Classic Audiobook Collection - The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for my Children by Charles Kingsley ~ Full Audiobook [folklore]

Episode Date: November 4, 2022

The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for my Children by Charles Kingsley audiobook. Genre: folklore In The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for my Children, Charles Kingsley invites young listeners into the bright, perilous world of ancient Greece through a warm, fireside style that treats mythology as a treasury of moral adventure. Framed as stories told for children, the book retells classic legends with clear, vigorous prose and a storyteller's sense of wonder. You will meet Perseus, a determined youth set against monsters and dark magic; Jason, drawn into a daring voyage in search of glory; and Theseus, who must prove himself amid treachery, strange roads, and an enemy hidden at the heart of a maze. Kingsley keeps the gods, heroes, and creatures vivid, but he is just as interested in courage, self-control, loyalty, and the cost of pride. Across sea-journeys, riddling prophecies, and encounters with fearsome beasts, each tale asks what it means to be brave for the right reasons, and how a person can hold to honor when the world is full of temptations and terror. It is both an accessible introduction to Greek myth and a spirited meditation on character. For ad-free listening try our premium subscription Chapters (Approximate) (00:00:00) Chapter 00 (00:14:23) Chapter 01 (00:22:44) Chapter 02 (00:41:36) Chapter 03 (01:02:53) Chapter 04 (01:29:51) Chapter 05 (01:38:50) Chapter 06 (01:53:41) Chapter 07 (02:12:20) Chapter 08 (02:20:32) Chapter 09 (03:07:54) Chapter 10 (04:02:21) Chapter 11 (04:08:42) Chapter 12 (04:18:38) Chapter 13 (05:09:17) Chapter 14 (05:19:24) Chapter 15 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley. Preface My dear children, some of you have heard already of the old Greeks, and all of you, as you grow up, will hear more and more of them. Those of you who are boys will perhaps spend a great deal of time in reading Greek books, and the girls, though they may not learn Greek, will be sure to come across a great many stories taken from Greek history, and to say, see, I may say every day, things which we should not have had if it had not been for these old Greeks.

You can hardly find a well-written book which was not in it Greek names and words and proverbs. You cannot walk through a great town without passing Greek buildings. You cannot go into a well-furnished room without seeing Greek statues and ornaments, even Greek patterns of furniture and paper. So strangely have these old Greeks left their mark behind them, upon this modern world in which we now live. And as you grow up and read more and more, you will find that we owe to these old Greeks

the beginners of all our mathematics and geometry, that is, the science and knowledge of numbers, and of the shapes of things, and of the forces which make things move and stand at rest, and the beginnings of our geography and astronomy, and of our laws and freedom and politics. That is the science of how to rule a country, and make it peaceful and strong.

And we owe to them, too, the beginning of our logic, that is, the study of words and of reasoning, and of our metaphysics, that is the study of our own thoughts and souls. And last of all, they made their language so beautiful that foreigners used to take to it instead of their own. And at last, Greek became the common language

of educated people all over the world, from Persia and Egypt, even to Spain and Britain. And therefore it was that the New Testament was written in Greek, that it might be read and understood by all the nations of the Roman Empire, so that next to the Jews and the Bible which the Jews handed down to us, we owe more to these old Greeks than to any other people upon the earth. Now you must remember one thing,

that Greeks was not their real name. They called themselves always Helens. but the Romans miscalled them Greeks, and we have taken that wrong name from the Romans. It would take a long time to tell you why. They were made up of many tribes and many small separate states, and when you hear in this book of Minouai and Athenians and other such names, you must remember that they were all different tribes and peoples of the one great Helen race, who lived in what we now call Greece, in the islands of the archipelago,

and along the coast of Asia Minor. ionia as they call it from the hellespont to roads and had afterwards colonies and cities in sicily and south italy which was called great greece and along the shores of the black sea at synope and kirch and at sevastopol and after that again they spread under alexander the great and conquered egypt and syria and persia and the whole east but that was many hundred years after my stories for then there were no greeks on the black sea shores, nor in Sicily or Italy, or anywhere but in Greece and in Ionia. And if you are puzzled by the names of places in this book, you must take the maps and find them out. It will be a pleasanter way of learning geography than out of a dull lesson book. Now I love these old Helens heartily, and I should be very ungrateful to them if I did not, considering all that they have taught me, and they seem to me like brothers,

though they have all been dead and gone many hundred years ago. So as you must learn about them, whether you choose or not, I wish to be the first to introduce you to them and to say, Come hither, children, at this blessed Christmas time, when all God's creatures should rejoice together, and bless him who redeemed them all. Come, and see old friends of mine, whom I knew long ere you were born.

They are come to visit us at Christmas, out of the world where all live to God, and to tell you some of their old fairy tales which they loved when they were young like you for nations begin at first by being children like you though they are made up of grown men they are children at first like you men and women with children's hearts frank and affectionate and full of trust and teachable and loving to see and learn all the wonders round them and greedy also too often and passionate and silly as children are thus these old greeks were teachable and learnt from all the nations round from the phoenicians they learnt ship-building and some say letters beside and from the assyrians they learnt painting and carving and building in wood and stone and from the egyptians they learnt astronomy and many things which you would not understand in this they were like our own forefathers the northmen of whom you love to hear who though they were wild and rough themselves were humble and humble and, glad to learn from everyone. Therefore God rewarded these Greeks as he rewarded our forefathers and made them wiser than the people who taught them in everything they learned, for he loves

to see men and children open-hearted and willing to be taught, and to him who uses what he has got, he gives more and more day by day. So these Greeks grew wise and powerful, and wrote poems which will live till the world's end, which you must read for yourself some day. in english at least if not in greek and they learnt to carve statues and build temples which are still among the wonders of the world and many another wondrous thing god taught them for which we are the wiser this day for you must not fancy children that because these old greeks were heathens therefore god did not care for them and taught them nothing the bible tells us that it was not so but that god's mercy is over all his works and that he understands the hearts of all people and fashions all their works and st paul told these old greeks in after times when they had grown wicked and fallen low that they ought to have known better because they were god's offspring as their own poet's had said, and that the good God had put them where they were to seek the Lord and fill after him and find him, though he was not far from any one of them. And Clement of Alexandria, the great

father of the church, who was as wise as he was good, said that God had sent down philosophy to the Greeks from heaven as he sent down the gospel to the Jews. For Jesus Christ, remember, is the light who lights every man who comes into the world, and no one, can think a right thought or feel a right feeling or understand the real truth of anything in earth and heaven, unless the good Lord Jesus teaches him by his spirit, which gives man understanding. But these Greeks, as St. Paul told them, forgot what God had taught them, and though they were God's offspring, worshipped idols of wood and stone, and fell at last into sin and shame, and then, of course, into cowardice and slavery, till they perished out of that beautiful

land which God had given them for so many years. For like all nations who have left anything behind them, beside mere mounds of earth, they believed at first in the one true God who made all heaven and earth, but after a while, like all other nations, they began to worship other gods, or rather angels and spirits, who, so they fancied, lived to. about their land. Zeus, the father of gods and men, who was some dim remembrance of the blessed true God, and Hera, his wife, and Phoebus Apollo, the sun god, and Paulus Athene, who taught men wisdom in useful arts, and Aphrodite, the queen of beauty, and Poseidon, the ruler of the sea, and Hephaistos the king of the fire, who taught men to work in metals, and they honored the gods

of the rivers and the nymph-maids, who they fancied lived in the caves, and the fountains, and the glens of the forest, and all beautiful wild places. And they honored the Aranus, the dreadful sisters, who they thought haunted guilty men until their sins were purged away, and many other dreams they had, which parted the one god into many, and they said, too, that these gods did things which would be a shame and sin for any man to do. And when their philosophers arose and told them that God was one, they would not listen, but love their idols, and their wicked idol feast, till they all came to ruin. But we will talk of such sad things no more. But at the time of which this little book speaks, they had not fallen as low as that. They worshipped

no idols as far as I can find, and they still believed in the last six of the Ten Commandments, and knew well what was right and what was wrong. And they believed, and that was what gave them courage, that the gods loved men and taught them, and that without the gods men were sure to come to ruin, and in that they were right enough, as we know, more right even than they thought, for without God we can do nothing, and all wisdom comes from him. Now you must not think of them in this book as learned men, living in great cities, such as they were afterwards, when they wrought all their beautiful works, but as country people, living in farms and walled villages in a simple, hard-working way, so that the greatest kings and heroes cooked their own meals, and thought it no shame, and made their own ships and weapons, and fed and harnessed their own horses,

and the queens worked with their maidservants, and did all the business of the house, and spun and wove and embroidered, and made their husbands' clothes and their own, so that a man was honored among them, not because he happened to be rich, but according to his skill and his strength and courage, and the number of things which he could do, for they were but grown-up children, though they were right noble children too, and it was with them, as it is now at school, the strongest and cleverest

boy, though he be poor, leads all the rest. Now while they were young and simple, they loved fairy tales, as you do now. All nations do so when they are young. young, our old forefathers did, and called their stories sagas. I will read you some of them some day, some of the Edis, and the Velaspia, and Beowulf, and the noble old romances. The old Arabs, again, had their tales, which we now call the Arabian knights. The old Romans had theirs, and they called them Fabula, from which our word fable comes. But the old Helens called There's Muthwa, from which our new word myth is taken. But next to those old romances, which were written in the Christian Middle Age, there are no fairy tales like these old

Greek ones, for beauty and wisdom and truth, and for making children love noble deeds and trust in God to help them through. Now why I have called this book the heroes? Because that was the name which the Hellens gave to the men who were brave and skillful, and dare do more, and than other men. At first I think that was all it meant, but after a time it came to mean something more. It came to mean men who helped their country. Men in those old times when the country was half wild, who killed fierce beasts and evil men, and drained swamps and founded towns, and therefore after they were dead, were honored, because they had left their country better than they found it. And we call such a man a hero in English to the

this day and call it a heroic thing to suffer pain and grief that we may do good to our fellow-men we may all do that my children boys and girls alike and we ought to do it for it is easier now than ever and safer and the path more clear but you shall hear how the helen's said their heroes worked three thousand years ago the stories are not all true of course nor half of them you are not simple enough to fancy that but the meaning of them is true and true forever and that is do right and God will help you Farley court Advent 1855 Post script I owe an apology to the few scholars who may happen to read this hasty jude de spree for the inconsistent method in which I have spelled Greek names the rule which I have tried to follow has been this when the word has been this when the word has been been hopelessly latinized, as Phoebus has been, I have left it as it usually stands. But in other cases I have tried to keep the plain Greek spelling, except when it would have seemed pedantic, or when, as in the word, typhus, I should have given an altogether wrong notion of the sound of the word. It has been a choice of difficulties, which has been

forestone me by our strange habit of introducing boys to the Greek myths, not in their original shape, but in a Roman disguise. End of preface. Part 1 of Perseus from The Heroes. This is a Librevox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. This reading by Kara Shallenberg.

The Heroes, or Greek fairy tales for my children, by Charles Kingsley. Part one of Perseus. How Perseus and his mother came to Seraphos. Once upon a time there were two princes who were twins. Their names were Acrisius and Proetus, and they lived in the pleasant vale of Argos, far away in Hellas. They had fruitful meadows and vineyards, sheep and oxen, great herds of horses feeding down in Lernafen,

and all that men could need to make them blessed, and yet they were wretched because they were jealous of each other. From the moment they were born they began to quarrel, and when they grew up each tried to take away the other's share of the kingdom and keep all for himself. So, first Acrezius drove out Proetus, and he went across the seas and brought home a foreign princess for his wife, and foreign warriors to help him, who were called Cyclopes, and drove out Acresius in his turn, and then they fought a long while up and down the land, till the quarrel was settled, and Acrezius took Argos and one half of the land, and Proetus took Tyrens, and the other half. and Proetus and his cyclopays built around Tyren's great walls of unhewn stone,

which are standing to this day. But there came a prophet to that hard-hearted Acrezius and prophesied against him, and said, Because you have risen up against your own blood, your own blood shall rise up against you. Because you have sinned against your kindred, by your kindred you shall be punished. Your daughter Denei shall bear a son,

and by that son's hands you shall die. So the gods have ordained, and it will surely come to pass. And at that Eccresius was very much afraid, but he did not mend his ways. He had been cruel to his own family, and instead of repenting and being kind to them, he went on to be more cruel than ever, for he shut up his fair daughter Dene, in a cavern underground, lined with brass, that no one might come near her. So he fancied him. more cunning than the gods, but you will see presently whether he was able to escape them. Now it came to pass that in time Dene bore a son, so beautiful a babe that any but King Eccresius would have had pity on it. But he had no pity, for he took Dene and her babe

down to the seashore, and put them into a great chest and thrust them out to sea, for the winds and the waves to carry them whithersoever they would. The northwest wind blew freshly out of the blue mountains, and down the pleasant vale of Argos, and away and out to sea. And away and out to see, before it, floated the mother and her babe, while all who watched them wept, save that cruel father, King Eccresius. So they floated on and on, and the chest danced up and down upon the billows, and the baby slept upon its mother's breast, but the poor mother could not sleep, but watched and wept, and she sang to her baby as they floated, and the song which she sang you shall learn yourself some day. And now they are past the last blue headland, and in the open sea,

and there is nothing round them but the waves, and the sky and the wind. But the waves are gentle, and the sky is clear, and the breeze is tender and low, for these are the days when Halcyon and Seix built their nests, and no storms ever ruffled the pleasant summer sea. And who were Halcyon and Sayyx? You shall hear while the chest floats on. Halcyon was a fairy maiden, the daughter of the beach and of the wind, and she loved a sailor boy, and married him, and none on earth were so happy as they. But at last Sayyx was wrecked, and before he could swim to the shore, the billows swallowed him up,

and Halcyon saw him drowning and leapt into the sea to him, but in vain. Then the immortals took pity on them both, and changed them. them into two fair sea-birds, and now they build a floating nest every year, and sail up and down happily forever upon the pleasant seas of Greece. So a night passed, and a day, and a long day it was for Dene, and another night and day beside, till Dene was faint with hunger and weeping, and yet no land appeared, and all the while the babe slept quietly, and at last poor Dene drooped her head, and fell asleep likewise with her cheek against the babes. After a while she was awakened suddenly, for the chest was jarring and grinding, and the air

was full of sound. She looked up, and over her head were mighty cliffs, all red in the setting sun, and around her rocks and breakers, and flying flakes of foam. She clasped her hands together, and shrieked aloud for help, and when she cried, help met her, for now there came over the rocks a tall and stately man, and looked down wondering upon poor Deney tossing about in the chest among the waves. He wore a rough cloak of frieze, and on his head a broad hat to shade his face, in his hand he carried a trident for spearing fish, and over his shoulder was a casting-net.

But Dene could see that he was no common man by his stature and his walk, and his flowing golden hair and beard, and by the two servants who came behind him, carrying baskets for his fish. But she had hardly time to look at her. at him, before he had laid aside his trident, and leapt down the rocks, and thrown his casting-net so surely over Dene and the chest, that he drew it, and her, and the baby, safe upon a ledge of rock. Then the fisherman took Dene by the hand, and lifted her out of the chest, and said,

"'Oh, beautiful damsel! What strange chance has brought you to this island in so frail a ship! Who are you, and whence? you are some king's daughter, and this boy has somewhat more than mortal. And as he spoke he pointed to the babe, for its face shone like the morning star. But Dene only held down her head and sobbed out, "'Tell me to what land I have come, unhappy that I am, and among what men I have fallen.' And he said, "'This is called seraphos, and I am a Helen and dwell in it. I am the brother of Polydectes, the king, and men call me Dictes the netter, because I catch the fish of the shore.

Then Dene fell down at his feet, and embraced his knees, and cried, "'Oh, sir, have pity upon a stranger, whom a cruel doom has driven to your land, and let me live in your house as a servant, but treat me honorably, for I was once a king's daughter, and this my boy, as you have truly said, is of no common race. I will not be a charge to you or eat the bread of idleness, for I am more skillful in weaving and embroidery than all the maidens of my land. And she was going on, but Dictes stopped her, and raised her up, and said, My daughter, I am old, and my hairs are growing grey, while I have no children to make my home

cheerful. Come with me then, and you shall be a daughter to me and to my wife, and this babe shall be our grandchild, for I fear the gods and show hospitality to all strangers, knowing that good deeds, like evil ones, always return to those. who do them. So Dene was comforted and went home with Dictes the good fisherman and was a daughter to him and to his wife, till fifteen years were passed. End of Part One of Perseus. Read by Khrush-Allenberg, www.k.kray.org on October 19, 2007, in Oceanside, California. Part 2 of Perseus from The Heroes.

This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. Recording by Colin McRoberts. The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley. part two of perseus how perseus vowed a rash vow the heroes or greek fairy tales from my children by charles kingsley part two how perseus vowed a rash vow fifteen years were past and gone and the babe was now grown to be a tall lad and a sailor and went many voyages after merchandise to the island's round his mother called called him Perseus, but all the people in Seraphos said that he was not the son of mortal man,

and called him the son of Zeus, the king immortals, for though he was but fifteen, he was taller by a head than any man on the island, and he was the most skillful all in running and wrestling and boxing, and in throwing the quoit and the javelin, and in rowing with the oar, and in playing on the harp, and in all which benefits a man. he was brave and truthful, gentle and courteous, for good old Dictus had trained him well, and well it was for Perseus, that he had done so, for now Dene and her son fell into great danger, and Perseus had need of all his wit to defend his mother and himself. I said that Dictus's brother was Palladentis, king of the island.

He was not a righteous man like Dictus, but greedy and cunning and cruel. And when he saw Ferdane, he wanted to marry her, but she would not, for she did not love him, and cared for no one but her boy and her boy's father, whom she never hoped to see again. At last, Polydictus became furious, and, while Perseus was away at sea, he took poor Dane away from Dictus, saying, If you will not be my wife, you shall be my slave. So Dane was made a slave, and had to fetch water from the well, and grind in the mill, and perhaps, was beaten and wore a heavy chain because she would not marry the cruel king. But Perseus was far away over the sea in the Isle of Samos, little thinking of how his mother was languishing in grief. Now one day at Samos, while the ship was lading, Perseus wandered into a pleasant wood to get out of the sun and sat down on the turf and fell asleep. And as he slept,

a strange dream came to him the strangest dream which he had ever had in his life there came a lady to him through the wood taller than he or any mortal man but beautiful exceedingly with great grey eyes clear and piercing but strangely soft and mild on her head was a helmet and in her hand a spear and over her shoulder above her long blue robes hung a goat-skin which bore up a mighty shield of brass polished like a mirror she stood up her long blue robes and over her shoulder above her long blue robes hung a goat-skin which bore up a mighty shield of brass polished like a mirror she stood and looked at him with her clear grey eyes, and Perseus saw that her eyelids never moved, nor her eyeballs, but looked straight through and through him, and into his very heart, as if she could see all the secrets of his soul, and knew all that he had ever thought or longed for since the day that he was born, and Perseus dropped his eyes, trembling and blushing, as the wonderful lady spoke. Perseus, you must do an errand for me. Who are you? You? You are you? lady and how do you know my name i am palace athene and i know the thoughts of all men's hearts and discern their manhood or their baseness and from the souls of clay i turn away and they are blessed but not by me

they fattened at ease like sheep in the pasture and eat what they did not sew like oxen in the stall they grow and spread like a gourd along the ground but like the gourd they give no shade to the travelling and when they are right, death gathers them, and they go down, unloved into hell, and their name vanishes out of the land. But to the souls of fire, I give more fire, and to those who are manful, I give a might more than man's. These are the heroes, the sons of the immortals, who are blessed, but not like the souls of clay, for I drive them forth by strange paths, Herseus, that they may fight the titans and the monsters, the enemies of gods and men, through doubt and need, danger and battle, I drive them. And some of them are slain in the flower of youth. No man knows when or where, and some of them win noble names, and a fair and green old age, but what will be their latter end? I know not,

and none save Zeus, the father of gods and men. Tell me now, Perseus, which of these two sorts of men seem to you more blessed then perseus answered boldly better to die in the flower of youth on the chance of winning a noble name than to live at ease like the sheep and die unlove and unrenowned then the strange lady laughed and held up her brazen shield and said see here perseus dare you face such a monster as this and slay it that i may place its head upon this shield and in the mirror of the shield there appeared a face and as perseus looked on it his blood ran cold it was the face of a beautiful woman but her cheeks were pale as death and her brows were knit with everlasting pain and her lips were thin and bitter like a snake's and instead of hair vipers wreathed about her temples and shot out their forked tongues while round her head were folded wings like an eagles and upon her bosom claws of brass and percyus looked awhile and said if there is anything so fierce and foul on earth it were a noble deed to kill it where can i find the monster then the strange lady smiled again and said not yet you are too young and too unskilled for this is medusa the gorgon the mother of a monstrous brood return to your home and do the work which waits there for you you must play the man in that before i can think you worthy to go in search of the gorgon then Perseus would have spoken, but the strange lady vanished, and he awoke, and behold, it was a dream. But day and night, Perseus saw before him the face of that dreadful woman, with the vipers writhing

round her head. So he returned home, and when he came to Seraphos, the first thing which he heard was that his mother was a slave in the house of Polydictes. Grinding his teeth with rage, he went out in a way to the king's palace, and through the men's rooms in the women's rooms and so through all the house for no one dared stop him so terrible and fair was he till he found his mother sitting on the floor turning the stone hand-mill and weeping as she turned it and he lifted her up and kissed her and bade her follow him forth but before they could pass out of the room polydictes came in raging and when percyus saw him he flew upon him as the mastiff lies on the board villain and tyrant he cried Is this your respect for the gods? And thy mercy to strangers and widows, you shall die.

And because he had no sword, he caught up the stone handmill and lifted it to dash out Palladicti's brains. But his mother clung to him, shrieking, Oh, my son, we are strangers and helpless in the land. And if you kill the king, all the people will fall on us, and we shall both die. Good Dictes, too, who had come in and treated him. Remember that he is my brother. Remember how I have brought you up, and trained you as my own son, and spare him for my sake.

Then Perseus lowered his hand, and Polydictes, who had been trembling all this while like a coward, because he knew that he was in the wrong, but Perseus and his mother pass. Perseus took his mother to the temple of Athena, and there the priestess made her one of the temple sweepers, for there they knew she would be safe, and not even Polydictes would dare to drag her away. from the altar. And there, Perseus and the good Dictes and his wife came to visit her every day, while Polydictes, not being able to get what he wanted by force, cast about in his wicked heart how he might get it by cunning. Now he was sure that he could never get back, Dane, as long as Perseus was in the island, so he made a plot to rid himself of him, and first he pretended to have forgiven Perseus, and to have forgiven Dane, so that, for a while, all went as smoothly as ever.

