The Argonautica
wakened the shepherds, then they loosed their hawsers from the stem of
the baytree and put on board all the spoil they had need to take; and
with a favouring wind they steered through the eddying Bosporus.
Hereupon a wave like a steep mountain rose aloft in front as though
rushing upon them, ever upheaved above the clouds; nor would you say
that they could escape grim death, for in its fury it hangs over the
middle of the ship, like a cloud, yet it sinks away into calm if it
meets with a skilful helmsman. So they by the steering-craft of Tiphys
escaped, unhurt but sore dismayed. And on the next day they fastened
the hawsers to the coast opposite the Bithynian land.
There Phineus, son of Agenor, had his home by the sea, Phineus who
above all men endured most bitter woes because of the gift of prophecy
which Leto’s son had granted him aforetime. And he reverenced not a
whit even Zeus himself, for he foretold unerringly to men his sacred
will. Wherefore Zeus sent upon him a lingering old age, and took from
his eyes the pleasant light, and suffered him not to have joy of the
dainties untold that the dwellers around ever brought to his house,
when they came to enquire the will of heaven. But on a sudden, swooping
through the clouds, the Harpies with their crooked beaks incessantly
snatched the food away from his mouth and hands. And at times not a
morsel of food was left, at others but a little, in order that he might
live and be tormented. And they poured forth over all a loathsome
stench; and no one dared not merely to carry food to his mouth but even
to stand at a distance; so foully reeked the remnants of the meal. But
straightway when he heard the voice and the tramp of the band he knew
that they were the men passing by, at whose coming Zeus’ oracle had
declared to him that he should have joy of his food. And he rose from
his couch, like a lifeless dream, bowed over his staff, and crept to
the door on his withered feet, feeling the walls; and as he moved, his
limbs trembled for weakness and age; and his parched skin was caked
with dirt, and naught but the skill held his bones together. And he
came forth from the hall with wearied knees and sat on the threshold of
the courtyard; and a dark stupor covered him, and it seemed that the
earth reeled round beneath his feet, and he lay in a strengthless
trance, speechless. But when they saw him they gathered round and
marvelled. And he at last drew laboured breath from the depths of his
chest and spoke among them with prophetic utterance:
“Listen, bravest of all the Hellenes, if it be truly ye, whom by a
king’s ruthless command Jason is leading on the ship Argo in quest of
the fleece. It is ye truly. Even yet my soul by its divination knows
everything. Thanks I render to thee, O king, son of Leto, plunged in
bitter affliction though I be. I beseech you by Zeus the god of
suppliants, the sternest foe to sinful men, and for the sake of Phoebus
and Hera herself, under whose especial care ye have come hither, help
me, save an ill-fated man from misery, and depart not uncaring and
leaving me thus as ye see. For not only has the Fury set her foot on my
eyes and I drag on to the end a weary old age; but besides my other
woes a woe hangs over me the bitterest of all. The Harpies, swooping
down from some unseen den of destruction, ever snatch the food from my
mouth. And I have no device to aid me. But it were easier, when I long
for a meal, to escape my own thoughts than them, so swiftly do they fly
through the air. But if haply they do leave me a morsel of food it
reeks of decay and the stench is unendurable, nor could any mortal bear
to draw near even for a moment, no, not if his heart were wrought of
adamant. But necessity, bitter and insatiate, compels me to abide and
abiding to put food in my cursed belly. These pests, the oracle
declares, the sons of Boreas shall restrain. And no strangers are they
that shall ward them off if indeed I am Phineus who was once renowned
among men for wealth and the gift of prophecy, and if I am the son of
my father Agenor; and, when I ruled among the Thracians, by my bridal
gifts I brought home their sister Cleopatra to be my wife.”
So spake Agenor’s son; and deep sorrow seized each of the heroes, and
especially the two sons of Boreas. And brushing away a tear they drew
nigh, and Zetes spake as follows, taking in his own the hand of the
grief-worn sire:
“Unhappy one, none other of men is more wretched than thou, methinks.
Why upon thee is laid the burden of so many sorrows? Hast thou with
baneful folly sinned against the gods through thy skill in prophecy?
For this are they greatly wroth with thee? Yet our spirit is dismayed
within us for all our desire to aid thee, if indeed the god has granted
this privilege to us two. For plain to discern to men of earth are the
reproofs of the immortals. And we will never check the Harpies when
they come, for all our desire, until thou hast sworn that for this we
shall not lose the favour of heaven.”
Thus he spake; and towards him the aged sire opened his sightless eyes,
and lifted them up and replied with these words:
“Be silent, store not up such thoughts in thy heart, my child. Let the
son of Leto be my witness, he who of his gracious will taught me the
lore of prophecy, and be witness the ill-starred doom which possesses
me and this dark cloud upon my eyes, and the gods of the underworld—and
may their curse be upon me if I die perjured thus—no wrath from heaven
will fall upon you two for your help to me.”
