Book 1: Jason Leaves Greece To Retrieve The Golden Fleece
The story begins …
The narrator, Apollonius, looks to the god Apollo to help him tell the story of the Argonauts and their journey to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the far off land of Colchis.
Apollonius explains that prior to the action of the book the king, Pelias, had been told by the oracle that he would suffer a “hateful fate” in the future thanks to a “countryman” who would be seen wearing only one sandal. Cut to a while later when a young Jason was crossing the Anauros river in winter. Walking along the muddy bank, Jason got his sandals stuck in the waterlogged ground and when he tried to pull them out, he only managed to rescue one. The other sandal was caught in the swelling current and pulled downstream. With only one sandal on his feet, Jason rushed on his way to Pelias’ palace to take part in a sacred feast which the king was offering to his father Poseidon as well as all the other gods … except for Hera (this is important for later). As soon as Pelias saw Jason in his single sandal, he panicked remembering the words of the oracle. And so, the king devised a plan for Jason’s demise in the form of a challenging voyage — one that would see him setting off to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
The narrator tells us that in his time the ship is STILL celebrated in surviving songs of earlier poets. They say that the ship was built by a man named Argos with the advice of Athena, which is how it ends up getting the name “The Argo”.
List of Argonauts:
Apollonius asks the muses to help inspire him so he can accurately recall the names of the heroes who set sail with Jason. This list is as follows:
Orpheus. Kalliope (one of the muses) is said to have given birth to Orpheus after she had hooked up with a Thracian named Oiagros. Men say that the sound of his songs bewitched the hard rocks on the mountains and the streams of rivers. Orpheus is lord of Bistonian Pieria and was urged by Cheiron to be a helper in this challenging voyage.
Asterion, son of Kometes. He resides in the waters of the Apidanos at Peiresiai near Mount Phylleion, where the rivers Apidanos and Enipeus flow together.
Polyphemos (not the Cyclops from the Odyssey*), son of Eilatos. He comes from Larissa.
Iphiklos, Jason’s uncle since Aison (Jason’s dad) had married Iphiklos’ sister, Alkmede. Because of this familial bond, he sort of had to go but that’s neither here nor there.
Admetos, ruler of Pherai.
Erytos, Echion and Aithalides, sons of Hermes and noble men from Alope. Despite having the same father, not all three of these brothers shared a mother: Aithalides’ mother, Eupolemeia, was the daughter of a Myrmidon whereas the first two boys were born to Antianeira, daughter of Menetes.
Koronos, son of Kaineus. He was known as a good warrior, but not better than his father. Apollonius tells us that Kaineus had driven the centaurs off singlehandedly in battle, only to then get crushed to death by a storm of heavy fir trees. So … big, courageous shoes to fill.
Mopsos who was taught by Apollo to read bird signs (sounds weird, but this is important in the ancient world so the audience would have understood and valued his inclusion). He is not fated to make it home — we’re told that he will die when the Argo reaches Libya.
Eurydamas, son of Ktimenos and big hero from Dolopian Ktimene.
Menoitios from Opous and son of Aktor.
Eurytion, son of Iros.
Erybotes, son of Teleon.
Oileus (Little Ajax’s dad) is noted for his outstanding courage and skill at rushing upon the enemy from behind.
Kanthos from Euboia, son of Abas. Apollonius tells us that this guy was not destined to go home as it was his fate to die in the course of their wanderings on the boundaries of Libya.
Klytios and Iphitos, guardians of Oichalia and sons of Eurytos.
The next two heroes are sons of Aiakos, though they have not grown up together nor have the same mother. However prior to coming to the Argo, they had teamed up to kill their other brother Phokos and then fled to Aegina. These two guys are Telamon (Big Ajax’s dad) and Peleus (Achilles’ dad).
Boutes, son of Teleon.
Phaleros, son of Alkon. Apollonius mentions how Alkon had no other sons left to care for him in his old age, but he sent Phaleros so that he could win their family some glory.
Tiphys, son of Hagnias. We love Tiphys. He is from Siphai and noted for being a great sailor. In fact, he only joined the Argo crew because Athena had roused him to.
Phleias from Arathyrea, son of Dionysus.
Talaos and Areios, two sons of Bias. Their mother is Pero, daughter of Neleus.
Herakles. Interestingly, Herakles had heard of the call for the Argo right after the whole Eurymanthian boar thing. Essentially, he had finished one of his labours and had some down time, so thought he may as well help. He shows up with Hylas.
Nauplios, a descendant of Danaos and son of Klytoneos. For the whole family line: Nauplios is the son of Klytoneos, Klytoneos the son of Naubolos, Naubolos the son of Lernos, Lernos the son of Proitos and Proitos the son of Nauplios (same name, different guy). Once upon a time this maiden called Amymone, daughter of Danaos, had slept with Poseidon and given birth to Nauplios and thus the whole family line went from there.
Idmon, another fabulous bird reader and prophecy teller.
Polydeukos and Kastor, sons of Tydareus and nobles from Sparta. They are known for their greatness with horses and — for all of you mythology nerds — for being the brothers of Helen (YES THAT HELEN).
