Free Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of Rhodes Page B

there,
    force it into my miserable stomach.
    300 (234) An oracle holds the sons of Boreas
    shall stop the Harpies’ aerial thefts and, trust me,
    whoever does so will be dear to me,
    that is, if I am still that Phineus known
    for wealth and seercraft, and if indeed
    305 I am my father’s son, and if indeed,
    when king of Thrace, I purchased Cleopatra
    (the sister of you sons of Boreas)
    with bridal gifts and brought her to my home.”
    So spoke the son of Agenor, and deep
    310 compassion worked its way through all the heroes,
    especially the sons of Boreas.
    As soon as Zetes had repressed his tears,
    he went up to the venerable man,
    a man of sorrow, took his hand and said:
    315 (244) “Sad old man, of all the men on Earth
    not one, I swear, has suffered more than you.
    Why have so many woes been heaped upon you?
    Surely you must have uttered prophecies
    in awful brashness to offend the gods
    320 and make them rage so violently against you.
    Nevertheless, keen as we are to help,
    the minds within us are uneasy, wondering
    whether some god has truly offered us
    this special honor. Here among us mortals
    325 gods’ punishments hit all too close to home.
    So, though we long to help you, we shall not
    drive off the Harpies till you promise us
    that we shall not incur the gods’ disfavor
    because of it.”
    So Zetes sought assurance.
    330 (254) The old man opened up his empty orbs,
    swiveled them round to him and answered,
    â€œHush,
    my child. Don’t fill your head with thoughts like those.
    I call as witness Leto’s son, the god
    who kindly taught me the prophetic art;
    335 I call the dismal fate that is my lot,
    to wit, this smoky cloud upon my eyes;
    I call as well the Gods of Underground
    (when I am dead, may they be kind to me)—
    yes, in the names of all these powers, I swear
    340 the gods will not resent the help you give me.”
    After this oath the sons of Boreas
    were keen to drive the Harpies off. Straightway
    the younger heroes put a feast together,
    the Harpies’ final meal, and Calaïs
    345 (265) and Zetes stood on either side of Phineus,
    ready to snatch their weapons up as soon as
    the Harpies swooped.
    At just the very moment
    the old man laid his hands on food, the Harpies
    descended without warning from the clouds,
    350 like gales, like lightning, shrieking out their hunger.
    The heroes shouted when they saw them coming
    but, even as they shouted,
whoosh
! the creatures
    had gobbled up the banquet and were gone
    far, far away across the sea. The stench
    355 they left behind them was insufferable.
    Nevertheless, the sons of Boreas
    took sword in hand and flew off in pursuit.
    Zeus gave them boundless speed. Without his help,
    they never could have kept up since the Harpies
    360 (277) had always outstripped even Zephyr’s gales
    both when they dived for Phineus and left him.
    Imagine mastiffs on a mountainside,
    pedigreed trackers, chasing goats and deer—
    how,when their muzzles near the quarry’s haunches,
    365 their fangs can snap and snap to no avail,
    that’s how the brothers Calaïs and Zetes
    swooped in behind the Harpies’ tail feathers
    and grazed them with their fingertips in vain.
    They were at last quite close to catching them
    370 way out above the Ever-Floating Isles
    and surely would have cut the fiends to pieces,
    contrary to the gods’ intent,had not
    swift Iris seen them, streaked out of the sky,
    and halted them with these imperious terms:
    375 (288) “Justice forbids you, sons of Boreas,
    from touching with your swords almighty Zeus’
    feathered hounds, the Harpies. But I here
    do solemnly proclaim that they shall never
    again return to bother Phineus.”
    380 She swore an oath upon the river Styx
    (the gods’ most firm and formidable pledge),
    vowing the Harpies never in the future
    would come and harry Phineus’ house—
    so had the Fates ordained. The brothers yielded
    385 before the oath and