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Jason and the Golden Fleece
The Tales of Aries and Argo
Chapter 2: The Voyage of the
Argo
"There is a leopard man wearing a single
sandal. He is coming to kill you," the oracle said to Pelias. "He
is a blood relative and your blood will be on his hands." Pelias
waited nervously and set sentries to watch. It wasn't long before
word arrived at the palace that there was a stranger at the market
who refused to give his name. He was a muscular young man wearing
the skin of a leopard over his tunic and he wore only one sandal.
Pelias armed himself with two javelins and immediately went to the
marketplace. He made his way through the crowd and had no trouble
spotting the stranger. The young man was well dressed and handsome
and appeared wealthy, although his eccentricities gave him a savage
look. Not only was he wearing only one shoe and was draped in the
leopard skin, but he also had the barbaric touch of long, dark hair
which rippled down his back. Pelias was never one to postpone the
inevitable, so he approached the stranger.
"Why have you come?" Pelias asked.
"I am your nephew Jason, the son of Aeson. Zeus gave this land to
my father and you stole the throne. I have come to regain it. You
may keep your money for I have no interest in stripping you of your
wealth but you must return the rulership to me."
"Certainly," responded the king. "I am happy to do so." He said
this facetiously, but the intent young man was too naive to recognize
sarcasm. "However, before I relinquish the throne, you must agree
to the demands of the oracle and the final wish of the dead Phrixus
to bring his spirit home and return the Golden Fleece. I am an old
man in need of an heir. Do this and I know that you will make a
worthy king and I'll gladly turn the rulership of this land over
to you." Pelias shot a sincere looking smile at Jason, but in truth
the king was certain that the quest for the Golden Fleece would
kill the stranger and his problem would be over. Jason, on the other
hand, thought of nothing but the glory that would be his when he
returned victorious and agreed to the challenge, for he was ready
for adventure.
The ship that Jason prepared for the voyage was without equal. It
was faster than any in existence, with 50 oars for 50 seamen, but
it's most remarkable feature was that the ship itself had the ability
to warn its crew of impending dangers, for Athena took a bough from
the talking oak of Dodona and set it in the prow where it guided
all who would listen. Then he put out a call for volunteers for
the voyage. The best warriors arrived from every corner of Greece.
Among those who came were Orpheus, Heracles, Castor and Pollux,
and Achilles' father Peleus. Even Aesclepius came to be the ship's
physician.
When the ship was finished and the crew was assembled and ready
to sail, Hera arrived and poured golden goblets of wine for Jason
and herself. Hera toasted them, saying, "May this wine quench your
thirst for adventure. To the success of the Argo and her courageous
crew!"
The Argo's route to Colchis took them east past Troy, up the Hellespont
and through the Bosphorus to the eastern shore of the Black Sea.
None of them had taken the route before and only Heracles had crossed
points upon the path. Excitement crackled in the air as the winds
blew them upon their journey.
Though they sailed past Troy at night to avoid King Laomedon and
his demands for tribute, there were other unanticipated hazards
lining the road to Colchis. If they had sailed straight to Colchis
there would have been no problem, but instead they stopped for supplies
and rest.
They first stopped on the island of Lemnos. One year earlier, the
women of Lemnos had tired of the abuses of their men. Under the
leadership of Hypsipyle, the daughter of the old king, they made
and carried out a plan. One evening, when their men demanded food,
they all fixed fine but heavy dinners and with it they served large
amounts of poisoned wine. All the men died except the king. Instead,
Hypsipyle placed her father in a hollow chest and cast him into
the sea where he floated for days until he washed ashore upon another
island. When the old king was found and released he spread tales
of the treacherous women of Lemnos, and from that day on men stayed
away.
But the men of the Argo had never heard the story. With a crew tired
of the sea and in need of decent food and diversion they sailed
into the harbor. The beach was filled with women waving to welcome
them to shore and there was not a single man among them. "It's like
a dream," they thought.
"Come to my home," each woman said, selecting a man from the crew,
"and let me cook for you and serve you wine. I have been alone for
a year."
"This must be heaven on earth," the men thought. Like children they
let themselves be led to the charms and hospitality of the women.
The men were told to return to the ship at sunrise, for supplies
had to be gathered and stowed for the journey, but when sunrise
came, the men did not. It wasn't until late in the day that they
finally straggled in one by one. It would have surprised the old
king to learn that the women of Lemnos didn't harm any of them.
