[Updated 3/7/03 to remove some typos and fix some errors. Please note, this is a mostly unproofed draft translation of Book 1 that was produced at the very beginning stage of the project that led to the publication of the Anthology of Classical Myth. It's generally reliable, but it must, of course, be used with the foregoing kept in mind.]
Contents of Book 1:
The Early Gods and the Rise of Zeus 1.1–1.2
The Children of Zeus and Other Genealogies 1.3–1.4
The Rape of Persephone 1.5
The Gigantomachy and Typhon 1.6
Prometheus and Mankind 1.7
Oineus, Meleager and the Calydonian Boar Hunt 1.8
Oineus' Fate, Tydeus, and Diomedes
The Descendants of Aiolos; Phrixos, Helle, and the Golden Ram 1.9
Jason and the Argonauts; Medea
[1.1] Ouranos was the first to rule the entire cosmos. Having married Ge, he first fathered the ones called “Hundred-Handers,” namely Briareos, Gyes and Cottos, who stood unsurpassed in size and power, each with a hundred hands and each with fifty heads. After them Ge bore him the Cyclopes, namely Arges, Steropes and Brontes, and each of them had a single eye on his forehead. But Ouranos bound them and threw them into Tartaros (this is a gloomy place in Hades’ house which is as far away from Ge as Ge is from Ouranos). Then he had children with Ge—sons who were called the Titans, namely Oceanos, Coios, Hyperion, Creios, Iapetos and, youngest of them all, Cronos; and also daughters, called the Titanesses, namely Tethys, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoibe, Dione, and Theia.
Ge grew angry at the destruction of her children who had been thrown into Tartaros. She persuaded the Titans to attack their father and gave an adamantine sickle to Cronos. And, except for Oceanos, they attacked him and Cronos cut off his father’s genitals and threw them into the sea. From the drops of flowing blood the Erinyes were born, Alecto, Tisiphone and Megaira. Having removed Ouranos from power, the Titans brought up their brothers who had been thrown down to Tartaros and entrusted the kingship to Cronos.
But he again bound the Hundred-Handers and Cyclopes and shut them up in Tartaros. He married his sister Rhea and, since Ge and Ouranos told him in a prophecy that he would be deposed from power by his own child, he swallowed his children as they were born. He swallowed the first-born Hestia, then Demeter and Hera, and after them Pluto and Poseidon. Rhea grew angry at what he had done and, when it happened that her belly was swollen with Zeus, she went to Crete. She gave birth to Zeus in a cave on Mt. Dicte. And she gave him to the Couretes and to the daughters of Melisseus, the nymphs Adrasteia and Ida, to raise. These same nymphs raised the child on the milk of Amaltheia and the Couretes, wearing armor, guarded over the infant in the cave and banged their shields with their spears so that Cronos wouldn’t hear the sound of his child. Rhea wrapped a stone in swaddling clothes and gave it to Cronos to swallow as if it were their newborn child.
[1.2] When Zeus became an adult, he took Metis daughter of Oceanos as his accomplice, and she gave Cronos a drug to swallow. Under its influence he was forced first to vomit up the stone, then his children whom he had swallowed. Along with them Zeus fought the war against Cronos and the Titans. They had been fighting for ten years when Ge proclaimed that Zeus would be victorious if he should take as allies those who had been thrown into Tartaros. He killed Campe, who guarded them, and loosed their bindings. And then the Cyclopes gave Zeus thunder, lightning and thunderbolt; they gave Hades a helmet; and they gave Poseidon a trident. And armed with these weapons, they defeated the Titans, threw them into Tartaros and set the Hundred-Handers to guard them. As for themselves, they cast lots for dominion and Zeus received power in the sky, Poseidon power in the sea and Pluto power in the house of Hades.
The Titans had offspring. Oceanos and Tethys had the Oceanids: Asia, Styx, Electra, Doris, Eurynome, Amphitrite, Metis. Coios and Phoibe had Asteria and Leto. Hyperion and Theia had Eos, Helios and Selene. Creios and Eurybia daughter of Pontos had Astraios, Pallas, and Perses. Iapetos and Asia had Atlas, who holds the sky on his shoulders, Prometheus, Epimetheus, and Menoitios, whom Zeus threw down into Tartaros after striking him with a thunderbolt during the Titanomachy. Cronos and Philyras had Cheiron, a centaur of double form. Eos and Astraios had the Winds and Stars. Perses and Asteria had Hecate. Pallas and Styx had Nike, Kratos, Zelos and Bia. And Zeus gave the water of Styx, which flows from a rock in Hades, the power to bind oaths. He gave her this honor in exchange for her joining, along with her children, his fight against the Titans.
Pontos and Ge had Phorcos, Thaumas, Nereus, Eurybia and Ceto. Thaumas and Electra then had Iris and the Harpies (named Aello and Ocypete). Phorcos and Ceto had the Phorcides and the Gorgons, whom we will discuss when we tell the story of Perseus. Nereus and Doris had the Nereids, whose names are Cymothoe, Speio, Glauconome, Nausithoe, Halie, Erato, Sao, Amphitrite, Eunice, Thetis, Eulimene, Agave, Eudora, Doto, Pherousa, Galateia, Actaia, Pontomedousa, Hippothoe, Lysianassa, Cymo, Eione, Halimede, Plexaure, Eucrante, Proto, Calypso, Panope, Cranto, Neomeris, Hipponoe, Ianeira, Polynome, Autonoe, Melite, Dione, Nesaia, Dero, Euagore, Psamathe, Eumolpe, Ione, Dynamene, Ceto and Limnoreia.
[1.3] Zeus married Hera and fathered Hebe, Eileithyia and Ares. He had intercourse with many mortal and immortal women. Now, by Themis daughter of Ouranos he had daughters, first the Seasons, namely Eirene, Eunomia and Dike, then the Moirai, namely Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. By Dione he had Aphrodite. By Eurynome daughter of Oceanos he had the Charites, namely Aglaia, Euphrosyne and Thaleia. By Styx he had Persephone. By Mnemosyne he had the Muses: first Calliope, then Cleio, Melpomene, Euterpe, Erato, Terpsichore, Ourania, Thaleia and Polymnia.
Calliope and Oiagros (though nominally Apollo) had Linos, whom Heracles killed, and Orpheus, who was trained to sing to the cithara and moved stones and trees by his singing. When his wife Eurydice died after being bitten by a snake, he went down to Hades, wishing to bring her back, and persuaded Pluto to send her up. Pluto promised to do this if Orpheus would not turn around as he made his way until he arrived at his own house. But Orpheus in doubt turned around and saw his wife, and she returned to the Underworld. Orpheus also discovered the mysteries of Dionysos and he was buried near Pieria after he was torn apart by maenads.
