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This is a .pdf of the 1912 edition of the Loeb Classical Library's volume 1 - the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius. We got it from the Internet Archive dot org, where it is listed as free of copyright restrictions.

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  • This book belongs toTHE CAMPBELL COLLECTION

    purchased with the aid ofThe MacDonald-Stewart Foundation

    andThe Canada Council

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  • Digitized by the Internet Archive

    in 2008 with funding fromMicrosoft Corporation

    http://www.archive.org/details/argonauticaOOapoluoft

  • THE LOEB CLASSICAL LIBRARYEDITED BY

    E. CAPPS, Ph.D., LL.D. T. E. PAGE, Litt.D. W. H. D. ROUSE, Litt.D.

    APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

  • APOLLONIUSRHODIUS

    THE ARGONAUTICAWITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION BY

    R. C. SEATON, M.A.FORMERLY FELLOW OF JESUS COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

    LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN

    NEW YORK : G. P. PUTNAM'S SONSMCMXIX

  • First printed 1912.

    Reprinted January, 1919.

  • INTRODUCTION

    Much has been written about the chronology ofAlexandrian literature and the famous Library,founded by Ptolemy Soter, but the dates of the chiefwriters are still matters of conjecture. The birthof Apollonius Rhodius is placed by scholars at varioustimes between 296 and 260 B.C., while the year ofhis death is equally uncertain. In fact, we have very

    little information on the subject. There are two" lives " of Apollonius in the Scholia, both derived

    from an earlier one which is lost. From these welearn that he was of Alexandria by birth,1 that helived in the time of the Ptolemies, and was a pupilof Callimachus ; that while still a youth he composedand recited in public his Argonautica, and that thepoem was condemned, in consequence of whichhe retired to Rhodes ; that there he revised his

    1 " Or of Naucratis," according to Aclian and Athenaeus.

  • INTRODUCTION

    poem, recited it with great applause, and hencecalled himself a Rhodian. The second "life" adds:" Some say that he returned to Alexandria and againrecited his poem with the utmost success, so that hewas honoured with the libraries of the Museum 1

    and was buried with Callimachus." The last sen-tence may be interpreted by the notice of Suidas,who informs us that Apollonius was a contemporaryof Eratosthenes, Euphorion and Timarchus, in the

    time of Ptolemy Euergetes, and that he succeeded

    Eratosthenes in the headship of the Alexandrian

    Library. Suidas also informs us elsewhere that

    Aristophanes at the age of sixty-two succeeded

    Apollonius in this office. Many modern scholarsdeny the " bibliothecariate" of Apollonius for chrono-

    logical reasons, and there is considerable difficulty

    about it. The date of Callimachus' Hymn to Apollo,which closes with some lines (105-113) that areadmittedly an allusion to Apollonius, may be putwith much probability at 248 or 247 B.C. Apolloniusmust at that date have been at least twenty years

    old. Eratosthenes died 196-193 b.c. This would

    make Apollonius seventy-two to seventy-five whenhe succeeded Eratosthenes. This is not impossible,

    it is true, but it is difficult. But the difficulty is

    1ais Kal toiv fii[ihioQriK.6iv rod /xovtreiou a^uoOrjvcu a.vr6v.

    vi

  • INTRODUCTION

    taken away if we assume with Ritschl that Eratos-thenes resigned his office some years before his death,

    which allows us to put the birth of Apolloniusat about 280, and would solve other difficulties.For instance, if the Librarians were buried within

    the precincts, it would account for the burial ofApollonius next to CallimachusEratosthenes beingstill alive. However that may be, it is ratherarbitrary to take away the " bibliothecariate " ofApollonius, which is clearly asserted by Suidas, onaccount of chronological calculations which are them-selves uncertain. Moreover, it is more probable that

    the words following "some say" in the second" life " are a remnant of the original life than aconjectural addition, because the first "life" isevidently incomplete, nothing being said about theend of Apollonius' career.

    The principal event in his life, so far as we know,was the quarrel with his master Callimachus, whichwas most probably the cause of his condemnation atAlexandria and departure to Rhodes. This quarrelappears to have arisen from differences of literaryaims and taste, but, as literary differences often do,degenerated into the bitterest personal strife.There are references to the quarrel in the writingsof both. Callimachus attacks Apollonius in the

  • INTRODUCTION

    passage at the end of the Hymn to Apollo, alreadymentioned, also probably in some epigrams, but

    most of all in his Ibis, of which we have an imitation,

    or perhaps nearly a translation, in Ovid's poem ofthe same name. On the part of Apollonius there isa passage in the third book ofthe Argonaidica (11. 927-

    947) which is of a polemical nature and stands outfrom the context, and the well-known savage epigram

    upon Callimachus. 1 Various combinations have been

    attempted by scholars, notably by Couat, in his

    Poesie Alexandrine, to give a connected account of

    the quarrel, but we have not data sufficient to deter-

    mine the order of the attacks, and replies, andcounter-attacks. The Ibis has been thought to markthe termination of the feud on the curious ground

    that it was impossible for abuse to go further. It

    was an age when literary men were more inclined tocomment on writings of the past than to produce

    original work. Literature was engaged in taking

    stock of itself. Homer was, of course, professedlyadmired by all, but more admired than imitated.

    Epic poetry was out of fashion and we find many epi-

    grams of this periodsome by Callimachusdirected

    against the " cyclic " poets, by whom were meant at*hat time those who were always dragging in con-

    1 Anth. Pal. xi. 275.

  • INTRODUCTION

    ventional and commonplace epithets and phrasespeculiar to epic poetry. Callimachus was in accord-

    ance with the spirit of the age when he proclaimed"a great book" to be "a great evil/' and sought toconfine poetical activity within the narrowest limits

    both of subject and space. Theocritus agreed withhim, both in principle and practice. The chiefcharacteristics of Alexandrianism are well summarized

    by Professor Robinson Ellis as follows: " Precision in

    form and metre, refinement in diction, a learning

    often degenerating into pedantry and obscurity, a

    resolute avoidance of everything commonplace in

    subject, sentiment or allusion." These traits are

    more prominent in Callimachus than in Apollonius,

    but they are certainly to be seen in the latter. Heseems to have written the Argonaulica out of bravado,

    to show that he could write an epic poem. But theinfluence of the age was too strong. Instead of

    the unity of an Epic we have merely a series of

    episodes, and it is the great beauty and power of oneof these episodes that gives the poem its permanentvaluethe episode of the love of Jason and Medea.This occupies the greater part of the third book.

    The first and second books are taken up with thehistory of the voyage to Colchis, while the fourth

    book describes the return voyage. These portions

    ix

  • INTRODUCTION

    constitute a metrical guide book, filled no doubt withmany pleasing episodes, such as the rape of Hylas,the boxing match between Pollux and Amycus, theaccount of Cyzicus, the account of the Amazons, the

    legend of Talos, but there is no unity running

    through the poem beyond that of the voyage itself.The Tale of the Argonauts had been told often

    before in verse and prose, and many authors'names are given in the Scholia to Apollonius, but

    their works have perished. The best known earlieraccount that we have is that in Pindar's fourth

    Pythian ode, from which Apollonius has taken manydetails. The subject was one for an epic poem, forits unity might have been found in the working outof the expiation due for the crime of Athamas ; butthis motive is barely mentioned by our author;As we have it, the motive of the voyage is the

    command of Pelias to bring back the golden fleece,and this command is based on Pelias' desire todestroy Jason, while the divine aid given to Jason

    results from the intention of Hera to punish Pelias

    for his neglect of the honour due to her. Thelearning of Apollonius is not deep but it is curious

    ;

    his general sentiments are not according to the

    Alexandrian standard, for they are simple and obvious.

    In the mass of material from which he had to choose

  • INTRODUCTION

    the difficulty was to know what to omit, and muchskill is shewn in fusing into a tolerably harmoniouswhole conflicting mythological and historical details.He interweaves with his narrative local legends andthe founding of cities, accounts of strange customs,descriptions of works of art, such as that of Ganymedeand Eros playing with knucklebones, 1 but prosaicallycalls himself back to the point from these pleasingdigressions by such an expression as "but this wouldtake me too far from my song." His business is thestraightforward tale and nothing else. The astonish-ing geography of the fourth book reminds us of theinterest of the age in that subject, stimulated nodoubt by the researches of Eratosthenes and others.The language is that of the conventional epic.

    Apollonius seems to have carefully studied Homericglosses, and gives many examples of isolated uses, buthis choice of words is by no means limited to Homer.He freely avails himself of Alexandrian words andlate uses of Homeric words. Among his contempo-raries Apollonius suffers from a comparison withTheocritus, who was a little his senior, but he wasmuch admired by Roman writers who derived in-spiration from the great classical writers of Greeceby way of Alexandria. In fact Alexandria was a

    1 iii. 117-124.

  • INTRODUCTION

    useful bridge between Athens and Rome. TheArgonautica was translated by Varro Atacinus, copiedby Ovid and Virgil, and minutely studied by ValeriusFlaccus in his poem of the same name. Some of hisfinest passages have been appropriated and improvedupon by Virgil by the divine right of superiorgenius. 1 The subject of love had been treated inthe romantic spirit before the time of Apollonius inwritings that have perished, for instance, in thoseof Antimachus of Colophon, but the Argonautica isperhaps the first poem still extant in which the ex-pression of this spirit is developed with elaboration.The Medea of Apollonius is the direct precursor ofthe Dido of Virgil, and it is the pathos and passionof the fourth book of the Aeneid that keep alivemany a passage of Apollonius.

    1e.g. compare Aen. iv. 305 foil, with Ap. Rh. iv. 355 foil.,

    Aen. iv. 327-330 with Ap. Rh. i. 897, 898, Aen. iv. 522 foil.,with Ap. Rh. iii. 744 foil.

    XII

  • BIBLIOGRAPHY.

    Two editions of the Argonautica were published byApollonius. Of these we have only the second. The Scholiapreserve a few passages of the first edition, from which thesecond seems to have differed only slightly. The old opinionthat our MSS. preserve any traces of the first edition haslong been given up. The principal MSS. are the following :

    The Laurentian, also called the Medicean, XXXII. 9, ofthe early eleventh century, the excellent MS. at Florencewhich contains Sophocles, Aeschylus and Apollonius Rhodius.This is far the best authority for the text (here denoted bj* L).The Guelferbytanus of the thirteenth century, which closel}'

    agrees with another Laurentian, XXXII. 16, of the samedate (here denoted by G and L2 respectively).There were in the early eleventh century two types of

    text, the first being best known to us by L, the second by Gand L2 and the corrections made in L. Quotations in theEtymologicum Magnum agree with the second type and showthat this is as old as the fifth century. Besides these thereare, of inferior MSS., four Vatican and five Parisian whichare occasionally useful. Most of them have Scholia ; thebest Scholia are those of L.