Instead the women had welcomed them for they had been without men
for a year and, what was more important, they knew the men would
leave.
The Argo did lose two of its crew at Lemnos, but not because of
the women of the island. Heracles had a young squire who carried
his armor. His name was Hylas, and Heracles loved the boy. When
they reached land, Hylas went to collect water for the voyage and
he found a beautiful spring in a grove of orchid covered trees.
As he bent over the spring and dipped his pitcher into the cool
water, he heard a child giggle. Looking into the water, the rosy
face of a water nymph smiled back at him. "Come closer," the nymph
whispered. "Lean down and kiss me," the nymph's lips brushed the
surface of the pool. Hylas bent down to kiss the water, but the
nymph threw her arms around his neck and dragged the boy beneath
the water to his death.
"Hylas. Hylas," Heracles called to his squire. He searched the forests
throughout the night but only the moonlight responded by displaying
shadows that he mistook for the boy. Dawn came and still Heracles
searched frantically, but the boy could not be found. The afternoon
passed and the ship's horn sounded its departure, but Heracles didn't
hear it for despair had closed his ears to everything but the response
that never came, and the Argo sailed away without him.
The Argo's next stop was the land of Birthynia. Though the people
were gracious and hospitable there, King Amycus was not. He was
a powerful boxer with superhuman strength and he wished to prove
himself against everyone who visited. "I challenge any one of you
to a boxing match," he said as his greeting to the Argo's crew.
"The loser will submit to any wish of the winner and until someone
fights you will not be permitted to leave." He motioned his guards
to circle the Argonauts.
Pollux was the finest boxer in Greece and he stepped forward to
face Amycus while the Argonauts stepped back into the circle of
guards, clearing the way for the fight.
Amycus crouched low, inching forward like an angry crab. Pollux
stood his ground with only his eyes moving as they followed the
king. Suddenly Amycus, positioned within a few feet of Pollux, sprang
upright and jabbed him in the nose. Pollux relaxed as he was hit
and his head moved softly around the blow. It was as though the
king were boxing with air. The unexpectedness of not connecting
solidly made him lose his balance and smash into the ground. Dazed,
it took the king a while to pull himself back up and he angrily
charged at Pollux while his intended victim danced out of the way.
The king continued to attack and Pollux effortlessly moved around
the powerful fists. As the fight continued, Amycus' rage grew with
his feeling of helplessness until, blinded by anger, he lost control
entirely and fell victim to a single well placed blow against his
temple. Amycus was dead. Never again would strangers be forced to
fight in the land of Birthynia. The victorious Pollux and the Argonauts
were given everything they requested for their journey and they
re-boarded the Argo and continued toward Colchis.
In the land
of Thrace there was a king named Phineus who, at birth, was given
the gift of prophecy by Apollo. A child growing up with these abilities
knows nothing of guile so Hera, who had been looking for an honest
person to warn her of Zeus' infidelities, chose Phineus as her advisor.
After many years of Hera knowing exactly what Zeus was planning
even before he himself did, Zeus was determined to put a stop to
this annoyance. "Harpies, come here," Zeus called. "I want you to
torture Phineus." The Harpies were ugly, evil winged creatures with
hooked beaks and long, razorlike claws. They shrieked as they flew
and were so noisy that everyone on Olympus called them "the hounds
of Zeus." But even if you couldn't hear them you would know they
were coming by their foul odor. "Destroy Phineus' food anyway you
wish," Zeus said, and away they flew.
Every day, as food was brought to Phineus, the shrieks of the Harpies
could be heard from a distance. The swarm came so swiftly that,
fast as he might try to eat, he was never quick enough. The swooping
Harpies grabbed the food off his plate and defecated on whatever
was left. Phineus grew thinner and thinner and he began to lose
his vision. He knew if something didn't happen soon he would die.
Then one night Phineus had a dream. Boreas, the great North Wind,
blew a ship across the sea to the shores of Thrace. As the ship
docked, two young men with red wings flew to shore. "My sons, Zetes
and Calais," the North Wind called to them, "go to King Phineus
and free him from his tormentors."
Only a few days after his dream, King Phineus saw a ship approaching
on the far horizon. He went to shore to meet it as it docked and
there he saw two young men with bright red wings. "You must be Zetes
and Calais," the king greeted them. They were surprised to be called
by name. "I need your help to free me from the Harpies." Phineus
explained his predicament and his dream and the sons of the North
Wind agreed to help him.
