The heroes : or, Greek fairy tales for my children

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THE HEROES

On they rushed, sweeping and flapping, like eagles after a hare.

THE HEROES

Or, GREEK FAIRT TALES
FOR MY CHILDREN

By CHARLES KINGSLEY

WITH SIXTY DRAWINGS
By M. H. SQUIRE tf E. MARS

NEW YORK: R. H. RUSSELL, PUBLISHER

NINETEEN HUNDRED AND ONE

Copyright, 1901
BY ROBERT HOWARD RUSSELL

THE NEW YORK

PUBLIC L BRAKY

ASTOR LcKOX AND
TILDEN FO.WOATIOHS
O

UNIVERSITY PRESS . JOHN WILSON
AND SON • CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A.

K

CONTENTS

THE FIRST STORY. — PERSEUS

P.,RT PAGE

I. How PERSEUS AND HIS MOTHER CAME TO SERIPHOS . . i

II. How PERSEUS VOWED A RASH Vow .... 7

III. How PERSEUS SLEW THE GORGON . . . .20

IV. How PERSEUS CAME TO THE &THIOPS . 31
V. How PERSEUS CAME HOME AGAIN . . . -45

THE SECOND STORY. — THE ARGONAUTS

I. How THE CENTAUR TRAINED THE HEROES ON PELION . . 53

II. How JASON LOST HIS SANDAL IN ANAUROS ... -63

III. HOW THEY BUILT THE SHIP " ARGO " IN loLCOS . . 74

IV. How THE ARGONAUTS SAILED TO COLCHIS . . 79
V. How THE ARGONAUTS WERE DRIVEN INTO THE UNKNOWN SEA . 106

VI. WHAT WAS THE END OF THE HEROES ? . 134

THE THIRD STORY. — THESEUS

I. How THESEUS LIFTED THE STONE .... • I41

II. How THESEUS SLEW THE DEVOURERS OF MEN . • 146

III. How THESEUS SLEW THE MINOTAUR . .176

IV. How THESEUS FELL BY HIS PRIDE . . . • • JS3

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PERSEUS

THE HEROES

PART ONE

Perseus and his Mother came to Seriphos

ONCE upon a time there were two princes who were
twins. Their names were Acrisius and Prcetus, and
they lived in the pleasant vale of Argos, far away in
Hellas. They had fruitful meadows and vineyards,
sheep and oxen, great herds of horses feeding down in Lerna Fen,
and all that men could need to make them blest ; and yet they
were wretched, because they were jealous of each other. From
the moment they were born they began to quarrel ; and when
they grew up each tried to take away the other's share of the
kingdom, and keep all for himself. So first Acrisius drove out
Proetus ; and he went across the seas, and brought home a for-

THE HEROES

eign princess for his wife, and foreign warriors to help him, who
were called Cyclopes ; and drove out Acrisius in his turn ; and
then they fought a long while up and down the land, till the
quarrel was settled, and Acrisius took Argos and one half the
land, and Proetus took Tiryns and the other half. And Proetus
and his Cyclopes built around Tiryns great walls of unhewn
stone, which are standing to this day.

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

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

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

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PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

4

When she cried, help met her.

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

" My daughter, I am old, and my hairs are growing grey ; while
I have no children to make my home cheerful. Come with me
then, and you shall be a daughter to me and to my wife, and this

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THE HEROES

babe shall be our grandchild. For I fear the Gods, and show
hospitality to all strangers ; knowing that good deeds, like evil
ones, always return to those who do them."

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

PART TWO

How Perseus vowed a Rash Vow

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

I said that Dictys' brother was Polydectes, king of the island.
He was not a righteous man, like Dictys ; but greedy, and cun-

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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PERSEUS

ever thought or longed for since the day that he was born. And
Perseus dropped his eyes, trembling and blushing, as the wonder-
ful lady spoke.

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

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

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

" But to the souls of fire I give more fire, and to those who are
manful I give a might more than man's. These are the heroes,

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THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

TO

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

ii

THE HEROES

Gods, and your mercy to strangers and widows ? You shall
die!" And because he had no sword he caught up the stone
hand-mill, and lifted it to dash out Polydectes' brains.

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

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PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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

On the appointed day they all came ; and as the custom was
then, each guest brought his present with him to the king : one
a horse, another a shawl, or a ring, or a sword ; and those who

13

THE HEROES

had nothing better brought a basket of grapes, or of game ; but
Perseus brought nothing, for he had nothing to bring, being but a
poor sailor-lad.

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

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

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

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

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

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

See if I do not bring a nobler present than all of yours together!

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Perseus wondered at that strange cloud, for there was no other
cloud all round the sky ; and he trembled as it touched the cliff

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THE HEROES

below. And as it touched, it broke, and parted, and within it
appeared Pallas Athene, as he had seen her at Samos in his
dream, and beside her a young man more light-limbed than the
stag, whose eyes were like sparks of fire. By his side was a scim-
itar of diamond, all of one clear precious stone, and on his feet
were golden sandals, from the heels of which grew living wings.

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

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

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

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

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

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PERSEUS

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

Then Athene smiled and said, —

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

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PERSEUS

But Perseus lingered.

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

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

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

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

PART THREE

How Perseus slew the Gorgon

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

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

20

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

to

of men.

21

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

Then they wept, and chattered, and scolded ; but in vain.

22

Then they ivef>t, and chattered and scolded; but in vain.

PERSEUS

They were forced to tell the truth, though, when they told it,
Perseus could hardly make out the road.

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

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

But Perseus leapt away to the southward, leaving the snow
and the ice behind : past the isle of the Hyperboreans, and the
tin isles, and the long Iberian shore, while the sun rose higher
day by day upon a bright blue summer sea. And the terns and
the seagulls swept laughing round his head, and called to him to
stop and play, and the dolphins gambolled up as he passed, and
offered to carry him on their backs. And all night long the sea-
nymphs sang sweetly, and the Tritons blew upon their conchs,
as they played round Galatea, their queen, in her car of pearled
shells. Day by day the sun rose higher, and leapt more swiftly
into the sea at night, and more swiftly out of the sea at dawn ;
while Perseus skimmed over the billows like a seagull, and his
feet were never wetted; and leapt on from wave to wave, and

23

THE HEROES

his limbs were never weary, till he saw far away a mighty moun-
tain, all rose-red in the setting sun. Its feet were wrapped in
forests, and its head in wreaths of cloud; and Perseus knew that
it was Atlas, who holds the heavens and the earth apart.

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

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

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

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

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

24

So lie stepped forward and saw them dancing.

PERSEUS

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

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

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

Then they sighed and wept ; and answered, —

"The Gorgon! she will freeze you into stone."

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

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

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

They asked him, and he answered mildly, pointing to the sea-
board with his mighty hand, " I can see the Gorgons lying on

25

THE HEROES

an island far away, but this youth can never come near them,
unless he has the hat of darkness, which whosoever wears cannot

be seen."

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

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

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

26

PERSEUS

trembling, till the Nymph came up again ; and her face was
pale, and her eyes dazzled with the light, for she had been long
in the dreary darkness ; but in her hand was the magic hat.

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

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

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

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

Two of the Gorgons were foul as swine, and lay sleeping
heavily, as swine sleep, with their mighty wings outspread ; but
Medusa tossed to and fro restlessly, and as she tossed Perseus
pitied her, she looked so fair and sad. Her plumage was like
the rainbow, and her face was like the face of a nymph, only

2?