    The principal editions are :

    Florence, 1496, 4to. This is the editio princeps, by Las-caris, based on L, with Scholia, a very rare book.

    Venice, 1521, 8vo. The Aldine, by Franciscus Asulanus,with Scholia.

    Paris, 1541, 8vo, based on the Parisian MSS.Geneva, 1574, 4to, by Stephanus, with Scholia.Leyden, 1641, 2 vols., 8vo, by J. Holzlin, with a Latin

    version.Oxford, 1777, 2 vols., 4to, by J. Shaw, with a Latin version.Strassburg, 1780, 8vo and 4to, by R. F. P. Brunck.

  • BIBLIOGRAPHY

    Home, 1791-1794, 2 vols., 4to, by Flangini, with an Italiantranslation.

    Leipzig, 1797, 8vo, by Ch. D. Beck, with a Latin version.A second volume, to contain the Scholia and a commentary,was never published.

    Leipzig, 1810-1813, 2 vols., 8vo. A second edition ofBrunck by G. H. Schafer, with the Florentine and ParisianScholia, the latter printed for the first time.

    Leipzig, 1828, 8vo, by A. Wellauer, with the Scholia, bothFlorentine and Parisian.

    Paris, 1841, 4to, by F. S. Lehrs, with a Latin version.In the Didot series.

    Leipzig, 1852, 8vo, by R. Merkel, "ad cod. MS. Laurenti-anum." The Teubner Text.

    Leipzig, 1854, 2 vols., Svo, by R. Merkel. The secondvolume contains Merkel's prolegomena and the Scholia to L,edited by H. Keil.

    Oxford, 1900, 8vo, by R. C. Seaton. In the " ScriptornmClassicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis" series.

    The text of the present edition is, with a few exceptions,that of the Oxford edition prepared by me for the Delegatesof the Clarendon Press, whom I hereby thank for their per-mission to use it.

    The English translations of Apollonius are as follows :

    By E. B. Greene, by F. Fawkes, both 1780 ; by W. Pres-ton, 1803. None of these are of value. There is a prosetranslation by E. P. Coleridge in the Bohn Series. The mostrecent and also the best is a verse translation by Mr. A. S.Way, 1901, in "The Temple Classics."

    I may also mention the excellent translation in French byProf. H. de La Ville de Mirmont of the University ofBordeaux, 1892.

    Upon Alexandrian literature in general Couat's Poe"sieAlexandrine sous les trois premiers Ptolemies, 1882, may berecommended. Susemihl's Geschichte der Griechischen Lit-teratur in der Alexandinerzeit, 2 vols., 1S91, is a perfectstorehouse of facts and authorities, but more adapted forreference than for general reading. Morris' Life and Deathof Jason is a poem that in many passages singularly resemblesApollonius in its pessimistic tone and spirit

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUSTHE ARGONAUTICA

    BOOK I

  • SUMMARY OF BOOK I

    Invocation of Phoebus and cause of the expedition

    (1-22).Catalogue of the Argonauts (23-233).March

    of the heroes to the port: farewell of Jason and Alcimede

    (234-305).

    Preparations for departure and launching

    ofArgo : sacrifice to Apollo : prediction of Idnwn (306-447).

    The festival, insolence of Idas, song of Orpheus

    and departure (448-558).

    Voyage along the coast ojThessaly and across to Lemnos (559-608).

    Recent

    history of Lemnos and stay of the Argonauts there :

    farewell of Jason and Hypsipyle (609-909).

    Voyage

    from Lemnos by Samothrace to the Propontis : reception

    by the Doliones of Cyzicus (910-988).

    Fight against

    the Giants : departure and return of the Argonauts to

    Cyzicus : saai/ice to Rhea on Mt. Dindymum (989-1 152).Arrival among the Mysians : rape of Hy/as, which isannounced to Heracles (1153-1260). While Heraclesand Polyphemus search for Hylas they are left behind

    (1261-1328).

    The fate of Heracles and Polyphemus:arrival of Argo among the Bcbrycians (1329-1362).

  • AnOAAONIOY POAIOY

    APrONATTIKHN

    'Apxojievos aeo,

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUSTHE ARGONAUTICA

    BOOK I

    Beginning with thee, O Phoebus, I will recountthe famous deeds of men of old, who, at the behestof King Pelias, down through the mouth of Pontusand between the Cyanean rocks, sped well-benchedArgo in quest of the golden fleece.Such was the oracle that Pelias heard, that a

    hateful doom awaited himto be slain at theprompting of the man whom he should see comingforth from the people with but one sandal. And nolong time after, in accordance with that true report,Jason crossed the stream of wintry Anaurus on foot,and saved one sandal from the mire, but the otherhe left in the depths held back by the flood. Andstraightway he came to Pelias to share the banquetwhich the king was offering to his father Poseidonand the rest of the gods, though he paid no honourto Pelasgian Hera. Quickly the king saw him andpondered, and devised for him the toil of a troublousvoyage, in order that on the sea or among strangershe might lose his home-return.

    n L'

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    N?;a fxev ovv ol irpoaOev eiriKkelovcnv1 aoiBol

    "Apyov,

    A0i]va[r]

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    The ship, as former bards relate, Argus wroughtby the guidance of Athena. But now I will tell thelineage and the names of the heroes, and of thelong sea-paths and the deeds they wrought in theirwanderings; may the Muses be the inspirers of mysong

    !

    First then let us name Orpheus whom onceCalliope bare, it is said, wedded to Thraeian Oeagrus,near the Phnpleian height. Men say that he by themusic of his songs charmed the stubborn rocks uponthe mountains and the course of rivers. And thewild oak-trees to this day, tokens of that magicstrain, that grow at Zone on the Thraeian shore,stand in ordered ranks close together, the samewhich under the charm of his lyre he led down fromPieria. Such then was Orpheus whom Aeson's sonwelcomed to share his toils, in obedience to thebehest of Cheiron, Orpheus ruler of BistonianPieria.

    Straightway came Asterion, whom Cometes begatby the waters of eddying Apidanus ; he dwelt atPeiresiae near the Phylleian mount, where mightyApidanus and bright Enipeus join their streams,coming together from afar.Next to them from Larisa came Polyphemus, son

    of Eilatus, who aforetime among the mighty Lapithae,when they were arming themselves against theCentaurs, fought in his younger days ; now hislimbs were grown heavy with age, but his martialspirit still remained, even as of old.Nor was Iphiclus long left behind in Phylace, the

    uncle of Aeson's son; for Aeson had wedded his

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    AicrcovJ

    AX/cip,i8t]v vXaKi]i,8a' ri}? ptv dvcoyet7TT)0(Tvvr] teal /cfjSos ivifcpivdfjvai optX(p.

    Ov8e (t>epal'i"A8/x')]TO,rolac B' eirl Tpnaros yvcoros Kie vtaaopevoiaivAldaXlBrj*;- Kal top pev eV 'Apffypvaaoio pofjacvMvppi86vos Kovpi) QQim refcev lLvrroXepeia-to) 8' avr e/cyeydr^v Me^eT^tSo? ^Avriavetp^.

    "YiXvOe 6 d(pvei7]v irpoXiiruiv Tvprwva Kopwfo?KaiveiBr/s, eadXbs pev, eov 8' ov nrarpb^ dpelvcov.Kaivea yap t,wbv irep en KXeiovviv doiSoll^evravpoiaiv oXeaOai, ore acpeas olos dw aXXcov 60yXaa' dpuTTi)(ov oi 8' epbiraXiv opprjOevresovre piv dy/c\lvai TrpoTepco aOevov, ovre Satfjai'dXX' dppi]KTO

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    sister Alcimede, daughter of Phylacus : his kinshipwith her bade him be numbered in the host.Nor did Admetus, the lord of Pherae rich in sheep,

    stay behind beneath the peak of the Chalcodonianmount.Nor at Alope stayed the sons of Hermes, rich in

    corn-land, well skilled in craftiness, Erytus andEchion, and with them on their departure theirkinsman Aethalides went as the third ; him near thestreams of Amphrysus Eupolemeia bare, thedaughter of Myrmidon, from Phthia ; the two otherswere sprung from Antianeira, daughter of Menetes.From rich Gyrton came Coronus, son of Caeneus,

    brave, but not braver than his father. For bardsrelate that Caeneus though still living perished atthe hands of the Centaurs, when apart from otherchiefs he routed them; and they, rallying againsthim, could neither bend nor slay him ; but uncon-quered and unflinching he passed beneath the earth,overwhelmed by the downrush of massy pines.

    There came too Titaresian Mopsus, whom above allmen the son of Leto taught the augury of birds ; andEurydamas the son of Ctimenus ; he dwelt atDolopian Ctimene near the Xynian lake.

    Moreover Actor sent his son Menoetius from Opusthat he might accompany the chiefs.

    Eurytion followed and strong Eribotes, one theson of Teleon, the other of Irus, Actor's son ; theson of Teleon renowned Eribotes, and of IrusEurytion. A third with them was Oileus, peerlessin courage and well skilled to attack the flying foe,when they break their ranks.Now from Euboea came Canthus eager for the

    quest, whom Canethus son of Abas sent ; but he was

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    voar^aeiv KypivOov VTrorpoTros. alaa yap rjevavjov o/xdo)pao$ via? e'xev fiioroio re /cr]oep,ovi]a

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    not destined to return to Cerinthus. For fate hadordained that he and Mopsus, skilled in the seer'sai% should wander and perish in the furthest endsof Libya. For no ill is too remote for moi'tals toincur, seeing that they buried them in Libya, as farfrom the Colehians as is the space that is seenbetween the setting and the rising of the sun.To him Clytius and Iphitus joined themselves, the

    warders of Oechalia, sons of Eurytus the ruthless,Eurytus, to whom the Far-shooting god gave his bow

    ;

    but he had no joy of the gift ; for of his own choicehe strove even with the giver.

    After them came the sons of Aeacus, not bothtogether, nor from the same spot ; for they settledfar from Aegina in exile, when in their folly theyhad slain their brother Phocus. Telamon dwelt inthe Attic island ; but Peleus departed and made hishome in Phthia.

