Over the storm-tossed waves, the Argonautshad sailed in Argo, their long ship to whereKing Phineus, needy in his old age, reigned—deprived of sight and feeble. When the sonsof Boreas had landed on the shore,and seen the Harpies snatching from the kinghis nourishment, befouling it with beaksobscene, they drove those human-vultures thence.And having suffered hardships and great toils,after the day they rescued the sad kingfrom the vile Harpies, those twin valiant youths,Zetes and Calais came with their chief,the mighty Jason, where the Phasis flows.From the green margin of that river, allthe crew of Argonauts, by Jason led,went to the king Aeetes and requiredthe Golden Fleece, that he received from Phryxus.When they had bargained with him, full of wileshe offered to restore the Golden Fleeceonly to those who might to him return,victorious from hard labors of great risk.Medea, the king's daughter, near his throne,saw Jason, leader of the Argonauts,as he was pressing to secure a prize—and loved at sight with a consuming flame.Although she struggled to suppress her love,unable to restrain herself, she said,“In vain I've striven to subdue my heart:some god it must be, which I cannot tell,is working to destroy my hapless life;or else it is the burning flame of lovethat in me rages. If it is not love,why do the mandates of my father seemtoo harsh? They surely are too harsh. Why doI fear that he may perish whom I haveseen only once? What is the secret causethat I am agitated by such fears?—It is no other than the god of Love.“Thrust from your virgin breast such burning flamesand overcome their hot unhappiness—if I could do so, I should be myself:but some deluding power is holding mehelpless against my will. Desire persuadesme one way, but my reason still persuadesanother way. I see a better courseand I approve, but follow its defeat. —“O royal maiden, why are you consumedwith love for this strange man, and why are youso willing to be carried by the nuptial tiesso far from your own country, where, indeed,are many brave men worthy of your love?“Whether for life or death his numbered hoursare in the mercy of the living Gods,and that he may not suffer risk of death,too well foreseen, now let my prayers prevail—righteously uttered of a generous heartwithout the stress of love. What wicked thinghas Jason done? His handsome person, youth,and noble ways, would move a heart of stone.“Have I a heart of flint, or was I borna tigress to deny him timely aid?—Unless I interpose, he will be slainby the hot breath of brazen-footed bulls,or will be slaughtered by the warriors, sprungmiraculous from earth, or will be givento satisfy the ravenous appetiteof a huge dragon.“Let my gloating eyesbe satiate with his dying agonies!Let me incite the fury of these bulls!Stir to their blood-lust mad-born sons of Earth!Rouse up the never-sleeping dragon's rage!—“Avert it Gods!—“But why should I cry outupon the Gods to save him from such wrong,when, by my actions and my power, myselfmay shield him from all evils?“Such a coursewould wreck the kingdom of my father—and by methe wily stranger would escape from him;and spreading to the wind his ready sailshe would forget and leave me to my fate.—Oh, if he should forget my sacrifice,and so prefer those who neglected him,let him then perish in his treachery.—“But these are idle thoughts: his countenance,reveals innate nobility and grace,that should dispel all fear of treachery,and guarantee his ever-faithful heart.The Gods will witness our united souls,and he shall pledge his faith. Secure of itmy fear will be removed. Be ready, then—and make a virtue of necessity:your Jason owes himself to you; and hemust join you in true wedlock. Then you shallbe celebrated through the land of Greece,by throngs of women, for the man you saved.“Shall I then sail away, and so forsakemy sister, brother, father, Gods, and landthat gave me birth? My father is indeeda stern man, and my native land is alltoo barbarous; my brother is a child,—my sister's goodwill is good help for me;and heaven's supreme god is within my breast.“I shall not so be leaving valued hopes,but will be going surely to great things.And I should gain applause from all the world,as having saved the threatened Argonauts,most noble of the Greeks; and in their land,which certainly is better than my own,become the bride of Jason, for whose loveI should not hesitate to give the world—and in whose love the living Gods rejoiceso greatly; for his sake they would bestowtheir favors on my head, and make the starsmy habitation.“Should I hesitatebecause the wreck-strewn mountains bar the way,and clash together in the Euxine waves;or fear Charybdis, fatal to large ships,that sucks the deep sea in its whirling gulfand spouts far upward, with alternate force,or Scylla, circled with infuriate houndshowling in rage from deep Sicilian waves?“Safe in the shielding arms of him I love,on Jason's bosom leaning, I shall beborne safely over wide and hostile seas;and in his dear embrace forget my fears—or if for anything I suffer dread,it will be only for the one I love.