past 
Olympus, the seat of the Immortals, and past the wooded bays 
of Athos, and Samothrace the sacred isle; and they came past 
Lemnos to the Hellespont, and through the narrow strait of 
Abydos, and so on into the Propontis, which we call Marmora 
now.  And there they met with Cyzicus, ruling in Asia over 
the Dolions, who, the songs say, was the son of AEneas, of 
whom you will hear many a tale some day.  For Homer tells us 
how he fought at Troy, and Virgil how he sailed away and 
founded Rome; and men believed until late years that from him 
sprang our old British kings.  Now Cyzicus, the songs say, 
welcomed the heroes, for his father had been one of Cheiron's 
scholars; so he welcomed them, and feasted them, and stored 
their ship with corn and wine, and cloaks and rugs, the songs 
say, and shirts, of which no doubt they stood in need.

But at night, while they lay sleeping, came down on them 
terrible men, who lived with the bears in the mountains, like 
Titans or giants in shape; for each of them had six arms, and 
they fought with young firs and pines.  But Heracles killed 
them all before morn with his deadly poisoned arrows; but 
among them, in the darkness, he slew Cyzicus the kindly 
prince.

Then they got to their ship and to their oars, and Tiphys 
bade them cast off the hawsers and go to sea.  But as he 
spoke a whirlwind came, and spun the ARGO round, and twisted 
the hawsers together, so that no man could loose them.  Then 
Tiphys dropped the rudder from his hand, and cried, 'This 
comes from the Gods above.'  But Jason went forward, and 
asked counsel of the magic bough.

Then the magic bough spoke, and answered, 'This is because 
you have slain Cyzicus your friend.  You must appease his 
soul, or you will never leave this shore.'

Jason went back sadly, and told the heroes what he had heard.  
And they leapt on shore, and searched till dawn; and at dawn 
they found the body, all rolled in dust and blood, among the 
corpses of those monstrous beasts.  And they wept over their 
kind host, and laid him on a fair bed, and heaped a huge 
mound over him, and offered black sheep at his tomb, and 
Orpheus sang a magic song to him, that his spirit might have 
rest.  And then they held games at the tomb, after the custom 
of those times, and Jason gave prizes to each winner.  To 
Ancaeus he gave a golden cup, for he wrestled best of all; 
and to Heracles a silver one, for he was the strongest of 
all; and to Castor, who rode best, a golden crest; and 
Polydeuces the boxer had a rich carpet, and to Orpheus for 
his song a sandal with golden wings.  But Jason himself was 
the best of all the archers, and the Minuai crowned him with 
an olive crown; and so, the songs say, the soul of good 
Cyzicus was appeased and the heroes went on their way in 
peace.

But when Cyzicus' wife heard that he was dead she died 
likewise of grief; and her tears became a fountain of clear 
water, which flows the whole year round.

Then they rowed away, the songs say, along the Mysian shore, 
and past the mouth of Rhindacus, till they found a pleasant 
bay, sheltered by the long ridges of Arganthus, and by high 
walls of basalt rock.  And there they ran the ship ashore 
upon the yellow sand, and furled the sail, and took the mast 
down, and lashed it in its crutch.  And next they let down 
the ladder, and went ashore to sport and rest.

And there Heracles went away into the woods, bow in hand, to 
hunt wild deer; and Hylas the fair boy slipt away after him, 
and followed him by stealth, until he lost himself among the 
glens, and sat down weary to rest himself by the side of a 
lake; and there the water nymphs came up to look at him, and 
loved him, and carried him down under the lake to be their 
playfellow, for ever happy and young.  And Heracles sought 
for him in vain, shouting his name till all the mountains 
rang; but Hylas never heard him, far down under the sparkling 
lake.  So while Heracles wandered searching for him, a fair 
breeze sprang up, and Heracles was nowhere to be found; and 
the ARGO sailed away, and Heracles was left behind, and never 
saw the noble Phasian stream.

Then the Minuai came to a doleful land, where Amycus the 
giant ruled, and cared nothing for the laws of Zeus, but 
challenged all strangers to box with him, and those whom he 
conquered he slew.  But Polydeuces the boxer struck him a 
harder blow than he ever felt before, and slew him; and the 
Minuai went on up the Bosphorus, till they came to the city 
of Phineus, the fierce Bithynian king; for Zetes and Calais 
bade Jason land there, because they had a work to do.

And they went up from the shore toward the city, through 
forests white with snow; and Phineus came out to meet them 
with a lean and woful face, and said, 'Welcome, gallant 
heroes, to the land of bitter blasts, the land of cold and 
misery; yet I will feast you as best I can.'  And he led them 
in, and set meat before them; but before they could put their 
hands to their mouths, down came two fearful monsters, the 
like of whom man never saw; for they had the faces and the 
hair of fair maidens, but the wings and claws of hawks; and 
they snatched the meat from off the table, and flew shrieking 
out above the roofs.

Then Phineus beat his breast and cried, 'These are the 
Harpies, whose names are the Whirlwind and the Swift, the 
daughters of Wonder and of the Amber-nymph, and they rob us 
night and day.  They carried off the daughters of Pandareus, 
whom all the Gods had blest; for Aphrodite fed them on 
Olympus with honey and milk and wine; and Hera gave them 
beauty and wisdom, and Athene skill in all the arts; but when 
they came to their wedding, the Harpies snatched them both 
away, and gave them to be slaves to the Erinnues, and live in 
horror all their days.  And now they haunt me, and my people, 
and the Bosphorus, with fearful storms; and sweep away our 
food from off our tables, so that we starve in spite of all 
our wealth.'

Then up rose Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the North-
wind, and said, 'Do you not know us, Phineus, and these wings 
which grow upon our backs?'  And Phineus hid his face in 
terror; but he answered not a word.

'Because you have been a traitor, Phineus, the Harpies haunt 
you night and day.  Where is Cleopatra our sister, your wife, 
whom you keep in prison? and where are her two children, whom 
you blinded in your rage, at the bidding of an evil woman, 
and cast them out upon the rocks?  Swear to us that you will 
right our sister, and cast out that wicked woman; and then we 
will free you from your plague, and drive the whirlwind 
maidens to the south; but if not, we will put out your eyes, 
as you put out the eyes of your own sons.'

Then Phineus swore an oath to them, and drove out the wicked 
woman; and Jason took those two poor children, and cured 
their eyes with magic herbs.

But Zetes and Calais rose up sadly and said, 'Farewell now, 
heroes all; farewell, our dear companions, with whom we 
played on Pelion in old times; for a fate is laid upon us, 
and our day is come at last, in which we must hunt the 
whirlwinds over land and sea for ever; and if we catch them 
they die, and if not, we die ourselves.'

At that all the heroes wept; but the two young men sprang up, 
and aloft into the air after the Harpies, and the battle of 
the winds began.

The heroes trembled in silence as they heard the shrieking of 
the blasts; while the palace rocked and all the city, and 
great stones were torn from the crags, and the forest pines 
were hurled earthward, north and south and east and west, and 
the Bosphorus boiled white with foam, and the clouds were 
dashed against the cliffs.

But at last the battle ended, and the Harpies fled screaming 
toward the south, and the sons of the North-wind rushed after 
them, and brought clear sunshine where they passed.  For many 
a league they followed them, over all the isles of the 
Cyclades, and away to the south-west across Hellas, till they 
came to the Ionian Sea, and there they fell upon the 
Echinades, at the mouth of the Achelous; and those isles were 
called the Whirlwind Isles for many a hundred years.  But 
what became of Zetes and Calais I know not, for the heroes 
never saw them again:  and some say that Heracles met them, 
and quarrelled with them, and slew them with his arrows; and 
some say that they fell down from weariness and the heat of 
the summer sun, and that the Sun-god buried them among the 
Cyclades, in the pleasant Isle of Tenos; and for many hundred 
years their grave was shown there, and over it a pillar, 
which turned to every wind.  But those dark storms and 
whirlwinds haunt the Bosphorus until this day.

But the Argonauts went eastward, and out into the open sea, 
which we now call the Black Sea, but it was called the Euxine 
then.  No Hellen had ever crossed it, and all feared that 
dreadful sea, and its rocks, and shoals, and fogs, and bitter 
freezing storms; and they told strange stories of it, some 
false and some half-true, how it stretched northward to the 
ends of the earth, and the sluggish Putrid Sea, and the 
everlasting night, and the regions of the dead.  So the 
heroes trembled, for all their courage, as they came into 
that wild Black Sea, and saw it stretching out before them, 
without a shore, as far as eye could see.

And first Orpheus spoke, and warned them, 'We shall come now 
to the wandering blue rocks; my mother warned me of them, 
Calliope, the immortal muse.'

And soon they saw the blue rocks shining like spires and 
castles of gray glass, while an ice-cold wind blew from them 
and chilled all the heroes' hearts.  And as they neared they 
could see them heaving, as they rolled upon the long sea-
waves, crashing and grinding together, till the roar went up 
to heaven.  The sea sprang up in spouts between them, and 
swept round them in white sheets of foam; but their heads 
swung nodding high in air, while the wind whistled shrill 
among the crags.

The heroes' hearts sank within them, and they lay upon their 
oars in fear; but Orpheus called to Tiphys the helmsman, 
'Between them we must pass; so look ahead for an opening, and 
be brave, for Hera is with us.'  But Tiphys the cunning 
helmsman stood silent, clenching his teeth, till he saw a 
heron come flying mast-high toward the rocks, and hover 
awhile before them, as if looking for a passage through.  
Then he cried, 'Hera has sent us a pilot; let us follow the 
cunning bird.'

Then the heron flapped to and fro a moment, till he saw a 
hidden gap, and into it he rushed like an arrow, while the 
heroes watched what would befall.

And the blue rocks clashed together as the bird fled swiftly 
through; but they struck but a feather from his tail, and 
then rebounded apart at the shock.

Then Tiphys cheered the heroes, and they shouted; and the 
oars bent like withes beneath their strokes as they rushed 
between those toppling ice-crags and the cold blue lips of 
death.  And ere the rocks could meet again they had passed 
them, and were safe out in the open sea.

And after that they sailed on wearily along the Asian coast, 
by the Black Cape and Thyneis, where the hot stream of 
Thymbris falls into the sea, and Sangarius, whose waters 
float on the Euxine, till they came to Wolf the river, and to 
Wolf the kindly king.  And there died two brave heroes, Idmon 
and Tiphys the wise helmsman:  one died of an evil sickness, 
and one a wild boar slew.  So the heroes heaped a mound above 
them, and set upon it an oar on high, and left them there to 
sleep together, on the far-off Lycian shore.  But Idas killed 
the boar, and avenged Tiphys; and Ancaios took the rudder and 
was helmsman, and steered them on toward the east.

And they went on past Sinope, and many a mighty river's 
mouth, and past many a barbarous tribe, and the cities of the 
Amazons, the warlike women of the East, till all night they 
heard the clank of anvils and the roar of furnace-blasts, and 
the forge-fires shone like sparks through the darkness in the 
mountain glens aloft; for they were come to the shores of the 
Chalybes, the smiths who never tire, but serve Ares the cruel 
War-god, forging weapons day and night.

And at day-dawn they looked eastward, and midway between the 
sea and the sky they saw white snow-peaks hanging, glittering 
sharp and bright above the clouds.  And they knew that they 
were come to Caucasus, at the end of all the earth:  Caucasus 
the highest of all mountains, the father of the rivers of the 
East.  On his peak lies chained the Titan, while a vulture 
tears his heart; and at his feet are piled dark forests round 
the magic Colchian land.

And they rowed three days to the eastward, while Caucasus 
rose higher hour by hour, till they saw the dark stream of 
Phasis rushing headlong to the sea, and, shining above the 
tree-tops, the golden roofs of King Aietes, the child of the 
Sun.

Then out spoke Ancaios the helmsman, 'We are come to our goal 
at last, for there are the roofs of Aietes, and the woods 
where all poisons grow; but who can tell us where among them 
is hid the golden fleece?  Many a toil must we bear ere we 
find it, and bring it home to Greece.'

But Jason cheered the heroes, for his heart was high and 
bold; and he said, 'I will go alone up to Aietes, though he 
be the child of the Sun, and win him with soft words.  Better 
so than to go altogether, and to come to blows at once.'  But 
the Minuai would not stay behind, so they rowed boldly up the 
stream.

And a dream came to Aietes, and filled his heart with fear.  
He thought he saw a shining star, which fell into his 
daughter's lap; and that Medeia his daughter took it gladly, 
and carried it to the riverside, and cast it in, and there 
the whirling river bore it down, and out into the Euxine Sea.

Then he leapt up in fear, and bade his servants bring his 
chariot, that he might go down to the river-side and appease 
the nymphs, and the heroes whose spirits haunt the bank.  So 
he went down in his golden chariot, and his daughters by his 
side, Medeia the fair witch-maiden, and Chalciope, who had 
been Phrixus' wife, and behind him a crowd of servants and 
soldiers, for he was a rich and mighty prince.

And as he drove down by the reedy river he saw ARGO sliding 
up beneath the bank, and many a hero in her, like Immortals 
for beauty and for strength, as their weapons glittered round 
them in the level morning sunlight, through the white mist of 
the stream.  But Jason was the noblest of all; for Hera, who 
loved him, gave him beauty and tallness and terrible manhood.

And when they came near together and looked into each other's 
eyes the heroes were awed before Aietes as he shone in his 
chariot, like his father the glorious Sun; for his robes were 
of rich gold tissue, and the rays of his diadem flashed fire; 
and in his hand he bore a jewelled sceptre, which glittered 
like the stars; and sternly he looked at them under his 
brows, and sternly he spoke and loud -

'Who are you, and what want you here, that you come to the 
shore of Cutaia?  Do you take no account of my rule, nor of 
my people the Colchians who serve me, who never tired yet in 
the battle, and know well how to face an invader?'

And the heroes sat silent awhile before the face of that 
ancient king.  But Hera the awful goddess put courage into 
Jason's heart, and he rose and shouted loudly in answer, 'We 
are no pirates nor lawless men.  We come not to plunder and 
to ravage, or carry away slaves from your land; but my uncle, 
the son of Poseidon, Pelias the Minuan king, he it is who has 
set me on a quest to bring home the golden fleece.  And these 
too, my bold comrades, they are no nameless men; for some are 
the sons of Immortals, and some of heroes far renowned.  And 
we too never tire in battle, and know well how to give blows 
and to take:  yet we wish to be guests at your table:  it 
will be better so for both.'

Then Aietes' race rushed up like a whirlwind, and his eyes 
flashed fire as he heard; but he crushed his anger down in 
his breast, and spoke mildly a cunning speech -

'If you will fight for the fleece with my Colchians, then 
many a man must die.  But do you indeed expect to win from me 
the fleece in fight?  So few you are that if you be worsted I 
can load your ship with your corpses.  But if you will be 
ruled by me, you will find it better far to choose the best 
man among you, and let him fulfil the labours which I demand.  
Then I will give him the golden fleece for a prize and a 
glory to you all.'

So saying, he turned his horses and drove back in silence to 
the town.  And the Minuai sat silent with sorrow, and longed 
for Heracles and his strength; for there was no facing the 
thousands of the Colchians and the fearful chance of war.

But Chalciope, Phrixus' widow, went weeping to the town; for 
she remembered her Minuan husband, and all the pleasures of 
her youth, while she watched the fair faces of his kinsmen, 
and their long locks of golden hair.  And she whispered to 
Medeia her sister, 'Why should all these brave men die? why 
does not my father give them up the fleece, that my husband's 
spirit may have rest?'

