Thou must stand, my Muse! to-day in the presence of a friend, even the king of Cyréné with its noble steeds, that so, beside Arcesilas, while he celebrateth his triumph, thou mayest swell the gale of song that is now due to the children of Lété, and to Pythé also, where, in the olden time, on a day when Apollo was not far away, the priestess throned beside the golden eagles of- Zeus gave for them an oracle, naming Battus the coloniser of fruitful Libya, and telling how he would at once leave the holy island, and build, on a gleaming hill, a city of noble chariots, and thus, in the seventeenth generation, fulfil the word spoken at Théra by Medea, which that brave daughter of Aeétés, that queen of the Colchians, breathed forth from her immortal lips, when she spake in this wise to the heroes who sailed with the warrior Jason :— “Listen, ye sons of high-spirited men, ye sons of the gods! for I aver that, from this wave-washed land of Théra, the daughter of Epaphus, will, in days
to come, find planted in her a root of cities that shall be fostered of men near the foundations of Zeus Ammon. Instead of the short-finned dolphins, shall they take to themselves swift horses, and, instead of oars, shall they ply the reins and the chariots swift as the breeze. That token shall bring it to pass that Théra shall become a mother of mighty cities, the token which, on a day, beside the out-flowing waters of lake Triténis, Euphémus, descending from the prow of the Argo, did receive from a god in the likeness of man, who offered him earth as a hospitable gift. And, thereupon, Father Zeus, the son of Cronus, as a sign of favour, sounded a peal of thunder, what time the stranger lighted upon them as they slung beside the ship the brazen anchor, the swift Argo’s bridle. And, ere that time, we had left the Ocean, and, by my counsel, had dragged up our sea-faring ship, and for twelve days had carried it across heavy ridges of land. Then was it that the lonely god (even the Triton) drew near in the splendid semblance of a venerable man, and began to utter friendly words, such as kindly men are wont to use, when they first offer welcome to strangers on their coming. But in very deed, the plea of our sweet return to home forbade our lingering. Now he averred that he
was Eurypylus, the son of the immortal Shaker of the Earth which is Poseidon’s portion ; and when he began to know that we were hasting on our way, anon he seized some of the soil, and essayed to give to Euphémus, as a friendly gift, whatever came to hand; nor did Euphémus disobey him ; hay, but the hero leaped down upon the beach, and, pressing his hand in the hand of the stranger, received from him that fateful clod of earth. But they tell me that it was washed out of the ship and passed into the sea with the spray at eventide, following the waters of the main. Verily full often did I urge the several watches of seamen to guard it with all care, but their minds were forgetful, and now is the seed of broad Libya washed ashore on, the island of Théra before its full time. For, if Euphamus, son of Poseidon, the ruler of horses, whom Eurépa, daughter of Titys, erstwhile bare beside the banks of Céphisus, had only sped him to holy Taenarus, and there, in his home, cast the clod down beside that portal of the world below, the blood of the fourth generation descended from him would have taken possession of all the breadth of this vast continent. For, in that event, I see men departing thither from great Lacedaemon, and from the Argive Gulf, and from Mycénae. But, as things be, Euphémus shall find in the bridal beds of foreign dames a chosen race, which, by the blessing of the gods, shall come to this island
of Théra, and there beget a man who shall be the lord of those plains which are mantled by the dark cloud. The day shall come when Phoebus in his golden home shall make mention of him in his oracles, when, at a later time, he descendeth from the threshold into the Pythian shrine, telling how he shall carry many a man in his ships to the fertile precinct of the son of Cronus beside the Nile.” Verily such were the lays that Medea sang; and the god-like heroes, while they listened to her deep counsel, stirred not a whit, but bowed them down in silence. But, O thou happy son of Polymnéstus!? “twas none other than thee that, in accord with this word of prophecy, the oracle glorified by means of the unprompted utterance of the Delphic Bee, who thrice, and that loudly, bade thee hail, and declared thee the destined king of Cyréné, when thou wast asking the oracle what release the gods would grant thee from thy stammering tongue. In very deed, even now, in the latter days, as in the prime of rosy spring, eighth in the line of those descendants, bloometh Arcesilas. ’Twas Apollo and Pytho that granted him glory in the chariot-race among them