    After them from Cecropia came warlike Butes, sonof brave Teleon, and Phalerus of the ashen spear.Alcon his father sent him forth

    ;yet no other sons

    had he to care for his old age and livelihood. Buthim, his well-beloved and only son, he sent forththat amid bold heroes he might shine conspicuous.But Theseus, avIio surpassed all the sons of Erech-theus, an unseen bond kept beneath the land ofTaenarus, for he had followed that path withPeirithous ; assuredly both would have lightenedfor all the fulfilment of their toil.

    Tiphys, son of Hagnias, left the Siphaean people of

  • APOLI.ONIUS RHODIUS

    (^a7rieo)v, e\x#Ao9 jxev bpivop,evov irpoSarjvaiKVfi dXbs evpeirjs, eaOXbs S' dvep.010 dveXXaskoX irXoov r/eXtro re /cal dcrrept TeicpLi]pao~dai.

    avrij puv TpiTcoins apiarr/wv e9 opLiXovwpaev

    '

    'A6i]vali], fiera S yXvOev eXSopuevoiaiv. 110avTi] yap /cal vi)a 6oi]v /cdfie' avv Se ol "Apyosrev^ev

    ,

    ApeaTopi8i]

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    the Thespians, well skilled to foretell the rising waveon the broad sea, and well skilled to infer from sunand star the stormy winds and the time for sailing.Tritonian Athena herself urged him to join theband of chiefs, and he came among them a welcomecomrade. She herself too fashioned the swift ship

    ;

    and with her Argus, son of Arestor, wrought it byher counsels. Wherefore it proved the most excel-lent of all ships that have made trial of the sea withoars.

    After them came Phlias from Araethyrea, wherehe dwelt in affluence by the favour of his fatherDionysus, in his home by the springs of Asopus.From Argos came Talaus and Areius, sons of Bias,

    and mighty Leodocus, all of whom Pero daughter ofNeleus bare ; on her account the Aeolid Melampusendured sore affliction in the steading of Iphiclus.Nor do we learn that Heracles of the mighty

    heart disregarded the eager summons of Aeson'sson. But when he heard a report of the heroes'gathering and had reached Lyrceian Argos fromArcadia by the road along which he carried the boaralive that fed in the thickets of Lampeia, near thevast Erymanthian swamp, the boar bound withchains he put down from his huge shoulders at theentrance to the market-place of Mycenae ; and him-self of his own Mill set out against the purpose ofEurystheus ; and with him went Hylas, a bravecomrade, in the flower of youth, to bear his arrowsand to guard his bow.

    Next to him came a scion of the race of divineDanaus, Nauplius. He was the son of Clytonaeusson of Naubolus ; Naubolus was son of Lernus

    ;

  • APOLLONIUS RHOD1US

    Upoirov l>\av7T\idSao' IloaeiSdcovi 8e KovprjTTpLV 7TOT

    '

    ApLVfldiVT] Aaya'i'9 TKV evvrj0elaaNavirXiov, o? irepl irdvra'i i/caivuTO vavTiXirjcnv.

    "IB/xcov 8' vcnaTios p.ereicia6ev, oaaoi evaiov"A/370?, eVel SeSaws rbv ebv fiopov olwvolaiv 140i]ie, fxrj ol S?}/A09 eu/cXe/779 dydaairo.ov fxev oy rjev "AfiavTos irr]rv/u.ov, aXXd fiiv avrbsyeivaro Kv8a\Lfioi

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    Leraus we know was the son of Proetus son ofXauplius ; and once Amymone daughter of Danaus,wedded to Poseidon, bare Xauplius, who surpassedall men in naval skill.Idmon came last of all them that dwelt at

    Argos, for though he had learnt his own fate byaugury, he came, that the people might not grudgehim fair renown. He was not in truth the son ofAbas, but Leto's son himself begat him to benumbered among the illustrious Aeolids ; and himselftaught him the art of prophecyto pay heed tobirds and to observe the signs of the burningsacrifice.

    Moreover Aetolian Leda sent from Sparta strongPolydeuces and Castor, skilled to guide swift-footedsteeds ; these her dearly-loved sons she bare at onebirth in the house of Tyndareus ; nor did sheforbid their departure ; for she had thoughts worthyof the bride of Zeus.The sons of Aphareus, Lynceus and proud Idas,

    came from Arene, both exulting in their greatstrength ; and Lynceus too excelled in keenest sight,if the report is true that that hero could easilydirect his sight even beneath the earth.And with them Neleian Periclvmenus set out to

    come, eldest of all the sons of godlike Xeleus whowere born at Pylos ; Poseidon had given him bound-less strength and granted him that whatever shapehe should crave during the fight, that he shouldtake in the stress of battle.

    Moreover from Arcadia came Amphidanias andCepheus, who inhabited Tegea and the allotment ofApheidas, two sons of Aleus ; and Ancaeus followedthem as the third, whom his father Lycurgus sent, the

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    ryTjpCMTKOVT 'AXeoP XiTTCT afJL 7r6\LV OCppa KOpl^Ot,iralha 8' ebv acperepoiaL /cacriyprJTOicrip oiraaaep.ftrj ' 076 'M.aivaklr}? clp/CTOV &epos, dpaeie veeaOai.

    Bj; he /cal Avyeii]

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    brother older than both. But he was left in thecity to care for Aleus now growing old, while hegave his son to join his brothers. Ancaeus wentclad in the skin of a Maenalian bear, and wielding inhis right hand a huge two-edged battleaxe. For hisarmour his grandsire had hidden in the house'sinnermost recess, to see if he might by some meansstill stay his departure.

    There came also Augeias, whom fame declared tobe the son of Helios ; he reigned over the Eleans,glorying in his wealth ; and greatly he desired tobehold the Colchian land and Aeetes himself theruler of the Colchians.

    Asterius and Amphion, sons of Hyperasius, camefrom Achaean Pellene, which once Pelles their grand-sire founded on the brows of Aegialus.

    After them from Taenarus came Euphemus whom,most swift-footed of men, Europe, daughter of mightyTityos, bare to Poseidon. He was wont to skim theswell of the grey sea, and wetted not his swift feet,but just dipping the tips of his toes was borne on thewatery path.

    Yea, and two other sons of Poseidon came ; oneErginus, who left the citadel of glorious Miletus, theother proud Ancaeus, who left Parthenie, the seat ofImbrasion Hera; both boasted their skill in sea-craft and in war.

    After them from Calydon came the son of Oeneus,strong Meleagrus, and LaocoonLaocoon the brotherof Oeneus, though not by the same mother, for aserving-woman bare him ; him, now growing old,Oeneus sent to guard his son : thus Meleagrus, still ayouth, entered the bold band of heroes. No other

    '5

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    i)pcoa)V. tov S' ovtlv virepTepov aWov blw,i>6cr(f)iv 7' 'Hpa/cXr/os, e7re\0 ep,ev , el /c en ptovvovavdt jxevoav \v/cd/3avTa p^ererpdcpr) KlroiXolcriv./cal pn)v 01 p:y]Tpo)

  • THE ARGOXAUTICA, BOOK I

    had come superior to him, I ween, except Heracles,if for one year more he had tarried and beennurtured among the Aetolians. Yea, and his uncle,well skilled to fight whether with the javelin orhand to hand, Iphiclus son of Thestius, bare himcompany on his way.

    With him came Palaemonius, son of OlenianLernus, of Lernus by repute, but his birth was fromHephaestus ; and so he was crippled in his feet, buthis bodily frame and his valour no one would dare toscorn. Wherefore he was numbered among all thechiefs, winning fame for Jason.From the Phocians came Iphitus sprung from

    Xaubolus son of Ornytus ; once he had been his hostwhen Jason went to Pytho to ask for a responseconcerning his voyage ; for there he welcomed himin his own halls.

    Next came Zetes and Calais, sons of Boreas, whomonce Oreithyia, daughter of Erechtheus,bare to Boreason the verge of wintry Thrace ; thither it was thatThracian Boreas snatched her away from Cecropia asshe was whirling in the dance, hard by Ilissus'stream. And, carrying her far off, to the spot thatmen called the rock of Sarpedon, near the riverErginus, he wrapped her in dark clouds and forcedher to his will. There they Avere making theirdusky wings quiver upon their ankles on both sidesas they rose, a great wonder to behold, wings thatgleamed with golden scales : and round their backsfrom the top of the head and neck, hither andthither, their dark tresses were being shaken by thewind.

    Xo, nor had Acastus son of mighty Pelias himselfany will to stay behind in the palace of his brave sire,

    17

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    [Ufivd^etv, "A/3709 re Beds vrroepybs 'AO/jvt]?'dXX dpa kco, too pueXXov evLKpivOrjvat opu'Xro.

    Toacroi dp' Alcrovi&T] o-vpbpujcrropes i)yepe6ovro.tovs p.ev dpi

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    nor Argus, helper of the goddess Athena ; but theytoo were ready to be numbered in the host.

    So many then were the helpers who assembled tojoin the son of Aeson. All the chiefs the dwellersthereabout called Minyae, for the most and thebravest avowed that they were sprung from theblood of the daughters of Minyas ; thus Jason him-self was the son of Alcimede who was born ofClymene the daughter of Minyas.Now when all things had been made ready by the

    thralls, all things that fully-equipped ships arefurnished withal when men's business leads them tovoyage across the sea, then the heroes took theirway through the city to the ship where it lay on thestrand that men call Magnesian Pagasae ; and acrowd of people hastening rushed together ; but theheroes shone like gleaming stars among the clouds

    ;

    and each man as he saw them speeding along withtheir armour would say :

    " King Zeus, what is the purpose of Pelias ?Whither is he driving forth from the Panachaeanland so great a host of heroes ? On one day theywould waste the palace of Aeetes with baleful fire,should he not yield them the fleece of his own good-will. But the path is not to be shunned, the toil ishard for those who venture."Thus they spake here and there throughout the

    city ; but the women often raised their hands to thesky in prayer to the immortals to grant a return,their hearts' desire. And one with tears thuslamented to her fellow :

    " Wretched Alcimede, evil has come to thee atlast though late, thou hast not ended with splendour

    19

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    Atcrcov au fieya &/] n 8vo~dp:p,opo