Next he proclaimed a great feast, and invited to it all the chiefs and landowners and young men of the island, and among them Perseus, that they might all do him homage as their king, and eat of his banquet in his hall. on the appointed day they all came and as the custom was then each guest brought his present with him to the king one a horse another a shawl or a ring or a sword and those who had nothing better brought a basket of grapes or a game but perseus brought nothing for he had nothing to bring being but a poor sailor lad he was ashamed however to go into the king's presence without his gift and he was too proud to ask dictis to lend him to him to lend him to his own to his own to his own to lend him to his own to his own to his own to his own to his own to his own to one so he stood at the door sorrowfully watching the rich men go in and his face grew very red as they pointed at him and smiled and whispered what has that foundling to give now this was what polydictes wanted and as soon as he heard that perseus stood without he bade them bring him in and asked him scornfully before them all am i not your king perseus and have i not invited you to my feast where is your present then perseus blushed and stammered while all the proud men round laughed and some of them began jeering him openly this fellow was thrown ashore here like a piece of weed or drift and yet he is too proud to bring a gift to the king and though he does not know who his father is he is vain enough to let the old woman call him the son of zeus and so forth till poor percius grew mad with shame and hardly knowing what he said cried out how present who were you you who talk of presents see if i do not bring a nobler one than all of yours together so he said boasting and yet he felt in his heart that he was braver than all those scoffers and more able to do some glorious deed hear him hear the boaster what is it to be cried they all laughing louder than ever then his dream at samos came into his mind and he cried aloud the head of the gargan he was half afraid after he had seen

said these words for all laughed louder than ever and polydictes loudest of all you have promised to bring me a gorgon's head then never appear again in this island without it go perseus ground his teeth with rage for he saw that he had fallen into a trap but his promise lay upon him and he went out without a word down to the cliffs he went and looked across the broad blue sea and he wondered if his dream were true and prayed in the bitterness of his soul palisathine was my dream true and shall i slay the gorgon if thou didst really show me her face let me not come to shame as a liar and boastful rashly and angrily i promised but cunningly patiently will i perform there was no answer nor sign neither thunder nor any appearance not even a cloud in the sky and three times perseus called weeping rashly and angrily i promised but cunningly and patiently will i perform then he saw afar above the sea a small white cloud as bright as silver and it came on nearer and nearer till its brightness dazzled his eyes perseus wondered at the strange cloud for there was no other cloud all round the sky and he trembled as he touched the cliff below and as it touched it broke and parted and within it appeared palace athene as he had seen her at samos in the dream and beside her a young man more light limb than the stag whose eyes were like sparks of fire by his side was a scimitar of diamond all of one clear precious stone and on his feet were golden sandal and on his feet were golden sandal and his feet were golden sandal and his side were the stars. from the heels of which grew living wings. They looked upon Perseus keenly, and yet they never moved their eyes, and they came up the cliffs toward him, more swiftly than the seagull, and yet they never moved their feet, nor did the breeze stir the robes around their limbs. Only the wings of the youth's sandals quivered, like a hawk's, was over the cliff, and Perseus fell down in worship, for he knew that they were more than man. but athene stood before him and spoke gently and bid him have no fear then percyus she said he who overcomes in one trial merits thereby a sharper trial still you have brave polydictes and done manfully

dare you brave medusa the gorgon and percyus said try me for since you spoke to me in samos a new soul has come into my breast and i should be ashamed not to dare anything which i can do show me then how i can do this perseus said athene think well before you attempt for this deed requires a seven years journey in which you cannot repent or turn back or escape but if your heart fails you you must die in the unshapen land where no man will ever find your bones better so than live here useless and despised said percius tell me then oh tell me fair and wise goddess of your great kindness and condensation how can I do but this one thing, and then, if need be, died. Then, Athena smiled and said, Be patient and listen, for if you forget my words, you will indeed die. You must go northward to the country of the Hyperboreans, who live beyond the pole, at the sources of the cold north wind,

till you find the three grey sisters who have but one eye and one tooth between them. you must ask them the way to the nymphs and daughters of the evening star who dance about the golden tree and the atlantic island of the west they will tell you the way to the gorgon that you may slay her my enemy the mother of monstrous beasts once she was a maiden as beautiful as more till in her pride she sinned a sin at which the sun hid its face and from that day her hair was turned to vipers and her hands to eagle's claws and her heart was filled with shame and rage and her lips with bitter venom and her eyes became so terrible that whosoever looks on them is turned to stone and her children are the winged horse and the giant of the golden sword and her grandchildren are achidna the witch adder and geryon the three-headed tyrant who feeds his herds outside the herds of hell so she became the sister of the gorgans stheno and ureth the abhorred the daughters of the queen of the sea touch them not for they are immortal but bring me only medusa's head and i will bring it said perseus but how am i to escape their eyes will she not freeze me too into stone you shall take this polished shield said athena and when you come near her look not at her herself but at her image in the brass so that you may strike her safely and when you have struck off her head rapid with your face turned away in the folds of the goat-skin on which the shield hangs the hide of amalthier the nurse of the agus holder so you will bring it safely back to me and win to yourself renown and a place among the heroes who feast with the immortals upon the peak where no winds blow then percyus said i will go though i die in going but how shall i cross the sea without a ship and who will show me my way and when i find her how shall i slay her if her scales be iron and brass then the young man spoke these sandalels of mine will bear you across the seas and over hill and dale like a bird as they bear me all day long for i am hermes the far-famed argus slayer the messenger of the immortals who dwell in olympus and perseus fell down and worshipped while the young man spoke again the sandals themselves will guide you on the road for they are divine and cannot stray and this sword itself the argus slayer will kill her for it is divine and needs no second stroke

arise and gird them on and go forth so perseus arose and girded on the sandals and the sword and athena cried now leap from the cliff and begone but percyus lingered may i not bid farewell to my mother and to dictus and may i not offer burnt offerings to you and to hermes the far-famed argus slayer and to father zeus above you shall not bid farewell to your mother lest your heart relent in her weeping I will comfort her and Dictes, until you return in peace. Nor shall you offer burnt offerings to the Olympians, for your offering shall be Medusa's head. Leap and trust in the armor of the immortals. Then Perseus looked down the cliff and shuddered, but he was ashamed to show his dread. Then he thought of Medusa and the renown before him, and he leaped into the empty air. And behold, instead of falling, he floated and stood and ran along the sky.

He looked back, but Athena had vanished, and Hermes, and the sandals led him on northward ever, like a crane who follows the spring toward the ister fins. End of Part 2 of Perseus. Part 3 of Perseus from The Heroes. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley.

Part 3 How Perseus Sle the Gorgon So Perseus started on his journey, going dry-shod over land and sea, And his heart was high and joyful, For the winged sandals bore him each day a seven-day's journey. And he went by synthes and by Seos, and the pleasant cyclades to Attica, and past Athens and Thebes, and the Copiac Lake, and up the vale of Cephasus,

and past the peaks of Oita and Pindus, and over the rich Thessalian plains, till the sunny hills of Greece were behind him, and before him were the wilds of the north. Then he passed the Thracian mountains, and many a barbarous tribe, Pians and Dardons and Triboli, till he came to the Ister stream

and the dreary Scythian plains. And he walked across the Ister, dry-shod, and away through the moors and fens, day and night toward the bleak northwest, turning neither to the right hand nor the left till he came to the unshapen land and the place which has no name. and seven days he walked through it on a path which few can tell for those who have trodinent like least to speak of it and those who go there again in dreams are glad enough when they awake till he came to the edge of the everlasting night where the air was full of feathers and the soil was hard with ice and there at last he found the three grey sisters by the shore of the shore of feathers and the soil was hard with ice and there at last he found the three grey sisters by the shore

of the freezing sea, nodding upon a white log of driftwood beneath the cold white winter moon, and they chanted a low song together, why the old times were better than the new. There was no living thing around them, not a fly, not a moss upon the rocks, neither seal nor seagull dare come near, lest the ice should clutch them in its claws. The surge broke up in foam, but it fell again in flakes of snow, and it frosted the hair of the three grey sisters, and the bones of the ice-cliffs above their heads. They passed the eye from one to the other, but for all that they could not see, and they passed the tooth from one to the other, but for all that they could not eat, and they They sat in the full glare of the moon, but they were none the warmer for her beams.

And Perseus pitied the three gray sisters, but they did not pity themselves. So he said, O venerable mothers, wisdom is the daughter of old age. You therefore should know many things. Tell me, if you can, the path to the Gorgon. Then one cried, "'Who is this who reproaches us with old age?' And another,

"'This is the voice of one of the children of men.' And he, "'I do not reproach, but honour your old age, and I am one of the sons of men and of the heroes. The rulers of Olympus have sent me to you to ask the way to the Gorgon.' Then one, There are new rulers in Olympus, and all new things are bad.

And another. We hate your rulers and the heroes and all the children of men. We are the kindred of the Titans and the giants and the Gorgons and the ancient monsters of the deep. And another, Who is this rash and insolent man who, pushes unbidden into our world. And the first, there never was such a world as ours, nor will be. If we'd let him see it, he will spoil it all.

Then one cried, Give me the eye that I may see him. And another, give me the tooth that I may bite him. But Perseus, when he saw that they were foolish and proud, and did not love the children of men, left off pitying them, and said to himself, Hungry men must needs be hasty. If I stay making many words here, I shall be starved.

Then he stopped close to them, and watched till they passed the eye from hand to hand, and as they groped about between themselves, he held out his own hand gently, till one of them put the eye into it. fancying that it was the hand of her sister. Then he sprang back and laughed and cried, Cruel and proud old women,

I have your eye, and I will throw it into the sea unless you tell me the path to the Gorgon, and swear to me that you will tell me right. Then they wept and chattered and scolded, but in vain they were forced to tell the truth, though when they told it Perseus could hardly make out the road. "'You must go,' they said, foolish boy,

to the southward, into the ugly glare of the sun, till you come to Atlas, the giant, who holds the heaven and the earth apart, and you must ask his daughters the Hesperides, who are young and foolish like your head. And now give us back our eye, for we have forgotten all the rest. So Perseus gave them back their eye, but instead of using it, they nodded and fell fast asleep, and were turned into blocks of ice, till the tide came up and washed them all away.

And now they float up and down like icebergs forever, weeping whenever they meet the sunshine, and the fruitful summer and the warm south wind, which fill young hearts with joy. But Perseus leaped away to the southward, leaving the snow and ice behind, past the Isle of the Hyperboreans and the Tin Isles and the long Iberian shore, while the sun rose higher day by day upon a bright blue summer sea,

and the turns and the seagulls swept laughing round the sea, his head and called him to stop and play, and the dolphins gamble up as he passed and offered to carry him on their backs. And all night long the sea-nymphs sang sweetly, and the tritons blew upon their conchs, as they played round Galatia their queen, in her car of purled shells. Day by day, the sun rose higher and leaped more swiftly into the sea at night, and more swiftly out of the sea at dawn, while Perseus skimmed over the billows like a seagull, and his feet were never wetted, and leapt from wave to wave, and his limbs were never weary, till he saw far away a mighty mountain, all rose red in the setting sun. Its feet were wrapped in forests, and its head were held in the

head in wreaths of cloud, and Perseus knew that it was Atlas, who holds the heavens and the earth apart. He came to the mountain and leapt on shore, and wandered upward among pleasant valleys and waterfalls, and tall trees and strange ferns and flowers, but there was no smoke rising from any glen nor house nor sign of man. At last he heard sweet voices singing, and he guessed that he was come to the garden of the nymphs, the daughters of the evening star. They sang like nightingales among the thickets, and Perseus stopped to hear their song, but the words which they spoke he could not understand, no, nor no man after him for many

a hundred years. So he stepped forward and saw them dancing, hand in hand, around the charmed tree, which bent under its golden fruit, and round the tree-foot was coiled the dragon, old Leydon, the sleepless snake, who lies there forever, listening to the song of the maidens, blinking and watching with dry, bright eyes. Then Perseus, stopped, not because he feared the dragon, but because he was bashful before those fair maids. But when they saw him, they too stopped, and called to him with trembling voices. Who are you? Are you Heracles the mighty? Who will come to rob our garden and carry off our golden fruit? And he answered, I am not Heracles the mighty, and I want none of your golden fruit.

me, fair nymphs, the way which leads to the Gorgon, that I may go on my way and slay her. Not yet, not yet, fair boy. Come dance with us around the tree in the garden which knows no winter, the home of the south wind and the sun. Come hither and play with us a while. We have danced alone here for a thousand years, and our hearts are weary with longing for a playfellow. So come Come, come, come! I cannot dance with you, fair maidens, for I must do the errand of the immortals. So tell me the way to the Gorgon,

lest I wander and perish in the waves. Then they sighed and wept and answered, The Gorgon, she will freeze you into stone. It is better to die like a hero than to live like an ox in a stall. The immortals have lent me weapons, and they will give me wit to use them. Then they sighed again and answered, Fair boy, if you are bent on your own ruin, be it so.

We know not the way to the Gorgon, but we will ask the giant atlas, above upon the mountain peak, the brother of our father, the silver evening star. He sits aloft and sees across the ocean, and far away into the unshaping, shape in land. So they went up to the mountain to Atlas their uncle, and Perseus went up with them, and they found the giant kneeling as he held the heavens and the earth apart. They asked him, and he answered mildly, pointing to the seaboard with his mighty hand, I can see the Gorgons lying on an island far away, but this youth can never

come near them, unless he has the hat of darkness, which whosoever wears, cannot be seen. Then cried Perseus, Where is that hat, that I may find it? But the giant smiled. No living mortal can find that hat, for it lies in the depths of Hades, in the regions of the dead. But my nieces are immortal, and they shall fetch it. for you if you will promise me one thing and keep your faith. Then Perseus promised, and the giant said, When you come back with the head of Medusa, you shall show me the beautiful horror,

that I may lose my feeling and my breathing and become a stone forever, for it is weary labor for me to hold the heavens and the earth apart. Then Perseus promised, And the eldest of the nymphs went down And into a dark cavern among the cliffs, Out of which came smoke and thunder, For it was one of the mouths of hell. And Perseus and the nymphs sat down seven days

And waited trembling till the nymph came up again, And her face was pale, and her eyes dazzled with the light, for she had been long in the weary darkness, but in her hand was the magic hat. Then all the nymphs kissed Perseus and wept over him a long while, but he was only impatient to be gone,

and at last they put the hat upon his head, and he vanished out of their sight. But Perseus went on boldly, past many an ugly sight, far away into the heart of the unshapen land, beyond the streams of ocean, to the aisles where no ship cruises, where is neither night nor day, where nothing is in its right place, and nothing has a name, till he heard the rustle of the Gorgon's wings, and saw the glitter of their brazen talons. And then he knew it was time to halt,

lest Medusa should freeze him into stone. He thought a while with himself and remembered Athenie's words. He rose aloft into the air and held the mirror of the shield above his head and looked up into it that he might see all that was below him. And he saw the three gorgons

sleeping as huge as elephants. He knew that they could not see him because the hat of darkness hid him, and yet he trembled, and he sank down near them. So terrible were those brazen claws. Two of the Gorgans were foul as swine, and lay sleeping heavily as swine's sleep

with their mighty wings outspread. But Medusa tossed to and fro restlessly, and as she tossed, Perseus pitied her. She looked fair and sad. Her plumage was like the rainbow, and her face was the face of a nymph. Only her eyebrows were knit, and her lips clenched with everlasting care and pain, and her long neck gleamed so white in the mirror that Perseus had not the heart to strike, and said, Ah, that it had been either of her sisters.

But as he looked, from among her tresses the viper's heads awoke, and peeped up with their bright, dry eyes, and showed their fangs and hissed. and Medusa, as she tossed, threw back her wings and showed her brazen claws. And Perseus saw that, for all her beauty, she was as foul and venomous as the rest. Then he came down and stepped to her boldly, and looked steadfastly on his mirror, and struck with herpy stoutly once, and he did not need to strike again. Then he wrapped the head in the goat-skin, turning away his eyes, and sprang into the air aloft, faster than he ever sprang before.

For Medusa's wings and talons rattled as she sank dead upon the rocks, and her two foul sisters woke, and saw her lying dead. Into the air they sprang yelling, and looked for him who had, had done the deed. Thrice they swung round and round like hawks who beat for a partridge, and thrice they snuffed round and round like hounds who draw upon a deer. At last they struck upon the scent of the blood, and they checked for a moment to make sure, and then on they rushed with a fearful howl while the wind rattled horse in their wings. On they rushed, sweeping, and flapping like eagles after a hair,

and Perseus's blood ran cold for all his courage, as he saw them come howling on his track, and he cried, Bear me well now, brave sandals, for the hounds of death are at my heels. And well the brave sandals bore him, aloft through the cloud and sunshine, across the shoreless sea,

and fast followed the hounds of death, as the roar of their wings came down the wind but the roar came down fainter and fainter and the howl of their voices died away for the sandals were too swift even for the gorgons and by nightfall they were far behind two black specks in the southern sky till the sun sank and he saw them no more then he came again to atlas and the sun then he came again to atlas and the garden of the nymphs and when the giant heard him coming he groaned and said fulfil thy promise to me then perseus held up to him the gorgon's head and he had rest from all his toil for he became a crag of stone which sleeps forever far above the clouds Then he thanked the nymphs and asked them, By what road shall I go homeward again, for I wandered far round in coming hither?

And they wept and cried, Go home no more, but stay and play with us, Lonely maidens who dwell forever far away from gods and men. But he refused, and they told him his road, and said, take with you this magic fruit, which if you eat once, you will not hunger for seven days, for you must go eastward and eastward ever, over the doleful Libyan shore, which Poseidon gave to Father Zeus, when he burst open the Bosphorus and the Hellespont,

and drowned the fair Lechtonian land. And Zeus took that land in exchange, a fair bargain, much bad ground for a little good, and to this day it lies waste and desert with shingle and rock and sand. Then they kissed Perseus and wept over him, and he leapt down the mountain, and went on, lessening and lessening, like a seagull, away and out to sea. End of Part 3 of Perseus Recording by Tisto T-Y-S-T-O-com

Part 4 of Perseus from The Heroes This is a Librevox recording All Libravox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visitlibrovox.org The Heroes or Greek fairy tales for my children by Charles Kingsley. Part 4 How Perseus came to the Ethiopes.

So Perseus flitted onward to the northeast over many a league of sea till he came to the rolling sandhills and the dreary Libyan shore. And he flitted on across the desert over rock ledges and banks of shingle, and level wastes of sand and shell drifts bleaching in the sunshine, and the skeletons of great sea monsters and dead bones of ancient giants, strewn up and down upon the old sea floor. And as he went, the blood drops fell to the earth from the Gorgon's head and became poisonous asps and adders which breed in the desert to this day.

Over the sands he went, he never knew how far or how long, feeding on the fruit which the nymphs had given him, till he saw the hills of the silly and the dwarfs who fought with cranes. Their spears were of reeds and rushes, and their houses of the eggshells of the cites of the cranes. cranes, and Perseus laughed and went his way to the northeast, hoping all day long to see the blue Mediterranean sparkling that he might fly across it to his home. But now came down a mighty wind and swept him back southward toward the desert.

All day long he strove against it, but even the winged sandals could not prevail. So he was forced to float down the wind all night, and when the morning dawned, there was nothing to be seen save the same old hateful waste of sand. And out of the north, the sandstorms rushed upon him, blood-red pillars and wreaths, blotting out the noonday sun, and Perseus fled before them, lest he should be choked by the burning dust. At last the gale fell calm, and he tried to go northward again,

but again came down the sandstorms and swept him back into the waste, and then all was calm and cloudless as before. Seven days he strove against the storms, and seven days he was driven back till he was spent with thirst and hunger, and his tongue clove to the roof of his mouth. Here and there he fancied that he saw a fair lake and the sunbeams shining on the water. But when he came to it, it vanished at his feet,

and there was naught but burning sand. And if he had not been of the race of the immortals, he would have perished in this waste, but his life was strong within him because it was more than man's. Then he cried to Athenie and said, O fair and pure, if thou hearest me, wilt thou leave me here to die of drought?

I have brought thee the Gorgon's head at thy bidding, and hitherto thou hast prospered my journey. Dost thou desert me at the last? Else why will not these immortal sandals prevail, even against the desert storms? shall I never see my mother more, and the blue ripple round seraphos, and the sunny hills of Hellas? So he prayed, and after he had prayed, there was a great silence. The heaven was still above his head, and the sand was still beneath his feet, and Perseus looked up,

but there was nothing but the blinding sun in the blinding blue. and round him, but there was nothing but the blinding sand. And Perseus stood a while and waited and said, "'Surely I am not here without the will of the immortals, for Athene will not lie. "'Were not these sandals to lead me in the right road, "'then the road in which I have tried to go must be the wrong road. "'Then suddenly his ears were opened,

"'and he heard the sound of running water. And at that his heart was lifted up, though he scarcely dare believe his ears, and weary as he was he hurried forward, though he could hardly stand upright, and within a bow-shot of him was a glen in the sand and marble rocks and date-trees and a lawn of gay green grass. and through the lawn a streamlet sparkled and wandered out beyond the trees and vanished in the sand. The water trickled among the rocks and a pleasant breeze rustled in the dry date branches and Perseus laughed for joy and leapt down the cliff and drank of the cool water and ate of the dates and slept upon the turf and leapt up and went forward again, but not towards the sea. the north this time, for he said, Surely Athene hath sent me hither,

and will not have me go homeward yet. What if there be another noble deed to be done before I see the sunny hills of Hellas? So he went east and east forever by fresh oases and fountains, date palms and lawns of grass, till he saw before him a mighty mountain wall all rose red in the setting sun.

Then he towered in the air like an eagle, for his limbs were strong again, and he flew all night across the mountain till the day began to dawn, and rosy-fingered Eos came blushing up the sky. And then, behold, beneath him was the long green garden of Egypt, and the shining stream of Nile. and he saw cities walled up to heaven and temples and obelisks and pyramids and giant gods of stone

and he came down amid fields of barley and flax and millet and clambering gourds and saw the people coming out of the gates of a great city and setting to work each in his place among the watercourses parting the streams among the plants cunningly with their feet, according to the wisdom of the Egyptians. But when they saw him they all stopped their work, and gathered round him and cried, Who art thou, fair youth, and what barest thou beneath thy goat-skin there? Surely thou art one of the immortals, for thy skin is white like ivory, and ours is red like clay. Thy hair is like threads of gold, and ours is as is white like ivory, and ours is red like clay.

is black and curled. Surely thou art one of the immortals, and they would have worshipped him then and there, but Perseus said, I am not one of the immortals, but I am a hero of the Helens, and I have slain the Gorgon in the wilderness, and bear her head with me. Give me food, therefore, that I may go forward and finish my work. Then they gave him food and fruit and wine, but they would not let him go. And when the news came into the city that the Gorgon was slain, the priests came out to meet him, and the maidens, with songs and dances and timbrels and harps,

and they would have brought him to their temple and to their king, but Perseus put on the hat of darkness, and vanished away out of their sight. Therefore, the Egyptians looked long for his return, but in vain, and worshipped him as a hero, and made a statue of him in Chemis, which stood for many a hundred years, and they said that he appeared to them at times,

with sandals a cubit long, and that whenever he appeared the season was fruitful, and the Nile rose up that year. Then Perseus went to the eastward, along the Red Sea shore, and then, because he was afraid to go into the Arabian deserts, he turned northward once more, and this time no storm hindered him.

He went past the Isthmus and Mount Cassius and the vast Serbonian bog, and up the shore of Palestine, where the dark-faced Ethiopes dwell. He flew on past pleasant hills and valleys like Argos itself, or Lassademon, or the fair vale of Tempe, but the lowlands were all drowned by floods, and the highlands blasted by fire, and the hills heaved like a babbling cauldron before the wrath of King Poseidon, the shaker of the earth.

And Perseus feared to go inland, but flew along the shore above the sea, and he went on all the day, and the sky was black with smoke, and he went on all the night, and the sky was red with flame. And at the dawn of the dawn of the day, day, he looked toward the cliffs, and at the water's edge, under a black rock, he saw a white image

stand. This, thought he, must surely be the statue of some sea-god. I will go near and see what kind of gods these barbarians worship. So he came near, but when he came, it was no statue, but a maiden of flesh and blood. for he could see her tresses streaming in the breeze, and as he came closer still, he could see how she shrank and shivered when the waves sprinkled her with cold salt spray.

Her arms were spread above her head and fastened to the rock with chains of brass, and her head drooped on her bosom, either with sleep or weariness or grief. But now and then, she looked up and wailed and called her mother, yet she did not see Perseus, for the cap of darkness was on his head.

Full of pity and indignation, Perseus drew near and looked upon the maid. Her cheeks were darker than his, and her hair was blue-black like a hyacinth. But Perseus thought, I have never seen so beautiful a maiden. No, not in all. all our aisles.

Surely she is a king's daughter. Do barbarians treat their king's daughters thus? She is too fair, at least, to have done any wrong. I will speak to her. And, lifting the hat from his head, he flashed into her sight. She shrieked with terror and tried to hide her face with her hair, for she could not with her hands. But Perseus cried,

"'Do not fear me, fair one. I am a Helen and no barbarian. What cruel men have bound you, but first I will set you free.' And he tore at the fetters, but they were too strong for him while the maiden cried, "'Touch me not, I am a cursed, devoted as a victim to the sea-gods. They will slay you if you dare to set me free.' "'Let them try,' said Perseus. and drawing Herpe from his thigh, he cut through the brass as if it had been flax. Now, he said, You belong to me,

and not to these sea-gods, whoever they may be. But she only called the more on her mother. Why call you on your mother? She can be no mother to have left you here. If a bird is dropped out of the nest, it belongs to the man who picks it up. If the jewel is cast by the wayside, it is his who dare win it and wear it, as I will win you and wear you.

I know now why Pallas Athene sent me hither. She sent me to gain a prize worth all my toil and more. And he clasped her in his arms and cried, Where are these sea-gods, cruel and unjust, who doom fair maids to death. I carry the weapons of immortals. Let them measure their strength against mine. But tell me, maiden, who you are,

and what dark fate brought you here. And she answered, weeping, I am the daughter of Cepheus, king of Eope, and my mother is Cassiopia of the beautiful tresses, and they called me Andromeda as, long as life was mine. And I stand bound here, hapless that I am, for the sea-monster's food to atone for my mother's sin. For she boasted of me once that I was fairer than Attergatus, queen of the fishes. So she, in her wrath, sent the sea-floods, and her brother the fire-king

sent the earthquakes, and wasted all the land. And after the floods a monster-beeners. A monster bread of the slime, who devours all living things. And now he must devour me, guiltless though I am, me who never harmed a living thing, nor saw a fish upon the shore, but I gave it life and threw it back into the sea. For in our land we eat no fish, for fear of Attergatus, their queen. Yet the priests say that nothing but my blood can atone for a sin, which I never committed. But Perseus laughed and said, A sea monster, I have fought with worse than him. I would have faced immortals for your sake. How much more a beast of the sea! Then Andromeda looked up at him, and new hope was

kindled in her breast, so proud and fair did he stand, with one hand round her, and in the other the glittering sword. But she only sighed and wept the moor and cried, Why will you die, young as you are? Is there not death and sorrow enough in the world already? It is noble for me to die that I may save the lives of a whole people, but you, better than them all, why should I slay you too?

Go you your way. I must go mine. But Perseus cried, Not so, for the lords of Olympus whom I serve Are the friends of the heroes, And help them on to noble deeds. Led by them, I slew the Gorgon, The beautiful horror,

And not without them do I come hither To slay this monster with that same Gorgon's head. Yet hide your eyes when I leave, you, lest the sight of it frees you too to stone. But the maiden answered nothing, for she could not believe his words, and then, suddenly looking up, she pointed to the sea and shrieked. There he comes, with the sunrise as they promised. I must die now.