that dwelt around!; but I shall make himself, and the Golden Fleece, a theme for the Muses’ song. For, when the Minyae sailed forth upon that quest, then were the heaven-sent honours planted for his race. Tell me what was it that first befell-them in their sea-faring? What was the peril that bound them with strong bolts of adamant? The oracle had said that Pelias would be slain by the proud Aeolidae, either by their own hands or by their resistless counsels; for a response, which made his wary spirit shudder, came unto him in words spoken beside the central stone of tree-clad mother-earth, bidding him in any wise beware of one, shod with a single sandal, who, whether citizen or stranger, was to come down from the homesteads in the mountains to the sunny land of far-famed Iéleus. And so, at last, he came, a hero terrible to look upon, as he brandished his twain spears; and he was clothed with a two-fold raiment, the garb of his Magnesian home closely fitting his comely limbs, while the skin of a pard protected him from shivering showers. Nor had his splendid locks of hair been shorn, but they rolled lustrous adown all his back. Then, to make trial of his dauntless spirit, he went anon and stood where all the crowd was thronging the market-place. Now they knew him not; howbeit one of the awed beholders spake and said :-—
“Surely this is not Apollo, nor verily is he Aphrodité’s lord of the brazen chariot. The sons, again, of Iphimedeia, Otus, and thou, courageous king, Ephialtés, died, they say, in gleaming Naxos. And Tityus, in sooth, was hunted down by the swift dart, which Artemis sped from her unconquerable quiver, warning men to aim only at loves within their reach.” Thus, in turn, spake they to one another. Meanwhile, driving his mules and his polished chariot with head-long speed, came Pelias in hot haste, and, as he gazed, he was astonied at the solitary sandal clearly seen on the right foot alone of the stranger; but he hid his fear in his heart, and said :— What country, O stranger, dost thou claim as thy fatherland? Which of the groundling wenches was it that spawned thee forth from her aged womb ? Tell me of thy birth, and befoul it not with most hateful falsehoods.” Then the stranger bravely answered him with gentle words in this wise :— “I aver that I shall give proof of Cheiron’s training ; for from his cave am I come, from the presence of Chariclo and Philyra, where I was reared by the pure daughters of the Centaur. And, having lived for a score of years without having ever said to them aught unseemly either in deed or in word, I
have come to my home to recover the ancient honour of my father, now held in no rightful way, even that honour which Zeus granted of old to Aeolus, the leader of the people, and to his sons. For I hear that lawless Pelias, yielding to his envious passions, violently reft it from my parents, who were lords by primal right. As soon as ever I saw the light, fearing the insolence of the overweening chieftain, then, as though one had died, they made mourning in the darkened home, not without much wailing of women, while, secretly, they sent me away enswathed in purple, with night alone as partner of the path, and gave me to Cheiron the son of Cronus to rear. The chief of all my story ye know already ; and now, ye noble citizens, pray show me clearly the palace of my fathers, who rode on white steeds. For, being son of Aeson and having been born in this land, fain would I hope that I have come to my own country and not another’s. The centaur divine was wont to call me by the name of Jason.” Thus spake he, and, as he entered, his father’s eyes took note of him, and tears burst forth from those aged eyelids ; for, with all his heart, he rejoiced when he saw his son, the choicest and the fairest of men. And both his father’s brothers came, as soon as ever
they heard report of him. Hard by was Pherés, who came from the Hypereian fountain!; while Amythaon came from Messéné ; and Admétus also came in all speed, and Melampus, with kindly feeling for their cousin. And, while they joined in the banquet, Jason, welcoming them with gentle words and offering them befitting hospitality, gave them good cheer without stint, for five full nights and for as many days culling the sacred prime of festal life. But, on the sixth day, speaking in sober earnest, the hero told his kinsmen all the story from the beginning, and they followed his prompting; and at once he leapt with them from the tents, and so they came to the hall of Pelias, and hasted and stood within. And when Pelias heard them, he came forth himself to meet them, even the son of Tyro with the lovely locks; and Jason, with his soothing voice distilling gentle language, thus laid the foundation of wise words :— “Son of Poseidon, the Cleaver of the Rock! the minds of mortals are only too swift to praise crafty gain rather than justice, even although they are moving toward a rude reckoning; but thou and I must rule our tempers by the law of right, and thus for the future weave the web of all our wealth. Thou knowest what I am soon to say.
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