THE HEROES

her eyebrows were knit, and her lips clenched, with everlasting
care and pain; and her long neck gleamed so white in the mir-
ror that Perseus had not the heart to strike, and said, "Ah,
that it had been either of her sisters!"

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

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

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

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

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

On they rushed, sweeping and flapping, like eagles after a
hare; and Perseus' blood ran cold, for all his courage, as he
saw them come howling on his track ; and he cried, " Bear

28

PERSEUS

me well now, brave sandals, for the hounds of Death are at
my heels ! "

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

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

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

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

But he refused, and they told him his road, and said : " Take
with you this magic fruit, which, if you eat once, you will not
hunger for seven days. For you must go eastward and eastward
ever, over the doleful Lybian shore, which Poseidon gave to
Father Zeus, when he burst open the Bosphorus and the Helles-
pont, and drowned the fair Lectonian land. And Zeus took

29

THE HEROES

that land in exchange, a fair bargain, much bad ground for a
little good, and to this day it lies waste and desert, with shingle,
and rock, and sand."

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

a

PART FOUR

How Perseus came to the J&thiops

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

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

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

31

THE HEROES

blue Mediterranean sparkling, that he might fly across it to
his home.

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

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

Then he cried to Athene, and said, —

" Oh, fair and pure, if thou hearest me, wilt thou leave me
here to die of drought ? I have brought thee the Gorgon's
head at thy bidding, and hitherto thou hast prospered my

32

PERSEUS

journey ; dost thou desert me at the last ? Else why will not
these immortal sandals prevail, even against the desert storms ?
Shall I never see my mother more, and the blue ripple round
Seriphos, and the sunny hills of Hellas?"

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

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

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

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

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

The water trickled among the rocks, and a pleasant breeze
rustled in the dry date-branches; and Perseus laughed for joy,
and leapt down the cliff, and drank of the cool water, and ate
3 33

THE HEROES

of the dates, and slept upon the turf, and leapt up and went
forward again : but not toward the north this time ; for he
said : " Surely Athene hath sent me hither, and will not have
me go homeward yet. What if there be another noble deed
to be done, before I see the sunny hills of Hellas ?"

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

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

34

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

Therefore the Egyptians looked long for his return, but in

35

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

36

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

37

THE HEROES

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

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

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

And she answered, weeping, —

" I am the daughter of Cepheus, King of lopa, and my
mother is Cassiopoeia of the beautiful tresses, and they called
me Andromeda, as long as life was mine. And I stand bound
here, hapless that I am, for the sea-monster's food, to atone for
my mother's sin. For she boasted of me once that I was fairer
than Atergatis, Queen of the Fishes; so she in her wrath sent
the sea-floods, and her brother the Fire King sent the earth-
quakes, and wasted all the land, and after the floods a monster
bred of the slime, who devours all living things. And now he
must devour me, guiltless though I am — me who never harmed
a living thing, nor saw a fish upon the shore but I gave it life,
and threw it back into the sea ; for in our land we eat no fish,

38

PERSEUS

for fear of Atergatis their queen. Yet the priests say that noth-
ing but my blood can atone for a sin which I never committed."

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

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

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

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

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

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

39

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

40

Andromeda crouched trembling on the rock waiting for what might befall.

PERSEUS

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

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

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

Then Cepheus said: "You must
not take my daughter away at once,

41

THE HEROES

for she is to us like one alive from the dead. Stay with us
here a year, and after that you shall return with honour." And
Perseus consented ; but before he went to the palace he bade
the people bring stones and wood, and built three altars, — one
to Athene, and one to Hermes, and one to Father Zeus, and
offered bullocks and rams.

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

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

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

Then he unveiled the Gorgon's head, and said, "This has

42

As he spoke Phineus and all his men-at-arms stopped short.

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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

And Perseus rose to give her the sword, and the cap, and
the sandals ; but he woke, and his dream vanished away. And

43

THE HEROES

yet it was not altogether a dream; for the goat-skin with the
head was in its place; but the sword, and the cap, and the
sandals were gone, and Perseus never saw them more.

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

44

PART FIVE

How Perseus came Home again

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

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

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

45

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

46

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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

47

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

48

The death of King Acrisius.

PERSEUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And when they died, the ancients say, Athene took them up
into the sky, with Cepheus and Cassiopoeia. And there on
4 49

THE HEROES

starlight nights you may see them shining still; Cepheus with
his kingly crown, and Cassiopoeia in her ivory chair, plaiting
her star-spangled tresses, and Perseus with the Gorgon's head,
and fair Andromeda beside him, spreading her long white
arms across the heaven, as she stood when chained to the
stone for the monster. All night long they shine, for a beacon
to wandering sailors ; but all day they feast with the Gods,
on the still blue peaks of Olympus.

5°

J5>rc0ntr

THE ARGONAUTS

JsermiU Jstory— tftc Ar

PART ONE

Centaur framed the Heroes on Pelion

I HAVE told you of a hero who fought with wild beasts
and with wild men ; but now I have a tale of heroes who
sailed away into a distant land, to win themselves renown
for ever, in the adventure of the Golden Fleece.
Whither they sailed, my children, I cannot clearly tell. It
all happened long ago ; so long that it has all grown dim, like
a dream which you dreamt last year. And why they went I
cannot tell : some say that it was to win gold. It may be so ;
but the noblest deeds which have been done on earth have not
been done for gold. It was not for the sake of gold that the
Lord came down and died, and the Apostles went out to preach
the good news in all lands. The Spartans looked for no reward
in money when they fought and died at Thermopylae ; and Soc-
rates the wise asked no pay from his countrymen, but lived poor
and barefoot all his days, only caring to make men good. And

53

THE HEROES

there are heroes in our days also, who do noble deeds, but not
for gold. Our discoverers did not go to make themselves rich
when they sailed out one after another into the dreary frozen
seas ; nor did the ladies who went out last year to drudge in the
hospitals of the East, making themselves poor, that they might
be rich in noble works. And young men, too, whom you know,
children, and some of them of your own kin, did they say to
themselves, " How much money shall I earn ?" when they went
out to the war, leaving wealth, and comfort, and a pleasant home,
and all that money can give, to face hunger and thirst, and
wounds and death, that they might fight for their country and
their Queen ? No, children, there is a better thing on earth
than wealth, a better thing than life itself; and that is, to have
done something before you die, for which good men may honour
you, and God your Father smile upon your work.

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

And what was that first Golden Fleece? I do not know, nor
care. The old Hellens said that it hung in Colchis, which we

54

THE ARGONAUTS

call the Circassian coast, nailed to a beech-tree in the War-god's
wood; and that it was the fleece of the wondrous ram who bore
Phrixus and Helle across the Euxine Sea. For Phrixus and Helle
were the children of the cloud-nymph, and of Athamas the
Minuan king. And when a famine came upon the land, their
cruel stepmother Ino wished to kill them, that her own children
might reign, and said that they must be sacrificed on an altar,
to turn away the anger of the Gods. So the poor children were
brought to the altar, and the priest stood ready with his knife,
when out of the clouds came the Golden Ram, and took them
on his back, and vanished. Then madness came upon that foolish
king, Athamas, and ruin upon Ino and her children. For Athamas
killed one of them in his fury, and Ino fled from him with the
other in her arms, and leaped from a cliff into the sea, and was
changed into a dolphin, such as you have seen, which wanders
over the waves for ever sighing, with its little one clasped to
its breast.