—“Alas, Medea, this vain argumenthas only furnished plausible excusefor criminal desires, and desecratesthe marriage rite. It is a wicked thingto think upon. Before it is too lateforget your passion and deny this guilt.”And after she had said these words, her eyeswere opened to the prize of modesty,chaste virtue, and a pure affection:and Cupid, vanquished, turned away and fled.Then, to an ancient altar of the goddess namedHecate, Perse's daughter took her wayin the deep shadows of a forest. Shewas strong of purpose now, and all the flamesof vanquished passion had died down; but whenshe saw the son of Aeson, dying flamesleaped up again. Her cheeks grew red, then allher face went pale again; as a small sparkwhen hid beneath the ashes, if fed bya breath of wind grows and regains its strength,as it is fanned to life; so now her lovethat had been smoldering, and which you wouldhave thought was almost dead, when she had seeagain his manly youth, blazed up once more.For on that day his graceful person seemedas glorious as a God;—and as she gazed,and fixed her eyes upon his countenance,her frenzy so prevailed, she was convincedthat he was not a mortal. And her eyeswere fascinated; and she could not turnaway from him. But when he spoke to her,and promised marriage, grasping her right hand:she answered, as her eyes suffused with tears;“I see what I will do, and ignoranceof truth will not be my undoing now,but love itself. By my assistance youshall be preserved; but when preserved fulfillyour promise.”He swore that she could trust in him.Then by the goddess of the triple form,Diana, Trivia, or Luna called,and by her sacred groves and fanes, he vowed,and by the hallowed Sun that sees all things,and by his own adventures, and his life,—on these the youthful Jason took his oath.—With this she was assured and quickly gaveto him the magic herbs: he learnt their useand full of joy withdrew into his house.Now when the dawn had dimmed the glittering stars,the people hastened to the sacred fieldof Mars, and on the hills expectant stood.—Arrayed in purple, and in majestydistinguished by his ivory sceptre, satthe king, surrounded by a multitude.Below them on the visioned Field of Mars,huge brazen-footed bulls were breathing forthfrom adamantine nostrils living flames,blasting the verdant herbage in their path!As forges glowing with hot flames resound,or as much quick-lime, burnt in earthen kilns,crackles and hisses as if mad with rage,sprinkled with water, liberating heat;so their hot throats and triple-heated sides,resounding told of pent-up fires within.The son of Aeson went to meet them. Ashe came to meet them the fierce animalsturned on him faces terrible, and sharphorns tipped with iron, and they pawedthe dusty earth with cloven feet, and filledthe place with fiery bellowings. The Minyanswere stark with fear; he went up to the bullsnot feeling their hot breath at all, so greatthe power of his charmed drugs; and while hewas stroking their down-hanging dewlaps witha fearless hand, he placed the yoke down ontheir necks and made them draw the heavy plow,and cut through fields that never felt the steelbefore. The Colchians were amazed and silent;but the loud shouting of the Minyansincreased their hero's courage. Taking thenthe serpent's teeth out of a brazen helmethe sowed them broadcast in the new-plowed field.The moist earth softened these seeds that were steepedin virulent poison and the teeth swelled upand took new forms. And just as in its motheran infant gradually assumes the formof man, and is perfected through all partswithin, and does not come forth to the lighttill fully formed; so, when the forms of menhad been completed in the womb of earthmade pregnant, they rose up from it,and what is yet more wonderful, each oneclashed weapons that had been brought forth with him.When his companions saw the warriors turnas if with one accord, to hurl their spears,sharp-pointed, at the head of Jason, fearunnerved the boldest and their courage failed.So, too, the maid whose sorcery had savedhim from much danger, when she saw the youthencompassed by those raging enemies,and he alone against so many—struckwith sudden panic, she turned ashen white,her bloodless cheeks were blanched; and chilled with fearshe wilted to the ground; and lest the herbs,so lately given him, might fail his needshe added incantations and invokedmysterious arts. While she protected himHe seized upon a heavy stone, and hurledit in the midst of his new enemies—distracted by this cast, and murderous,they turned from him, and clashing their new arms,those earth-born brothers fought among themselvestill all were slaughtered in blood-thirsty strife.Gladly the Greeks acclaimed him conqueror,and pressed around him for the first embrace.Then, too, Medea, barbarous Colchian maid,although her modesty restrained her heart,eagerly longed to fold him in her arms,but careful of her good name, held aloof,—rejoicing in deep, silent love; and sheacknowledged to the Gods her mighty giftof incantations.But the dragon, stillalert,—magnificent and terriblewith gorgeous crest and triple tongue, and fangsbarbed as a javelin, guards the Golden Fleece:and Jason can obtain that quest onlyif slumber may seal up the monster's eyes.—Jason, successful, sprinkled on his crestLethean juices of a magic herb,and then recited thrice the words which bringdeep slumber, potent words which would becalmthe storm-tossed ocean, and would stop the flowof the most rapid rivers of our earth:and slowly slumber sealed the dragon's eyes.While that great monster slept, the hero tookthe Golden Fleece; and proudly sailed awaybearing his treasure and the willing maid,(whose aid had saved him) to his native portIolcus—victorious with the Argonauts.
Iamque fretum Minyae Pagasaea puppe secabant,perpetuaque trahens inopem sub nocte senectamPhineus visus erat, iuvenesque Aquilone creativirgineas volucres miseri senis ore fugarant,multaque perpessi claro sub Iasone tandemcontigerant rapidas limosi Phasidos undas.Dumque adeunt regem Phrixeaque vellera poscuntlexque datur Minyis magnorum horrenda laborum,concipit interea validos Aeetias igneset luctata diu, postquam ratione furoremvincere non poterat, “frustra Medea, repugnas:nescio quis deus obstat” ait; “mirumque, nisi hoc est,aut aliquid certe simile huic, quod amare vocatur.Nam cur iussa patris nimium mihi dura videntur?Sunt quoque dura nimis. Cur, quem modo denique vidi,ne pereat, timeo? quae tanti causa timoris?Excute virgineo conceptas pectore flammas,si potes, infelix! — Si possem, sanior essem.Sed trahit invitam nova vis, aliudque cupido,mens aliud suadet. Video meliora proboque,deteriora sequor. Quid in hospite, regia virgo,ureris et thalamos alieni concipis orbis?Haec quoque terra potest, quod ames, dare. Vivat