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Turn 4 (Strophe 4)
70-77
What, then, started them on that
voyage?
What bound them with nails of
adamant
to undertake the
risk?
The gods had
ordained
that Pelias would meet his
death
at the hands of the proud
Aiolidai,
or through their
machinations:
an oracle had come to
him
at Delphi, near the omphalos of
mother earth,
and his shrewd heart
froze
when he heard it:
"Keep close
watch
against a man wearing a single
sandal
when he comes from mountain
lairs
to the sunlit land of famed
Iolkos,
Counterturn 4
(Antistrophe 4) 78-85
whether a stranger or your
countryman, beware."
In time, a man
arrived,
with two awesome spears in his
hand
and wearing
Magnesian hunting
garb
wrapped about his powerful
limbs,
and a leopard skin
to ward the rain's barbs
off.
The bright curls of his
hair
had not yet vanished under the
knife,
but streamed down his
back.
He went straight on,
exulting in his dauntless
spirit,
and stood in the market
place
where the crowd milled and
thronged.
Stand 4 (Epode
4) 86-92
They knew him not,
but said to one another,
marveling:
"He wouldn't be Apollo--or do you
think he is?"
"No, nor is he Ares, driver of
the bronze chariot."
"I'd call him Otos, or even bold
lord Epialtas,
had not those sons of Iphimedeia,
as legend says,
died in shining
Naxos."
"And the arrows of
Artemis,
springing from her deadly
bow,
hunted down Tityos,
so that men might
learn
to yearn for things that are
within their grasp."
Turn 5
(Strophe 5) 93-100
So they spoke among
themselves,
but Pelias arrived in
haste,
driving his burnished mule
car
at headlong speed.
He was amazed
when he saw that the stanger
wore
a sandal on his right foot
only.
But he hid the terror in his
heart
and said: "What land do you
claim
for your native country,
stranger?
Who among earthborn
women
cast you forth
out of her gray
belly?
Speak, and do not dishonor your
birth
with odious lies."
Counterturn 5
(Antistrophe 5) 101-8
And Jason, unintimidated,
answered him
in gentle words: "This I have to
say,
that I will show
my upbringing by
Chiron.
Yes, I come from Chariklo and
Philyra,
from the cavern
where Centaur's daughters reared
me:
for twenty years I lived with
them,
not once, in word or
deed,
bringing them shame.
Now I have returned,
to claim the ancient
honor
of my father, the gift of Zeus
to Aiolos and his
children, no longer
theirs to enjoy in
justice.
Stand 5 (Epode
5) 109-15
For I have learned that the
lawless Pelias,
pale with lust for power,
stripped my
parents
of their rightful
rule.
On the day of my
birth,
for fear of his brutal outrage,
they pretended
a dark affliction had touched
their house,
a death.
Under cover of night
and women's wailing, they sent me
forth,
wrapped in purple swaddling
bands,
a child for Chiron Kronidas to
nurture.
Turn 6
(Strophe 6) 116-23
But now you know the highlights
of the story.
Fellow citizens, point out to me
clearly
the house of my
fathers,
riders of white
horses:
for I am he, the son of Aison,
a native of this
country,
no foreigner in a foreign
land;
Chiron the sacred
centaur
called me by the name of
Jason."
So he spoke.
And his father knew
him
when he entered the
house:
tears welled in the old man's
eyes,
his soul brimmed with joy to see
his son
the best, the handsomest of
men.
Counterturn 6
(Strophe 6) 124-31
And at the news of his
arrival
both Aison's brothers
came
and joined them:
Pheres from nearby,
leaving the Hyperian
spring;
and Amythan from
Messana.
Admatos also came
quickly,
and Melampos, wishing their
cousin well.
And Jason, warmly receiving
them
at a common banquet, gave
them
gifts proper to the
occasion,
and drew festivity
out
to its full extent,
culling the delight of hallowed
feasting
for five full days and
nights.
Stand 6 (Epode
6) 132-38
But on the sixth the man confided
in his kinsmen,
set the whole affair in earnest
down before them
and won their
support.
Quickly from the banquet
room
they rose and followed him in
haste to Pelias' hall.
There they took their
stand.
And Pelias himself,
born of
Tyro careful of her braids, came
before them
when he heard their
clamor.
Jason, letting his
words
fall in mild intonations, laid
the basis of a wise appeal.
"Son of Poseidon who
split the rock of Tempe,
Turn 7
(Strophe 7) 139-46
men are too quick to spurn
justice
for treacherous gain, though they
hasten
to a harsh reckoning
after.
You and I
should guide our passions
rightly
as we weave our plans for
happiness.
I believe you know what I
mean.
A single woman was
mother
to Kretheus and bold
Salmoneus.
In the third generation sprung
from them,
we in our turn look
upon
the mighty gold of the
sun.
May the Moirai turn away in
disgust
if any enmity between
kinsman
spoil their regard for one
another!