It didn't take long to see Phineus' problem firsthand for, as soon
as food was served, the screech of the Harpies came. There were
dozens of them and they traveled in a pack. The sound of their flapping
wings was like heavy winds hitting an open sail but, although this
sound was loud, it created only a dull backdrop to their piercing
shrieks as they echoed through the valley. Squadron after squadron
dived, attacking the terrified king as he cowered, attempting to
protect himself behind a large rock. In the next waves of the attack,
the Harpies reached out with their razor claws, grabbing the food
off Phineus' plate and when the choicest morsels were gone, they
attacked each other with their long hooked beaks.
While the Harpies were pre-occupied with their own greedy quarrels,
Zetes and Calais burst out from beneath the table where they had
been hiding. With drawn swords stretched before them they flapped
their red wings and charged through the air into the midst of the
quarrelsome Harpies. The sons of the North Wind slashed through
the air and the startled Harpies dropped their stolen food, trying
to return back through the valley to their home in the high mountain
trees far away.
"Fly, you disgusting creatures," Zetes said, "but it won't make
any difference. We're here for the chase and we'll destroy you anyway.
Fly, fly," he flapped his wings and mocked the birds while the brothers
gathered speed in their attack. They slashed their swords through
the air, wounding one Harpy in the shoulder and cutting off the
leg of another. The Harpies bumped each other in the frenzy of attempted
escape and their confusion further aided Zetes and Calais.
"Stop," a voice called out from above. "Do not kill the Harpies.
They are the hounds of Zeus." Dressed in a gown resplendent with
rainbow colors, Iris, the messenger of Olympus, descended from heaven
and placed her hands upon their arms. "Zeus has sent me to save
his Harpies," she said. "I promise upon the river Styx that if you
agree to spare the Harpies, they will never bother Phineus again."
Zetes and Calais agreed and returned in triumph to Phineus.
That night Phineus prepared a feast for the Argo's crew. He was
ravenous and must have eaten enough food for three men before he
finished and sat back to relax. "In thanks for your help, I'd like
to advise you about a danger you will face on your journey," he
said. "When you leave here you will face a peril in the boiling
sector of the sea which is known as the Symplegades. They are sometimes
called the Clashing Rocks for they perpetually roll against one
another and can easily crush your ship and all of you with it. To
test if it is safe for you to continue, take a dove along with you
and, when you approach the rocks, let the dove loose to fly between
them. Whatever happens to the dove will happen to you. If the bird
is crushed, turn back and give up the search for the Golden Fleece
but, if the bird is successful, so will you be." They finished their
celebration and, in the morning, continued upon the journey.
They were only two days out when they saw the Symplegades and the
crew gasped as they witnessed the rocks clashing against each other
and hurling the sea back upon itself in giant waves while steam
rose from the bubbling hot surface of the sea. There was little
time between the clashes of the rocks and the helmsman said, "We
must turn back! There is no way we can survive." But instead Jason
fetched the cage with the dove.
"As Phineus said, we shall let this dove decide our destination,"
Jason said as he let the bird go. All eyes followed the tiny dove
as she flew toward the rocks. Carefully she aimed and flew between
the rocks. She passed through them, losing only her tailfeathers.
The men cheered and manned the oars as the helmsman carefully positioned
the Argo face on before the rocks. Jason stood at the helm and watched
the rhythm of the clashes, moving with them until he judged the
time was right. "Row!" he yelled. The men pulled their oars through
the water in time to Jason's commands as the Argo sped through the
water and through the rocks. As they crashed shut, they smashed
only a portion of the stern ornament. All at once the sea grew calm.
As the Argonauts looked back, they saw that the rocks no longer
moved, but had become fixed to the spot, for the passage of their
ship had calmed the rocks forever.
The Argo sailed east, along the southern coast of the Black Sea
until they reached its eastern shore. As they passed the mouth of
the Thermodon River where the Amazon women lived, some of the men
wished to stop and see for themselves what these warrior women were
like. But Jason was tired of the problems encountered whenever they
docked. "No," he said as he kept the boat steered away from shore
and continuing on their journey.
As they passed the Caucasus mountains they heard the fanning of
a giant eagle's wings. Glancing up they saw a man in chains who
was being attacked by the eagle. Many of the men had heard stories
about Prometheus and was sure this was him. They wanted to stop
and free him. "No," said Jason and he kept the ship upon its mission.
That same day, at sunset, the Argo arrived at the port of Colchis.
They were ready to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
Tales of
the Immortal Night ©2003, J.J. Kuhl
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