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    of life. Aeson too, ill-fated man ! Surely betterhad it been for him, if he were lying beneath theearth, enveloped in his shroud, still unconscious ofbitter toils. Would that the dark wave, when themaiden Helle perished, had overwhelmed Phrixustoo with the ram : but the dire portent even sentforth a human voice, that it might cause toAlcimede sorrows and countless pains hereafter."Thus the women spake at the departure of the

    heroes. And now many thralls, men and women,were gathered together, and his mother, smittenwith grief for Jason. And a bitter pang seized everywoman's heart ; and with them groaned the fatherin baleful old age, lying on his bed, closely wrappedround. But the hero straightway soothed their pain,encouraging them, and bade the hralls take up hisweapons for war ; and they in silence with downcastlooks took them up. And even as the mother hadthrown her arms about her son, so she clung, weepingwithout stint, as a maiden all alone Aveeps, fallingfondly on the neck of her hoary nurse, a maid whohas now no others to care for her, but she drags ona weary life under a stepmother, who maltreats hercontinually with ever fresh insults, and as she weeps,her heart within her is bound fast with misery, norcan she sob forth all the groans that struggle forutterance ; so without stint wept Alcimede strainingher son in her arms, and in her yearning griefspake as follows :

    " Would that on that day when, wretched womanthat I am, I heard King Pelias proclaim his evilbehest, I had straightway given up my life and for-gotten my cares, so that thou thyself, my son, with

    21

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    retcvov efjiov rb yap oiov erjv en Xonrbv eeXhcopK aeOev, aXXa he irdvja iraXai 6pe7TTJ]pia Treaaco.vvv ye p,ev 1) to irdpoidev

    '

    'hyaadheo~cri,v dyrjTrj

    Steals 07r&>9 Keveolat XeXeityop,ai ev p,eyapotaiv,

    aelo 7r60(p puvvdovaa hvadpupiopos, o) eiri 7roX\rjvdy\atrjv ical /cvhos eyov rrdpos, d> eivi puovvro/j,irpi]v irpoiTov kXvaa icai vararov. e^oya yap

    pbOL

    ULlXeidvia 6ed 7ro\eo? epiiyijpe tokoio.&) p,oi e'/x?}? cLtw to piev ovh' ocrov, ovh ev oveipm 290wtadp.iiv, el ^p/fo? ep,ol tcatcbv ecraer dXvtjas.

    rn? rjye arevdyovaa Kivvpero' ral Be yvvai/ces

    dpLtpiTToXoi yodaaKov eTrunahov avrap o Trjvyep,iXi\toi/9rXfjOi (fiepeiv ddpaei he crvv^p^oavvrjaiv 'A#>/V>/?, 300r/oe. OeoTrpoirioicnv, eirel p,dXa he^ia oi(3o drdp peTeTrend y apiari^cov eirapwyf).dXXa av p.ev vvv avdi pier apufinroXoicriv e/afXo?filfive hopLOis, fir)&' opvis deuceX'tri TreXe vr\i'

    Kelcre >' 6p,apTrjcrovaiv erai hpb(be

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    thine own hands, mightest have buried me ; for thatwas the only wish left me still to be fulfilled by thee,all the other rewards for thy nurture have I longenjoyed. Now I, once so admired among Achaeanwomen, shall be left behind like a bondwoman in myempty halls, pining away, ill-fated one, for love ofthee, thee on whose account I had aforetime so muchsplendour and renown, my only son for whom I loosedmy virgin zone first and last. For to me beyondothers the goddess Eileithyia grudged abundant off-spring. Alas for my folly ! Not once, not even inmy dreams did I forebode this, that the flight ofPhrixus would bring me woe."Thus with moaning she wept, and her hand-

    maidens, standing by, lamented ; but Jason spakegently to her with comforting words

    :

    " Do not, I pray thee, mother, store up bittersorrows overmuch, for thou wilt not redeem me fromevil by tears, but wilt still add grief to grief. Forunseen are the woes that the gods mete out tomortals ; be strong to endure thy share of themthough with grief in thy heart ; take courage fromthe promises of Athena, and from the answers of thegods (for very favourable oracles has Phoebus given),and then from the help of the chieftains. But dothou remain here, quiet among thy handmaids, andbe not a bird of ill omen to the ship ; and thithermy clansmen and thralls will follow me."He spake, and started forth to leave the house.

    And as Apollo goes forth from some fragrant shrineto divine Delos or Claros or Pytho or to broad Lycianear the stream of Xanthus, in such beauty movedJason through the throng of people ; and a cry aroseas they shouted together. And there met him aged

    23

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    'Icfytas AprepuSos ttoXltjo^ov dpyjreipa,Kai pav Se^crepr/s %e//?o? xvcrev, ovSe ri (frdaOaie/A7T7;? lepievy Svvaro, Trpodeovros opbiXovciW i) pev \iTreT avOt Trapaickihov, ola yepatrjoifkorepwv, 6 he iroWbv a7ro7r\aj)^del pev re hie^epeeadat, efcacrraea^ero- toi>9 ' dyopijvhe crvvehpidacrdai dvcoyev.avTov S' IWopevois erri Xai^eaiv, r)he ical icrrwK/c\ip,evqi p,d\a rrdvres eiriayepto ehpibwvro. 330rolaiv 6 Al'aovos vibs ivfypovewv puereetTrev

    '"AX\a pev oaaa re vrji e^oirXicraaaOai eoi/cevrrdvra yap ev Kara /cbapuoverraprea /curat

    lovatv.

    tw ovk dv hrjvaibv eyoip,e6a rolo eKr/rtvavriXirjs, ore puovvov eiriirvevaaxriv 3 ar)rai.dWd,

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    Iphias, priestess of Artemis guardian of the city, andkissed his right hand, but she had not strength to saya word, for all her eagerness, as the crowd rushed on,but she was left there by the wayside, as the old areleft by the young, and he passed on and was goneafar.

    Now when he had left the well-built streets of thecity, he came to the beach of Pagasae, where his com-rades greeted him as they stayed together near theship Argo. And he stood at the entering in, andthey were gathered to meet him. And they per-ceived Acastus and Argus coming from the city, andthey marvelled when they saw them hasting with allspeed, despite the will of Pelias. The one, Argus,son of Arestor, had cast round his shoulders thehide of a bull reaching to his feet, with the blackhair upon it, the other, a fair mantle of double fold,which his sister Pelopeia had given him. Still Jasonforebore from asking them about each point but badeall be seated for an assembly. And there, upon thefolded sails and the mast as it lay on the ground,they all took their seats in order. And among themwith goodwill spake Aeson's son :"All the equipment that a ship needsfor all is

    in due orderlies ready for our departure. There-fore we will make no long delay in our sailing forthese things' sake, when the breezes but blow fair.But, friends,for common to all is our return toHellas hereafter, and common to all is our path tothe land of Aeetesnow therefore with ungrudgingheart choose the bravest to be our leader, who shall

    25

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    opya^iov fjfieLtdv,1 Kev rd e/caarra pteXoiro,veifcea avvBeaias re pterd ^eivotat f3aXea9at? 340

    'XI9 cf)d,TO- Trc'nrTrjvav 8e veoi Bpaavv 'Ilpafc\f]atfpevov ev peaaotar ptifi 8e e rrdvres dvrfjai-jptaiveiv eirereXXov 6 S' avrbQev, evOa rrep r}aro,8et;trepr]V dva Xe^Pa ^ctvvaaaro (pcoin]aev re'

    ' M777-49 ep,ol r68e kv8o$ orra^eroi. ov yap eywyerrelaoptat' ware Kal dXXov dvaarijaeaOat epv^w.avros, oris Ijjvvdyeipe, Kal dpyevoi optd8oto.

    TH pa peya cfypovecov, errl ' jjveov, a>? etteXevevf

    H/5a/cXe>7

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    be careful for everything, to take upon him ourquarrels and covenants with strangers."Thus he spake ; and the young heroes turned their

    eyes towards bold Heracles sitting in their midst,and with one shout they all enjoined upon him to betheir leader ; but he, from the place where he sat,stretched forth his right hand and said :

    " Let no one offer this honour to me. For I willnot consent, and I will forbid any other to stand up.Let the hero who brought us together, himself bethe leader of the host."Thus he spake with high thoughts, and they

    assented, as Heracles bade ; and warlike Jasonhimself rose up, glad at heart, and thus addressedthe eager throng

    :

    "If ye entrust your glory to my care, no longeras before let our path be hindered. Now at last letus propitiate Phoebus with sacrifice and straightwayprepare a feast. And until my thralls come, theoverseers of my steading, whose care it is to chooseout oxen from the herd and drive them hither, wewill drag down the ship to the sea, and do ye placeall the tackling within, and draw lots for the benchesfor rowing. Meantime let us build upon the beachan altar to Apollo Embasius * who by an oraclepromised to point out and show me the paths of thesea, if by sacrifice to him I should begin my venturefor King Pelias."He spake, and was the first to turn to the work, and

    they stood up in obedience to him ; and they heapedtheir garments, one upon the other, on a smoothstone, which the sea did not strike with its waves,but the stormy surge had cleansed it long before.

    1 i.e. God of embarcation.

    27

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    vrja S' eTrifcparecos "Apyov VTroOrjpiocrvvTjcrive^axrav irdp^irpwrov evarpecpel evhoOev l ottXwreivdpievoi e/cdrepOev, iv ev dpapoiaro yop,(f)ot,

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    First of all, by the command of Argus, they stronglygirded the ship with a rope well twisted within, 1stretching it tight on each side, in order that theplanks might be well compacted by the bolts andmight withstand the opposing force of the surge.And they quickly dug a trench as wide as thespace the ship covered, and at the prow as farinto the sea as it would run when drawn downby their hands. And they ever dug deeper infront of the stem, and in the furrow laid polishedrollers ; and inclined the ship down upon thefirst rollers, that so she might glide and beborne on by them. And above, on both sides,reversing the oars, they fastened them round thethole-pins, so as to project a cubit's space. Andthe heroes themselves stood on both sides at theoars in a row, and pushed forward with chest andhand at once. And then Tiphys leapt on board tourge the youths to push at the right moment ; andcalling on them he shouted loudly; and they atonce, leaning with all their strength, with one pushstarted the ship from her place, and strained withtheir feet, forcing her onward ; and Pelian Argofollowed swiftly ; and they on each side shouted asthey rushed on. And then the rollers groanedunder the sturdy keel as they were chafed, andround them rose up a dark smoke owing to theweight, and she glided into the sea ; but the heroesstood there and kept dragging her back as she sped

    i Or, reading sktoOcv, " they strongly girded the ship out-side with a well-twisted rope." In either case there isprobably no allusion to inroadpara (ropes for undergird-ing) which were carried loose and only used in stormyweather.