Lynkeus and Idas, sons of Aphareus and from Arene. Lynkeus is known for having such sharp eyes that rumour claims he can see below the Earth.
Thirty four was Periklymenos, son of Neleus. Poseidon had given him boundless strength and the ability in battle to become whatever he prayed to be when in tight corners of war.
Amphidamas, Ankaios and Kepheus, sons of Aleos.
Augeias, son of Helios and ruler over the Eleans. He apparently only joins the crew to see the Colchian lands and their king Aeetes (so he’s really just there for a bit of travel).
Asterios and Amphion, sons of Hyperasios.
Euphemon, son of Poseidon and Europa. Euphemos is a great sprinter and, supposedly, can run water so fast that his feet wouldn’t get wet. I’m envisioning Dash from The Incredibles.
Two were sons of Poseidon also join Jason: Eriginos who came from Miletos and Ankaios from Parthenia. Both were known for their skills in sailing and war.
Meleager, son of Oineus.
Laokoon, brother of Oineus (from above). Despite his old age, he was actually sent by Oineus to look after Meleager.
Iphiklos. Great with a javelin and hand-to-hand combat.
Palaimonios, son of Lernos.
Iphitos. No more information about him.
Zetes and Kalais, sons of wind god Boreas.
This one is interesting: Akastos, son of Pelias (yes, the Pelias who set up this whole suicide mission in the first place!).
Argos, the guy who built the ship with Athena.
Those are all of them. The people of the area called these heroes the Minyans since the majority of them claimed to be descended from daughters of Minyas. Just noting this for all of you guys who are reading the text and may see that collective group name pop up.
Jason says his goodbyes
Once the servants had gotten everything ready for the ships departure, the heroes go through the city of Iolkos towards the coast of Magnesian Pagasai. A huge crowd follows them, eager to see the heroes off. The narrator tells us that the citizens were yelling up to the gods, saying (something like): “Oh divinites, what does King Pelias have in mind for these young men? Aeetes is a man of terrifying reputation, but there seems to be no way out of this labour!”
Apollonius singles out the women of the crowd, describing them as raising their arms to the gods in supplication and praying that they grant these men safe return. The women yell (something along the lines of): “Oh wretched Alkimede, to you too this misery has come. Bitter is Aison’s fate! It would have been better if he already died before any of this ever happened. It would have been better if Helle, Phrixos and even that bleeding ram had been killed on the sea! But they lived to pass on the sufferings for Alkimede AND ALL OF US in the future”. So, as you can see, it’s pretty rough out here.
Anyways, Jason goes to see his parents to say goodbye. Both his mother and father are super old and lay wrapped in the covers from his bed. Seeing this, Jason wanted to comfort them with some kind of encouragement and so tells the servants to pick up his armour to show off his glory. The servants do as they are told … but it doesn’t go down as well as Jason initially thinks. His mother sees the armour and throws her arms around her son, weeping as she cries (something like): “If only on that day when I heard King Pelias demand this voyage I had killed myself so that my child – you – could have buried me with your own hands. This was all I had left to hope of you. But now I shall be left behind in an empty palace, wasting in my wretchedness and longing for you, as you are my only child. What misery is mine that I had no other kids! I never imagined that Phrixos’ escape would bring me disaster!”
Jason’s mum is clearly feeling it. But alas, Jason is horrendous with emotions and women. Our wise guy replies with (something along the lines of): “Please mother, don’t hurt yourself too bad. After all, what good do tears do? You’ll only make yourself feel worse. The gods allot woes to mortal men which we can’t predict, so have courage in your heart to bear your share of these. Take courage from the help of Athena and Apollo’s oracles, and more importantly, stay here in the house with the servants because all your crying is acting as a bad omen for my ship”. You know, he starts off okay but he truly does not know when to shut up.
And with that, Jason leaves the house and sets out to meet the crew on the shore. There’s a huge crowd of people waiting for him, screaming and cheering and urging him on as he walks down to the boat.
Into his path came Iphias, an old priestess of Artemis, and she kisses his right hand. As the crowd presses forward she was unable to speak to him though she wanted to, and so was left behind on the path.
the men organise themselves
Jason finally reaches the shore of Pagasai where his companions are waiting for him beside the Argo. They all gather around him as he comes to the entrance of the port.
The men look back and notice Akastos and Argos coming down together from the city. They are SHOOK that these men considered joining their journey despite Pelias’ wishes. Seeing them now, Jason turns back to his crew and tells them to sit down together in an assembly.
When everyone is settled on the rolled sail and lowered mast of the ship, Jason tells them his plan of action. He begins by stating that all of the equipment for the voyage now needed to be moved on board so that as soon as favourable winds show, they can set sail. More pressingly, he encourages the men to choose their leader now that they’re all finally together: who of all the men would ensure their safe return back to Hellas (aka, Greece)?
Unsurprisingly, all the men turn to Herakles. They all ask him to take command — no, beg him — but to their dismay, Herakles refuses. He raises his hand to speak and says (something like): “... absolutely not. Literally can’t think of anything worse. What about the guy who gathered us all here? Seems like he wants a crack at it”.
