The Fabulae
Hyginus
1st century CE
trans. Jason Colavito (2011)
Gaius Julius Hyginus lived in Roman Spain in the first century CE. His Fabulae (Fables) has long been recognized as being poor in quality and writing style; however, this work is important for preserving variant myths recorded nowhere else. There is no public domain English translation of Hyginus' Fabulae. My own English translation of the relevant passages are below. An English translation of the entire Fabulae by Mary Grant, from 1960, is reproduced (with many errors, unfortunately) on the Theoi Project website, here.
III. PHRIXUS
When Phrixus and Helle were wandering through a forest while possessed by madness sent by Liber, their mother Nebula is said to have come there with a Golden Ram, whose parents were Neptune and Theophanes, and to have ordered them to mount the ram and travel to Colchis and King Aeetes, son of Sol, and there sacrifice the ram to Mars. They were said to have done this, but when they had mounted and the ram had carried them over the open sea, Helle fell off the ram, and from this the sea is named Hellespont. But Phrixus was conveyed to Colchis; where, as his mother had ordered, he sacrificed the ram and set up in the temple of Mars its fleece, which it is said Jason, son of Aeson and Alcimede, came to take. But Aeetes freely took in Phrixus and gave his daughter Chalciope as a wife; and afterward she bore children unto him. But Aeetes feared they would expel him from his kingdom because he had received warnings from portents to beware of death from a foreigner, a son of Aeolus; and so he killed Phrixus. But his [Phrixus’] sons Argus, Phrontis, Melas,and Cylindrus embarked on a ship to go to their grandfather Athamas. While on his quest for the Fleece, Jason rescued the shipwrecked men from the island of Dia and carried them back to their mother Chalciope, by whose favor he was recommended to her sister Medea.
XII. PELIAS
It was told to Pelias, son of Cretheus and Tyro, that his death would approach if a monocrepis (that is, a man shod on only one foot) arrived while he was sacrificing to Neptune. While he made his annual sacrifice to Neptune, Jason, son of Aeson, brother of Pelias, desiring to make a sacrifice, lost his sandal while he crossed the river Evenus. He did nothing about this in order to make it to the sacrifice quickly. When Pelias, observing this, recalled the prophesy he had received, he ordered him to ask from his enemy King Aeetes for the golden fleece of the ram which Phrixus had consecrated to Mars at Colchis. Calling together the leaders of Greece, he [Jason] set out for Colchis.
XIII. JUNO
When Juno, near the river Eventus, had turned herself into an old woman and stood there to test men’s minds to see if they would carry her across the river, and no one was willing, Jason, son of Aeson and Alcimede, carried her across. She, angry at Pelias, who had omitted to make a sacrifice to her, caused Jason to leave behind one sandal in the mud.
XIV. ARGONAUTS ASSEMBLED
Jason, son of Aeson and Alcymede, daughter of Clymene, leader of the Thessalians.
Orpheus, son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope, a Thracian from the city of Pieria, which is on Mount Olympus on the River Enipeus, prophet and cithara player.
Asterion, the son of Pyremus, mother Antigone, daughter of Pheres, from the city of Pellene. Others call him the son of Hyperasius, from the city of Piresia, which is at the base of Mt. Phylleus, which is in Thessaly, from which place two rivers, Apidanus and Epineus, flowing separately, join into one.
Polyphemus, son of Elatus, mother Hippea, daughter of Antippus, a Thessalian from the city of Larissa, with a limp foot.
Iphiclus, son of Phylacus, mother Periclymene, daughter of Minyas, from Thessaly, Jason’s maternal uncle.
Admetus, son of Pheres, mother Periclymene, daughter of Minyas, from Thessaly, Mount Chalcodonius, from which both the town and river take their name. There Apollo pastured his flock.
Eurytus and Echion, sons of Mercury and Antianira, daughter of Menetus, from the city of Alope, which is now called Ephesus. Some authors think them Thessalians.
Aethalides, son of Mercury and Eupolemia, daughter of Myrmidon. He was Larissaean.
Coronus, son of Caenus, from the city of Gyrton, which is in Thessaly. This Caenus, son of Elatus, a Magnesian, demonstrated that in no way could Centaurs wound him with steel but only with tree trunks sharpened into points. Some say that he had been a woman who, because she served Neptune as one would in marriage, received a wish and was changed into a young man who could not be killed by anything. This has never been done and is not possible for any mortal not to be able to be killed by steel, or changed from a woman to man.
Mopsus, son of Ampycus and Chloris, trained in augury by Apollo, came from Oechalia, or as some think was Titarensian.
Eurydamas, son of Irus and Demonassa. Others call him the son of Cteminus who lived in the city of Dolopeidem near Lake Xynius.
Theseus son of Aegeus and Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, from Troezen; others say he was from Athens.
