The Argonautica
their eyes on the ground abashed, and again were throwing glances at
each other, smiling with the light of love beneath their radiant brows.
And at last and scarcely then did the maiden greet him:
“Take heed now, that I may devise help for thee. When at thy coming my
father has given thee the deadly teeth from the dragon’s jaws for
sowing, then watch for the time when the night is parted in twain, then
bathe in the stream of the tireless river, and alone, apart from
others, clad in dusky raiment, dig a rounded pit; and therein slay a
ewe, and sacrifice it whole, heaping high the pyre on the very edge of
the pit. And propitiate only-begotten Hecate, daughter of Perses,
pouring from a goblet the hive-stored labour of bees. And then, when
thou hast heedfully sought the grace of the goddess, retreat from the
pyre; and let neither the sound of feet drive thee to turn back, nor
the baying of hounds, lest haply thou shouldst maim all the rites and
thyself fail to return duly to thy comrades. And at dawn steep this
charm in water, strip, and anoint thy body therewith as with oil; and
in it there will be boundless prowess and mighty strength, and thou
wilt deem thyself a match not for men but for the immortal gods. And
besides, let thy spear and shield and sword be sprinkled. Thereupon the
spear-heads of the earthborn men shall not pierce thee, nor the flame
of the deadly bulls as it rushes forth resistless. But such thou shalt
be not for long, but for that one day; still never flinch from the
contest. And I will tell thee besides of yet another help. As soon as
thou hast yoked the strong oxen, and with thy might and thy prowess
hast ploughed all the stubborn fallow, and now along the furrows the
Giants are springing up, when the serpent’s teeth are sown on the dusky
clods, if thou markest them uprising in throngs from the fallow, cast
unseen among them a massy stone; and they over it, like ravening hounds
over their food, will slay one another; and do thou thyself hasten to
rush to the battle-strife, and the fleece thereupon thou shalt bear far
away from Aea; nevertheless, depart wherever thou wilt, or thy pleasure
takes thee, when thou hast gone hence.”
Thus she spake, and cast her eyes to her feet in silence, and her
cheek, divinely fair, was wet with warm tears as she sorrowed for that
he was about to wander far from her side over the wide sea: and once
again she addressed him face to face with mournful words, and took his
right hand; for now shame had left her eyes:
“Remember, if haply thou returnest to thy home, Medea’s name; and so
will I remember thine, though thou be far away. And of thy kindness
tell me this, where is thy home, whither wilt thou sail hence in thy
ship over the sea; wilt thou come near wealthy Orchomenus, or near the
Aeaean isle? And tell me of the maiden, whosoever she be that thou hast
named, the far-renowned daughter of Pasiphae, who is kinswoman to my
father.”
Thus she spake; and over him too, at the tears of the maiden, stole
Love the destroyer, and he thus answered her:
“All too surely do I deem that never by night and never by day will I
forget thee if I escape death and indeed make my way in safety to the
Achaean land, and Aeetes set not before us some other contest worse
than this. And if it pleases thee to know about my fatherland, I will
tell it out; for indeed my own heart bids me do that. There is a land
encircled by lofty mountains, rich in sheep and in pasture, where
Prometheus, son of Iapetus, begat goodly Deucalion, who first founded
cities and reared temples to the immortal gods, and first ruled over
men. This land the neighbours who dwell around call Haemonia. And in it
stands Ioleus, my city, and in it many others, where they have not so
much as heard the name of the Aeaean isle; yet there is a story that
Minyas starting thence, Minyas son of Aeolus, built long ago the city
of Orchomenus that borders on the Cadmeians. But why do I tell thee all
this vain talk, of our home and of Minos’ daughter, far-famed Ariadne,
by which glorious name they called that lovely maiden of whom thou
askest me? Would that, as Minos then was well inclined to Theseus for
her sake, so may thy father be joined to us in friendship!”
Thus he spake, soothing her with gentle converse. But pangs most bitter
stirred her heart and in grief did she address him with vehement words:
“In Hellas, I ween, this is fair to pay heed to covenants; but Aeetes
is not such a man among men as thou sayest was Pasiphae’s husband,
Minos; nor can I liken myself to Ariadne; wherefore speak not of
guest-love. But only do thou, when thou hast reached Iolcus, remember
me, and thee even in my parents’ despite, will I remember. And from far
off may a rumour come to me or some messenger-bird, when thou
forgettest me; or me, even me, may swift blasts catch up and bear over
the sea hence to Iolcus, that so I may cast reproaches in thy face and
remind thee that it was by my good will thou didst escape. May I then
be seated in thy halls, an unexpected guest!”
Thus she spake with piteous tears falling down her cheeks, and to her
Jason replied: “Let the empty blasts wander at will, lady, and the
messenger-bird, for vain is thy talk. But if thou comest to those
abodes and to the land of Hellas, honoured and reverenced shalt thou be
by women and men; and they shall worship thee even as a goddess, for
that by thy counsel their sons came home again, their brothers and
kinsmen and stalwart husbands were saved from calamity. And in our
bridal chamber shalt thou prepare our couch; and nothing shall come
between our love till the doom of death fold us round.”
Thus he spake; and her soul melted within her to hear his words;
nevertheless she shuddered to behold the deeds of destruction to come.