an illeoccidat, in dis est. Vivat tamen! idque precarivel sine amore licet: quid enim commisit Iason?Quem, nisi crudelem, non tangat Iasonis aetaset genus et virtus? Quem non, ut cetera desint,ore movere potest? Certe mea pectora movit.At nisi opem tulero, taurorum adflabitur oreconcurretque suae segeti, tellure creatishostibus, aut avido dabitur fera praeda draconi.Hoc ego si patiar, tum me de tigride natam,tum ferrum et scopulos gestare in corde fatebor.Cur non et specto pereuntem oculosque videndoconscelero? Cur non tauros exhortor in illumterrigenasque feros insopitumque draconem?Di meliora velint. Quamquam non ista precanda,sed facienda mihi. — Prodamne ego regna parentis,atque ope nescio quis servabitur advena nostra,ut per me sospes sine me det lintea ventisvirque sit alterius, poenae Medea relinquar?Si facere hoc aliamve potest praeponere nobis,occidat ingratus. Sed non is vultus in illo,non ea nobilitas animo est, ea gratia formae,ut timeam fraudem meritique oblivia nostri.Et dabit ante fidem, cogamque in foedera testesesse deos. Quid tuta times? accingere et omnempelle moram: tibi se semper debebit Iason,te face sollemni iunget sibi, perque Pelasgasservatrix urbes matrum celebrabere turba.Ergo ego germanam fratremque patremque deosqueet natale solum, ventis ablata, relinquam?Nempe pater saevus, nempe est mea barbara tellus,frater adhuc infans: stant mecum vota sororis,maximus intra me deus est. Non magna relinquam,magna sequar: titulum servatae pubis Achivaenotitiamque loci melioris et oppida, quorumhic quoque fama viget, cultusque artesque locorum;quemque ego cum rebus, quas totus possidet orbis,Aesoniden mutasse velim; quo coniuge felixet dis cara ferar et vertice sidera tangam.Quid, quod nescio qui mediis concurrere in undisdicuntur montes, ratibusque inimica Charybdisnunc sorbere fretum, nunc reddere, cinctaque saevisScylla rapax canibus Siculo latrare profundo?Nempe tenens, quod amo, gremioque in Iasonis haerensper freta longa ferar: nihil illum amplexa vereboraut, siquid metuam, metuam de coniuge solo. —Coniugiumne vocas speciosaque nomina culpaeimponis, Medea, tuae? Quin adspice, quantumadgrediare nefas, et, dum licet, effuge crimen.”Dixit, et ante oculos rectum pietasque pudorqueconstiterant, et victa dabat iam terga Cupido.Ibat ad antiquas Hecates Perseidos aras,quas nemus umbrosum secretaque silva tegebat.Et iam fortis erat pulsusque resederat ardor,cum videt Aesoniden exstinctaque flamma reluxit.Erubuere genae, totoque recanduit ore,utque solet ventis alimenta adsumere quaequeparva sub inducta latuit scintilla favillacrescere et in veteres agitata resurgere vires,sic iam lentus amor, iam quem languere putares,ut vidit iuvenem, specie praesentis inarsit.Et casu solito formosior Aesone natusilla luce fuit: posses ignoscere amanti.Spectat et in vultu veluti tum denique visolumina fixa tenet nec se mortalia demensora videre putat, nec se declinat ab illo.Ut vero coepitque loqui dextramque prehendithospes et auxilium submissa voce rogavitpromisitque torum, lacrimis ait illa profusis:“Quid faciam, video (non ignorantia veridecipiet, sed amor): servabere munere nostro;servatus promissa dato.” Per sacra triformisille deae, lucoque foret quod numen in illo,perque patrem soceri cernentem cuncta futurieventusque suos et tanta pericula iurat.Creditus accepit cantatas protinus herbasedidicitque usum, laetusque in tecta recessit.Postera depulerat stellas aurora micantes:conveniunt populi sacrum Mavortis in arvumconsistuntque iugis. Medio rex ipse reseditagmine purpureus sceptroque insignis eburno.Ecce adamanteis Vulcanum naribus efflantaeripedes tauri, tactaeque vaporibus herbaeardent; utque solent pleni resonare camini,aut ubi terrena silices fornace soluticoncipiunt ignem liquidarum adspergine aquarum,pectora sic intus clausas volventia flammasgutturaque usta sonant. Tamen illis Aesone natusobvius it. Vertere truces venientis ad oraterribiles vultus praefixaque cornua ferro,pulvereumque solum pede pulsavere bisulcofumificisque locum mugitibus impleverunt.Deriguere metu Minyae: subit ille, nec ignessentit anhelatos (tantum medicamina possunt),pendulaque audaci mulcet palearia dextra,suppositosque iugo pondus grave cogit aratriducere et insuetum ferro proscindere campum.Mirantur Colchi, Minyae clamoribus augentadiciuntque animos. Galea tum sumit aenavipereos dentes et aratos spargit in agros.Semina mollit humus valido praetincta veneno,et crescunt fiuntque sati nova corpora dentes.Utque hominis speciem materna sumit in alvoperque suos intus numeros componitur infans,nec nisi maturus communes exit in auras,sic ubi visceribus gravidae telluris imagoeffecta est hominis, feto consurgit in arvo,quodque magis mirum est, simul edita concutit arma.Quos ubi viderunt praeacutae cuspidis hastasin caput Haemonii iuvenis torquere parantes,demisere metu vultumque animumque Pelasgi.Ipsa quoque extimuit, quae tutum fecerat illum;utque peti vidit iuvenem tot ab hostibus unum,palluit et subito sine sanguine frigida sedit;neve parum valeant a se data gramina, carmenauxiliare canit secretasque advocat artes.Ille gravem medios silicem iaculatus in hostesa se depulsum Martem convertit in ipsos.Terrigenae pereunt per mutua vulnera fratrescivilique cadunt acie. Gratantur Achivivictoremque tenent avidisque amplexibus haerent.Tu quoque victorem complecti, barbara, velles:sed te, ne faceres, tenuit reverentia famae.Quod licet, adfectu tacito laetaris agisquecarminibus grates et dis auctoribus horum.Pervigilem superest herbis sopire draconem,qui crista linguisque tribus praesignis et uncisdentibus horrendus custos erat arboris aureae.Hunc postquam sparsit Lethaei gramine suciverbaque ter dixit placidos facientia somnos,quae mare turbatum, quae concita flumina sistunt,somnus in ignotos oculos sibi venit, et auroheros Aesonius potitur spolioque superbusmuneris auctorem secum, spolia altera, portansvictor Iolciacos tetigit cum coniuge portus.