How shall I endure it? Oh, go! Is it not dreadful enough to be torn peering? piecemeal without having you to look on? And she tried to thrust him away. But he said, I go, yet promise me one thing ere I go, that if I slay this beast, you will be my wife, and come back with me to my kingdom in fruitful Argos, for I am a king's heir. Promise me, and seal it with a kiss. Then she lifted up her face. face and kissed him, and Perseus laughed for joy and flew upward while Andromeda crouched,

trembling on the rock, waiting for what might befall. On came the great sea monster, coasting along like a huge black galley, lazily breasting the ripple and stopping at times by creek or headland to watch for the laughter of girls at their bleaching. or cattle pawing at the sand hills, or boys bathing on the beach. His great sides were fringed with clustering shells and seaweeds, and the water gurgled in and out of his wide jaws as he rolled along, dripping and glistening in the beams of the morning sun. At last he saw Andromeda and shot forward to take his,

prey, while the waves foamed white behind him, and before him the fish fled leaping. Then down from the height of the air fell Perseus, like a shooting star, down to the crests of the waves, while Andromeda hid her face as he shouted, and then there was silence for a while. At last she looked up, trembling, and saw Perseus springing toward her, and instead of the monster a long black rock, with the sea rippling quietly around it. Who then so proud as Perseus, as he leapt back to the rock

and lifted his fair Andromeda in his arms, and flew with her to the cliff-top as a falcon carries a dove? Who so proud as Perseus, and who so joyful as all the Ethiope people, for they had stood watching the monster from the cliffs, wailing for the maiden's fate, and already a messenger had gone to Cepheus and Cassiopea, where they sat in sackcloth and ashes on the ground, in the innermost palace chambers, awaiting their daughter's end.

And they came, and all the city with them, to see the wonder with songs and with dances, with symbols and harps, and received their daughter back, again as one alive from the dead. Then Cepheus said, Hero of the Helens, Stay here with me and be my son-in-law, and I will give you half my kingdom. I will be your son-in-law, said Perseus,

but of your kingdom I will have none, for I long after the pleasant land of Greece and my mother who waits for me at home. Then Sipheus said, You must not take my daughter away at once, For she is to us like one alive from the dead. Stay with us here a year, and after that you shall return with honor.

And Perseus consented, But before he went to the palace, He bade the people bring stones and wood And build three altars, One to Athene and one to Hermie, and one to Hermes, and one to Father Zeus, and offered bullocks and rams. And some said, this is a pious man, yet the priests said, The sea queen will be yet more fierce against us, because her monster is slain.

But they were afraid to speak aloud, where they feared the Gorgon's head. So they went up to the palace, and when they came in, there stood in the hall Phineas, the brother of Cepheus, chafing like a bear robbed of her whelps, and with him his sons and his servants and many an armed man, and he cried to Cepheus, You shall not marry your daughter to this stranger, of whom no one knows even the name. Was not Andromeda betrothed to my son? And now she is safe again. Has he not a right to claim her?

But Perseus laughed and answered, If your son is in want of a bride, Let him save a maiden for himself. As yet he seems but a helpless bridegroom. He left this one to die, And dead she is to him. I saved her alive, And alive she is to me,

but to no one else. Ungrateful man, have I not saved your land and the lives of your sons and daughters, and will you requite me thus? Go, or it will be worse for you. But all the men at arms drew their swords and rushed on him like wild beasts.

Then he unveiled the Gorgon's head, and said, This has delivered my bride from one wild beast, it shall deliver her from many. And as he spoke, Phineas and all his men at arms stopped short and stiffened each man as he stood. And before Perseus had drawn the goat-skin over the face again, they were all turned into stone. Then Perseus bade the people bring levers and roll them out, and what was done with them after that, I cannot tell.

So they made a great wedding feast, which lasted seven whole days, and who is so happy as Perseus and Andromeda? But on the eighth night, Perseus dreamed a dream, and he saw standing beside him Palis Athene, as he had seen her in Seraphos seven long years before, and she stood and called him by name and said,

Perseus, you have played the man, and see you have your reward. Know now that the gods are just and help him who helps himself. Now give me here Herpe the sword and the sandals and the hat of darkness that I may give them back to their owner. But the Gorgon's head you shall keep a while, for you will need it in your land of Greece. Then you shall lay it up in my temple at Serafos, that I may wear it on my shield forever, a terror to the titans and the monsters and the foes of gods and men. and as for this land I have appeased the sea and the fire, and there shall be no more floods nor earthquakes. But let the people build altars to Father Zeus and to me, and worship the immortals, the lords of heaven and earth.

And Perseus rose to give her the sword, the cap, and the sandals, but he woke, and his dream vanished away. it was not altogether a dream, for the goat's skin with the head was in its place, but the sword and the cap and the sandals were gone, and Perseus never saw them more. Then a great awe fell on Perseus, and he went out in the morning to the people and told his dream, and bade them build altars to Zeus, the father of gods and men, and to Athene who gives wisdom to heroes, and fear no more the earthquakes and the floods, but sow and build in peace.

And they did so for a while and prospered. But after Perseus was gone, they forgot Zeus and Athenie, and worshipped again Aturgatus, the queen, and the undying fish of the sacred lake, where Ducalion's deluge was swallowed up, and they burnt their children before the fire king, till Zeus was angry with that foolish people

and brought a strange nation against them out of Egypt, who fought against them and wasted them utterly, and dwelt in their cities for many a hundred years. End of Part 4 of Perseus. Recording by Tisto, T-Y-S-T-Y-S-T-T-Y-S-T-E-S-T-E. p.o.com. Part five of Perseus from the Heroes. This is a Libravox recording.

All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. The Heroes, or Greek fairy tales for my children, by Charles Kingsley. Part five of Perseus, how Perseus came home again. And when a year was ended, Perseus hired Phoenicians from tire and cut down cedars and built himself a noble galley, and painted its cheeks with vermilion and pitched its sides with pitch. And in it he put Andromeda, and all her dowry of jewels and rich shawls and spices from the east, and great was the weeping when they rode away.

But the remembrance of his brave deed was left behind, and Andromeda's rock was shown at Hyopa in Palestine till more than a thousand years were passed. So Perseus and, and that was the and the Phoenicians rode to the westward across the sea of Crete till they came to the Blue Aegean and the pleasant Isles of Hellas, and Serafos, his ancient home. Then he left his galley on the beach and went up as of old, and he embraced his mother and dictus his good foster father, and they wept over each other a long while, for it was seven years and more since they had met. Then Perseus went out and up to the hall of Polydectes, and underneath the goat-skin he bore the gorgon's head.

And when he came into the hall, Polydectes sat at the table-head, and all his nobles and landowners on either side, each according to his rank, feasting on the fish and the goat's flesh and drinking the blood-red wine. The harpers harped and the revelers shouted, and the wine-cups rang merrily as they passed from hand to hand, and great was the noise in the hall of Polydectes. Then Perseus stood up.

upon the threshold, and called to the king by name. But none of the guests knew Perseus, for he was changed by his long journey. He had gone out a boy and was come home a hero, his eyes shone like an eagle's, and his beard, and he stood up like a wild bull in his pride. But Polydectes the wicked knew him, and hardened his heart still more, and scornfully he called, Ah, foundling, have you found it more easy to promise than to fulfill? Those whom the gods help fulfill their promises, and those who despise them reap as they have sown. Behold the Gorgon's head!

Then Perseus drew back the goat's skin and held aloft the Gorgans' head. Pale grew Polydectes and his guests as they looked upon that dreadful face. They tried to rise up from their seats, but from their seats they never rose but stiffened each man where he sat into a ring of cold gray stones. Then Perseus turned and left them and went down to his galley in the bay, and he gave the kingdom to good dictus and sailed away with his mother and his bride. And Polydectes and his guests sat still with the wine-cups before them on the board, till the rafters crumbled down above their heads and the walls behind their backs,

and the table crumbled down between them and the grass sprung up about their feet. But Polydectes and his guests sit on the hillside, a ring of grey stones, until this day. But Perseus rode westward toward Argos and landed, and went up to the town, and when he came he found that Acrecius his grandfather had fled, for Proetus, his wicked brother, had made war against him afresh, and had come across the river from tyrants and conquered Argos, and Eccresus had fled to Larissa in the country of the wild Pelasji.

Then Perseus called the Argyves together and told them who he was, and all the noble deeds which he had done, and all the nobles and the yeomen made him king, for they saw that he had a royal heart, and they fought with him against Argos, and took it, and killed Proetus and made the cyclopes served them and build them walls round Argos, like the walls which they had built at tyrants, and there were great rejoicings in the veil of Argos, because they had got a king from Father Zeus. But Perseus heart yearned after his grandfather, and he said, surely he is my flesh and blood, and he will love me now that I am come home with honor. I will go and find him and bring him home, and we will reign together in peace. So Perseus sailed away with his Phoenicians,

round hydria and sunium passed marathon and the attic shore and through europas and up the long ubeian sea till he came to the town of larissa where the wild pelasji dwelt and when he came there all the people were in the fields and there was feasting in all kinds of games for tutaminis their king wished to honor acraceus because he was the king of a mighty land so perseus did not tell his name but went up to the games unknown for he said if i carry away the prize in the games my grandfather's heart will be softened toward me so he threw off his helmet and his cuirass and all his clothes and stood among the youths of larissa while all wondered at him and said who is this young stranger who stands like a wild bull in his pride surely he is one of the heroes the sons of the immortals from olympus And when the games began they wondered yet more, for Perseus was the best man of all at running and leaping and wrestling and throwing the javelin. And he won four crowns and took them, and then he said to himself, There is a fifth crown yet to be won, I will win that, and lay them all upon the knees of my grandfather. And as he spoke, he saw where Acrhus sat, by the side of Tutaminus the king, with his white beard flowing down upon his

his knees and his royal staff in his hand, and Perseus wept when he looked at him, for his heart yearned after his kin, and he said, surely he is a kingly old man, yet he need not be ashamed of his grandson. Then he took the quoits and hurled them, five fathoms beyond all the rest, and the people shouted, "'Further yet, brave stranger! There has never been such a hurler in this land!' Then Perseus put out all his strength and hurled. but a gust of wind came from the sea and carried the quoit aside and far beyond all the rest and it fell on the foot of acrysius and he swooned away with the pain perseus shrieked and ran up to him but when they lifted the old man up he was dead for his life was slow and feeble then percyus rent his clothes and cast dust upon his head and wept a long while for his grandfather at last he rose and called all the people aloud and said the gods are true and what they have ordained must be i am perseus the grandson of this dead man the far-famed slayer of the gorgon

then he told them how the prophecy had declared that he should kill his grandfather and all the story of his life so they made a great mourning for acrcius and burnt him on a right rich pile and percius went to him on a right rich pile and percius went to the temple and was purified from the guilt of the death because he had done it unknowingly. Then he went home to Argos and reigned there well with fair Andromeda, and they had four sons and three daughters and died in a good old age. And when they died, the ancients say, Athene took them up into the sky with Sefias and Cassiopeia. And there on starlight nights you may see them shining still, Cepheus with his kingly crown

and Cassiopeia in her ivory chair plating her star-spangled tresses and Perseus with the Gorgon's head and fair Andromeda beside him Spreading her long white arms across the heaven As she stood when chained to the stone For the monster All night long they shine

For a beacon to wandering sailors But all day they feast with the gods on the still blue peaks of Olympus. End of Part 5 of Perseus. Part 1 of the Argonauts from the Heroes. This is a Librevox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org.

The Heroes, or Greek fairy tales from my children, by Charles Kingsley. Part one of the Argonauts. how the centaur trained the heroes on pelion i have told you of a hero who fought with wild beasts and with wild men but now i have a tale of heroes who sailed away into a distant land to win themselves renown for ever in the adventure of the golden fleece whither they sailed my children i cannot clearly tell it all happened long ago so long that it is all grown dim like a dream which you dreamt last year and why they went i cannot tell some say that it was to win gold it may be so but the noblest deeds which have been done on earth have not been done for gold it was not for the sake of gold that the lord came down and died and the apostles went out to preach the good news in all lands the spartans looked for no reward in money when they fought and died at them a piling and socrates the wise asked no pay from his countrymen but lived poor and barefoot all his days only caring to make men good and there are heroes in our days also who do noble deeds but not for gold our discoverers did not go to make themselves rich when they sailed out one after another into the dreary frozen seas nor did the ladies who went out last year to drudge in the hospitals of the east making themselves poor that they might be rich in noble works and young men too whom you know children and some of them of your own kin did they see to themselves how much money shall i earn when they went out to the war leaving wealth and comfort in a pleasant home and all that money can give to face hunger and thirst and wounds and death

that they might fight for their country and their queen no children there is a better thing on earth than wealth a better thing than life itself and that is to have done something before you die, for which good men may honour you, and guard your father's smile upon your work. Therefore we will believe, why should we not, and these same argonauts of all, that they too were noble men who planned and did a noble deed, and that therefore their fame has lived and been told in story and in song, mixed up no doubt with dreams and fables, and yet true and right at heart. So we will honour these old argonauts, and listen to their story as it stands, and we will try to be like them, each of us in our place, for each of us has a golden fleece to seek

and a wild sea to sail over where we reach it, and dragons to fight ere it be ours. And what was that first golden fleece? I do not know nor care. The old Helens said that it hung in Colchus, which we call the Circassian coast, nailed to a beech tree in the war-god's wood, and that it was the fleece of the wondrous ram who bore frixus and hell across the Eucine see, for frixes and hell were the children of the cloud-nymph and of Athamas, the Minoan king. And when a famine came upon the land, their cruel stepmother Eno wished to kill them, that her own children might reign, and said that they must be sacrificed on an altar to turn away the anger of the gods. So the poor children were brought to the altar, and the priest stood

ready with his knife. When out of the clouds came the golden ram, and took them on his back, and vanished. Then madness came upon that foolish King Athamas, and ruin upon Ino and her children, for Athamas killed one of them in his fury, and Ino fled from him with the other in her arms, and leapt from a cliff into the sea, and was changed into a dolphin such as you have seen, which wanders over the waves forever sighing, with his little one clasped to its breast. But the people drove out King Athamas, because he had killed his child, and he roamed about in his misery till he came to the oracle in Delphi, and the oracle told him that he must wander for his sin till the wild beasts should feed him as their guest. So he went on in hunger and sorrow for many

a weary day, till he saw a pack of wolves. The wolves were tearing a sheep, but when they saw Athamas they fled and left the sheep for him, and he ate of it, and then he knew that the oracle was fulfilled at last. So he wandered no more but settled and built a town and became a king again. But the ram carried the two children far away over land and sea, till he came to the Thracian Chersonese, and their hell fell into the sea. So those narrow straits are called Hells spawned after her, and they bear that name until this day. Then the ram flew on with frixus to the north-east across the sea which we call the Black Sea now, but the Hellens call it Eukesim, and at last they say he stopped at Colchus on the steep Circassian coast, and their frixus married

Chalciope, the daughter of Aetis the king, and offered the ram in sacrifice, and Aetis nailed the ram's fleece to a beach in the grove of Ares, the war-god. And after a while Frixus died and was buried, but his spirit had no rest, for he was buried far from his native land and the pleasant hills of Hellas. So he came in dreams to the folks of the Minoway, and called sadly by their beds, Come and set my spirit free that I may go home to my father's and to my kin's in the pleasant minnowan land and they asked how shall we set your spirit free you must sail over the sea to colchis and bring home the golden fleece and then my spirit will come back with it and i shall sleep with my fathers and to have rest he came thus and called to them often but when they woke they looked at each other and said who dare sail to colchis or bring home the golden fleece and in all the country none was brave enough to try it for the man in the time were not come. Frixus had a cousin called Eason, who was king in Iocos by the sea. There he ruled over

the rich Minoan heroes, as Athamas his uncle ruled in Boeotia, and like Athamas he was an unhappy man, for he had a step-brother named Pellias, of whom some said that he was a nymphs son, and there were dark and sad tales about his birth. When he was a babe he was cast out on the mountains, and a wild mare came by and kicked him. But a shepherd, he was a shepherd. At a passing found the baby, with his face all blackened by the blow, and took him home and called him Pellias, because his face was bruised and black. And he grew up fierce and lawless, and did many a fearful deed. And at last he drove out Aesan his step-brother, and then his own brother Nellius, and took

the kingdom to himself, and ruled over the rich Minoan heroes in Islechus by the sea. And Aeson, when he was driven out, went sadly away out of the town, leading his little son by the hand. and he said to himself i must hide the child in the mountains or pelias will surely kill him because he is the air so he went up from the sea across the valley through the vineyards and the olive groves and across the torrent of anoros toward pelion the ancient mountain whose brows are white with snow he went up and up into the mountain over marsh and crag and down till the boy was tired and foot-saw and aeson had to bear him in his arms till he came to the mouth of a lonely cave at the foot of a mighty cliff above the cliff the snow-wreath sunk dripping and cracking in the sun but at its foot around the cave's mouth grew all fair flowers and herbs as if in a garden ranged by order each sought by itself there they grew gaily in the sunshine and the spray of the torrent from above while from the cave came the sound of music and a man's voice singing to the harp then aeson put down the lad and whispered fear not but go in and whomsoever you shall find lay your hands upon his knees and say in the name of zeus the father of gods and men i am your guest from this day forth then the lad went in without trembling for he too was a hero's son but when he was within he stopped in wonder to listen to that magic song and there he saw the singer lying upon bearskins and fragrant boughs chiron the ancient santor the wisest of all things beneath the sky

down to the waist he was a man but below he was a noble horse his white hair rolled down over his broad shoulders and his white beard over his broad brown chest and his eyes were wise and mild and his forehead like a mountain wall And in his hands he held a harp of gold, and struck it with a golden key, and as he struck he sang till his eyes glittered and filled all the cave with light. And he sang of the birth of time, under the heavens and the dancing stars, and of the ocean, and the ether and the fire, and the shaping of the wondrous earth. And he sang of the treasures of the hills and the hidden jewels of the mine, and the veins of fire and metal, and the virtues of all healing herbs, and of the speech of birds and of prophecy and of hidden things to come.

Then he sang of health and strength and manhood, and of valiant heart, and of music and hunting and wrestling, and all the games which heroes love, and of travel and wars and sieges in a noble death and fight, and then he sang of peace and plenty, and of equal justice in the land, and as he sang the boy listened wide-eyed and forgot his errand in the song, and at the last old Karen was silent,

and called the lad with a soft voice. And the lad ran trembling to him, and would have laid his hands upon his knees, but Karen smiled and said, Call hither your father, Aeson, for I know you and all it has befallen, and saw you both afar in the valley even before you left the town. Then Aeson came in sadly,

and Karen asked him, Why camest you not yourself to me, Aeson the Eilet? And Aeson said, I thought Karen will pity the lad if he sees him come alone, and I wish to try whether he was fearless and dare venture like a hero's son. But now I entreat you by father Zeus, let the boy be your guest till better times and train him among the sons of the heroes that he may avenge his father's house. Then Karen smiled and drew the lad to him, and laid his hand upon his golden locks and said, Are you afraid of my horse's hoof's fair boy, or will he be my pupil from this day? I would gladly have horses' hoofs like you if I could sing such songs as yours.

Uncaron laughed and said, Sit here by me till sundown when your playfellers will come home, and you shall learn like them to be a king worthy to rule of a gallant man. Then he turned to ace him and said, Go back in peace and bend before the storm like a prudent man. This boy shall not cross the anoros again till he has become a glory to you and to the house of Aeolus. and Asen wept over his son and went away,

but the boy did not weep, so full was his fancy of that strange cave in the centaur in his song, and the playfellows whom he was to see. Then Karen put the lyre into his hands and taught him out to play it, till the sun sank low behind the cliff and a shout was heard outside. And then in came the sons of the heroes, Ennias and Heracles and Pellius and many another mighty name, And great Chiron leapt up joyfully in his hoose made the cave resound, as they shouted,

Come out, Father Cairn, come and see our game. And one cried, I have killed two dear, and another, I took a wild cat among the crags, and Heracles dragged a wild goat after him by its horns. He was as huge as a mountain crag, and conius carried a bear cub under each arm, and laughed when they scratched and bit, for neither tooth nor steel could wound him. and caron praised them all each according to his deserts only one walked apart and silent escapapius the two wise child with his bosomful of herbs and flowers and round his wrist a spotted snake he came with downcast eyes to caron and whispered how he had watched his snake cast its old skin and grow young again before his eyes and how he had gone down into a village in the veil and cured a dying man with a herb which he had seen a sick goat eat and caron

and smiled and said, To each Athenian Apollo gives some gift, and each is worthy in his place, but to this child they have given an honour beyond all honours to cure while others kill. Then the lads brought in wood and split it, and lighted a blazing fire. And others skinned the deer and quartered them,

and set them to roast before the fire, and while the venison was cooking, they bathed in the snow-torn and washed away the dust and sweat. And then all ate till they could eat no more, for they had tasted nothing since the dawn, and drank her the clear spring water, for wine is not fit for growing lads.

And while the remnants were put away, they all lay down upon the skins and leaves about the fire, and each took the lyre and turned and sang and played with all his heart. And after a while they all went out to a plot of grass at the cave's mouth, and there they boxed and ran and wrestled and laughed till the stones fell from the cliffs. Then Karen took his lyre and all the lads joined hands, and as he played they danced to his measure in and out and round and round there they danced hand in hand till the night fell over land and sea while the black glen shone with their broad white limbs and the gleam of their golden hair and the lad danced with them delighted and then slept a wholesome sleep upon fragrant leaves of bay and myrtle and marjoram and flowers of time and rose at the dawn and bathed in the torrent and became a schoolfellow to the hero's sons and forgot i'll cost

and his father and all his former life. But he was strong and brave and cunning upon the pleasant downs of Pelion, in the keen hungry mountain air. And he learnt to wrestle, and to box, and to hunt, and to play upon the harp. And next he learnt to ride, for old Caron used to mount him on his back, and he learnt the virtues of all herbs and how to cure all wounds, and Karen called him Jason the healer, and that is his name until this day. End of Part 1 of the Argonauts.

Part two of the Argonauts from the Heroes. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. The Heroes, or Greek fairy tales for my children, by Charles Kingsley. Part two of the Argonauts. How Jason Lost His Sandal in Anaros. And Ten Years Came in a Warrhoes.

went, and Jason was grown to be a mighty man. Some of his fellows were gone, and some were growing up by his side. Asclepius was gone into Peloponnese to work his wondrous cures on men, and some say he used to raise the dead to life. And Heracles was gone to Thebes to fulfill those famous labors which have become a proverb among men. And Pelias had married a sea-nymph, and his wedding is famous to this day. And Annius, and Annius, was gone home to Troy, and many a noble tale you will read of him, and of all the other gallant heroes, the scholars of Chiron the just. And it happened on a day that Jason stood on the mountain and looked north and south and east and west, and Chiron stood by him and watched him,

for he knew that the time was come. And Jason looked and saw the plains of Thessaly where the Lapithi breed their horses, and the lake of Boi Bay, and the stream which runs northward to Penaus and Tempe, and he looked north, and saw the mountain wall which guards the magnesium shore, Olympus, the seat of the immortals, and Osa and Pelion where he stood. Then he looked east, and saw the bright blue sea, which stretched away forever toward the dawn. Then he looked south and saw a pleasant land, with white-walled towns and farms nestling along the shore of a land-locked bay, while the smoke rose blue among the trees, and he knew it for the Bay of Pagasai, and the rich lowlands of Hymonia, and Yolcos by the sea.

Then he sighed, and asked, Is it true what the heroes tell me, that I am heir of that fair land? And what good would it be to you, Jason, if you are aft? air of that fair land. I would take it and keep it. A strong man has taken it and kept it long. Are you stronger than Pellius the terrible? I can try my strength with his, said Jason. But Cairn sighed and said, You have many a danger to go through before you rule in Yocos by the sea, many a danger and many a woe, and strange troubles in strange lands such as man never saw before. "'The happier eye,' said Jason, "'to see what man never saw before.'

And Chiron sighed again and said, "'The eaglet must leave the nest when it is fledged. "'Will you go to Yocos by the sea? "'Then promise me two things before you go.' "'Jason promised,' and Chiron answered, "'speak harshly to no soul whom you may meet, "'and stand by the word which you shall speak.' jason wondered why kairn asked this of him but he knew that the centaur was a prophet and saw things long before they came so he promised and leapt down the mountain to take his fortune like a man

he went down through the arbutus thickest and across the downs of time till he came to the vineyard walls and the pomegranates and the olives in the glen and among the olives roared anauros all foaming with the summer flood and on the bank of a naro sat a woman all wrinkled gray and old her head shook palsied on her breast and her hands shook palsied on her knees and when she saw jason she spoke whining who will carry me across the flood jason was bold and hasty and was just going to leap into the flood and yet he thought twice before he leapt so loud roared the torrent down all brown from the man mountain rains and silver-veined with melting snow, while underneath he could hear the boulders rumbling like the tramp of horsemen or the roll of wheels as they ground along the narrow channel and shook the rocks on which he stood. But the old woman whined all the more, "'I am weak and old, fair youth. For Herrah's sake, carry me over the torrent.' And Jason was going to answer her scornfully when Kyran's words came to his mind.