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

55

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

Phrixus had a cousin called ^son, who was king in lolcos by

56

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

Above the cliff" the snow-wreaths hung, dripping and crack-
ing in the sun; but at its foot around the cave's mouth grew all

57

THE HEROES

fair flowers and herbs, as if in a garden, ranged in order, each
sort by itself. There they grew daily in the sunshine, and the
spray of the torrent from above ; while from the cave came the
sound of music, and a man's voice singing to the harp.

Then JEson put
down the lad, and whispered, —

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

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

58

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

59

THE HEROES

Then .^Eson came in sadly, and Cheiron asked him, "Why
earnest you not yourself to me, ^son the ^Eolid?"

And /Eson said, —

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

60

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

61

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

7 • / -J-<»w r \afm I « / / r^

As he played, they danced to his measure.

PART TWO

How yason lost his Sandal in Anauros

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

And Jason looked and saw the plains of Thessaly, where the
Lapithai breed their horses; and the lake of Boibe, and the stream

THE HEROES

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

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

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

" I would take it and keep it."

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

"I can try my strength with his," said Jason; but Cheiron
sighed, and said, —

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

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

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

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THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So he said, " For Hera's sake, the Queen of the Immortals on
5 65

THE HEROES

Olympus, I will carry you over
the torrent, unless we both are
drowned midway."

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

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

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

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

66

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

6?

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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THE ARGONAUTS

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

" I am Jason, the son of JEson, the heir of all this land."

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

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

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

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

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

Then he told Jason the story of Phrixus, and of the golden
fleece; and told him, too, which was a lie, that Phrixus' spirit

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THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

"One thing more there is," said Pelias, "on which I need
your advice; for, though you are young, I see in you a wisdom

70

Why do you look so sad, my uncle?

THE ARGONAUTS

beyond your years. There is one neighbour of mine whom I
dread more than all men on earth. I am stronger than he now,
and can command him ; but I know that if he stay among us,
he will work my ruin in the end. Can you give me a plan,
Jason, by which I can rid myself of that man?"

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

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

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

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

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

THE HEROES

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

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

Then Pelias looked at him and almost loved him, in the midst
of all his hate; and said: "I promise, and I will perform. It
will be no shame to give up my kingdom to the man who wins
that fleece."

Then they swore a great oath between them ; and afterwards
both went in, and lay down to sleep.

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

And on the morrow he went to Pelias, and said, " Give me

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THE ARGONAUTS

a victim, that I may sacrifice to Hera." So he went up, and
offered his sacrifice; and as he stood by the altar Hera sent a
thought into his mind ; and he went back to Pelias, and said, —

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

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

73

PART THREE

How they built the Ship " Argo" in lolcos

O the heralds went out, and cried to all the heroes of
the Minuai, "Who dare come to the adventure of the
golden Meece?"

And Hera stirred the hearts of all the princes, and they came
from all their valleys to the yellow sands of Pagasai. And first
came Heracles the mighty, with his lion's skin and club, and
behind him Hylas his young squire, who bore his arrows and
his bow; and Tiphys, the skilful steersman; and Butes, the fairest
of all men; and Castor and Polydeuces the twins, the sons of
the magic swan ; and Caeneus, the strongest of mortals, whom the
Centaurs tried in vain to kill, and overwhelmed him with trunks
of pine-trees, but even so he would not die; and thither came
Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the north wind ; and Peleus,
the father of Achilles, whose bride was silver-footed Thetis, the
goddess of the sea. And thither came Telamon and Oileus, the
fathers of the two Aiantes, who fought upon the plains of Troy;

74

THE ARGONAUTS

and Mopsus, the wise soothsayer, who knew the speech of birds ;
and Idmon, to whom Phoebus gave a tongue to prophesy of
things to come ; and Ancaios, who could read the stars, and
knew all the circles of the heavens ; and Argus, the famed ship-
builder, and many a hero more, in helmets of brass and gold
with tall dyed horse-hair crests, and embroidered shirts of linen
beneath their coats of mail, and greaves of polished tin to guard
their knees in fight ; with each man his shield upon his shoulder,
of many a fold of tough bull's hide, and his sword of tempered
bronze in his silver-studded belt ; and in his right hand a pair
of lances, of the heavy white ash-staves.

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

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

But Jason went away to the northward, and into the land of

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THE HEROES

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

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

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THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

And the good ship Argo heard him, and longed to be away

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THE HEROES

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

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

PART FOUR

flow the Argonauts sailed to Colchis

AND what happened next, my children, whether it be true
or not, stands written in ancient songs, which you shall
read for yourselves some day. And grand old songs they are,
written in grand old rolling verse ; and they call them the Songs
of Orpheus, or the Orphics, to this day. And they tell how the
heroes came to Aphetai, across the bay, and waited for the south-
west wind, and chose themselves a captain from their crew: and
how all called for Heracles, because he was the strongest and
most huge; but Heracles refused, and called for Jason, because
he was the wisest of them all. So Jason was chosen captain ;
and Orpheus heaped a pile of wood, and slew a bull, and offered
it to Hera, and called all the heroes to stand round, each man's
head crowned with olive, and to strike their swords into the bull.
Then he filled a golden goblet with the bull's blood, and with
wheaten flour, and honey, and wine, and the bitter salt-sea water,

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THE HEROES

and bade the heroes taste. So each tasted the goblet, and passed
it round, and vowed an awful vow: and they vowed before the
sun, and the night, and the blue-haired sea who shakes the land,
to stand by Jason faithfully in the adventure of the golden fleece ;
and whosoever shrank back, or disobeyed, or turned traitor to his
vow, then justice should minister against him, and the Erinnues
who track guilty men.

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

So they sailed past the Isle of Sciathos, with the Cape of Sepius
on their left, and turned to the northward toward Pelion, up the
long Magnesian shore. On their right hand was the open sea,
and on their left old Pelion rose, while the clouds crawled round
his dark pine-forests, and his caps of summer snow. And their
hearts yearned for the dear old mountain, as they thought of
pleasant days gone by, and of the sports of their boyhood, and
their hunting, and their schooling in the cave beneath the clifF.
And at last Peleus spoke : " Let us land here, friends, and climb

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THE ARGONAUTS

the dear old hill once more. We are going on a fearful
journey; who knows if we shall see Pelion again? Let us
go up to Cheiron our master, and ask his blessing ere we
start. And I have a boy, too, with him, whom he trains
as he trained me once — the son whom Thetis brought me,
the silver-footed lady of the sea, whom I caught in the cave,
and tamed her, though she changed her shape seven times.
For she changed, as I held her, into water, and to vapour,
and to burning flame, and to a rock, and to a black-maned
lion, and to a tall and stately tree. But I held her and
held her ever, till she took her own shape again, and led
her to my father's house, and won her for my bride. And all
the rulers of Olympus came to our wedding, and the heavens
and the earth rejoiced together, when an Immortal wedded
mortal man. And now let me see my son; for it is not often
I shall see him upon earth : famous he will be, but short-lived,
and die in the flower of youth."

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

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

Then Cheiron leapt up and welcomed them, and kissed them
every one, and set a feast before them of swine's flesh, and
6 81

THE HEROES

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

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

1 In the Elgin Marbles.
82

THE ARGONAUTS

Cheiron clapt his hands together, and beat his hoofs upon the
ground, for wonder at that magic song.