And Medeia's heart pitied the heroes, and Jason most of all; 
and she answered, 'Our father is stern and terrible, and who 
can win the golden fleece?'  But Chalciope said, 'These men 
are not like our men; there is nothing which they cannot dare 
nor do.'

And Medeia thought of Jason and his brave countenance, and 
said, 'If there was one among them who knew no fear, I could 
show him how to win the fleece.'

So in the dusk of evening they went down to the river-side, 
Chalciope and Medeia the witch-maiden, and Argus, Phrixus' 
son.  And Argus the boy crept forward, among the beds of 
reeds, till he came where the heroes were sleeping, on the 
thwarts of the ship, beneath the bank, while Jason kept ward 
on shore, and leant upon his lance full of thought.  And the 
boy came to Jason, and said -

 'I am the son of Phrixus, your Cousin; and Chalciope my 
mother waits for you, to talk about the golden fleece.'

Then Jason went boldly with the boy, and found the two 
princesses standing; and when Chalciope saw him she wept, and 
took his hands, and cried - 'O cousin of my beloved, go home 
before you die!'

'It would be base to go home now, fair princess, and to have 
sailed all these seas in vain.'  Then both the princesses 
besought him; but Jason said, 'It is too late.'

'But you know not,' said Medeia, 'what he must do who would 
win the fleece.  He must tame the two brazen-footed bulls, 
who breathe devouring flame; and with them he must plough ere 
nightfall four acres in the field of Ares; and he must sow 
them with serpents' teeth, of which each tooth springs up 
into an armed man.  Then he must fight with all those 
warriors; and little will it profit him to conquer them, for 
the fleece is guarded by a serpent, more huge than any 
mountain pine; and over his body you must step if you would 
reach the golden fleece.'

Then Jason laughed bitterly.  'Unjustly is that fleece kept 
here, and by an unjust and lawless king; and unjustly shall I 
die in my youth, for I will attempt it ere another sun be 
set.'

Then Medeia trembled, and said, 'No mortal man can reach that 
fleece unless I guide him through.  For round it, beyond the 
river, is a wall full nine ells high, with lofty towers and 
buttresses, and mighty gates of threefold brass; and over the 
gates the wall is arched, with golden battlements above.  And 
over the gateway sits Brimo, the wild witch-huntress of the 
woods, brandishing a pine-torch in her hands, while her mad 
hounds howl around.  No man dare meet her or look on her, but 
only I her priestess, and she watches far and wide lest any 
stranger should come near.'

'No wall so high but it may be climbed at last, and no wood 
so thick but it may be crawled through; no serpent so wary 
but he may be charmed, or witch-queen so fierce but spells 
may soothe her; and I may yet win the golden fleece, if a 
wise maiden help bold men.'

And he looked at Medeia cunningly, and held her with his 
glittering eye, till she blushed and trembled, and said -

'Who can face the fire of the bulls' breath, and fight ten 
thousand armed men?'

'He whom you help,' said Jason, flattering her, 'for your 
fame is spread over all the earth.  Are you not the queen of 
all enchantresses, wiser even than your sister Circe, in her 
fairy island in the West?'

'Would that I were with my sister Circe in her fairy island 
in the West, far away from sore temptation and thoughts which 
tear the heart!  But if it must be so - for why should you 
die? - I have an ointment here; I made it from the magic ice-
flower which sprang from Prometheus' wound, above the clouds 
on Caucasus, in the dreary fields of snow.  Anoint yourself 
with that, and you shall have in you seven men's strength; 
and anoint your shield with it, and neither fire nor sword 
can harm you.  But what you begin you must end before sunset, 
for its virtue lasts only one day.  And anoint your helmet 
with it before you sow the serpents' teeth; and when the sons 
of earth spring up, cast your helmet among their ranks, and 
the deadly crop of the War-god's field will mow itself, and 
perish.'

Then Jason fell on his knees before her, and thanked her and 
kissed her hands; and she gave him the vase of ointment, and 
fled trembling through the reeds.  And Jason told his 
comrades what had happened, and showed them the box of 
ointment; and all rejoiced but Idas, and he grew mad with 
envy.

And at sunrise Jason went and bathed, and anointed himself 
from head to foot, and his shield, and his helmet, and his 
weapons, and bade his comrades try the spell.  So they tried 
to bend his lance, but it stood like an iron bar; and Idas in 
spite hewed at it with his sword, but the blade flew to 
splinters in his face.  Then they hurled their lances at his 
shield, but the spear-points turned like lead; and Caineus 
tried to throw him, but he never stirred a foot; and 
Polydeuces struck him with his fist a blow which would have 
killed an ox, but Jason only smiled, and the heroes danced 
about him with delight; and he leapt, and ran, and shouted in 
the joy of that enormous strength, till the sun rose, and it 
was time to go and to claim Aietes' promise.

So he sent up Telamon and Aithalides to tell Aietes that he 
was ready for the fight; and they went up among the marble 
walls, and beneath the roofs of gold, and stood in Aietes' 
hall, while he grew pale with rage.

'Fulfil your promise to us, child of the blazing Sun.  Give 
us the serpents' teeth, and let loose the fiery bulls; for we 
have found a champion among us who can win the golden 
fleece.'

And Aietes bit his lips, for he fancied that they had fled 
away by night:  but he could not go back from his promise; so 
he gave them the serpents' teeth.

Then he called for his chariot and his horses, and sent 
heralds through all the town; and all the people went out 
with him to the dreadful War-god's field.

And there Aietes sat upon his throne, with his warriors on 
each hand, thousands and tens of thousands, clothed from head 
to foot in steel chain-mail.  And the people and the women 
crowded to every window and bank and wall; while the Minuai 
stood together, a mere handful in the midst of that great 
host.

And Chalciope was there and Argus, trembling, and Medeia, 
wrapped closely in her veil; but Aietes did not know that she 
was muttering cunning spells between her lips.

Then Jason cried, 'Fulfil your promise, and let your fiery 
bulls come forth.'

Then Aietes bade open the gates, and the magic bulls leapt 
out.  Their brazen hoofs rang upon the ground, and their 
nostrils sent out sheets of flame, as they rushed with 
lowered heads upon Jason; but he never flinched a step.  The 
flame of their breath swept round him, but it singed not a 
hair of his head; and the bulls stopped short and trembled 
when Medeia began her spell.

Then Jason sprang upon the nearest and seized him by the 
horn; and up and down they wrestled, till the bull fell 
grovelling on his knees; for the heart of the brute died 
within him, and his mighty limbs were loosed, beneath the 
steadfast eye of that dark witch-maiden and the magic whisper 
of her lips.

So both the bulls were tamed and yoked; and Jason bound them 
to the plough, and goaded them onward with his lance till he 
had ploughed the sacred field.

And all the Minuai shouted; but Aietes bit his lips with 
rage, for the half of Jason's work was over, and the sun was 
yet high in heaven.

Then he took the serpents' teeth and sowed them, and waited 
what would befall.  But Medeia looked at him and at his 
helmet, lest he should forget the lesson she had taught.

And every furrow heaved and bubbled, and out of every clod 
arose a man.  Out of the earth they rose by thousands, each 
clad from head to foot in steel, and drew their swords and 
rushed on Jason, where he stood in the midst alone.

Then the Minuai grew pale with fear for him; but Aietes 
laughed a bitter laugh.  'See! if I had not warriors enough 
already round me, I could call them out of the bosom of the 
earth.'

But Jason snatched off his helmet, and hurled it into the 
thickest of the throng.  And blind madness came upon them, 
suspicion, hate, and fear; and one cried to his fellow, 'Thou 
didst strike me!' and another, 'Thou art Jason; thou shalt 
die!'  So fury seized those earth-born phantoms, and each 
turned his hand against the rest; and they fought and were 
never weary, till they all lay dead upon the ground.  Then 
the magic furrows opened, and the kind earth took them home 
into her breast and the grass grew up all green again above 
them, and Jason's work was done.

Then the Minuai rose and shouted, till Prometheus heard them 
from his crag.  And Jason cried, 'Lead me to the fleece this 
moment, before the sun goes down.'

But Aietes thought, 'He has conquered the bulls, and sown and 
reaped the deadly crop.  Who is this who is proof against all 
magic?  He may kill the serpent yet.'  So he delayed, and sat 
taking counsel with his princes till the sun went down and 
all was dark.  Then he bade a herald cry, 'Every man to his 
home for to-night.  To-morrow we will meet these heroes, and 
speak about the golden fleece.'

Then he turned and looked at Medeia.  'This is your doing, 
false witch-maid!  You have helped these yellow-haired 
strangers, and brought shame upon your father and yourself!'

Medeia shrank and trembled, and her face grew pale with fear; 
and Aietes knew that she was guilty, and whispered, 'If they 
win the fleece, you die!'

But the Minuai marched toward their ship, growling like lions 
cheated of their prey; for they saw that Aietes meant to mock 
them, and to cheat them out of all their toil.  And Oileus 
said, 'Let us go to the grove together, and take the fleece 
by force.'

And Idas the rash cried, 'Let us draw lots who shall go in 
first; for, while the dragon is devouring one, the rest can 
slay him and carry off the fleece in peace.'  But Jason held 
them back, though he praised them; for he hoped for Medeia's 
help.

And after awhile Medeia came trembling, and wept a long while 
before she spoke.  And at last -

'My end is come, and I must die; for my father has found out 
that I have helped you.  You he would kill if he dared; but 
he will not harm you, because you have been his guests.  Go 
then, go, and remember poor Medeia when you are far away 
across the sea.'  But all the heroes cried -

'If you die, we die with you; for without you we cannot win 
the fleece, and home we will not go without it, but fall here 
fighting to the last man.'

'You need not die,' said Jason.  'Flee home with us across 
the sea.  Show us first how to win the fleece; for you can do 
it.  Why else are you the priestess of the grove?  Show us 
but how to win the fleece, and come with us, and you shall be 
my queen, and rule over the rich princes of the Minuai, in 
Iolcos by the sea.'

And all the heroes pressed round, and vowed to her that she 
should be their queen.

Medeia wept, and shuddered, and hid her face in her hands; 
for her heart yearned after her sisters and her playfellows, 
and the home where she was brought up as a child.  But at 
last she looked up at Jason, and spoke between her sobs -

'Must I leave my home and my people, to wander with strangers 
across the sea?  The lot is cast, and I must endure it.  I 
will show you how to win the golden fleece.  Bring up your 
ship to the wood-side, and moor her there against the bank; 
and let Jason come up at midnight, and one brave comrade with 
him, and meet me beneath the wall.'

Then all the heroes cried together, 'I will go!' 'and I!' 
'and I!'  And Idas the rash grew mad with envy; for he longed 
to be foremost in all things.  But Medeia calmed them, and 
said, 'Orpheus shall go with Jason, and bring his magic harp; 
for I hear of him that he is the king of all minstrels, and 
can charm all things on earth.'

And Orpheus laughed for joy, and clapped his hands, because 
the choice had fallen on him; for in those days poets and 
singers were as bold warriors as the best.

So at midnight they went up the bank, and found Medeia; and 
beside came Absyrtus her young brother, leading a yearling 
lamb.

Then Medeia brought them to a thicket beside the War-god's 
gate; and there she bade Jason dig a ditch, and kill the 
lamb, and leave it there, and strew on it magic herbs and 
honey from the honeycomb.

Then sprang up through the earth, with the red fire flashing 
before her, Brimo the wild witch-huntress, while her mad 
hounds howled around.  She had one head like a horse's, and 
another like a ravening hound's, and another like a hissing 
snake's, and a sword in either hand.  And she leapt into the 
ditch with her hounds, and they ate and drank their fill, 
while Jason and Orpheus trembled, and Medeia hid her eyes.  
And at last the witch-queen vanished, and fled with her 
hounds into the woods; and the bars of the gates fell down, 
and the brazen doors flew wide, and Medeia and the heroes ran 
forward and hurried through the poison wood, among the dark 
stems of the mighty beeches, guided by the gleam of the 
golden fleece, until they saw it hanging on one vast tree in 
the midst.  And Jason would have sprung to seize it; but 
Medeia held him back, and pointed, shuddering, to the tree-
foot, where the mighty serpent lay, coiled in and out among 
the roots, with a body like a mountain pine.  His coils 
stretched many a fathom, spangled with bronze and gold; and 
half of him they could see, but no more, for the rest lay in 
the darkness far beyond.

And when he saw them coming he lifted up his head, and 
watched them with his small bright eyes, and flashed his 
forked tongue, and roared like the fire among the woodlands, 
till the forest tossed and groaned.  For his cries shook the 
trees from leaf to root, and swept over the long reaches of 
the river, and over Aietes' hall, and woke the sleepers in 
the city, till mothers clasped their children in their fear.

But Medeia called gently to him, and he stretched out his 
long spotted neck, and licked her hand, and looked up in her 
face, as if to ask for food.  Then she made a sign to 
Orpheus, and he began his magic song.

And as he sung, the forest grew calm again, and the leaves on 
every tree hung still; and the serpent's head sank down, and 
his brazen coils grew limp, and his glittering eyes closed 
lazily, till he breathed as gently as a child, while Orpheus 
called to pleasant Slumber, who gives peace to men, and 
beasts, and waves.

Then Jason leapt forward warily, and stept across that mighty 
snake, and tore the fleece from off the tree-trunk; and the 
four rushed down the garden, to the bank where the ARGO lay.

There was a silence for a moment, while Jason held the golden 
fleece on high.  Then he cried, 'Go now, good ARGO, swift and 
steady, if ever you would see Pelion more.'

And she went, as the heroes drove her, grim and silent all, 
with muffled oars, till the pine-wood bent like willow in 
their hands, and stout ARGO groaned beneath their strokes.

On and on, beneath the dewy darkness, they fled swiftly down 
the swirling stream; underneath black walls, and temples, and 
the castles of the princes of the East; past sluice-mouths, 
and fragrant gardens, and groves of all strange fruits; past 
marshes where fat kine lay sleeping, and long beds of 
whispering reeds; till they heard the merry music of the 
surge upon the bar, as it tumbled in the moonlight all alone.

Into the surge they rushed, and ARGO leapt the breakers like 
a horse; for she knew the time was come to show her mettle, 
and win honour for the heroes and herself.

Into the surge they rushed, and ARGO leapt the breakers like 
a horse, till the heroes stopped all panting, each man upon 
his oar, as she slid into the still broad sea.

Then Orpheus took his harp and sang a paean, till the heroes' 
hearts rose high again; and they rowed on stoutly and 
steadfastly, away into the darkness of the West.


PART V - HOW THE ARGONAUTS WERE DRIVEN INTO THE UNKNOWN SEA


SO they fled away in haste to the westward; but Aietes manned 
his fleet and followed them.  And Lynceus the quick-eyed saw 
him coming, while he was still many a mile away, and cried, 
'I see a hundred ships, like a flock of white swans, far in 
the east.'  And at that they rowed hard, like heroes; but the 
ships came nearer every hour.

Then Medeia, the dark witch-maiden, laid a cruel and a 
cunning plot; for she killed Absyrtus her young brother, and 
cast him into the sea, and said, 'Ere my father can take up 
his corpse and bury it, he must wait long, and be left far 
behind.'

And all the heroes shuddered, and looked one at the other for 
shame; yet they did not punish that dark witch-woman, because 
she had won for them the golden fleece.

And when Aietes came to the place he saw the floating corpse; 
and he stopped a long while, and bewailed his son, and took 
him up, and went home.  But he sent on his sailors toward the 
westward, and bound them by a mighty curse - 'Bring back to 
me that dark witch-woman, that she may die a dreadful death.  
But if you return without her, you shall die by the same 
death yourselves.'