So he said, "'For Herra's sake, the Queen of the Immortals on Olympus, I will carry you over the torrent, unless we both are drowned midway.' Then the old dame leapt upon his back as nimbly as a goat, and Jason staggered in, wondering,

and the first step was up to his knees. The first step was up to his knees, and the second step was up to his waist, and the stones rolled about his feet, and his feet slipped about the stones, so he went on, staggering and panting, while the old woman cried from off his back,

"'Fool, you have wet my mantle! Do you make game of poor old souls like me?' Jason had half a mind to drop her and let her get through the torrent by herself. But Kyrin's words were in his mind, and he said only, "'Patience, mother, the best horse may stumble some day.' At last he staggered to the,

shore and set her down upon the bank. And a strong man he needed to have been, or that wild water he never would have crossed, he lay panting a while upon the bank, and then leapt up to go upon his journey. But he cast one look at the old woman, for he thought, she should thank me once at least. And as he looked she grew fairer than all women, and taller than all men on earth, and her garments shone like the summer sea, and her jewels like the stars of heaven, and over her forehead was a veil woven of the golden clouds of sunset,

and through the veil she looked down on him with great soft heifer's eyes, with great eyes, mild and awful, which filled all the glen with light. And Jason fell upon his knees and hid his face between his hands, and she spoke, i am the queen of olympus hera the wife of zeus as thou hast done to me so will i do to thee call on me in the hour of need and try if the immortals can forget

and when jason looked up she rose from off the earth like a pillar of tall white cloud and floated away across the mountain peaks toward olympus the holy hill then a great fear fell on jason but after a while he grew light of heart and he blessed old chiron and said surely the centaur is a prophet and guessed what would come to pass when he bade me speak harshly to no soul whom i might meet then he went down toward yolcos and as he walked he found that he had lost one of his sandals in the flood and as he went through the streets the people came out to look at him so tall and fair was he But some of the elders whispered together, and at last one of them stopped Jason and called to him. Fair lad, who are you, and whence come you, and what is your errand in the town? My name good father is Jason, and I come from Pelion up above, and my errand is to Pelios your king. Tell me then where his palace is. But the old man started and grew pale and said,

do you not know the oracle, my son, that you go so boldly through the town with but one sandal on? I'm a stranger here, and know of no oracle. But what of my one sandal? I lost the other in Anaros while I was struggling with the flood. Then the old man looked back to his companions,

and one sighed and another smiled, and at last he said, I will tell you, lest you rush upon your wreath, ruin unawares. The oracle in Delphi has said that a man wearing one sandal should take the kingdom from Pelias and keep it for himself. Therefore, beware how you go up to his palace, for he is the fiercest and most cunning of all kings. Then Jason laughed a great laugh, like a warhorse in his pride. Good news, good father, both for you and me, for that very end I came into the town. And he he strode on toward the palace of Pileas, while all the people wondered at his bearing.

And he stood in the doorway and cried, Come out, come out, Pellius the Valiant, and fight for your kingdom like a man. Pellius came out, wondering, and, Who are you, bold youth? he cried. I am Jason, the son of Isan, the heir of all this land. Then Pellius lifted up his hands and eyes. and wept, or seemed to weep, and blessed the heavens which had brought his nephew to him,

never to leave him more. For, said he, I have but three daughters, and no son to be my heir. You shall be my heir, then, and rule the kingdom after me, and marry whichsoever of my daughters you shall choose, though a sad kingdom you will find it, and whosoever rules it a miserable man.

But come in, come in and feast, So he drew Jason in, whether he would or not, and spoke to him so lovingly and feasted him so well that Jason's anger passed. And after supper his three cousins came into the hall, and Jason thought that he should like well enough to have one of them for his wife. But at last he said to Pellius, Why do you look so sad, my uncle? And what did you mean just now when you said that this was a doleful

kingdom and its ruler a miserable man. Then Pellius sighed heavily again and again and again, like a man who had to tell some dreadful story and was afraid to begin. But at last, for seven long years and more have I never known a quiet night, and no more will he who comes after me till the golden fleece be brought home. Then he told Jason the. story of Frixus and of the golden fleece, and told him too, which was a lie, that Frixus spirit tormented him, calling to him day and night. And his daughters came and told the same tale,

for their father had taught them their parts, and wept, and said, Oh, who will bring home the golden fleece that our uncle's spirit may rest, and that we may have rest also whom he never let sleep in peace? jason sat awhile sad and silent for he had often heard of that golden fleece but he looked on it as a thing hopeless and impossible for any mortal man to win it but when pelias saw him silent he began to talk of other things and courted jason more and more speaking to him as if he was certain to be his heir and asking his advice about the kingdom till jason who was young and simple could not help saying to himself surely he is not the dark man whom people call him yet why did he drive my father out and he asked pelias boldly men say that you are terrible and a man of blood but i find you a kind and hospitable man and as you are to me so will i be to you yet why did you drive my father out? Pelia smiled and sighed. Men have slandered me in that as in all things. Your father was

growing old and weary, and he gave the kingdom up to me of his own will. You shall see him tomorrow and ask him, and he will tell you the same. Jason's heart leapt in him when he heard that he was to see his father, and he believed all that Pelias said, forgetting that his father. Forgetting that his father might not dare to tell the truth. One thing more there is, said Pellius, on which I need your advice, for though you are young, I see in you a wisdom beyond your years. There is one neighbor of mine whom I dread more than all men on earth. I am stronger than he now, and can command him.

But I know that if he stay among us, he will work my ruin in the end. Can you give me a plan, just? Jason, by which I can rid myself of that man? After a while, Jason answered, half-laughing, "'Were I you, I would send him to fetch that same golden fleece, for if he once set forth after it you would never be troubled with him more.' And at that a bitter smile came across Pellius lips, and a flash of wicked joy into his eyes,

and Jason saw it and started, and over his eyes. and over his mind came the warning of the old man, and his own one sandal and the oracle, and he saw that he was taken in a trap. But Pellius only answered gently. My son, he shall be sent forthwith. You mean me, cried Jason, starting up, because I came here with one sandal,

and he lifted his fist angrily, while Pellius stood up to him like a wolf at bed, and whether of the two was the stronger and the fiercer it would be hard to tell. But after a moment Pellius spoke gently. Why then so rash, my son? You and not I have said what is said. Why blame me for what I have not done? Had you bid me love the man of whom I spoke and make him my son-in-law an heir,

I would have obeyed you. And what if I obey you now, and say, send the man to win himself immortal fame. I have not harmed you, or him. One thing at least I know, that he will go and that gladly, for he has a hero's heart within him, loving glory and scorning to break the word which he has given. Jason saw that he was entrapped.

But his second promise to Chiron came into his mind, and he thought, what if the centaur were a prophet in that also and meant that i should win the fleece then he cried loud you have well spoken cunning uncle of mine i love glory and i dare keep to my word i will go and fetch this golden fleece promise me but this in return and keep your word as i keep mine treat my father lovingly while i am gone for the sake of the all-seeing Zeus, and give me up the kingdom from my own on the day that I bring back the golden fleece. Then Pellius looked at him,

and almost loved him in the midst of all his hate, and said, I promise, and I will perform. It will be no shame to give up my kingdom to the man who wins that fleece. Then they swore a great oath between them, and afterwards both went in,

and lay down to sleep. But Jason could not sleep for thinking of his mighty oath and how he was to fulfill it all alone and without wealth or friends. So he tossed a long time upon his bed and thought of this plan and of that, and sometimes Frickus seemed to call him in a thin voice, faint and low,

as if it came from far across the sea. Let me come home to my fathers and have rest, and sometimes he seemed to see the eyes of hera and to hear her words again call on me in the hour of need and see if the immortals can forget and on the morrow he went to pelias and said give me a victim that i may sacrifice to hera so he went up and offered his sacrifice and as he stood by the altar hera sent a thought into his mind and he went back to pelias and said if you are indeed in earnest give me two heralds that they may go round to all the princes of the minuai who were pupils of the centaur with me that we may fit out a ship together and take what shall befall at that pelias praised his wisdom and hastened to send the heralds out for he said in his heart let all the princes go with him and like him never returned for so i shall be lord of all the minuai and the greatest king in hellas end of part two of the argonauts part three of the argonauts from the heroes this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox dot org

the heroes or greek fairy tales for my children by charles kingsley part three of the argonauts how they built the ship argo in so the heralds went out and cried to all the heroes of the minuai who dare come to the adventure of the golden fleece and hera stirred the hearts of all the princes and they came from all their valleys to the yellow sands of pagasai at first came heracles the mighty with his lion's skin and club and behind him hylas his young squire who bore his arrows and his bow and typhus the skilful steersman and beauties the fairest of all men and castor and polyduces the twins the sons of the magic swan and kineas the strongest of mortals whom the centaurs tried in vain to kill and overwhelmed him with trunks of pine trees but even so he would not die and thither came Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of the north wind, and Pellius, the father of Achilles, whose bride was silver-footed in Thetus, the goddess of the sea. And thither came Telemann and Oilius, the fathers of the two Aontes, who fought upon the plains of Troy, and Mopsus, the wise soothsayer who knew the speech of birds, and Idmon, to whom Phoebus gave a tongue

to prophesy of things to come, and Ankyos, who could read the stars and knew all the circles of the heavens, and Argus, the famed ship-builder, and many a hero more in helmets of brass and gold, with tall-died horse-hair crests, and embroidered shirts of linen beneath their coats of mail, and greaves of polished tin to guard their knees in fight.

With each man his shield upon his shoulder, of many a fold of tough bull's hide and his sword of tempered bronze in his silver studded belt and in his right hand a pair of lances of the heavy white ash staves. So they came down to Yolkos and all the city came out to meet them

and were never tired with looking at their height and their beauty and their gallant bearing and the glitter of their inlaid arms. And some said, Never was such a gathering of the heroes since the Hellians conquered the land. But the women sighed over them and whispered, Alas, they are all going to their death.

Then they fell the pines on Pelion, and shaped them with the axe, and Argus taught them to build a galley, the first long ship which ever sailed the seas. They pierced her for fifty oars, an oar for each hero of the crew, and pitched her with coal-black pitch, and painted her bows with vermilion.

And they named her Argo after Argus, and worked at her all day long. And at night Pellius feasted them like a king, and they slept in his palace porch. But Jason went away to the northward and into the land of Thrace, till he found Orpheus, the prince of minstrels, where he dwelt in his cave under Rodope, among the savage Scycon tribes. And he asked him, Will you leave your mountains, Orpheus, my fellow scholar in old times? and cross strimon once more with me,

to sail with the heroes of the Minuai, and bring home the golden fleece, and charm for us all men and all monsters with your magic harp and song? Then Orpheus sighed, Have I not had enough of toil and weary wandering, far and wide since I lived in Chiron's cave Above Iokos by the sea?

In vain is the skill and the voice Which my goddess mother gave me, in vain have I sung and labored. In vain I went down to the dead and charmed all the kings of Hades to win back Eurydichi my bride. For I won her, my beloved, and lost her again the same day,

and wandered away in my madness, even to Egypt and the Libyan sands and the aisles of all the seas driven on by the terrible gadfly, while I charmed, in vain, the hearts of men, and the savage forest beasts and the trees and the lifeless stones

with my magic harp and song giving rest but finding none but at last Calliope my mother delivered me and brought me home in peace and I dwell here in the cave alone among the savage cyclone tribes softening their wild hearts with music and the gentle laws of Zeus

and now I must go out again to the ends of all the earth, far away into the misty darkness, to the last wave of the eastern sea? But what is doomed must be, and a friend's demand obeyed, for prayers are the daughters of Zeus, and who honors them, honors him. Then Orpheus rose up sighing, and took his harp and went over Stryman, and he led Jason to the southwest, up the banks of Haleakman and over the spurs of Pindus, to Dodona the Dondona the day. town of Zeus, where it stood by the side of the sacred lake, and the fountain which breathed out fire in the darkness of the ancient oak wood beneath the mountain of the hundred springs.

And he led him to the holy oak, where the black dove settled in old times, and was changed into the priestess of Zeus and gave oracles to all nations round. And he bade him cut down a bow and sacrificed to Herra and to Zeus, and they took the bow and came to Yolkos and nailed it to the beakhead of the ship. And at last the ship was finished, and they tried to launch her down the beach, but she was too heavy for them to move her, and her keel sank deep into the sand. Then all the heroes looked at each other blushing, but Jason spoke and said, "'Let us ask the magic bow, perhaps it can help us in our need.'

Then a voice came from the bow, and Jason heard the words it said, and bad Orpheus play upon the harp, while the heroes waited round, holding the pine-trunk rollers to help her toward the sea. Then Orpheus took his harp, and began his magic song. How sweet it is to ride upon the surges and to leap from wave to wave, while the wind sings cheerful in the cordage, and the oars flash fast among the foam! How sweet it is to roam across the ocean and see new towns and wondrous lands, and to come home laden with treasure, and to win undying fame.

And the good ship Argo heard him, and longed to be away and out at sea, till she stirred in every timber, and heaved from stem to stern, and leapt up from the sand upon the rollers, and plunged onward like a gallant horse, and the heroes fed her path with pine-trunks, till she rushed into the whispering sea.

then they stored her well with food and water and pulled the ladder up on board and settled themselves each man to his oar and kept time to orpheus harp and away across the bay they rode southward while the people lined the cliffs and the women wept while the men shouted at the starting of that gallant crew end of part three of the argonauts part four of the argonauts from the heroes this is a a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley. Part four of the Argonauts, How the Argonauts Sailed to Kocas. And what happened next, my children, whether it be true or not, stands written in ancient songs, which you shall read for yourself some day. And grand old songs they are,

written in grand old rolling verse, and they call them the songs of Orpheus, or the Orphix to this day. And they tell how the heroes came to Aphotai across the bay, and waited for the southwest wind, and chose themselves a captain from their crew, and how all called for Heracles,

because he was the strongest and the most huge. But Heracles refused, and called for Jason because he was the wisest of them all. So Jason was chosen captain, and Orpheus heaped a pile of wood and slew a bull and offered it to Hera, and called all the heroes to stand round, each man's head crowned with olive, and to strike their swords into the bull.

Then he filled a golden goblet with the bull's blood, and with wheat and flour and honey and wine and the bitter-salt-sea-water, and bad the hero's taste. So each tasted the goblet and passed it round, and vowed an awful vow, and they vowed before the sun and the night, and the blue-haired sea who shakes the land, to stand by Jason faithfully in the adventure of the golden fleece,

and whosoever shrank back, or disobeyed, or turned traitor to his vow, then justice should minister against him, and the erinuis who tracked guilty, men. Then Jason lighted the pile and burnt the carcass of the bull, and they went to their ship and sailed eastward like men who have a work to do, and the place from which they went was called Afatai, the sailing place, from that day forth. Three thousand years and more they sailed away into the unknown eastern seas, and great nations have come and gone since then, and many

a storm has swept the earth, and many a mighty armament, to which Argo would. be but one small boat. English and French, Turkish and Russian, have sailed those waters since, yet the fame of that small Argo lives forever, and her name has become a proverb among men. So they sailed past the Isle of Siathos, with the cape of Sepius on their left, and turned to the northward toward Pelion up the long, magnesium shore. On their right hand was the open sea, and on their left old Pellion rose, while the clouds crawled round his dark pine forests and his caps of summer snow,

and their hearts yearn for the dear old mountain, as they thought of pleasant days gone by, and of the sports of their boyhood and their hunting and their schooling in the cave beneath the cliff. And at last Pellius spoke, Let us land here, friends, and climb the dear old hill once more. We are going on a fearful julya, journey. Who knows if we shall see Peleon again? Let us go up to Chiron our master, and ask his

blessing ere we start. And I have a boy, too, with him, whom he trains as he trained me once, the son whom Thetis brought me, the silver-footed lady of the sea whom I caught in the cave, and tamed her, though she changed her shape seven times. For she changed as I held her into water, and to vapor, and to burning flame, and to a rock, and to a black-maned lion, and to a tall and stately tree. But I held her and held her ever till she took her own shape again, and led her to my father's house, and won her for my bride. And all the rulers of Olympus came to our wedding, and the heavens and the earth rejoiced together when an immortal wedded mortal man. And now let me see my son, for it is not often I shall see him,

upon earth. Famous he will be but short-lived, and die in the flower of youth. So Typhus the helmsman steered them to the shore under the crags of Pelion, and they went up through the dark pine forests toward the centaur's cave. And they came into the misty hall beneath the snow-crowned crag, and saw the great centaur lying, with his huge limbs spread upon the rock, and beside him stood Achilles, the the child whom no steel could wound, and played upon his harp right sweetly, while Kairn watched and smiled.

Then Kyrin leapt up and welcomed them, and kissed them every one, and set a feast before them of swine's flesh and venison and good wine, and young Achilles served them, and carried the golden goblet round. And after supper all the heroes clapped their hands, and called on Orpheus to sing, but he refused and said,

How can I, who am the younger, sing before our ancient host? So they called on Chiron to sing, and Achilles brought him his harp. And he began a wondrous song, a famous story of old time, of the fight between the centaurs and the lapithi, which you may still see carved in stone. He sang how his brothers came to ruin by their folly when they were mad with wine, and how they and the heroes fought,

with fists and teeth and the goblets from which they drank, and how they tore up the pine trees in their fury, and hurled great crags of stone while the mountains thundered with the battle, and the land was wasted far and wide, till the lapithi drove them from their home in the rich Thessalian plains to the lonely glens of Pindus,

leaving Chiron all alone. And the heroes praised his, song right heartily, for some of them had helped in that great fight. Then Orpheus took the liar, and sang of Kaus, and the making of the wondrous world, and how all things sprang from love, who could not live alone in the abyss. And as he sang, his voice rose from the cave above the crags and through the treetops and the glens of oak and pine, and the trees bowed their heads when they heard it, and the gray rocks cracked and rang and the forest beasts crept near to listen and the birds forsook their nests and hovered round and old kairn claps his hands together and beat his hoofs upon the ground for wonder at that magic song

then pelias kissed his boy and wept over him and they went down to the ship and kairn came down with them weeping and kissed them one by one and blessed them and promised to them great renown and the heroes wept when they left him till their great hearts could weep no more for he was kind and just and pious and wiser than all beasts and men then he went up to a cliff and prayed for them that they might come home safe and well while the heroes rode away and watched him standing on his cliff above the sea with his great hands raised toward heaven and his white locks waving in the wind and they strained their eyes to watch their eyes to watch him to the last, for they felt that they should look on him no more. So they rode on over the long swell of the sea, past Olympus the seat of the immortals, and past the wooded bays of Athos, and Samothrace the sacred isle, and they came past lemnos to the hellespont, and through the narrow strait of Abedos, and so on into the propontas, which we call marmora now. And there, they met with Cizicus, ruling in Asia over the dolions,

who, the song say, was the son of Aeneas, of whom you will hear many a tale some day. For Homer tells us how he fought at Troy, and Virgil, how he sailed away and founded Rome, and men believed until late years that from him sprang our old British kings. Now, Sizicus, the song, say, welcomed the heroes, for his father had been one of Chiron's scholars,

so he welcomed them, and feasted them, and stored their ship with corn and wine, and cloaks and rugs, the songs say, and shirts, of which no doubt they stood in need. But at night, while they lay sleeping, came down on them terrible men, who lived with the bears in the mountains, like titans or giants in shape, for each of them had six arms, and they fought with young furs and pines. But Heracles killed them all before morn, with his deadly portals. and arrows. But among them, in the darkness, he slew Cizicus the kindly prince. Then they got to their ship and to their oars, and Typhus bade them cast off the hawsers and

go to sea. But as he spoke, a whirlwind came and spun the Argo round and twisted the hawsers together so that no man could loose them. Then Typhus dropped the rudder from his hand and cried, This comes from the gods above! but jason went forward and asked counsel of the magic bow then the magic bow spoke and answered this is because you have slain cizicus your friend you must appease his soul or you will never leave this shore jason went back sadly and told the heroes what he had heard and they leapt on shore and searched till dawn and at dawn they found the body all rolled in dust and blood among the corpses of those monstrous beasts. And they wept over their kind host and laid him on a fair bed, and heaped a huge mound over him, and offered black sheep at his tomb.

And Orpheus sang a magic song to him, that his spirit might have rest. And then they held games at the tomb, after the custom of those times, and Jason gave prizes to each winner. To Ancayas, he was a man. he gave a golden cup, for he wrestled best of all, and to Heracles a silver one, for he was the strongest of all, and to Castor who rode best a golden crest, and Polly Ducey as the boxer had a rich carpet,

and to Orpheus, for his song, a sandal with golden wings. But Jason himself was the best of all the archers, and the minotai crowned him with an olive crown, and so the songs say, the soul of good Cizicus was appeased, and the heroes went on their way in peace. But when Cizicus's wife heard that he was dead, she died likewise of grief,

and her tears became a fountain of clear water, which flows the whole year round. Then they rode away, the song say, along the Micean shore, and passed the mouth of Rindicus, till they found a pleasant bay sheltered by the long ridges of Arganthus and by high walls of basalt rock. And there they ran the ship ashore upon the yellow sand and furled the sail,

and took the mast down and lashed it in its crutch. And next they let down the ladder, and went ashore to sport and rest. And there Heracles went away into the woods, bow in hand, to hunt wild deer. And Hylas the fair boy slipped away after him. and followed him by stealth until he lost himself among the glens, and sat down weary to rest himself by the side of a lake. And there the water nymphs came up to look at him, and loved him, and carried him down under the lake to be their playfellow,

for ever happy and young. And Heracles sought for him in vain, shouting his name till all the mountains rang. But Hylas never heard him, far down under the sparkling lake. So while Heracles wandered searching for him, a fair breeze sprang up, and Heracles was nowhere to be found, and the Argo sailed away, and Heracles was left behind, and never saw the noble Phasian stream. Then the Minoui came to a doleful land, where Amicus the giant ruled,

and cared nothing for the laws of Zeus, but challenged all strangers to box with him, and those whom he conquered, he slew. but pollidusies the boxers struck him a harder blow than he ever felt before and slew him and the minuai went on up the bosporus till they came to the city of phineas the fierce bethinnian king for zetes and calais bade jason land there because they had a work to do and they went up from the shore toward the city through forests white with snow and phineas came out to meet them with a lean and woeful face and said welcome gallant heroes to the land of bitter blasts the land of cold and misery yet i will feast you as best i can and he led them in and set meat before them but before they could put their hands to their mouths down came two fearful monsters the like of whom man never saw, for they had the faces and the hair of fair maidens, but the wings

and claws of hawks, and they snatched the meat from off the table and flew shrieking out above the roofs. Then Phineas beat his breast and cried, These are the harpies, whose names are the whirlwind and the swift, the daughters of wonder and of the amber nymph,

and they rob us night and day. They carried off the daughters of Pandarius, whom all the gods had blessed, for Aphrodite fed them on Olympus with honey and milk and wine, and Hera gave them beauty and wisdom, and Athenae skill in all the arts,

but when they came to their wedding, the harpies snatched them both away and gave them to be slaves to the Arinuis, and live in horror all their days. And now they haunt me and my people in the Bosporus with fearful storms, and sweep away our food from my food from off our tables so that we starve in spite of all our wealth.

Then up rose Zetes and Kales, the winged sons of the north wind, and said, Do you not know us, Phineas, and these wings which grow upon our backs? And Phineas hid his face in terror, but he answered not a word. Because you have been a traitor, Phineas, the harpies haunt you night and day. where is Cleopatra our sister, your wife, whom you keep in prison? And where are her two children whom you blinded in your rage at the bidding of an evil woman and cast them out upon the rocks? Swear to us that you will write our sister and cast out that wicked woman?