Poor wretch! Not long was she destined to refuse a home in Hellas. For
thus Hera devised it, that Aeaean Medea might come to Ioleus for a bane
to Pelias, forsaking her native land.
And now her handmaids, glancing at them from a distance, were grieving
in silence; and the time of day required that the maiden should return
home to her mother’s side. But she thought not yet of departing, for
her soul delighted both in his beauty and in his winsome words, but
Aeson’s son took heed, and spake at last, though late: “It is time to
depart, lest the sunlight sink before we know it, and some stranger
notice all; but again will we come and meet here.”
So did they two make trial of one another thus far with gentle words;
and thereafter parted. Jason hastened to return in joyous mood to his
comrades and the ship, she to her handmaids; and they all together came
near to meet her, but she marked them not at all as they thronged
around. For her soul had soared aloft amid the clouds. And her feet of
their own accord mounted the swift chariot, and with one hand she took
the reins, and with the other the whip of cunning workmanship, to drive
the mules; and they rushed hasting to the city and the palace. And when
she was come Chalciope in grief for her sons questioned her; but Medea,
distraught by swiftly-changing thoughts, neither heard her words nor
was eager to speak in answer to her questions. But she sat upon a low
stool at the foot of her couch, bending down, her cheek leaning on her
left hand, and her eyes were wet with tears as she pondered what an
evil deed she had taken part in by her counsels.
Now when Aeson’s son had joined his comrades again in the spot where he
had left them when he departed, he set out to go with them, telling
them all the story, to the gathering of the heroes; and together they
approached the ship. And when they saw Jason they embraced him and
questioned him. And he told to all the counsels of the maiden and
showed the dread charm; but Idas alone of his comrades sat apart biting
down his wrath; and the rest joyous in heart, at the hour when the
darkness of night stayed them, peacefully took thought for themselves.
But at daybreak they sent two men to go to Aeetes and ask for the seed,
first Telamon himself, dear to Ares, and with him Aethalides, Hermes’
famous son. So they went and made no vain journey; but when they came,
lordly Aeetes gave them for the contest the fell teeth of the Aonian
dragon which Cadmus found in Ogygian Thebes when he came seeking for
Europa and there slew the—warder of the spring of Ares. There he
settled by the guidance of the heifer whom Apollo by his prophetic word
granted him to lead him on his way. But the teeth the Tritonian goddess
tore away from the dragon’s jaws and bestowed as a gift upon Aeetes and
the slayer. And Agenor’s son, Cadmus, sowed them on the Aonian plains
and founded an earthborn people of all who were left from the spear
when Ares did the reaping; and the teeth Aeetes then readily gave to be
borne to the ship, for he deemed not that Jason would bring the contest
to an end, even though he should cast the yoke upon the oxen.
Far away in the west the sun was sailing beneath the dark earth, beyond
the furthest hills of the Aethiopians; and Night was laying the yoke
upon her steeds; and the heroes were preparing their beds by the
hawsers. But Jason, as soon as the stars of Heliee, the bright-gleaming
bear, had set, and the air had all grown still under heaven, went to a
desert spot, like some stealthy thief, with all that was needful; for
beforehand in the daytime had he taken thought for everything; and
Argus came bringing a ewe and milk from the flock; and them he took
from the ship. But when the hero saw a place which was far away from
the tread of men, in a clear meadow beneath the open sky, there first
of all he bathed his tender body reverently in the sacred river; and
round him he placed a dark robe, which Hypsipyle of Lemnos had given
him aforetime, a memorial of many a loving embrace. Then he dug a pit
in the ground of a cubit’s depth and heaped up billets of wood, and
over it he cut the throat of the sheep, and duly placed the carcase
above; and he kindled the logs placing fire beneath, and poured over
them mingled libations, calling on Hecate Brimo to aid him in the
contests. And when he had called on her he drew back; and she heard
him, the dread goddess, from the uttermost depths and came to the
sacrifice of Aeson’s son; and round her horrible serpents twined
themselves among the oak boughs; and there was a gleam of countless
torches; and sharply howled around her the hounds of hell. All the
meadows trembled at her step; and the nymphs that haunt the marsh and
the river shrieked, all who dance round that mead of Amarantian Phasis.
And fear seized Aeson’s son, but not even so did he turn round as his
feet bore him forth, till he came back to his comrades; and now early
dawn arose and shed her light above snowy Caucasus.
Then Aeetes arrayed his breast in the stiff corslet which Ares gave him
when he had slain Phlegraean Mimas with his own hands; and upon his
head he placed a golden helmet with four plumes, gleaming like the
sun’s round light when he first rises from Ocean. And he wielded his
shield of many hides, and his spear, terrible, resistless; none of the
heroes could have withstood its shock now that they had left behind
Heracles far away, who alone could have met it in battle. For the king
his well-fashioned chariot of swift steeds was held near at hand by
Phaethon, for him to mount; and he mounted, and held the reins in his
hands. Then from the city he drove along the broad highway, that he
might be present at the contest; and with him a countless multitude
rushed forth. And as Poseidon rides, mounted in his chariot, to the
Isthmian contest or to Taenarus, or to Lerna’s water, or through the
grove of Hyantian Onchestus, and thereafter passes even to Calaureia
with his steeds, and the Haemonian rock, or well-wooded Geraestus; even