So the Argonauts escaped for that time:  but Father Zeus saw 
that foul crime; and out of the heavens he sent a storm, and 
swept the ship far from her course.  Day after day the storm 
drove her, amid foam and blinding mist, till they knew no 
longer where they were, for the sun was blotted from the 
skies.  And at last the ship struck on a shoal, amid low 
isles of mud and sand, and the waves rolled over her and 
through her, and the heroes lost all hope of life.

Then Jason cried to Hera, 'Fair queen, who hast befriended us 
till now, why hast thou left us in our misery, to die here 
among unknown seas?  It is hard to lose the honour which we 
have won with such toil and danger, and hard never to see 
Hellas again, and the pleasant bay of Pagasai.'

Then out and spoke the magic bough which stood upon the 
ARGO'S beak, 'Because Father Zeus is angry, all this has 
fallen on you; for a cruel crime has been done on board, and 
the sacred ship is foul with blood.'

At that some of the heroes cried, 'Medeia is the murderess.  
Let the witch-woman bear her sin, and die!'  And they seized 
Medeia, to hurl her into the sea, and atone for the young 
boy's death; but the magic bough spoke again, 'Let her live 
till her crimes are full.  Vengeance waits for her, slow and 
sure; but she must live, for you need her still.  She must 
show you the way to her sister Circe, who lives among the 
islands of the West.  To her you must sail, a weary way, and 
she shall cleanse you from your guilt.'

Then all the heroes wept aloud when they heard the sentence 
of the oak; for they knew that a dark journey lay before 
them, and years of bitter toil.  And some upbraided the dark 
witch-woman, and some said, 'Nay, we are her debtors still; 
without her we should never have won the fleece.'  But most 
of them bit their lips in silence, for they feared the 
witch's spells.

And now the sea grew calmer, and the sun shone out once more, 
and the heroes thrust the ship off the sand-bank, and rowed 
forward on their weary course under the guiding of the dark 
witch-maiden, into the wastes of the unknown sea.

Whither they went I cannot tell, nor how they came to Circe's 
isle.  Some say that they went to the westward, and up the 
Ister (2) stream, and so came into the Adriatic, dragging 
their ship over the snowy Alps.  And others say that they 
went southward, into the Red Indian Sea, and past the sunny 
lands where spices grow, round AEthiopia toward the West; and 
that at last they came to Libya, and dragged their ship 
across the burning sands, and over the hills into the Syrtes, 
where the flats and quicksands spread for many a mile, 
between rich Cyrene and the Lotus-eaters' shore.  But all 
these are but dreams and fables, and dim hints of unknown 
lands.

But all say that they came to a place where they had to drag 
their ship across the land nine days with ropes and rollers, 
till they came into an unknown sea.  And the best of all the 
old songs tells us how they went away toward the North, till 
they came to the slope of Caucasus, where it sinks into the 
sea; and to the narrow Cimmerian Bosphorus, (3) where the 
Titan swam across upon the bull; and thence into the lazy 
waters of the still Maeotid lake. (4)  And thence they went 
northward ever, up the Tanais, which we call Don, past the 
Geloni and Sauromatai, and many a wandering shepherd-tribe, 
and the one-eyed Arimaspi, of whom old Greek poets tell, who 
steal the gold from the Griffins, in the cold Riphaian hills. 
(5)

And they passed the Scythian archers, and the Tauri who eat 
men, and the wandering Hyperboreai, who feed their flocks 
beneath the pole-star, until they came into the northern 
ocean, the dull dead Cronian Sea. (6)  And there ARGO would 
move on no longer; and each man clasped his elbow, and leaned 
his head upon his hand, heart-broken with toil and hunger, 
and gave himself up to death.  But brave Ancaios the helmsman 
cheered up their hearts once more, and bade them leap on 
land, and haul the ship with ropes and rollers for many a 
weary day, whether over land, or mud, or ice, I know not, for 
the song is mixed and broken like a dream.  And it says next, 
how they came to the rich nation of the famous long-lived 
men; and to the coast of the Cimmerians, who never saw the 
sun, buried deep in the glens of the snow mountains; and to 
the fair land of Hermione, where dwelt the most righteous of 
all nations; and to the gates of the world below, and to the 
dwelling-place of dreams.

And at last Ancaios shouted, 'Endure a little while, brave 
friends, the worst is surely past; for I can see the pure 
west wind ruffle the water, and hear the roar of ocean on the 
sands.  So raise up the mast, and set the sail, and face what 
comes like men.'

Then out spoke the magic bough, 'Ah, would that I had 
perished long ago, and been whelmed by the dread blue rocks, 
beneath the fierce swell of the Euxine!  Better so, than to 
wander for ever, disgraced by the guilt of my princes; for 
the blood of Absyrtus still tracks me, and woe follows hard 
upon woe.  And now some dark horror will clutch me, if I come 
near the Isle of Ierne. (7)  Unless you will cling to the 
land, and sail southward and southward for ever, I shall 
wander beyond the Atlantic, to the ocean which has no shore.'

Then they blest the magic bough, and sailed southward along 
the land.  But ere they could pass Ierne, the land of mists 
and storms, the wild wind came down, dark and roaring, and 
caught the sail, and strained the ropes.  And away they drove 
twelve nights, on the wide wild western sea, through the 
foam, and over the rollers, while they saw neither sun nor 
stars.  And they cried again, 'We shall perish, for we know 
not where we are.  We are lost in the dreary damp darkness, 
and cannot tell north from south.'

But Lynceus the long-sighted called gaily from the bows, 
'Take heart again, brave sailors; for I see a pine-clad isle, 
and the halls of the kind Earth-mother, with a crown of 
clouds around them.'

But Orpheus said, 'Turn from them, for no living man can land 
there:  there is no harbour on the coast, but steep-walled 
cliffs all round.'

So Ancaios turned the ship away; and for three days more they 
sailed on, till they came to Aiaia, Circe's home, and the 
fairy island of the West. (8)

And there Jason bid them land, and seek about for any sign of 
living man.  And as they went inland Circe met them, coming 
down toward the ship; and they trembled when they saw her, 
for her hair, and face, and robes shone like flame.

And she came and looked at Medeia; and Medeia hid her face 
beneath her veil.

And Circe cried, 'Ah, wretched girl, have you forgotten all 
your sins, that you come hither to my island, where the 
flowers bloom all the year round?  Where is your aged father, 
and the brother whom you killed?  Little do I expect you to 
return in safety with these strangers whom you love.  I will 
send you food and wine:  but your ship must not stay here, 
for it is foul with sin, and foul with sin its crew.'

And the heroes prayed her, but in vain, and cried, 'Cleanse 
us from our guilt!' But she sent them away, and said, 'Go on 
to Malea, and there you may be cleansed, and return home.'

Then a fair wind rose, and they sailed eastward by Tartessus 
on the Iberian shore, till they came to the Pillars of 
Hercules, and the Mediterranean Sea.  And thence they sailed 
on through the deeps of Sardinia, and past the Ausonian 
islands, and the capes of the Tyrrhenian shore, till they 
came to a flowery island, upon a still bright summer's eve.  
And as they neared it, slowly and wearily, they heard sweet 
songs upon the shore.  But when Medeia heard it, she started, 
and cried, 'Beware, all heroes, for these are the rocks of 
the Sirens.  You must pass close by them, for there is no 
other channel; but those who listen to that song are lost.'

Then Orpheus spoke, the king of all minstrels, 'Let them 
match their song against mine.  I have charmed stones, and 
trees, and dragons, how much more the hearts of men!'  So he 
caught up his lyre, and stood upon the poop, and began his 
magic song.

And now they could see the Sirens on Anthemousa, the flowery 
isle; three fair maidens sitting on the beach, beneath a red 
rock in the setting sun, among beds of crimson poppies and 
golden asphodel.  Slowly they sung and sleepily, with silver 
voices, mild and clear, which stole over the golden waters, 
and into the hearts of all the heroes, in spite of Orpheus' 
song.

And all things stayed around and listened; the gulls sat in 
white lines along the rocks; on the beach great seals lay 
basking, and kept time with lazy heads; while silver shoals 
of fish came up to hearken, and whispered as they broke the 
shining calm.  The Wind overhead hushed his whistling, as he 
shepherded his clouds toward the west; and the clouds stood 
in mid blue, and listened dreaming, like a flock of golden 
sheep.

And as the heroes listened, the oars fell from their hands, 
and their heads drooped on their breasts, and they closed 
their heavy eyes; and they dreamed of bright still gardens, 
and of slumbers under murmuring pines, till all their toil 
seemed foolishness, and they thought of their renown no more.

Then one lifted his head suddenly, and cried, 'What use in 
wandering for ever?  Let us stay here and rest awhile.'  And 
another, 'Let us row to the shore, and hear the words they 
sing.'  And another, 'I care not for the words, but for the 
music.  They shall sing me to sleep, that I may rest.'

And Butes, the son of Pandion, the fairest of all mortal men, 
leapt out and swam toward the shore, crying, 'I come, I come, 
fair maidens, to live and die here, listening to your song.'

Then Medeia clapped her hands together, and cried, 'Sing 
louder, Orpheus, sing a bolder strain; wake up these hapless 
sluggards, or none of them will see the land of Hellas more.'

Then Orpheus lifted his harp, and crashed his cunning hand 
across the strings; and his music and his voice rose like a 
trumpet through the still evening air; into the air it rushed 
like thunder, till the rocks rang and the sea; and into their 
souls it rushed like wine, till all hearts beat fast within 
their breasts.

And he sung the song of Perseus, how the Gods led him over 
land and sea, and how he slew the loathly Gorgon, and won 
himself a peerless bride; and how he sits now with the Gods 
upon Olympus, a shining star in the sky, immortal with his 
immortal bride, and honoured by all men below.

So Orpheus sang, and the Sirens, answering each other across 
the golden sea, till Orpheus' voice drowned the Sirens', and 
the heroes caught their oars again.

And they cried, 'We will be men like Perseus, and we will 
dare and suffer to the last.  Sing us his song again, brave 
Orpheus, that we may forget the Sirens and their spell.'

And as Orpheus sang, they dashed their oars into the sea, and 
kept time to his music, as they fled fast away; and the 
Sirens' voices died behind them, in the hissing of the foam 
along their wake.

But Butes swam to the shore, and knelt down before the 
Sirens, and cried, 'Sing on! sing on!'  But he could say no 
more, for a charmed sleep came over him, and a pleasant 
humming in his ears; and he sank all along upon the pebbles, 
and forgot all heaven and earth, and never looked at that sad 
beach around him, all strewn with the bones of men.

Then slowly rose up those three fair sisters, with a cruel 
smile upon their lips; and slowly they crept down towards 
him, like leopards who creep upon their prey; and their hands 
were like the talons of eagles as they stept across the bones 
of their victims to enjoy their cruel feast.

But fairest Aphrodite saw him from the highest Idalian peak, 
and she pitied his youth and his beauty, and leapt up from 
her golden throne; and like a falling star she cleft the sky, 
and left a trail of glittering light, till she stooped to the 
Isle of the Sirens, and snatched their prey from their claws.  
And she lifted Butes as he lay sleeping, and wrapt him in 
golden mist; and she bore him to the peak of Lilybaeum, and 
he slept there many a pleasant year.

But when the Sirens saw that they were conquered, they 
shrieked for envy and rage, and leapt from the beach into the 
sea, and were changed into rocks until this day.

Then they came to the straits by Lilybaeum, and saw Sicily, 
the three-cornered island, under which Enceladus the giant 
lies groaning day and night, and when he turns the earth 
quakes, and his breath bursts out in roaring flames from the 
highest cone of AEtna, above the chestnut woods.  And there 
Charybdis caught them in its fearful coils of wave, and 
rolled mast-high about them, and spun them round and round; 
and they could go neither back nor forward, while the 
whirlpool sucked them in.

And while they struggled they saw near them, on the other 
side the strait, a rock stand in the water, with its peak 
wrapt round in clouds - a rock which no man could climb, 
though he had twenty hands and feet, for the stone was smooth 
and slippery, as if polished by man's hand; and halfway up a 
misty cave looked out toward the west.

And when Orpheus saw it he groaned, and struck his hands 
together.  And 'Little will it help us,' he cried, 'to escape 
the jaws of the whirlpool; for in that cave lives Scylla, the 
sea-hag with a young whelp's voice; my mother warned me of 
her ere we sailed away from Hellas; she has six heads, and 
six long necks, and hides in that dark cleft.  And from her 
cave she fishes for all things which pass by - for sharks, 
and seals, and dolphins, and all the herds of Amphitrite.  
And never ship's crew boasted that they came safe by her 
rock, for she bends her long necks down to them, and every 
mouth takes up a man.  And who will help us now?  For Hera 
and Zeus hate us, and our ship is foul with guilt; so we must 
die, whatever befalls.'

Then out of the depths came Thetis, Peleus' silver-footed 
bride, for love of her gallant husband, and all her nymphs 
around her; and they played like snow-white dolphins, diving 
on from wave to wave, before the ship, and in her wake, and 
beside her, as dolphins play.  And they caught the ship, and 
guided her, and passed her on from hand to hand, and tossed 
her through the billows, as maidens toss the ball.  And when 
Scylla stooped to seize her, they struck back her ravening 
heads, and foul Scylla whined, as a whelp whines, at the 
touch of their gentle hands.  But she shrank into her cave 
affrighted - for all bad things shrink from good - and ARGO 
leapt safe past her, while a fair breeze rose behind.  Then 
Thetis and her nymphs sank down to their coral caves beneath 
the sea, and their gardens of green and purple, where live 
flowers bloom all the year round; while the heroes went on 
rejoicing, yet dreading what might come next.

After that they rowed on steadily for many a weary day, till 
they saw a long high island, and beyond it a mountain land.  
And they searched till they found a harbour, and there rowed 
boldly in.  But after awhile they stopped, and wondered, for 
there stood a great city on the shore, and temples and walls 
and gardens, and castles high in air upon the cliffs.  And on 
either side they saw a harbour, with a narrow mouth, but wide 
within; and black ships without number, high and dry upon the 
shore.

Then Ancaios, the wise helmsman, spoke, 'What new wonder is 
this?  I know all isles, and harbours, and the windings of 
all seas; and this should be Corcyra, where a few wild goat-
herds dwell.  But whence come these new harbours and vast 
works of polished stone?'

But Jason said, 'They can be no savage people.  We will go in 
and take our chance.'

So they rowed into the harbour, among a thousand black-beaked 
ships, each larger far than ARGO, toward a quay of polished 
stone.  And they wondered at that mighty city, with its roofs 
of burnished brass, and long and lofty walls of marble, with 
strong palisades above.  And the quays were full of people, 
merchants, and mariners, and slaves, going to and fro with 
merchandise among the crowd of ships.  And the heroes' hearts 
were humbled, and they looked at each other and said, 'We 
thought ourselves a gallant crew when we sailed from Iolcos 
by the sea; but how small we look before this city, like an 
ant before a hive of bees.'

Then the sailors hailed them roughly from the quay, 'What men 
are you? - we want no strangers here, nor pirates.  We keep 
our business to ourselves.'

But Jason answered gently, with many a flattering word, and 
praised their city and their harbour, and their fleet of 
gallant ships.  'Surely you are the children of Poseidon, and 
the masters of the sea; and we are but poor wandering 
mariners, worn out with thirst and toil.  Give us but food 
and water, and we will go on our voyage in peace.'