Pirithous, son of Ixion, brother of the Centaurs, a Thessalian.
Menoetius, son of Actor, an Opuntian.
Eriboetes, the son of Teleon, from Eleon.
Eurytion, son of Irus and Demonassa.
[Corrupt text] ixition [possible a name or a place] from the town of Cerintho.
Oileus, son of Hodoedocus and Agrianome, daughter of Perseon, from the city of Narycea.
Clyteus and Iphitus, sons of Eurytus and Antiope, daughter of Pylo, kings of Oechalia. Others say they came from Euboea. This Eurytus, after receiving knowledge of archery from Apollo, is said to have contended with the granter of this gift. His son Clyteus was killed by Aeetes.
Peleus and Telamon, sons of Aeacus and Endeis, daughter of Chiron, from the island of Aegina. Because they murdered their brother Phocus, they left behind their residence and sought new homes in different places: Peleus in Phthia, and Telamon Salamis, which Apollonius of Rhodes calls Atthis.
Butes, son of Teleon and Zeuxippe, daughter of the river Eridanus, from Athens.
Phaleros, son of Alcon, from Athens.
Tiphys, son of Phorbas and Hyrmine, a Boeotian; he was the helmsman for the ship Argo.
Argus, son of Polybus and Argia; others call him the son of Danaus. He was an Argive, and he covered himself in the hide of a young black-haired bull. He was the builder of the ship Argo.
Phliasus, son of Father Liber and Ariadne, daughter of Minos, from the city Phlius, which is in the Peloponnesus. Others call him a Theban.
Hylas, son of Theodamas and the nymph Menodice, daughter of Orion, a youth from Oechalia, others say from Argos, a companion of Hercules.
Nauplius, son of Neptune and Amymone, daughter of Danaus, an Argive.
Idmon, son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, some say of Abas, an Argive. He was skilled in augury, and though he realized he would die beforehand from birds who foretold it, he did not abandon the fatal campaign.
Castor and Pollux, sons of Jove and Leda, daughter of Thestius, Lacedaemonians; others call them Spartans, both beardless. It is written that at the same time stars appeared on their heads as if they had seemingly fallen there.
Lynceus and Idas, sons of Aphareus and Arena, daughter of Oebalus, Messenians from the Peloponnesus. They say that of these, Lynceus could see what was hidden underground, nor was he prevented by darkness. Others say Lynceus could see nothing at night. He was said to see underground because he knew gold mining. When he descended and was pointing out the gold, suddenly rumors spread that he could see beneath the earth. Likewise, Idas was vigorous and fierce.
Periclymenus, son of Neleus and Chloris, daughter of Amphion and Niobe; he was from Pylos.
Amphidamas and Cepheus, sons of Aleus and Cleobule, from Arcadia.
Ancaeus, son of Lycurgus; others say grandson, from Tegea.
Augeas, son of the Sun and Nausidame, daughter of Amphidamas; he was an Elean.
Asterion and Amphion, sons of Hyperasius, others say of Hippasus, from Pellene.
Euphemus, son of Neptune and Europe, daughter of Tityus, a Taenarian. It is said he was able to run over water with dry feet.
Another Ancaeus, son of Neptune by Althaea, daughter of Thestius, from the island Imbrasus, which was called Parthenia but is now called Samos.
Erginus, son of Neptune, from Miletus; some say of Periclymenus, from Orchomenus.
Meleager, son of Oeneus and Althaea, daughter of Thestius; some think (a son) of Mars, a Calydonian.
Laocoön, son of Porthaon, brother of Oeneus, a Calydonian.
Another Iphiclus, son of Thestius, mother Leucippe, brother of Althaea by the same mother, a Lacedaemonian; a swift runner and thrower of the javelin.
Iphitus, son of Naubolus, from Phocis; others say that he was the son of Hippasus from the Peloponnesus.
Zetes and Calais, sons of the wind Aquilo and Orithyia, daughter of Erechtheus. They were said to have had wings on their heads and feet, and dark blue locks of hair, and travelled through the air. They drove away the three birds called Harpies Aëllopous, Celaeno, and Ocypete, daughters of Thaumas and Ozomene, from Phineus, son of Agenor, at the time when Jason’s comrades were on their way to Colchis. They used to live on the Strophades Islands in the Aegean Sea, which are called the Plotae. They were said to be feathered, have chickens’ heads, wings, and human arms. However, Zetes and Calais were slain by Hercules’ weapons. The stones set up over their tombs are moved by their father’s breath. Moreover, they are said to be from Thrace.
Phocus and Priasus, sons of Caeneus, from Magnesia.
Eurymedon, son of Father Liber and Ariadne, daughter of Minos, from Phlius.
Palaemonius, son of Lernus, a Calydonian.
Actor, son of Hippasus, from the Peloponnesus.