And then we will free you from your plague and drive the whirlwind maidens to the south. But if not, we will put out your eyes as you put out the eyes of your own sons. then phineas swore an oath to them and drove out the wicked woman and jason took those two poor children and cured their eyes with magic herbs but zetes and callias rose up sadly and said farewell now heroes all farewell our dear companions with whom we played on pelion in old times for a fate is laid upon us and our day is come at last in which we must hunt the whirlwinds over land and sea for ever and if we catch them they die and if not we die ourselves at that all the heroes wept but the two young men sprang up and aloft into the air after the harpies and the battle of the winds began. The heroes trembled in silence as they heard the shrieking of the blasts,

while a palace rocked in all the city, and great stones were torn from the crags, and the forest pines were hurled earthward, north and south and east and west, and the bosporus boiled white with foam, and the clouds were dashed against the cliffs. But at last the battle ended, and the harpies fled screaming toward the south, and the suns of the north wind rushed after them and brought clear sunshine where they passed for many a league they followed them over all the isles of the cyclades and away to the south-west across hellas till they came to the ionian sea and there they fell upon the achinides at the mouth of the achalos and those isles were called the whirlwind isles for many a hundred years but what became of zetes and cailias i know not for the heroes never saw them again and some say that heracles met them and quarrelled with them and slew them with his arrows and some say that they fell down from weariness and the heat of the summer sun and that the sun-god buried them among the cyclades in the pleasant isle of tenos and for many hundred years their grave was shone there and over it a pillar which turned to every wind but those dark storms and whirlwinds haunt the bosporus until this day

but the argonauts went eastward and out into the open sea which we now call the black sea but it was called the elk-seen then no helen had ever crossed it and all feared that dreadful sea and its rocks and shoals and fogs and bitter freezing storms and they told strange stories of it some false and some half true how it stretched northward to the ends of the earth and the sluggish putrid sea and the everlasting night and the regions of the dead so the heroes trembled for all their courage as they came into that wild black sea and saw it stretching out before them without a shore as far as i could see and first orpheus spoke and warned them we shall come now to the wandering blue rocks my mother warned me of them calliope the immortal muse and soon they saw the blue rocks shining like spires and castles of gray glass while an ice-cold wind blew from them and chilled all the hero's hearts and as they neared they could see them heaving as they rolled upon the long sea-waves crashing and grinding together till the roar went up to heaven. The sea sprang up in spouts between them, and swept round them in white sheets of foam,

but their heads swung nodding high in air, while the wind whistled shrill among the crags. The hero's heart sank within them, and they lay upon their oars in fear, but Orpheus called to typhus the helmsman, "'Between them we must pass, "'so look ahead for an opening and be brave, "'for Herrah is with us.'

but typhus the cunning helmsman stood silent clenching his teeth till he saw a heron come flying mast-high toward the rocks and hover a while before them as if looking for a passage through then he cried hera has sent us a pilot let us follow the cunning bird then the heron flapped to and fro a moment till he saw a hidden gap and into it he rushed like an arrow while the heroes watched what would befall And the blue rocks clashed together as the bird fled swiftly through, but they struck but a feather from his tail and then rebounded apart at the shock. Then Typhus cheered the heroes, and they shouted, and the oars bent like wreaths beneath their strokes as they rushed between those toppling ice crags and the cold blue lips of death. And ere the rocks could meet again they had passed them and were safe out in the open sea.

and after that they sailed on wearily along the Asian coast by the black cape and Thinius where the hot stream of Thimbris falls into the sea and Sangarius whose waters float on the oxen till they came to wolf the river and to wolf the kindly king and there died two brave heroes Idmon and Typhus the wise helmsman one died of an evil sickness and won a wild boarie. slew. So the heroes heaped a mound above them, and set upon it an oar on high,

and left them there to sleep together on the far-off Lysian shore. But Idus killed the boar, and avenged typhus, and Ankyos took the rudder and was helmsman, and steered them on toward the east. And they went on, past Sinope, and many a mighty river's mouth,

and passed many a barbarous tribe in the cities of the Amazons, the warlike women of the east, till all night they heard the clank of anvils and the roar of furnace blasts, and the forge fires shone like sparks through the darkness in the mountain glens aloft. For they were come to the shores of the Chalabees,

the smiths who never tire, but serve Aris the cruel war-god, forging weapons day and night. And at day dawn they looked eastward, and midway between the sea and the sky they saw white snow peaks hanging, glittering sharp and bright above the clouds.

And they knew that they were come to Caucasus at the end of all the earth. Caucasus, the highest of all mountains, the father of the rivers of the east. On his peak lies chained the titan while a vulture tears his heart. And at his feet are piled dark forests round the magic Cokian land.

And they rode three days to the eastward, while caucasus rose higher hour by hour till they saw the dark stream of faces rushing headlong to the sea and shining above the tree-tops the golden roofs of king aetis the child of the sun then out spoke on caius the helmsman we are come to our goal at last for there are the roofs of aetis and the woods where all poisons grow but who can tell us where among them is hid the golden fleece many a toil must we bear ere we find it and bring it home to greece but jason cheered the heroes for his heart was high and bold and he said i will go alone up to aetis though he be the child of the sun and win him with soft words better so than to go altogether and to come to blows at once but the minuai would not stay behind so they rode boldly up the stream and a dream came to aetis and filled his heart with fear he thought he saw a shining star which fell into his daughter's lap and that medea his daughter took it gladly and carried it to the riverside and cast it in and there the whirling river bore it down and out into the euk-seen sea then he leapt up in fear and bade his servants bring his chariot that he might go down to the river-side and appease the nymphs and the heroes whose spirits haunt the bank. So he went down in his golden chariot

and his daughters by his side, Medea the fair witch maiden and Chalciope who had been frixus wife, and behind him a crowd of servants and soldiers, for he was a rich and mighty prince. And as he drove down by the reedy river, he saw Argo sliding up beneath the bank, and many a hero in her,

like immortals for beauty and for strength, as their weapons glittered round them in the level morning sunlight through the white mist of the stream. But Jason was the noblest of all, for Hera who loved him gave him beauty and tallness and terrible manhood. And when they came near together and looked into each other's eyes, the heroes were awed before Aetis,

as he shone in his chariot, like his father the glorious son, for his robes were of rich gold tissue, and the rays of his dothes of his dothes, Diadem flashed fire, and in his hand he bore a jeweled sceptre which glittered like the stars. And sternly he looked at them under his brows, and sternly he spoke and loud. Who are you, and what want you here that you come to the shore of Kutaya? Do you take no account of my rule, nor of my people the Colchians who serve me, who never tired yet in the battle and know well how to face an invader?

and the hero sat silent a while before the face of that ancient king. But Hera the awful goddess put courage into Jason's heart, and he rose and shouted loudly in answer, We are no pirates nor lawless men. We come not to plunder and to ravage or carry away slaves from your land, but my uncle, the son of Poseidon, Pellius, the Minoan king, he it is who has set me on a quest to bring home the golden fleet, and these two my bold comrades they are no nameless men for some are the sons of immortals and some of heroes far renowned and we too never tire in battle and know well how to give blows and to take yet we wish to be guests at your table it will be better so for both

then aeiti's race rushed up like a whirlwind and his eyes flashed fire as he heard but he crushed his anger down in his breast and and smoke mildly a cunning speech. If you will fight for the fleece with my coquians, then many a man must die. But do you indeed expect to win from me the fleece in fight? So few are you, that if you be worsted, I can load your ship with corpses. But if you will be ruled by me,

you will find it better far to choose the best man among you and let him fulfil the labours which I demand. then I will give him the golden fleece for a prize and a glory to you all. So saying he turned his horses and drove back in silence to the town, and the Minouai sat silent with sorrow, and longed for Heracles and his strength, for there was no facing the thousands of the Colchians and the fearful chance of war. But Chalciope, Frixus widow, went weeping to the town,

for she remembered her menouin husband and all the pleasures of her youth, while she watched the fair faces of his kinsmen and their long locks of gold and hair, and she whispered to Medea her sister, Why should all these brave men die? Why does not my father give them up the fleece, that my husband's spirit may have rest? And Medea's heart pitied the heroes, and Jason most of all, and she answered, our father is stern and terrible, and who can win the golden fleece?

But Chalciope said, These men are not like our men. There is nothing which they cannot dare nor do. And Medea thought of Jason in his brave countenance and said, If there was one among them who knew no fear, I could show him how to win the fleece. So, in the dusk of evening they went down to the riverside, chalciope and medea the witch maiden and argus frixus son and argus the boy crept forward among the beds of reeds till he came where the heroes were sleeping on the thwarts of the ship beneath the bank

while jason kept ward on shore and lent upon his lance full of thought and the boy came to jason and said i am the son of frixus your cousin and chalciope my mother waits for you to talk about the golden flee then jason went boldly with the boy and found the two princesses standing and when chalciope saw him she wept and took his hands and cried o cousin of my beloved go home before you die it would be base to go home now fair princess and to have sailed all these seas in vain then both the princesses besought him but jason said it is too late but you know not said medea what he must do who would win the fleece he must tame two brazen-footed bulls who breathe devouring flame and with them he must plough ere nightfall four acres in the field of aris and he must sew them with serpent's teeth of which each tooth springs up into an armed man then he must fight with all those warriors and little will it profit him to conquer them for the fleece is guarded by a serpent more huge than any mountain-pon and over his body you must step if you would reach the golden fleece. Then Jason laughed bitterly, Unjustly is that fleece kept here, and by an unjust and lawless king,

and unjustly shall I die in my youth, for I will attempt it ere another son be set. Then Medea trembled and said, No mortal man can reach that fleece unless I guide him through, for round it beyond the river is a wall full nine ells high, with lofty towers and buttresses and mighty gates of threefold brass, and over the gates the wall is arched with golden battlements above, and over the gateway sits Brimo,

the wild witch-huntress of the woods, brandishing a pine torch in her hands, while her mad hounds howl around. No man dare meet her or look on her, but only eye her priestess, and she watches far and wide, lest any stranger should come near. No wall so high, but it may be climbed at last,

and no wood so thick, but it may be crawled through. No serpent so wary, but he may be charmed, or which queen so fierce, but spells may soothe her, and I may yet win the golden fleece, if a wise maiden help bold men. And he looked at Medea cunningly, and held her with his glittering eye till she blurted, lushed and trembled and said,

Who can face the fire of the bull's breath and fight ten thousand armed men? He whom you help, said Jason, flattering her, for your fame is spread over all the earth. Are you not the queen of all enchantresses, wiser even than your sister Circe in her fairy island in the west? Would that I were with my sister Circe in her fairy island in the west, far away from sore temptation and thoughts which tear the heart but if it must be so for why should you die i have an ointment here i made it from the magic ice-flower which sprang from prometheus wound above the clouds on caucasus in the dreary fields of snow anoint yourself with that and you shall have in you seven men's strength and anoint your shield with it and neither fire nor sword can harm you but what you begin you must end before sunset for its virtue lasts only one day

and anoint your helmet with it before you sow the serpent's teeth and when the suns of earth spring up cast your helmet among their ranks and the deadly crop of the war-god's field will mow itself and perish. Then Jason fell on his knees before her and thanked her and kissed her hands, and she gave him the vase of ointment and fled trembling through the reeds. And Jason told his comrades what had happened, and showed them the box of ointment, and all rejoiced but Idis, and he grew mad with envy. And at sunrise Jason went and bathed and anointed himself from head to foot, and his shield and his helmet and his weapons, and bad his comrades try the spell. So they tried to bend his lance,

but it stood like an iron bar. And Idis in spite hewed at it with his sword, but the blade flew to splinters in his face. Then they hurled their lances at his shield, but the spear-points turned like lead, and Cainas tried to throw him, but he never stirred afoot. And Pollyduce struck him with his fist, a blow which would have killed an ox,

but Jason only smiled and the heroes danced about him with delight and he leapt and ran and shouted in the joy of that enormous strength till the sun rose and it was time to go and to claim Aetis promise

so he sent up Telemann and Aethalities to tell Aetis that he was ready for the fight and they went up among the marble walls and beneath the roofs of gold and stood in Aetis' hall while he grew pale with rage.

Fulfill your promise to us, child of the blazing sun. Give us the serpent's teeth and let loose the fiery bulls, for we have found a champion among us who can win the golden fleece. And Aetis bit his lips, for he fancied that they had fled away by night,

but he could not go back from his promise, so he gave them the serpent's teeth. Then he called for his chariot and his horses and sent heralds through all the town, and all the people went out with him to the dreadful war-god's field. And there Aetis sat upon his throne, with his warriors on each hand, thousands and tens of thousands, clothed from head to foot in steel chain-mail.

And the people and the women crowded to every window and bank and wall, while the Minouai stood together, a mere handful in the midst of that great host. And Chalciope was there, and Argus trembling, and Medea wrapped closely in her veil. But Aetis did not know that she was muttering cunning spells between her lips. Then Jason cried, Fulfill your promise and let your fiery bulls come forth. Then Aetis bad opened the gates and the magic bulls leapt out. Their brazen hoofs rang upon the ground and their nostrils sent out sheets of flame

as they rushed with lowered heads upon Jason. But he never flinched a step. The flame of their breath swept round him, but it singed not a hair of his head, and the bull stopped short and trembled when Medea began her spell. Then Jason sprang upon the nearest

and seized him by the horn, and up and down they wrestled, till the bull fell grovelling on his knees, for the heart of the brute died within him, and his mighty limbs were loosed beneath the steadfast eye of that dark witch maiden and the magic whisper of her lips.

So both the bulls were tamed and yoked, and Jason bound them to the plough, and goaded them onward with his lance till he had plowed the sacred field. And all the Minouai shouted, but Ahedis bit his lips with rage, for the half of Jason's work was over, and the sun was yet high in heaven.

Then he took the serpent's teeth and sowed them, and waited what would befall. But Medea looked at him, and at his helmet, lest he should forget the lesson she had taught, and every furrow heaved and bubbled and out of every clod arose a man out of the earth they rose by thousands each clad from head to foot and steel and drew their swords and rushed on jason where he stood in the midst alone then the minnowai grew pale with fear for him but haiti laughed a bitter laugh see if i had not warriors enough already round me i could call them out of the bosom of the earth But Jason snatched off his helmet and hurled it into the thickest of the throng,

and blind madness came upon them, suspicion, hate and fear, and one cried to his fellow, Thou did strike me, and another, thou art Jason, thou shalt die. So fury seized those earth-born phantoms, and each turned his hand against the rest, and they fought and were never weary till they all lay dead upon the ground. Then the magic furrows opened. and the kind earth took them home into her breast, and the grass grew up all green again above them, and Jason's work was done.

Then the Minouai rose and shouted, till Prometheus heard them from his crag, and Jason cried, Lead me to the fleece this moment before the sun goes down. But Aetis thought, He has conquered the bulls, and sown and reaped the deadly crop. Who is that?

this who is proof against all magic. He may kill the serpent yet, so he delayed, and sat taking counsel with his princes till the sun went down and all was dark. Then he bade a herald cry, Every man to his home

for tonight, tomorrow we will meet these heroes and speak about the golden fleece. Then he turned and looked at Medea. This is your doing, false witch-maid. You have helped these yellow haired strangers and brought shame upon your father and yourself. Medea shrank and trembled,

and her face grew pale with fear, and Aetis knew that she was guilty and whispered, If they win the fleece, you die. But the Minoai marched toward their ship, growling like lions, cheated of their prey, for they saw that Aetis meant to mock them and to cheat them out of all their toil. and Oylia said Let us go to the grove together And take the fleece by force And Itis the rash cried Let us draw lots

Who shall go in first For while the dragon is devouring one The rest can slay him And carry off the fleece in peace But Jason held them back Though he praised them For he hoped for Medea's help And after a while

Medea came trembling and wept a long while before she spoke, and at last, My end is come, and I must die, for my father has found out that I have helped you. You he would kill if he dared, but he will not harm you, because you have been his guests. Go then, go, and remember poor Medea when you are far away across the sea.

But all the heroes cried, If you die, we die with you, for without you we cannot win the fleet. and home we will not go without it, but fall here fighting to the last man. You need not die, said Jason. Flee home with us across the sea. Show us first how to win the fleece, for you can do it. Why else are you the priestess of the grove?

Show us but how to win the fleece and come with us, and you shall be my queen and rule over the rich princes of the Minuai in Yolcos by the sea. and all the heroes pressed round and vowed to her that she should be their queen. Medea wept and shuddered and hid her face in her hands, for her heart yearned after her sisters and her playfellows, and the home where she was brought up as a child. But at last she looked up at Jason and spoke between her sobs, Must I leave my home and my people

To wander with strangers across the sea? The lot is cast and I must endure it. I will show you how to win the golden fleece. Bring up your ship to the woodside and moor her there against the bank And let Jason come up at midnight And one brave comrade with him And meet me beneath the wall. Then all the heroes cried together,

I will go! And I. And I. and Idis the rash grew mad with envy for he longed to be foremost in all things but Medea calmed them and said Orpheus shall go with Jason and bring his magic harp for I hear of him that he is the king of all minstrels

and can charm all things on earth and Orpheus laughed for joy and clapped his hands because the choice had fallen on him for in those days poets and singers were as bold warriors as the best. So at midnight they went up the bank and found Medea, and beside came Absertes her young brother leading a yearling lamb.

Then Medea brought them to a thicket beside the war-god's gate, and there she bade Jason dig a ditch and kill the lamb, and leave it there, and strew on it magic herbs and honey from the honeycomb. Then sprang up through the earth with the red fire flashing before her brimmon, the wild witch-huntress, while her mad hounds howled around. She had one head like a horses and another like a ravening hounds, and another like a hissing snakes, and a sword in either hand. And she leapt into the ditch with her hounds, and they ate and drank their fill, while Jason and Orpheus trembled, and Medea hid her eyes. And at last

the witch- queen vanished and fled with her hounds into the woods, and the bars of the gates fell down, and the brazen doors flew wide, and Medea and the heroes ran forward and hurried through the poison wood among the dark stems of the mighty beaches guided by the gleam of the golden fleece, until they saw it hanging on one vast tree in the midst. And Jason would have sprung to seize it, but Medea held him back and pointed shuddering to the tree-foot, where the mighty serpent lay, coiled in and out among the roots with a body like a mountain pine. His coils stretched many a fathom

spangled with bronze and gold, and half of him they could see but no more, for the rest lay in the darkness far beyond. And when he saw them coming, he lifted up his head and watched them with his small bright eyes and flashed his forked tongue and roared like the fire among the woodlands

till the forest tossed and groaned. for his cries shook the trees from leaf to root and swept over the long reaches of the river and over Aiti's hall and woke the sleepers in the city till mothers clasped their children in their fear but Medea called gently to him and he stretched out his long spotted neck and licked her hand and looked up in her face as if to ask for food then she made a sign to Orpheus and he began his magic song and as he sung the forest grew calm again and the leaves on every tree hung still and the serpent's head sank down and his brazen coils grew limp and his glittering eyes closed lazily till he breathed as gently as a child while orpheus called to pleasant slumber who gives peace to men and beasts and waves then jason leapt forward warily and stepped across that mighty snake, and tore the fleece from off the tree trunk, and the fore rushed down the garden to the bank where the Argo lay. There were silence for a moment, while Jason held the golden fleece on high, then he cried, Go now, good Argo, swift and steady, if ever you would see Peleon more.

And she went, as the heroes drove her, grim and silent all, with muffled oars, till the pine-wood bent like willow in their hands, and stout Argo groaned beneath it. strokes. On and on beneath the dewy darkness they fled swiftly down the swirling stream, underneath black walls and temples and the castles of the princes of the east, past sluice mouths and fragrant gardens and roves of all strange fruits, past marshes where fat kind lay sleeping and long beds of whispering reeds till they heard the merry music of the surge upon the bar as it tumbled in the moonlight all alone. into the surge they rushed and argo leapt the breakers like a horse for she knew the time was come to show her medal and win honour for the heroes and herself into the surge they rushed and argo leapt the breakers like a horse till the hero stopped all panting each man upon his oar as she slid into the still broad sea

then orpheus took his harp and sang a peon till the hero's hearts rose high again and they rode on stoutly and steadfastly away into the darkness of the west end of part four of the argonauts part five of the argonauts from the heroes this is a librovoc's recording all librovoc's recordings are in the public domain for more information or or to volunteer, please visit liverbox.org. The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children by Charles Kingsley. Part 5 of the Argonauts, How the Argonauts were driven into the unknown sea. So they fled away in haste to the westward, but Aetis manned his fleet and followed them, and Linzius the quick-eyed saw him coming while he was still many a mile away and cried, I see a hundred ships like a flock of white swans far in the east.

And at that they rode hard like heroes, but the ships came nearer every hour. Then Medea, the dark witch maiden, laid a cruel and cunning plot, for she killed Absertus her young brother and cast him into the sea, and said, "'Eer my father can take up his corpse and bury it, he must wait long and be left far behind.' And all the heroes shuddered and looked at one another for shame, yet they did not punish that dark witch-woman, because she had won for them the golden fleece. And when Aetis came to the place, he saw the floating corpse, and he stopped a long while and bewailed his son, and took him up and went home. But he sent on his sailors toward the westward, and bound them by a mighty curse.

Bring back to me that dark witch-woman, that she may die a dreadful death. But if you return without her, you shall die by the saint-o'-women. death yourselves. So the Argonauts escaped for that time, but Father Zeus saw that foul crime, and out of the heavens he set a storm, and swept the ship far from her course. Day after day the storm drove her,

amid foam and blinding mist, till they knew no longer where they were, for the sun was blotted from the skies. And at last the ship's struts. struck on a shoal amid low aisles of mud and sand, and the waves rolled over her and through her, and the heroes lost all hope of life. Then Jason cried to Hera,

Fair Queen, who has befriended us till now, Why hast thou left us in our misery to die here among unknown seas? It is hard to lose the honour which we have won with such toil and danger, and hard never to see Hellas again, and the pleasant bay of Pagasai. Then out and spoke the magic bow, which stood upon the Argos beak. Because Father Zeus is angry, all this has fallen on you, for a cruel crime has been done on board, and the sacred ship is foul with blood. At that some of the heroes cried, Medea is the murderous. Let the witch-woman bear her sin and die. And they seized Medea to hurl her into the sea and atone for the young boy's death. But the magic bow spoke again.

Let her live till her crimes are full. Vengeance waits for her slow and sure. But she must live, for you need her still. She must show you the way to her sister Circe, who lives among the islands of the West. To her you must sail a weary way, and she shall cleanse you from your guilt. Then all the heroes wept aloud when they heard the sentence of the oak, for they knew that a dark journey lay before them, and years of bitter toil. And some upbraided the dark witch-woman, and some said, nay, we are her debtors still. Without her, we should never have won the fleece. But most of them bit their lips in silence, for they feared the witch's spells.

And now the sea grew calmer, and the sun shone out once more, and the heroes thrust the ship off the sandbank, and rode forward on their weary course under the guiding of the dark witch maiden, into the wastes of the unknown sea. Whither they went, I cannot tell. Nor how they came to Circe's Isle. Some say that they went to the westward, and up the Istar stream,

and so came into the Adriatic, dragging their ship over the snowy Alps, and others say that they went southward into the Red Indian Sea, and passed the sunny lands where spices grow, round Ethiopia toward the west, and that at last they came to Libya and dragged their ship across the burning sands,

and over the hills into the Sirtis, where the flats and quick sands spread for many a mile between rich Sireini and the lotus-eaters shore. But all these are but dreams and fables, and dim hints of unknown lands. but all say that they came to a place where they had to drag their ship across the land nine days with ropes and rollers till they came into an unknown sea and the best of all the old songs tells us how they went away toward the north till they came up to the slope of caucasus where it sinks into the sea and to the narrow cimmerian bosphorus where the titan swam across upon the bull, and thence into the lazy waters of the still maeltaed lake,

and thence they went northward ever, up the Tanias, which we call dawn, past the Galoni and Sauromatai, and many a wandering shepherd tribe and the one-eyed Eramaspe, of whom old Greek poets tell, who steal the gold from the griffins in the cold Rufan hills. And they passed the Scythian archers, and the tory who eat men, and the wandering hyperbori who feed their flocks beneath the pole star, until they came unto the northern ocean, the dull-dead Cronian Sea. And there Argo would move on no longer, and each man clasped his elbow and leaned his head upon his hand, heartbroken with toil and hunger, and gave himself up to death. But brave on caius, the helmsman cleared up their hearts once more, and bade them leap on land

and haul the ship with ropes and rollers, for many a weary day. Whether over land or mud or ice, I know not, for the song is mixed and broken like a dream, and it says next how they came to the rich nation of the famous long-lived men, and to the coast of the Samarians, who never saw the sun, buried deep in the glens of the snow mountains, and to the fair land of Hermione, where dwelt the most righteous of all nations, and to the gates of the world below, and to the dwelling place of dreams. And at last on Caius shouted, Endure a little while, brave friends, the worst is. is surely past, for I can see the pure west wind ruffle the water, and hear the roar of the ocean

on the sands. So raise up the mast and set the sail, and face what comes like men! Then outspoke the magic bow. Ah, wood that I had perished long ago, and been whelmed by the dread blue rocks beneath the fierce swell of the Euxini. Better so than to one. wander forever, disgraced by the guilt of my princes. For the blood of absurdus still tracks me, and woe follows hard upon woe, and now some dark horror will clutch me if I come near the Isle of Ierney. Unless you will cling to the land and sail southward and southward forever, I shall wander beyond the Atlantic, to the ocean which has no shore. Then they blessed the magic. Then they blessed the bow and sailed southward along the land.

But ere they could pass Ierney, the land of mists and storms, the wild wind came down, dark and roaring, and caught the sail and strained the ropes. And away they drove twelve nights on the wild western sea, through the foam and over the rollers, while they saw neither sun nor stars. And they cried again. We shall perish, for we know not where we are.

We are lost in the dreary, damp darkness, and cannot tell north from south. But Lincius, the long-sighted, called gaily from the boughs. Take art again, brave sailors! For I see a pine-clad isle, and the halls of the kind earth-mother with a crown of clouds around them. But Orpheus said, Turn from them.

For no living man can live there. There is no harbor on the coast but steep-walled cliffs all around. So Ankaios turned the ship away, and for three days more they sailed on, till they came to Aiaia, Circe's home, and the fairy island of the west.

And there Jason bid them land and seek about for any sign of living man. And as they went inland, Sircy met them, coming down toward the ship, and they trembled when they saw her, for her hair and face and robes shone like flame. And she came and looked at Medea, and Medea hid her face beneath her veil, and Circe cried, Ah, wretched girl, have you forgotten all your sins?

"'that you come hither to my island "'where the flowers bloom all year round? "'Where is your aged father? "'And the brother whom you killed? "'Little do I expect you to return in safety "'with these strangers whom you love. "'I will send you food and wine, "'but your ship must not stay here,

"'for it is foul with sin, "'and foul with sin its crew.' "'And the heroes prayed to her. her but in vain and cried, Cleanse us from our guilt. But she sent them away and said, Go on to Malaya, and there you may be cleansed and return home. Then a fair wind rose,

and they sailed eastward by Tartesus on the Iberian shore, till they came to the pillars of Hercules and the Mediterranean Sea, and thence they sailed on through the deeps of Sardinia, and passed the Aosonian Islands and the capes of the Terranian shore, till they came to a flowery island upon a still bright summer's eve, and as they neared it, slowly and wearily, they heard sweet songs upon the shore. But when Medea heard it, she started, and cried,

Beware all heroes, for these are the rocks of the sirens. You must pass close by them, for there is no other channel, but those who listen to that song are lost. Then Orpheus spoke, the king of all minstrels. Let them match their song against mine. I have charmed stones and trees and dragons. How much more the hearts of men! So he caught up his liar and stood upon the poop, and began his magic song. And now they could see the sirens on Anthemousa, the flowery aisle,

three fair maidens sitting on the beach beneath a red rock in the setting sun, among beds of crimson puppies and golden Asphodel. Slowly they sung and sleepily, with silver voices mild and clear, which stole over the golden waters and into the hearts of the heroes, in spite of Orpheus's song. and all things stayed around them and listened. The gulls sat in white lines along the rocks.

