Polydeuces and Amycos; Phineus and the Harpies; the Clashing Rocks

²⁰They left Mysia for the land of the Bebryces, which was under the rule of Amycos, son of Poseidon and a Bithynian [nymph]. A man of spirit, he made strangers who landed there box with him, and in that way brought about their death. So he went up to the Argoon this occasion too, and challenged the best man present to a boxing match. Polydeuces agreed to take him on and killed him with a blow to the elbow; and when the Bebryces rushed forward to attack Polydeuces, the heroes snatched up their weapons and slaughtered many of them as they were fleeing.

²¹From there they put out to sea again, and called in at Salmydessos in Thrace, the home of Phineus, a diviner who had lost the use of his eyes. Some call him a son of Agenor, others a son of Poseidon. According to some accounts, he was blinded by the gods for foretelling the future to the human race, or, according to others, by Boreas and the Argonauts because he had blinded his own children at the urging of their stepmother,* or again, by Poseidon for having informed the children of Phrixos of the route from Colchis to Greece.

The gods had also sent the Harpies* against him. These were female creatures with wings, and when a table was laid in front of Phineus, they would fly down from the sky and snatch away most of the food, and even the little that they left behind stank so strongly that nobody could touch it. When the Argonauts wanted to consult Phineus about their route, he replied that he would advise them on their route if they would rid him of the Harpies. So they set a table of food in front of him, and the Harpies immediately swooped down with loud cries and snatched the food away. At the sight of this, Zetes and Calais, the sons of Boreas, who were themselves endowed with wings, drew their swords and chased the Harpies through the air. Now it was fated that the Harpies would die at the hands of the sons of Boreas, and equally that the sons of Boreas would die if they failed to catch those they pursued.* During the chase one of the Harpies dropped into the Tigres, a Peloponnesian river, which is now called the Harpys after her; this Harpy was called Nicothoe, or according to others, Aellopous. As for the other, called Ocypete, or, according to some accounts, Ocythoe (or Ocypode according to Hesiod*), she fled along the Propontis until she arrived at the Echinadian Islands, which are now called the Strophades*because of her; for she turnedin her flight on reaching them, and while she was over their shore fell down exhausted along with her pursuer. According to Apollonius, however, in the Argonautica*the Harpies were pursued as far as the Strophades, but they came to no harm after they had sworn an oath that they would stop persecuting Phineus.

²²When he had been delivered from the Harpies, Phineus told the Argonauts what route to take, and advised them about the Symplegades [or Clashing Rocks], which lay before them in the sea. These were rocks of enormous size which were forced into collision by the power of the winds and closed the passage through the sea. Thick mist swirled over them, the crash was tremendous, and it was impossible even for birds to pass between them. So Phineus advised the Argonauts to release a dove between the rocks, and if they saw it pass safely between them, to sail through in full confidence, but if it was destroyed, to make no attempt to force a passage. After hearing his advice, they put out to sea, and when they were close to the rocks, they released a dove from the prow; and as she flew, only the tip of her tail was snipped off as the rocks clashed together. So they waited until the rocks had drawn apart again, and with hard rowing and some assistance from Hera they made their way through, although the tip of the vessel’s poop was shorn away. Ever afterwards, the Symplegades stood motionless; for it was fated that when a ship had passed through them, they would remain completely still.

²³The Argonauts arrived next at the land of the Mariandynians, where they received a friendly welcome from Lycos, their king. It was there that Idmon the diviner met his death, from a wound inflicted by a boar; Tiphys died there too, and Ancaios took over as steersman of the ship.

Jason, Medea, and the seizure of the fleece

They sailed past the River Thermodon and the Caucasos to arrive at the River Phasis, which lies in the land of Colchis. When the ship was moored, Jason visited Aietes, and explained what Pelias had told him to do and asked to be given the fleece. Aietes promised to hand it over if, without assistance, Jason yoked the bronze-footed bulls. These were two wild bulls that he owned, of exceptional size, a gift from Hephaistos; they had hooves of bronze and breathed fire from their mouths. And after he had yoked these bulls, Jason was to sow some dragon’s teeth—for Aietes had received from Athene half of the dragon’s teeth that Cadmos had sowed at Thebes.* When Jason was at his wit’s end about how he could yoke the bulls, Medea fell in love with him. Now Medea, the daughter of Aietes and Eiduia, daughter of Oceanos, was a sorceress; and fearing that Jason might be killed by the bulls, she offered, in secret from her father, to help him yoke the bulls and obtain the fleece, if he would swear to accept her as his wife and take her with him when he sailed back to Greece. When he swore to do so, she gave him a potion,* and told him to rub it on to his shield and spear and his body when he set out to yoke the bulls, explaining that when he had been anointed with the potion, he would be invulnerable for a day to fire and steel alike. And she revealed to him that when the teeth were sown, armed men would spring up from the ground to attack him; and when he saw them gathered in a group, he should throw stones into their midst from a distance, which would cause them to fight amongst themselves, and he should then kill them. On hearing Medea’s advice, Jason rubbed himself with the potion and made his way to the temple grove to search for the bulls; and although they charged him breathing flame, he put them under the yoke.* And then, after he had sowed the dragon’s teeth, armed men sprang up from the ground. Where he saw a number of them together, he hurled stones at them, without revealing his presence; and as they were fighting amongst themselves, he went forward and killed them.

Although the bulls had been yoked, Aietes refused to surrender the fleece; and he wanted to set fire to the Argoand kill its crew. Before he could put his plan into effect, Medea guided Jason to the fleece by night and used her drugs to send the guardian dragon to sleep, and then, carrying the fleece with her, made her way back to the Argowith Jason. She was accompanied by her brother Apsyrtos too. And during the night, the Argonauts put out to sea with them.

The murder of Apsyrtos and journey to Circe

²⁴When Aietes discovered what Medea had dared to do, he set out in pursuit of the ship. But when Medea saw him drawing close, she murdered her brother,* cut him up, and threw the pieces into the sea; and as Aietes delayed to gather up the limbs of his child, he fell behind in the chase. So he turned his ship around, and buried what he had saved of his son’s remains, naming the burial place Tomoi *But he sent many of the Colchians in search of the Argo, threatening that if they failed to recover Medea, they themselves would undergo the punishment intended for her. So they separated and carried the search to many different areas.

The Argonauts had already passed the River Eridanos when Zeus, angered by the murder of Apsyrtos, sent a violent storm against them and drove them off course. And as they were sailing past the Apsyrtides Islands, the ship spoke out, saying that the anger of Zeus would not come to an end unless they travelled to Ausonia to be purified by Circe for the murder of Apsyrtos. So they sailed past the Ligurian and Celtic peoples,* crossed the Sardinian Sea, skirted Tyrrhenia, and arrived at Aiaie,* where they approached Circe as suppliants and were purified.