Cleio fell in love with Pieros, the son of Magnes, because of Aphrodite’s anger (Cleio had reproached her for loving Adonis). She shared his bed and had a son by him, Hyacinthos. Thamyris, the son of Philammon and the nymph Argiope, came to desire Hyacinthos and was the first to love other men. But Apollo later accidentally killed Hyacinthos, who was his boyfriend, by hitting him with a discus. Thamyris, on the other hand, who excelled in beauty and singing to the cithara, had a musical contest with the Muses and agreed that if he were found better, he would sleep with all of them, but if he lost, he would be deprived of whatever they wished. When the Muses bested him, they deprived him of his sight and his skill at the cithara. Euterpe and the river Strymon had Rhesos, whom Diomedes killed at Troy. According to some he was Calliope’s son. Thaleia and Apollo had the Corybantes. Melpomene and Acheloos had the Sirens, of whom we shall speak when we tell the story of Odysseus.
Hera bore Hephaistos without sexual intercourse. According to Homer, she had him with Zeus, and Zeus threw him out of heaven for helping Hera when she was in chains. Zeus hung her from Olympus for sending a storm against Heracles when he was sailing after taking Troy. Thetis saved Hephaistos after he fell on Lemnos and became crippled in his legs.
Zeus slept with Metis, who changed into many forms in order not to have sex with him, and when she became pregnant he swallowed her down quickly, seeing that Ge said that, after having the daughter she was pregnant with, she would have a son who would become ruler of heaven. Zeus was afraid of this and swallowed her. When it was time for the birth, Prometheus (although others say it was Hephaistos) struck Zeus’ head with an ax and Athena, dressed for battle, sprang up out of the top of his head near the river Triton.
[1.4] Of the daughters of Coios, Asteria changed herself into a quail and threw herself into the sea to avoid intercourse with Zeus, and a city was called Asteria after her in former times, though later it was called Delos. Leto, after sleeping with Zeus, was driven over the whole earth by Hera until she came to Delos. She gave birth first to Artemis. Then, with her daughter acting as midwife, she bore Apollo.
Artemis spent her time engaged in hunting and remained a virgin. Apollo learned to prophesy from Pan, the son of Zeus and Hybris, and came to Delphi. At that time Themis gave the oracles. But when the serpent Python, the guardian of the oracle, tried to keep him from passing near chasm, Apollo killed it and took possession of the oracle. Not much later he also killed Tityos, who was a son of Zeus and Elare, the daughter of Orchomenos, whom Zeus hid underground after he slept with her because he was afraid of Hera, though he brought up into the light her gargantuan son Tityos, with whom she was pregnant. When Leto was coming to Pytho, Tityos saw Leto and, being filled with desire, he tried to drag her off with him. But she called her children and they shot him down with their bows. Even after death he is punished; vultures eat his heart in Hades' house.
Apollo also killed Marsyas, the son of Olympos, who found the flutes which Athena had thrown away because they made her face ugly, and entered into a musical contest with Apollo. They agreed that the winner would do whatever he wanted to the loser. When the contest started, Apollo flipped his cithara upside-down and competed. He told Marsyas to do the same thing. When he could not, Apollo was declared the winner and, suspending Marsyas from an overhanging pine-tree, he sliced off his skin and thus killed him.
Artemis killed Orion in Delos. They say he was born of the earth and had a gigantic body. Pherecydes says he was the son of Poseidon and Euryale. Poseidon gave him the ability to walk on the sea. He first married Side, whom Hera tossed into Hades because she rivaled her in beauty. Then he went to Chios and sued for the hand of Merope daughter of Oinopion. But Oinopion got him drunk, blinded him after he passed out, and then had him dumped by the shore. Orion went to Hephaistos’ forge and picked up a boy. Placing the child on his shoulders, Orion ordered him to guide him to where the sun rises. When he arrived there, he recovered his sight after being completely healed by the solar brightness and set off quickly after Oinopion. But Poseidon had Hephaistos build a house for Oinopion under the earth, and Eos, who had fallen in love with Orion (for Aphrodite made Eos fall in love constantly because she had shared Ares’ bed), kidnapped him and brought him to Delos. But Orion, according to others, was killed because he challenged Artemis to a discus contest; according to some he was shot by Artemis for trying to rape Opis, one of the virgins who had come from the Hyperboreans. Poseidon married Amphitrite and he fathered Triton and Rhode, the latter of whom Helios married.
[1.5] Pluto fell in love with Persephone and, with Zeus helping him, he secretly kidnapped her. Demeter wandered over the whole earth in search of her by day and, with torches, by night. When she learned from the people of Hermion that Pluto had kidnapped her, she was angry with the gods and left heaven. She made herself look like a mortal woman and came to Eleusis. First she sat down upon the rock called “Laughless” after her, which is located near the well called Callichorum. Then she went to Celeus, who was at that time ruling the Eleusinians. There were women in his house and they told her to sit with them. An old woman named Iambe joked with the goddess and made her smile. This is why they say women make jokes at the festival of the Thesmophoria.
When Metaneira, the wife of Celeus, had a child, Demeter took it and nursed it. Wishing to make it immortal, she placed the infant into the fire during the night and stripped away its mortal flesh. By day Demophon (for this was the child’s name) grew astoundingly and so Praxithea kept watch and, when she found him hidden in the fire, she cried out. For this reason the infant was destroyed by the fire, and the goddess revealed herself. She prepared a chariot of dragon’s wings and gave wheat to Triptolemos, the eldest of Metaneira’s children. Drawn through the sky in it, he scattered seed over the whole inhabited world. But Panyasis says that Triptolemos was a son of Eleusis. For he says that Demeter came to him. Pherecydes says that he was the son of Oceanos and Ge.
When Zeus ordered Pluto to send Kore back up, Pluto, so that she would not remain for a long time by her mother’s side, gave her a pomegranate seed to eat. Not foreseeing what would result, she consumed it. Ascalaphos, the son of Acheron and Gorgyra, testified against Persephone and so Demeter placed a heavy rock on top of him in Hades' house. Persephone was forced to remain for a third of each year with Pluto and the rest of the year with the gods.