Then were those two eager to help him because of the oath. And quickly
the younger heroes prepared a feast for the aged man, a last prey for
the Harpies; and both stood near him, to smite with the sword those
pests when they swooped down. Scarcely had the aged man touched the
food when they forthwith, like bitter blasts or flashes of lightning,
suddenly darted from the clouds, and swooped down with a yell, fiercely
craving for food; and the heroes beheld them and shouted in the midst
of their onrush; but they at the cry devoured everything and sped away
over the sea after; and an intolerable stench remained. And behind them
the two sons of Boreas raising their swords rushed in pursuit. For Zeus
imparted to them tireless strength; but without Zeus they could not
have followed, for the Harpies used ever to outstrip the blasts of the
west wind when they came to Phineus and when they left him. And as
when, upon the mountain-side, hounds, cunning in the chase, run in the
track of horned goats or deer, and as they strain a little behind gnash
their teeth upon the edge of their jaws in vain; so Zetes and Calais
rushing very near just grazed the Harpies in vain with their
finger-tips. And assuredly they would have torn them to pieces, despite
heaven’s will, when they had overtaken them far off at the Floating
Islands, had not swift Iris seen them and leapt down from the sky from
heaven above, and cheeked them with these words:
“It is not lawful, O sons of Boreas, to strike with your swords the
Harpies, the hounds of mighty Zeus; but I myself will give you a
pledge, that hereafter they shall not draw near to Phineus.”
With these words she took an oath by the waters of Styx, which to all
the gods is most dread and most awful, that the Harpies would never
thereafter again approach the home of Phineus, son of Agenor, for so it
was fated. And the heroes yielding to the oath, turned back their
flight to the ship. And on account of this men call them the Islands of
Turning though aforetime they called them the Floating Islands. And the
Harpies and Iris parted. They entered their den in Minoan Crete; but
she sped up to Olympus, soaring aloft on her swift wings.
Meanwhile the chiefs carefully cleansed the old man’s squalid skin and
with due selection sacrificed sheep which they had borne away from the
spoil of Amycus. And when they had laid a huge supper in the hall, they
sat down and feasted, and with them feasted Phineus ravenously,
delighting his soul, as in a dream. And there, when they had taken
their fill of food and drink, they kept awake all night waiting for the
sons of Boreas. And the aged sire himself sat in the midst, near the
hearth, telling of the end of their voyage and the completion of their
journey:
“Listen then. Not everything is it lawful for you to know clearly; but
whatever is heaven’s will, I will not hide. I was infatuated aforetime,
when in my folly I declared the will of Zeus in order and to the end.
For he himself wishes to deliver to men the utterances of the prophetic
art incomplete, in order that they may still have some need to know the
will of heaven.”
“First of all, after leaving me, ye will see the twin Cyanean rocks
where the two seas meet. No one, I ween, has won his escape between
them. For they are not firmly fixed with roots beneath, but constantly
clash against one another to one point, and above a huge mass of salt
water rises in a crest, boiling up, and loudly dashes upon the hard
beach. Wherefore now obey my counsel, if indeed with prudent mind and
reverencing the blessed gods ye pursue your way; and perish not
foolishly by a self-sought death, or rush on following the guidance of
youth. First entrust the attempt to a dove when ye have sent her forth
from the ship. And if she escapes safe with her wings between the rocks
to the open sea, then no more do ye refrain from the path, but grip
your oars well in your hands and cleave the sea’s narrow strait, for
the light of safety will be not so much in prayer as in strength of
hands. Wherefore let all else go and labour boldly with might and main,
but ere then implore the gods as ye will, I forbid you not. But if she
flies onward and perishes midway, then do ye turn back; for it is
better to yield to the immortals. For ye could not escape an evil doom
from the rocks, not even if Argo were of iron.”
“O hapless ones, dare not to transgress my divine warning, even though
ye think that I am thrice as much hated by the sons of heaven as I am,
and even more than thrice; dare not to sail further with your ship in
despite of the omen. And as these things will fall, so shall they fall.
But if ye shun the clashing rocks and come scatheless inside Pontus,
straightway keep the land of the Bithynians on your right and sail on,
and beware of the breakers, until ye round the swift river Rhebas and
the black beach, and reach the harbour of the Isle of Thynias. Thence
ye must turn back a little space through the sea and beach your ship on
the land of the Mariandyni lying opposite. Here is a downward path to
the abode of Hades, and the headland of Acherusia stretches aloft, and
eddying Acheron cleaves its way at the bottom, even through the
headland, and sends its waters forth from a huge ravine. And near it ye
will sail past many hills of the Paphlagonians, over whom at the first
Eneteian Pelops reigned, and of his blood they boast themselves to be.”
“Now there is a headland opposite Helice the Bear, steep on all sides,
and they call it Carambis, about whose crests the blasts of the north
wind are sundered. So high in the air does it rise turned towards the
sea. And when ye have rounded it broad Aegialus stretches before you;
and at the end of broad Aegialus, at a jutting point of coast, the
waters of the river Halys pour forth with a terrible roar; and after it
his flowing near, but smaller in stream, rolls into the sea with white
eddies. Onward from thence the bend of a huge and towering cape reaches
out from the land, next Thermodon at its mouth flows into a quiet bay
at the Themiscyreian headland, after wandering through a broad
continent. And here is the plain of Doeas, and near are the three
cities of the Amazons, and after them the Chalybes, most wretched of