Counterturn 7
(Antistrophe 7) 147-54
It does not befit us to let the
blades
of brazen swords and spears make
division
of our ample
birthright.
I leave to you
the sheep, the dun herds of
oxen,
all the fields
you took from my
parents
and graze now, fattening your
riches.
It is nothing to me, if
you
and your house are glutted with
these.
But the scepter of
monarchy,
the throne where Kretheus
sat
when he rendered strict justice
to his knightly people--
both of these, without hurt to
either of us,
Stand 7 (Epode 7)
155-61
you must give up, or some newer
evil
comes between us on their
account."
Thus Jason,
and Pelias answered,
softly:
"I will do
as you say, and yet
old age is upon me
now
while you, in the flower of your
youth, can appease
the wrath of the
underworld.
The spirit of
Phrixos
cries upon us to bring him home
from Aietas' realm.
And we must also fetch the
deep-fleeced hide of the ram
upon whose back he rode to safety
from the sea
Turn 8
(Strophe 8) 162-69
and from the deadly thrusts of
his stepmother.
A wondrous dream has told me all
this,
and I inquired
of the oracle at
Delphi
whether I should go ahead with
it.
The answer: an expedition by
ship,
and no delays.
Do you, willingly, perform this
task
and I swear that I will let
you
rule as sole king
here.
Zeus, our ancestor,
bear me witness,
and be a mighty oath between
us."
They agreed, and parted
company.
And Jason
himself forthwith
Counterturn 8
(Antistrophe 8) 170-77
sent heralds to proclaim the
voyage everywhere.
Soon three of Zeus Kronidas' sons
arrived,
keen for battle:
the one dark-eyed Alkmena's
child,
the other two
twin sons of Leda.
Also a pair of tall
men,
sons of the Shaker of
Earth,
Pylos and high Tainaros their
homes:
Euphamos and you,
mighty Periklymenos,
whose fame for noble
deeds
is now assured.
And the father of songs
arrived,
glorious Orpheus,
master of the Iyre by Apollo's
gift.
Stand 8 (Epode
8) 177-84
And Hermes Goldenwand sent both
his sons
to meet that high
challenge:
Echion and Erytos,
clamorous in their
youth.
Zetas and Kalais
were there at once, though they
lived
far off among the foothills of
Pangaion:
Boreas their father, the
wind-king, willingly, quickly,
gladly dispatched
them&emdash;
on both their backs
bristled a pair of purple
wings.
And Hera kindled
in each of the demi-gods a sweet,
all-conquering passion
Turn 9
(Strophe 9) 185-92
to sail aboard the
Argo
and not be left
behind
at his mother's side
coddling a life
free from danger, but to
win,
together with his
age-mates,
a cure for death
itself
in his own renown.
So when that pick of
sailors
had gathered in
lolkos,
Jason praised them one by
one,
and Mopsos his seer
augured by birds and sacred
lots
that it was time to cast
off:
the anchors hung from the ship's
ram,
Counterturn 9
(Antistrophe 9) 193-200
the captain, standing in the
prow
with a gold dish in his hand,
called
on Zeus who grips the
thunder,
on the swift
pounding waves, the winds and
nights,
the pathways of the
deep,
days of bright calm,
and a final blessing in their
return.
From the clouds a
voice
bellowed in good
omen
and rays of
lightning
rained bursting
down.
The heroes caught their
breath,
moved by the god's
signs,
and the seer shouted to
them
Stand 9 (Epode 9)
201-7
"Fall to the oars: our hopes are
sweet!"
Under their swift hands then the
oar blades
dipped insatiably,
and the South Wind bore
them
to the mouth of the Inhospitable
Sea.
a grove to Poseidon
A herd of tawny
bulls,
for use in the sacrifice, grazed
nearby;
and on the altar they found,
already fashioned,
a stone hollow to cup the
blood.
Here they dedicated
Then, swept onward
into the peril of the deep, they
called on the Lord of Ships
Turn 10 (Strophe 10)
(208-15)
to save them from the crash of
boulders
rolling with a roar
together:
two of them, rocks
instinct with life,
quicker than the winds' rumbling
cohorts-
now they are still,
stopped when the heroes sailed
between
and beached on the banks of the
Phasis.
Here, in the very domain of King
Aietas,
they joined in battle
with the swarthy
Kolchians.
And Aphrodite
came,
queen of swiftest
arrows,
bringing from Olympos the
dappled wryneck
pinned to four spokes
on an inescapable wheel,
Counterturn 10
(Antistrophe) (216-23)
to work on men for the first
time, the bird
of madness: and she taught
Jason
skill in prayers and
charms,
to strip Medea
of all care for her
parents,
that her longing for
Hellas
might turn her mind, already
burning,
and steer her with the goad of
passion.
And quickly Medea revealed the
means
of passing her father's
ordeals:
in a base of olive oil she
mingled
antidotes for pain,
and gave them to him, to anoint
his limbs.
And they looked
forward
to the sweet embrace of
love.