On the beach great seals lay basking and kept time with lazy heads, while silver shoals of fish came up to hearken and whispered as they broke the shining calm. The wind overhead hushed his whistling, as he shepherded his clouds toward the west, and the clouds stood in mid-blue and listened dreaming like a flock of golden sheep. And as the heroes listened, the oars fell from their hands, and their heads drooped on their breasts,

and they closed their heavy eyes, and they dreamed of bright, still gardens, and of slumbers under murmuring pines, till all their toil seemed foolishness, and they thought of their renown no more. Then one lifted his head suddenly and cried, "'What use in wandering forever! Let us stay here and rest a while!' And another, let us row to the shore and hear the words they sing. And another, I care not for the words but for the music.

They shall sing me to sleep that I may rest. But beauties, the son of Pandion, the fairest of all mortal men, leapt out and swam toward the shore, crying, I come, I come, fair maidens, to live and die here, listening to your song. Then Medea clapped her hands together and cried, Sing louder, Orpheus, sing a bolder strain, Wake up these hapless sluggards, or none of them will see the land of Hellas more.

Then Orpheus lifted his harp and crashed his cunning hand across the strings, and his music and his voice rose like a trumpet through the still evening air. Into the air it rushed like thunder, till the rocks rang and the sea, and into their souls it rushed like wine, till all hearts beat fast within their breasts.

And he sung the song of Perseus, how the gods led him over land and sea, and how he slew the loathly Gorgon, and won himself a peerless bride, and how he sits now with the gods upon Olympus, a shining star in the sky, immortal with his immortal bride, and honored by all men below.

So Orpheus, sang, and the sirens, answering each other across the golden sea, till Orpheus's voice drowned the sirens, and the heroes caught their oars again. And they cried, We will be men like Perseus, and we will dare and suffer to the last. Sing us his song again, brave Orpheus, that we may forget the sirens and their spell. And as Orpheus sang, they dashed their oars into the sea, kept time to his music as they fled fast away, and the sirens' voices died behind them in the hissing of the foam along their wake. But Beauty swam to the shore and knelt down before the sirens and cried, Sing on, sing on!

But he could say no more, for a charmed sleep came over him, and a pleasant humming in his ears, and he sank all along the pebbles. and forgot all heaven and earth, and never looked at that sad beach around him, all strewn with the bones of men. Then slowly rose up those three fair sisters, with a cruel smile upon their lips, and slowly they crept down towards him,

like leopards who creep upon their prey, and their hands were like they were like, the talons of eagles as they stepped across the bones of their victims to enjoy their cruel feast. But Ferest Aphrodite saw him from the highest Idalian peak, and she pitied his youth and his beauty, and leapt up from her golden throne, and like a falling star she cleft the sky, and left a trail of glittering light, till she stooped to the isle of the sirens and snatched their prey from their claws, and she lifted beauties as he lay sleeping, and wrapped him in golden mist, and she bore him to the peak of Lillibium, and he slept there for many a pleasant year. But when the sirens saw that

they were conquered, they shrieked for envy and rage, and leaped from the beach into the sea, and were changed into rocks until this day. Then they came to the Straits of Lillibium and saw Sicily, the three-cornered island, under which Enceladus, the giant, lies groaning day and night, and when he turns the earth quakes, and his breath bursts out in roaring flames from the highest cone of Etna above the chestnut woods, and there Caribdis caught them in its fearful coils of wave, and rolled mast high about them, and spun them round and round, and they could neither go back nor forward, while the whirlpool sucked them in. And while they struggled, they saw near them,

on the other side the strait, a rock standing in the water, with its peak wrapped round, in clouds, a rock which no man could climb, though he had twenty hands and feet, for the stone was smooth and slippery, as if polished by man's hand, and halfway up a misty cave looked out toward the west. And when Orpheus saw it, he groaned and struck his hands together. And little will it help us, he cried, to escape the jaws of the whirlpool. For in that cave lives Silla, the sea-hag with a young Welp's voice. My mother warned me of her ere we sailed away from Hellas. She has six heads and six long necks and hides in that dark cleft.

And from her cave she fishes for all things which pass by for sharks and seals and dolphins, and all the herds of Amphrititi. And never ships' crew boasted that they came safe by her rock, for she bends her long necks down to them and every mouth takes up a man. And who will help us now? For Hera and Zeus hate us, and our ship is foul with guilt, so we must die whatever befalls.

Then out of the depths came Thetus, Pellius's silver-footed bride, for love of her gallant husband, and all her nymphs around her, And they played like snow-white dolphins diving on from wave to wave before the ship and in her wake and beside her as dolphins play. And they caught the ship and guided her, and passed her on from hand to hand,

and tossed her through the billows as maidens toss the ball. And when Silla stooped to seize her, they struck back her ravening heads, and foul Silla whined as a whelp wharf, wines at the touch of their gentle hands. But she shrank into her cave affrighted, for all bad things shrink from good, and Argo leapt safe past her, while a fair breeze rose behind. Then Thetus and her nymphs sank down to their coral caves beneath the sea, and their

gardens of green and purple, where live flowers bloom all year round. while the heroes went on rejoicing, yet dreading what might come next. After that they rode on steadily for many a weary day, till they saw a long high island, and beyond it a mountain land, and they searched till they found a harbor, and there rode boldly in, and after a while they stopped and wondered. for there stood a great city on the shore and temples and walls and gardens and castles

high in air upon the cliffs and on either side they saw a harbor with a narrow mouth but wide within and black ships without number high and dry upon the shore then Ancaios the wise helmsman spoke What new wonder is this? I know all aisles and harbors

And the windings of all seas And this should be Corsera Where a few wild goat herds dwell But whence come these new harbors And vast works of polished stone? But Jason said They can be no savage people We will go in and take our chance

So they rode into the harbor among a thousand black-beaked ships, each larger far than Argo toward a key of polished stone. And they wondered at that mighty city with its roofs of burnished brass and long and lofty walls of marble with strong palisades above,

and the keys were full of people, merchants and mariners and slaves, going to and fro with merchandise among the crowds of ships. And the hero's hearts were humble, and they looked at each other and said, We thought ourselves a gallant crew when we sailed from the old coast by the sea. But how small we look before this city, like an ant before a hive of bees.

Then the sailors hailed them roughly from the key. What men are you? We want no strangers here, nor pirates. We keep our business to ourselves. But Jason answered gently, with many a flattering word, and praised their city and their harbor, and their fleet of gallant ships. Surely you are the children of Poseidon and the masters of the sea, and we are but poor wandering mariners worn out with thirst and toil.

Give us but food and water, and we will go on our voyage in peace. Then the sailors laughed and answered, "'Stranger, you are no fool. You talk like an honest man, and you shall find us honest, too. We are the children of Poseidon and the masters of the sea, but come ashore to us and you shall have the best that we can give.' So they limped ashore all stiff and weary, with long, ragged beards and sunburnt cheeks, and garments torn and weather-stained, and weapons rusted with the spruce. bray, while the sailors laughed at them, for they were rough-tongued, though their hearts were frank and kind.

And one said, "'These fellows are but raw sailors. They look as if they had been seasick all the day.' And another, "'Their legs have grown crooked with much rowing till they waddle in their walk like ducks.' At that, Idis the rash would have struck them, but Jason held him back. till one of the merchant kings spoke to them, a tall and stately man. Do not be angry, strangers.

The sailor boys must have their jest, but we will treat you justly and kindly. For strangers and poor men come from God, and you seem no common sailors by your strength and height and weapons. Come up with me to the palace of Alcinus, the rich sea-going king, and we will feast you well and heartily. and after that you shall tell us your name. But Medea hung back and trembled and whispered in Jason's ear. We are betrayed and are going to our ruin,

for I see my countrymen among the crowd, dark-eyed colky and steel mail shirts, such as they wear in my father's land. It is too late to turn, said Jason, and he spoke to the merchant king. What country is this, good sir? and what is this new-built town? This is the land of the Fiasis,

beloved of all the immortals, for they come hither and feast-like friends with us, and sit by our side in the hall. Hither we come from Libernia to escape the unrighteous cyclops, for they robbed us, peaceful merchants, of our hard-earned wares and wealth. So Nossethos, the son of Poseidon, brought us hither, and died in peace,

and now his son Al Sinus rules us, and Arete the wisest of queens. So they went up across the square and wondered still more as they went, for along the keys lay in order great cables and yards and masts before the fair temple of Poseidon, the blue-haired king of the seas,

and round the square worked the shipwrights, as many in number as ants, twining ropes and hewing timber and smoothing long yards and oars. And the Minouai went on in silence through clean white marble streets till they came to the hall of Alcinus, and they wondered then still more, for the lofty palace shone aloft in the sun with walls of plated brass,

from the threshold to the innermost chamber, and the doors were of silver and gold. gold, and on each side of the doorway sat living dogs of gold, who never grew old or died, so well Hephaestos had made them in his forges in smoking lemnos, and gave them to Elsinus to guard his gates by night. And within, against the walls, stood thrones on either side, down the whole length of the hall strewn with rich glossy shawls and on them the merchant kings

of those crafty sea-roving fiasis sat eating and drinking in pride and feasting there all year round and boys of molten gold stood each on a polished altar and held torches in their hands to give light all night to the guests and round the house sat fifty maid-servants,

some grinding the meal in the mill, some turning the spindle, some weaving at the loom, while their hands twinkled as they passed the shuttle, like quivering aspen leaves. And outside before the palace, a Greek garden was walled round, filled full of stately fruit trees,

gray olives and sweet figs, and pomegranates, pears and apples which bore the whole year round. For the rich southwest wind fed them, till pear grew ripe on pear, fig on fig, and grape on grape all the winter and the spring, and at the farther end, gay flower-beds bloomed all through the seasons of the year,

and two fair fountains rose and ran, one through the garden grounds, and one beneath the palace gate to water all the town. such noble gifts the heavens had given to Alcinus the wise. So they went in and saw him sitting, like Poseidon, on his throne, with his golden scepter by him, in garments stiff with gold, and in his hand a sculptured goblet, as he pledged the merchant kings, and beside him stood Ariti, his wise and lovely queen, and leaned against a pillar as she spun her golden threads. Then Alcinus rose and welcomed them and bade them sit and eat,

and the servants brought them tables and bread and meat and wine. But Medea went on, trembling toward Ariti the fair queen, and fell at her knees and clasped them, and cried weeping as she knelt. I am your guest, fair queen, and I entreat you by Zeus, from whom prayers come. Do not send me back to my father to die. some dreadful death, but let me go my way and bear my burden. Have I not had enough of punishment and shame? Who are you, strange maiden? And what is the meaning of your prayer? I am Medea, daughter of Aetis, and I saw my countrymen here to-day, and I know that they are come to find me and take me home to die some dreadful death.

Then Ariti frowned and said, "'Lead this girl in, my maidens, and let the kings decide, not I.' And Alcinus leapt up from his throne and cried, "'Speak, strangers, who are you? And who is this maiden?' "'We are the heroes of the men who I,' said Jason, and this maiden has spoken truth.

We are the men who took the golden fleece, the men whose fame has run round every shore, we came hither out of the ocean after sorrows such as man never saw before, and we went out many and come back few, for many a noble comrade have we lost. So let us go, as you should let your guests go, in peace,

that the world may say, Alcinus is a just king. But Alcinus frowned and stood deep in thought, And at last he spoke, Had not the deed been done, which is done, I should have said this day to myself, It is an honour to Alcinus and to his children after him That the fair-famed Argonauts are his guests.

But these Colchie are my guests as you are, And for this month they have waited here with all their fleet, For they have hunted all the seas of Hellas, And could not find you, And dared neither go farther nor go home. Let them choose out their champions, and we will fight them man for man. No guests of ours shall fight upon our island, and if you go outside they will outnumber you. I will do justice between you, for I know and do what is right.

And he turned to his kings and said, This may stand over till to-morrow. Tonight we will feast our guests and hear the story of all their wanderings, and how they came hither out of the ocean. So Alcinus bade the servants, take the heroes in, and bathe them, and give them clothes. And they were glad when they saw the warm water,

for it was long since they had bathed, and they washed off the sea-salt from their limbs, and anointed themselves from head to foot with oil, and combed out their golden hair. Then they came back again into the hall, while the merchant kings rose up to do them on, and each man said to his neighbor, No wonder that these men won fame.

How they stand now like giants or titans or immortals come down from Olympus, though many a winter has worn them and many a fearful storm. What must they have been when they sailed from Eolcos in the bloom of their youth long ago? Then they went out to the garden and the merchant princes said, Heroes, run races with us. "'Let us see whose feet are nimblest.' "'We cannot race you, for our limbs are stiff from sea, "'and we have lost our two swift comrades, the sons of the North Wind,

"'but do not think us cowards. If you wish to try our strength, "'we will shoot and box and wrestle against any men on earth.' "'And Alcinus smiled and answered, "'I believe you, gallant guests, with your long limbs and broad shoulders, "'we could never match you here.' for we care nothing here for boxing or for shooting with the bow, but for feasts and songs and harping and dancing and running races to stretch our limbs on shore. So they danced there and ran races the jolly merchant kings till the night fell and all went in.

And then they ate and drank and comforted their weary souls till Alcinus called a herald and bade him go and fetch a harper. The herald went out and fetched a harper, and, led him in by the hand, and Elsinus cut him a piece of meat from the fattest of the haunch, and sent it to him and said, Sing to us, noble Harper, and rejoice the hero's hearts. So the harper played and sang while the dancers danced strange figures, and after that the tumblers showed their tricks, till the heroes laughed again.

Then, tell me heroes, asked Alcinus, who have sailed the ocean round, and seen the manner of all nations. Have you seen such dancers as ours here, or heard such music and such singing? We hold ours to be the best on earth. Such dancing we have never seen, said Orpheus, and your singer is a happy man, for Phoebus himself must have taught him,

or else he is the son of a muse, as I am also, and have sung once or twice, though not so well as he. "'Sing to us, then, noble stranger,' said Elsinus, "'and we will give you precious gifts.' So Orpheus took his magic harp and sang to them a stirring song of their voyage from Iolkos and their dangers, and how they won the golden fleece, and of Medea's love,

and how she helped them, and went with them over the land and sea, and of all their fearful dangers, from monsters and rocks and storms, till the heart of the heart of them, heart of Eriti was softened, and all the women wept. And the merchant kings rose up, each man from off his golden throne, and clapped their hands, and shouted, Hail to the noble Argonauts, who sailed the unknown sea! Then he went on and told their journey over the sluggish northern Maine, and through the shoreless outer ocean, to the fairy island of the west, and of the

Sirens and Silla and Carybdis, and all the wonders they had seen till midnight passed, and the day dawned, but the kings never thought of sleep. Each man sat still and listened with his chin upon his hand. And at last, when Orpheus had ended, they all went thoughtful out, and the heroes lay down to sleep beneath the sounding porch outside, where Ariti had strewn them rugs and carpet in the sweet still summer night. night. But Eriti pleaded hard with her husband for Medea, for her heart was softened, and she said, The gods will punish her, not we. After all, she is our guest, and my suppliant,

and prayers are the daughters of Zeus, and who too dare part man and wife, after all they have endured together? And Alcinus smiled, The minstrel's song has charmed you, but I must remember what is right, for songs cannot alter justice, and I must be faithful to my name. Alcinus I am called, the man of sturdy sense, and al-Sinus I will be. But for all that, Ariti besought him, until she won him round. So next morning he sent a herald and called the kings into the square and said, This is a puzzling matter. Remember but one thing. These Minuai live close by and we may meet them often on the seas,

but Aetis lives far off, and we have only heard his name. Which, then, of the two is safer to offend, the men near us, or the men far off? The princes laughed and praised his wisdom, and Alcinus called the heroes to the square, and the Kolki also. And they came and stood opposite each other,

but Medea stayed in the palace. Then Alcinus spoke, "'Heros of the coal-key! "'What is your errand about this lady?' "'To carry her home with us, "'that she may die a shameful death. "'But if we return without her, "'we must die the death she should have died.'

"'What say you to this, Jason, the Aolid?' "'said Elsinus, turning to the Minouai. "'I say,' said the cunning Jason, "'that they are come here on a bootless, errand. Do you think that you can make her follow you, Heroes of Colkey, her, who knows all spells and charms? She will cast away your ships on quicksands, or call down on you, Bremo, the wild huntress, or the chains will fall from off her wrists, and she will escape in her dragon car, or if not thus, some other way, for she has a thousand plans and wiles? And why return

home at all brave heroes, and face the long seas again and the bosphorus and the stormy yuxini, and double all your toil. There is many a fair land round these coasts which waits for gallant men like you. Better to settle there, and build a city, and let Ayatis and kolkis help themselves. Then a murmur arose among the kolki, and some cried, He has spoken well, and some, We have had enough of roving. We will sail the seas no more. And the chief said at last, Be it so, then.

A plague she has been to us, and a plague to the house of her father, and a plague she will be to you. Take her, since you are no wiser, and we will sail away toward the north. Then Alcinus gave them food and water and garments and rich presents of all sorts, and he gave the same to the Minouai,

and sent them all away in peace. So Jason kept the dark witch-woman to breed him woe and shame, and the coal-key went northward into the Adriatic and settled, and built towns along the shore. Then the heroes rode away to the eastward to reach Hellas their beloved land, but a storm came down upon them and swept them far away toward the south, and they rode till they were spent with struggling through the darkness and the blinding rain, but where they were they could not tell, and they gave up all hope of life, and at last

touched the ground, and when daylight came, waded to the shore, and saw nothing round but sand and desolate salt pools, for they had come to the quicksands of the Sirtis, and the dreary treeless flats which lie between Numidia and Sirene on the burning shore of Africa. and there they wandered starving for many a weary day, ere they could launch their ship again and gain the open sea. And there Canthus was killed, while he was trying to drive off sheep by a stone which a herdsman threw. And there too Mopsus died, the seer who knew the voices of all birds, but he could not foretell his own end, for he was bitten in the foot by a snake, one of those which sprang from the Gorgon's head

when Perseus carried it across the sands. At last they rode away toward the northward, for many a weary day, till their water was spent and their food was eaten, and they were worn out with hunger and thirst. But at last they saw a long, steep island, and a blue peak high among the clouds, and they knew it for the peak of Ida

and the famous land of Cres, Crete, and they said, We will land in Crete and see Minos, the just king, and all his glory and his wealth. At least he will treat us hospitably, and let us fill our water-casks upon the shore.

But when they came nearer to the island, they saw a wondrous sight upon the cliffs, for on a cape to the westward stood a giant, taller than any mountain pine, who glittered aloft against the sky like a a tower of burnished brass.

He turned and looked on all sides round him till he saw the Argo and her crew, and when he saw them he came toward them more swiftly than the swiftest horse, leaping across the glens at a bound and striding at one time from down to down. And when he came abreast of them, he brandished his arms up and down

as a ship's hoists, lowers her yards, and shouted with his brazening, in the throat like a trumpet from off the hills. You are pirates and robbers. If you dare land here, you die. Then the heroes cried, We are no pirates, we are all good men and true, and all we ask is food and water.

But the giant cried the more, You are robbers, you are pirates all. I know you, and if you land you shall die the death. Then he waved his arms as a signal, and they saw the people flying inland, driving their flocks before them, while a great flame arose among the hills. Then the giant ran up a valley and vanished, and the heroes lay on their oars in fear. But Medea stood watching all from under her steep black brows, with a cunning smile upon her lips, and a cunning plot within the sea. her heart. At last she spoke. I know this giant. I heard of him in the east. Hephaestos the fire king made him in his forge

in Aetna beneath the earth, and called him Talus, and gave him to Minos for a servant to guard the coast of Crete. Thrice a day he walks round the island and never stops to sleep, and if strangers' land he leaps into his furnace which flames there among the hills, and when he is red-hot, he rushes on them and burns them in his brazen hands. Then all the heroes cried, What shall we do, wise Medea? We must have water, or we die of thirst. Flesh and blood we can face fairly, but who can face this red-hot brass? I can face red-hot brass, if the tale I hear be true. for they say that he has but one vein in all his body filled with liquid fire, and that this vein is closed with a nail, but I know not where that nail is placed.

But if I can get it once into these hands, you shall water your ship here in peace. Then she bade them put her on shore and row off again, and wait what would befall. And the heroes obeyed her unwillingly, for the men. they were ashamed to leave her so alone. But Jason said, She is dearer to me than to any of you, yet I will trust her freely on shore. She has more plots than we can dream of

in the windings of that fair and cunning head. So they left the witch maiden on the shore, and she stood there in her beauty all alone, till the giant strode back, red-hot from head to heel, while the grass hissed and smoked, beneath his tread. And when he saw the maiden alone, he stopped,

and she looked boldly up into his face without moving and began her magic song. Life is short, though life is sweet, and even men of brass and fire must die. The brass must rust, the fire must cool, for time gnaws all things in their turn. Life is short, though life is sweet, but sweeter to live forever,

sweeter to live ever youthful like the gods who have icor in their veins, icor which gives life and youth and joy and abounding heart. Then Talas said, Who are you, strange, maiden? And where is this icker of youth? Then Medea held up a flask of crystal

and said, here is the icker of youth. I am Medea the enchantress. My sister Circe gave me this and said, Go and reward Talus the faithful servant, for his fame is gone out into all lands. So come, and I will pour this into your veins that you may live forever young.

And he listened to her false words, that simple talus and came near. And Medea said, dip yourself in the sea first and cool yourself lest you burn my tender hands, then show me where the nail in your vein is, that I may pour the icker in. Then that simple talus dipped himself in the sea till it hissed and roared and smoked, and came and knelt before Medea, and showed her the secret nail. and she drew the nail out gently,

but she poured no ickr in, and instead the liquid fire spouted forth, like a stream of red-hot iron, and Talus tried to leap up, crying, You have betrayed me, false witch maiden! But she lifted up her hands before him and sang till he sank beneath her spell, and as he sank, his brazen limbs clanked heavily,

and the earth groaned beneath his weight, and the liquid fire ran from his heel like a stream of lava to the sea, and Medea laughed and called to the heroes, Come ashore and water your ship in peace. So they came and found the giant lying dead, and they fell down and kissed Medea's feet and watered their ship and took sheep and oxen and so left that inhospitable shore.

At last, after many more adventures, they came to the Cape of Malia at the southwest point of the Peloponnese, and there they offered sacrifices, and Orpheus purged them from their guilt. Then they rode away again to the northward, past the Laconian shore, and came all worn and tired by Sunium and up the long Eubonian Strait,

until they saw once more Pelion and Aphatai and Iolcos by the sea. And they ran the ship ashore, but they had no strength left to haul her up the beach, and they crawled out on the pebbles and sat down and wept till they could weep no more. for the houses and the trees were all altered, and all the faces which they saw were strange, and their joy was swallowed up in sorrow, while they thought of their youth,

and all their labor, and the gallant comrades they had lost. And the people crowded round and asked them, Who are you that sit weeping here? We are the sons of your princes, who sailed out many a year ago, We went to fetch the golden fleece, and we have brought it, and grief therewith. Give us news of our fathers and our mothers, if any of them be left alive on earth.

Then there was shouting and laughing and weeping, and all the kings came to the shore, and they led away the heroes to their homes, and bewailed the valiant dead. Then Jason went up with Medea to the palace of his uncle Pelley. And when he came in, Pellius sat by the hearth, crippled and blind with age, while opposite him sat Ison, Jason's father, crippled and blind likewise. And the two old men's heads shook together as they tried to warm themselves before the fire. And Jason fell down at his father's knees and wept and called him by his name. and the old man stretched his hands out and felt him and said,

Do not mock me, young hero. My son Jason is dead long ago at sea. I am your son, Jason, whom you trusted to the centaur upon Pelion, and I have brought home the golden fleece, and a princess of the son's race for my bride, So now give me up the kingdom, Pellius my uncle, and fulfill your promise as I have fulfilled mine. Then his father clung to him like a child and wept,

and would not let him go, and cried, Now I shall not go down and lonely to my grave. Promise me never to leave me till I die. End of Part 5 of the Argonauts. by Tisto, T-Y-S-T-O-com. Part 6 of The Argonauts from The Heroes. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain.

For more information or to volunteer, please visit Libravox.org. The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley. Part 6 of The Argonauts. What was the end of the heroes? And now I wish that I could end my story pleasantly, but it is no fault of mine that I cannot. The old songs end it sadly, and I believe that they are right and wise.