Now when the valiant Argonauts returnedto Thessaly, their happy relatives,fathers and mothers, praised the living Gods;and with their hallowed gifts enhanced the flameswith precious incense; and they offered Jovea sacred bullock, rich with gilded horns.But Jason's father, Aeson, came not downrejoicing to behold his son, for nowworn out with many years, he waited death.And Jason to Medea grieving said:“Dearest, to whom my life and love are due,although your kindness has been great to me,and you have granted more than I should ask,yet one thing more I beg of you; if yourenchantments can accomplish my desire,take from my life some years that I should liveand add them to my father's ending days.”—And as he spoke he could not check his tears.Medea, moved by his affection, thoughthow much less she had grieved for her loved sire:and she replied:—“A wicked thing you ask!Can I be capable of using youin such a manner as to take your lifeand give it to another? Ask not mea thing so dreadful! May the Gods forbid!—I will endeavor to perform for youa task much greater. By the powers of NightI will most certainly return to himthe lost years of your father, but must notdeprive you of your own. — Oh grant the power,great goddess of the triple form, that Imay fail not to accomplish this great deed!”Three nights were wanting for the moon to joinher circling horns and form a perfect orb.When these were passed, the rounded light shone fulland bright upon the earth.—Through the still nightalone, Medea stole forth from the housewith feet bare, and in flowing garment clothed—her long hair unadorned and not confined.Deep slumber has relaxed the world, and allthat's living, animals and birds and men,and even the hedges and the breathing leavesare still—and motionless the laden air.Only the stars are twinkling, and to themshe looks and beckons with imploring hands.Now thrice around she paces, and three timesbesprinkles her long hair with water diptfrom crystal streams, which having doneshe kneels a moment on the cold, bare ground,and screaming three times calls upon the Night,—“O faithful Night, regard my mysteries!O golden-lighted Stars! O softly-moving Moon—genial, your fire succeeds the heated day!O Hecate! grave three-faced queen of thesecharms of enchanters and enchanters, arts!O fruitful Earth, giver of potent herbs!O gentle Breezes and destructive Winds!You Mountains, Rivers, Lakes and sacred Groves,and every dreaded god of silent Night!Attend upon me!—“When my power commands,the rivers turn from their accustomed waysand roll far backward to their secret springs!I speak—and the wild, troubled sea is calm,and I command the waters to arise!The clouds I scatter—and I bring the clouds;I smooth the winds and ruffle up their rage;I weave my spells and I recite my charms;I pluck the fangs of serpents, and I movethe living rocks and twist the rooted oaks;I blast the forests. Mountains at my wordtremble and quake; and from her granite tombsthe liberated ghosts arise as Earthastonished groans! From your appointed ways,O wonder-working Moon, I draw you downagainst the magic-making sound of gongsand brazen vessels of Temesa's ore;I cast my spells and veil the jeweled raysof Phoebus' wain, and quench Aurora's fires.“At my command you tamed the flaming bullswhich long disdained to bend beneath the yoke,until they pressed their necks against the plows;and, subject to my will, you raised up wartill the strong company of dragon-birthwere slaughtered as they fought amongst themselves;and, last, you lulled asleep the warden's eyes—guards of the Golden Fleece—till then awakeand sleeping never—so, deceiving him,you sent the treasure to the Grecian cities!“Witness my need of super-natured herbs,elixirs potent to renew the years of age,giving the bloom of youth.—You shall not failto grant me this; for not in vain the starsare flashing confirmation; not in vainthe flying dragons, harnessed by their necks,from skies descending bring my chariot down.”A chariot, sent from heaven, came to her—and soon as she had stroked the dragons' necks,and shaken in her hands the guiding reins—as soon as she had mounted, she was bornequickly above, through unresisting air.And, sailing over Thessaly, she sawthe vale of Tempe, where the level soilis widely covered with a crumbling chalk—she turned her dragons towards new regions there:and she observed the herbs by Ossa born,the weeds on lofty Pelion, Othrys, Pindusand vast Olympus—and from here she pluckedthe needed roots, or there, the blossoms clippedall with a moon-curved sickle made of brass—many the wild weeds by Apidanus,as well as blue Amphrysus' banks, she chose,and not escaped Enipeus from her search;Peneian stretches and Spercheian banksall yielded what she chose:—and Boebe's shorewhere sway the rushes; and she plucked up grass,a secret grass, from fair Euboean fieldslife-giving virtues in their waving blades,as yet unknown for transformation wroughton Glaucus.All those fields she visited,with ceaseless diligence in quest of charms,nine days and nine nights sought strong herbs,and the swift dragons with their active wings,failed not to guide the chariot where she willed—until they reached her home. The dragons thenhad not been even touched by anything,except the odor of surrounding herbs,and yet they sloughed their skins, the growth of years.