Then the sailors laughed, and answered, 'Stranger, you are no 
fool; you talk like an honest man, and you shall find us 
honest too.  We are the children of Poseidon, and the masters 
of the sea; but come ashore to us, and you shall have the 
best that we can give.'

So they limped ashore, all stiff and weary, with long ragged 
beards and sunburnt cheeks, and garments torn and weather-
stained, and weapons rusted with the spray, while the sailors 
laughed at them (for they were rough-tongued, though their 
hearts were frank and kind).  And one said, 'These fellows 
are but raw sailors; they look as if they had been sea-sick 
all the day.'  And another, 'Their legs have grown crooked 
with much rowing, till they waddle in their walk like ducks.'

At that Idas the rash would have struck them; but Jason held 
him back, till one of the merchant kings spoke to them, a 
tall and stately man.

'Do not be angry, strangers; the sailor boys must have their 
jest.  But we will treat you justly and kindly, for strangers 
and poor men come from God; and you seem no common sailors by 
your strength, and height, and weapons.  Come up with me to 
the palace of Alcinous, the rich sea-going king, and we will 
feast you well and heartily; and after that you shall tell us 
your name.'

But Medeia hung back, and trembled, and whispered in Jason's 
ear, 'We are betrayed, and are going to our ruin, for I see 
my countrymen among the crowd; dark-eyed Colchi in steel 
mail-shirts, such as they wear in my father's land.'

'It is too late to turn,' said Jason.  And he spoke to the 
merchant king, 'What country is this, good sir; and what is 
this new-built town?'

'This is the land of the Phaeaces, beloved by all the 
Immortals; for they come hither and feast like friends with 
us, and sit by our side in the hall.  Hither we came from 
Liburnia to escape the unrighteous Cyclopes; for they robbed 
us, peaceful merchants, of our hard-earned wares and wealth.  
So Nausithous, the son of Poseidon, brought us hither, and 
died in peace; and now his son Alcinous rules us, and Arete 
the wisest of queens.'

So they went up across the square, and wondered still more as 
they went; for along the quays lay in order great cables, and 
yards, and masts, before the fair temple of Poseidon, the 
blue-haired king of the seas.  And round the square worked 
the ship-wrights, as many in number as ants, twining ropes, 
and hewing timber, and smoothing long yards and oars.  And 
the Minuai went on in silence through clean white marble 
streets, till they came to the hall of Alcinous, and they 
wondered then still more.  For the lofty palace shone aloft 
in the sun, with walls of plated brass, from the threshold to 
the innermost chamber, and the doors were of silver and gold.  
And on each side of the doorway sat living dogs of gold, who 
never grew old or died, so well Hephaistos had made them in 
his forges in smoking Lemnos, and gave them to Alcinous to 
guard his gates by night.  And within, against the walls, 
stood thrones on either side, down the whole length of the 
hall, strewn with rich glossy shawls; and on them the 
merchant kings of those crafty sea-roving Phaeaces sat eating 
and drinking in pride, and feasting there all the year round.  
And boys of molten gold stood each on a polished altar, and 
held torches in their hands, to give light all night to the 
guests.  And round the house sat fifty maid-servants, some 
grinding the meal in the mill, some turning the spindle, some 
weaving at the loom, while their hands twinkled as they 
passed the shuttle, like quivering aspen leaves.

And outside before the palace a great garden was walled 
round, filled full of stately fruit-trees, gray olives and 
sweet figs, and pomegranates, pears, and apples, which bore 
the whole year round.  For the rich south-west wind fed them, 
till pear grew ripe on pear, fig on fig, and grape on grape, 
all the winter and the spring.  And at the farther end gay 
flower-beds bloomed through all seasons of the year; and two 
fair fountains rose, and ran, one through the garden grounds, 
and one beneath the palace gate, to water all the town.  Such 
noble gifts the heavens had given to Alcinous the wise.

So they went in, and saw him sitting, like Poseidon, on his 
throne, with his golden sceptre by him, in garments stiff 
with gold, and in his hand a sculptured goblet, as he pledged 
the merchant kings; and beside him stood Arete, his wise and 
lovely queen, and leaned against a pillar as she spun her 
golden threads.

Then Alcinous rose, and welcomed them, and bade them sit and 
eat; and the servants brought them tables, and bread, and 
meat, and wine.

But Medeia went on trembling toward Arete the fair queen, and 
fell at her knees, and clasped them, and cried, weeping, as 
she knelt -

'I am your guest, fair queen, and I entreat you by Zeus, from 
whom prayers come.  Do not send me back to my father to die 
some dreadful death; but let me go my way, and bear my 
burden.  Have I not had enough of punishment and shame?'

'Who are you, strange maiden? and what is the meaning of your 
prayer?'

'I am Medeia, daughter of Aietes, and I saw my countrymen 
here to-day; and I know that they are come to find me, and 
take me home to die some dreadful death.'

Then Arete frowned, and said, 'Lead this girl in, my maidens; 
and let the kings decide, not I.'

And Alcinous leapt up from his throne, and cried, 'Speak, 
strangers, who are you?  And who is this maiden?'

'We are the heroes of the Minuai,' said Jason; 'and this 
maiden has spoken truth.  We are the men who took the golden 
fleece, the men whose fame has run round every shore.  We 
came hither out of the ocean, after sorrows such as man never 
saw before.  We went out many, and come back few, for many a 
noble comrade have we lost.  So let us go, as you should let 
your guests go, in peace; that the world may say, "Alcinous 
is a just king."'

But Alcinous frowned, and stood deep in thought; and at last 
he spoke -

'Had not the deed been done which is done, I should have said 
this day to myself, "It is an honour to Alcinous, and to his 
children after him, that the far-famed Argonauts are his 
guests."  But these Colchi are my guests, as you are; and for 
this month they have waited here with all their fleet, for 
they have hunted all the seas of Hellas, and could not find 
you, and dared neither go farther, nor go home.'

'Let them choose out their champions, and we will fight them, 
man for man.'

'No guests of ours shall fight upon our island, and if you go 
outside they will outnumber you.  I will do justice between 
you, for I know and do what is right.'

Then he turned to his kings, and said, 'This may stand over 
till to-morrow.  To-night we will feast our guests, and hear 
the story of all their wanderings, and how they came hither 
out of the ocean.'

So Alcinous bade the servants take the heroes in, and bathe 
them, and give them clothes.  And they were glad when they 
saw the warm water, for it was long since they had bathed.  
And they washed off the sea-salt from their limbs, and 
anointed themselves from head to foot with oil, and combed 
out their golden hair.  Then they came back again into the 
hall, while the merchant kings rose up to do them honour.  
And each man said to his neighbour, 'No wonder that these men 
won fame.  How they stand now like Giants, or Titans, or 
Immortals come down from Olympus, though many a winter has 
worn them, and many a fearful storm.  What must they have 
been when they sailed from Iolcos, in the bloom of their 
youth, long ago?'

Then they went out to the garden; and the merchant princes 
said, 'Heroes, run races with us.  Let us see whose feet are 
nimblest.'

'We cannot race against you, for our limbs are stiff from 
sea; and we have lost our two swift comrades, the sons of the 
north wind.  But do not think us cowards:  if you wish to try 
our strength, we will shoot, and box, and wrestle, against 
any men on earth.'

And Alcinous smiled, and answered, 'I believe you, gallant 
guests; with your long limbs and broad shoulders, we could 
never match you here.  For we care nothing here for boxing, 
or for shooting with the bow; but for feasts, and songs, and 
harping, and dancing, and running races, to stretch our limbs 
on shore.'

So they danced there and ran races, the jolly merchant kings, 
till the night fell, and all went in.

And then they ate and drank, and comforted their weary souls, 
till Alcinous called a herald, and bade him go and fetch the 
harper.

The herald went out, and fetched the harper, and led him in 
by the hand; and Alcinous cut him a piece of meat, from the 
fattest of the haunch, and sent it to him, and said, 'Sing to 
us, noble harper, and rejoice the heroes' hearts.'

So the harper played and sang, while the dancers danced 
strange figures; and after that the tumblers showed their 
tricks, till the heroes laughed again.

Then, 'Tell me, heroes,' asked Alcinous, 'you who have sailed 
the ocean round, and seen the manners of all nations, have 
you seen such dancers as ours here, or heard such music and 
such singing?  We hold ours to be the best on earth.'

'Such dancing we have never seen,' said Orpheus; 'and your 
singer is a happy man, for Phoebus himself must have taught 
him, or else he is the son of a Muse, as I am also, and have 
sung once or twice, though not so well as he.'

'Sing to us, then, noble stranger,' said Alcinous; 'and we 
will give you precious gifts.'

So Orpheus took his magic harp, and sang to them a stirring 
song of their voyage from Iolcos, and their dangers, and how 
they won the golden fleece; and of Medeia's love, and how she 
helped them, and went with them over land and sea; and of all 
their fearful dangers, from monsters, and rocks, and storms, 
till the heart of Arete was softened, and all the women wept.  
And the merchant kings rose up, each man from off his golden 
throne, and clapped their hands, and shouted, 'Hail to the 
noble Argonauts, who sailed the unknown sea!'

Then he went on, and told their journey over the sluggish 
northern main, and through the shoreless outer ocean, to the 
fairy island of the west; and of the Sirens, and Scylla, and 
Charybdis, and all the wonders they had seen, till midnight 
passed and the day dawned; but the kings never thought of 
sleep.  Each man sat still and listened, with his chin upon 
his hand.

And at last, when Orpheus had ended, they all went thoughtful 
out, and the heroes lay down to sleep, beneath the sounding 
porch outside, where Arete had strewn them rugs and carpets, 
in the sweet still summer night.

But Arete pleaded hard with her husband for Medeia, for her 
heart was softened.  And she said, 'The Gods will punish her, 
not we.  After all, she is our guest and my suppliant, and 
prayers are the daughters of Zeus.  And who, too, dare part 
man and wife, after all they have endured together?'

And Alcinous smiled.  'The minstrel's song has charmed you:  
but I must remember what is right, for songs cannot alter 
justice; and I must be faithful to my name.  Alcinous I am 
called, the man of sturdy sense; and Alcinous I will be.'  
But for all that Arete besought him, until she won him round.

So next morning he sent a herald, and called the kings into 
the square, and said, 'This is a puzzling matter:  remember 
but one thing.  These Minuai live close by us, and we may 
meet them often on the seas; but Aietes lives afar off, and 
we have only heard his name.  Which, then, of the two is it 
safer to offend - the men near us, or the men far off?'

The princes laughed, and praised his wisdom; and Alcinous 
called the heroes to the square, and the Colchi also; and 
they came and stood opposite each other, but Medeia stayed in 
the palace.  Then Alcinous spoke, 'Heroes of the Colchi, what 
is your errand about this lady?'

'To carry her home with us, that she may die a shameful 
death; but if we return without her, we must die the death 
she should have died.'

'What say you to this, Jason the AEolid?' said Alcinous, 
turning to the Minuai.

'I say,' said the cunning Jason, 'that they are come here on 
a bootless errand.  Do you think that you can make her follow 
you, heroes of the Colchi - her, who knows all spells and 
charms?  She will cast away your ships on quicksands, or call 
down on you Brimo the wild huntress; or the chains will fall 
from off her wrists, and she will escape in her dragon-car; 
or if not thus, some other way, for she has a thousand plans 
and wiles.  And why return home at all, brave heroes, and 
face the long seas again, and the Bosphorus, and the stormy 
Euxine, and double all your toil?  There is many a fair land 
round these coasts, which waits for gallant men like you.  
Better to settle there, and build a city, and let Aietes and 
Colchis help themselves.'

Then a murmur rose among the Colchi, and some cried 'He has 
spoken well;' and some, 'We have had enough of roving, we 
will sail the seas no more!'  And the chief said at last, 'Be 
it so, then; a plague she has been to us, and a plague to the 
house of her father, and a plague she will be to you.  Take 
her, since you are no wiser; and we will sail away toward the 
north.'

Then Alcinous gave them food, and water, and garments, and 
rich presents of all sorts; and he gave the same to the 
Minuai, and sent them all away in peace.

So Jason kept the dark witch-maiden to breed him woe and 
shame; and the Colchi went northward into the Adriatic, and 
settled, and built towns along the shore.

Then the heroes rowed away to the eastward, to reach Hellas, 
their beloved land; but a storm came down upon them, and 
swept them far away toward the south.  And they rowed till 
they were spent with struggling, through the darkness and the 
blinding rain; but where they were they could not tell, and 
they gave up all hope of life.  And at last touched the 
ground, and when daylight came waded to the shore; and saw 
nothing round but sand and desolate salt pools, for they had 
come to the quicksands of the Syrtis, and the dreary treeless 
flats which lie between Numidia and Cyrene, on the burning 
shore of Africa.  And there they wandered starving for many a 
weary day, ere they could launch their ship again, and gain 
the open sea.  And there Canthus was killed, while he was 
trying to drive off sheep, by a stone which a herdsman threw.

And there too Mopsus died, the seer who knew the voices of 
all birds; but he could not foretell his own end, for he was 
bitten in the foot by a snake, one of those which sprang from 
the Gorgon's head when Perseus carried it across the sands.

At last they rowed away toward the northward, for many a 
weary day, till their water was spent, and their food eaten; 
and they were worn out with hunger and thirst.  But at last 
they saw a long steep island, and a blue peak high among the 
clouds; and they knew it for the peak of Ida, and the famous 
land of Crete.  And they said, 'We will land in Crete, and 
see Minos the just king, and all his glory and his wealth; at 
least he will treat us hospitably, and let us fill our water-
casks upon the shore.'

But when they came nearer to the island they saw a wondrous 
sight upon the cliffs.  For on a cape to the westward stood a 
giant, taller than any mountain pine, who glittered aloft 
against the sky like a tower of burnished brass.  He turned 
and looked on all sides round him, till he saw the ARGO and 
her crew; and when he saw them he came toward them, more 
swiftly than the swiftest horse, leaping across the glens at 
a bound, and striding at one step from down to down.  And 
when he came abreast of them he brandished his arms up and 
down, as a ship hoists and lowers her yards, and shouted with 
his brazen throat like a trumpet from off the hills, 'You are 
pirates, you are robbers!  If you dare land here, you die.'

Then the heroes cried, 'We are no pirates.  We are all good 
men and true, and all we ask is food and water;' but the 
giant cried the more -

'You are robbers, you are pirates all; I know you; and if you 
land, you shall die the death.'

Then he waved his arms again as a signal, and they saw the 
people flying inland, driving their flocks before them, while 
a great flame arose among the hills.  Then the giant ran up a 
valley and vanished, and the heroes lay on their oars in 
fear.

But Medeia stood watching all from under her steep black 
brows, with a cunning smile upon her lips, and a cunning plot 
within her heart.  At last she spoke, 'I know this giant.  I 
heard of him in the East.  Hephaistos the Fire King made him 
in his forge in AEtna beneath the earth, and called him 
Talus, and gave him to Minos for a servant, to guard the 
coast of Crete.  Thrice a day he walks round the island, and 
never stops to sleep; and if strangers land he leaps into his 
furnace, which flames there among the hills; and when he is 
red-hot he rushes on them, and burns them in his brazen 
hands.'

Then all the heroes cried, 'What shall we do, wise Medeia?  
We must have water, or we die of thirst.  Flesh and blood we 
can face fairly; but who can face this red-hot brass?'

'I can face red-hot brass, if the tale I hear be true.  For 
they say that he has but one vein in all his body, filled 
with liquid fire; and that this vein is closed with a nail:  
but I know not where that nail is placed.  But if I can get 
it once into these hands, you shall water your ship here in 
peace.'