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

So they rowed on over the long swell of the sea, past Olympus,
the seat of the Immortals, and past the wooded bays of Athos,
and Samothrace the sacred isle ; and they came past Lemnos to
the Hellespont, and through the narrow strait of Abydos, and
so on into the Propontis, which we call Marmora now. And
there they met with Cyzicus, ruling in Asia over the Dolions,
who, the songs say, was the son of ^Eneas, of whom you will hear
many a tale some day. For Homer tells us how he fought at
Troy, and Virgil how he sailed away and founded Rome; and
men believed until late years that from him sprang our old British
kings. Now Cyzicus, the songs say, welcomed the heroes, for
his father had been one of Cheiron's scholars : so he welcomed
them, and feasted them, and stored their ship with corn and

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THE HEROES

wine, and cloaks and rugs, the songs say, and shirts, of which
no doubt they stood in need.

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

Then they got to their ship and to their oars, and Tiphys
bade them cast off the hawsers and go to sea. But as he spoke
a whirlwind came, and spun the Argo round, and twisted the
hawsers together, so that no man could loose them. Then
Tiphys dropped the rudder from his hand, and cried, "This
comes from the Gods above." But Jason went forward, anc1
asked counsel of the magic bough.

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

Jason went back sadly, and told the heroes what he had heard.
And they leapt on shore, and searched till dawn ; and at dawn
they found the body, all rolled in dust and blood, among the
corpses of those monstrous beasts. And they wept over their
kind host, and laid him on a fair bed, and heaped a huge mound
over him, and offered black sheep at his tomb, and Orpheus sang
a magic song to him, that his spirit might have rest. And then
they held games at the tomb, after the custom of those times,
and Jason gave prizes to each winner. To Anca?us he gave a

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THE ARGONAUTS

golden cup, for he wrestled best of all ; and to Heracles a silver
one, for he was the strongest of all ; and to Castor, who rode best,
a golden crest ; and Polydeuces the boxer had a rich carpet, and
to Orpheus for his song a sandal with golden wings. But Jason
himself was the best of all the archers, and the Minuai crowned
him with an olive crown ; and so, the songs say, the soul of good
Cyzicus was appeased and the heroes went on their way in peace.

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

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

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

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and Heracles was nowhere to be found; and the Argo sailed
away, and Heracles was left behind, and never saw the noble
Phasian stream.

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

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

Then Phineus beat his breast and cried: "These are the
Harpies, whose names are the Whirlwind and the Swift, the
daughters of Wonder and of the Amber-nymph, and they rob
us night and day. They carried off he daughters of Pandareus,
whom all the Gods had blest; for Aphrodite fed them on
Olympus with honey and milk and wine; and Hera gave them

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They snatched the meat from off the table, and flew shrieking out above the roofs.

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beauty and wisdom, and Athene skill in all the arts; but when
they came to their wedding, the Harpies snatched them both
away, and gave them to be slaves to the Erinnues, and live in
horror all their days. And now they haunt me, and my people,
and the Bosphorus, with fearful storms; and sweep away our
food from off our tables, so that we starve in spite of all our
wealth."

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

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

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

But Zetes and Calais rose up sadly and said, " Farewell now,
heroes all ; farewell, our dear companions, with whom we played
on Pelion in old times; for a fate is laid upon us, and our day
is come at last, in which we must hunt the whirlwinds over land

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THE HEROES

and sea for ever; and if we catch them they die, and if not, we
die ourselves."

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

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

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

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

The heroes' hearts sank within them, and they lay upon their
oars in fear ; but Orpheus called to Tiphys the helmsman, " Be-
tween them we must pass ; so look ahead for an opening, and be
brave, for Hera is with us." But Tiphys the cunning helmsman
stood silent, clenching his teeth, till he saw a heron come flying
mast-high toward the rocks, and hover awhile before them, as

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THE HEROES

if looking for a passage through.
Then he cried, "Hera has sent us
a pilot; let us follow the cunning
bird."

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

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

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

And after that they sailed on
wearily along the Asian coast, by the
Black Cape and Thyneis, where the
hot stream of Thymbris falls into
the sea, and Sangarius, whose waters
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THE ARGONAUTS

float on the Euxine, till they came to Wolf the river, and to
Wolf the kindly king. And there died two brave heroes,
Idmon and Tiphys the wise helmsman : one died of an evil
sickness, and one a wild boar slew. So the heroes heaped a
mound above them, and set upon it an oar on high, and left
them there to sleep together, on the far-off Lycian shore.
But Idas killed the boar, and avenged Tiphys ; and Ancaios
took the rudder and was helmsman, and steered them on toward
the east.

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

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

And they rowed three days to the eastward, while Caucasus
rose higher hour by hour, till they saw the dark stream of

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Phasis rushing headlong to the sea, and, shining above the tree-
tops, the golden roofs of King Aietes, the child of the Sun.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And the heroes sat silent awhile before the face of that ancient
king. But Hera the awful goddess put courage into Jason's heart,
and he rose and shouted loudly in answer : " We are no pirates

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THE HEROES

nor lawless men. We come not to plunder and to ravage, or
carry away slaves from your land; but my uncle, the son ot
Poseidon, Pelias the Minuan king, he it is who has sent me on
a quest to bring home the golden fleece. And these too, my
bold comrades, they are no nameless men ; for some are the sons
of Immortals, and some of heroes far renowned. And we too
never tire in battle, and know well how to give blows and to
take : yet we wish to be guests at your table ; it will be better
so for both."

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

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

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

But Chalciope, Phrixus' widow, went weeping to the town ;
for she remembered her Minuan husband, and all the pleasures
of her youth, while she watched the fair faces of his kinsmen,
and their long locks of golden hair. And she whispered to

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THE ARGONAUTS

Medeia her sister, "Why should all these brave men die? why
does not my father give them up the fleece, that my husband's
spirit may have rest?"

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

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

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

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

Then Jason went boldly with the boy, and found the two
princesses standing; and when Chalciope saw him she wept, and
took his hands, and cried, —

"O cousin of my beloved, go home before you die! "

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

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THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

96

Both the princesses besought him.

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

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

And at sunrise Jason went and bathed, and anointed himself

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

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

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

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

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

And there Aietes sat upon his throne, with his warriors on
each hand, thousands and tens of thousands, clothed from head
to foot in steel chain-mail. And the people and the women

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crowded to every window and bank and wall; while the Minuai
stood together, a mere handful in the midst of that great host.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ch "

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You need not die," said Jason. "Flee home with us across
the sea. Show us first how to win the fleece ; for you can

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do it. Why else are you the priestess of the grove? Show us
but how to win the fleece, and come with us, and you shall be
my queen, and rule over the rich princes of the Minuai, in lolcos
by the sea."

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

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

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

Then all the heroes cried together, "I will go!" "and I!"
" and I ! " And Idas the rash grew mad with envy ; for he
longed to be foremost in all things.

But Medeia calmed them, and said, " Orpheus shall go with
Jason, and bring his magic harp ; for I hear of him that he is
the king of all minstrels, and can charm all things on earth."

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

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

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

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

And when he saw them coming he lifted up his head, and
watched them with his small bright eyes, and flashed his forked
tongue, and roared like the fire among the woodlands, till the
forest tossed and groaned. For his cries shook the trees from

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leaf to root, and swept over the long reaches of the river, and
over Aietes' hall, and woke the sleepers in the city, till mothers
clasped their children in their fear.

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

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

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

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

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

On and on, beneath the dewy darkness, they fled swiftly down
the swirling stream; underneath black walls, and temples, and
the castles of the princes of the East; past sluice-mouths, and
fragrant gardens, and groves of all strange fruits; past marshes
where fat kine lay sleeping, and long beds of whispering reeds ;

104

Then Jason leapt forward warily.

THE ARGONAUTS

till they heard the merry music of the surge upon the bar, as it
tumbled in the moonlight all alone.