Haemoniae matres pro gnatis dona receptisgrandaevique ferunt patres congestaque flammatura liquefaciunt, inductaque cornibus aurumvictima vota cadit. Sed abest gratantibus Aeson,iam propior leto fessusque senilibus annis.Cum sic Aesonides: “O cui debere salutemconfiteor, coniunx, quamquam mihi cuncta dedistiexcessitque fidem meritorum summa tuorum,si tamen hoc possunt (quid enim non carmina possunt?),deme meis annis et demptos adde parenti.”Nec tenuit lacrimas. Mota est pietate rogantis,dissimilemque animum subiit Aeeta relictus.Nec tamen adfectus tales confessa “quod” inquit“excidit ore tuo, coniunx, scelus? ergo ego cuiquamposse tuae videor spatium transcribere vitae?Nec sinat hoc Hecate, nec tu petis aequa. Sed isto,quod petis, experiar maius dare munus Iason.Arte mea soceri longum temptabimus aevum,non annis renovare tuis: modo diva triformisadiuvet et praesens ingentibus adnuat ausis.”Tres aberant noctes, ut cornua tota coirentefficerentque orbem. Postquam plenissima fulsitet solida terras spectavit imagine luna,egreditur tectis vestes induta recinctas,nuda pedem, nudos umeris infusa capillos,fertque vagos mediae per muta silentia noctisincomitata gradus. Homines volucresque ferasquesolverat alta quies: nullo cum murmure saepes,inmotaeque silent frondes, silet umidus aer;sidera sola micant. Ad quae sua bracchia tendenster se convertit, ter sumptis flumine crineminroravit aquis ternisque ululatibus orasolvit et, in dura submisso poplite terra,“Nox” ait “arcanis fidissima, quaeque diurnisaurea cum luna succeditis ignibus astra,tuque triceps Hecate, quae coeptis conscia nostrisadiutrixque venis cantusque artisque magorum,quaeque magos, Tellus, pollentibus instruis herbis,auraeque et venti montesque amnesque lacusquedique omnes nemorum, dique omnes noctis adeste.Quorum ope, cum volui, ripis mirantibus amnesin fontes rediere suos, concussaque sisto,stantia concutio cantu freta, nubila pellonubilaque induco, ventos abigoque vocoque,vipereas rumpo verbis et carmine fauces,vivaque saxa sua convulsaque robora terraet silvas moveo, iubeoque tremescere monteset mugire solum manesque exire sepulcris.Te quoque, Luna, traho, quamvis Temesaea laboresaera tuos minuant; currus quoque carmine nostropallet avi, pallet nostris Aurora venenis.Vos mihi taurorum flammas hebetastis et uncoimpatiens oneris collum pressistis aratro,vos serpentigenis in se fera bella dedistiscustodemque rudem somno sopistis et aurumvindice decepto Graias misistis in urbes.Nunc opus est sucis, per quos renovata senectusin florem redeat primosque reconligat annos.Et dabitis. Neque enim micuerunt sidera frustra,nec frustra volucrum tractus cervice draconumcurrus adest.” Aderat demissus ab aethere currus.Quo simul adscendit frenataque colla draconumpermulsit manibusque leves agitavit habenas,sublimis rapitur subiectaque Thessala Tempedespicit et Threces regionibus applicat angues:et quasque Ossa tulit quasque altus Pelion herbasOthrysque Pindusque et Pindo maior Olympusperspicit, et placitas partim radice revellit,partim succidit curvamine falcis aenae.Multa quoque Apidani placuerunt gramina ripis,multa quoque Amphrysi neque eras inmunis, Enipeu;nec non Peneos, nec non Spercheides undaecontribuere aliquid iuncosaque litora Boebes.Carpsit et Euboica vivax Anthedone gramen,nondum mutato vulgatum corpore Glauci.Et iam nona dies curru pennisque draconumnonaque nox omnes lustrantem viderat agros,cum rediit. Neque erant tacti, nisi odore, dracones,et tamen annosae pellem posuere senectae.
She would not cross the threshold of her homenor pass its gates; but, standing in the field,alone beneath the canopy of Heaven,she shunned all contact with her husband, whileshe built up from the ever-living turftwo altars, one of which upon the rightto Hecate was given, but the oneupon the left was sacred then to you,O Hebe, goddess of eternal youth!Festooning woodland boughs and sweet vervainadorned these altars, near by which she dugas many trenches. Then, when all was done,she slaughtered a black ram, and sprinkled with bloodthe thirsty trenches; after which she pouredfrom rich carchesian goblets generous wineand warm milk, grateful to propitious Gods—the Deities of earth on whom she called—entreating, as she did so, Pluto, lordof ghostly shades, and ravished Proserpine,that they should not, in undue haste,deprive her patient's aged limbs of life.When certain she compelled the God's regard,assured her incantations and long prayerswere both approved and heard, she bade her peoplebring out the body of her father-in-law—old Aeson's worn out body—and when shehad buried him in a deep slumber byher spells, as if he were a dead man, shethen stretched him out upon a bed of herbs.She ordered Jason and his servants thence,and warned them not to spy upon her rites,with eyes profane. As soon as they retired,Medea, with disheveled hair and wildabandon, as a Bacchanalian, pacedtimes three around the blazing altars, whileshe dipped her torches, splintered at the top,into the trenches, dark: with blood, and litthe dipt ends in the sacred altar flames.Times three she purified the ancient manwith flames, and thrice with water, and three timeswith sulphur,—as the boiling mixture seethedand bubbled in the brazen cauldron near.And into this, acerbic juices, roots,and flowers and seeds—from vales Hemonian—and mixed elixirs, into which she caststones of strange virtue from the Orient,and sifted sands of ebbing ocean's tide;white hoar-frost, gathered when the moon was full,the nauseating flesh and luckless wingsof the uncanny screech-owl, and the entrailsfrom a mysterious animal that changedfrom wolf to man, from man to wolf again;the scaly sloughing of a water-snake,the medic liver of a long-lived stag,and the hard beak and head of an old crowwhich was alive nine centuries before;these, and a thousand nameless thingsthe foreign sorceress prepared and mixed,and blended all together with a branchof peaceful olive, old and dry with years. —And while she stirred the withered olive branchin the hot mixture, it began to changefrom brown to green; and presently put forthnew leaves, and soon was heavy with a wealthof luscious olives.—As the ever-rising firethrew bubbling froth beyond the cauldron's rim,the ground was covered with fresh verdure — flowersand all luxuriant grasses, and green plants.Medea, when she saw this wonder tookher unsheathed knife and cut the old man's throat;then, letting all his old blood out of himshe filled his ancient veins with rich elixir.As he received it through his lips or wound,his beard and hair no longer white with age,turned quickly to their natural vigor, darkand lustrous; and his wasted form renewed,appeared in all the vigor of bright youth,no longer lean and sallow, for new bloodcoursed in his well-filled veins.—Astonished, whenreleased from his deep sleep, and strong in youth,his memory assured him, such he wasyears four times ten before that day!—Bacchus, from his celestial vantage sawthis marvel, and convinced his nurses mightthen all regain their former vigor, hepled with Medea to restore their youth.The Colchian woman granted his request.