For though the heroes were purified at Malia, yet sacrifices cannot make bad hearts good, and Jason had taken a wicked wife, and he had to bear his burden to the last. And first she laid a cunning plot to punish that poor old Pellius, instead of letting him die in peace. For she told his daughters, I can make old things young again, I will show you how easy it is to do. So she took an old ram and killed him, and put him in a cauldron with magic herbs,

and whispered her spells over him, and he leapt out again a young lamb. so that Medea's cauldron is a proverb still, by which we mean times of war and change, when the world has become old and feeble and grows young again through bitter pains. Then she said to Pellius's daughters, Do to your father as I did to this ram, and he will grow young and strong again,

but she only told them half the spell. So they failed, while Medea mocked them, and poor old Pellius died, and his daughters came to misery. But the songs say she cured Ison, Jason's father, and he became young and strong again. But Jason could not love her after all her cruel deeds, so he was ungrateful to her,

and wronged her, and she revenged herself on him, and a terrible revenge she took, too terrible. to speak of here. But you will hear of it yourselves when you grow up, for it has been sung in noble poetry and music, and whether it be true or not, it stands forever as a warning to us not to seek for help from evil persons, or to gain good ends by evil means. For if we use an adder, even against our enemies, it will turn again and sting us. But of all the other heroes, there is many a brave tale left which I have no space to tell you, so you must read them for yourselves.

Of the hunting of the boar in Caledon, which Meliger killed, and of Heracles' twelve famous labors, and of the seven who fought at Thebes, and of the noble love of Caster and Pudduduces, the twin Diascuroi, how when one died the other would not live without him, so they shared their immortality between them, and Zeus changed them into the two twin stars,

never rise both at once. And what became of Kieran, the good immortal beast? That, too, is a sad story, for the heroes never saw him more. He was wounded by a poisoned arrow at Foloi among the hills, when Heracles opened the fatal wine jar which Kieran had warned him not to touch, and the centaurs smelt the wine and flocked to it, and fought for it with Heracles, but he killed them all with his poisoned arrow. and Kieran was left alone.

And Kieran took up one of the arrows and dropped it by chance upon his foot, and the poison ran like fire along his veins, and he lay down and longed to die, and cried, Through wine I perish, the bane of all my race, why should I live forever in this agony? Who will take my immortality that I may die?

Then Prometheus asked, answered, the good Titan, whom Heracles had set free from Caucasus, "'I will take your immortality and live forever, then I may help poor mortal men.' So Chiron gave him his immortality, and died, and had rest from pain. And Heracles and Prometheus wept over him and went to bury him on Pelion, but Zeus took him up among the stars to live forever, grand and mild, low down, in the far southern sky.

And in time the heroes died, all but Nestor, the silver-tonged old man, and left behind them valiant sons, but not so great as they had been. Yet their fame too lives till this day, for they fought at the ten years' siege of Troy, and their story is in the book which we call Homer, in two of the noblest songs on earth,

the Iliad, which tells us of the siege of Troy, and Achilles quarrel with the kings, and the Odyssey, which tells the wanderings of Odysseus, through many lands and for many years, and how Alcinus sent him home at last, safe to Ithaca, his beloved island, and to Penelope his faithful wife, and Telemachus, his son, and Euphobus, the noble swineherd, and the old dog who licked his hand and died. We will read that sweet story, children, by the fire some winter night, and now I will end my tale, and begin another, and a more cheerful one, of a hero who became a worthy king and won his people's love.

End of the Argonauts. Recording by Tisto, T-Y-S-T-O-com Part one of Theseus from The Heroes. This is a Libravox recording. All Libravox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visitlibrovox.org. The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley,

Part 1 of Theseus, How Thesius Lifted the Stone. Once upon a time, there was a princess in Troizini, Aethra, the daughter of Pithias the king. She had one fair son named Theseus, the bravest lad in all the land. And Aethra never smiled but when she looked at him, for her husband had forgotten her and lived far away. And she used to go up to the mountain above Troisini, to the temple of Poseidon and sit there all day looking out across the bay,

over Methana to the purple peaks of Vigena and the attic shore beyond. And when Theseus was full fifteen years old, she took him up with her to the temple and into the thickets of the grove which grew in the temple yard, and she led him to a tall plain tree beneath whose shade grew Arbitus and lentisk and purple heather bushes, and there she sighed and said, "'Thesius, my son, "'go into that thicket "'and you will find at the plain-tree foot

"'a great flat stone. "'Lift it and bring me what lies underneath. "'Then Theseus pushed his way in "'through the thick bushes "'and saw that they had not been moved "'for many a year. "'And searching among their roots "'he found a great flat stone,

"'all overgrown with ivy and acanthus. and moss. He tried to lift it, but he could not, and he tried till the sweat ran down his brow from heat, and the tears from his eyes for shame. But all was of no avail. And at last he came back to his mother and said, I have found the stone, but I cannot lift it, nor do I think that any man could in all Troisini. Then she sighed. and said, The gods wait long, but they are just at last.

Let it be for another year. The day may come when you will be a stronger man than lives in all Troisini. Then she took him by the hand and went into the temple and prayed, and came down again with Theseus to her home. And when a full year was passed, she led Theseus up again to the temple

and bade him lift the stone, but he could not. Then she sighed and said the same words again, and went down, and came again the next year. But Theseus could not lift the stone then, nor the year after. And he longed to ask his mother the meaning of that stone, and what might lie underneath it, but her face was so sad that he had not the heart to ask.

So he said to himself, The day shall surely come, when I will lift that stone, though no man in Trisini can. And in order to grow strong, he spent all his days in wrestling and boxing and hurling and taming horses and hunting the boar and the bull and coursing goats and deer among the rocks, till upon all the mountains there was no hunter so swift as Theseus, and he killed Faya, the wild sow of Cromion, which wasted all the land, all the people said, surely the gods are with the lad.

And when his eighteenth year was passed, Eithra led him up again to the temple, and said, Theseus, lift the stone this day, or never know who you are. And Theseus went into the thicket, and stood over the stone and tugged at it, and it moved. Then his spirit swelled within him, and he said, If I break my heart in my body, it shall up. And he tugged at it once more and lifted it, and rolled it over with a shout. And when he looked beneath it,

on the ground lay a sword of bronze, with a hilt of glittering gold, and by it a pair of golden sandals. And he caught them up, and burst through the bushes like a wild boar, and leapt to his mother, holding them high above his head. But when she saw them, she wept long in silence, hiding her fair face in her shawl.

And Theseus stood by her wondering, and wept also. He knew not why. And when she was tired of weeping, she lifted up her head and laid her finger on her lips and said, "'Hide them in your bosom, Thesius, my son.' and come with me where we can look down upon the sea. Then they went outside the sacred wall and looked down over the bright blue sea.

Naithra said, Do you see this land at our feet? And he said, Yes, this is Troizini, where I was born and bred. And she said, It is but a little land, barren and rocky, and looks toward the bleak northeast. Do you see that land beyond?

Yes, that is Attica, where the Athenian people dwell. That is a fair land and large, Theseus, my son, and it looks toward the sunny south, a land of olive oil and honey, the joys of gods and men, for the gods have girdled it up with mountains, whose veins are of pure silver, and their bones of marble white as snow,

and there the hills are sweet with thyme and basal and the meadows with violet and asphodal and the nightingales sing all day in the thickets by the side of the ever-flowing streams There are twelve towns well-peopled, the homes of an ancient race, the children of Kikrops, the serpent king, the son of Mother Earth, who wear gold sickolas among the tresses of their golden hair, for like the sickalas they sprang from the earth, and like the saccala they sing all day,

rejoicing in the genial sun. What would you do, son, Theseus, if you were king of such a land. Then Theseus stood astonished, as he looked across the broad, bright sea, and saw the fair attic shore, from sunium to hymettus and pentelicus, and all the mountain peaks which girdle Athens round. But Athens itself he could not see, for purple Eugenia stood before it, midway across the sea.

Then his heart grew great within him, and he said, If I were king of such a land, I would rule it wisely and well, in wisdom and in might, that when I died all men might weep over my tomb and cry, Alas for the shepherd of his people. And Aethra smiled and said, Take then the sword and the sandals, and go to Egeus, king of Athens. who lives on palace hill, and say to him,

the stone is lifted, but whose is the pledge beneath it? Then show him the sword and the sandals, and take what the gods shall send. But Theseus wept, shall I leave you, oh, my mother? But she answered, Weep not for me. That which is fated must be, and grief is easy to those who do not but grieve. of sorrow was my youth, and full of sorrow my womanhood. Full of sorrow was my youth for Belerophon, the slayer of the chimera, whom my father drove away by treason, and full of sorrow my womanhood for thy treacherous father and for thee, and

full of sorrow my old age will be, for I see my fate in dreams. When the sons of the swan shall carry me captive to the hollow veil of Eurotus, till I sail across the seas a slave, the handmaid of the pest of Greece. Yet shall I be avenged, when the golden-haired heroes sail against Troy, and sack the palaces of Iliam, then my son shall set me free from thraldom, and I shall hear the tale of Theseus's fame. Yet beyond that I see new sorrows, but I can bear them as I have borne the past. Then she kissed Theseus and wept over him and went into the temple, and Theseus saw her no more. End of Part 1 of Theseus.

Recording by Tisto, T-Y-S-T-O-O-com Part 2 of Theseus from The Heroes This is a Librevox recording. All Librevox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visitlibovox.org. The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales for My Children, by Charles Kingsley. Part 2 of Theseus How Theseus Slew The Dvourers of Men

So Theseus stood there alone, with his mind full of many hopes, and first he thought of going down to the harbor and hiring a swift ship, and sailing across the bay to Athens. But even that seemed too slow for him. and he longed for wings to fly across the sea and find his father. But after a while his heart began to fail him, and he sighed and said within himself, What if my father have other sons about him who he loves?

What if he will not receive me? And what have I done that he should receive me? He has forgotten me ever since I was born. Why should he welcome me now? Then he thought a long while, sadly, and at last he cried aloud, Yes, I will make him love me, for I will prove myself worthy of his love. I will win honor and renown, and do such deeds that Egeus shall be proud of me,

though he had fifty other sons. Did not Heracles win himself honor, though he was oppressed and the slave of Eurystheus? Did he not kill all robbers and evil beasts, and drain great lakes and much, marshes breaking the hills through with his club. Therefore it was that all men honored him, because he rid them of their miseries, and made life pleasant to them and their children after them. Where can I go to do as Heracles has done? Where can I find strange adventures, robbers and monsters, and the children of hell, the

enemies of men? I will go by land, and into the mountains, and round by the mountains, and round by the way of the isthmus. Perhaps there I may hear of brave adventures and do something which shall win my father's love. So he went by land and away into the mountains, with his father's sword upon his thigh, till he came to the spider mountains which hang over Epidorus and the sea, where the glens run downward from one peak in the midst as the rays spread in the spider's web. And he went up into the gloomy glens, between the furrowed marble walls, till the lowland grew blue beneath his feet, and the clouds drove damp about his head. But he went up and up forever, through the spider's

web of glens, till he could see the narrow gulfs spread below him, north and south and east and west, black cracks, half choked with mists, and above all a dreary down. But over that down he must go, for there was no road right or left, so he toiled on through bog and break till he came to a pile of stones. And on the stones a man was sitting, wrapped in a bearskin cloak. The head of the bear served him for a cap, and its teeth grinned white around his brows. And the feet were tied about his throat,

and their claws shone white upon his chest. And when he saw Theseus, he rose, and laughed till the glens rattled. And who art thou, fairfly, who hast walked into the spider's web? But Theseus walked on steadily, and made no answer. But he thought, is this some robber, and has an adventure come already to me? But the strange man laughed louder than ever and said, bold fly know you not that these glens are the web from which no fly ever finds his way out again and this down the spider's house and i the spider who sucks the flies come hither and let me feast upon you for it is of no use to run away so cunning a web has my father hephesto spread for me when he made these clefts in the mountains through which no man finds his way home. But Theseus came on steadily and asked,

And what is your name among men, bold spider? And where are your spider's fangs? Then the strange man laughed again. My name is Periphetes, the son of Hephaestus, and Anticlia the mountain nymph. But men call me Coronetes, the club-bearer. And here is my spider's fang. And he lifted from off the stones at his side, a mighty club of bronze. This my father gave me, and forged it himself in the roots of the mountain, and with it I pound all proud flies

till they give out their fatness and their sweetness. So give me up that gay sword of yours and your mantle and your golden sandals, lest I pound you, and by ill luck, you die. But Theseus wrapped his mantle round his left arm quickly, in hard folds, from his shoulder to his hand, and drew his sword, and rushed upon the club-bearer, and the club-bearer rushed upon him. Thrice he struck at Theseus, and made him bend under the blows like a sapling.

But Theseus guarded his head with his left arm, and the mantle which was wrapped around it. And thrice, Theseus sprang upright after the blow, like a sapling when the storm is past, and he stabbed at the club-bearer with his sword, but the loose folds of the bearskin saved him. Then Theseus grew mad and closed with him and caught him by the throat, and they fell and rolled over together. But when Theseus rose up from the ground, the club-bearer lay still at his feet.

Then Theseus took his club and his bearskin and left him to the kites and crows, and went upon his journey down the glens, on the farther slope, till he came to a broad green valley and saw flocks and herds sleeping beneath the trees. And by the side of a pleasant fountain, under the shade of rocks and trees

were nymphs and shepherds dancing, but no one piped to them while they danced. And when they saw Theseus, they shrieked, and the shepherds ran off and drove away their flocks, while the nymphs dived into the fountain like coots and vanished. Theseus wondered and laughed, What strange fancies have folks here Who run away from strangers

And have no music when they dance? But he was tired and dusty and thirsty, So he thought no more of them, But drank and bathed in the clear pool, And then lay down in the shade under a plain tree, While the water sang him to sleep, As it tinkled down from stone to stone. And when he woke,

he heard a whispering and saw the nymphs peeping at him from across the fountain from the dark mouth of a cave where they sat on green cushions of moss and one said surely he is not periphetes and another he looks like no robber but a fair and gentle youth then theseus smiled and called them fair nymphs i am not periphetes he sleeps among the kites and crows but I have brought away his bearskin and his club. Then they leapt across the pool and came to him and called the shepherds back, and he told them how he had slain the club-bearer, and the shepherds kissed his feet and sang. Now we shall feed our flocks in peace, and shall not be afraid to have music when we dance, for the cruel club-bearer has met his match,

and he will listen for our pipes no more. Then they brought him kids' kids' kids' kids' kids' men. flesh and wine, and the nymphs brought him honey from the rocks, and he ate and drank and slept again, while the nymphs and shepherds danced and sang. And when he woke, they begged him to stay, but he would not. I have a great work to do, he said. I must be away toward the isthmus that I may go to Athens. But the shepherds said, will you go alone toward Athens? None travel that way now except in armed troops. As for arms, I have enough, as you see, and as for troops, an honest man is good enough company

for himself. Why should I not go alone toward Athens? If you do, you must look warily about you on the isthmus, lest you meet Sinis, the robber, whom men call pituo-kemptes, the pine-bender, for he bends down two pine-trees and binds all travellers' hand and foot between them, and when he lets the trees go again, their bodies are torn in sunder. And after that, said another,

you must go inland, and not dare to pass over the cliffs of Ciron, for on the left hand are the mountains, and on the right the sea, so that you have no escape, but must needs meet Ciron the robber, who will make you wash his feet, and while you are washing them,

he will kick you over the cliff, to the tortoise who lives below and feeds on the bodies of the dead. And before Theseus could answer, another cried, And after that is a worse danger still, unless you go inland always and leave Elusis far on your right, For in Elusis rules Kirkouan, the cruel king, the terror of all mortals, who killed his own daughter, Alope in prison. But she was changed into a fair fountain. and her child he cast out upon the mountains,

but the wild mares gave it milk. And now he challenges all comers to wrestle him, for he is the best wrestler in all Attica, and overthrows all who come, and those whom he overthrows, he murders miserably, and his palace court is full of their bones. Then Theseus frowned and said,

This seems indeed an ill-ruled land, and adventures enough in it to be tried, but if I am the air of it, I will rule it and write it, and here is my royal sceptre, and he shook his club of bronze, while the nymphs and shepherds clung around him, and entreated him not to go. But on he went, nevertheless, till he could see both the seas and the citadel of Corinth, towering high above all the land, and he passed swiftly, along the isthmus, for his heart burned to meet the cruel sinneths, and in a pine wood he at last met him, where the isthmus was narrowest, and the road ran between high rocks. There he sat upon a stone by the wayside, with a young fir-tree for a club across his knees, and a cord

laid ready by his side, and over his head, upon the fur-tops, hung the bones of murdered men. Then Theseus shouted to him, "'Hollah, thou valiant pine-bender, "'hast thou two fir-trees left for me?' And Sinus leapt to his feet and answered, "'pointing to the bones above his head, "'My larder has grown empty lately, "'so I have two fir-trees ready for thee.'

And he rushed on Theseus, lifting his club, "'and Theseus rushed upon him. "'Then they hammered together till the greenwoods' rang, but the metal was tougher than the pine, and Sinus's club broke right across as the bronze came down upon it. Then Theseus heaved up another mighty stroke, and smote Sinus down upon his face, and knelt upon his back, and bound him with his own cord, and said, As thou hast done to others, so shall it be done to thee. Then he bent down two young fir-trees, and bound Sinus between them for all his struggling and his prayers,

and let them go, and ended Sinus, and went on, leaving him to the hawks and crows. Then he went over the hills toward Megara, keeping close along the Saronak Sea, till he came to the cliffs of Sirran and the narrow path between the mountain and the sea. And there he saw Sirran, sitting by a far north. fountain at the edge of the cliff. On his knees was a mighty club, and he had barred the path with stones, so that everyone must stop who came up. Then Theseus shouted to him and said, Holah, thou tortoise feeder, do thy feet need washing today? And Siron leapt to his feet and answered, My tortoise is empty and hungry, and my feet need washing today.

and he stood before his barrier and lifted up his club in both hands. Then Theseus rushed upon him, and sore was the battle upon the cliff, for when Ceron felt the weight of the bronze club, he dropped his own and closed with Theseus, and tried to hurl him by main force over the cliff. But Theseus was a wary wrestler, and dropped his own club, and caught him by the throat and by the knee, and forced him back again. the wall of stones and crushed him up against them till his breath was almost gone, and Ciron cried panting,

Loose me, and I will let thee pass. But Theseus answered, I must not pass till I have made the rough way smooth, and he forced him back against the wall till it fell, and Ceron rolled head over heels. Then Theseus lifted him up, all bruised, and said, Come hither and wash my feet. And he drew his sword and sat down by the well and said, Wash my feet, or I cut you piecemeal.

And Ceron washed his feet, trembling. And when it was done, Theseus rose and cried, As thou hast done to others, so shall it be done to thee. Go feed thy tweed thy, tortoise thyself, and he kicked him over the cliff into the sea. And whether the tortoise ate him, I know not, for some say that earth and sea both disdained to take his body so foul it was with sin. So the sea cast it out upon the shore, and the shore cast it back into the sea, and at last the waves hurled it high into the air in anger, and it hung there long with

a grave till it was changed into a desolate rock which stands there in the surge until this day. This at least is true, which Posenius tells, that in the royal porch at Athens he saw the figure of Thesis modelled in clay, and by him Ciron the robber falling headlong into the sea. Then he went on a long day's journey past Megara into the Attaire, into the Atta. land, and high before him rose the snow-peaks of Scytheron, all cold above the black pine-woods, where haunt the furies and the raving bachy, and the nymphs who drive men wild, far aloft upon the dreary mountains, where the storms howl all day long, and on his right hand was the sea always, and Salamis with its inland cliffs, and the sacred strait of the sea-fight,

where afterwards the Persians fled before the Greeks. So he went all day until the evening, till he saw the Threacian plain, and the sacred city of Elusis, where the Earthmother's temple stands. For there she met Triptolemus, when all the land lay waste, Dimitar, the kind Earthmother,

and in her hands a sheaf of corn. And she taught him to plow the fallows, and to yoke the lazy kind, and she taught him to sow the seed-fields, and to reap the golden grain, and sent him forth to teach all nations and give corn to laboring men. So at Alusus, all men honor her, whosoever tills the land, her and Triptolemus, her beloved, who gave corn to laboring men. And he went along the plain into Elusis, and stood in the marketplace, and cried,

Where is Kirkguan, the king of the city? I must wrestle a fall with him today. Then all the people crowded round him and cried, Fair youth, why will you die? Hasten out of the city before the cruel king hears that a stranger is here. But Theseus went up through the town, while the people wept and prayed, and through the gates of the palace yard,

and through the piles of bones and skulls, till he came to the door of Kirkuan's hall, the terror of all mortal men. And there he saw, saw Kirkuan sitting at the table in the hall alone, and before him was a whole sheep roasted, and beside him a whole jar of wine. And Theseus stood and called him, "'Hollah, thou valiant wrestler, will thou wrestle a fall to-day?' And Kirkouan looked up and laughed and answered,

"'I will wrestle a fall to-day, but come in, for I am lonely, and thou will we will. and eat and drink before thou die. Then Theseus went up boldly and sat down before Kirchawan at the board, and he ate his fill of the sheep's flesh, and drank his fill of the wine, and Theseus ate enough for three men, but Kirkuan ate enough for seven. But neither spoke a word to the other, though they looked across the table by stealth, and each said in his heart, He has broad shoulders,

but I trust mine are as broad as his. At last, when the sheep was eaten and the jar of wine drained dry, King Kirkowan rose and cried, Let us wrestle the fall before we sleep. So they tossed off all their garments and went forth in the palace yard, and Kirkwan bade strew

fresh sand in an open space between the bones. And there the heroes stood face to face, while their eyes glared like wild bulls, and all the people crowded at the gates to see what would befall. And there they stood and wrestled till the stars shone out above their heads, up and down and round,

till the sand was stamped hard beneath their feet, and their eyes flashed like stars in the darkness, and their breath went up like smoke in the night air, but neither took nor gave a footstep, and the people watched silent at the gates. But at last Kirkouan grew angry and caught Theseus round the neck, and shook him as a mastiff shakes a rat, but he could not shake him off his feet.

But Theseus was quick and wary and clasped Kirkouan round the waist, and slipped his loin quickly underneath him, while he caught him by the wrist. And then he hove a mighty heave, a heave which would have stirred an oak, and lifted Kirkowan, and pitched him right over his shoulder on the ground. Then he leapt on him and called,

Yield or I kill thee! But Kirkawan said no word, for his heart was burst within him with the fall and the meat and the wine. Then Theseus opened the gates, and called in all the people, and they cried, You have slain our evil king, Be you now our king, and rule us well.

I will be your king in Illusus, and I will rule you right and well, for this cause I have slain all evildoers, Sinis and Ciron, and this man last of all. Then an aged man stepped forth and said, Young hero, hast thou slain sinis? "'Beware then of Eagius, king of Athens, "'to whom thou goest, for he is near of kin to sinnest.'

"'Then I have slain my own kinsman,' said Theseus. "'The well he deserved to die, who will purge me from his death? "'For rightfully I slew him, unrighteous and accursed as he was.' And the old man answered, "'That will the heroes do, the sons of Fitalus, who dwell beneath the elm tree in affidnigh by the bank of the silver sephysus for they know the mysteries of the gods thither you shall go and be purified and after you shall be our king so he took an oath of the people of elusus that they would serve him as their king and went away next morning across the threassian plain and over the hills toward affidnai that he might find the sons of phitalus and as he was skirting the veil of sephysus along the foot of lofty parnese,

a very tall and strong man came down to meet him, dressed in rich garments. On his arms were golden bracelets and round his neck a collar of jewels, and he came forward, bowing courteously, and held out both his hands, and spoke. Welcome, fair youth, to these mountains. "'Happy am I to have met you, "'for what greater pleasure to a good man "'than to entertain strangers? "'But I see that you are weary.

"'Come up to my castle and rest yourself a while. "'I give you thanks,' sent Theseus, "'but I am in haste to go up to the valley "'and to reach affidnay in the veil of Siphisus. "'Alas, you have wandered far from the right way, "'and you cannot reach affidni to-night, "'for there are many miles of mountains, between you and it, and steep passes, and cliffs dangerous after nightfall.

It is well for you that I met you, for my whole joy is to find strangers and to feast them at my castle, and hear tales from them of foreign lands. Come up with me, and eat the best of venison, and drink the rich red wine, and sleep upon my famous bed, of which all travellers say that they never saw the like, for whatsoever the stature of my guest, however tall or short, that bed fits him to a hair, and he sleeps on it as he never slept before. And he laid hold on Theseus's hands, and would not let him go. Theseus wished to go forwards, but he was ashamed to seem churlish to so hospitable man, and he was curious to see that wondrous bed, and besides he was hungry and weary,

yet he shrank from the man. He knew not why. He was curious to see that wondrous bed, and besides, he was hungry, and weary. He knew not why, for though his voice was gentle and fawning, it was dry and husky like a toads, and though his eyes were gentle, they were dull and cold like stones. But he consented, and went with the man up a glen which led from the road towards the peaks of parneys under the dark shadow of the cliffs. And as they went up, the glen grew narrower and the cliffs higher and darker, and beneath them a torrent roared, half-seen between the bare limestone crags,

and around there was neither tree nor bush, while from the white peaks of parneys, the snow-blasts swept down the glen, cutting and chilling till a horror fell on Theseus as he looked round at that doleful place, and he asked at last, your castle stands, it seems, in a dreary region. "'Yes, but once within it, hospitality makes all things cheerful.

