THEY came
near Salmydessus, where Phineus, the wise king, ruled, and they
sailed past it; they sighted the pile of stones, with the oar
upright upon it that they had raised on the seashore over the body
of Tiphys, the skillful steersman whom they had lost; they sailed
on until they heard a sound that grew more and more thunderous, and
then the heroes said to each other, “Now we
come to the Symplegades and the dread passage into the Sea of
Pontus.”
It was then
that Jason cried out: “Ah, when Pelias
spoke of this quest to me, why did I not turn my head away and
refuse to be drawn into it? Since we came near the dread passage
that is before us I have passed every night in groans. As for you
who have come with me, you may take your ease, [pg 95] for you need care only for
your own lives. But I have to care for you all, and to strive to
win for you all a safe return to Greece. Ah, greatly am I afflicted
now, knowing to what a great peril I have brought you!”
So Jason said,
thinking to make trial of the heroes. They, on their part, were not
dismayed, but shouted back cheerful words to him. Then he said:
“O friends of mine, by your spirit my
spirit is quickened. Now if I knew that I was being borne down into
the black gulfs of Hades, I should fear nothing, knowing that you
are constant and faithful of heart.”
As he said this
they came into water that seethed all around the ship. Then into
the hands of Euphemus, a youth of Iolcus, who was the keenest-eyed
amongst the Argonauts, Jason put the pigeon that Hypsipyle had
given him. He bade him stand by the prow of the Argo,
ready to loose the pigeon as the ship came nigh that dreadful gate
of rock.
They saw the
spray being dashed around in showers; they saw the sea spread
itself out in foam; they saw the high, black rocks rush together,
sounding thunderously as they met. The caves in the high rocks
rumbled as the sea surged into them, and the foam of the dashing
waves spurted high up the rocks.
Jason shouted
to each man to grip hard on the oars. The Argo
dashed on as the rocks rushed toward each other again. Then there
was such noise that no man’s voice could be heard above it.
As the rocks
met, Euphemus loosed the pigeon. With his [pg 96] keen eyes he watched her fly through the
spray. Would she, not finding an opening to fly through, turn back?
He watched, and meanwhile the Argonauts gripped hard on the oars to
save the ship from being dashed on the rocks. The pigeon fluttered
as though she would sink down and let the spray drown her. And then
Euphemus saw her raise herself and fly forward. Toward the place
where she had flown he pointed. The rowers gave a loud cry, and
Jason called upon them to pull with might and main.
The rocks were
parting asunder, and to the right and left broad Pontus was seen by
the heroes. Then suddenly a huge wave rose before them, and at the
sight of it they all uttered a cry and bent their heads. It seemed
to them that it would dash down on the whole ship’s length and
overwhelm them all. But Nauplius was quick to ease the ship, and
the wave rolled away beneath the keel, and at the stern it raised
the Argo and dashed her away from the
rocks.
They felt the
sun as it streamed upon them through the sundered rocks. They
strained at the oars until the oars bent like bows in their hands.
The ship sprang forward. Surely they were now in the wide Sea of
Pontus!
The Argonauts
shouted. They saw the rocks behind them with the sea fowl screaming
upon them. Surely they were in the Sea of Pontus—the sea that had
never been entered before through the Rocks Wandering. The rocks no
longer dashed together; each remained fixed in its place, for it
was the will of [pg 97]
the gods that these rocks should no more clash together after a
mortal’s ship had passed between them.
They were now
in the Sea of Pontus, the sea into which flowed the river that
Colchis was upon—the River Phasis. And now above Jason’s head the
bird of peaceful days, the Halcyon, fluttered, and the Argonauts
knew that this was a sign from the gods that the voyage would not
any more be troublous.