Thersanon, son of the Sun and Leucothoe, from Andros.
Hippalcimus, son of Pelops and Hippodamia, daughter of Oenomaus, from the Peloponnesus., from Pisa.
Asclepius, son of Apollo and Coronis, from Tricca.
[Amphiarus, son of Oicleus, mother Hypenestra], Thestius’ daughter, an Argive.
Neleus, son of Hippocoon, from Pylos.
Iolaus, son of Iphiclus, an Argive.
Deucalion, son of Minos and Pasiphaë, daughter of Sol, from Crete.
Philoctetes, son of Poeas, from Meliboea.
Another Caeneus, son of Coronus, from Gortyn.
Acastus, son of Pelias and Anaxibia, daughter of Bias, from Iolchus, covered in a two-layered cloak. He joined the Argonauts as a volunteer, a companion of Jason of his own will.
Moreover, all these are called Minyae, either because the daughters of Minyas gave birth to them, or because Jason’s mother was the daughter of Clymeste, the daughter of Minyas.
But neither did they all reach Colchis, nor all return to their homelands. For Hylas, in Moesia near Cios and the river Ascanius, was seized by Nymphs. When Hercules and Polyphemus were searching for him, they were left behind as a wind carried away the ship. Polyphemus was also left behind by Hercules, founded a city in Moesia, and died among the Chalybes. Moreover, Tiphys succumbed to illness among the Maryandini in Propontis at the house of King Lycus; in his place Ancaeus, son of Neptune, guided the ship to Colchis. Moreover, Idmon, son of Apollo, also died at the house of King Lycus; he was gored by a boar when he went out for straw [corrupt: perhaps "left the walls"]. The avenger of Idmon was Idas, son of Aphareus, who killed the boar. Butes, son of Teleon, although distracted by the singing and cithara-playing of Orpheus, nevertheless was overcome by the sweetness of the song of the Sirens, dove into the sea to swim to them. Venus saved him at Lilybaeum as the waves carried him. These are the ones who did not reach Colchis.
Moreover, on the voyage back, Eribotes, son of Teleon, and Canthus, son of [corrupt/missing text]cerion, were killed in Libya by the shepherd Cephalion, brother of Nasamon, son of the nymph Tritonis and Amphithemis, whose flock they were pillaging with clubs. Also, Mopsus, son of Amphicus, died of a serpent’s bite in Africa. He had joined the Argonauts during their voyage, after his father Ampycus had been murdered.
Likewise, the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope, Medea’s sister, Argus, Melas, Phrontides, and Cylindrus, joined them on the island of Dia. Others say they were called Phronius, Demoleon, Autolycus, and Phlogius. When Hercules took them as companions, when he sought the girdle of the Amazons, he left them struck with terror by Dascylus, son of the king of the Maryiandini [corrupt text].
Moreover, when they had sailed forth for Colchis, they wanted to make Hercules their leader. He declined, saying that Jason, in whose service they were all sailing forth, should give the orders. Therefore, Jason ruled. Argus, son of Danaus, was builder. Tiphys was helmsman, after whose death Ancaeus, son of Neptune, guided the ship. Lynceus, son of Aphareus, who was able to see many things, was the lookout while sailing. The toicharchoi (superintendents of rowers) were Zetes and Calais, sons of Aquilo, who had wings on their heads and feet. At the prow and oars sat Peleus and Telamon. At the center bench sat Hercules and Idas. The others kept their assigned seats. Oprheus, son of Oeagrus, gave the bosun’s calls. Later, when Hercules had left, in his place sat Peleus, son of Aeacus.
This is the ship Argo, which Minerva carried up into the circle of stars because it had been built by her. The ship when first launched into the open sea appeared among the stars from rudder to sails. Cicero, in the Phaenomena, described its beauty and appearance in the following verses:
Creeping by the tail of the Dog, the Argo glides
Carrying her stern first, with its light [i.e. a bright star]
Not as other ships which place their prows first upon the deep,
Cutting the meadows of Neptune with their bows
But backward she carries herself through the spaces of the revolving sky
As when sailors begin to reach safe harbors
They turn the ship with its great burden
And drag the stern backward to the welcome shore
Thus ancient Argo glides backward over the heavens
Thence her rudder, hanging from the soaring stern,
Touches the back feet of the gleaming Dog [i.e. the constellation Canis] [See Note 1 below]
This ship has four stars on her stern, on the right rudder five, on the left four, in total thirteen, themselves all very much alike [i.e., similar in magnitude].
