Herakles, the Hero of Thebes, and Other Heroes of the Myth / Adapted from the Second Book of the Primary Schools of Athens, Greece

by Mary E. Burt; Zénaïde A. Ragozin

Before sailing, the heroes gathered around the altar of Zeus, and Jason offered up a sacrifice and prayed for a sign of good luck, if the God looked favorably on their undertaking. Zeus answered with a peal of thunder and a flash of lightning, which pleased Jason and gave the heroes courage. At first the voyage went so smoothly that it seemed like a grand holiday trip. As they sailed out from the olive-clad plains surrounding Iolkos, Orpheus with his god-like voice and magic lyre quieted the wild waves of the sea, and inspired the men on the Argo with love for battle.

In this way they sailed along until they came to the island of Lemnos, where they were received in kindly fashion and remained a long time enjoying the new scenes and the festivals. Then they set sail again and came to a small island where they stayed a short time. Herakles had broken his oar and he wanted to replace it. He left the ship, taking with him a beautiful youth, Hylas, and they went into the woods to cut down a tree to make a new oar.

But the wood-nymphs saw Hylas and said to each other, “We will keep this beautiful youth to ramble with us in the forest, for he is gentle and kind and would be an agreeable companion. He is strong and will protect us against the rude creatures that cause us alarm.” So they carried Hylas away and hid him, and Herakles would not leave the island without him. Then the Argo sailed on toward Kolchis, and the heroes mourned the loss of their two comrades.

They landed again soon on another island, where lived a king who was known to fame as a great boxer. He was cruel to travellers. He challenged them to boxing matches and killed them in the sport. The Argonauts asked him to give them a supply of fresh water for their ship, and in return he asked them to box with him. Pollux accepted the challenge, and gave him such a beating that his bones were broken. Then they took all the fresh water they needed and went back to the ship. After this, Pollux, instead of the cruel and boastful king, was known as the great boxer.

The Argo sailed on across the Ægean Sea and through the Hellespont, where the unfortunate Helle was drowned, and reached the straits of the Bosporus. There were the immense Symplegades, two high cliffs that were not solidly rooted in the ground, but clashed together under the power of the winds, making the passage through the sea dangerous. It seemed impossible for the Argo to pass them without being crushed.

But they were saved from this peril by the advice of Phineus, the blind old king of the district, who was also a soothsayer. Phineus had long suffered a terrible penalty, which the gods had sent on him for some unkindness, and he had been punished quite enough. Whenever he sat down to a meal the Harpies pounced upon his food, devouring the most of it and polluting the rest of it so that it was unspeakably filthy. When the Argonauts asked him to direct them past the Symplegades, he promised to do so if they would free him from the Harpies. This the Argonauts promised to do.

They set a table before him laden with food, and the Harpies rushed down with great cries, perching on the table, eating greedily and snatching the food with their brazen claws.

Then the winged sons of Boreas, who were with Jason, rose into the air and pursued the Harpies with swords. The feathers of the Harpies flew like dirt in a windstorm as they rushed screaming this way and that. They fled from that region, and so Phineus was rescued.

Phineus showed the Argonauts how to steer their ship. He advised them to let a pigeon fly across the Symplegades, and if the bird passed unhurt they should quickly follow. When the Argonauts had come near the rocks they let a pigeon loose from the prow of their ship. It flew through between the cliffs, and the clashing together of the rocks caught only the end of its tail. Watching for the moment when the rocks should open and swing away from each other, the Argonauts sailed between them, rowing with all their might.

They called on Hera for assistance, and the goddess bade the rocks move slowly. The cliffs did not have time to close together upon the ship, and she got through safely, except that a small portion of the rudder was broken off. From that time on the Symplegades became one rock and remained firm. After this the Argonauts sailed along the whole coast of the Black Sea toward the east, and finally reached Kolchis.