Constitit adveniens citra limenque foresqueet tantum caelo tegitur refugitque virilescontactus statuitque aras de caespite binas,dexteriore Hecates, ast laeva parte Iuventae.Has ubi verbenis silvaque incinxit agresti.haud procul egesta scrobibus tellure duabussacra facit cultrosque in guttura velleris atriconicit et patulas perfundit sanguine fossas.Tum super invergens liquidi carchesia vinialteraque invergens tepidi carchesia lactisverba simul fudit terrenaque numina civitumbrarumque rogat rapta cum coniuge regem,ne properent artus anima fraudare senili.Quos ubi placavit precibusque et murmure longo,Aesonis effetum proferri corpus ad aurasiussit et in plenos resolutum carmine somnos,exanimi similem, stratis porrexit in herbis.Hinc procul Aesoniden, procul hinc iubet ire ministroset monet arcanis oculos removere profanos.Diffugiunt iussi. Passis Medea capillisbacchantum ritu, flagrantes circuit arasmultifidasque faces in fossa sanguinis atratingit et infectas geminis accendit in aristerque senem flamma, ter aqua, ter sulphure lustrat.Interea validum posito medicamen aenofervet et exsultat spumisque tumentibus albet.Illic Haemonia radices valle resectasseminaque floresque et sucos incoquit atros.Adicit extremo lapides oriente petitoset quas Oceani refluum mare lavit harenas,addit et exceptas luna pernocte pruinaset strigis infames ipsis cum carnibus alasinque virum soliti vultus mutare ferinosambigui prosecta lupi; nec defuit illissquamea Cinyphii tenuis membrana chelydrivivacisque iecur cervi; quibus insuper additora caputque novem cornicis saecula passae.His et mille aliis postquam sine nomine rebuspropositum instruxit mortali barbara maiusarenti ramo iampridem mitis olivaeomnia confudit summisque inmiscuit ima.Ecce vetus calido versatus stipes aenofit viridis primo, nec longo tempore frondesinduit et subito gravidis oneratur olivis.At quacumque cavis spumas eiecit aenisignis et in terram guttae cecidere calentes,vernat humus, floresque et mollia pabula surgunt.Quae simul ac vidit, stricto Medea recluditense senis iugulum, veteremque exire cruorempassa, replet sucis. Quos postquam combibit Aesonaut ore acceptos aut vulnere, barba comaequecanitie posita nigrum rapuere colorem,pulsa fugit macies, abeunt pallorque situsque,adiectoque cavae supplentur corpore rugae,membraque luxuriant. Aeson miratur et olimante quater denos hunc se reminiscitur annos.Viderat ex alto tanti miracula monstriLiber, et admonitus iuvenes nutricibus annosposse suis reddi, capit hoc a Colchide munus.
but so her malice might be satisfiedMedea feigned she had a quarrel withher husband, and for safety she had fledto Pelias. There, since the king himselfwas heavy with old age, his daughters gaveher generous reception. And these girlsthe shrewd Medea in a short time won,by her false show of friendliness; and whileamong the most remarkable of herachievements she was telling how she hadrejuvenated Aeson, and she dweltparticularly, on that strange event,these daughters were induced to hope that bysome skill like this their father might regainhis lost youth also. And they begged of herthis boon, persuading her to name the price;no matter if it was large. She did notreply at once and seemed to hesitate,and so she held their fond minds in a deepsuspense by her feigned meditation. Whenshe had at length declared she would restorehis youth, she said to them: “That you may havestrong confidence in this my promised boon,the oldest leader of your flock of sheep shall bechanged to a lamb again by my prized drugs.”Straightway a wooly ram, worn out with lengthof untold years was brought, his great horns curvedaround his hollow temples. After shehad cut his scrawny throat with her sharp knifeThessalian, barely staining it with histhin blood, Medea plunged his carcass ina bronze-made kettle, throwing in it atthe same time juices of great potency.These made his body shrink and burnt awayhis two horns, and with horns his years. And nowthin bleating was heard from within the pot;and even while they wondered at the sound,a lamb jumped out and frisking, ran awayto find some udder with its needed milk.Amazed the daughters looked on and, now thatthese promises had been performed, they urgedmore eagerly their first request. Three timesPhoebus unyoked his steeds after their plungein Ebro's stream, and on the fourth night starsshown brilliant on the dark foil of the sky,and then the treacherous daughter of Aeetesset some clear water over a hot fireand put in it herbs of no potency.And now a death-like sleep held the king down,his body all relaxed, and with the kinghis guards, a sleep which incantations withthe potency of magic words had given.The sad king's daughters, as they had been bid,were in his room, and with Medea stoodaround his bed. “Why do you hesitate,”Medea said. “You laggards, come and drawyour swords; let out his old blood thatI may refill his empty veins againwith young blood. In your hands your father's lifeand youth are resting. You, his daughters, musthave love for him, and if the hopes you haveare not all vain, come, do your duty byyour father; drive out old age at the pointof your good weapons; and let out his bloodenfeebled—cure him with the stroke of iron.”Spurred on by these words, as each one of themwas filial she became the leader inthe most unfilial act, and that she mightnot be most wicked did the wicked deed.Not one could bear to see her own blows, sothey turned their eyes away; and every faceaverted so, they blindly struck him withtheir cruel hands. The old man streaming withhis blood, still raised himself on elbow, andhalf mangled tried to get up from his bed;with all those swords around him, he stretched outhis pale arms and he cried: “What will you do,my daughters? What has armed you to the deathof your loved father?” Their wrong courage leftthem, and their hands fell. When he would have saidstill more, Medea cut his throat and plungedhis mangled body into boiling water.
Neve doli cessent, odium cum coniuge falsumPhasias adsimulat Peliaeque ad limina supplexconfugit. Atque illam, quoniam gravis ipse senecta est,excipiunt natae. Quas tempore callida parvoColchis amicitiae mendacis imagine cepit.Dumque refert inter meritorum maxima, demptosAesonis esse situs, atque hac in parte moratur,spes est virginibus Pelia subiecta creatisarte suum parili revirescere posse parentem.Idque petunt pretiumque iubent sine fine pacisci.Illa brevi spatio silet et dubitare videtursuspenditque animos ficta gravitate rogantes.Mox ubi pollicita est, “quo sit fiducia maiormuneris huius” ait, “qui vestri maximus aevo estdux gregis inter oves, agnus medicamine fiet.”Protinus innumeris effetus laniger annisattrahitur flexo circum cava tempora cornu.Cuius ut Haemonio marcentia guttura cultrofodit et exiguo maculavit sanguine ferrum,membra simul pecudis validosque venefica sucosmergit in aere cavo: minuunt en corporis artuscornuaque exurunt nec non cum cornibus annos,et tener auditur medio balatus aeno.Nec mora, balatum mirantibus exsilit agnuslascivitque fuga lactantiaque ubera quaerit.Obstipuere satae Pelia: promissaque postquamexhibuere fidem, tum vero impensius instant.Ter iuga Phoebus equis in Hibero flumine mersisdempserat et quarta radiantia nocte micabantsidera, cum rapido fallax Aeetias igniimponit purum laticem et sine viribus herbas.Iamque neci similis resoluto corpore regemet cum rege suo custodes somnus habebat,quem dederant cantus magicaeque potentia linguae:intrarant iussae cum Colchide limina nataeambierantque torum. “Quid nunc dubitatis inertes?Stringite” ait “gladios veteremque haurite cruorem,ut repleam vacuas iuvenali sanguine venas.In manibus vestris vita est aetasque parentis:si pietas ulla est nec spes agitatis inanes,officium praestate patri telisque senectamexigite et saniem coniecto emittite ferro.”His, ut quaeque pia est, hortatibus impia prima est,et ne sit scelerata, facit scelus. Haud tamen ictusulla suos spectare potest, oculosque reflectuntcaecaque dant saevis aversae vulnera dextris.Ille, cruore fluens, cubito tamen adlevat artussemilacerque toro temptat consurgere et intertot medius gladios pallentia bracchia tendens“quid facitis, gnatae? quis vos in fata parentisarmat?” ait. Cecidere illis animique manusque.Plura locuturo cum verbis guttura Colchisabstulit et calidis laniatum mersit in undis.