And so, all the men now turn to Jason. I would like to point out that they only turn to Jason because Herakles suggests it. Had he not, would they have thought to make the kid the leader? Debatable. But regardless, Jason is THRILLED by this and leaps for joy. He says (something along the lines of) “YES YES YES! I will of course be your leader! Now let us make a sacrifice to Apollo and prepare a feast. While we are waiting, we should pop the boat in the sea, put all the equipment on board and assign rowing benches by lot. Let’s then build an altar to Apollo on the shore because it is his oracle who promised that — if I do this — the god will lead us in our journey”.
The Argonauts go to pile up their clothes in a heap and then — following Argos’ instructions — they wrap cables around the ship, pulling it taunt on both sides so that the planks would remain in place and be able to withstand the swell of the sea. They then dig out a channel which is wide enough for the ship to follow in going down to the sea. Inside the channel the men place polished rollers so that the ship has a sort of wheelie system to roll over. The men then position themselves between the oars on both sides of the ship and grip them firmly with their arms against their chests.
Tiphys waddles on board to give the men signals to pull at the appropriate time. He urges them on with a great shout and the men put all their weight into the task. They push the boat over the rollers beneath it, and smoke emanates from the bottom of the ship as it scrapes over the rollers. The boat then slips into the sea ever so smoothly.
Now that that’s done, the men drew lots for their seats on the rowing benches. In case you were wondering, there are two men in each row and apparently, where you sit in that array of benches means something. What exactly, I’m unsure since I’m not a rower nor sailer myself. with two men occupying each bench. Anyways, only two men did not have to pull lots because they were clearly the best of the heroes and so deserved such an honour: neither Herakles nor Ankaios left their seat selection to luck, being given the middle row of seats (which is apparently the best so there you go). One other man did not have to pull his lot, and that man is Tiphys. This is because he was going to be the steersman since he was the best steersman like … ever. Everyone else went to pull their lots and meet their rowing buddy.
After all of this, they go back to the shore to make this altar for Apollo. While the Argonauts begin to build, Jason goes to fetch two oxen from a nearby herd. The younger companions drag the oxen to the altar and Jason raises up a prayer to Apollo: “Hey Apollo, when I consulted your oracle you promised to guide this whacko journey safely to its completion since you’re really the one who is responsible for this challenge. Please guide the ship and keep my comrades safe for their return. For each of the men who return, we will sacrifice a bull on your altar when we come back. May the kind breeze blow on the ship and may our destiny be free from disaster”.
Jason throws some barley over the altar and Herakles and Ankaios kill the cattle. Herakles uses his club to bash in the head of one of the oxen, whereas Ankaios just cut the other’s neck with his axe. The rest of the men quickly chop the meat to honour the god, removing the thigh pieces and covering them in a thick layer of fat to then burn them on spits.
Jason pours unmixed wine in the offering.
Idmon then reads the omens among the flames and says (something like): “The gods have decreed we will return here safely with the fleece! But don’t get too excited — looks like there will be loads of hard challenges. Oh and what’s this … it looks like I’m doomed to die somewhere on the Asian continent? Hm. Weird. When I was leaving home to come join you fine people, I actually saw the same fate written out in a bird omen. Oh well, I just hope that my glorious reputation might be left behind in my home”. The men are obviously pretty awkward about this as the news makes them sad, but they keep working on preparations anyways.
As evening approaches, the Argonauts all lay a thick bed of leaves on the sand and recline to eat. They had prepared an absurd amount of food from their sacrifice and each had a goblet of sweet wine to wash down their dinner.
While the men enjoy them selves and swap stories, Jason has just boarded the emotional Struggle Bus. Reality hits him HARD. He sits in silence among the men, wondering what to do about the journey ahead.
Well, reader, it’s about time I introduce you to a character who is in a perpetually bad mood for this entire story: that man is Idas. Idas sees Jason stewing and decides to yell at him, saying (something along the lines of): “Jason! What’s all this thinking you’re doing!? Has fear come over you and crushed you with its weight? Fear only panics men who are cowards. If I’m travelling with you, I’m great with my spear so no harm will come to anyone! I am so powerful a helper that no god would even confront us!” With this he raises his cup and drinks the entire contents of unmixed wine.
Idmon doesn’t have any time for Idas’ attitude and so says (something like): “You fool, is it just you or is it the wine that makes you so cocky to aggravate the gods? You could have said anything else to encourage Jason and yet you chose to say totally outrageous crap just to make him feel bad. Be careful because we all know that story of the sons of Aloeus who used to attack the gods and — though strong as they were — they were cut down by Apollo’s arrows”.
Idas bursts out laughing and replies (with something similar to): “Go on then, tell me this through your prophetic skill — will the gods destroy me in the way that your father bestowed destruction on the Aloiadai? Think about how you will escape my hands if you are found to have mumbled empty prophecies!”
As great as this fight is, the men really couldn’t care less. Jason and the others get involved and tell Idas and Idmon to put a sock in it. They do, and then men all settle down to get some rest.
Orpheus sings the men to a state of relaxation. He sings of the origins of the world, from the land formation to the birth of the Olympian gods. When he finishes, all the men are leaning towards him, completely bewitched by the power of his song. Not long after they mix libations to Zeus and only then did they go to sleep.