Then she bade them put her on shore, and row off again, and 
wait what would befall.

And the heroes obeyed her unwillingly, for they were ashamed 
to leave her so alone; but Jason said, 'She is dearer to me 
than to any of you, yet I will trust her freely on shore; she 
has more plots than we can dream of in the windings of that 
fair and cunning head.'

So they left the witch-maiden on the shore; and she stood 
there in her beauty all alone, till the giant strode back 
red-hot from head to heel, while the grass hissed and smoked 
beneath his tread.

And when he saw the maiden alone, he stopped; and she looked 
boldly up into his face without moving, and began her magic 
song:-

'Life is short, though life is sweet; and even men of brass 
and fire must die.  The brass must rust, the fire must cool, 
for time gnaws all things in their turn.  Life is short, 
though life is sweet:  but sweeter to live for ever; sweeter 
to live ever youthful like the Gods, who have ichor in their 
veins - ichor which gives life, and youth, and joy, and a 
bounding heart.'

Then Talus said, 'Who are you, strange maiden, and where is 
this ichor of youth?'

Then Medeia held up a flask of crystal, and said, 'Here is 
the ichor of youth.  I am Medeia the enchantress; my sister 
Circe gave me this, and said, "Go and reward Talus, the 
faithful servant, for his fame is gone out into all lands."  
So come, and I will pour this into your veins, that you may 
live for ever young.'

And he listened to her false words, that simple Talus, and 
came near; and Medeia said, 'Dip yourself in the sea first, 
and cool yourself, lest you burn my tender hands; then show 
me where the nail in your vein is, that I may pour the ichor 
in.'

Then that simple Talus dipped himself in the sea, till it 
hissed, and roared, and smoked; and came and knelt before 
Medeia, and showed her the secret nail.

And she drew the nail out gently, but she poured no ichor in; 
and instead the liquid fire spouted forth, like a stream of 
red-hot iron.  And Talus tried to leap up, crying, 'You have 
betrayed me, false witch-maiden!'  But she lifted up her 
hands before him, and sang, till he sank beneath her spell.  
And as he sank, his brazen limbs clanked heavily, and the 
earth groaned beneath his weight; and the liquid fire ran 
from his heel, like a stream of lava, to the sea; and Medeia 
laughed, and called to the heroes, 'Come ashore, and water 
your ship in peace.'

So they came, and found the giant lying dead; and they fell 
down, and kissed Medeia's feet; and watered their ship, and 
took sheep and oxen, and so left that inhospitable shore.

At last, after many more adventures, they came to the Cape of 
Malea, at the south-west point of the Peloponnese.  And there 
they offered sacrifices, and Orpheus purged them from their 
guilt.  Then they rode away again to the northward, past the 
Laconian shore, and came all worn and tired by Sunium, and up 
the long Euboean Strait, until they saw once more Pelion, and 
Aphetai, and Iolcos by the sea.

And they ran the ship ashore; but they had no strength left 
to haul her up the beach; and they crawled out on the 
pebbles, and sat down, and wept till they could weep no more.  
For the houses and the trees were all altered; and all the 
faces which they saw were strange; and their joy was 
swallowed up in sorrow, while they thought of their youth, 
and all their labour, and the gallant comrades they had lost.

And the people crowded round, and asked them 'Who are you, 
that you sit weeping here?'

'We are the sons of your princes, who sailed out many a year 
ago.  We went to fetch the golden fleece, and we have brought 
it, and grief therewith.  Give us news of our fathers and our 
mothers, if any of them be left alive on earth.'

Then there was shouting, and laughing, and weeping; and all 
the kings came to the shore, and they led away the heroes to 
their homes, and bewailed the valiant dead.

Then Jason went up with Medeia to the palace of his uncle 
Pelias.  And when he came in Pelias sat by the hearth, 
crippled and blind with age; while opposite him sat AEson, 
Jason's father, crippled and blind likewise; and the two old 
men's heads shook together as they tried to warm themselves 
before the fire.

And Jason fell down at his father's knees, and wept, and 
called him by his name.  And the old man stretched his hands 
out, and felt him, and said, 'Do not mock me, young hero.  My 
son Jason is dead long ago at sea.'

'I am your own son Jason, whom you trusted to the Centaur 
upon Pelion; and I have brought home the golden fleece, and a 
princess of the Sun's race for my bride.  So now give me up 
the kingdom, Pelias my uncle, and fulfil your promise as I 
have fulfilled mine.'

Then his father clung to him like a child, and wept, and 
would not let him go; and cried, 'Now I shall not go down 
lonely to my grave.  Promise me never to leave me till I 
die.'


PART VI -  WHAT WAS THE END OF THE HEROES


AND now I wish that I could end my story pleasantly; but it 
is no fault of mine that I cannot.  The old songs end it 
sadly, and I believe that they are right and wise; for though 
the heroes were purified at Malea, yet sacrifices cannot make 
bad hearts good, and Jason had taken a wicked wife, and he 
had to bear his burden to the last.

And first she laid a cunning plot to punish that poor old 
Pelias, instead of letting him die in peace.

For she told his daughters, 'I can make old things young 
again; I will show you how easy it is to do.'  So she took an 
old ram and killed him, and put him in a cauldron with magic 
herbs; and whispered her spells over him, and he leapt out 
again a young lamb.  So that 'Medeia's cauldron' is a proverb 
still, by which we mean times of war and change, when the 
world has become old and feeble, and grows young again 
through bitter pains.

Then she said to Pelias' daughters, 'Do to your father as I 
did to this ram, and he will grow young and strong again.'  
But she only told them half the spell; so they failed, while 
Medeia mocked them; and poor old Pelias died, and his 
daughters came to misery.  But the songs say she cured AEson, 
Jason's father, and he became young, and strong again.

But Jason could not love her, after all her cruel deeds.  So 
he was ungrateful to her, and wronged her; and she revenged 
herself on him.  And a terrible revenge she took - too 
terrible to speak of here.  But you will hear of it 
yourselves when you grow up, for it has been sung in noble 
poetry and music; and whether it be true or not, it stands 
for ever as a warning to us not to seek for help from evil 
persons, or to gain good ends by evil means.  For if we use 
an adder even against our enemies, it will turn again and 
sting us.

But of all the other heroes there is many a brave tale left, 
which I have no space to tell you, so you must read them for 
yourselves; - of the hunting of the boar in Calydon, which 
Meleager killed; and of Heracles' twelve famous labours; and 
of the seven who fought at Thebes; and of the noble love of 
Castor and Polydeuces, the twin Dioscouroi - how when one 
died the other would not live without him, so they shared 
their immortality between them; and Zeus changed them into 
the two twin stars which never rise both at once.

And what became of Cheiron, the good immortal beast?  That, 
too, is a sad story; for the heroes never saw him more.  He 
was wounded by a poisoned arrow, at Pholoe among the hills, 
when Heracles opened the fatal wine-jar, which Cheiron had 
warned him not to touch.  And the Centaurs smelt the wine, 
and flocked to it, and fought for it with Heracles; but he 
killed them all with his poisoned arrows, and Cheiron was 
left alone.  Then Cheiron took up one of the arrows, and 
dropped it by chance upon his foot; and the poison ran like 
fire along his veins, and he lay down and longed to die; and 
cried, 'Through wine I perish, the bane of all my race.  Why 
should I live for ever in this agony?  Who will take my 
immortality, that I may die?'

Then Prometheus answered, the good Titan, whom Heracles had 
set free from Caucasus, 'I will take your immortality and 
live for ever, that I may help poor mortal men.'  So Cheiron 
gave him his immortality, and died, and had rest from pain.  
And Heracles and Prometheus wept over him, and went to bury 
him on Pelion; but Zeus took him up among the stars, to live 
for ever, grand and mild, low down in the far southern sky.

And in time the heroes died, all but Nestor, the silver-
tongued old man; and left behind them valiant sons, but not 
so great as they had been.  Yet their fame, too, lives till 
this day, for they fought at the ten years' siege of Troy:  
and their story is in the book which we call Homer, in two of 
the noblest songs on earth - the 'Iliad,' which tells us of 
the siege of Troy, and Achilles' quarrel with the kings; and 
the 'Odyssey,' which tells the wanderings of Odysseus, 
through many lands for many years, and how Alcinous sent him 
home at last, safe to Ithaca his beloved island, and to 
Penelope his faithful wife, and Telemachus his son, and 
Euphorbus the noble swineherd, and the old dog who licked his 
hand and died.  We will read that sweet story, children, by 
the fire some winter night.  And now I will end my tale, and 
begin another and a more cheerful one, of a hero who became a 
worthy king, and won his people's love.



STORY III. - THESEUS



PART I - HOW THESEUS LIFTED THE STONE


ONCE upon a time there was a princess in Troezene, Aithra, 
the daughter of Pittheus the king.  She had one fair son, 
named Theseus, the bravest lad in all the land; and Aithra 
never smiled but when she looked at him, for her husband had 
forgotten her, and lived far away.  And she used to go up to 
the mountain above Troezene, to the temple of Poseidon and 
sit there all day looking out across the bay, over Methana, 
to the purple peaks of AEgina and the Attic shore beyond.  
And when Theseus was full fifteen years old she took him up 
with her to the temple, and into the thickets of the grove 
which grew in the temple-yard.  And she led him to a tall 
plane-tree, beneath whose shade grew arbutus, and lentisk, 
and purple heather-bushes.  And there she sighed, and said, 
'Theseus, my son, go into that thicket and you will find at 
the plane-tree foot a great flat stone; lift it, and bring me 
what lies underneath.'

Then Theseus pushed his way in through the thick bushes, and 
saw that they had not been moved for many a year.  And 
searching among their roots he found a great flat stone, all 
overgrown with ivy, and acanthus, and moss.  He tried to lift 
it, but he could not.  And he tried till the sweat ran down 
his brow from heat, and the tears from his eyes for shame; 
but all was of no avail.  And at last he came back to his 
mother, and said, 'I have found the stone, but I cannot lift 
it; nor do I think that any man could in all Troezene.'

Then she sighed, and said, 'The Gods wait long; but they are 
just at last.  Let it be for another year.  The day may come 
when you will be a stronger man than lives in all Troezene.'

Then she took him by the hand, and went into the temple and 
prayed, and came down again with Theseus to her home.

And when a full year was past she led Theseus up again to the 
temple, and bade him lift the stone; but he could not.

Then she sighed, and said the same words again, and went 
down, and came again the next year; but Theseus could not 
lift the stone then, nor the year after; and he longed to ask 
his mother the meaning of that stone, and what might lie 
underneath it; but her face was so sad that he had not the 
heart to ask.

So he said to himself, 'The day shall surely come when I will 
lift that stone, though no man in Troezene can.'  And in 
order to grow strong he spent all his days in wrestling, and 
boxing, and hurling, and taming horses, and hunting the boar 
and the bull, and coursing goats and deer among the rocks; 
till upon all the mountains there was no hunter so swift as 
Theseus; and he killed Phaia the wild sow of Crommyon, which 
wasted all the land; till all the people said, 'Surely the 
Gods are with the lad.'

And when his eighteenth year was past, Aithra led him up 
again to the temple, and said, 'Theseus, lift the stone this 
day, or never know who you are.'  And Theseus went into the 
thicket, and stood over the stone, and tugged at it; and it 
moved.  Then his spirit swelled within him, and he said, 'If 
I break my heart in my body, it shall up.'  And he tugged at 
it once more, and lifted it, and rolled it over with a shout.

And when he looked beneath it, on the ground lay a sword of 
bronze, with a hilt of glittering gold, and by it a pair of 
golden sandals; and he caught them up, and burst through the 
bushes like a wild boar, and leapt to his mother, holding 
them high above his head.

But when she saw them she wept long in silence, hiding her 
fair face in her shawl; and Theseus stood by her wondering, 
and wept also, he knew not why.  And when she was tired of 
weeping, she lifted up her head, and laid her finger on her 
lips, and said, 'Hide them in your bosom, Theseus my son, and 
come with me where we can look down upon the sea.'

Then they went outside the sacred wall, and looked down over 
the bright blue sea; and Aithra said -

'Do you see this land at our feet?'

And he said, 'Yes; this is Troezene, where I was born and 
bred.'

And she said, 'It is but a little land, barren and rocky, and 
looks towards the bleak north-east.  Do you see that land 
beyond?'

'Yes; that is Attica, where the Athenian people dwell.'

'That is a fair land and large, Theseus my son; and it looks 
toward the sunny south; a land of olive-oil and honey, the 
joy of Gods and men.  For the Gods have girdled it with 
mountains, whose veins are of pure silver, and their bones of 
marble white as snow; and there the hills are sweet with 
thyme and basil, and the meadows with violet and asphodel, 
and the nightingales sing all day in the thickets, by the 
side of ever-flowing streams.  There are twelve towns well 
peopled, the homes of an ancient race, the children of 
Kekrops the serpent king, the son of Mother Earth, who wear 
gold cicalas among the tresses of their golden hair; for like 
the cicalas they sprang from the earth, and like the cicalas 
they sing all day, rejoicing in the genial sun.  What would 
you do, son Theseus, if you were king of such a land?'

Then Theseus stood astonished, as he looked across the broad 
bright sea, and saw the fair Attic shore, from Sunium to 
Hymettus and Pentelicus, and all the mountain peaks which 
girdle Athens round.  But Athens itself he could not see, for 
purple AEgina stood before it, midway across the sea.

Then his heart grew great within him, and he said, 'If I were 
king of such a land I would rule it wisely and well in wisdom 
and in might, that when I died all men might weep over my 
tomb, and cry, "Alas for the shepherd of his people!"'

And Aithra smiled, and said, 'Take, then, the sword and the 
sandals, and go to AEgeus, king of Athens, who lives on 
Pallas' hill; and say to him, "The stone is lifted, but whose 
is the pledge beneath it?"  Then show him the sword and the 
sandals, and take what the Gods shall send.'

But Theseus wept, 'Shall I leave you, O my mother?'

But she answered, 'Weep not for me.  That which is fated must 
be; and grief is easy to those who do nought but grieve.  
Full of sorrow was my youth, and full of sorrow my womanhood.  
Full of sorrow was my youth for Bellerophon, the slayer of 
the Chimaera, whom my father drove away by treason; and full 
of sorrow my womanhood, for thy treacherous father and for 
thee; and full of sorrow my old age will be (for I see my 
fate in dreams), when the sons of the Swan shall carry me 
captive to the hollow vale of Eurotas, till I sail across the 
seas a slave, the handmaid of the pest of Greece.  Yet shall 
I be avenged, when the golden-haired heroes sail against 
Troy, and sack the palaces of Ilium; then my son shall set me 
free from thraldom, and I shall hear the tale of Theseus' 
fame.  Yet beyond that I see new sorrows; but I can bear them 
as I have borne the past.'

Then she kissed Theseus, and wept over him; and went into the 
temple, and Theseus saw her no more.


PART II - HOW THESEUS SLEW THE DEVOURERS OF MEN


SO Theseus stood there alone, with his mind full of many 
hopes.  And first he thought of going down to the harbour and 
hiring a swift ship, and sailing across the bay to Athens; 
but even that seemed too slow for him, and he longed for 
wings to fly across the sea, and find his father.  But after 
a while his heart began to fail him; and he sighed, and said 
within himself -

'What if my father have other sons about him whom he loves?  
What if he will not receive me?  And what have I done that he 
should receive me?  He has forgotten me ever since I was 
born:  why should he welcome me now?'