    29

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    o~/caXpioipa Kopilaaco.vvv S' Wi, /cal ri)vc7 fj/uv, 'E/c7)/3oXe, 8e^o dvifXr/v, 40030

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    onward. And round the thole-pins they fitted theoars, and in the ship they placed the mast and thewell-made sails and the stores.Now when they had carefully paid heed to every-

    thing, first they distributed the benches by lot, twomen occupying one seat ; but the middle bench theychose for Heracles and Ancaeus apart from the otherheroes, Ancaeus who dwelt in Tegea. For themalone they left the middle bench just as it was and notby lot ; and with one consent they entrusted Tiphyswith guarding the helm of the well-stemmed ship.

    Next, piling up shingle near the sea, they raisedthere an altar on the shore to Apollo, under thename of Actius 1 and Embasius, and quickly spreadabove it logs of dried olive-wood. Meantime theherdsmen of Aeson's son had driven before themfrom the herd two steers. These the youngercomrades dragged near the altars, and the othersbrought lustral water and barley meal, and Jasonprayed, calling on Apollo the god of his fathers :

    " Hear, O King, that dwellest in Pagasae and thecity Aesonis, the city called by my father's name,thou who didst promise me, when I sought thyoracle at Pytho, to show the fulfilment and goal ofmy journey, for thou thyself hast been the cause ofmy venture ; now do thou thyself guide the shipwith my comrades safe and sound, thither and backagain to Hellas. Then in thy honour hereafter Avewill lay again on thy altar the bright offerings ofbullsall of us who return ; and other gifts incountless numbers I will bring to Pytho andOrtygia. And now, come, Far-darter, accept thissacrifice at our hands, which first of all we have offered

    1 i.e. God of the shore.

    3*

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    r)V rot rrjcrK e-rriftaOpa %/)/ irpoTeOeipeOa vr)b

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    thee for this ship on our eniharcation ; and grant, OKing, that with a prosperous weird I may loose thehawsers, relying on thy counsel, and may the breezeblow softly with which we shall sail over the sea infair weather."He spake, and with his prayer cast the barley

    meal. And they two girded themselves to slay thesteers, proud Ancaeus and Heracles. The latterwith his club smote one steer mid-head on the brow,and falling in a heap on the spot, it sank to theground ; and Ancaeus struck the broad neck of theother with his axe of bronze, and shore through themighty sinews ; and it fell prone on both its horns.Their comrades quickly severed the victims' throats,and flayed the hides : they sundered the jointsand carved the flesh, then cut out the sacred thighbones, and covering them all together closely withfat burnt them upon cloven wood. And Aeson's sonpoured out pure libations, and Idmon rejoiced be-holding the flame as it gleamed on every side fromthe sacrifice, and the smoke of it mounting up withgood omen in dark spiral columns ; and quickly hespake outright the will of Leto's son :

    " For you it is the will of heaven and destiny thatye shall return here with the fleece ; but meanwhileboth going and returning, countless trials await you.But it is my lot, by the hateful decree of a god, to diesomewhere afar off on the mainland of Asia. Thus,though I learnt my fate from evil omens evenbefore now, I have left my fatherland to embark onthe ship, that so after my embarking fair fame maybe left me in my house."Thus he spake ; and the youths hearing the divine

    utterance rejoiced at their return, but grief seized

    33

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    r)p,o

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    them for the fate of Idmon. Now at the hour whenthe sun passes his noon-tide halt and the plough-lands are just being shadowed by the rocks, as thesun slopes towards the evening dusk, at that hour allthe heroes spread leaves thickly upon the sand andlay down in rows in front of the hoary surf-line

    ;

    and near them were spread vast stores of viands andsweet wine, which the cupbearers had drawn off inpitchers ; afterwai-ds they told tales one to anotherin turn, such as youths often tell when at the feastand the bowl they take delightful pastime, andinsatiable insolence is far away. But here the son ofAeson, all helpless, was brooding over each event inhis mind, like one oppressed with thought. AndIdas noted him and assailed him with loud voice :

    " Son of Aeson, what is this plan thou art turningover in mind. Speak out thy thought in the midst.Does fear come on and master thee, fear, that con-founds cowards ? Be witness now my impetuousspear, wherewith in wars I win renown bej-ond allothers (nor does Zeus aid me so much as my ownspear), that no woe will be fatal, no venture will beunachieved, while Idas follows, even though a godshould oppose thee. Such a helpmeet am I thatthou bringest from Arene."He spake, and holding a brimming goblet in both

    hands drank off the unmixed sweet wine ; and hislips and dark cheeks were drenched with it ; and allthe heroes clamoured together and Idmon spoke outopenly :

    " Vain wretch, thou art devising destruction forthyself betore the time. Does the pure wine causethy bold heart to swell in thy breast to thy ruin, andlias it set thee on to dishonour the gods? Other

    35D 2

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    aXXoi avOoi eacri Trapr/yopoi, olai irep civijpOapcrvvoi erapov crv 8"1 drdcrOaXa Trdp/rcav eeiira9 %ei/?a? epid

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    words of comfort there are with which a man mightencourage his comrade ; but thou hast spoken withutter recklessness. Such taunts, the tale goes, didthe sons of Aloeus once blurt out against the blessedgods, and thou dost no wise equal them in valour

    ;

    nevertheless they were both slain by the swiftarrows of Leto's son, mighty though they were."Thus he spake, and Aphareian Idas laughed out,

    loud and long, and eyeing him askance replied withbiting words

    :

    " Come now, tell me this by thy prophetic art,whether for me too the gods will bring to pass suchdoom as thy father promised for the sons of Aloeus.And bethink thee how thou wilt escape from myhands alive, if thou art caught making a prophecyvain as the idle wind."Thus in wrath Idas reviled him, and the strife

    would have gone further had not their comradesand Aeson's son himselfwith indignant cry restrainedthe contending chiefs; and Orpheus lifted his lyre inhis left hand and made essay to sing.He sang how the earth, the heaven and the sea,

    once mingled together in one form, after deadlystrife were separated each from other ; and how thestars and the moon and the paths of the sun everkeep their fixed place in the sky ; and how themountains rose, and how the resounding rivers withtheir nymphs came into being and all creeping things.And he sang how first of all Ophion and Eurynome,daughter of Ocean, held the sway of snowy Olympus,and how through strength of arm one yielded hisprerogative to Cronos and the other to Rhea, andhow they fell into the waves of Ocean ; but the othertwo meanwhile ruled over the blessed Titan-gods,

    37

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    o(fipa Zevs en Kovpos, en (ppeal v^iria el8u>

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    while Zeus, still a child and Avith the thoughts of achild, dwelt in the Dictaean cave ; and the earth-born Cyclopes had not yet armed him with the bolt,with thunder and lightning ; for these things giverenown to Zeus.

    He ended, and stayed his lyre and divine voice. Butthough he had ceased they still bent forward witheagerness all hushed to quiet, with ears intent onthe enchanting strain ; such a charm of song had heleft behind in their hearts. Not long after theymixed libations in honour of Zeus, with pious rites asis customary, and poured them upon the burningtongues, and bethought them of sleep in thedarkness.Now when gleaming dawn with bright eyes beheld

    the lofty peaks of Pelion, and the calm headlandswere being drenched as the sea was ruffled by thewinds, then Tiphys awoke from sleep ; and at oncehe roused his comrades to go on board and makeready the oars. And a strange cry did the harbourof Pagasae utter, yea and Pelian Argo herself,urging them to set forth. For in her a beam divinehad been laid which Athena had brought from anoak of Dodona and fitted in the middle of the stem.And the heroes went to the benches one after theother, as they had previously assigned for each to rowin his place, and took their seats in due order neartheir fighting gear. In the middle sat Ancaeus andmighty Heracles, and near him he laid his club, andbeneath his tread the ship's keel sank deep. And nowthe hawsers were being slipped and they poured wineon the sea. But Jason with tears held his eyes away

    39

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    ol B\ coot rjiOeoi oi{3(p XP^V V ez^ HvOol

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    from his fatherland. And just as youths set up adance in honour of Phoebus either in Pytho or haplyin Ortygia, or by the waters of Ismenus, and to thesound of the lyre round his altar all together in timebeat the earth with swiftly-moving feet ; so theyto the sound of Orpheus' lyre smote with their oarsthe rushing sea-water, and the surge broke over theblades ; and on this side and on that the dark brineseethed with foam, boiling terribly through themight of the sturdy heroes. And their arms shonein the sun like flame as the ship sped on ; and evertheir wake gleamed white far behind, like a pathseen over a green plain. On that day all the godslooked down from heaven upon the ship and themight of the heroes, half-divine, the bravest of menthen sailing the sea ; and on the topmost heights thenymphs of Pelion wondered as they beheld thework of Itonian Athena, and the heroes themselveswielding the oars. And there came down from themountain-top to the sea Chiron, son of Philyra, andwhere the white surf broke he dipped his feet, and,often waving with his broad hand, cried out to themat their departure, " Good speed and a sorrowlesshome-return ! " And with him his wife, bearingPeleus' son Achilles on her arm, showed the child tohis dear father.Now when they had left the curving shore of the

    harbour through the cunning and counsel of prudentTiphys son of Hagnias,who skilfully handled the well-polished helm that he might guide them steadfastly,then at length they set up the tall mast in the mast-box, and secured it with forestays, drawing them

    41

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    KaS S' avrov Xlva yevav, eir rjXaKarrjv epvaavres.ev he Xiyvs ireaev ovpov eir l/cpi.6

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    taut on each side, and from it they let down thesail when they had hauled it to the top-mast. And abreeze came down piping shrilly ; and upon thedeck they fastened the ropes separately round thewell-polished pins, and ran quietly past the longTisaean headland. And for them the son ofOeagrus touched his lyre and sang in rhythmical songof Artemis, saviour of ships, child of a glorious sire,who hath in her keeping those peaks by the sea,and the land of Iolcos ; and the fishes came dartingthrough the deep sea, great mixed with small, andfollowed gambolling along the watery paths. Andas when in the track of the shepherd, their master,countless sheep follow to the fold that have fedto the full of grass, and he goes before gaily pipinga shepherd's strain on his shrill reed ; so these fishesfollowed ; and a chasing breeze ever bore theship onward.And straightway the misty land of the Pelasgians,

    rich in cornfields, sank out of sight, and everspeeding onward they passed the rugged sides ofPelion ; and the Sepian headland sank away, andSciathus appeared in the sea, and far off appearedPiresiae and the calm shore of Magnesia on themainland and the tomb of Dolops ; here then in theevening, as the wind blew against them, they put toland, and paying honour to him at nightfall burntsheep as victims, while the sea was tossed by theswell : and for two days they lingered on the shore,but on the third day they put forth the ship,spreading on high the broad sail. And even nowmen call that beach Aphetae l of Argo.Thence going forward they ran past Meliboea,

    1 i.e. The Starting.

