under the form of a heifer, she was pursued by a gadfly which the jealous He'ra sent to torture her), and, turning north, they came by dawn of day to Salmydes'sus, on the Eux'ine coast of Thrace.1 Phi'neus, the king, had married a daughter of the North Wind, and a sister to Ze'tes and Cal'ais, who, you may remember, were among our heroes. The king had two noble sons; but their mother died, and Phi'neus took another wife, Ida'a, who told such wicked tales about the boys, that their father put out their eyes and shut them up in prison. But the gods were angry, and wicked Ida'a was probably killed by a thunderbolt, as she deserved, while Phi'neus himself was blinded, and the Har'pies were sent to pollute his tables.2 The Har'pies were female monsters, half human and half bird, filthy and terrible in their appearance; and whenever the tables were set for the king to eat, they at once flew in, and either ate all the food themselves, before the blind old monarch could get 2 Appendix, Note 29. 1 Appendix, Note 28. fairly seated, or else they trampled on the viands so that poor Phi'neus would rather starve than taste. Such was the state of affairs when the Ar'gonauts arrived, and Ze'tes and Cal'ais disembarked to take yet further vengeance on the king for the grievous wrong done to their sister's children. But when they saw the terrible scourge of the sightless old man, and found that he had freed his sons, and was truly sorry for their sufferings, compassion seized the hearts of the winged brothers, and they decided to leave all vengeance with the gods. But Phi'neus was a seer if he couldn't see, and he besought the Ar'gonauts to drive the Har'pies from his house, and, in return, he said he would give them some directions which they must needs know concerning their journey, or they would never reach the Golden Fleece. So the North Wind's sons told Ja'son and his men the words of Phi'neus, and they went up to talk the matter over. And Phi'neus told them that their route lay between the Cya'nex Sympleg'ades, or Dark Blue Dashers, which were floating rocks, just beyond the entrance of the Eux'ine Sea. And when any boat attempted to pass through, they came together with a mighty crash. "You may not be able to pass through at all," said Phi'neus, "but I can tell you the only possible way of knowing if you can, and if you succeed, the coming ages will call you blessed; for the fates decree that when once a vessel glides in safety through those rocky jaws, the Dark Blue Dashers shall be rooted to the deep." Just then Plexip'pus and Pandi'on, the king's sons, came bounding in, and flung their arms about their father's neck, exclaiming, "We can see! we can see!! WE CAN SEE!!! And, sure enough, they could, and their bright eyes sparkled as you can imagine; for while the others had been listening to the king, Askle'pios had spied the blinded youths, and induced them to anoint their eyes with a wonderful salve that he had made, and this restored their sight. Phi'neus wept for joy. 66 My innocent, injured boys," he said, “I do not value being blind, since you, at last, can look upon the light; now if we might only gather round an unpolluted table, ours would be indeed a happy home." But Ja'son answered: "Tell us the secret of our course, O prophetprince, and I will pledge my word that thou shalt look upon a smiling world again, and feast upon the choicest viands undisturbed.' CHAPTER XII. EASTWARD HO! Through the great gulf shot Ar'go like a bird - HE blind king gladly agreed to the proposed bargain, but hinted that a glimpse of the Present might enable him to look farther into the Future. This seemed logical enough, and Ja'son agreed to perform his part of the contract first. Accordingly, he called for volunteers to drive the terrible Har'pies from Phi'neus's table, and 1 Appendix, Note 30. |