In the morning, Tiphys wakes up first. He goes around to wake up all the men and then instructs them to take their positions on board. When Herakles goes to take his seat in the middle row, we’re told that he has a little spot for his club.
As the ship moves out of the bay, Jason is described as turning away from his homeland and cries.
The oars are described as hitting the water to the beat of Orpheus’ kithara.
The ship moves out
We now briefly cut to what’s going on around the boat. First, the nymphs on Pelion are described as gazing at the boat (and the heroes) in wonder. Then we see Cheiron come down from the top of his mountain home to the sea, dipping his feet where the waves broke and waving after the ship for their safe return. Lastly, we see Cheiron’s wife come to the shore and in her arms is a baby Achilles. She holds him up for Peleus to see.
Once the boat had cleared the shore, Tiphys instructs the men to draw up the sail and allow it to fill with the breeze.
They head for Tisaia while the Orpheus sings a song to Artemis the protector. We’re told that she watches them from over the land of Iolkos.
Soon the lands of Pelasgian disappear behind them in the mist. Skiathos comes into view on the sea and in the distance they see Peiresiai.
However, it was on the coast of the Magnesian land near the tomb of Dolops that they made their first mini pitstop. The winds had begun to go against them, and so the men drop the anchor and use the time to burn sacrifices of sheep. They stay for two days but on the third they set sail once more. Men still (still as in at the time that Apollonius is telling the story*) call this coast the Aphetai Argous (meaning ‘sailing of the argo’).
From there they go further up past Meliboia. At dawn they sail past Homole and very soon rush on past the stream of the river Amyros.
Next they see Eurymenai and the ravines of Ossa and Olympus. During the night, the wind carries the ship past the hills of Pallene and beyond Cape Kanastron.
In the morning they finally see the Thracian peak of Athos. And this is where they will make their first big stop.
Landing on lemnos
Right so first of all we need to go over some Lemnos background and luckily, Apollonius gives us the lowdown. The year that just passed was an absolute WILD RIDE for the Lemnians. This is mainly because ALL THE WOMEN HAD KILLED ALL THE MEN. Oh yes — you read that right. You see, we’re told that the men had grown to hate their wives and so wanted new ones (I wish I was making this up). They decided to collectively ignore the women that they were married to and instead turn their attention to the slave girls they have previously brought to Lemnos after pillaging the Thracian mainland opposite. To me, this alone would have warranted the women’s crazy rebellion (not because I agree but because that’s a fantastically dramatic story), but this tale gets a tad more juicy. Apollonius tells us that behind the scenes the women of the island had forgotten to honour Aphrodite which — as you can guess — made the Olympian super mad. This means that when the men take the salve girls and ignore their wives, Aphrodite inflicts and RAGE within them like no other. This whole debacle is designed to be punishment: not only do your husbands not like you, but now you have literally zero other prospects. We need to have a moment for Aphrodite because this is LETHAL.
And so, the women kill all of the men and their slave girls. But not only this. Once the women realise what they’ve done, they then must kill the ENTIRE MALE POPULATION OF THE ISLAND to ensure that the sons of these men do not grow up seeking revenge (because otherwise all the women would be killed in return). Well … all the men except for one. The only man who was saved from this fate was Hypsipyle’s old father Thoas, who was king of their people. Hypsipyle had actually put him in a chest and set him sailing over the seas in the hopes that he would wash up on another island and live out his days in peace. Apollonius tells us that Thoas was eventually drawn ashore on Oinoe (its old name, but its new name is Sikinos) by a few fishermen. In fact, the new name of the island Sikinos is named after the child the naiad Oinoe bore Thoas! Fun! Anyways, that’s the backstory. The women now do everything on the island and constantly live in fear that the Thracians are going to show up.
So as you can imagine, when these ladies see the Argo rowing its way towards the island, they sh*t bricks.
The women rush out of their homes, put on their armour and run out the gates of Myrine heading for the shore. Hypsipyle joins them, wearing her father’s armour.
The Argonauts decide to send Aithalides, the son of Hermes, ahead of them. In fact, Hermes has supposedly provided his son with such a good memory that we are told that he forgets literally nothing even in his death. So Aithalides goes forward to ask Hypsipyle for her people to receive the Argonauts. Hysipyle hears him out and the ladies return to the city to make their decision.
As soon as everyone gets comfortable, Hypsipyle stands in front of the Lemnians and says (something like): “Friends! Let us give the men gifts to please them. The sorts of things that one should have on a ship – supplies of wine and all that – so that they will stay outside of our walls on the shore and will not need to come among us. Otherwise they may learn what has happened and they will spread our evil far and wide since .. you know, we killed all those men. But if anyone can devise a better plan than this one, stand up and do share”.