[1.6] That is what is told about Demeter. But Ge, angry about what happened to the Titans, produced the Giants by Ouranos, unsurpassed in bodily size, in power unconquerable. They looked frightful in countenance, with thick hair hanging from their heads and chins, and they had serpent's scales for legs. They were born, according to some, in Phlegrai, but according to others in Pallene. They hurled rocks and flaming trees into heaven. Greatest of all of them were Porphyrion and Alcyoneus. Alcyoneus was immortal as long as he fought in the same land where he was born, and he even drove the cattle of Helios out of Erythia. It had been prophesied to the gods that none of the Giants could be killed by gods, but that if a mortal fought as their ally, the Giants would die. When Ge learned of this, she sought a magic plant to prevent them from being killed even by a mortal, but Zeus forbade Eos, Selene and Helios to shine. Then he himself cut the plant before Ge could and he had Athena call Heracles to help them as an ally. Heracles first shot Alcyoneus, but when he fell onto the earth he was reinvigorated. At Athena’s direction, Heracles dragged him outside of Pallene. That, then, is how he died; but Porphyrion moved against Heracles and Hera in the battle. Zeus put desire for Hera into him. She called for help when the Giant was tearing her clothes and wanted to rape her, and after Zeus hit him with a thunderbolt, Heracles shot and killed him with his bow. As for the other the Giants, Apollo shot Ephialtes' left eye out; Heracles shot out the right. Dionysos killed Eurytos with his thyrsus. Hecate killed Clytion with torches. Hephaistos killed Mimas by hitting him with molten metal. Athena threw the island of Sicily onto Encelados as he fled, and she cut the skin off of Pallas and covered her own body with it during the battle. Polybotes was pursued by Poseidon across the sea and came to Cos. Poseidon broke off a piece of the island (called Nisyron) and threw it on him. Hermes, wearing Hades’ cap, killed Hippolytos in the fight, while Artemis killed Gration. The Moirai, fighting with bronze clubs, killed Agrios and Thoas. Zeus destroyed the rest by hurling his thunderbolts. Heracles shot all of them as they died.
When the gods had defeated the Giants, Ge became more angry, copulated with Tartaros and bore Typhon in Cilicia. He had a form that was a mix of man and beast. He bested in size and strength everything that Ge had produced. As far as the thighs he was man-shaped and of such immense size that he exceeded all the mountains and his head often touched the stars. He had hands, one of which stretched out to the west and one to the east, and from them stood out a hundred dragon heads. From the thighs down he had gigantic viper coils that stretched as far as the very top of his head and produced a great hissing. His whole body was covered in wings, his coarse hair was whipped away from his head and chin by the wind, and fire flashed from his eyes. Such was Typhon, so great was Typhon, when he threw flaming rocks as he moved against heaven itself with hissing noises and a shout, and he belched a great blast of fire from his mouth.
When the gods saw him attacking heaven, they took refuge in Egypt and, being pursued, they changed their forms into animals. But Zeus threw thunderbolts when Typhon was far off and cut him down with an adamantine sickle when he came close. He doggedly pursued him as he fled to Mt. Casios which looks over Syria. There Zeus saw that Typhon was seriously wounded and engaged him hand-to-hand. But Typhon wrapped his coils around Zeus and got him in a hold. He stripped away the sickle and cut out the sinews of his hands and feet. Lifting Zeus onto his shoulders he carried him across the sea to Cilicia, and when he arrived, he put him into the Corycian cave. Likewise, hiding them in a bearskin, he stowed the sinews there. He set the dragoness Delphyne to guard him. This girl was half-beast. But Hermes and Aigipan stole the sinews and put them back in Zeus without being caught. Zeus, having gotten his strength back, suddenly flew down from heaven in a chariot pulled by winged horses and threw thunderbolts at Typhon as he pursued him to the mountain called Nysa, where the Moirai deceived him as he fled. For in the belief that he would be reinvigorated, he tasted the ephemeral fruits. When the pursuit began again, he came to Thrace and, fighting around Mount Haimus, he hurled whole mountains. But these were forced back on him by the thunderbolt, and blood {= haima} gushed out onto the mountain, and they say that it is from this that the mountain is called Haimos. As Typhon tried to flee across the Sicilian sea, Zeus threw Mount Aetna in Sicily on him. This mountain is enormous, and down to this day they say that the eruptions of fire from it come from the thunderbolts that were hurled. But enough about that.
[1.7] Prometheus fashioned men from water and earth. He also gave them fire without Zeus’ knowledge by hiding it in a fennel stalk. When Zeus discovered this, he ordered Hephaistos to nail his body to Mt. Caucasus (this is a mountain in Scythia). Prometheus was nailed to it and bound for many years. Each day an eagle flew down to him and would eat the lobes of his liver, which grew back at night. Prometheus paid this penalty for the stolen fire until Heracles later freed him, as I will explain in the section on Heracles.
Prometheus had a son, Deucalion. He was king of the area around Phthia and married Pyrrha, the daughter of Epimetheus and Pandora, whom the gods made as the first woman. When Zeus wished to wipe out the bronze race, Deucalion built an ark at Prometheus’ direction. He put into it supplies and boarded it with Pyrrha. Zeus poured a great rain from heaven and flooded most of Greece so that all the people were destroyed except a few who escaped to the nearby high mountains. At that time the mountains in Thessaly split and everything outside of the Isthmus and the Peloponnese was flooded. Deucalion was carried in the ark across the sea for nine days and an equal number of nights and landed on Mt. Parnassos. There, when the rains stopped, he disembarked and sacrificed to Zeus Phyxios. Zeus sent Hermes to him and bid him choose whatever he wanted. Deucalion chose to have people. With Zeus directing him, he picked up rocks and threw them over his head; the ones Deucalion threw became men and the ones Pyrrha threw became women. From this they were also called people {= laos} from the word for stone {= laas}.
Deucalion had children by Pyrrha: first Hellen, whom some say Zeus fathered; second Amphictyon, who ruled Attica after Cranaos; then a daughter Protogeneia, by whom Zeus fathered Aethlios. Hellen with the nymph Orseis had Doros, Xouthos, and Aiolos. The people called Greeks he named Hellenes after himself and divided the land among his children. Xouthos got the Peloponnese and fathered Achaios and Ion by Creusa daughter of Erechtheus. The Achaeans and the Ionians are named after them. Doros got the land outside the Peloponnese and named the inhabitants Dorians after himself. Aiolos ruled over the places in Thessaly and called those who dwelled there Aeolians. He married Enarete daughter of Deimachos and fathered seven sons, Cretheus, Sisyphos, Athamas, Salmoneus, Deion, Magnes, Perieres, and five daughters, Canace, Alcyone, Peisidice, Calyce, Perimede.
Perimede and Acheloos had Hippodamos and Orestes. Peisidice and Myrmidon had Antiphos and Actor. Ceyx the son of Heosphoros married Alcyone. These two died because of their arrogance, for he called his wife Hera and she called her husband Zeus. Zeus turned them into birds; he made her a kingfisher {= alcyon} and him a gannet {= ceyx}.