Then he thought a long while sadly; and at the last he cried 
aloud, 'Yes!  I will make him love me; for I will prove 
myself worthy of his love.  I will win honour and renown, and 
do such deeds that AEgeus shall be proud of me, though he had 
fifty other sons!  Did not Heracles win himself honour, 
though he was opprest, and the slave of Eurystheus?  Did he 
not kill all robbers and evil beasts, and drain great lakes 
and marshes, breaking the hills through with his club?  
Therefore it was that all men honoured him, because he rid 
them of their miseries, and made life pleasant to them and 
their children after them.  Where can I go, to do as Heracles 
has done?  Where can I find strange adventures, robbers, and 
monsters, and the children of hell, the enemies of men?  I 
will go by land, and into the mountains, and round by the way 
of the Isthmus.  Perhaps there I may hear of brave 
adventures, and do something which shall win my father's 
love.'

So he went by land, and away into the mountains, with his 
father's sword upon his thigh, till he came to the Spider 
mountains, which hang over Epidaurus and the sea, where the 
glens run downward from one peak in the midst, as the rays 
spread in the spider's web.

And he went up into the gloomy glens, between the furrowed 
marble walls, till the lowland grew blue beneath his feet and 
the clouds drove damp about his head.

But he went up and up for ever, through the spider's web of 
glens, till he could see the narrow gulfs spread below him, 
north and south, and east and west; black cracks half-choked 
with mists, and above all a dreary down.

But over that down he must go, for there was no road right or 
left; so he toiled on through bog and brake, till he came to 
a pile of stones.

And on the stones a man was sitting, wrapt in a bearskin 
cloak.  The head of the bear served him for a cap, and its 
teeth grinned white around his brows; and the feet were tied 
about his throat, and their claws shone white upon his chest.  
And when he saw Theseus he rose, and laughed till the glens 
rattled.

'And who art thou, fair fly, who hast walked into the 
spider's web?'  But Theseus walked on steadily, and made no 
answer; but he thought, 'Is this some robber? and has an 
adventure come already to me?'  But the strange man laughed 
louder than ever, and said -

'Bold fly, know you not that these glens are the web from 
which no fly ever finds his way out again, and this down the 
spider's house, and I the spider who sucks the flies?  Come 
hither, and let me feast upon you; for it is of no use to run 
away, so cunning a web has my father Hephaistos spread for me 
when he made these clefts in the mountains, through which no 
man finds his way home.'

But Theseus came on steadily, and asked -

'And what is your name among men, bold spider? and where are 
your spider's fangs?'

Then the strange man laughed again -

'My name is Periphetes, the son of Hephaistos and Anticleia 
the mountain nymph.  But men call me Corynetes the club-
bearer; and here is my spider's fang.'

And he lifted from off the stones at his side a mighty club 
of bronze.

'This my father gave me, and forged it himself in the roots 
of the mountain; and with it I pound all proud flies till 
they give out their fatness and their sweetness.  So give me 
up that gay sword of yours, and your mantle, and your golden 
sandals, lest I pound you, and by ill-luck you die.'

But Theseus wrapt his mantle round his left arm quickly, in 
hard folds, from his shoulder to his hand, and drew his 
sword, and rushed upon the club-bearer, and the club-bearer 
rushed on him.

Thrice he struck at Theseus, and made him bend under the 
blows like a sapling; but Theseus guarded his head with his 
left arm, and the mantle which was wrapt around it.

And thrice Theseus sprang upright after the blow, like a 
sapling when the storm is past; and he stabbed at the club-
bearer with his sword, but the loose folds of the bearskin 
saved him.

Then Theseus grew mad, and closed with him, and caught him by 
the throat, and they fell and rolled over together; but when 
Theseus rose up from the ground the club-bearer lay still at 
his feet.

Then Theseus took his club and his bearskin, and left him to 
the kites and crows, and went upon his journey down the glens 
on the farther slope, till he came to a broad green valley, 
and saw flocks and herds sleeping beneath the trees.

And by the side of a pleasant fountain, under the shade of 
rocks and trees, were nymphs and shepherds dancing; but no 
one piped to them while they danced.

And when they saw Theseus they shrieked; and the shepherds 
ran off, and drove away their flocks, while the nymphs dived 
into the fountain like coots, and vanished.

Theseus wondered and laughed:  'What strange fancies have 
folks here who run away from strangers, and have no music 
when they dance!'  But he was tired, and dusty, and thirsty; 
so he thought no more of them, but drank and bathed in the 
clear pool, and then lay down in the shade under a plane-
tree, while the water sang him to sleep, as it tinkled down 
from stone to stone.

And when he woke he heard a whispering, and saw the nymphs 
peeping at him across the fountain from the dark mouth of a 
cave, where they sat on green cushions of moss.  And one 
said, 'Surely he is not Periphetes;' and another, 'He looks 
like no robber, but a fair and gentle youth.'

Then Theseus smiled, and called them, 'Fair nymphs, I am not 
Periphetes.  He sleeps among the kites and crows; but I have 
brought away his bearskin and his club.'

Then they leapt across the pool, and came to him, and called 
the shepherds back.  And he told them how he had slain the 
club-bearer:  and the shepherds kissed his feet and sang, 
'Now we shall feed our flocks in peace, and not be afraid to 
have music when we dance; for the cruel club-bearer has met 
his match, and he will listen for our pipes no more.'  Then 
they brought him kid's flesh and wine, and the nymphs brought 
him honey from the rocks, and he ate, and drank, and slept 
again, while the nymphs and shepherds danced and sang.  And 
when he woke, they begged him to stay; but he would not.  'I 
have a great work to do,' he said; 'I must be away toward the 
Isthmus, that I may go to Athens.'

But the shepherds said, 'Will you go alone toward Athens?  
None travel that way now, except in armed troops.'

'As for arms, I have enough, as you see.  And as for troops, 
an honest man is good enough company for himself.  Why should 
I not go alone toward Athens?'

'If you do, you must look warily about you on the Isthmus, 
lest you meet Sinis the robber, whom men call Pituocamptes 
the pine-bender; for he bends down two pine-trees, and binds 
all travellers hand and foot between them, and when he lets 
the trees go again their bodies are torn in sunder.'

'And after that,' said another, 'you must go inland, and not 
dare to pass over the cliffs of Sciron; for on the left hand 
are the mountains, and on the right the sea, so that you have 
no escape, but must needs meet Sciron the robber, who will 
make you wash his feet; and while you are washing them he 
will kick you over the cliff, to the tortoise who lives 
below, and feeds upon the bodies of the dead.'

And before Theseus could answer, another cried, 'And after 
that is a worse danger still, unless you go inland always, 
and leave Eleusis far on your right.  For in Eleusis rules 
Kerkuon the cruel king, the terror of all mortals, who killed 
his own daughter Alope in prison.  But she was changed into a 
fair fountain; and her child he cast out upon the mountains, 
but the wild mares gave it milk.  And now he challenges all 
comers to wrestle with him, for he is the best wrestler in 
all Attica, and overthrows all who come; and those whom he 
overthrows he murders miserably, and his palace-court is full 
of their bones.'

Then Theseus frowned, and said, 'This seems indeed an ill-
ruled land, and adventures enough in it to be tried.  But if 
I am the heir of it, I will rule it and right it, and here is 
my royal sceptre.'

And he shook his club of bronze, while the nymphs and 
shepherds clung round him, and entreated him not to go.

But on he went nevertheless, till he could see both the seas 
and the citadel of Corinth towering high above all the land.  
And he past swiftly along the Isthmus, for his heart burned 
to meet that cruel Sinis; and in a pine-wood at last he met 
him, where the Isthmus was narrowest and the road ran between 
high rocks.  There he sat upon a stone by the wayside, with a 
young fir-tree for a club across his knees, and a cord laid 
ready by his side; and over his head, upon the fir-tops, hung 
the bones of murdered men.

Then Theseus shouted to him, 'Holla, thou valiant pine-
bender, hast thou two fir-trees left for me?'

And Sinis leapt to his feet, and answered, pointing to the 
bones above his head, 'My larder has grown empty lately, so I 
have two fir-trees ready for thee.'  And he rushed on 
Theseus, lifting his club, and Theseus rushed upon him.

Then they hammered together till the greenwoods rang; but the 
metal was tougher than the pine, and Sinis' club broke right 
across, as the bronze came down upon it.  Then Theseus heaved 
up another mighty stroke, and smote Sinis down upon his face; 
and knelt upon his back, and bound him with his own cord, and 
said, 'As thou hast done to others, so shall it be done to 
thee.'  Then he bent down two young fir-trees, and bound 
Sinis between them for all his struggling and his prayers; 
and let them go, and ended Sinis, and went on, leaving him to 
the hawks and crows.

Then he went over the hills toward Megara, keeping close 
along the Saronic Sea, till he came to the cliffs of Sciron, 
and the narrow path between the mountain and the sea.

And there he saw Sciron sitting by a fountain, at the edge of 
the cliff.  On his knees was a mighty club; and he had barred 
the path with stones, so that every one must stop who came 
up.

Then Theseus shouted to him, and said, 'Holla, thou tortoise-
feeder, do thy feet need washing to-day?'

And Sciron leapt to his feet, and answered - 'My tortoise is 
empty and hungry, and my feet need washing to-day.'  And he 
stood before his barrier, and lifted up his club in both 
hands.

Then Theseus rushed upon him; and sore was the battle upon 
the cliff, for when Sciron felt the weight of the bronze 
club, he dropt his own, and closed with Theseus, and tried to 
hurl him by main force over the cliff.  But Theseus was a 
wary wrestler, and dropt his own club, and caught him by the 
throat and by the knee, and forced him back against the wall 
of stones, and crushed him up against them, till his breath 
was almost gone.  And Sciron cried panting, 'Loose me, and I 
will let thee pass.'  But Theseus answered, 'I must not pass 
till I have made the rough way smooth;' and he forced him 
back against the wall till it fell, and Sciron rolled head 
over heels.

Then Theseus lifted him up all bruised, and said, 'Come 
hither and wash my feet.'  And he drew his sword, and sat 
down by the well, and said, 'Wash my feet, or I cut you 
piecemeal.'

And Sciron washed his feet trembling; and when it was done, 
Theseus rose, and cried, 'As thou hast done to others, so 
shall it be done to thee.  Go feed thy tortoise thyself;' and 
he kicked him over the cliff into the sea.

And whether the tortoise ate him, I know not; for some say 
that earth and sea both disdained to take his body, so foul 
it was with sin.  So the sea cast it out upon the shore, and 
the shore cast it back into the sea, and at last the waves 
hurled it high into the air in anger; and it hung there long 
without a grave, till it was changed into a desolate rock, 
which stands there in the surge until this day.

This at least is true, which Pausanias tells, that in the 
royal porch at Athens he saw the figure of Theseus modelled 
in clay, and by him Sciron the robber falling headlong into 
the sea.

Then he went a long day's journey, past Megara, into the 
Attic land, and high before him rose the snow-peaks of 
Cithaeron, all cold above the black pine-woods, where haunt 
the Furies, and the raving Bacchae, and the Nymphs who drive 
men wild, far aloft upon the dreary mountains, where the 
storms howl all day long.  And on his right hand was the sea 
always, and Salamis, with its island cliffs, and the sacred 
strait of the sea-fight, where afterwards the Persians fled 
before the Greeks.  So he went all day until the evening, 
till he saw the Thriasian plain, and the sacred city of 
Eleusis, where the Earth-mother's temple stands.  For there 
she met Triptolemus, when all the land lay waste, Demeter the 
kind Earth-mother, and in her hands a sheaf of corn.  And she 
taught him to plough the fallows, and to yoke the lazy kine; 
and she taught him to sow the seed-fields, and to reap the 
golden grain; and sent him forth to teach all nations, and 
give corn to labouring men.  So at Eleusis all men honour 
her, whosoever tills the land; her and Triptolemus her 
beloved, who gave corn to labouring men.

And he went along the plain into Eleusis, and stood in the 
market-place, and cried -

'Where is Kerkuon, the king of the city?  I must wrestle a 
fall with him to-day.'

Then all the people crowded round him, and cried, 'Fair 
youth, why will you die?  Hasten out of the city, before the 
cruel king hears that a stranger is here.'

But Theseus went up through the town, while the people wept 
and prayed, and through the gates of the palace-yard, and 
through the piles of bones and skulls, till he came to the 
door of Kerkuon's hall, the terror of all mortal men.

And there he saw Kerkuon sitting at the table in the hall 
alone; and before him was a whole sheep roasted, and beside 
him a whole jar of wine.  And Theseus stood and called him, 
'Holla, thou valiant wrestler, wilt thou wrestle a fall to-
day?'

And Kerkuon looked up and laughed, and answered, 'I will 
wrestle a fall to-day; but come in, for I am lonely and thou 
weary, and eat and drink before thou die.'

Then Theseus went up boldly, and sat down before Kerkuon at 
the board; and he ate his fill of the sheep's flesh, and 
drank his fill of the wine; and Theseus ate enough for three 
men, but Kerkuon ate enough for seven.

But neither spoke a word to the other, though they looked 
across the table by stealth; and each said in his heart, 'He 
has broad shoulders; but I trust mine are as broad as his.'

At last, when the sheep was eaten and the jar of wine drained 
dry, King Kerkuon rose, and cried, 'Let us wrestle a fall 
before we sleep.'

So they tossed off all their garments, and went forth in the 
palace-yard; and Kerkuon bade strew fresh sand in an open 
space between the bones.

And there the heroes stood face to face, while their eyes 
glared like wild bulls'; and all the people crowded at the 
gates to see what would befall.

And there they stood and wrestled, till the stars shone out 
above their heads; up and down and round, till the sand was 
stamped hard beneath their feet.  And their eyes flashed like 
stars in the darkness, and their breath went up like smoke in 
the night air; but neither took nor gave a footstep, and the 
people watched silent at the gates.

But at last Kerkuon grew angry, and caught Theseus round the 
neck, and shook him as a mastiff shakes a rat; but he could 
not shake him off his feet.

But Theseus was quick and wary, and clasped Kerkuon round the 
waist, and slipped his loin quickly underneath him, while he 
caught him by the wrist; and then he hove a mighty heave, a 
heave which would have stirred an oak, and lifted Kerkuon, 
and pitched him right over his shoulder on the ground.

Then he leapt on him, and called, 'Yield, or I kill thee!' 
but Kerkuon said no word; for his heart was burst within him 
with the fall, and the meat, and the wine.

Then Theseus opened the gates, and called in all the people; 
and they cried, 'You have slain our evil king; be you now our 
king, and rule us well.'

'I will be your king in Eleusis, and I will rule you right 
and well; for this cause I have slain all evil-doers - Sinis, 
and Sciron, and this man last of all.'

Then an aged man stepped forth, and said, 'Young hero, hast 
thou slain Sinis?  Beware then of AEgeus, king of Athens, to 
whom thou goest, for he is near of kin to Sinis.'

'Then I have slain my own kinsman,' said Theseus, 'though 
well he deserved to die.  Who will purge me from his death, 
for rightfully I slew him, unrighteous and accursed as he 
was?'

And the old man answered -

'That will the heroes do, the sons of Phytalus, who dwell 
beneath the elm-tree in Aphidnai, by the bank of silver 
Cephisus; for they know the mysteries of the Gods.  Thither 
you shall go and be purified, and after you shall be our 
king.'

So he took an oath of the people of Eleusis, that they would 
serve him as their king, and went away next morning across 
the Thriasian plain, and over the hills toward Aphidnai, that 
he might find the sons of Phytalus.

