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 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 with the bull’s blood, and with wheaten flour, and honey, and wine, and the bitter salt-sea water, and bade the heroes taste.  So each tasted the goblet, and passed it round, and an awful : 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 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 , like men who have a work to do; and the place from which they went was called Aphetai, the sailing-place, from that day .  Three thousand years and 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 armament, to which Argo would be but one small boat; English 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 of Sciathos, with the of Sepius on their left, and turned to the 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 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 in the cave beneath the cliff.  And at last Peleus , ‘Let us land here, friends, and climb 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 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 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 them to the shore under the crags of Pelion; and they went up through the dark pine-forests towards the ’s cave.
 
And they came into the 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 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 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 refused, 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 song; a famous story of old time, of the fight between the and the Lapithai, which you may still see carved in stone. [96]  He sang how his brothers came to ruin by their , when they were mad with wine; and how they and the heroes fought, with fists, and teeth, and the from which they drank; and how they tore up the pine-trees in their fury, and 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 ; for some of them had helped in that great fight.
 
Then Orpheus took the lyre, and sang of , 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 gray rocks cracked and rang, and the forest beasts crept near to listen, and the birds their nests and round.  And old Cheiron claps his hands together, and beat his 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 .  And the heroes wept when they left him, till their great hearts could weep no more; for he was kind and just and , 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 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 of the sea, past Olympus, the seat of the , 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 Æneas, 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 wine, and cloaks and rugs, the songs say, and shirts, of which no doubt they stood in need.
 
But at night, while 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 prince.
 
Then they got to their ship and to their , and Tiphys bade them cast off the and go to sea.  But as he spoke a whirlwind came, and 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, and asked counsel of the magic .
 
Then the magic bough spoke, and answered, ‘This is because you have Cyzicus your friend.  You must 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 of those beasts.  And they wept over their kind host, and laid him on a fair bed, and heaped a huge 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 Ancæus he gave a golden cup, for he best of all; and to Heracles a silver one, for he was the strongest of all; and to Castor, who rode best, a golden ; and Polydeuces the had a rich carpet, and to Orpheus for his song a sandal with golden wings.  But Jason himself was the best of all the , and the Minuai crowned him with an olive crown; and so, the songs say, the soul of good Cyzicus was and the heroes went on their way in peace.
 
But when Cyzicus’ wife heard that he was dead she died likewise of grief; and her tears became a fountain of clear water, which flows the whole year round.
 
Then they rowed away, the songs say, along the Mysian shore, and past the mouth of Rhindacus, till they found a pleasant bay, sheltered by the long of Arganthus, and by high walls of basalt rock.  And there they ran the ship upon the yellow sand, and furled the sail, and took the mast down, and it in its .  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, 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 challenged all strangers to box with him, and those whom he conquered 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, heroes, to the land of bitter blasts, the land of cold and ; 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 , but the wings and claws of ; and they snatched the meat from off the table, and flew 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 the 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 beauty and wisdom, and Athené 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 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 , 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 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.
 
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 dreadful 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 Sea, and the night, and the regions of the dead.  So the heroes trembled, for all their courage, 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 .’
 
And soon they saw the blue rocks shining like and castles of gray 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 between them, and swept round them in white sheets of foam; but their heads swung nodding high in air, while the wind whistled among the crags.
 
The heroes’ hearts sank within them, and they lay upon their oars in fear; but Orpheus called to Tiphys the helmsman, ‘Between 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, his teeth, till he saw a heron come flying mast-high toward the rocks, and awhile before them, as 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 apart at the shock.
 
Then Tiphys cheered the heroes, and they shouted; and the oars 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 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 on high, and left them there to sleep together, on the far-off Lycian shore.  But Idas killed the boar, and 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 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, glittering 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 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 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 altogether, 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, ............