Canace bore Hopleus, Nireus, Epopeus, Aloeus and Triops by Poseidon. Aloeus married Iphimedeia daughter of Triops. She fell in love with Poseidon. Constantly going to the sea, she would scoop up the waves with her hands and pour the water into her lap. Poseidon joined with her and fathered two sons, Otos and Ephialtes, who were called the Aloads. They grew a cubit wider and a fathom taller every year. When they were nine years old and were nine cubits wide and nine fathoms high, they decided to fight against the gods. They put Mt. Ossa on Mt. Olympus, then put Mt. Pelion on Ossa. They boasted that they would go up to heaven using these mountains, that they would turn the sea into land by filling it with mountains, and that they would turn the land into sea. Ephialtes tried to court Hera, and Otos Artemis. They also imprisoned Ares. Then Hermes sneaked him out and Artemis killed the Aloads on the island of Naxos with a trick. She made herself look like a deer and jumped between them. In their desire to hit the animal they speared each other.
Calyce and Aethlios had a son Endymion, who led Aeolians from Thessaly and founded Elis. Some say that he was fathered by SeleneZeus. When fell in love with him because of his very great beauty, Zeus allowed him to choose what he wanted. He chose to sleep for all time and to remain immortal and youthful.
Endymion and a river nymph (or some say Iphianassa) had Aitolos who killed Apis son of Phoroneus and went as an exile to the land of the Couretes. He killed his hosts, Doros, Laodocos and Polypoites, the sons of Phthia and Apollo, and called the land Aetolia after himself.
Aitolos and Pronoe daughter of Phorbos had Pleuron and Calydon. The cities in Aetolia were named after them. Pleuron married Xanthippe daughter of Doros and fathered Agenor and three daughters, Sterope, Stratonice, and Laophonte. Calydon and Aiolia daughter of Amythaon had Epicaste and Protogeneia, by whom Ares had Oxylos. Agenor son of Pleuron married Epicaste daughter of Calydon and fathered Porthaon and Demonice, by whom Ares had Euenos, Molos, Pylos, and Thestios.
Euenos fathered Marpessa, whom Apollo wished to marry. But Idas the son of Aphareus kidnapped her after getting from Poseidon a winged chariot. Pursuing by chariot, Euenos came to the river Lycormas. Because he could not catch him, he slit the throats of his horses and threw himself into the river. The river is named Euenos after him. Idas came to Messene, where Apollo met him and tried to take away the girl. As they fought over who would marry her, Zeus broke it up and permitted the maiden herself to choose which of the two she wanted to live with. She feared that Apollo would abandon her when she grew old, so she chose Idas as her husband.
Thestios and Eurythemis daughter of Cleoboia had daughters, Althaia, Leda, and Hypermnestra, and sons, Iphiclos, Euippos, Plexippos, and Eurypylos. Porthaon and Eurytes daughter of Hippodamas had sons, Oineus, Agrios, Alcathoos, Melas, and Leucopeus, and a daughter, Sterope. They say that Sterope and Acheloos were the parents of the Sirens.
[1.8] Oineus was king of Calydon and was the first to get a vine plant from Dionysos. He married Althaia daughter of Thestios and fathered Toxeus. When Toxeus jumped over the ditch around the city, Oineus himself killed him. In addition to him, Oineus had Thyreus, Clymenos, a daughter named Gorge, whom Andraimon married, and another daughter Deianeira, whom they say Althaia had with Dionysos. This daughter drove chariots and trained for war; Heracles wrestled with Acheloos to see who would marry her. Althaia had a son by Oineus, Meleager, though they say that he was fathered by Ares. The story goes that when he was seven days old, the Moirai arrived and said that Meleager would die when the log burning in the fireplace was burned up. When she heard this, Althaia picked up the log and put it into a chest. Although Meleager became an invulnerable and strong man, he died in the following way. When the annual crop had come to the countryside, Oineus sacrificed the first-fruits to all the gods but completely forgot about Artemis. She grew wroth and sent a boar, greater than any other in size and strength, that caused the land to remain fallow and destroyed the livestock and any people who met with it. Oineus called together all the heroes of Greece to go after this boar and promised to give the hide as a prize of valor to the man who killed the beast.
Those who came to hunt the boar were: from Calydon, Meleager the son of Oineus and Dryas son of Ares; from Messene, Idas and Lynceus the sons of Aphareus; from Lacedaemon, Castor and Polydeuces the sons of Zeus and Leda; from Athens, Theseus son of Aigeus; from Pherai, Admetos son of Pheres; from Arcadia, Ancaios and Cepheus the sons of Lycurgus; From Iolcos, Jason son of Aison; from Thebes, Iphicles son of Amphitryon; from Larissa, Peirithoos son of Ixion; from Phthia, Peleus son of Aiacos; from Salamis, Telamon son of Aiacos; from Phthia, Eurytion son of Actor; from Arcadia, Atalanta daughter of Schoineus; and from Argos, Amphiaraos son of Oicles. The sons of Thestios also joined them.
After they had assembled, Oineus entertained them as his guests for nine days, but on the tenth Cepheus, Ancaios, and some of the others decided it was beneath them to go out hunting with a woman. Although Meleager had a wife (Cleopatra, the daughter of Idas and Marpessa), he also wanted to have a child by Atalanta. So he forced them to go out hunting with her. When they had surrounded the boar, Hyleus and Ancaios were killed by the beast and Peleus accidentally killed Eurytion with a javelin. Atalanta was the first to shoot the boar with her bow, hitting it in the back; Amphiaraos was the second, hitting it in the eye. But Meleager killed it with a blow to the flank. When he received the hide, he gave it to Atalanta. The sons of Thestios thought it disgraceful that a woman would get the prize for valor when there were men around and took it from her, saying that if Meleager preferred not to take it, it belonged to them because they were his uncles. Meleager grew angry, killed the sons of Thestios, and gave the hide to Atalanta. Althaia grieved over the death of her brothers and set fire to the log. Meleager died immediately.
But some say that Meleager did not die in this way, but that when the sons of Thestios laid claim to the skin, alleging that Iphiclos had struck the first blow, war erupted between the Couretes and the Calydonians. When Meleager went out and killed some of the sons of Thestios, Althaia called down a curse upon him. He was angry and would not leave his house. But then when the enemy came near the walls of the city and, when his fellow citizens, with the olive branches of suppliants in their hands, prayed for him to help, he was with difficulty persuaded by his wife to go out. After he killed the remaining sons of Thestios, he died while fighting. After Meleager died, Althaia and Cleopatra hanged themselves and the women who mourned for his corpse were turned into birds.
After Althaia died, Oineus married Periboia daughter of Hipponoos. The author of The Thebaid says that he took her as a war-prize when the city of Olenos was attacked, but Hesiod says that after she was seduced by Hippostratos son of Amarynceus, her father Hipponoos sent her from Olenos (in Achaea) to Oineus because he lived far away from Hellas and commanded him to kill her. But there are those who say that Hipponoos, upon discovering that his own daughter had been seduced by Oineus, sent her off to him carrying his child. Tydeus was fathered by Oineus with her. Peisander says that his mother was Gorge because Oineus fell in love with his own daughter in accordance with Zeus' will.