And as he was skirting the Vale of Cephisus, along the foot 
of lofty Parnes, a very tall and strong man came down to meet 
him, dressed in rich garments.  On his arms were golden 
bracelets, and round his neck a collar of jewels; and he came 
forward, bowing courteously, and held out both his hands, and 
spoke -

'Welcome, fair youth, to these mountains; happy am I to have 
met you!  For what greater pleasure to a good man, than to 
entertain strangers?  But I see that you are weary.  Come up 
to my castle, and rest yourself awhile.'

'I give you thanks,' said Theseus:  'but I am in haste to go 
up the valley, and to reach Aphidnai in the Vale of 
Cephisus.'

'Alas! you have wandered far from the right way, and you 
cannot reach Aphidnai to-night, for there are many miles of 
mountain between you and it, and steep passes, and cliffs 
dangerous after nightfall.  It is well for you that I met 
you, for my whole joy is to find strangers, and to feast them 
at my castle, and hear tales from them of foreign lands.  
Come up with me, and eat the best of venison, and drink the 
rich red wine, and sleep upon my famous bed, of which all 
travellers say that they never saw the like.  For whatsoever 
the stature of my guest, however tall or short, that bed fits 
him to a hair, and he sleeps on it as he never slept before.'  
And he laid hold on Theseus' hands, and would not let him go.

Theseus wished to go forwards:  but he was ashamed to seem 
churlish to so hospitable a man; and he was curious to see 
that wondrous bed; and beside, he was hungry and weary:  yet 
he shrank from the man, he knew not why; for, though his 
voice was gentle and fawning, it was dry and husky like a 
toad's; and though his eyes were gentle, they were dull and 
cold like stones.  But he consented, and went with the man up 
a glen which led from the road toward the peaks of Parnes, 
under the dark shadow of the cliffs.

And as they went up, the glen grew narrower, and the cliffs 
higher and darker, and beneath them a torrent roared, half 
seen between bare limestone crags.  And around there was 
neither tree nor bush, while from the white peaks of Parnes 
the snow-blasts swept down the glen, cutting and chilling 
till a horror fell on Theseus as he looked round at that 
doleful place.  And he asked at last, 'Your castle stands, it 
seems, in a dreary region.'

'Yes; but once within it, hospitality makes all things 
cheerful.  But who are these?' and he looked back, and 
Theseus also; and far below, along the road which they had 
left, came a string of laden asses, and merchants walking by 
them, watching their ware.

'Ah, poor souls!' said the stranger.  'Well for them that I 
looked back and saw them!  And well for me too, for I shall 
have the more guests at my feast.  Wait awhile till I go down 
and call them, and we will eat and drink together the 
livelong night.  Happy am I, to whom Heaven sends so many 
guests at once!'

And he ran back down the hill, waving his hand and shouting, 
to the merchants, while Theseus went slowly up the steep 
pass.

But as he went up he met an aged man, who had been gathering 
driftwood in the torrent-bed.  He had laid down his faggot in 
the road, and was trying to lift it again to his shoulder.  
And when he saw Theseus, he called to him, and said -

'O fair youth, help me up with my burden, for my limbs are 
stiff and weak with years.'

Then Theseus lifted the burden on his back.  And the old man 
blest him, and then looked earnestly upon him, and said -

'Who are you, fair youth, and wherefore travel you this 
doleful road?'

'Who I am my parents know; but I travel this doleful road 
because I have been invited by a hospitable man, who promises 
to feast me, and to make me sleep upon I know not what 
wondrous bed.'

Then the old man clapped his hands together and cried -

'O house of Hades, man-devouring! will thy maw never be full?  
Know, fair youth, that you are going to torment and to death, 
for he who met you (I will requite your kindness by another) 
is a robber and a murderer of men.  Whatsoever stranger he 
meets he entices him hither to death; and as for this bed of 
which he speaks, truly it fits all comers, yet none ever rose 
alive off it save me.'

'Why?' asked Theseus, astonished.

'Because, if a man be too tall for it, he lops his limbs till 
they be short enough, and if he be too short, he stretches 
his limbs till they be long enough:  but me only he spared, 
seven weary years agone; for I alone of all fitted his bed 
exactly, so he spared me, and made me his slave.  And once I 
was a wealthy merchant, and dwelt in brazen-gated Thebes; but 
now I hew wood and draw water for him, the torment of all 
mortal men.'

Then Theseus said nothing; but he ground his teeth together.

'Escape, then,' said the old man, 'for he will have no pity 
on thy youth.  But yesterday he brought up hither a young man 
and a maiden, and fitted them upon his bed; and the young 
man's hands and feet he cut off, but the maiden's limbs he 
stretched until she died, and so both perished miserably - 
but I am tired of weeping over the slain.  And therefore he 
is called Procrustes the stretcher, though his father called 
him Damastes.  Flee from him:  yet whither will you flee?  
The cliffs are steep, and who can climb them? and there is no 
other road.'

But Theseus laid his hand upon the old man's month, and said, 
'There is no need to flee;' and he turned to go down the 
pass.

'Do not tell him that I have warned you, or he will kill me 
by some evil death;' and the old man screamed after him down 
the glen; but Theseus strode on in his wrath.

And he said to himself, 'This is an ill-ruled land; when 
shall I have done ridding it of monsters?'  And as he spoke, 
Procrustes came up the hill, and all the merchants with him, 
smiling and talking gaily.  And when he saw Theseus, he 
cried, 'Ah, fair young guest, have I kept you too long 
waiting?'

But Theseus answered, 'The man who stretches his guests upon 
a bed and hews off their hands and feet, what shall be done 
to him, when right is done throughout the land?'

Then Procrustes' countenance changed, and his cheeks grew as 
green as a lizard, and he felt for his sword in haste; but 
Theseus leapt on him, and cried -

'Is this true, my host, or is it false?' and he clasped 
Procrustes round waist and elbow, so that he could not draw 
his sword.

'Is this true, my host, or is it false?'  But Procrustes 
answered never a word.

Then Theseus flung him from him, and lifted up his dreadful 
club; and before Procrustes could strike him he had struck, 
and felled him to the ground.

And once again he struck him; and his evil soul fled forth, 
and went down to Hades squeaking, like a bat into the 
darkness of a cave.

Then Theseus stript him of his gold ornaments, and went up to 
his house, and found there great wealth and treasure, which 
he had stolen from the passers-by.  And he called the people 
of the country, whom Procrustes had spoiled a long time, and 
parted the spoil among them, and went down the mountains, and 
away.

And he went down the glens of Parnes, through mist, and 
cloud, and rain, down the slopes of oak, and lentisk, and 
arbutus, and fragrant bay, till he came to the Vale of 
Cephisus, and the pleasant town of Aphidnai, and the home of 
the Phytalid heroes, where they dwelt beneath a mighty elm.

And there they built an altar, and bade him bathe in 
Cephisus, and offer a yearling ram, and purified him from the 
blood of Sinis, and sent him away in peace.

And he went down the valley by Acharnai, and by the silver-
swirling stream, while all the people blessed him, for the 
fame of his prowess had spread wide, till he saw the plain of 
Athens, and the hill where Athene dwells.

So Theseus went up through Athens, and all the people ran out 
to see him; for his fame had gone before him and every one 
knew of his mighty deeds.  And all cried, 'Here comes the 
hero who slew Sinis, and Phaia the wild sow of Crommyon, and 
conquered Kerkuon in wrestling, and slew Procrustes the 
pitiless.'  But Theseus went on sadly and steadfastly, for 
his heart yearned after his father; and he said, 'How shall I 
deliver him from these leeches who suck his blood?'

So he went up the holy stairs, and into the Acropolis, where 
AEgeus' palace stood; and he went straight into AEgeus' hall, 
and stood upon the threshold, and looked round.

And there he saw his cousins sitting about the table at the 
wine:  many a son of Pallas, but no AEgeus among them.  There 
they sat and feasted, and laughed, and passed the wine-cup 
round; while harpers harped, and slave-girls sang, and the 
tumblers showed their tricks.

Loud laughed the sons of Pallas, and fast went the wine-cup 
round; but Theseus frowned, and said under his breath, 'No 
wonder that the land is full of robbers, while such as these 
bear rule.'

Then the Pallantids saw him, and called to him, half-drunk 
with wine, 'Holla, tall stranger at the door, what is your 
will to-day?'

'I come hither to ask for hospitality.'

'Then take it, and welcome.  You look like a hero and a bold 
warrior; and we like such to drink with us.'

'I ask no hospitality of you; I ask it of AEgeus the king, 
the master of this house.'

At that some growled, and some laughed, and shouted, 'Heyday! 
we are all masters here.'

'Then I am master as much as the rest of you,' said Theseus, 
and he strode past the table up the hall, and looked around 
for AEgeus; but he was nowhere to be seen.

The Pallantids looked at him, and then at each other, and 
each whispered to the man next him, 'This is a forward 
fellow; he ought to be thrust out at the door.'  But each 
man's neighbour whispered in return, 'His shoulders are 
broad; will you rise and put him out?'  So they all sat still 
where they were.

Then Theseus called to the servants, and said, 'Go tell King 
AEgeus, your master, that Theseus of Troezene is here, and 
asks to be his guest awhile.'

A servant ran and told AEgeus, where he sat in his chamber 
within, by Medeia the dark witch-woman, watching her eye and 
hand.  And when AEgeus heard of Troezene he turned pale and 
red again, and rose from his seat trembling, while Medeia 
watched him like a snake.

'What is Troezene to you?' she asked.  But he said hastily, 
'Do you not know who this Theseus is?  The hero who has 
cleared the country from all monsters; but that he came from 
Troezene, I never heard before.  I must go out and welcome 
him.'

So AEgeus came out into the hall; and when Theseus saw him, 
his heart leapt into his mouth, and he longed to fall on his 
neck and welcome him; but he controlled himself, and said, 
'My father may not wish for me, after all.  I will try him 
before I discover myself;' and he bowed low before AEgeus, 
and said, 'I have delivered the king's realm from many 
monsters; therefore I am come to ask a reward of the king.'

And old AEgeus looked on him, and loved him, as what fond 
heart would not have done?  But he only sighed, and said -

'It is little that I can give you, noble lad, and nothing 
that is worthy of you; for surely you are no mortal man, or 
at least no mortal's son.'

'All I ask,' said Theseus, 'is to eat and drink at your 
table.'

'That I can give you,' said AEgeus, 'if at least I am master 
in my own hall.'

Then he bade them put a seat for Theseus, and set before him 
the best of the feast; and Theseus sat and ate so much, that 
all the company wondered at him:  but always he kept his club 
by his side.

But Medeia the dark witch-woman had been watching him all the 
while.  She saw how AEgeus turned red and pale when the lad 
said that he came from Troezene.  She saw, too, how his heart 
was opened toward Theseus; and how Theseus bore himself 
before all the sons of Pallas, like a lion among a pack of 
curs.  And she said to herself, 'This youth will be master 
here; perhaps he is nearer to AEgeus already than mere fancy.  
At least the Pallantilds will have no chance by the side of 
such as he.'

Then she went back into her chamber modestly, while Theseus 
ate and drank; and all the servants whispered, 'This, then, 
is the man who killed the monsters!  How noble are his looks, 
and how huge his size!  Ah, would that he were our master's 
son!'

But presently Medeia came forth, decked in all her jewels, 
and her rich Eastern robes, and looking more beautiful than 
the day, so that all the guests could look at nothing else.  
And in her right hand she held a golden cup, and in her left 
a flask of gold; and she came up to Theseus, and spoke in a 
sweet, soft, winning voice -

'Hail to the hero, the conqueror, the unconquered, the 
destroyer of all evil things!  Drink, hero, of my charmed 
cup, which gives rest after every toil, which heals all 
wounds, and pours new life into the veins.  Drink of my cup, 
for in it sparkles the wine of the East, and Nepenthe, the 
comfort of the Immortals.'

And as she spoke, she poured the flask into the cup; and the 
fragrance of the wine spread through the hall, like the scent 
of thyme and roses.

And Theseus looked up in her fair face and into her deep dark 
eyes.  And as he looked, he shrank and shuddered; for they 
were dry like the eyes of a snake.  And he rose, and said, 
'The wine is rich and fragrant, and the wine-bearer as fair 
as the Immortals; but let her pledge me first herself in the 
cup, that the wine may be the sweeter from her lips.'

Then Medeia turned pale, and stammered, 'Forgive me, fair 
hero; but I am ill, and dare drink no wine.'

And Theseus looked again into her eyes, and cried, 'Thou 
shalt pledge me in that cup, or die.'  And he lifted up his 
brazen club, while all the guests looked on aghast.

Medeia shrieked a fearful shriek, and dashed the cup to the 
ground, and fled; and where the wine flowed over the marble 
pavement, the stone bubbled, and crumbled, and hissed, under 
the fierce venom of the draught.

But Medeia called her dragon chariot, and sprang into it and 
fled aloft, away over land and sea, and no man saw her more.

And AEgeus cried, 'What hast thou done?'  But Theseus pointed 
to the stone, 'I have rid the land of an enchantment:  now I 
will rid it of one more.'

And he came close to AEgeus, and drew from his bosom the 
sword and the sandals, and said the words which his mother 
bade him.

And AEgeus stepped back a pace, and looked at the lad till 
his eyes grew dim; and then he cast himself on his neck and 
wept, and Theseus wept on his neck, till they had no strength 
left to weep more.

Then AEgeus turned to all the people, and cried, 'Behold my 
son, children of Cecrops, a better man than his father was 
before him.'

Who, then, were mad but the Pallantids, though they had been 
mad enough before?  And one shouted, 'Shall we make room for 
an upstart, a pretender, who comes from we know not where?'  
And another, 'If he be one, we are more than one; and the 
stronger can hold his own.'  And one shouted one thing, and 
one another; for they were hot and wild with wine:  but all 
caught swords and lances off the wall, where the weapons hung 
around, and sprang forward to Theseus, and Theseus sprang 
forward to them.

And he cried, 'Go in peace, if you will, my cousins; but if 
not, your blood be on your own heads.'  But they rushed at 
him; and then stopped short and railed him, as curs stop and 
bark when they rouse a lion from his lair.

But one hurled a lance from the rear rank, which past close 
by Theseus' head; and at that Theseus rushed forward, and the 
fight began indeed.  Twenty against one they fought, and yet 
Theseus beat them all; and those who were left fled down into 
the town, where the people set on them, and drove them out, 
till Theseus was left alone in the palace, with AEgeus his 
new-found father.  But before nightfall all the town came up, 
with victims, and dances, and songs; and they offered 
sacrifices to Athene, and rejoiced all the night long, 
because their king had found a noble son, and an heir to his 
royal house.

So Theseus stayed with his father all the winter:  and when 
the spring equinox drew near, all the Athenians grew sad and 
silent, and Theseus saw it, and asked the reason; but no one 
would answer him a word.

Then he went to his father, and asked him:  but AEgeus turned 
away his face and wept.

'Do not ask, my son, beforehand, about evils which must 
happen:  it is enough to have to face them when they come.'

And when the spring equinox came, a herald came to Athens, 
and stood in the market, and cried, 'O people and King of 
Athens, where is your yearly tribute?'  Then a great 
lamentation arose throughout the city.  But Theseus stood up 
to the herald, and cried -

'And who are you, dog-faced, who dare demand tribute here?  
If I did not reverence your herald's staff, I would brain you 
with this club.'

And the herald answered proudly, for he was a grave and 
ancient man -

'Fair youth, I am not dog-faced or shameless; but I do my 
master's bidding, Minos, the King of hundred-citied Crete, 
the wisest of all kings on earth.  And you must be surely a 
stranger here, or you would know why I come, and that I come 
by right.'