Hypsipyle sits down on her father’s stone seat and her nurse Polyxo takes her place standing. Polyxo is old and so trembles on her feet where she stands, supporting herself with a staff. She says (something along the lines of): “Sure let’s send the strangers gifts since it is always better to be generous. But what exactly is the long term plan if the Thracian army or some other enemy force fall upon us? Look how this group has arrived unexpectedly — if some god turns aside this threat, then what waits for us in the future? When the older women fade away and the younger women become old without having any children of their own, how will we all live then? Will the cattle yoke themselves? Will the harvest do itself? I’m old so I’ll die before this happens, but I urge all you young thangs to think about this because right now, you all have a means to save yourself if you are willing to turn over your homes and city to these strangers”.
When she finishes, the whole assembly is filled with delighted chatter.
Hypsipyle addresses Polyxo an says (something sort of like): “Okay, if this plan is approved by everyone then I’ll send a messenger to the ship ASAP and let the men come into the city”. And of course, all the women are eager to meet the foreigners.
The queen summons Iphinoe, instructing her to ask the man who commands the expedition to come to the palace so that Hypsiyle can tell them the decision that they have all made. She also tells Iphinoe to say that the other men can disembark their ship without fear, provided that their intentions are friendly. So off Iphinoe runs, down to the Minyans who have been settling on the shore.
The men are thrilled to hear the news and — when hearing a queen was in charge of the land — they assumed that Thoas was dead and that Hypsipyle, his daughter, had simply taken over. So the men tell Jason to go ahead of them to the city and they will catch up later.
Around his shoulders, Jason pins a double cloak of purple which Athena had given to him when she first started building the Argo. It’s very fancy and there’s a super long description of it in the book, so if you happen to be curious about its design then do go and check it out. Anyways, along with the cloak Jason took the spear which Atalanta had once given to him as a mark of friendship when she greeted him on the kindness of Mainalos. We’re told that Atalanta REALLY wanted to go on the expedition, but Jason apparently refused to accept her as he feared she’d be too much of a distraction (I kid you not and I genuinely wish that I was).
So Jason goes off towards the city following the messenger. When they make their way through the gates of the town, the women of the city come to follow behind them. Jason, however, was only looking at the ground and makes a concerted effort NOT to notice anything on his way to the gleaming palace. The servants open the doors of the palace for him and Iphinoe walks him along the porch, showing him to a bright couch opposite Hypsipyle.
When Hypsipyle sees Jason, she turns her eyes away and a blushes (the beginning of the end, dear reader, the beginning of the bloody end).
Hypsipyle says to Jason: “Stranger, why wait for so long outside our walls? Our men don’t live in this town as they have moved to the Thracian mainland where they plough the fields. I’ll give your a TRUTHFUL account so that you know the full story – when my father ruled these lands, the men launched raids from their ships on the homes of the Thracians who live opposite to bring back booty along with the young girls. However, Aphrodite was pretty mad and she had the men reject their wives in favour of their slave girls. For a long time the women put up with this, hoping that the men would change their minds, but they didn’t. The men were only interested in the slave women at home, in public dances, market places and feasts. Finally, some god gave us the space to say no more. With our permission the men then left and took all the male children to Thrace until they either come to their senses or go off to live somewhere else, which they did. Therefore, there are no men here so … you and your crew can come and live with us. If it would suit you best, you can come and take over the position of my father Thoas. I don’t think that you will find fault with the land as its crops are richer than other inhabited islands in the Aegean. Now go and report to your comrades what I have said and don’t stay outside the city” (absolutely NONE OF THIS is an exact quote by any means*)
Apollonius now jumps into the narrative to tell us that these were the words of Hypsipyle as she so gracefully glossed over how the men were murdered (this always makes me laugh).
Jason replies to the queen, saying (something like): “We welcome your help. I shall return to the city with my comrades and a detailed report of everything in order. As for the kingship of the island … that’s a bit much. I don’t refuse your offer because I think it’s a small thing, but because I have a little thing I have to do and it won’t get done if I remain here”. Jason then touches her right hand and turns to go back to the Argo.
The women come out of their homes to join Jason as he walks back to the ship. Once he passes the city gates, the women all stop to fill their chariots with gifts for the men before following Jason’s path. These chariots reach the men only after Jason has given his speech, telling the men exactly what went down and what the plan is moving forward.
The women then invite all the men to be entertained in their homes (and yes, that means exactly what you think it does) and the men did not resist. This is really thanks to Aphrodite who decides she’s not yet done with the Lemnians AND — and this is important — she wants to populate the island with men again to please Hephaestus. So the women lead the men to the city.
Meanwhile, Jason beelines it straight for Hypsipyle’s palace.
Only a few men remained on the shore with Herakles. He decides this is all a stupid distraction for their task and refuses to get involved (a determined and driven KING).
Unfortunately for Herakles and the stragglers on the shore, the men inside the city get a little too comfortable with the women. The sailing to Colchis was getting delayed from one day to the next without any clear plan in place. As you can imagine, Herakles decides the men need a good talking to and so calls his comrades together — without the women — for a meeting. When they’re all sitting before him, he says (something similar to): “HEY. CUT THIS OUT. Was our task to find new wives or collect a magical Golden Fleece? Is our task to stay here and plough the lands of Lemnos or go to the edge of the world? We’ll never win glory shut up here with foreign women! No one is just going to hand us the Fleece if we pray hard enough, we have to work for it. LET’S MOVE”. Because Herakles is so big and intimidating, no one dares argue with him and without further discussion the men prepare for departure.