After Tydeus had grown into a mighty man, he was driven into exile for murder. Some say he killed Oineus' brother Alcathoos, but the author of the Alcmaeonid says that he killed the sons of Melas when they were conspiring against Oineus. They were Pheneus, Euryalos, Hyperlaos, Antiochos, Eumedes, Sternops, Xanthippos, and Sthenelaos. Pherecydes, however, says he killed his own brother Olenias. When Agrios had brought him to trial, he went into exile in Argos and came to Adrastos. He married Adrastos' daughter Deipyle and had a son named Diomedes.
Then Tydeus marched with Adrastos against the city of Thebes, was wounded by Melanippus, and died. The sons of Agrios (Thersites, Onchestos, Prothoos, Celeutor, Lykopeus, and Melanippos) deprived Oineus of his kingdom and gave it to their father. What is worse, they put the still-living Oineus in prison and tortured him. Later Diomedes came secretly with Alcmaion from Argos and killed all the sons of Agrios (except Onchestos and Thersites, who ran away to the Peloponnese before he could catch them). Because Oineus was elderly, he gave the kingdom to Andraimon, who was married to Oineus' daughter, and took Oineus to the Peloponnese. The sons of Agrios who had gotten away set an ambush and killed the old man at Telephos' hearth in Arcadia. Diomedes brought his body to Argos and buried him where there is now a city called Oinoe after him. After marrying Aigialeia daughter of Adrastos or, according to some, of Aigialeus, Diomedes marched against Thebes and Troy.
[1.9] Athamas, one of the sons of Aiolos, ruled Boeotia and fathered by Nephele a son Phrixos and a daughter Helle. He married a second wife, Ino, and had by her Learchos and Melicertes. Ino plotted against the children of Nephele and persuaded the women to parch all the wheat. The women got hold of it without their husbands knowing and did just that. The earth, because it was planted with parched wheat, did not yield its annual crop. Because of this Athamas sent to Delphi to ask about how to end the famine. Ino convinced the men he sent to tell him that it was prophesied that the crop failure would end if Phrixos were sacrificed to Zeus. When Athamas heard this, he brought Phrixos to the altar, but only after being forced by the inhabitants of his country to do so. Nephele, however, snatched Phrixos up along with her daughter and gave them a ram with a golden fleece that she had gotten from Hermes. Riding it through the sky, they traversed land and sea. When they were over the sea lying between Sigeion and the Chersonese, Helle slipped and fell into the deep. Because she died there, the sea is called the Hellespont after her. Phrixos made it to the land of the Colchians, who were ruled by Aietes, the son of Helios and Perseis (and so he was the brother of Circe and Pasiphae, the woman whom Minos married). Aietes received him and gave him one of his daughters, Chalciope. Phrixos sacrificed the golden-fleeced ram to Zeus Phyxios and gave the fleece to Aietes. He in turn nailed it up around an oak in a grove sacred to Ares. Argos, Melas, Phrontis, and Cytisoros were the sons of Phrixos by Chalciope.
Because of Hera's wrath Athamas later lost also the children born to him by Ino. He was driven mad and shot Learchos with an arrow, and Ino threw herself and Melicertes into the sea. Driven out of Boeotia, Athamas asked the god where he should make his home. The oracle's response told him to settle in whatever place he was treated as a guest by wild animals. After passing through a lot of territory, he met with some wolves feeding on portions of sheep. But when they caught sight of him, they abandoned the food they were sharing and fled. Athamas settled the area and called the country Athamantia after himself. He married Themisto daughter of Hypseus and fathered Leucon, Erythrios, Schoineus, and Ptoös.
Aiolos' son Sisyphos founded the city of Ephyra (which is now called Corinth) and married Merope daughter of Atlas. They had a son, Glaucos, who with Eurymede had a son, Bellerophon, who killed the fire-breathing Chimaira. Sisyphos is punished in Hades' house by rolling a boulder with his hands and head and wanting to force it over the top. But when the stone is about to be forced over by him, it forces its way back down again. He pays this penalty because of Aigina, the daughter of Asopos. For, when Asopos was looking for her, it is said, Sisyphos revealed to him that Zeus had secretly taken her away.
Deion was king of Phokis and married Diomede daughter of Xouthos. He had a daughter, Asterodia, and sons, Ainetos, Actor, Phylacos, and Cephalos, who married Prokris daughter of Erechtheus. Later Eos fell in love with him and took him away.
Perieres seized the land of Messene and married Gorgophone daughter of Perseus. By her he had sons, Aphareus, Leucippos, Tyndareos, and also Icarios. But many say that Perieres is not the son of Aiolos, but that his father is Cynortas son of Amyclas. For that reason I will explain the stories about the offspring of Perieres in the section on the family of Atlas.
Magnes married a Naiad nymph and had sons, Polydectes and Dictys. They colonized Seriphos.
Salmoneus first settled in Thessaly, but he later came to Elis and founded a city there. He was punished for his impiety because he was full of hubris and wanted to make himself the equal of Zeus. He said that he actually was Zeus and, stopping offerings to the god, he ordered that sacrifice be made to himself. He used to drag dried up hides and bronze basins behind his chariot and say that he was making thunder. He used to throw burning torches into the air and say that he was making lightning. Zeus struck him with a thunderbolt and obliterated the city he had founded and all of its inhabitants.
Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus and Alcidice, who was raised by Cretheus (Salmoneus' brother), fell in love with the river-god Enipeus. She would constantly go to his waters and lament over them. Poseidon made himself look like Enipeus and had sex with her. She bore twin sons secretly and exposed them. When the infants were lying exposed, one of the mares of some passing horse herders touched one of the two of them with its hoof and caused a part of his face to be discolored {= pelios}. The herder took both the children and raised them. He called the one with the mark Pelias and the other Neleus. When they had grown up, they recognized their mother and killed their stepmother Sidero. They knew that their mother had been wronged by her and attacked her, but she anticipated them by running away to the sanctuary of Hera, but Pelias slaughtered her right on the altars. He continued to dishonor Hera every chance he got.
Later the brothers quarrelled with each other. After Neleus was driven out, he came to Messene and founded the city of Pylos. He married Chloris daughter of Amphion, by whom he had a daughter, Pero, and sons, Tauros, Asterios, Pylaon, Deimachos, Eurybios, Epilaos, Phrasios, Eurymenes, Euagoras, Alastor, Nestor, and Periclymenos. Poseidon granted Periclymenos the power to change his shape. When Heracles was plundering Pylos, Periclymenos became a lion during the fight, then a snake, then a bee, but he, along with the other sons of Neleus, was killed by Heracles. Only Nestor was saved since he was being raised in the country of the Gerenians. He married Anaxibia daughter of Cratieus and fathered daughters, Peisidice and Polycaste, and sons, Perseus, Stratichos, Aretos, Echephron, Peisistratos, Antilochos, and Thrasymedes.