    43

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    aKTTTjv t atyiaXov re Svcnji'6/.iop eK7rep6o)vre^. x

    r/wOev 8' 'OpoXr/v avroa^eBov eicropowvres7TWTO) Kfc\i/uLevr]v irape^ierpeov' ovc? en 8>)povfiiXKov vireK iroTapolo fiaXeiv

    '

    'A/xvpoLO peeOpa.KeWev 8> JLvpvp

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    escaping a stormy beach and surf-line. And in themorning they saw Homole close at hand leaning onthe sea, and skirted it, and not long after they wereabout to pass by the outfall of the river Anryrus.From there they beheld Eurymenae and the sea-washed ravines of Ossa and Olympus ; next theyreached the slopes of Pallene, beyond the headlandof Canastra, running all night with the wind. Andat dawn before them as they journeyed rose Athos,the Thracian mountain, which with its topmost peakovershadows Lemnos, even as far as Myrine, thoughit lies as far off as the space that a well-trimmedmerchantship would traverse up to mid-day. Forthem on that day, till darkness fell, the breeze blewexceedingly fresh, and the sails of the ship strainedto it. But with the setting of the sun the wind leftthem, and it was by the oars that they reachedLemnos, the Sintian isle.Here the whole of the men of the people together

    had been ruthlessly slain through the ti'ansgressionsof the women in the year gone by. For the men hadrejected their lawful wives, loathing them, and hadconceived a fierce passion for captive maids whomthey themselves brought across the sea from theirforays in Thrace ; for the terrible wrath of Cypriscame upon them, because for a long time thev hadgrudged her the honours due. O hapless women,and insatiate in jealousy to their own ruin ! Nottheir husbands alone with the captives did they slayon account of the marriage-bed, but all the males atthe same time, that thev might thereafter pay noretribution for the grim murder. And of all thewomen, Hypsipyle alone spared her aged father

    45

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    XdpvaKt S' ev kolXj) p,iv virepd' a\o? v]ice (pepeaOcu,at /ce (pvyrj. teal rbv fiev e? OIvoltjv epvaavroirpoadev, drdp Xlkivov ye p-eOvarepov avBrjdelaavvrjcrov, iiratcTrjpe*;, %t/clvov anro, rov pa 6avriV7)ia

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    Thoas, who was king over the people ; and she senthim in a hollow chest to drift over the sea, if haplyhe should escape. And fishermen dragged himto shore at the island of Oenoe, formerly Oenoe,hut afterwards called Sicinus from Sicinus, whomthe water-nymph Oenoe hore to Thoas. Now forall the women to tend kine, to don armour of bronze,and to cleave with the plough-share the wheat-bearingfields, was easier than the works of Athena, withwhich they were busied aforetime. Yet for all thatdid they often gaze over the broad sea, in grievousfear against the Thracians' coming. So when theysaw Argo being rowed near the island, straightwaycrowding in multitude from the gates of Myrineand clad in their harness of Avar, they pouredforth to the beach like ravening Thyiades ; forthey deemed that the Thracians Avere come ; andwith them Hypsipyle, daughter of Thoas, donnedher father's harness. And they streamed downspeechless with dismay ; such fear was wafted aboutthem.

    Meantime from the ship the chiefs had sentAethalides the swift herald, to whose care they en-trusted their messages and the wand of Hermes,his sire, who had granted him a memory of allthings, that never grew dim ; and not even now,though he has entered the unspeakable whirlpoolsof Acheron, has forgetfulness SAvept over his soul,but its fixed doom is to be ever changing its abode ;at one time to be numbered among the dAvellersbeneath the earth, at another to be in the light ofthe sun among living men. But why need I tell atlength tales of Aethalides? He at that time per-suaded Hypsipyle to receive the new-comers as the

    47

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    7//i,aT09 dvo/xevoio hid Kvecpa*;' ovhe piev t)oiireicr/Liara vrjbs eXvaav eirl nrvoifi fiopeao.

    Aiifivuihe

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    day was waning into darkness ; nor yet at dawndid the}' loose the ship's hawsers to the breath ofthe north wind.Now the Lemnian women fared through the city

    and sat down to the assembly, for Hypsipyle herselfhad so bidden. And when they were all gatheredtogether in one great throng straightway she spakeamong them with stirring words :

    " O friends, come let us grant these men gifts totheir hearts' desire, such as it is fitting that theyshould take on ship-board, food and sweet wine,in order that they may steadfastly remain outsideour towers, and may not, passing among us for need'ssake, get to know us all too well, and so an evilreport be widely spread ; for we have wrought aterrible deed and in nowise will it be to their liking,should they learn it. Such is our counsel now, butif any of you can devise a better plan let her rise, forit was on this account that I summoned you hither."Thus she spake and sat upon her father's seat of

    stone, and then rose up her dear nurse Polyxo,for very age halting upon her withered feet, bowedover a staff, and she was eager to address them.Near her were seated four virgins, unwedded,crowned with white hair. And she stood in themidst of the assembly and from her bent back shefeebly raised her neck and spake thus :

    "Gifts, as Hypsipyle herself wishes, let us send tothe strangers, for it is better to give them. But foryou what device have ye to get profit of your life ifthe Thracian host fall upon us, or some other foe,as often happens among men, even as now thiscompany is come unforeseen? But if oue of the

    49

  • APOLLONIUS RHOD1US

    el Be to fiev paKapoav Tt? aTrorpiiroi, aXXa 8'

    07U0"G"6)ixvpia SrjiorfjTos vireprepa 7rrjp,ara p,ip,vei,cut civ 0V7 yepapal p,ev a7roai yvvalKe?,Kovporepai 8' ayovoi crrvyepov irorl 7770a? 'iK^crde.7TW? T?)/AO? /3(OCTad BvadpLpLOpOl / T) (3a6eLaL$avrofxaroi j36e

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    blessed gods should turn this aside yet countlessother woes, worse than battle, remain behind, whenthe aged women die off and ye younger ones,without children, reach hateful old age. How thenwill ye live, hapless ones ? Will your oxen of theirown accord yoke themselves for the deep plough-lands and draw the earth-cleaving share through thefallow, and forthwith, as the year comes round, reapthe harvest ? Assuredly, though the fates till nowhave shunned me in horror, I deem that in thecoming year I shall put on the garment of earth,when I have received my meed of burial evenso as is right, before the evil days draw near.But I bid you who are younger give good heedto this. For now at your feet a way of escapelies open, if ye trust to the strangers the care ofyour homes and all your stock and your gloriouscity."

    Thus she spake, and the assembly was filled withclamour. For the word pleased them. And afterher straightway Hypsipyle rose up again, and thusspake in reply. .

    " If this purpose please you all, now will I evensend a messenger to the ship."She spake and addressed Iphinoe close at hand :

    " Go, Iphinoe, and beg yonder man, whoever it isthat leads this array, to come to our land that I maytell him a word that pleases the heart of mypeople, and bid the men themselves, if they wish,boldly enter the land and the city with friendlyintent."

    She spake, and dismissed the assembly, and there-after started to return home. And so Iphinoe cameto the Minyae ; and they asked with what intent

    5i

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    Xpeios o rt. )7ra/j.

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    she had come among them. And quickly sheaddressed her questioners with all speed in thesewords :

    " The maiden Hypsipyle daughter of Thoas, sentme on my way here to you, to summon the captainof your ship, whoever he be, that she may tell hima word that pleases the heart of the people, andshe bids yourselves, if ye wish it, straightway enterthe land and the city with friendly intent."Thus she spake and the speech of good omen

    pleased all. And they deemed that Thoas was deadand that his beloved daughter Hypsipyle was queen,and quickly they sent Jason on his way and them-selves made ready to go.Now he had buckled round his shoulders a purple

    mantle of double fold, the work of the Tritoniangoddess, which Pallas had given him when she firstlaid the keel-props of the ship Argo and taught himhow to measure timbers with the rule. More easilywouldst thou cast thy eyes upon the sun at its risingthan behold that blazing splendour. For indeed inthe middle the fashion thereof was red, but at theends it was all purple, and on each margin manysepai*ate devices had been skilfully inwoven.

    In it were the Cyclops seated at their imperishablework, forging a thunderbolt for King Zeus ; by nowit was almost finished in its brightness and still itwanted but one ray, which they were beating outwith their iron hammers as it spurted forth a breathof raging flame.

    In it too were the twin sons of Antiope, daughterof Asopus, Amphion and Zethus, and Thebe stillungirt with towers was lying near, whose foundations

    53

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    kelto 7reXa?, tt/9 o"ye vkov ftdWovTO So/xatot'?lijuevoi. Zr/Oos fiev eircopbahov yepra^evovpeo

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    they were just then laying in eager haste. Zethuson his shoulders was lifting the peak of a steepmountain, like a man toiling hard, and Amphionafter him, singing loud and clear on his golden lyre,moved on, and a rock twice as large followed hisfootsteps.

    Next in order had been wrought Cytherea withdrooping tresses, wielding the swift shield of Ares

    ;

    and from her shoulder to her left arm the fasteningof her tunic was loosed beneath her breast ; andopposite in the shield of bronze her image appearedclear to view as she stood.And in it there was a well-wooded pasturage of

    oxen ; and about the oxen the Teleboae and the sonsof Electryon were fighting ; the one party defendingthemselves, the others, the Taphian raiders, longing torob them ; and the dewy meadow was drenched withtheir blood, and the many were overmastering thefew herdsmen.And therein were fashioned two chariots, racing,

    and the one in front Pelops was guiding, as he shookthe reins, and with him was Hippodameia at his side,and in pursuit Myrtilus urged his steeds, and with himOenomaus had grasped his couched spear, but fell asthe axle swerved and broke in the nave, while hewas eager to pierce the back of Pelops.And in it was wrought Phoebus Apollo, a stripling

    not yet grown up, in the act of shooting at mightyTityos who was boldly dragging his mother by herveil, Tityos whom glorious Elare bare, but Earthnursed him and gave him second birth.And in it was Phrixus the Minyan as though he

    were in very deed listening to the ram, while it waslike one speaking. Beholding them thou wouldst

    55

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    i\7r6/jiVO

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK 1

    be silent and wouldst cheat thy soul with the hope ofhearing some wise speech from them, and longwouldst thou gaze with that hope.