News makes its way back to the women of Lemnos and they are NOT HAPPY. Not That they are angry — the women are just devastated that the men have decided to leave them. And so, they all run down to the shore to say their goodbyes, weeping and embracing and praying that the men will have a safe return home.
Hypsipyle is among them too, taking Jason’s hands and making her own prayer for him as her tears spill over her cheeks: “May the gods keep you safe as you bring home the Golden Fleece. This is what you want and what your heart desires. The island and my father’s throne will be waiting for you if after you return home you wish to come back here again. On your voyage, don’t forget me and give me instructions now if the gods have been kind enough to grant us a child” (obviously this is not an exact quote*).
Jason is deeply moved by this and he’s all like: “Hypsipyle, I hope all of these things will be accomplished by the gods. But do not ask me to stay, since it is enough for me to be allowed by Pelias to live in my homeland. My only prayer is that the gods bring me home from my trials. If I am not fated to return to Greece and you should bear me a child, send him to my father and mother in Iolkos when he’s old enough. If he finds them still alive he will console their grief and far from king Pelias they will be cared for, safe in their home”(NOT AN EXACT QUOTE and yet it still makes me ill).
Leaving Hypsipyle, Jason boards the ship and the other men follow after him. They sit down in their rows and take up their oars to start sailing away.
On Orpheus’ instructions they all docked at the island of Elektra, daughter of Atlas, that evening.
more sailing
From the island of Elektra the men row across the stretches of the Black Sea with Thrace on one side and the coast of Imbros on the other. They reach Chersonnese just after sunset and raise their sail to enter the dangerous stream of Athamas’ daughter. In the morning they sail so far as to leave behind the open sea and then at night travel through another, passing within the Rhoiteian headland and the territory of Ida on their right. Leaving Dardania behind they went on to Abydos and then sail past Perkote, the sandy shore of Abarnis and holy Pityeia. In the course of the night they completed their passage through the Hellespont.
Inside the Propontis there is a steep island sloping into the sea — it’s joined to the grainfields of the Phrygian mainland and lies above the mouth of the Aisepos, with its shores offer harbours on both sides. Inhabitants call this place Mountain of the Bears and the people are known to be violent and savage (to the Greeks remember). According to Apollonius, the inhabitants of the mountain each had six arms — two coming out of their shoulders and the other four attached lower on their sides. However, the Isthmus and the plain were inhabited by the Doliones whose king was a hero named Kyzikos, son of Aineus and Ainete, daughter of noble Eusoros. Thanks to Poseidon, as awful as the mountain people were, they did not harm the Doliones because the Doliones were originally descended from the god.
Anyways, the winds carry the Argo to the island and it pulls into the beautiful harbour.
Tiphys tells the men to go onto shore and asks for a few of themto bring the anchor stone with them — apparently it’s terrible and they need a new one, so Tiphy’s wants it GONE. I’m mentioning this because the abandoned stone was later taken as a relic to the temple of Athena, protector of Jason (one of those and you can still see it today kind of things).
the argonauts destroy the kind Doliones
King Kyzikos receives the heroes and listens to the purpose of the Argonauts expedition. He decides that the men should be treated with their hospitality, and so all the Doliones accept them in friendship. Kyzikos tells the men to moor their anchor-less boat in the harbour a little further up the coast and, once they’ve done that, they should set up an altar on the shore to Apollo and prepare a sacrifice. The king gives them sweet wine for their libations and flocks for their offerings. As it turns out, prior to the Argonauts appearing on their shores, Kyzikos was advised by an oracle that when people on a great expedition come a-knocking he should welcome them and not think of making war. After all, he too was just a kid and is described as showing the first beard of manhood. He and his wife (named Kleite, daughter of Merops and Perkote), had not yet been blessed with children of their own. She remained in the palace when he went off to go and feast with the Argonauts.
Anyways, back to the narrative. Kyzikos and the Argonauts talk over dinner and into the night.
In the morning, some of the Argonauts set off to climb the high peak of Dindymon to view the sea routes and map out their journey. Meanwhile, the others walk down to the Argo to row the ship round to the closed harbour.
However, when the men reach the other side of the harbour they come into contact with the scary mountain people. These mountain people are SO savage that they run down to the Argonauts and begin throwing rocks at them. Luckily Herakles had remained on the ship with some the younger heroes throughout the night (remember that there’s no anchor so a few of the Argonauts needed to stay to guard the ship) and so he quickly gets into fighting mode. Herakles bends back his bow and kils LOADS of the creeps as they continue to hurl large boulders at the Greeks. Apollonius says that the only thing that could possibly explain this invasion is that Hera had unleashed them as a secret labour of Herakles.
Remember the guys on the lookout point? Well, they come back from their long walk to go and see what’s going on. Seeing the Mountain people TERRIFIES them and so they too join in the slaughter of the local crazies. They attack with arrows and spears until all of them were dead.