Stand 10
(Epode 10) (224-30)
But now Aietas threw down before
him
the adamantine plow, and brought
out bulls
snorting streams of blazing fire
through their jaws,
pawing the earth with brazen
hooves.
Single-handed, he led them to the
yoke, tied them in, and drove them
plowing the furrows straight,
digging a fathom deep
into the earth's brown
back.
And then he spoke:
"Let the ship's master try his
hand at this,
this first: and then the
imperishable coverlet,
Turn 11
(Strophe 11) 231-38
the fleece fringed with gleaming
gold."
So Aietas cast the
challenge,
and Jason took it
up.
Trusting in the
gods,
he let his purple cloak drop to
the ground.
Medea's skill in
potions
kept the fire from his
flesh;
he gripped the plow,
bound the bulls' necks to the
yoke,
and, stabbing their stout-ribbed
flanks
with a pointed goad,
he toiled through
his allotted
measure.
Aietas, astonished at his
power,
uttered a wordless cry.
Counterturn 11
(Antistrophe 11) (239-46)
But his comrades stretched their
hands
toward the man in triumph,
raining
bayleaf garlands
and warm shouts upon
him.
But grimly the son of Helios
pointed the way to the shimmering fleece,
where Phrixos with his
blade
had flayed the ram and spread it
out.
He had no inkling yet
that Jason would
succeed,
for the fleece lay in a
thicket,
and a dragon
loomed above it,
foam
dripping from its cruel jaws,
huger
than a fifty-oared, iron-bolted
ship.
Stand 11 (Epode 11)
(247-53)
But it's a long way by the main
road,
and time presses.
I know a certain shortcut, for I
am guide to many
in the turns of
song.
Arkesilas, Medea's
wiles
helped him past that green-eyed,
speckle-backed serpent;
and she took part in her own
abduction, she, Pelias' ruin.
And they sailed
over Okeanos' breadth and Red Sea
waves
into the arms of the Lemnian
women, murderers
of the male sex.
To them they showed their
speed
in a contest with a cloak for
prize,
Turn 12
(Strophe12) (254-61)
and then they led the women to
their beds.
On that eventful day or in the
nights of love
the seed of your greatness
fell
in foreign furrows:
for then it was that Euphamos'
race
was sown to endure
forever.
In time, they came to
dwell
at home in Lakedaimon,
whence they colonized
Kallista Island;
then Apollo joined the
gods
to honor them again:
the plain of Libya
he gave to you, to make it
prosper,
and the city of Kyrana throned in
gold,
yours to govern
Counterturn
12
(Antistrophe 12)
(262-69)
by devising fruitful
policies.
Observe, then, the
wisdom
in Oedipus' proverb:
If a man
with sharp-edged axe
hew away a tall oak's
branches,
spoiling its beauty,
though it is ruined
in fruit and foliage
yet it will prove its
worth
one day, when it comes at
last
to the winter's
fire,
or when it stands beneath a
king's firm portal,
enduring sad toil amid foreign
walls,
far from its native place.
Stand
12
(Epode)
(270-76)
You, Arkesilas, are a healer with
a sense of timing--
Apollo Paian's honor shines in
you.
Put, then, a soothing hand to the
wound's affliction
and tend it.
Even men of no
account
can shake a city, but to set her
on her feet again
is hard,
unless a god suddenly show the
way.
I have spelled out these graces
here for you
to be the author of
them:
be bold, then,
and use all speed to win Kyrana's
happiness.
Turn 13
(Strophe 13) (277-84)
Versed as you are in the lore of
Homer,
ponder this saying of his as
well:
"A good messenger
furthers any
enterprise."
And the Muse herself
prospers
through a message rightly
phrased.
Kyrana and the high bright hall
of Battos
have had a chance to know and
savor
Damophilos' just
intentions.
He's young of heart when with the
young,
but at the council
table
he's as good as an
elder
with a hundred years' experience
behind him.
No evil tongue waits on his
encouragement,
no arrogant man basks in his
regard,
Counterturn 13
(Antistophe 13) 285-92
he has no quarrel with the
nobles,
nor does he dally with a
project,
knowing opportunity
is brief among men.
And so he tends to it, a loyal
servant,
not a reluctant
drudge.
But men are agreed that
this
of all things is most
galling:
to know the right
but refrain from doing it, under
duress.
He, a second Atlas,
still bruises his
shoulder
against the sky, far from home
and belongings.
But immortal Zeus let the Titans
go,
and seamen change their
sails
Stand 13
(Epode 13) 293-99
as the wind falls.
All he prays for is to look one
day
upon his home, having drained to
the lees
his cup of
affliction;
to let his heart
enjoy delights of youth, joining
the symposium
beside Apollo's
spring;
and to find his
peace
playing the intricate Iyre for
cultivated friends:
causing no one any pain, himself
unhurt by his neighbors.
Then would he tell you,
Arkesilas, what a fountain
of immortal words he found, when
lately entertained at Thebes
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Last revised 3 February 1998
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