    Such then were the gifts of the Tritonian goddessAthena. And in his right hand Jason held a far-darting spear, which Atalanta gave him once as agift of hospitality in Maenalus as she met him gladly

    ;

    for she eagerly desired to follow on that quest ; buthe himself of his own accord prevented the maid, forlie feared bitter strife on account of her love.And he went on his way to the city like to a bright

    star, which maidens, pent up in new-built chambers,behold as it rises above their homes, and throughthe dark air it charms their eyes with its fair redgleam and the maid rejoices, love-sick for the youthwho is far away amid strangers, for whom her parentsare keeping her to be his bride; like to that star thehero trod the way to the city. And when they hadpassed within the gates and the city, the women ofthe people surged behind them, delighting in thestranger, but he with his eyes fixed on the groundfared straight on, till he reached the glorious palaceof Hypsipyle ; and when he appeared the maidsopened the folding doors, fitted with well-fashionedpanels. Here Iphinoe leading him quickly througha fair porch set him upon a shining seat opposite hermistress, but Hypsipyle turned her eyes aside anda blush covered her maiden cheeks, yet for all hermodesty she addressed him with crafty words

    :

    " Stranger, why stay ye so long outside our towers ?for the city is not inhabited by the men, but they,as sojourners, plough the wheat-bearing fields of theThracian mainland. And I will tell out truly all ourevil plight, that ye yourselves too may know it well.

    57

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    evre Soas aarolai rrarrjp e^to? ep./3a/3rjv, &)

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    When my father Thoas reigned over the citizens,then our folk starting from their homes used toplunder from their ships the dwellings of theThracians who live opposite, and they brought backhither measureless booty and maidens too. But thecounsel of the baneful goddess Cypris was workingout its accomplishment, who brought upon themsoul-destroying infatuation. For they hated theirlawful wives, and, yielding to their own mad folly,drove them from their homes; and they took to theirbeds the captives of their spear, cruel ones. Longin truth we endured it, if haply again, though late,they might change their purpose, but ever the bitterwoe grew, twofold. And the lawful children werebeing dishonoured in their halls, and a bastard racewas rising. And thus unmarried maidens andwidowed mothers too wandered uncared for throughthe city ; no father heeded his daughter ever so littleeven though he should see her done to death beforehis eyes at the hands of an insolent step-dame, nordid sons, as before, defend their mother againstunseemly outrage ; nor did brothers care at heartfor their sister. But in their homes, in the dance, inthe assembly and the banquet all their thought wasonly for their captive maidens ; until some god putdesperate courage in our hearts no more to receiveour lords on their return from Thrace within ourtowers so that they might either heed the right ormight depart and begone elsewhither, they and theircaptives. So they begged of us all the male childrenthat were left in the city and went back to whereeven now they dwell on the snowy tilths of Thrace.

    59

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    tw vfiels o~rpw(pdo'&' eirthrj^uoL' el 8e kev av0ivaterdeiv eOeXois, kol'i toi ahoi, rj r av eirena7raT/9o? ifielo 6avTOs e%ot9 yepaq' ov8e t'i

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK 1

    Do ye therefore stay and settle with us ; andshouldst thou desire to dwell here, and this findsfavour with thee, assuredly thou shalt have theprerogative of my father Thoas ; and I deem thatthou wilt not scorn our land at all ; for it is deep-soiled beyond all other islands that lie in the Aegaeansea. But come now, return to the ship and relatemy words to thy comrades, and stay not outside ourcity-" ^

    She spoke, glozing over the murder that had beenwrought upon the men ; and Jason addressed her inanswer

    :

    " Hypsipyle, very dear to our hearts is the helpwe shall meet with, which thou grantest to us whoneed thee. And I will return again to the citywhen I have told everything in order due. But letthe sovereignty of the island be thine ; it is not inscorn I yield it up, but grievous trials urge me on."He spake, and touched her right hand ; and

    quickly he turned to go back : and round him theyoung maids on every side danced in countlessnumbers in their joy till he passed through thegates. And then they came to the shore in smooth-running wains, bearing with them many gifts, whennow he had related from beginning to end thespeech which Hypsipyle had spoken when shesummoned them ; and the maids readily led the menback to their homes for entertainment. For Cyprisstirred in them a sweet desire, for the sake ofHephaestus of many counsels, in order that Lemnosmight be again inhabited by men and not be ruined.Thereupon Aeson's son started to go to the royal

    home of Hypsipyle ; and the rest went each his wayas chance took them, all but Heracles ; for he of his

    61

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    avrbs e/ccbp nravpoi re 8ia/cpip0ePT

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    own will whs left behind by the ship and a fewchosen comrades with him. And straightway thecity rejoiced with dances and banquets, being filledwith the steam of sacrifice ; and above all theimmortals they propitiated with songs and sacrificesthe illustrious son of Hera and Cypris hei'self. Andthe sailing was ever delayed from one day to another

    ;

    and long would they have lingered there, had notHeracles, gathering together his comrades apartfrom the women, thus addressed them with reproach-ful words :

    " Wretched men, does the murder of kindred keepus from our native land ? Or is it in want ofmarriage that we have come hither from thence, inscorn of our countrywomen ? Does it please us todwell here and plough the rich soil of Lemnos ?No fair renown shall we win by thus tarryingso long with stranger women ; nor will some godseize and give us at our prayer a fleece that movesof itself. Let us then return each to his own ; buthim leave ye to rest all day long in the embrace ofHypsipyle until he has peopled Lemnos with men-children, and so there come to him great glory."Thus did he chide the band ; but no one dared to

    meet his eye or to utter a word in answer. But justas they were in the assembly they made ready theirdeparture in al! haste, and the women came runningtowards them, when they knew their intent. Andas when bees hum round fair lilies pouring forthfrom their hive in the rock, and all around the dewymeadow rejoices, and they gather the sweet fruit,Hitting from one to another ; even so the womeneagerly poured forth, clustering round the men withloud lament, and greeted each oik- with [lands .iiu!

    63

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    ev^ofievai puaKapeaaiv uTrypbova voarov oirdaaat.ci)9 Be Kal "T-^rnrvXy yp/jaaro ,)(elpa^ eXovaaAlaovlBeco, rd Be ol pee Sdfcpva

    X'')Tl iovtos'' Ntcrcreo, /cat ae Oeoi aw dirypkatv avris eraipois

    Xpvaetov ftaatXyi BepoA./coOirarpt r epcw Kal puyrpl Buys aKos, yv dpa rovayeT6TyU.?7 ert ^ooovras, Xv dvBiya rolo dvaKTO?acpolaiv Tropavvcovrat ecpeaTioc ev pLeydpoiaiv.'

    'H, Kal efiaiv eirl vya 7rapolraro^' to? Be KaldXXoi 910

    fialvov dpiaryes' Xd^ovro Be yepalv eperptdeva^epoo e^opuevor 7rpvp,v>]aia Be acf>iaiv"Apyo

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    voice, praying the blessed gods to grant him a satereturn. And so Hypsipyle too prayed, seizing thehands of Aeson's son, and her tears flowed for theloss of her lover :

    " Go, and may heaven bring thee back again withthy comrades unharmed, bearing to the king thegolden fleece, even as thou wilt and thy heartdesireth ; and this island and my father's sceptrewill be awaiting thee, if on thy return hereafter thoushouldst choose to come hither again ; and easilvcouldst thou gather a countless host of men fromother cities. But thou wilt not have this desire, nordo I myself forbode that so it will be. Still rememberHypsipyle when thou art far away and when thouhas returned ; and leave me some word of bidding,which I will gladly accomplish, if haply heaven shallgrant me to be a mother."And Aeson's son in admiration thus replied :

    " Hypsipyle, so may all these things prove propitiousby the favour of the blessed gods. But do thou holda nobler thought of me, since by the grace of Peliasit is enough for me to dwell in my native land ; maythe gods only release me from my toils. But if it isnot my destiny to sail afar and return to the land ofHellas, and if thou shouldst bear a male child, sendhim when grown up to Pelasgian Iolcus, to heal thegrief of my father and mother if so be that he Andthem still living, in order that, far away from theking, they may be cared for by their own hearth intheir home."He spake, and mounted the ship first of all ; and

    so the rest of the chiefs followed, and, sitting inorder, seized the oars ; and Argus loosed for themthe hawsers from under the sea-beaten rock. Where-

    65

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    kotttov vhcop &o\ixf]criv eTritepaTeeos eXdrrjcnv.eaTripiot o 'O/90?)o9 i(pi]/jL0crvvr)(7iv eteeXaav

    vrjcrov e'9 HXe/eTprjs ArXavTihos, oejipa haevresdpprjrovs dyavrjai TeXeo-ffroplrjai depuo-Ta?aeoorepoi tepvoeaaav virelp aka vclvtiWoivto.twv fiev eV ov Trporepui fiv9i]

  • THE AHGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    upon they mightily smote the water with their longoars, and in the evening by the injunctions ofOrpheus they touched at the island of Electra, 1daughter of Atlas, in order that by gentle initiationthey might learn the rites that may not be uttered,and so with greater safety sail over the chilling sea.Of these I will make no further mention ; but I bidfarewell to the island itself and the indwellingdeities, to whom belong those mysteries, which it isnot lawful for me to sing.Thence did they row with eagerness over the

    depths of the Black Sea, having on the one side theland of the Thracians, on the other Imbros to thenorth ; and as the sun was just setting they reachedthe foreland of the Chersonesus. There a strongsouth wind blew for them ; and raising the sails tothe breeze they entered the swift stream of themaiden daughter of Athamas ; and at dawn the seato the north was left behind and at night they werecoasting inside the lthoeteian shore, with the landof Ida on their right. And leaving Dardania theydirected their course to Abydus, and after it theysailed past Percote and the sandy beach of Abarnisand divine Pityeia. And in that night, as the shipsped on by sail and oar, they passed right throughthe Hellespont dark-gleaming with eddies.

    There is a lofty island inside the Propontis, a shortdistance from the Phrygian mainland with its richcornfields, sloping to the sea, where an isthmus infront of the mainland is flooded by the waves, so lowdoes it he. And the isthmus has double shores, andthey lie beyond the river Aesepus, and the inhabit-ants round about call the island the Mount of Bears,

    1 Saniothrace,

    6?