The wind finally picks up and the Argonauts leave the harbour. They continue to sail all day but as night drew on, the wind did not remain constant. Gusts from the opposite direction take hold of the ship and blow it back until they come BACK to the hospitable Doliones.
However, the men disembarked onto dry land in the darkness of night. This means that they are completely unaware of where they have ended up and have absolutely no idea they have been there before. Unfortunately, the Doliones are in a similar boat (not literally, obviously) and don’t know that these strangers-in-the-night are men they have already made their friends. BOTH sides assume that the other is the loco Mountain tribe. Because of this, they each put on their armour to meet the other in nighttime battle. And so the men fought and Jason and his crew beat the Doliones to a pulp. There is a long list of who of Jason’s men killed who of the Doliones, but it’s more important for men to mention that Apollonius says not ALL of the Doliones fell. Some Doliones survive and they yield their positions and run back to the city, filling the skies with their laments.
Fast forward to the morning and the Argonauts realise their fatal error. The men feel HORRIBLE when they see Kyzikos laying in the dust and all his men around him. The Agronauts go to the city to apologise and remain there for three full days, lamenting with the Doliones. The men then put on their armour and circle the king’s body three times before burying him in a tomb. Afterwards they conducted funeral games on the Leimonian Plain where to this day (again Apollonius with the and you can still see side notes) there is a tomb.
Also, Apollonius mentions that Kleite — Kyzikos’ childless wife — did not survive her husband’s death and ended up hanging herself. The nymphs of the groves mourned her death and from all the tears there is now (in Apollonius’ day*) a spring which men call ‘Kleite’.
Back on track with the narrative, the winds are too strong for the Argo and so the men get stuck with the Doliones. The men wait for twelve days and nights when finally a sign appears to them from the gods. During the time of the third watch (so Akastos and Mopsos are on duty) a halcyon flies over the blond head of Jason and its voice sings that the winds will drop so long as Jason climbs to the holy place on Dindymon to appease the Mother of the whole of the blessed gods. Mopsos goes to wake up Jason and tell him the good news.
Hearing this, Jason leaps up for joy and wakes up his comrades to share the good news. The younger crew members assist him by driving cattle up to the peak of the mountain, while the others row the ship from the Sacred Rock to the Thracian Harbour. They then go to join everybody at the top of the mountain, leaving only a few men on board to guard the ship. Once up there, they find this tough vine stump which they cut and had Argos carve it into the image of the mountain goddess (how bloody long were they there for … I have no idea) and then set the image on a rocky outcrop. They then perform the sacrifice and call up to the Mother of Dindymon. Jason asks many times for the winds to chill out and, once he’s done this, the other men dance about and beat their swords on their shields so that the ill omen of continuing lamentations from the city below should be lost in the air ( … anyone else think this is quite dark? No? Just me?? Okay then). The heroes then get the feast ready in the goddess’ honour and enjoy their work.
At dawn, the winds drop and the men row from the island … again.
herakles is abandoned
Despite the setback, things don’t suddenly get easier for the Argonauts. When out in open waters, the winds die down and the sea becomes perfectly still, causing the heroes to engage in competition to see who can keep rowing the longest as a fun way to keep the ship moving.
The Argonauts end up rowing their ship forward with such great force that we’re told not even a horse of Poseidon’s could catch it. However, the heroes get tired pretty quickly and begin to give up (honestly, I would have tapped out much sooner so I don’t hate them for this). When everyone stops rowing, only Herakles and his strong arms continued pulling the boat forward. But all is not smooth sailing as — alas! When the Argo comes to the mouth of the Rhyndakos, Herakles’ oar breaks in the middle! He falls sideways with one piece of oar left in his hands and the other in sea.
The heroes pick up the slack and reach Kios near mount Arganthoneion. The Mysians who inhabit this place welcome the Argonauts onto the shore and allow them to stay on the land, supplying them with sheep and wine in great quantity. The men then make a sacrifice to Apollo.
While this is happening, Herakles tells the men that he is going to go into the forest to cut himself a new oar. He comes across a fir tree which is apparently perfect wood for oars (who would have known!). He puts down his bow and takes off his lion skin, hitting the tree with his bronze covered club. He then, with his own hands, lifts the ENTIRE tree out of the ground and starts walking off with it.
ANOTHER THING that’s been going on at this time is this: Hylas, Herakles’ little friend — had gone off with a bronze pitcher to look for a sacred spring so that he would have water ready for dinner when Herakles returned. According to Apollonius, such was a habit that Herakles had trained him in since he had taken him in as a child from his family. Turns out Herakles had killed Hylas’ dad in the land of the Dryopes because Theiodamas (the dad) had opposed him in the matter of ploughing ox. Literally this dude was ploughing his fields, Herakles said to hand over the ox, the guy said no (and rightly so), and Herakles was just looking for an excuse to fight so bye-bye to this dude. Mythology is weird sometimes. But anyways, as Herakles is walking back with his tree, Hylas reaches this spring called Pegai. He arrives just as the nymphs were arranging their dance in honour of Artemis. The nymph of the spring was just rising from the water when Hylas comes in with his pitcher. She takes a real liking to the guy and Aphrodite sets her heart racing. As soon as Hylas dips the pitcher into the stream, the nymph comes over to put a hand on his neck and her right hand on his elbow, leaning in to get a kiss from him … and then — BOOM — Hylas is pulled into the water.