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

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

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

PART FIVE

How the Argonauts were driven into the Unknown Sea

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

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

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

And when Aietes came to the place he saw the floating corpse;
and he stopped a long while, and bewailed his son, and took him
up, and went home. But he sent on his sailors toward the
westward, and bound them by a mighty curse — "Bring back

1 06

THE ARGONAUTS

to me that dark witch-woman, that she may die a dreadful death.
But if you return without her, you shall die by the same death
yourselves."

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

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

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

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

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THE HEROES

her you must sail, a weary way, and she shall cleanse you from
your guilt."

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

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

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

But all say that they came to a place where they had to drag
their ship across the land nine days with ropes and rollers, till
they came into an unknown sea. And the best of all the old

1 The Danube.

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THE ARGONAUTS

songs tells us how they went away toward the North, till they
came to the slope of Caucasus, where it sinks into the sea; and
to the narrow Cimmerian Bosphorus,1 where the Titan swam
across upon the bull ; and thence into the lazy waters of the
still Maeotid lake.2 And thence they went northward ever, up
the Tanais, which we call Don, past the Geloni and Sauromatai,
and many a wandering shepherd-tribe, and the one-eyed Arimaspi,
of whom old Greek poets tell, who steal the gold from the Griffins,
in the cold Riphaian hills.3

And they passed the Scythian archers, and the Tauri who
eat men, and the wandering Hyperboreai, who feed their flocks
beneath the pole-star, until they came into the northern ocean,
the dull dead Cronian Sea.4 And there Argo would move on no
longer; and each man clasped his elbow, and leaned his head upon
his hand, heart-broken with toil and hunger, and gave himself
up to death. But brave Ancaios the helmsman cheered up their
hearts once more, and bade them leap on land, and haul the ship
with ropes and rollers for many a weary day, whether over land,
or mud, or ice, I know not, for the song is mixed and broken
like a dream. And it says next, how they came to the rich nation
of the famous long-lived men ; and to the coast of the Cimme-
rians, who never saw the sun, buried deep in the glens of the
snow mountains ; and to the fair land of Hermione, where dwelt
the most righteous of all nations ; and to the gates of the world
below, and to the dwelling-place of dreams.

1 Between the Crimsa and Circassia. 8 The Ural Mountains ?

2 The Sea of Azov. " The Baltic ?

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THE HEROES

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

Then out spoke the magic bough : " Ah, would that I had
perished long ago, and been whelmed by the dread blue rocks,
beneath the fierce swell of the Euxine ! Better so, than to wander
for ever, disgraced by the guilt of my princes ; for the blood of
Absyrtus still tracks me, and woe follows hard upon woe. And
now some dark horror will clutch me, if I come near the Isle
of lerne.1 Unless you will cling to the land, and sail southward
and southward for ever, I shall wander beyond the Atlantic, to
the ocean which has no shore."

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

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

1 Britain?
I IO

THE ARGONAUTS

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

So Ancaios turned the ship away ; and for three days more they
sailed on, till they came to Aiaia, Circe's home, and the fairy
island of the West.1

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

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

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

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

Then a fair wind rose, and they sailed eastward, by Tartessus
on the Iberian shore, till they came to the Pillars of Hercules,
and the Mediterranean Sea. And thence they sailed on through
the deeps of Sardinia, and past the Ausonian islands, and the capes

1 The Azores ?
I I I

THE HEROES

of the Tyrrhenian shore, till they came to a flowery island,
upon a still bright summer's eve. And as they neared it, slowly
and wearily, they heard sweet songs upon the shore. But when
Medeia heard it, she started, and cried, " Beware, all heroes, for
these are the rocks of the Sirens. You must pass close by them,
for there is no other channel; but those who listen to that song
are lost."

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

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

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

And as the heroes listened, the oars fell from their hands, and
their heads drooped on their breasts, and they closed their heavy
eyes; and they dreamed of bright still gardens, and of slumbers

I 12

Slowly they sung and sleepily, with silver voices.

THE ARGONAUTS

under murmuring pines, till all their toil seemed foolishness, and
they thought of their renown no more.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And they cried : " We will be men like Perseus, and we will
8 113

THE HEROES

dare and suffer to the last. Sing us his song again, brave Orpheus,
that we may forget the Sirens and their spell."

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

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

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

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

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

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THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

"5

THE HEROES

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

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

Then Ancaios, the wise helmsman, spoke : " What new wonder
is this ? I know all isles, and harbours, and the windings of all
seas ; and this should be Cordyra, where a few wild goat-herds

116

The Argonauts and the sea nymphs.

THE ARGONAUTS

dwell. But whence come these new harbours and vast works
of polished stone?"

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

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

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

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

Then the sailors laughed, and answered: "Stranger, you are
no fool ; you talk like an honest man, and you shall find us
honest too. We are the children of Poseidon, and the masters

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THE HEROES

of the sea; but come ashore to us, and you shall have the best
that we can give."

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

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

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

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

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

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THE ARGONAUTS

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

So they went up across the square, and wondered still more
as they went ; for along the quays lay in order great cables, and
yards, and masts, before the fair temple of Poseidon, the blue-
haired king of the seas. And round the square worked the
shipwrights, as many in number as ants, twining ropes, and
hewing timber, and smoothing long yards and oars. And the
Minuai went on in silence through clean white marble streets,
till they came to the hall of Alcinous, and they wondered then
still more. For the lofty palace shone aloft in the sun, with
walls of plated brass, from the threshold to the innermost
chamber, and the doors were of silver and gold. And on each
side of the doorway sat living dogs of gold, who never grew old
or died, so well Hephaistos had made them in his forges in
smoking Lemnos, and gave them to Alcinous to guard his gates
by night. And within, against the walls, stood thrones on either
side, down the whole length of the hall, strewn with rich glossy
shawls; and on them the merchant kings of those crafty sea-
roving Phaeaces sat eating and drinking in pride, and feasting
there all the year round. And boys of molten gold stood each

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THE HEROES

on a polished altar, and held torches in their hands, to give light
all night to the guests. And round the house sat fifty maid-
servants, some grinding the meal in the mill, some turning the
spindle, some weaving at the loom, while their hands twinkled
as they passed the shuttle, like quivering aspen leaves.

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

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

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

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

" I am your guest, fair queen, and I entreat you by Zeus, from

1 20

THE ARGONAUTS

whom prayers come. Do not send me back to my father to
die some dreadful death ; but let me go my way, and bear my
burden. Have I not had enough of punishment and shame?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

" Had not the deed been done which is done, I should have
said this day to myself, ' It is an honour to Alcinous, and to his
children after him, that the far-famed Argonauts are his guests.'
But these Colchi are my guests, as you are ; and for this month
they have waited here with all their fleet, for they have hunted

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THE HEROES

all the seas of Hellas, and could not find you, and dared neither
go farther, nor go home."

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

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

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

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

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

122

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

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

123

THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

But Arete pleaded hard with her husband for Medeia, for her

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THE ARGONAUTS

heart was softened. And she said : " The Gods will punish
her, not we. After all, she is our guest and my suppliant, and
prayers are the daughters of Zeus. And who, too, dare part
man and wife, after all they have endured together?"

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

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

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

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

"What say you to this, Jason the ^Eolid?" said Alcinous,
turning to the Minuai.