Pelias settled in Thessaly and married Anaxibia daughter of Bias (though some say he married Phylomache daughter of Amphion). He fathered a son, Acastos, and daughters, Peisidice, Pelopeia, Hippothoe, and Alcestis.
Cretheus founded the city of Iolcos and married Tyro daughter of Salmoneus. By her he had sons, Aison, Amythaon, and Pheres. Amythaon lived in Pylos, married Eidomene daughter of Pheres, and had sons, Bias and Melampous. Melampous lived in the country, and in front of his house there was an oak tree, and in it there was a nest of snakes. After his servants killed the snakes, he gathered firewood and cremated the reptiles, but raised the snakes' young. When they reached maturity, they took up position on either side of his shoulders as he lay sleeping and cleaned out his ears with their tongues. He sprang up, absolutely terrified, but he could understand the voices of the birds that were flying above. He used to learn things from them and then predict the future to mankind. He also gained the power to prophesy by examining sacrificial victims. He happened to meet Apollo near the river Alpheios and for the rest of his life he was a most excellent prophet.
Bias asked for the hand of Pero daughter of Neleus in marriage. But there were many suitors for his daughter, and he said that he would give her to the one who would bring him the cows of Phylacos. These were in Phylace and a dog guarded them which no man or animal could approach. Unable to steal the cows, Bias called upon his brother for assistance. Melampous promised to help. He foretold that he would be caught trying to steal them and that he would get the cows after being imprisoned for a year. After this promise he went off to Phylace and, as he had foretold, he was caught in the act of stealing and kept under guard as a prisoner in a cell. With only a little of the year left he heard the worms in the hidden part of the roof. One was asking what portion of the beam had now been eaten up. The others answered that very little was left. Melampous quickly asked his guards to transfer him to a different cell. This was done, and not much later the first cell collapsed. Phylacos was amazed. Learning that he was an excellent prophet, he released him and invited him to tell how his son Iphiclos might have children. Melampous promised to tell him on the condition that he get the cows. He sacrificed two bulls, cut them into pieces, and called the omen-birds. When a vulture arrived, he learned from it that once, when he was castrating rams, Phylacos had set down his knife next to Iphiclos when it was still bloody. The boy became frightened and ran off. He later stuck the knife in the sacred oak. The bark grew around the knife and hid it. So Melampous said that, if the knife were found and if he scraped off the rust and then gave it to Iphiclos to drink for ten days, he would have a child. Learning these things from the vulture, Melampous found the knife, scraped the rust off, gave it to Iphiclos to drink for ten days, and Iphiclos had a son, Podarces. Melampous drove the cows to Pylos, got the daughter of Neleus, and gave her to his brother. For a while he lived in Messene, but when Dionysos drove the women in Argos out of their minds, he healed them in exchange for part of the kingdom and moved there with Bias.
Talaos was the son of Bias and Pero. He and Lysimache daughter of Abas (son of Melampous) had Adrastos, Parthenopaios, Pronax, Mecisteus, Aristomachos, and Eriphyle, whom Amphiaraos married. Parthenopaios had Promachos, who marched with the Epigonoi against Thebes. Mecisteus had Euryalos, who went to Troy. Pronax had Lycourgos. Adrastos and Amphithea daughter of Pronax had daughters, Argeia, Deipyle, and Aigialeia, and sons, Aigialeus and Cyanippus.
Pheres son of Cretheus founded the city of Pherai in Thessaly and fathered Admetos and Lycourgos. Lycourgos then went to live in Nemea, married Eurydice (though some say he married Amphithea), and fathered Opheltes, who was later called Archemoros. When Admetos was king of Pherai, Apollo became his hired hand at the time that Admetos was a suitor for the hand of Pelias' daughter Alcestis. Pelias had promised that he would give his daughter to the one who succeeded in hitching a lion and a boar to a chariot. Apollo hitched them and gave them to Admetos, who brought them to Pelias and got Alcestis. But in making the sacrifice at his wedding, he forgot to sacrifice to Artemis. Because of this, when he opened the door to his bedroom, he found it filled with coiled serpents. Apollo told him to appease the goddess and asked the Moirai that, when Admetos was about to die, he might be released from death if someone would willingly choose to die on his behalf. When the day of his death came and neither his father nor his mother were willing to die on his behalf, Alcestis died for him. Kore sent her back up again (but some say that Heracles brought her up to Admetos after fighting with Hades).
Jason was the son of Aison (who was the son of Cretheus) and Polymede daughter of Autolycos. He lived in Iolcos, where Pelias became king after Cretheus. When Pelias consulted an oracle about his kingdom, the god declared, "Beware the one-sandaled man." At first he did not understand the oracle, but later it became clear to him. When he was performing a sacrifice to Poseidon on the shore, he sent for many people, including Jason, to come for it. Jason, who lived in the country out of a desire to farm, hurried to the sacrifice. In crossing the river Anauros he lost a sandal in the stream, and so came out the other side 'one-sandaled.' When Pelias caught sight of him, he connected him with the oracle, approached him, and asked him what he would do if he were the ruler and received an oracle saying that he would be killed by one of his citizens. Jason, either because it happened to occur to him, or because of the wrath of Hera (so that Medea would turn out to be Pelias' undoing since he dishonored Hera), said, "I would command him to bring the golden fleece." When Pelias heard this, he immediately ordered him to go after the fleece, which was in a grove of Ares in Colchis, hanging from an oak tree and guarded by a serpent that never slept.
Sent in quest of it, Jason summoned Argos son of Phrixos. Argos, at Athena's direction, built the fifty-oared ship named the Argo after its builder. Athena affixed a piece of wood from the oak at Dodona that could speak. When the ship was built, Jason consulted an oracle and the god commanded him to set sail after gathering the heroes of Greece. The ones he gathered were: Tiphys son of Hagnios, who was the ship's helmsman; Orpheus son of Oiagros; Zetes and Calais, the sons of Boreas; Castor and Polydeuces, the sons of Zeus; Telamon and Peleus, the sons of Aiacos; Heracles son of Zeus; Theseus son of Aigeus; Idas and Lynceus, the sons of Aphareus; Amphiaraos son of Oicles; Caineus son of Coronos; Palaimon son of Hephaistos or Aitolos; Cepheus son of Aleos; Laertes son of Arceisios; Autolycos son of Hermes; Atalanta daughter of Schoineus; Menoitios son of Actor; Actor son of Hippasos; Admetos son of Pheres; Acastos son of Pelias; Eurytos son of Hermes; Meleager son of Oineus; Ancaios son of Lycourgos; Euphemos son of Poseidon; Poias son of Thaumacos; Boutes son of Teleon; Phanos and Staphylos, the sons of Dionysos; Erginos son of Poseidon; Periclymenos son of Neleus; Augeas son of Helios; Iphiclos son of Thestios; Argos son of Phrixos; Euryalos son of Mecisteus; Peneleos son of Hippalmos; Leitos son of Alector; Iphitos son of Naubolos; Ascalaphos and Ialmenos, the sons of Ares; Asterios son of Cometes; and Polyphemos son of Elatos.