Only because her winged dragons sailedswiftly with her up to the lofty sky,escaped Medea punishment for thisunheard of crime.Her chariot sailed aboveembowered Pelion — long the lofty homeof Chiron—over Othrys, and the valemade famous where Cerambus met his fate.Cerambus, by the aid of nymphs, from therewas wafted through the air on wings, when earthwas covered by the overwhelming sea—and so escaped Deucalion's flood, uncrowned.She passed by Pittane upon the left,with its huge serpent-image of hard stone,and also passed the grove called Ida's, wherethe stolen bull was changed by Bacchus' powerinto a hunted stag—in that same valeParis lies buried in the sand; and over fieldswhere Mera warning harked, Medea flew;over the city of Eurypylusupon the Isle of Cos, whose women worethe horns of cattle when from there had gonethe herd of Hercules; and over Rhodesbeloved of Phoebus, where Telchinian tribesdwelt, whose bad eyes corrupting power shot forth;—Jove, utterly despising, thrust them deepbeneath his brother's waves; over the wallsof old Carthaea, where Alcidamashad seen with wonder a tame dove arisefrom his own daughter's body.And she sawthe lakes of Hyrie in Teumesia's Vale,by swans frequented—There to satisfyhis love for Cycnus, Phyllius gavetwo living vultures: shell for him subdueda lion, and delivered it to him;and mastered a great bull, at his command;but when the wearied Phyllius refusedto render to his friend the valued bull.Indignant, the youth said, “You shall regretyour hasty words;” which having said, he leapedfrom a high precipice, as if to death;but gliding through the air, on snow-white wings,was changed into a swan—Dissolved in tears,his mother Hyrie knew not he was saved;and weeping, formed the lake that bears her name.And over Pleuron, where on trembling wingsescaped the mother Combe from her sons,Medea flew; and over the far isleCalauria, sacred to Latona.—Shebeheld the conscious fields whose lawful king,together with his queen were changed to birds.Upon her right Cyllene could be seen;there Menephon, degraded as a beast,outraged his mother. In the distance, shebeheld Cephisius, who lamented longhis hapless grandson, by Apollo changedinto a bloated sea-calf. And she sawthe house where king Eumelus mourned the deathof his aspiring son.—Borne on the wingsof her enchanted dragons, she arrivedat Corinth, whose inhabitants, 'tis said,from many mushrooms, watered by the rainsprang into being.There she spent some years.But after the new wife had been burnt bythe Colchian witchcraft and two seashad seen the king's own palace all aflame,then, savagely she drew her sword, and bathedit in the blood of her own infant sons;by which atrocious act she was revenged;and she, a wife and mother, fled the swordof her own husband, Jason.On the wingsof her enchanted Titan Dragons borne,she made escape, securely, nor delayeduntil she entered the defended wallsof great Minerva's city, at the hourwhen aged Periphas — transformed by Jove,together with his queen, on eagle wingsflew over its encircling walls: with whomthe guilty Halcyone, skimming seassafely escaped, upon her balanced wings.And after these events, Medea wentto Aegeus, king of Athens, where she foundprotection from her enemies for allthis evil done. With added wickednessAegeus, after that, united herto him in marriage.—All unknown to himcame Theseus to his kingly court.—Beforethe time his valor had established peaceon all the isthmus, raved by dual seas.Medea, seeking his destruction, brewedthe juice of aconite, infesting shoresof Scythia, where, 'tis fabled, the plant grewon soil infected by Cerberian teeth.There is a gloomy entrance to a cave,that follows a declivitous descent:there Hercules with chains of adamantdragged from the dreary edge of Tartarusthat monster-watch-dog, Cerberus, which, vainopposing, turned his eyes aslant from light—from dazzling day. Delirious, enraged,that monster shook the air with triple howls;and, frothing, sprinkled as it raved, the fields,once green—with spewing of white poison-foam.And this, converted into plants, sucked upa deadly venom with the nourishmentof former soils,—from which productive grewupon the rock, thus formed, the noxious plant;by rustics, from that cause, named aconite.Medea worked on Aegeus to presenthis own son, Theseus, with a deadly cupof aconite; prevailing by her artso that he deemed his son an enemy.Theseus unwittingly received the cup,but just before he touched it to his lips,his father recognized the sword he wore,for, graven on its ivory hilt was wroughta known device—the token of his race.Astonished, Aegeus struck the poison-cupfrom his devoted son's confiding lips.Medea suddenly escaped from death,in a dark whirlwind her witch-singing raised.Recoiling from such utter wickedness,rejoicing that his son escaped from death,the grateful father kindled altar-fires,and gave rich treasure to the living Gods. —He slaughtered scores of oxen, decked with flowersand gilded horns. The sun has never shoneupon a day more famous in that land,for all the elders and the common folkunited in festivities,—with wineinspiring wit and song;—“O you,” they sang,“Immortal Theseus, victory was yours!Did you not slaughter the huge bull of Crete?