" I say," said the cunning Jason, " that they are come here on
a bootless errand. Do you think that you can make her follow

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THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

Then the heroes rode away to the eastward, to reach Hellas,
their beloved land; but a storm came down upon them, and
swept them far away toward the south. And they rowed till

126

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

But when they came nearer to the island they saw a wondrous
sight upon the cliffs. For on a cape to the westward stood a
giant, taller than any mountain pine, who glittered aloft against

I27

THE HEROES

the sky like a tower of burnished brass. He turned and looked
on all sides round him, till he saw the Argo and her crew ; and
when he saw them he came toward them, more swiftly than the
swiftest horse, leaping across the glens at a bound, and striding
at one step from down to down. And when he came abreast
of them he brandished his arms up and down, as a ship hoists
and lowers her yards, and shouted with his brazen throat like a
trumpet from off the hills, "You are pirates, you are robbers!
If you dare land here, you die."

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

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

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

But Medeia stood watching all from under her steep black
brows, with a cunning smile upon her lips, and a cunning plot
within her heart. At last she spoke : " I know this giant. I
heard of him in the East. Hephaistos the Fire King made him
in his forge in y^Etna beneath the earth, and called him Talus,
and gave him to Minos for a servant, to guard the coast of
Crete. Thrice a day he walks round the island, and never
stops to sleep ; and if strangers land he leaps into his furnace,

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THE ARGONAUTS

which flames there among the hills; and when he is red-hot
he rushes on them, and burns them in his brazen hands."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Life is short, though life is sweet; and even men of brass
and fire must die. The brass must rust, the fire must cool, for
time gnaws all things in their turn. Life is short, though life
9 129

THE HEROES

is sweet : but sweeter to live for ever ; sweeter to live ever
youthful like the Gods, who have ichor in their veins — ichor
which gives life, and youth, and joy, and a bounding heart."

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

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

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

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

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

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

And they ran the ship
ashore; but they had no
strength left to haul her up
the beach ; and they crawled
out on the pebbles, and sat

THE HEROES

down, and wept till they could weep no more. For the houses
and the trees were all altered ; and all the faces which they saw
were strange ; and their joy was swallowed up in sorrow, while
they thought of their youth, and all their labour, and the gallant
comrades they had lost.

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

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

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

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

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

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

132

The two old men's heads shook together as they tried to warm themselves before the fire.

THE ARGONAUTS

the kingdom, Pelias my uncle, and fulfil your promise as I have
fulfilled mine."

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

'33

PART SIX

What was the end of the Heroes ?

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

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

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

THE ARGONAUTS

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

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

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

And what became of Cheiron, the good immortal beast?
That, too, is a sad story; for the heroes never saw him more.
He was wounded by a poisoned arrow, at Pholoe among the

'35

THE HEROES

hills, when Heracles opened the fatal wine-jar, which Cheiron
had warned him not to touch. And the Centaurs smelt the
wine, and flocked to it, and fought for it with Heracles; but
he killed them all with his poisoned arrows, and Cheiron was
left alone. Then Cheiron took up one of the arrows, and
dropped it by chance upon his foot; and the poison ran like
fire along his veins, and he lay down and longed to die; and
cried: "Through wine I perish, the bane of all my race. Why
should I live for ever in this agony ? Who will take my im-
mortality, that I may die ? "

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

And in time the heroes died, all but Nestor, the silver-tongued
old man ; and left behind them valiant sons, but not so great as
they had been. Yet their fame, too, lives till this day, for they
fought at the ten years' siege of Troy : and their story is in the
book which we call Homer, in two of the noblest songs on
earth, — the "Iliad," which tells us of the siege of Troy, and
Achilles' quarrel with the kings; and the "Odyssey," which
tells the wanderings of Odysseus, through many lands for many
years, and how Alcinous sent him home at last, safe to Ithaca,
his beloved island, and to Penelope, his faithful wife, and

136

THE ARGONAUTS

Telemachus his son, and Euphorbus the noble swineherd, and
the old dog who licked his hand and died. We will read that
sweet story, children, by the fire some winter night. And now I
will end my tale, and begin another and a more cheerful one, of
a hero who became a worthy king, and won his people's love.

Cftr Cfttrft

THESEUS

'39

CJtinr J3>t0rj)—

PART ONE

How Theseus lifted the Stone

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

THE HEROES

the plane-tree foot a great flat stone; lift it, and bring me what
lies underneath."

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

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

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

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

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

So he said to himself: "The day shall surely come when I
will lift that stone, though no man in Troezene can." And in
order to grow strong he spent all his days in wrestling, and

142

THESEUS

boxing, and hurling, and taming horses, and hunting the boar
and the bull, and coursing goats and deer among the rocks; till
upon all the mountains there was no hunter so swift as Theseus;
and he killed Phaia the wild sow of Crommyon, which wasted
all the land ; till all the people said, " Surely the Gods are with
the lad."

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

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

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

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

"Do you see this land at our feet?"

143

THE HEROES

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

And she said : " It is but a little land, barren and rocky, and
looks towards the bleak northeast. Do you see that land
beyond ? "

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

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

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

Then his heart grew great within him, and he said, " If I
were king of such a land, I would rule it wisely and well in

Do you see that land beyond?

THESEUS

wisdom and in might, that when I died all men might weep over
my tomb, and cry, ' Alas for the shepherd of his people ! '

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

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

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

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

10

PART TWO

How "Theseus slew the Devourers of Men

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

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

Then he thought a long while sadly ; and at the last he cried
aloud: "Yes! I will make him love me; for I will prove my-
self worthy of his love. I will win honour and renown, and do
such deeds that j^Egeus shall be proud of me, though he had fifty
other sons! Did not Heracles win himself honour, though he
was oppressed, and the slave of Eurystheus ? Did he not kill

146

THESEUS

all robbers and evil beasts, and drain great lakes and marshes,
breaking the hills through with his club ? Therefore it was that
all men honoured him, because he rid them of their miseries, and
made life pleasant to them and their children after them. Where
can I go, to do as Heracles has done ? Where can I find strange
adventures, robbers, and monsters, and the children of hell, the
enemies of men ? I will go by land, and into the mountains,
and round by the way of the Isthmus. Perhaps there I may
hear of brave adventures, and do something which shall win my
father's love."

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

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

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

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

And on the stones a man was sitting, wrapt in a bearskin cloak.
The head of the bear served him for a cap, and its teeth grinned

THE HEROES

white around his brows; and the feet were tied about his throat,
and their claws shone white upon his chest. And when he saw

Theseus he rose, and laughed
till the glens rattled.

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

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

finds his way home."

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THESEUS

But Theseus came on steadily, and asked, —

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

Then the strange man laughed again, —

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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

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

Then they leapt across the pool, and came to him, and called
the shepherds back. And he told them how he had slain the
club-bearer : and the shepherds kissed his feet and sang, " Now

150

n tv*- f\

A\ 4 /i

When they saw Theseus they shrieked; and the shepherds ran off.

THESEUS

we shall feed our flocks in peace, and not be afraid to have
music when we dance; for the cruel club-bearer has met his
match, and he will listen for our pipes no more."

Then they brought him kid's flesh and wine, and the nymphs
brought him honey from the rocks, and he ate, and drank, and
slept again, while the nymphs and shepherds danced and sang.
And when he woke, they begged him to stay; but he would
not. "I have a great work to do," he said; "I must be away
toward the Isthmus, that I may go to Athens."

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

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

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

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

And before Theseus could answer, another cried, " And after

THE HEROES

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

Then Theseus frowned, and said, "This seems indeed an ill-
ruled land, and adventures enough in it to be tried. But if I am
the heir of it, I will rule it and right it, and here is my royal
sceptre." And he shook his club of bronze, while the nymphs
and shepherds clung around him, and entreated him not to go.