The only member of the crew to hear Hylas’ little cry is Polyphemos (NOT THE CYCLOPS) who was actually making his way along the path to wait for Herakles. He rushes to the Pegai and shouts for Hylas, but there’s no reply. Polyphemos pulls out his great sword and runs about thinking that either a wild animal took Hylas or bandits had ambushed him. As he’s running along the path he bumps into Herakles.
Polyphemos relays the situation to Herakles all like “He dude, terrible news just there — Hylas hasn’t returned safely from his trip to the spring. Either bandits came for him or a wild beast … I have no idea, but I did hear him cry out so something is DEFINITELY wrong” (not an exact quote*).
Hearing this, Herakles’ blood starts to boil. He throws the fir-tree he was holding (remember that? He THROWS it) and runs wildly, deeper into the forest. Herakles is so pissed off that his legs move swiftly without pause, occasionally crying out for dear Hylas.
In the morning (all of this has been happening at night — was that made clear by me? If not, it is now) Tiphys tells all the men to get on board and take advantage of the good wind. They all get their stuff together quickly, pulling up the new anchor to send the boat along the sea.
If you haven’t noticed by now then you’re just as bad as the Argonauts because they realise far too late THAT THEY LEFT HERAKLES, HYLAS AND POLYPHEMOS BEHIND. The ship is now on open water so there’s no chance of them turning back now — a fact that causes the men to begin bitterly arguing with one another. They have good right to be upset because they left THE BEST of them behind! How can they possibly continue on this perilous journey WITHOUT HERAKLES!? (No offence to the others but … let’s be real here).
Jason is so struck by his helplessness that he’s not able to speak in favour of any proposal put forward by the bickering Argonauts. Instead, the leader of the ship understood the disaster he was now facing.
Jason’s reaction angers Telamon BEYOND BELIEF. He turns to Jason and says (something like): “Oh sure, sit at ease you who has abandoned Herakles. You could only be so calm is this has been your plan from the beginning! You didn’t want his glory to overshadow your own and you’ve just been waiting for a chance to get rid of him! If you won’t right your wrongs then I will — I’m going back for him”.
Telamon is in such a state that he runs at Tiphys, attempting to get ahold of the rudder and steer the ship back where they came from. The sons of Boreas see his motives and intercept Telamon as he lunges for the steersman. This is an important note you guys reading this, because later on we know that Herakles kills these two sons of Boreas for preventing the Argo from turning around. Apollonius tells us that as they returned from the funeral games in honour of Pelias, he cornered them slaughtered them both. He piled up the earth on top of their bodies and set up two pillars to mark their graves. When noisy Boraes blows, one of the pillars sways … or so, again, Apollonius attempts to link his contemporary audience to his story.
Anyways, from the depths of the sea Glaukos, the spokesman of Nereus comes up and appears to the remaining Argonauts. In case you were wondering what this may have looked like: he emerges from the water as far as his waist, grabbing hold of the ship with his hands and basically clinging on for dear life. Not as elegant as one might imagine a god to be. Regardless, he says (something like): “Why do you want to take Herakles from the city of Aietes when it’s against Zeus’ wishes? He must complete his twelve labours in Argos, so waste no regrets on him. If you are to go back and rescue him, he would get distracted on this journey when he’s needed elsewhere. In the case of Polyphemos, he’s also destined to found a glorious city for the Mysians and end his days in Chalybes. Therefore, if you went after him you’d also be delaying this great fate! Now as for Hylas … well, a divine nymph made him her husband so that’s PRETTY GOOD TO ME”. And with that he goes back into the water.
Of course, the heroes rejoice hearing his words because they make the men not feel like such terrible friends.
Telamon goes straight to Jason, embracing him and asking him for forgiveness for how he acted. Jason tells him that it’s water off a ducks back (or whatever the Ancient Greek equivalent is) and he actually respected how Telamon stood up for a member of the crew. He says that he hopes if he were ever in a similar situation to Herakles, Telamon would fight for him in the same way. After this, they both sit down together.
All day and night the Argo continues to sail. In the morning the wind drops, leaving the Argo on calm seas. The men make out a coastline ahead and decide to row in that direction. They dock the ship and disembark at sunrise.
Watch Here:
Listen Here: https://open.spotify.com/show/3yDATaGLuyipDgyiSe75fN
Thumbnail Image: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/254894
Terracotta kylix: eye-cup (drinking cup) Greek, Attic ca. 520 BCE
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 155
”This is one of a few Attic cups with a so-called Chalcidizing foot that is characteristic of black-figure cups made by Greek potters in southern Italy. Though the question of priority has been much debated, the Attic examples are probably the earlier ones. The motif of ships occurs particularly on kraters (bowls for mixing wine and water) and kylikes during the late sixth century B.C. Analogies between sailing and the symposium (drinking party) appear in literature. Indeed, the effect of ships circumnavigating a drinking vessel full of wine must have been intoxicating in itself.” (Copied from the Met Museum website)