Read Online Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of Rhodes - Free Book Online Page A

destined
    to build beside the Cius River’s mouth
    a famous citadel among the Mysians
    and then go off to meet his destiny
    in the unbounded Chalybian waste.
    1765 As for the loss of Hylas, here’s the cause:
    a holy nymph has dragged him off as husband
    because she loves him. When those heroes ran
    to rescue Hylas, they were left behind.”
    After these words he dove and cloaked his body
    1770 (1327) in the unresting swell. The dark-blue wake
    that boiled out of his plunge rose up behind
    the hollow ship and drove it through the waves.
    The men took solace in the prophecy,
    and Telamon went running up to Jason,
    1775 gripped his hand, embraced him, and proclaimed:
    â€œDo not be angry with me, son of Aeson,
    if, in my thoughtlessness, I gave offense.
    Overwhelming sorrow made me utter
    a rash, insufferable accusation.
    1780 Let us cast that error to the winds
    and be as friendly as we were before.”
    Jason replied with due consideration:
    â€œYou certainly accused me, dear old friend,
    of dirty dealing when you claimed, in public,
    1785 (1338) I had betrayed a man that loved me well.
    Still, I shall foster bitter wrath against you
    no longer, grossly slandered though I was,
    since it was not for wealth or flocks of sheep
    that you succumbed to rage, but for a man,
    1790 your comrade. No, no, I sincerely hope
    that you would fight like that on my behalf,
    should such a thing befall me in the future.”
    After these words they both sat down together,
    side by side and friendly as before.
    1795 As for the two who had been left behind
    (as Zeus himself intended), Polyphemus
    son of Eilatus was indeed predestined
    to found among the Mysians a city
    named from the Cius River; Heracles
    1800 (1347) was bound as well to heavy labor under
    Eurystheus’ thumb. Before he left, though,
    he threatened to annihilate the Mysians
    right then and there if they did not divulge
    the fate of Hylas, whether he was dead
    1805 or living. They selected and surrendered,
    in pawn, the children of their noblemen
    and promised they would never give up searching.
    Still today the Cianian people
    ask after Hylas son of Theodamas
    1810 and recognize a bond with well-built Trachis,
    the town where Heracles immured the boys
    they gave as pledges to be led away.
    All day, all night a stiff wind kept on blowing,
    pushing the
Argo
onward, but by dawn
    1815 (1359) nothing was stirring, not the slightest breeze.
    They spotted on the coast a jutting headland
    which, from the gulf, looked wide and welcoming
    and, as the sun came up,they rowed ashore.

BOOK2
    Haughty Amycus, the Bebrycian king,
    kept farms and cattle paddocks near the shore.
    Begotten by Poseidon Patriarch
    on a Bithynian nymph named Melia,
    5 he was the most obnoxious man alive.
    It was his savage custom to permit
    no visitors to exit his dominions
    until they met him in a boxing match,
    and he had beaten many of his neighbors
    to death.
    10 On this occasion King Amycus
    came strutting straight up to the heroes’ ship
    and scornfully dispensed with asking them
    who they might be and why they made the journey.
    No, he just dropped a challenge on them all:
    15 (11) “Listen to me, you seaborne derelicts,
    and learn what you most certainly should know.
    The law here stipulates no foreigner
    that comes ashore upon Bebrycian land
    may ever leave again until he holds up
    20 his fists against my fists and fights with me.
    So quick, now, pick the strongest man among you
    and let him step right up and face the challenge.
    Be warned, though: if you spurn our laws, brute force
    will grab you, and the outcome will be dire.”
    25 So snarled he, certain he was tough, and wild
    resentment gripped the heroes at his words.
    The challenge woundedPolydeuces most,
    and he leapt up to represent his comrades:
    â€œHold on. Whoever you presume to be,
    30 (23) it’s hardly necessary to insult us
    with crass displays of force. We shall obey
    your laws and customs. I myself am