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

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

And Sinis leapt to his feet, and answered, pointing to the bones
above his head, " My larder has grown empty lately, so I have

152

THESEUS

two fir-trees ready for thee." And he rushed on Theseus, lift-
ing his club, and Theseus rushed upon him.

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

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

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

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

And Sciron leapt to his feet and answered, —

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

Then Theseus rushed upon him ; and sore was the battle upon
the cliff, for when Sciron felt the weight of the bronze club, he
dropt his own, and closed with Theseus, and tried to hurl him
by main force over the cliff. But Theseus was a wary wrestler,

THE HEROES

and dropt his own club, and caught him by the throat and by
the knee, and forced him back against the wall of stones, and
crushed him up against them, till his breath was almost gone.
And Sciron cried panting, " Loose me, and I will let thee pass."
But Theseus answered, " I must not pass till I have made the
rough way smooth ; " and he forced him back against the wall
till it fell, and Sciron rolled head over heels.

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

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

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

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

Then he went a long day's journey, past Megara, into the
Attic land, and high before him rose the snow-peaks of Cithaeron,

Go feed thy tortoise thyself.

THESEUS

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

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

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

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

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

155

THE HEROES

And there he saw Kerkuon sitting at the table in the hall
alone; and before him was a whole sheep roasted, and beside

him a whole jar of wine. And Theseus stood and called him,
"Holla, thou valiant wrestler, wilt thou wrestle a fall to-day?"
And Kerkuon looked up and laughed, and answered, " I will
wrestle a fall to-day ; but come in, for I am lonely and thou
weary, and eat and drink before thou die."

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THESEUS

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

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

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

So they tossed off all their garments, and went forth in the
palace-yard ; and Kerkuon bade strew fresh sand in an open
space between the bones. And there the heroes stood face to
face, while their eyes glared like wild bulls' ; and all the people
crowded at the gates to see what would befall.

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

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

But Theseus was quick and wary, and clasped Kerkuon round
the waist, and slipped his loin quickly underneath him, while he
caught him by the wrist; and then he hove a mighty heave,

1S7

THE HEROES

a heave which would have stirred an oak, and lifted Kerkuon,
and pitched him right over his shoulder on the ground.

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

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

" I will be your king in Eleusis, and I will rule you right and
well ; for this cause I have slain all evildoers — Sinis, and Sciron,
and this man last of all."

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

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

And the old man answered, —

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

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

158

At last Kerknon grew angry and caught Theseus round the neck.

THESEUS

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

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

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

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

Theseus wished to go forwards : but he was ashamed to seem
churlish to so hospitable a man ; and he was curious to see that
wondrous bed ; and beside, he was hungry and weary : yet he
shrank from the man, he knew not why ; for, though his voice

'59

THE HEROES

was gentle and fawning, it was dry and husky like a toad's; and
though his eyes were gentle, they were dull and cold like stones.
But he consented, and went with the man up a glen which led
from the road toward the peaks of Parnes, under the dark shadow
of the cliffs.

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

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

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

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

But as he went up he met an aged man, who had been gather-
ing driftwood in the torrent-bed. He had laid down his faggot

1 60

THESEUS

in the road, and was trying to lift it again to his shoulder. And
when he saw Theseus, he called to him, and said, —

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

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

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

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

Then the old man clapped his
hands together and cried, —

" O house of Hades, man-
devouring ! will thy maw never
be full ? Know, fair youth, that you are going to torment and
to death, for he who met you (I will requite your kindness by
another) is a robber and a murderer of men. Whatsoever stranger

161

n

THE HEROES

he meets he entices him hither to death ; and as for this bed of
which he speaks, truly it fits all comers, yet none ever rose alive
off it save me."

"Why?" asked Theseus, astonished.

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

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

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

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

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

162

Theseus Aung him from him, and lifted up his dreadful club.

THESEUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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THE HEROES

And he went down the glens of Parnes, through mist, and
cloud, and rain, down the slopes of oak, and lentisk, and arbutus.

and fragrant bay, till he came to the Vale of Cephisus, and the
pleasant town of Aphidnai, and the home of the Phytalid heroes,
where they dwelt beneath a mighty elm.

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THESEUS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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THE HEROES

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

" I come hither to ask for hospitality."

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

" I ask no hospitality of you ; I ask it of v^Egeus the king, the
master of this house."

At that some growled, and some laughed, and shouted, " Hey-
day ! we are all masters here."

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

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

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

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

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THESEUS

" What is Trcezene to you ? " she asked.

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

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

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

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

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

"That I can give you," said ^Egeus, "if at least I am master
in my own hall."

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

But Medeia the dark witch-woman had been watching him
all the while. She saw how j^Egeus turned red and pale when
the lad said that he came from Troezene. She saw, too, how his

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heart was opened towards Theseus ; and how Theseus bore him-
self before all the sons of Pallas, like a lion among a pack of
curs. And she said to herself: "This youth will be master here ;
perhaps he is nearer to jEgeus already than mere fancy. At least
the Pallantids will have no chance by the side of such as he."

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

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

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

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

J

And Theseus looked up in her fair face and into her deep dark
eyes. And as he looked, he shrank and shuddered ; for they were
dry like the eyes of a snake. And he rose, and said, " The wine

168

Media shrieked and dashed the cup to the ground.

THESEUS

is rich and fragrant, and the wine-bearer as fair as the Immortals;
but let her pledge me first herself in the cup, that the wine may
be the sweeter from her lips."

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

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

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

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

And ^Egeus cried, " What hast thou done ? "

But Theseus pointed to the stone. " I have rid the land of
an enchantment; now I will rid it of one more."

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

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

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

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THE HEROES

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

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

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

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

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THESEUS

Then he went to his father, and asked him ; but ^Egeus turned
away his face and wept.

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

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

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

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

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

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

" To fetch the tribute which King ^Egeus promised to Minos,
and confirmed his promise with an oath. For Minos conquered
all this land, and Megara, which lies to the east, when he came

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

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

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

And ^Egeus shrieked, and cried, " You shall not go, my son,
the light of my old age, to whom alone I look to rule this people

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THESEUS

after I am dead and gone.
You shall not go, to die hor-
ribly, as those youths and
maidens die ; for Minos thrusts
them into a labyrinth, which
Daidalos made for him among
the rocks, — Daidalos the rene-
gade, the accursed, the pest of
this his native land. From
that labyrinth no one can es-
cape, entangled in its winding
ways, before they meet the
Minotaur, the monster who
feeds upon the flesh of men.
There he devours them horri-
bly, and they never see this
land again.''

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

" Therefore all the more I
will go with them, and slay
the accursed beast. Have I

THE HEROES

not slain all evil-doers and monsters, that I might free this land ?
Where are Periphetes, and Sinis, and Kerkuon, and Phaia the
wild sow ? Where are the fifty sons of Pallas ? And this Mino-
taur shall go the road which they have gone, and Minos himself,
if he dare stay me."

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

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

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

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

And Theseus promised, and went out, and to the market-place
where the herald stood, while they drew lots for the youths and
maidens who were to sail in that doleful crew. And the people
stood wailing and weeping, as the lot fell on this one and on
that ; but Theseus strode into the midst, and cried, —

" Here is a youth who needs no lot. I myself will be one of
the seven."

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

they went down to the black-sailed ship.