“Yes, you did slay the boar of Cromyon —where now the peasant unmolested plows;“And Periphetes, wielder of the club,was worsted when he struggled with your strength;“And fierce Procrustes, matched with youbeside the rapid river, met his death;“And even Cercyon, in Eleusis losthis wicked life—inferior to your might;“And Sinis, a monstrosity of strength,who bent the trunks of trees, and used his might“Against the world for everything that's wrong.For evil, he would force down to the earth,“Pine tops to shoot men's bodies through the air.Even the road to Megara is safe,“For you did hurl the robber Scyron,—sheer—over the cliff. Both land and sea denied“His bones a resting place—as tossed aboutthey changed into the cliffs that bear his name.“How can we tell the number of your deeds,—deeds glorious, that now exceed your years!“For you, brave hero, we give public thanksand prayers; to you we drain our cups of wine!”And all the palace rings with happy songs,and with the grateful prayers of all the people.And sorrow in that city is not known.—
Quod nisi pennatis serpentibus isset in auras,non exempta foret poenae. Fugit alta superquePelion umbrosum, Philyreia tecta, superqueOthryn et eventu veteris loca nota Cerambi.Hic ope nympharum sublatus in aera pennis,cum gravis infuso tellus foret obruta ponto,Deucalioneas effugit inobrutus undas.Aeoliam Pitanen a laeva parte relinquitfactaque de saxo longi simulacra draconis,Idaeumque nemus, quo nati furta, iuvencumocculuit Liber falsi sub imagine cervi,quaque pater Corythi parva tumulatus harena est,et quos Maera novo latratu terruit agros,Eurypylique urbem, qua Coae cornua matresgesserunt tum cum discederet Herculis agmenPhoebeamque Rhodon et Ialysios Telchinas,quorum oculos ipso vitiantes omnia visuIuppiter exosus fraternis subdidit undis.Transit et antiquae Cartheia moenia Ceae,qua pater Alcidamas placidam de corpore nataemiraturus erat nasci potuisse columbam.Inde lacus Hyries videt et Cycneia tempe,quae subitus celebravit olor. Nam Phyllius illicimperio pueri volucresque ferumque leonemtradiderat domitos; taurum quoque vincere iussusvicerat, et spreto totiens iratus amorepraemia poscenti taurum suprema negabat.Ille indignatus “cupies dare” dixit et altodesiluit saxo. Cuncti cecidisse putabant:factus olor niveis pendebat in aere pennis.At genetrix Hyrie, servatum nescia, flendodelicuit stagnumque suo de nomine fecit.Adiacet his Pleuron, in qua trepidantibus alisOphias effugit natorum vulnera Combe.Inde Calaureae Letoidos adspicit arva,in volucrem versi cum coniuge conscia regis.Dextera Cyllene est, in qua cum matre Menephronconcubiturus erat saevarum more ferarumCephison procul hinc deflentem fata nepotisrespicit, in tumidam phocen ab Apolline versi,Eumelique domum lugentis in aere natum.Tandem vipereis Ephyren Pirenida penniscontigit. Hic aevo veteres mortalia primocorpora vulgarunt pluvialibus edita fungis.Sed postquam Colchis arsit nova nupta venenis,flagrantemque domum regis mare vidit utrumque,sanguine natorum perfunditur impius ensis,ultaque se male mater Iasonis effugit arma.Hinc Titaniacis ablata draconibus intratPalladias arces, quae te, iustissima Phene,teque, senex Peripha, pariter videre volantesinnixamque novis neptem Polypemonis alis.Excipit hanc Aegeus, facto dammandus in uno;nec satis hospitium est: thalami quoque foedere iungit.Iamque aderat Theseus, proles ignara parenti,et virtute sua bimarem pacaverat Isthmon.Huius in exitium miscet Medea quod olimattulerat secum Scythicis aconiton ab oris.Illud Echidneae memorant e dentibus ortumesse canis. Specus est tenebroso caecus hiatu,est via declivis, per quam Tirynthius herosrestantem contraque diem radiosque micantesobliquantem oculos nexis adamante catenisCerberon abstraxit; rabida qui concitus iraimplevit pariter ternis latratibus auraset sparsit virides spumis albentibus agros.Has concresse putant nactasque alimenta feracisfecundique soli vires cepisse nocendi.Quae quia nascuntur dura vivacia caute,agrestes aconita vocant. Ea coniugis astuipse parens Aegeus nato porrexit ut hosti.Sumpserat ignara Theseus data pocula dextra,cum pater in capulo gladii cognovit eburnosigna sui generis facinusque excussit ab ore.Effugit illa necem nebulis per carmina motis.At genitor, quamquam laetatur sospite nato,attonitus tamen est ingens discrimine parvocommitti potuisse nefas. Fovet ignibus arasmuneribusque deos implet, feriuntque securescolla torosa boum vinctorum corpora vittis.Nullus Erechthidis fertur celebratior illoinluxisse dies. Agitant convivia patreset medium vulgus, nec non et carmina, vinoingenium faciente, canunt: “Te, maxime Theseu,mirata est Marathon Cretaei sanguine tauri;quodque suis securus arat Cromyona colonus,munus opusque tuum est. Tellus Epidauria per teclavigeram vidit Vulcani occumbere prolem,vidit et inmitem Cephisias ora Procrusten,Cercyonis letum vidit Cerealis Eleusin.Occidit ille Sinis, magnis male viribus usus,qui poterat curvare trabes et agebat ab altoad terram late sparsuras corpora pinus.Tutus ad Alcathoen, Lelegeia moenia, limescomposito Scirone patet, sparsisque latronisterra negat sedem, sedem negat ossibus unda;quae iactata diu fertur durasse vetustasin scopulos: scopulis nomen Scironis inhaeret.Si titulos annosque tuos numerare velimus,facta premant annos. Pro te, fortissime, votapublica suscipimus, Bacchi tibi sumimus haustus.”Consonat adsensu populi precibusque faventumregia, nec tota tristis locus ullus in urbe est.