With Jason as captain these men put to sea and landed on the island of Lemnos. It happened that Lemnos at that time was empty of men and ruled by Hypsipyle daughter of Thoas for the following reason. The Lemnian women did not honor Aphrodite, so she afflicted them with an awful smell. For this reason their husbands took female captives from nearby Thrace and brought them into their beds. Because they were dishonored, the Lemnian women killed their fathers and husbands. Hypsipyle alone hid her father Thoas and saved him. Having landed on Lemnos at that time when it was ruled by women, the sailors slept with the women. Hypsipyle took Jason into her bed and had sons, Euneos and Nebrophonos.
After Lemnos they landed in the land of the Doliones, whose king was Cyzicos. He received them in a very friendly fashion. But when they put to sea from there at night and encountered adverse winds, they landed again among the Doliones without realizing it. The Doliones thought they were a Pelasgian army (they happened to be under constant attack by the Pelasgians) and engaged them in a night battle, the unrealizing attacking the unrealizing. The Argonauts killed many, including Cyzicos. When day came and they realized what had happened, they bitterly lamented, cut off their hair, and gave Cyzicos a lavish burial. After the funeral they sailed off and landed in Mysia.
There they left behind Heracles and Polyphemos. Hylas son of Theiodamas was Heracles' boyfriend. He had been sent off to get water when he was abducted by a nymph because of his beauty. Polyphemos heard him shouting, drew his sword, and, believing that the boy was being abducted by pirates, chased after him. When Heracles met him, he told him about it. While the two of them searched for Hylas, the ship put to sea. Polyphemos founded the city of Cios in Mysia and became its king, while Heracles returned to Argos. But Herodoros says that Heracles at that time did not sail at all, but that he was a slave at the court of Omphale. Pherecydes says that he was left behind at Aphetai in Thessaly after the Argo said that it was unable to bear his weight. Demaratos hands down the story that he had sailed all the way to Colchis, for Dionysios says that he was the leader of the Argonauts.
From Mysia they went off to the land of the Bebryces, ruled by Amycos, the son of Poseidon and a Bithynian nymph. Because he was strong, he forced strangers who landed there to box and in that way killed them. Approaching the Argo in his usual way, he challenged the best of them to box. Polydeuces took it upon himself to box against him, struck him on the elbow, and killed him. When the Bebryces attacked him, the heroes snatched up their weapons and killed many of them as they tried to flee.
Setting sail from there, they arrived at Salmydessos in Thrace, where Phineus, a prophet who had lost his sight, lived. Some say he was the son of Agenor; some say he was the son of Poseidon. Some say he was blinded by the gods because he foretold the future to mortals; some say he was blinded by Boreas and the Argonauts because he was persuaded to blind his own children by their stepmother; and some say he was blinded by Poseidon because he told the sons of Phrixos how to sail from Colchis to Greece. The gods also sent the Harpies to him. They had wings, and when a meal was set out for Phineus, they flew down from the sky. They would snatch up most of it, and what little they left behind was all tainted with a bad odor so that no one could eat it. When the Argonauts wanted to learn what would happen on their voyage, he said that he would give them advice about it if they would rid him of the Harpies. They set out a table of food for him. The Harpies flew down suddenly with a cry and snatched the food. When Zetes and Calais, the sons of Boreas, saw them, they drew their swords and, being winged, pursued them through the air. It was fated that the Harpies would die at the hands of the sons of Boreas and that the sons of Boreas would die at the time when they would pursue something they could not catch. As the Harpies were pursued, one of them in the Peloponnese fell into the river Tigres, which is now called the Harpys after her. This one some call Nicothoe, others Aellopous. The other was called Ocypete (or according to some, Ocythoe; Hesiod says she is called Ocypode). She fled across the Propontis until she came to the Echinadian islands, which are now called the Strophades after her, for she turned around {= strepho} as she approached them, and, coming to the shore, she fell from exhaustion, as did the one pursuing her. Apollonius says in his Argonautica that they were pursued as far as the Strophades and did not suffer at all after swearing an oath that they would no longer harm Phineus.
Rid of the Harpies, Phineus gave the Argonauts information about their voyage and advised them about the Symplegades, or "Crashing Rocks," in the sea. These were enormous rocks that closed off the passage by sea when they were smashed together by the force of the winds. The fog over them was dense and the clashing loud. It was impossible for even the birds to get through them. So he told them to send a pigeon between the rocks. If they saw that it survived, they were to sail through and not worry. But if they saw it die, they were not to try to press on with sailing. After hearing this they set sail. When they were near the rocks they released a pigeon from the prow. As it flew, the collision of the rocks cut off the tip of its tail. So they watched for the rocks to retract and then, with earnest rowing and the help of Hera, they passed through, the tip of the ship's stern being clipped off. The Symplegades have stood still since that time, for it was fated that they would stop completely when a ship passed through them.
The Argonauts came to the Mariandynoi and their king Lycos received them in very friendly fashion. There Idmon the prophet died after a boar wounded him. Tiphys also died and Ancaios took over the job of steering the ship.
They sailed past the Thermodon River and Mt. Caucasus, and then they came to the river Phasis, which is in Colchis. When the ship came to port, Jason went to Aietes. Explaining what he had been ordered to do by Pelias, he asked Aietes to give him the fleece. Aietes promised to give it to him if Jason would yoke his bronze-footed bulls by himself. These were two wild bulls of exceptional size which he had received as gifts from Hephaistos. They had bronze feet and breathed fire from their mouths. He ordered Jason to yoke them and then plant teeth from a serpent; he had gotten from Athena the other half of the ones that Cadmos had planted at Thebes. While Jason was at a loss as to how he might be able to yoke the bulls, Medea fell in love with him. She was the daughter of Aietes and Eidyia daughter of Oceanos. She was also a sorceress. Afraid that he would be destroyed by the bulls, she, unbeknownst to her father, promised to help Jason with yoking the bulls and to get the fleece into his hands if he would swear to take her as his wife to Greece as his companion on the voyage. After Jason swore that he would, she gave him a potion and ordered him to smear it on his shield, spear, and body when he was getting ready to yoke the bulls. She said that when he was smeared with it he could not be hurt by fire or iron for the space of one day. She explained to him that once the teeth were planted, men were going to rise up fully armed out of the earth and attack him. She told him when he saw them crowded together he was to throw some rocks into the middle of them while keeping his distance, and when they fought amongst themselves over this, then he was to kill them.