THESEUS

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

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

PART THREE

How Theseus slew the Minotaur

AND at last they came to Crete, and to Cnossus, beneath
the peaks of Ida, and to the palace of Minos the great
king, to whom Zeus himself taught laws. So he was the wisest
of all mortal kings, and conquered all the /Egean isles ; and his
ships were as many as the sea-gulls, and his palace like a marble
hill. And he sat among the pillars of the hall, upon his throne
of beaten gold, and around him stood the speaking statues which
Daidalos had made by his skill. For Daidalos was the most cun-
ning of all Athenians, and he first invented the plumb-line, and
the auger, and glue, and many a tool with which wood is
wrought. And he first set up masts in ships, and yards, and his
son made sails for them ; but Perdix his nephew excelled him ;
for he first invented the saw and its teeth, copying it from the
backbone of a fish ; and invented, too, the chisel, and the com-
passes, and the potter's wheel which moulds the clay. Therefore
Daidalos envied him, and hurled him headlong from the temple

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THESEUS

of Athene ; but the Goddess pitied him (for she loves the wise),
and changed him into a partridge, which flits for ever about the
hills. And Daidalos fled to Crete, to Minos, and worked for him
many a year, till he did a shameful deed, at which the sun hid his
face on high.

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

But Theseus stood before Minos, and they looked each other in
the face. And Minos bade take them to prison, and cast them

12 I77

THE HEROES

to the monster one by one, that the death of Androgeos might be
avenged. Then Theseus cried, —

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

"Who art thou, then, brave youth?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

" Flee down to your ship at once, for I have bribed the guards
before the door. Flee, you and all your friends, and go back in
peace to Greece ; and take me, take me with you ! for I dare not

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THESEUS

stay after you are gone ; for my father will kill me miserably, if
he knows what I have done."

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

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

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

Then she loved him all the more, and said, " But when you
have killed him, how will you find your way out of the laby-
rinth ?"

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

Then she loved him all the more, and said, —

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

Then Theseus laughed, and said, "Am I not safe enough
now?" And he hid the sword in his bosom, and rolled up the
clue in his hand; and then he swore to Ariadne, and fell down
before her and kissed her hands and her feet ; and she wept over

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THE HEROES

him a long while, and then went away ; and Theseus lay down
and slept sweetly.

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

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

And when he saw him he stopped awhile, for he had never
seen so strange a beast. His body was a man's ; but his head
was the head of a bull, and his teeth were the teeth of a lion, and
with them he tore his prey. And when he saw Theseus he
roared, and put his head down, and rushed right at him.

But Theseus stept aside nimbly, and as he passed by, cut him
in the knee ; and ere he could turn in the narrow path, he fol-
lowed him, and stabbed him again and again from behind, till the
monster fled bellowing wildly ; for he never before had felt a
wound. And Theseus followed him at full speed, holding the
clue of thread in his left hand.

Then on, through cavern after cavern, under dark ribs of sound-
ing stone, and up rough glens and torrent-beds, among the sunless
roots of Ida, and to the edge of the eternal snow, went they, the
hunter and the hunted, while the hills bellowed to the monster's
bellow. 1 80

THESEUS

And at last Theseus came up with him, where he lay panting on
a slab among the snow, and caught him by the horns, and forced
his head back, and drove the keen sword through his throat.

Then he turned, and went back limping and weary, feeling his
way down by the clue of thread, till he came to the mouth of
that doleful place ; and saw waiting for him whom but Ariadne !

And he whispered, " It is done ! " and showed her the sword ;
and she laid her finger on her lips and led him to the prison,
and opened the doors, and set all the prisoners free, while the

181

THE HEROES

guards lay sleeping heavily ; for she had silenced them with
wine.

Then they fled to their ship together, and leapt on board, and
hoisted up the sail ; and the night lay dark around them, so that
they passed through Minos' ships, and escaped all safe to Naxos;
and there Ariadne became Theseus' wife.

182

PART FOUR

How Theseus fell by his Pride

BUT that fair Ariadne never came to Athens with her hus-
band. Some say that Theseus left her sleeping on Naxos
among the Cyclades ; and that Dionusos the wine-king found her,
and took her up into the sky, as you shall see some day in a
painting of old Titian's — one of the most glorious pictures upon
earth. And some say that Dionusos drove away Theseus, and
took Ariadne from him by force; but however that may be, in
his haste or in his grief, Theseus forgot to put up the white sail.
Now ^geus his father sat and watched on Sunium day after day,
and strained his old eyes across the sea to see the ship afar. And
when he saw the black sail, and not the white one, he gave up
Theseus for dead, and in his grief he fell into the sea, and died ;
so it is called the ^Egean to this day.

And now Theseus was king of Athens, and he guarded it and
ruled it well.

THE HEROES

For he killed the bull of Marathon, which had killed Andro-
geos, Minos' son ; and he drove back the famous Amazons, the
warlike women of the East, when they came from Asia, and con-
quered all Hellas, and broke into Athens itself. But Theseus
stopped them there, and conquered them, and took Hippolute
their queen to be his wife. Then he went out to fight against
the Lapithai, and Peirithoos their famous king ; but when the
two heroes came face to face they loved each other, and embraced,
and became noble friends; so that the friendship of Theseus and
Peirithoos is a proverb even now. And he gathered (so the
Athenians say) all the boroughs of the land together, and knit
them into one strong people, while before they were all parted
and weak : and many another wise thing he did, so that his
people honoured him after he was dead, for many a hundred
years, as the father of their freedom and their laws. And six
hundred years after his death, in the famous fight at Marathon,
men said that they saw the ghost of Theseus, with his mighty
brazen club, fighting in the van of battle against the invading
Persians, for the country which he loved. And twenty years
after Marathon his bones (they say) were found in Scuros, an isle
beyond the sea ; and they were bigger than the bones of mortal
man. So the Athenians brought them home in triumph; and all
the people came out to welcome them ; and they built over them
a noble temple, and adorned it with sculptures and paintings;
in which we are told all the noble deeds of Theseus, and the
Centaurs, and the Lapithai, and the Amazons ; and the ruins of

it are standing still.

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THESEUS

But why did they find his bones in Scuros ? Why did he not
die in peace at Athens, and sleep by his father's side ? Because
after his triumph he grew proud, and broke the laws of God and
man. And one thing worst of all he did, which brought him to
his grave with sorrow. For he went down (they say beneath the
earth) with that bold Peirithoos his friend to help him to carry
off Persephone, the queen of the world below. But Peirithoos
was killed miserably, in the dark fire kingdoms under ground ;
and Theseus was chained to a rock in everlasting pain. And
there he sat for years, till Heracles the mighty came down to
bring up the three-headed dog who sits at Pluto's gate. So Her-
acles loosed him from his chain, and brought him up to the light
once more.

But when he came back his people had forgotten him, and
Castor and Polydeuces, the sons of the wondrous Swan, had
invaded his land, and carried off his mother Aithra for a slave, in
revenge for a grievous wrong.

So the fair land of Athens was wasted, and another king ruled
it, and drove out Theseus shamefully, and he fled across the sea
to Scuros. And there he lived in sadness, in the house of Luco-
medes the king, till Lucomedes killed him by treachery, and there
was an end of all his labours.

So it is still, my children, and so it will be to the end. In
those old Greeks, and in us also, all strength and virtue come
from God. But if men grow proud and self-willed, and misuse
God's fair gifts, He lets them go their own ways, and fall pitifully,
that the glory may be His alone. God help us all, and give us

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wisdom, and courage to do noble deeds! but God keep pride
from us when we have done them, lest we fall, and come to
shame!

186
CENTRAL CIRCULATION

CHILDREN'S ROOM