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    Kal to pev vfipiaTaL re real dypioi ivvaiovarivV^yevees, p,eya davpa 7repiKTiovecraiv I8ea0ai'6% yap eKciarfp ^elpes vTrepftioi rjepedovTai,al pev airo arifiapdiv wpMov 8vo, ral 8 virevepOevreaaapes alvordrrjo-iv ZttI TrXevpys dpapviai.iadpbv & av irehiov re AoXioves dp(pevep,ovrodvepes' ev 8 rjpeos Aiv>)ios vlbs dvacraevKvfyfcos, bv fcovpt] 8iou Te/cev EvacopoioAlvi]Tt]. TOVS 8 OVTl KOI eKTTayXoi 7T6p ioVTvovieladpievoi irapd diva, OvqiroXirfs r epeXovro.8o)Kev 8' avTos aval; Xapbv p,edv 8evopvoio~ivpurfXa 6' 6p.ov' 8r) yap ol er}v

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    And insolent and fierce men dwell there, Earthborn,a great marvel to the neighbours to behold ; for eachone has six mighty hands to lift up, two from hissturdy shoulders, and four below, fitting close to histerrible sides. And about the isthmus and the plainthe Doliones had their dwelling, and over themCyzicus son of Aeneus was king, whom Aenete thedaughter of goodly Eusorus bare. But these menthe Earthborn monsters, fearful though they were,in nowise harried, owing to the protection ofPoseidon ; for from him had the Doliones firstsprung. Thither Argo pressed on, driven by thewinds of Thrace, and the Fair haven received her asshe sped. There they cast away their small anchor-stone by the advice of Tiphys and left it beneath afountain, the fountain of Artacie ; and they tookanother meet for their purpose, a heavy one ; butthe first, according to the oracle of the Far-Darter,the Ionians, sons of Neleus, in after days laid tobe a sacred stone, as was right, in the temple ofJasonian Athena.Now the Doliones and Cyzicus himself all came

    together to meet them with friendliness, and whenthey knew of the quest and their lineage welcomedthem with hospitality, and persuaded them to rowfurther and to fasten their ship's hawsers at the cityharbour. Here they built an altar to Ecbasian lApollo and set it up on the beach, and gave heed tosacrifices. And the king of his own bounty gavethem sweet wine and sheep in their need ; for hehad heard a report that whenever a godlike band ofheroes should come, straightway he should meet itwith gentle words and should have no thought of

    1 i.e. god of disembarcation.

    69

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

    Icrov ttov KctKeivcp enmaTa'yyecTKov I'ovXoi,ou8e vv ttco Traiheacriv ayaWo/nevos ptep-opijTo'aX)C

    Ti ol Kara ZcofxaT a/cqpaTO*; rjev a/conis;wSlvcov, Mepo7ro9 Hep/ccoalov etcyeyavla,KXeirr] evirXoicapLos, rrjv /mv vkov i^eri trarpb'iOeaTTeaioa ehvoicriv dvijyayev avrnreprjOev.aXXa kcli to? OaXafiov re Xnrwv teal Sefivia vvfMpi]*;to?? /lira 8air dXeyvve, fidXev S' enro Sel/xaTa

    0V/J.OV.

    dWjjXov; 8 epieivov d/jL0(/3a8ls. ?]toi 6 fiev enpewv 9807Tv0eTo vavnXn]

  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    war. As with Jason, the soft down was just bloomingon his chin, nor yet had it been his lot to rejoice inchildren, but still in his palace his wife wasuntouched by the pangs of child-birth, the daughterof Percosian Merope, fair-haired Cleite, whom latelyby priceless gifts he had brought from her father'shome from the mainland opposite. But even so heleft his chamber and bridal bed and prepared abanquet among the strangers, casting all fears fromhis heart. And they questioned one another inturn. Of them would he learn the end of theirvoyage and the injunctions of Pelias ; while theyenquired about the cities of the people round and allthe gulf of the wide Propontis ; but further he couldnot tell them for all their desire to learn. In themorning they climbed mighty Dindymum that theymight themselves behold the various paths of thatsea ; and they brought their ship from its formeranchorage to the harbour, Chytus ; and the path theytrod is named the path of Jason.

    But the Earthborn men on the other side rusheddown from the mountain and with crags below blockedup the mouth of vast Chytus towards the sea, likemen lying in wait for a wild beast within. But thereHeracles had been left behind with the youngerheroes and he quickly bent his back-springing bowagainst the monsters and brought them to earth oneafter another ; and they in their turn raised hugeragged rocks and hurled them. For these dreadmonsters too, I ween, the goddess Hera, bride ofZeus, had nurtured to be a trial for Heracles. Andtherewithal came the rest of the martial heroesreturning to meet the foe before they reached the

    7'

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

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  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    height of outlook, and they fell to the slaughter ofthe Earthborn, receiving them with arrows and spearsuntil they slew them all as they rushed fiercely tobattle. And as when woodcutters cast in rows uponthe beach long trees just hewn down by their axes,in order that, once sodden with brine, they mayreceive the strong bolts ; so these monsters at theentrance of the foam-fringed harbour lay stretchedone after another, some in heaps bending their headsand breasts into the salt waves with their limbsspread out above on the land ; others again wereresting their heads on the sand of the shore andtheir feet in the deep water, both alike a prey tobirds and fishes at once.

    But the heroes, when the contest was ended with-out fear, loosed the ship's hawsers to the breath ofthe wind and pressed on through the sea-swell. Andthe ship sped on under sail all day ; but when nightcame the rushing wind did not hold steadfast, butcontrary blasts caught them and held them back tillthey again approached the hospitable Doliones.And they stepped ashore that same night ; and therock is still called the Sacred Rock round which theythrew the ship's hawsers in their haste. Nor didanyone note with care that it was the same island

    ;

    nor in the night did the Doliones clearly perceivethat the heroes were returning ; but they deemedthat Pelasgian war-men of the Macrians hadlanded. Therefore they donned their armourand raised their hands against them. And withclashing of ashen spears and shields they fell on eachother, like the swift rush of fire which falls on drybrushwood and rears its crest; and the din of ball 1

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

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  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    Doliones. Nor was the king to escape his fate andreturn home from battle to his bridal chamber andbed. But Aeson's son leapt upon him as he turnedto face him, and smote him in the middle of thebreast, and the bone was shattered round the spear

    ;

    he rolled forward in the sand and rilled up themeasure of his fate. For that no mortal may escape

    ;

    but on every s*ide a wide snare encompasses us. Andso, when he thought that he had escaped bitterdeath from the chiefs, fate entangled him that verynight in her toils while battling with them ; andmany champions withal were slain ; Heracles killedTeleclesand Megabrontes,and Acastus slewSphodris;and Peleus slew Zelus and Gephyrus swift in war.Telamon of the strong spear slew Basileus. AndIdas slew Promeus, and Clytius Hyacinthus, and thetwo sons of Tyndareus slew Megalossaces andPhlogius. And after them the son of Oeneus slewbold Itomeneus, and Artaceus. leader of men ; all ofwhom the inhabitants still honour with the worshipdue to heroes. And the rest gave way and fled interror just as doves fly in terror before swift-wingedhawks. And with a din they rushed in a body tothe gates ; and quickly the city was filled with loudcries at the turning of the dolorous fight. Butat dawn both sides perceived the fatal and cure-less error ; and bitter grief seized the Minyan heroeswhen they saw before them Cyzicus son of Aeneusfallen in the midst of dust and blood. And for threewhole days they lamented and rent their hair, theyand the Doliones. Then three times round his tombthey paced in armour of bronze and performedfuneral rites and celebrated games, as was meet.upon the meadow-plain, where even now rises the

    75

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

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  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    mound of his grave to be seen by men of a later day.No, nor was his bride Cleite left behind her deadhusband, but to crown the ill she wrought an ill yetmore awful, when she clasped a noose round herneck. Her death even the nymphs of the grove be-wailed ; and of all the tears for her that they shed toearth from their eyes the goddesses made a fountain,which they call Cleite,1 the illustrious name of thehapless maid. Most terrible came that day from Zeusupon the Doliones, women and men ; for no one ofthem dared even to taste food, nor for a long time byreason of grief did they take thought for the toil ofthe cornmill, but they dragged on their lives eatingtheir food as it was, untouched by fire. Here evennow, when the Ionians that dwell in Cyzicus pourtheir yearly libations for the dead, they ever grind themeal for the sacrificial cakes at the common mill. 2

    After this, fierce tempests arose for twelve daysand nights together and kept them there from sailing.But in the next night the rest of the chieftains, over-come by sleep, were resting during the latest periodof the night, while Acastus and Mopsus the son ofAmpycus kept guard over their deep slumbers.And above the golden head of Aeson's son therehovered a halcyon prophesying with shrill voice theceasing of the stormy winds ; and Mopsus heard andunderstood the cry of the bird of the shore, fraughtwith good omen. And some god made it turn aside,and flying aloft it settled upon the stern-ornamentof the ship. And the seer touched Jason as he laywrapped in soft sheepskins and woke him at once,and thus spake :

    1 Civile means illustrious.2

    i.e.- to avoid grinding it at home.

    77

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

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  • THE ARGONAUTICA, BOOK I

    " Son of Aeson, thou must climb to this temple onrugged Dindymum and propitiate the mother J of allthe blessed gods on her fair throne, and the stormyblasts shall cease. For such was the voice I heardbut now from the halcyon, bird of the sea, which, asas it flew above thee in thy slumber, told me all.For by her power the winds and the sea and all theearth below and the snowy seat of Olympus arecomplete ; and to her, when from the mountains sheascends the mighty heaven, Zeus himself, the son ofCronos, gives place. In like manner the rest of theimmortal blessed ones reverence the dread goddess."Thus he spake, and his words were welcome to

    .Jason's ear. And he arose from his bed with joyand woke all his comrades hurriedly and told themthe prophecy of Mopsus the son of Ampycus. Andquickly the younger men drove oxen from theirstalls and began to lead them to the mountain'slofty summit. And they loosed the hawsers fromthe sacred rock and rowed to the Thracian harbour

    ;

    and the heroes climbed the mountain, leaving a fewof their comrades in the ship. And to them theMacrian heights and all the coast of Thrace oppositeappeared to view close at hand. And there appearedthe misty mouth of Bosporus and the Mysian hills ;and on the other side the stream of the river Aesepusand the city and Nepeian plain of Adrasteia. Nowthere was a sturdy stump of vine that grew in theforest, a tree exceeding old ; this they cut down, tobe the sacred image of the mountain goddess ; andArgus smoothed it skilfully, and they set it upon thatrugged hill beneath a canopy of lofty oaks, which ofall trees have their roots deepest. And near it they

    1 Rhea.

    79

  • APOLLONIUS RHODIUS

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  • THE ARGONA