Part 2 (1/2)

Another who came was ADMETUS; afterward he became a famous king. The G.o.d Apollo once made himself a shepherd and he kept the flocks of King Admetus.

And there came two brothers, twins, who were a wonder to all who beheld them. ZETES and CALAIS they were named; their mother was Oreithyia, the daughter of Erechtheus, King of Athens, and their father was Boreas, the North Wind. These two brothers had on their ankles wings that gleamed with golden scales; their black hair was thick upon their shoulders, and it was always being shaken by the wind.

With Zetes and Calais there came a youth armed with a great sword whose name was THESEUS. Theseus's father was an unknown king; he had bidden the mother show their son where his sword was hidden. Under a great stone the king had hidden it before Theseus was born. Before he had grown out of his boyhood Theseus had been able to raise the stone and draw forth his father's sword. As yet he had done no great deed, but he was resolved to win fame and to find his unknown father.

On the day that the messengers had set out to bring through Greece the word of Jason's going forth in quest of the Golden Fleece the woodcutters made their way up into the forests of Mount Pelion; they began to fell trees for the timbers of the s.h.i.+p that was to make the voyage to far Colchis.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Great timbers were cut and brought down to Pagasae, the harbor of Iolcus.

On the night of the day he had helped to bring them down Jason had a dream. He dreamt that She whom he had seen in the forest ways and afterward by the River Anaurus appeared to him. And in his dream the G.o.ddess bade him rise early in the morning and welcome a man whom he would meet at the city's gate-a tall and gray-haired man who would have on his shoulders tools for the building of a s.h.i.+p.

He went to the city's gate and he met such a man. ARGUS was his name. He told Jason that a dream had sent him to the city of Iolcus. Jason welcomed him and lodged him in the king's palace, and that day the word went through the city that the building of the great s.h.i.+p would soon be begun.

But not with the timbers brought from Mount Pelion did Argus begin.

Walking through the palace with Jason he noted a great beam in the roof.

That beam, he said, had been shown him in his dream; it was from an oak tree in Dodona, the grove of Zeus. A sacred power was in the beam, and from it the prow of the s.h.i.+p should be fas.h.i.+oned. Jason had them take the beam from the roof of the palace; it was brought to where the timbers were, and that day the building of the great s.h.i.+p was begun.

Then all along the waterside came the noise of hammering; in the street where the metalworkers were came the noise of beating upon metals as the smiths fas.h.i.+oned out of bronze armor for the heroes and swords and spears.

Every day, under the eyes of Argus the master, the s.h.i.+p that had in it the beam from Zeus's grove was built higher and wider. And those who were building the s.h.i.+p often felt going through it tremors as of a living creature.

When the s.h.i.+p was built and made ready for the voyage a name was given to it-the ARGO it was called. And naming themselves from the s.h.i.+p the heroes called themselves the ARGONAUTS. All was ready for the voyage, and now Jason went with his friends to view the s.h.i.+p before she was brought into the water.

Argus the master was on the s.h.i.+p, seeing to it that the last things were being done before _Argo_ was launched. Very grave and wise looked Argus-Argus the builder of the s.h.i.+p. And wonderful to the heroes the s.h.i.+p looked now that Argus, for their viewing, had set up the mast with the sails and had even put the oars in their places. Wonderful to the heroes _Argo_ looked with her long oars and her high sails, with her timbers painted red and gold and blue, and with a marvelous figure carved upon her prow. All over the s.h.i.+p Jason's eyes went. He saw a figure standing by the mast; for a moment he looked on it, and then the figure became shadowy.

But Jason knew that he had looked upon the G.o.ddess whom he had seen in the ways of the forest and had seen afterward by the rough Anaurus.

Then mast and sails were taken down and the oars were left in the s.h.i.+p, and the _Argo_ was launched into the water. The heroes went back to the palace of King Pelias to feast with the king's guests before they took their places on the s.h.i.+p, setting out on the voyage to far Colchis.

When they came into the palace they saw that another hero had arrived.

His s.h.i.+eld was hung in the hall; the heroes all gathered around, amazed at the size and the beauty of it. The s.h.i.+eld shone all over with gold. In its center was the figure of Fear-of Fear that stared backward with eyes burning as with fire. The mouth was open and the teeth were shown. And other figures were wrought around the figure of Fear-Strife and Pursuit and Flight; Tumult and Panic and Slaughter. The figure of Fate was there dragging a dead man by the feet; on her shoulders Fate had a garment that was red with the blood of men.

Around these figures were heads of snakes, heads with black jaws and glittering eyes, twelve heads such as might affright any man. And on other parts of the s.h.i.+eld were shown the horses of Ares, the grim G.o.d of war.

The figure of Ares himself was shown also. He held a spear in his hand, and he was urging the warriors on.

Around the inner rim of the s.h.i.+eld the sea was shown, wrought in white metal. Dolphins swam in the sea, fis.h.i.+ng for little fishes that were shown there in bronze. Around the rim chariots were racing along with wheels running close together; there were men fighting and women watching from high towers. The awful figure of the Darkness of Death was shown there, too, with mournful eyes and the dust of battles upon her shoulders. The outer rim of the s.h.i.+eld showed the Stream of Ocean, the stream that encircles the world; swans were soaring above and swimming on its surface.

All in wonder the heroes gazed on the great s.h.i.+eld, telling each other that only one man in all the world could carry it-Heracles the son of Zeus. Could it be that Heracles had come amongst them? They went into the feasting hall and they saw one there who was tall as a pine tree, with unshorn tresses of hair upon his head. Heracles indeed it was! He turned to them a smiling face with smiling eyes. Heracles! They all gathered around the strongest hero in the world, and he took the hand of each in his mighty hand.

V. The _Argo_

[Decorative first letter]