Jason listened to these instructions and smeared himself with the potion. Going to the temple grove, he searched out the bulls. Though they attacked him with a great deal of fire, he succeeded in yoking them. Jason planted the teeth, and armed men grew up out of the ground. Hidden from view, he threw stones where he saw the majority of them, then approached while they fought each other and destroyed them. Although the bulls were yoked, Aietes did not give up the fleece. He wished to destroy the Argo by burning it and kill its sailors. Medea anticipated him by leading Jason to the fleece during the night. She put the guardian serpent to sleep with her potions, and then, with the fleece in hand, went to the Argo with Jason. Her brother Apsyrtos also went with her. With them the men set sail.
When Aietes found out what Medea had dared to do, he set out to pursue the ship. When Medea saw that he was close, she murdered her brother, dismembered him, and cast the pieces into the sea. Aietes gathered up the pieces of his son and in doing so fell behind in the pursuit. For that reason he turned back, buried the recovered pieces of his son, and named the place Tomi. He sent out many Colchians to search for the Argo, threatening that they would suffer the punishments he intended for Medea if they did not bring her to him. They divided themselves up and made the search, each in a different place.
Angry over the murder of Apsyrtos, Zeus sent a violent storm against the Argonauts when they were just sailing past the Eridanos river and threw them off course. As they sailed past the Apsyrtides islands, the ship spoke and said that the anger of Zeus would not come to an end unless they went to Ausonia and had the pollution of Apsyrtos' murder cleansed from them by Circe. After they sailed past the Ligurian and Celtic peoples, crossed the Sardinian Sea, and coasted along Tyrrhenia, they came to Aiaia where they supplicated Circe and were cleansed.
When they sailed past the Sirens, Orpheus sang music to counteract their song and so restrained the Argonauts. Boutes alone swam out to them, but Aphrodite snatched him up and settled him in Lilybaeum. After the Sirens Charybdis was next, then Scylla, and the Wandering Rocks, over which a huge flame and thick smoke was seen rising. But Thetis and the Nereids brought the ship through these obstacles at the request of Hera.
They sailed past the island of Thrinacia (which held the cattle of Helios) and came to Corcyra, the island of the Phaiacians ruled by Alcinoos. When the Colchians were unable to find the ship, some of them made new homes in the Ceraunian mountains, and some went to Illyria and colonized the Apsyrtides islands. Still others came to the Phaiacians, caught up with the Argo, and demanded Medea from Alcinoos. He said that if she had already had intercourse with Jason that he would give her to him. But if she were still a virgin, he said that he would send her back to her father. Arete, the wife of Alcinoos, anticipated him by having Medea sleep with Jason. As a result the Colchians decided to live with the Phaiacians, and the Argonauts set sail with Medea.
While they were sailing at night, they ran into a strong storm. But Apollo stood on the ridges of Melas and used his bow to shoot a bolt of lightning down into the sea. They saw that an island was nearby and, having anchored near it, they called it Anaphe because it had suddenly appeared {= anaphaino} unexpectedly. They dedicated an altar to Apollo Aigletos {= "the radiant"}, made sacrifice, and turned their attention to feasting. Twelve female servants given to Medea by Arete mocked the heroes playfully. As a result even to this day it is customary for women to make jokes at this sacrifice.
Setting sail from there, they were prevented from landing on Crete by Talos. Some say that he was one of the men of the Bronze Age, but others say he was given to Minos by Hephaistos and was actually a man of bronze, though others say he was a bull. He had a single vein stretching down from his neck to his ankles. A bronze nail was set firmly into the end of the vein. This Talos guarded the island by running around it three times a day. Therefore when he saw the Argo sailing in, he threw stones at it in his usual manner. He died after being tricked by Medea. According to some, Medea threw him into a fit of madness with magic. According to others, she promised to make him immortal, but pulled out the nail instead and he died when all the ichor flowed out. Still others say that he died after being shot in the ankle with an arrow by Poias.
After remaining there for one night, they landed on Aigina because they wanted to get water, and a contest arose among them over fetching it. From there they sailed between Euboea and Locris and reached Iolcos. It took them four months to complete the whole voyage.
Pelias, who had decided that there was no possibility of the Argonauts' returning, wanted to kill Aison. Aison, however, asked to be allowed to kill himself. While making a sacrifice, he intentionally drank the bull's blood and died. Jason's mother put a curse on Pelias and hanged herself, leaving behind an infant son named Promachos. Pelias killed even the son she left behind. When Jason returned, he handed over the fleece, and waited for the right moment, wanting to get revenge for the injustices done to him. He sailed then with the heroes to the Isthmus and dedicated the ship to Poseidon. Later he asked Medea to look for a way that Pelias might pay the price to Jason for his crimes. She went into the palace of Pelias and, by promising to make him young again through her magic, persuaded his daughters to chop him up and boil him. To make them believe, she butchered a ram and, after boiling it, turned it into a lamb. Believing her, they cut their father up and boiled him. Acastos, along with the inhabitants of Iolcos, buried his father and kicked Jason out of Iolcos along with Medea.
They went to Corinth and lived there prosperously for ten years. Later, when Creon, the king of Corinth, betrothed his daughter Glauce to Jason, Jason was going to marry her and set Medea aside. But Medea called upon the gods by whom Jason had sworn his oaths and made a lot of criticism of Jason's ingratitude. Then she sent to the bride a dress that had had magical potions worked into it. When the girl put it on, she was burned up by vicious fire, as was her father too when he tried to help her. Medea killed the sons she had with Jason, Mermeros and Pheres. From Helios she got a chariot that was pulled by winged serpents and made her escape to Athens on it. It is also said that when she fled she left behind her sons, who were still infants, setting them on the altar of Hera Acraia as suppliants. The Corinthians took them out of the sanctuary and wounded them fatally.
Medea made it to Athens. There she married Aigeus and bore him a son, Medos. Later she plotted against Theseus and was kicked out of Athens with her son, an exile. But her son conquered many barbarians and called the whole area under his control Media. He died while campaigning against the Indians. Medea returned unrecognized to Colchis, discovered that Aietes had been deprived of his kingdom by his brother Perses. She killed Perses and restored the kingdom to her father.
Copyright and disclaimer © 2000-2003, Stephen M. Trzaskoma