"'But who are these?' "'And he looked back, and Theseus also, and far below along the road which they had left, "'came a string of laden asses, and merchants walking by them, watching their wear. "'Ah, poor soul!' said the stranger. "'Well for them that I looked back and saw them, and well for me too, for I shall have the more guests at my feast. Wait a while till I go down and call them, and we will eat and drink together the live long night.

Happy am I to whom heaven sends so many guests at once? And he ran back down the hill, waving his hand and shouting to the merchants, while Theseus went slowly up the steep pass. But as he went up he met an aged man who had been gathering driftwood in the torrent bed, He had laid down his faggot on the road and was trying to lift it again to his shoulder, and when he saw Theseus, he called to him and said,

Oh, fair youth, help me up with my burden, for my limbs are stiff and weak with years. Then Theseus lifted the burden on his back, and the old man blessed him, and then looked earnestly upon him, and said, Who are you, fair youth? and wherefore travel you this doleful road? Who I am my parents know, but I travel this doleful road because I have been invited by a hospitable man

who promises to feast me and to make me sleep upon I know not what wondrous bed. Then the old man clapped his hands together and cried, Oh, house of Hades, man devouring, Will thy maw never be full? "'No, fair youth, that you are going to torment and to death, "'for he who met you, I will requite your kindness by another, "'is a robber and a murderer of men.

"'Whatever stranger he meets, he entices him hither to death, "'and as for this bed of which he speaks, "'truly it fits all comers, "'yet none ever rose alive off it, save me. Why? asked Theseus, astonished. Because if a man be too tall for it, he lops his limbs till they be short enough,

and if he be too short, he stretches his limbs till they be long enough. But me only he spared. Seven weary years are gone, for I alone of all fit his, his bed exactly, so he spared me, and made me his slave. And once I was a wealthy merchant, and dwelt in brazen-gated Thebes, but now I hew wood and draw water for him, the torment of all mortal men. Then Theseus said nothing, but he ground his teeth together.

"'Escape, then,' said the old man, "'for he will have no pity on thy youth, "'but yesterday he brought up hither a young man and a maiden "'and fitted them upon his bed, "'and the young man's hands and feet he cut off. "'But the maiden's limbs he stretched until she died, "'and so both perished miserably. "'But I am tired of,

weeping over the slain, and therefore he is called Procrustes the strutcher, though his father called him Damasis. flee from him, yet whither will you flee? The cliffs are steep, and who can climb them, and there is no other road. But Theseus laid his hand upon the old man's mouth and said, There is no need to flee, and he turned to go down the pass. Do not tell him, him that I have warned you, or he will kill me by some evil death, and the old man screamed after him down the glen. But Theseus strode on in his wrath, and he said to himself, This is an ill-ruled land. When shall I have done ridding it of monsters? And as he spoke, Procrustes came up the hill, and all the merchants with him smiling and talking gaily, and when he saw Theseus,

he cried, "'Ah, fair young guest, "'have I kept you too long waiting?' But Theseus answered, "'The man who stretches his guests upon a bed, "'and hues off their hands and feet, "'what shall be done to him, "'when right is done throughout the land.'

"'Then Procrustee's countenance changed, "'and his cheeks grew as green as a lizard, "'and he felt for his sword in haste, "'but Theseus leapt upon him and cried, "'Is this true, my host, or is it false?' And he clasped Procrustes round waist and elbow, so that he could not draw his sword. "'Is this true, my host, or is it false?'

But Prochustes never answered a word. Then Theseus flung him from him, and lifted up his dreadful club, and before Procustes could strike him, he had struck, and felled him to the ground, and once again he struck him, and his evil soul fled forth, and went down to Hades, squeaking, like a bat into the darkness of a cave. Then Theseus stripped him of his gold ornaments, and went up to his house, and found there

great wealth and treasure, which he had stolen from passers-by, and he called the people of the country, whom Procrustes had spoiled a long time, and parted the spoil among them. them, and went down the mountains and away. And he went down the glens of Parnies, through mist and cloud and rain, down the slopes of oak and lentis, and arbutus and fragrant bay, till he came to the vale of Sephissus, and the pleasant town of Afidnai, and the home of the fatalid heroes, where they dwelt beneath a mighty elm. And there they built an altar, and bade him bathe in Sephissus, and offer a yearling ram, and purified him from the blood of Sinus, and sent him away in peace.

And he went down the valley by Akarnai, and by the silver-swerling stream, while all the people blessed him for the fame of his prowess had spread wide, till he saw the plain of Athens, and the hill where Athene dwells. So Theseus went up through Athens, and all the people ran out to see him, for his fame had gone before him, and everyone knew of his mighty deeds, and all cried, Here comes the hero who slew Sinus, and Thaya the wild sow of Cromion, and conquered Kirkcuan and wrestling, and slew Procrustis, the pitiless. But Theseus went on sadly and steadfastly, for his heart yearned after his father, and he said,

How shall I deliver him from these leeches who suck his blood? So he went up the holy stairs and into the Acropolis, where Egeus's palace stood, and he went straight into Egeus's hall, and stood upon the threshold, and looked round, and there he saw his cousins sitting around the table at the wine, many a son of palace, but no Egeus among them. There they sat and feasted and laughed and passed the wine-cup round, while harpers harped and slave-girls sang, and the tumblers showed their tricks. Loud laughed the sons of Pallas, and fast went the wine-cup round, but Theseus frowned and said under his breath, No wonder that the land is full of robbers, while such as these bare rule.

Then the palented saw him and called to him, half-drunked with wine, "'Hola, tall stranger at the door. "'What is your will today? "'I come hither to ask for hospitality.' "'Then take it and welcome. "'You look like a hero and a bold warrior, "'and we like such to drink with us. "'I ask no hospitality of you.

"'I ask it of Eagius the king, "'the master of this house.' "'At that some growled and some laughed and some shouted, "'Hey day, we are all master. "'Then I am master as much as the rest of you,' said Theseus, and he strode past the table, up the hall, and looked around for Eagius, but he was nowhere to be seen. The palanids looked at him, and then at each other, and each whispered to the man next to him. This is a forward fellow. He ought to be thrust out at the door.

But each man's neighbor whispered in return, "'His shoulders are broad. Will you rise and put him out?' So they all sat still where they were. Then Theseus called to the servants and said, Go tell King Egeus your master that Theseus of Tricene is here, and asks to be his guest for a while. A servant ran and told Egeus, where he sat in his chamber within, by Medea the dark witch-woman, watching her eye and hand.

And when Egeus heard of Troisini, he turned pale and red again, and rose from his seat, tremble. while Medea watched him like a snake. What is Troizini to you, she asked. But he said hastily, do you not know who this Theseus is? The hero who has cleared the country from all monsters, but had he came from Troizini I never heard before,

I must go out and welcome him. Suegius came out into the hall, and when Theseus saw him his heart leaped into his mouth, and he longed to fall on his neck and well, welcome him, but he controlled himself and said, My father may not wish for me after all. I will try him before I discover myself. And he bowed low before Egeus and said,

I have delivered the king's realm from many monsters. Therefore I am come to ask a reward of the king. And old Egeus looked on him and loved him as what fond heart would not have done, but he only sighed and said, It is little that I can give you, noble lad. and nothing that is worthy of you, for surely you are no mortal man, or at least no mortal's son. All I ask, said Theseus, is to eat and drink at your table.

That I can give you, said Egeus, if at least I am master in my own hall. Then he bade them put a seat for Theseus, and set before him the best of the feast, and Theseus sat and ate so much that all the company wondered at him. But always he kept his club by his side. but Medea the dark witch woman had been watching him all the while. She saw how Egeus turned red and pale when the lad said he came from Trezini. She saw too how his heart was opened toward Theseus, and how Theseus bore himself before all the sons of palace,

like a lion among a pack of curs. And she said to herself, This youth will be master here. Perhaps he is nearer to Egeus already than, mere fancy. At least the palanids will have no chance by the side of such as he. Then she went back into her chamber modestly, while Theseus ate and drank, and all the servants whispered, "'This, then, is the man who killed the monsters. How noble are his looks, and how huge his size! Ah, would that he were our master's son!' But presently, Medea came forth,

decked in all her jewels and her rich east, stern robes and looking more beautiful than the day, so that all the guests could look at nothing else. And in her right hand she held a golden cup, and in her left a flask of gold, and she came up to Theseus, and spoke in a sweet, soft, winning voice. Hail to the hero, the conqueror, the unconquered, the destroyer of all evil things. Drink, hero, of my charm. cup, which gives rest after every toil, which heals all wounds, and pours new life into the veins. Drink of my cup, for in it sparkles the wine of the east, and Nepenthe the comfort of the immortals. And as she spoke she poured the flask into the cup, and the fragrance of the wine spread

through the hall like the scent of thyme and roses, and Theseus looked up in her fair face and into her deep, dark eyes. And as he looked, he shrank and shuddered, for they were dry like the eyes of a snake. And he rose and said, The wine is rich and fragrant, and the wine bearer as fair as the immortals, but let her pledge me first herself in the cup, that the wine may be the sweeter from her lips. Then Medea turned pale and stammered. Forgive me, fair hero, but I am ill, and dare drink no wine. And Theseus looked again into her eyes and cried,

Thou shalt pledge me in that cup, or die. And he lifted up his brazen club, while all the guests looked on aghast. Medea shrieked a fearful shriek and dashed the cup to the ground and fled, and where the wine flowed over the marble pavement, the stone bubbled and crumbled and hissed under the fierce venom of the draft. But Medea called her dragon chariot and sprang into it and fled aloft, away over the land and sea, and no man saw her more. And Eagius cried,

What hast thou done? But Theseus pointed to the stone. I have rid the land of an enchantment. Now I will rid it of one more. And he came close to Egeus, and drew from his bosom the sword and the sandals, and said the words which his mother bade him. And Egeus stepped back apace,

and looked at the lad till his eyes grew dim, and then he cast himself on his neck and wept. And Theseus wept upon his neck till they had no strength left to weep more. Then Egeus turned to all the people and cried, Behold my son, children of Seacrops, a better man than his father was before him. Who then were mad but the palanids, though they had been mad enough before?

And one shouted, Shall we make room for an upstart? Pretender who comes from we know not where? And another, if he be one, we are more than one, and the stronger can hold his own. And one shouted one thing, and one another, for they were hot and wild with wine, but all caught swords and lances off the wall where the weapons hung round, and sprang forward to Theseus, and Theseus sprang forward to them. And he cried, go in peace, if you will, my cousins. But if not your blood will be on your own heads.

But they rushed at him, and then stopped short and railed him, as curse stop and bark when they rouse a lion from his lair. But one hurled a lance from the rear rank, which passed close by Theseus's head, and at that Thesius rushed forward, and the fight began indeed. Twenty against one they fought, and yet Thesius beat them. them all, and those who were left fled down into the town, where the people set on them and drove them out till Theseus was left alone in the palace, with Egeus his newfound father.

But before nightfall, all the town came up, with victims and dances and songs, and they offered sacrifices to Athene, and rejoiced all the night long because their king had found a noble son, and an heir to his royal house. So Theseus stayed with his father all the winter, and when the spring equinox drew near, all the Athenians grew sad and silent, and Theseus saw it and asked the reason, but no one would answer him a word. Then he went to his father and asked him, but Egeus turned away his face and wept. Do not ask, my son, beforehand, about evils which must happen.

It is enough to have to face them when they can. come. When the spring equinox came, a herald came to Athens and stood in the market and cried, O people and king of Athens, where is your yearly tribute? Then a great lamentation arose throughout the city, but Theseus stood up to the herald and cried, and who are you, dog-faced, who dare demand tribute here, if I did not reverence your herald's staff, I would brain you with this club. And the herald answered proudly, for he was a grave and ancient man. Fair youth, I am not dog-faced or shameless, but I do my master's bidding. Minos, the king of hundred-cityed Crete, the wisest of all kings on earth.

And you must surely be a stranger here, or you would know why I come, and that I come by right. I am a stranger here. Tell me then why you come. To fetch the tribute which King Egeus promised to Minos, and confirmed his promise with an oath, for Minos conquered all this land in Megara, which lies to the east,

when he came hither with a great fleet of ships, enraged about the murder of his son, for his son Androgios came hither to the Panatheniac games, and overcame all the Greeks in the sports, so that the people honored him as a hero. But when Egeus saw his valor, he envied him, and feared lest he should join the sons of Pallas and take away the scepter from him.

So he plotted against his life and slew him basely. No man knows how or where. Some say that he waylaid him at Oinoy on the road which goes to Thebes, and some say that he sent him against the bull of Marathon, that the beast might kill him. But Eagius says that the young men killed him from envy because he had conquered them in the games. So Minos came hither and avenged him,

and would not depart till this land had promised him tribute. Seven youths and seven maidens every year, who go with me in a black-sailed ship, till they come to hundred-city Crete. And Theseus ground his teeth together and said, "'Wert thou not a herald, I would kill. kill thee for saying such things of my father, but I will go to him and know the truth. So he went to his father and asked him, but he turned away his head and wept and said,

Blood was shed in the land unjustly, and by blood it is avenged. Break not my heart by questions. It is enough to endure in silence. Then Theseus groaned inwardly and said, said, I will go myself with these youths and maidens and kill Minos upon his royal throne. And Aegis shrieked and cried, You shall not go, my son, the light of my old age, To whom alone I look to rule this people after I am dead and gone, You shall not go to die horribly as those youths and maidens die, for Minos thrusts them into a labyrinth,

which Dedalus made for him among the rocks. Dedalus, the renegade, the accursed, the pest of this his native land. From that labyrinth no one can escape, entangled in its winding ways, before they meet the Minotar, the monster who feeds upon the flesh of men. There he devours them horribly,

and they never see this land again. Then Theseus grew red, and his ears tingled, and his heart beat loud in his bosom, And he stood a while like a stone pillar on the cliffs above some hero's grave, And at last he spoke. Therefore, all the more I will go with them, and slay the accursed beast. Have I not slain all evildoers and monsters that I might free this land? Where are paraffetes and Sinus and Kirkuon and Faya the wild sow? Where are the fifty sons of palace?

And this Minotar shall go the road which they have gone, And Minos himself, if he dare stay me. But how will you slay him, my son? For you must leave your club and armor behind, and be cast to the monster defenseless and naked like the rest. And Theseus said, "'Are there no stones in that labyrinth? "'And have I not fists and teeth?

"'Did I need my club to kill Kirkuan the terror of all mortal men?' "'Then Egeus clung to his knees, but he would not hear, "'and at last he let him go, weeping bitterly, "'and said only this one word. "'Promise me this. "'If you return in peace, though that may hardly be, "'take down the black sail.' of the ship, for I shall watch for it all day upon the cliffs, and hoist instead a white sail,

that I may know afar off that you are safe. And Theseus promised and went out, and to the marketplace where the herald stood while they drew lots for the youths and maidens who were to sail in that doleful crew. And the people stood wailing and weeping as the lot fell on this one and on that, but Theseus strode into the sea to sail in that. But Theseus strode into the midst and cried, Here is a youth who needs no lot. I myself will be one of the seven. And the herald asked and wonder,

Fair youth, know you whither you are going? And Theseus said, I know, let us go down to the black-sailed ship. So they went down to the black-sailed ship, seven maidens and seven youths, and Theseus before them all, and the people following them, lamenting. But Theseus whispered to his companion. have hope, for the monster is not immortal.

Where are Periphetes and Sinis and Ceron, and all whom I have slain? Then their hearts were comforted a little, but they wept as they went on board, and the cliffs of Sunium rang, and all the isles of the Aegean Sea with the voice of their lamentation, as they sailed on toward their deaths in Crete. End of Part 2 of Theseus. Recording by Tisto, T-Y-S-T-O-com Part 3 of Theseus From The Heroes

This is a Librevox recording All Libre-Vox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit Librevox.org Recording by Lizzie Driver The Heroes or Greek Fairy Tales for my children by Charles Kingsley Part three of Theseus

Halthesius slew the Minotaur And at last they came to Crete And to Sinossus, beneath the peaks of Ida And the palace of Minos, the great king, To whom Zeus himself taught laws. So he was the wisest of all mortal kings, And conquered all the Aegean Isles, And his ships were as many as the seagulls,

And his palace like a marble hill. hill. And he sat among the pillars of the hall, upon his throne of beaten gold, and around him stood the speaking statues, which Diadilos had made by his skill, for Diadolos was the most cunning of all Athenians, and he first invented the plum-line, and the augur and glue, and many at all with which wood is wrought. And he first set up masts in ships and yards, and his son made sales for them. But Perdix, his nephew, excelled him, for he first invented the saw in its teeth, copying it from the backbone of a fish, and invented to the chisel and the compass, and the potter's wheel which moulds the clay.

Therefore Diadolos envied him, and hurled him headlong from the temple of Athena. But the goddess pitied him, for she loves the wise, and changed him into a partridge, which flits forever about the hills. and diodolus fled to crete to minos and worked for him many a year till he did a shameful deed at which the sun hid his face on high then he fled from the anger of minos he and icarus his son having made themselves wings of feathers and fixed the feathers with wax so they flew over the sea towards sicily but icarus flew too near the sun and the wax of his wings was melted and he fell into the acharian sea But Diadilos came safe to Sicily, and there wrought many a wondrous work. For he made for King Colos a reservoir, from which a great river watered all the land, and a castle, and a treasury on a mountain, which the giants themselves could not have stormed,

and in Salinas he took the steam which comes up from the fires of Etna, and made of it a warm bath of vapour, to cure the pains of mortal men, and he made a honeycomb of gold in which the bees came and stored their honey. And in Egypt he made the forecourt of the temple of Ephesus in Memphis, and a statue of himself within it, and many another wondrous work. And for miners he made statues which spoke and moved, and the temple of Britomatus, and the dancing hall of Areddoni, which he carved off fair white stone,

and in Sardinia he worked for Iolius, and in many a land beside, wandering up and down forever with his cunning, unlovely and accursed by men. But Theseus stood before Minus, and they looked each other in the face, and Minos bade take them to prison, and cast them to the monster one by one, that the death of Androdius might be avenged. Then Theseus cried, Abuno, Minus, let me be thrown first to the beast, for I came hither for that very purpose, of my own will and not by lot.

Who art thou, then, brave youth? I am the son of him, whom all of men thou hateest most, Adius the king of Athens, and I am come here to end this matter. And Minos pondered a while, looking steadfastly at him, and he thought, The lad means to atone by his own death for his father's sin.

And he answered at last mildly, "'Go back in peace, my son. "'It is a pity that one so brave should die.' "'But Theseus said, "'I have sworn that I will not go back till I have seen the monster face to face.' "'And that Minos frowned and said, "'Then thou shalt see him, take the madman away.' "'And they led Theseus away into the prison,

"'with the other youths and maids.' "'But Ariadony, Minos, his daughter, saw him as she came out of a white stone hall, and she loved him for his courage and his majesty and said, shame that such a youth should die. And by night she went down to the prison, and told him all her heart, and said, flee down to your ship at once, for I have bribed the guards before the door. Flea you and all your friends, and go back in peace to Greece. And take me, take me with you, for i dare not stay after you are gone for my father will kill me miserably if he knows what i have done and theseus stood silent awhile for he was astonished and confounded by her beauty but at last he said i cannot go home in peace till i have seen and slain this minotaur and avenge the deaths of the youths and maidens and put an end to the terrors of my land and will you kill the minotaur how then i know not nor do not

I care, but he must be strong if he be too strong for me. Then she loved him all the more and said, But when you have killed him, how will you find your way out to the labyrinth? I know not, neither do I care, but it must be a strange road if I do not find it out before I have eaten up the monster's carcass. Then she loved him all the more and said, Fair youth, you are too bold, but I can help you, weak as I am. I will give you a sword, and with that perhaps you may slay the beast,

and a clue of thread, and by that, perhaps, you may find your way out again. Only promise me that if you escape safe, you will take me home with you to Greece, for my father will surely kill me if he knows what I have done. Then Theseus laughed and said, Am I not safe enough now? And he hid the sword in his bosom, and rolled up the clue in his hand. and then he swore to Eridine, and fell down before her, and kissed her hands and feet, and she wept over him a long while, and then went away, and Theseus lay down and slept sweetly,

and when the evening came, the guards came in, and led him away to the labyrinth. And he went down into that doleful gulf, through winding paths among the rocks, under caverns and arches and galleries, and over heaps of fallen stone. and he turned on the left hand and on the right hand and went up and down till his head was dizzy but all the while he held his clue for when he went in he had fastened it to a stone and left it to unravel out of his hand as he went on and it lasted him till he met the minotaur in a narrow chasm between black cliffs and when he saw him he stopped awhile for he had never seen so strange a beast his body was a man's but his head was a man's but his head was a man's but his head was a man's but his head was a man's but his head head was the head of a bull, and his teeth were the teeth of a lion, and with them he tore his prey. And when he saw Theseus, he roared and put his head down, and rushed right at him. But Theseus stepped aside nimbly, and as he passed by, cut him in the knee, and ere he could

turn in the narrow path he followed him, and stabbed him again and again from behind, till the monster fled bellowing wildly, for he never before. forehead fell to wound. And Theseus followed him at full speed, holding the clue of thread in his left hand. Then on, through cavern after cavern, under dark ribs of sounding stone, and up rough glens and torrent beds, among the sunless roots of Ida, and to the edge of the eternal snow, went they, the hunter and the hunted, while the hills bellowed to the monsters bellowed. And at last Theseus came up with him, where he said, he lay panting on a slab among the snow, and caught him by the horns, and forced his head back,

and drove the keen sword through his throat. Then he turned, and went limping back and weary, feeling his way down by the clue of the thread, till he came to the mouth of that doleful place, and saw waiting for him, whom but Eradony. And he whispered, it is done, and show to the sword, and she laid her finger on her lips and led him to the prison, and opened the doors and set all the prisoners free, while the guards lay sleeping heavily, for she had silenced them with wine. Then they fled to their ship together and leapt on board and hoisted up the sail, and the night lay dark around them, so that they passed through Minos's ships, and escaped all saved to Nausus, and their Aradine became Theseus's wife. End of Part 3 of Theseus Part 4 of Theseus From The Heroes This is the Librevox recording

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How Theseus fell by his pride. But that fairer Edeny never came to Athens with her husband. Some say that Theseus left her sleeping on Nexus, among the cyclades, and that Dionysus, the wine king, found her, and took her up into the sky, as you shall see some day in a painting of old titans, one of the most glorious pictures upon earth. And some say that Dionysus drove Theseus on, away, and took a redony from him by force. But, however that may be, in his haste or in his grief,

Theseus forgot to put up the white sail. Now, Adias his father sat, and watched on sunnium day after day, and strained his old eyes across the sea to see the ship afar. And when he saw the black sail and not the white one, he gave up Theseus for dead. And in his grief he fell into the see and died. So it is called the Aegean to this day, and now Theseus was king of Athens, and he guarded it and ruled it well. For he killed the bull of Marathon, which had killed Androgeus, Minus's son, and he drove back the famous Amazons, the warlike women of the East, when they came from Asia and conquered all Helias, and broke into Athens itself. But Theseus stopped them there and conquered them, and took Apolliter their queen to be his wife.

Then he went out to fight against the Lepithia, and Perithous, their famous king. But when the two heroes came face to face, they loved each other, and embraced and became noble friends, so that the French Botheasius and Perithous is a proverb even now. And he gathered, so the Athenians say, all the boroughs of the land together, and knit them to one strong people, while before they were all parted and weak. And many another wise thing he did, so that his people honoured him after he was dead, for many a hundred years, as the father of their freedom and their laws. And six hundred years after his death, in the famous fight at Marathon,

men said that they saw the ghost of Theseus, with his mighty brazen club, fighting in the van of battle against the invading Persians for the country which he loved. and twenty years after maratham his bones they say were found in scurus an isle beyond the sea and they were bigger than the bones of mortal men so the athenians brought them home in triumph and all the people came out to welcome them and they built over them a noble temple and adorned it with sculptures and paintings in which we are told all the noble deeds of theseus and the centaurs and the lepathy and the amazons and the ruins of it are still standing. But why did they find his bones in Scurus? Why did he not die in peace at Athens and sleep by his father's side? Because, after his triumph, he grew proud,

and broke the laws of God and man. And one thing worst of all he did, which brought him to his grave with sorrow, for he went down, they say beneath the earth, with that bold friend Perethus, his friend, to help him to carry off Persephone, the queen of the world below. But Perithous was killed miserably, in the dark fire kingdoms underground, and Theseus was chained to a rock in everlasting pain.

And there he sat for years, till Hercules the mighty came down to bring up the three-headed dog who sits at Pluto's gate. Sir Hercules loosed him from his chain, and brought him up to the light once more. But when he came back his people had forgotten, forgotten him, and Castor and Polydeusis, the sons of the wondrous swan, had invaded his land, and carried off his mother Athera for a slave, in revenge for a grievous wrong.

So the fair land of Athens was wasted, and another king ruled it, who drove out Theseus shamefully, and he fled across the sea to Scurus. And there he lived in sadness, in the house of Lachimides, the king, till Lachimides killed him by treachery, and he fled. there was an end of all his labours. So it is still my children, and so it will be to the end. In those old Greeks, and in us all, all strength and virtue come from God. But if men grow proud and self-willed and misuse God's fair gifts, he lets them go their own ways, and fall pitifully, that the glory may be his alone. God help us all and give us wisdom, and courage to do noble deeds, but God keep

cried from us when we have done them lest we fall and come to shame end of part four of theseus and of the heroes or greek fairy tales from my children by charles kingsley