'I am a stranger here.  Tell me, then, why you come.'

'To fetch the tribute which King AEgeus promised to Minos, 
and confirmed his promise with an oath.  For Minos conquered 
all this land, and Megara which lies to the east, when he 
came hither with a great fleet of ships, enraged about the 
murder of his son.  For his son Androgeos came hither to the 
Panathenaic games, and overcame all the Greeks in the sports, 
so that the people honoured him as a hero.  But when AEgeus 
saw his valour, he envied him, and feared lest he should join 
the sons of Pallas, and take away the sceptre from him.  So 
he plotted against his life, and slew him basely, no man 
knows how or where.  Some say that he waylaid him by Oinoe, 
on the road which goes to Thebes; and some that he sent him 
against the bull of Marathon, that the beast might kill him.  
But AEgeus says that the young men killed him from envy, 
because he had conquered them in the games.  So Minos came 
hither and avenged him, and would not depart till this land 
had promised him tribute - seven youths and seven maidens 
every year, who go with me in a black-sailed ship, till they 
come to hundred-citied Crete.'

And Theseus ground his teeth together, and said, 'Wert thou 
not a herald I would kill thee for saying such things of my 
father; but I will go to him, and know the truth.'  So he 
went to his father, and asked him; but he turned away his 
head and wept, and said, 'Blood was shed in the land 
unjustly, and by blood it is avenged.  Break not my heart by 
questions; it is enough to endure in silence.'

Then Theseus groaned inwardly, and said, 'I will go myself 
with these youths and maidens, and kill Minos upon his royal 
throne.'

And AEgeus shrieked, and cried, 'You shall not go, my son, 
the light of my old age, to whom alone I look to rule this 
people after I am dead and gone.  You shall not go, to die 
horribly, as those youths and maidens die; for Minos thrusts 
them into a labyrinth, which Daidalos made for him among the 
rocks, - Daidalos the renegade, the accursed, the pest of 
this his native land.  From that labyrinth no one can escape, 
entangled in its winding ways, before they meet the Minotaur, 
the monster who feeds upon the flesh of men.  There he 
devours them horribly, and they never see this land again.'

Then Theseus grew red, and his ears tingled, and his heart 
beat loud in his bosom.  And he stood awhile like a tall 
stone pillar on the cliffs above some hero's grave; and at 
last he spoke -

'Therefore all the more I will go with them, and slay the 
accursed beast.  Have I not slain all evil-doers and 
monsters, that I might free this land?  Where are Periphetes, 
and Sinis, and Kerkuon, and Phaia the wild sow?  Where are 
the fifty sons of Pallas?  And this Minotaur shall go the 
road which they have gone, and Minos himself, if he dare stay 
me.'

'But how will you slay him, my son?  For you must leave your 
club and your armour behind, and be cast to the monster, 
defenceless and naked like the rest.'

And Theseus said, 'Are there no stones in that labyrinth; and 
have I not fists and teeth?  Did I need my club to kill 
Kerkuon, the terror of all mortal men?'

Then AEgeus clung to his knees; but he would not hear; and at 
last he let him go, weeping bitterly, and said only this one 
word -

'Promise me but this, if you return in peace, though that may 
hardly be:  take down the black sail of the ship (for I shall 
watch for it all day upon the cliffs), and hoist instead a 
white sail, that I may know afar off that you are safe.'

And Theseus promised, and went out, and to the market-place 
where the herald stood, while they drew lots for the youths 
and maidens, who were to sail in that doleful crew.  And the 
people stood wailing and weeping, as the lot fell on this one 
and on that; but Theseus strode into the midst, and cried - 
'Here is a youth who needs no lot.  I myself will be one of 
the seven.'

And the herald asked in wonder, 'Fair youth, know you whither 
you are going?'

And Theseus said, 'I know.  Let us go down to the black-
sailed ship.'

So they went down to the black-sailed ship, seven maidens, 
and seven youths, and Theseus before them all, and the people 
following them lamenting.  But Theseus whispered to his 
companions, 'Have hope, for the monster is not immortal.  
Where are Periphetes, and Sinis, and Sciron, and all whom I 
have slain?'  Then their hearts were comforted a little; but 
they wept as they went on board, and the cliffs of Sunium 
rang, and all the isles of the AEgean Sea, with the voice of 
their lamentation, as they sailed on toward their deaths in 
Crete.


PART III - HOW THESEUS SLEW THE MINOTAUR


AND at last they came to Crete, and to Cnossus, beneath the 
peaks of Ida, and to the palace of Minos the great king, to 
whom Zeus himself taught laws.  So he was the wisest of all 
mortal kings, and conquered all the AEgean isles; and his 
ships were as many as the sea-gulls, and his palace like a 
marble hill.  And he sat among the pillars of the hall, upon 
his throne of beaten gold, and around him stood the speaking 
statues which Daidalos had made by his skill.  For Daidalos 
was the most cunning of all Athenians, and he first invented 
the plumb-line, and the auger, and glue, and many a tool with 
which wood is wrought.  And he first set up masts in ships, 
and yards, and his son made sails for them:  but Perdix his 
nephew excelled him; for he first invented the saw and its 
teeth, copying it from the back-bone of a fish; and invented, 
too, the chisel, and the compasses, and the potter's wheel 
which moulds the clay.  Therefore Daidalos envied him, and 
hurled him headlong from the temple of Athene; but the 
Goddess pitied him (for she loves the wise), and changed him 
into a partridge, which flits for ever about the hills.  And 
Daidalos fled to Crete, to Minos, and worked for him many a 
year, till he did a shameful deed, at which the sun hid his 
face on high.

Then he fled from the anger of Minos, he and Icaros his son 
having made themselves wings of feathers, and fixed the 
feathers with wax.  So they flew over the sea toward Sicily; 
but Icaros flew too near the sun; and the wax of his wings 
was melted, and he fell into the Icarian Sea.  But Daidalos 
came safe to Sicily, and there wrought many a wondrous work; 
for he made for King Cocalos a reservoir, from which a great 
river watered all the land, and a castle and a treasury on a 
mountain, which the giants themselves could not have stormed; 
and in Selinos he took the steam which comes up from the 
fires of AEtna, and made of it a warm bath of vapour, to cure 
the pains of mortal men; and he made a honeycomb of gold, in 
which the bees came and stored their honey, and in Egypt he 
made the forecourt of the temple of Hephaistos in Memphis, 
and a statue of himself within it, and many another wondrous 
work.  And for Minos he made statues which spoke and moved, 
and the temple of Britomartis, and the dancing-hall of 
Ariadne, which he carved of fair white stone.  And in 
Sardinia he worked for Iîlaos, and in many a land beside, 
wandering up and down for ever with his cunning, unlovely and 
accursed by men.

But Theseus stood before Minos, and they looked each other in 
the face.  And Minos bade take them to prison, and cast them 
to the monster one by one, that the death of Androgeos might 
be avenged.  Then Theseus cried -

'A boon, O Minos!  Let me be thrown first to the beast.  For 
I came hither for that very purpose, of my own will, and not 
by lot.'

'Who art thou, then, brave youth?'

'I am the son of him whom of all men thou hatest most, AEgeus 
the king of Athens, and I am come here to end this matter.'

And Minos pondered awhile, looking steadfastly at him, and he 
thought, 'The lad means to atone by his own death for his 
father's sin;' and he answered at last mildly -

'Go back in peace, my son.  It is a pity that one so brave 
should die.'

But Theseus said, 'I have sworn that I will not go back till 
I have seen the monster face to face.'

And at that Minos frowned, and said, 'Then thou shalt see 
him; take the madman away.'

And they led Theseus away into the prison, with the other 
youths and maids.

But Ariadne, Minos' daughter, saw him, as she came out of her 
white stone hall; and she loved him for his courage and his 
majesty, and said, 'Shame that such a youth should die!'  And 
by night she went down to the prison, and told him all her 
heart; and said -

'Flee down to your ship at once, for I have bribed the guards 
before the door.  Flee, you and all your friends, and go back 
in peace to Greece; and take me, take me with you! for I dare 
not stay after you are gone; for my father will kill me 
miserably, if he knows what I have done.'

And Theseus. stood silent awhile; for he was astonished and 
confounded by her beauty:  but at last he said, 'I cannot go 
home in peace, till I have seen and slain this Minotaur, and 
avenged the deaths of the youths and maidens, and put an end 
to the terrors of my land.'

'And will you kill the Minotaur?  How, then?'

'I know not, nor do I care:  but he must be strong if he be 
too strong for me.'

Then she loved him all the more, and said, 'But when you have 
killed him, how will you find your way out of the labyrinth?'

'I know not, neither do I care:  but it must be a strange 
road, if I do not find it out before I have eaten up the 
monster's carcase.'

Then she loved him all the more, and said - 'Fair youth, you 
are too bold; but I can help you, weak as I am.  I will give 
you a sword, and with that perhaps you may slay the beast; 
and a clue of thread, and by that, perhaps, you may find your 
way out again.  Only promise me that if you escape safe you 
will take me home with you to Greece; for my father will 
surely kill me, if he knows what I have done.'

Then Theseus laughed, and said, 'Am I not safe enough now?'  
And he hid the sword in his bosom, and rolled up the clue in 
his hand; and then he swore to Ariadne, and fell down before 
her, and kissed her hands and her feet; and she wept over him 
a long while, and then went away; and Theseus lay down and 
slept sweetly.

And when the evening came, the guards came in and led him 
away to the labyrinth.

And he went down into that doleful gulf, through winding 
paths among the rocks, under caverns, and arches, and 
galleries, and over heaps of fallen stone.  And he turned on 
the left hand, and on the right hand, and went up and down, 
till his head was dizzy; but all the while he held his clue.  
For when he went in he had fastened it to a stone, and left 
it to unroll out of his hand as he went on; and it lasted him 
till he met the Minotaur, in a narrow chasm between black 
cliffs.

And when he saw him he stopped awhile, for he had never seen 
so strange a beast.  His body was a man's:  but his head was 
the head of a bull; and his teeth were the teeth of a lion, 
and with them he tore his prey.  And when he saw Theseus he 
roared, and put his head down, and rushed right at him.

But Theseus stept aside nimbly, and as he passed by, cut him 
in the knee; and ere he could turn in the narrow path, he 
followed him, and stabbed him again and again from behind, 
till the monster fled bellowing wildly; for he never before 
had felt a wound.  And Theseus followed him at full speed, 
holding the clue of thread in his left hand.

Then on, through cavern after cavern, under dark ribs of 
sounding stone, and up rough glens and torrent-beds, among 
the sunless roots of Ida, and to the edge of the eternal 
snow, went they, the hunter and the hunted, while the hills 
bellowed to the monster's bellow.

And at last Theseus came up with him, where he lay panting on 
a slab among the snow, and caught him by the horns, and 
forced his head back, and drove the keen sword through his 
throat.

Then he turned, and went back limping and weary, feeling his 
way down by the clue of thread, till he came to the mouth of 
that doleful place and saw waiting for him, whom but Ariadne!

And he whispered 'It is done!' and showed her the sword; and 
she laid her finger on her lips, and led him to the prison, 
and opened the doors, and set all the prisoners free, while 
the guards lay sleeping heavily; for she had silenced them 
with wine.

Then they fled to their ship together, and leapt on board, 
and hoisted up the sail; and the night lay dark around them, 
so that they passed through Minos' ships, and escaped all 
safe to Naxos; and there Ariadne became Theseus' wife.


PART IV - HOW THESEUS FELL BY HIS PRIDE


BUT that fair Ariadne never came to Athens with her husband.  
Some say that Theseus left her sleeping on Naxos among the 
Cyclades; and that Dionusos the wine-king found her, and took 
her up into the sky, as you shall see some day in a painting 
of old Titian's - one of the most glorious pictures upon 
earth.  And some say that Dionusos drove away Theseus, and 
took Ariadne from him by force:  but however that may be, in 
his haste or in his grief, Theseus forgot to put up the white 
sail.  Now AEgeus his father sat and watched on Sunium day 
after day, and strained his old eyes across the sea to see 
the ship afar.  And when he saw the black sail, and not the 
white one, he gave up Theseus for dead, and in his grief he 
fell into the sea, and died; so it is called the AEgean to 
this day.

And now Theseus was king of Athens, and he guarded it and 
ruled it well.

For he killed the bull of Marathon, which had killed 
Androgeos, Minos' son; and he drove back the famous Amazons, 
the warlike women of the East, when they came from Asia, and 
conquered all Hellas, and broke into Athens itself.  But 
Theseus stopped them there, and conquered them, and took 
Hippolute their queen to be his wife.  Then he went out to 
fight against the Lapithai, and Peirithoos their famous king:  
but when the two heroes came face to face they loved each 
other, and embraced, and became noble friends; so that the 
friendship of Theseus and Peirithoos is a proverb even now.  
And he gathered (so the Athenians say) all the boroughs of 
the land together, and knit them into one strong people, 
while before they were all parted and weak:  and many another 
wise thing he did, so that his people honoured him after he 
was dead, for many a hundred years, as the father of their 
freedom and their laws.  And six hundred years after his 
death, in the famous fight at Marathon, men said that they 
saw the ghost of Theseus, with his mighty brazen club, 
fighting in the van of battle against the invading Persians, 
for the country which he loved.  And twenty years after 
Marathon his bones (they say) were found in Scuros, an isle 
beyond the sea; and they were bigger than the bones of mortal 
man.  So the Athenians brought them home in triumph; and all 
the people came out to welcome them; and they built over them 
a noble temple, and adorned it with sculptures and paintings 
in which we are told all the noble deeds of Theseus, and the 
Centaurs, and the Lapithai, and the Amazons; and the ruins of 
it are standing still.

But why did they find his bones in Scuros?  Why did he not 
die in peace at Athens, and sleep by his father's side?  
Because after his triumph he grew proud, and broke the laws 
of God and man.  And one thing worst of all he did, which 
brought him to his grave with sorrow.  For he went down (they 
say beneath the earth) with that bold Peirithoos his friend 
to help him to carry off Persephone, the queen of the world 
below.  But Peirithoos was killed miserably, in the dark 
fire-kingdoms under ground; and Theseus was chained to a rock 
in everlasting pain.  And there he sat for years, till 
Heracles the mighty came down to bring up the three-headed 
dog who sits at Pluto's gate.  So Heracles loosed him from 
his chain, and brought him up to the light once more.

But when he came back his people had forgotten him, and 
Castor and Polydeuces, the sons of the wondrous Swan, had 
invaded his land, and carried off his mother Aithra for a 
slave, in revenge for a grievous wrong.

So the fair land of Athens was wasted, and another king ruled 
it, who drove out Theseus shamefully, and he fled across the 
sea to Scuros.  And there he lived in sadness, in the house 
of Lucomedes the king, till Lucomedes killed him by 
treachery, and there was an end of all his labours.

So it is still, my children, and so it will be to the end.  
In those old Greeks, and in us also, all strength and virtue 
come from God.  But if men grow proud and self-willed, and 
misuse God's fair gifts, He lets them go their own ways, and 
fall pitifully, that the glory may be His alone.  God help us 
all, and give us wisdom, and courage to do noble deeds! but 
God keep pride from us when we have done them, lest we fall, 
and come to shame!



Footnotes:

(1) In the Elgin Marbles.
(2) The Danube.
(3) Between the Crimaea and Circassia.
(4) The Sea of Azov.
(5) The Ural Mountains?
(6) The Baltic?
(7) Britain?
(8) The Azores?