XV. WOMEN OF LEMNOS
The women on the island of Lemnos for some years had not made a sacrifice to Venus, who in her anger made their men take Thracian wives and scorn their previous wives. But the Lemnian women, under the instigation of Venus, conspired to kill the whole clan of men there, except for Hypsipyle, who in secret placed her father Thoantes on a boat, which a storm carried to the island of Taurica. Meanwhile, the Argonauts, sailing along, came to Lemnos. When Iphinoe, the gatekeeper, saw them, she announced it to Queen Hypsipyle, to whom Polyxo, endowed with age, advised that she should bind them to the gods of hospitality and summon them to entertainment. Hypsipyle begot from Jason the sons Euneus and Deipylus. There they held back for many days; by Hercules’ chiding, they departed. Moreover, after the Lemnian women learned that Hypsipyle had saved her father, they attempted to kill her. She fled. Pirates captured her, brought her to Thebes, and sold her in slavery to King Lycus. Also, the Lemnian women made pregnant by the Argonauts imposed their names on their sons.
XVI. CYZICUS
Cyzicus, son of Eusorus, king of an island in the Propontis, received the Argonauts with generous hospitality. When they had left him and had sailed for a whole day, by a storm that arose by night, they were brought unaware to the same island. Cyzicus, believing them to be Pelasgican enemies, brought arms against them by night on the shore, and was killed by Jason. On the next day, when he [Jason] had come near the shore and saw that he had killed the king, he gave him burial and handed the kingdom to his [the king’s] sons.
XVII. AMYCUS
Amycus, son of Neptune and Melie, was king of Bebyricae. All who came to his kingdom he compelled to contend with him in boxing, and he would destroy the losers. When in this place he challenged the Argonauts to boxing, Pollux contended with him and killed him
XVIII. LYCUS
Lycus, king of an island in Propontis, received the Argonauts with hospitality and in honor because they had killed Amycus, who had often repudiated him. While the Argonauts were staying with Lycus, and had gone out for straw [corrupt: perhaps “left the walls”], Idmon died from being gored by a boar. Then, because he delayed a long time at the tomb, Tiphys, son of Phorbas, died. Then the Argonauts gave over control of the ship to Ancaeus, son of Neptune.
XIX. PHINEUS
Phineus, son of Agenor, a Thracian, had two sons by Cleopatra. They were blinded by their father due to their stepmother’s accusations. Now too, Apollo is said to have given this Phineus the power of prophecy. When he revealed the gods’ plans, he was blinded by Jove, and he had set over him the Harpies, which are said to be the dogs of Jove, to carry away the food from his mouth. When the Argonauts came there and they asked him to show them the way, he said he would show them if they freed him from his punishment. Then Zetes and Calais, sons of the wind Aquilo and Orythia, who are said to have had wings on their heads and feet, chased away the Harpies to the Strophada Islands and freed Phineus from his punishment. He revealed how to cross the Symplegades: they should send out a dove; when the rocks had clashed together, on their retreat [missing/corrupt text: they should row forth if the dove survived, but if the dove should die,] they should turn back. The Argonauts, through the kindness of Phineus, passed through the Symplegades.
XX. STYMPHALIDES
When the Argonauts came to the island of Dia, and the birds pierced them with arrows made from their feathers, when they were not able to withstand the great number of birds, by the advice of Phineus they took up their round shields and spears, and in the manner of the Curetes, chased them away with noise.
XXI. SONS OF PHRIXUS
When the Argonauts had gone through the Blue Rocks (Cyanae), which they call the Symplegades Rocks, into the sea which is called the Euxine and were wandering, by the will of Juno they were carried to the island of Dia. There they found shipwrecked, naked, and helpless the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope, Argus, Phrontides, Melas, and Cylindrus. When they explained their plight to Jason, that when they were hastening to go to their grandfather Athamas they had been shipwrecked and cast up there, Jason took them in and gave them help. They led Jason to Colchis by means of the Thermodon river, and now when they were not far from Colchis, they commanded him to place the ship in a hidden spot; and they went to their mother Chalciope, Medea’s sister, and revealed the kindness of Jason and why he had come. Then Chalciope indicated about Medea and brought her to Jason with her [Chalciope’s] sons. When she saw him, she recognized the one whom she had fallen in love with in a dream instigated by Juno, and she promised him everything; and they led him to the temple.
XXII. AEETES
Aeetes, son of the Sun, was told that he would keep his kingdom so long as the Fleece, which Phrixus has dedicated, stayed in the sanctuary of Mars. And so Aeetes gave Jason this task if he wished to take away the Golden Fleece: to yoke with an adamantine yoke the brazen-footed bulls who breathed flames from their nostrils, and plow, and sow from a helmet the teeth of the dragon from which would be rise up a tribe of armed men who would kill one another. However, Juno wished to save Jason from this because when she had come to a river to test the minds of men, she pretended to be an old woman and asked them to carry her across; when others who crossed over expressed contempt for her, he [Jason] carried her across. And so, because she knew that Jason would not be able accomplish the commands without the help of Medea, she asked Venus to instill Medea with love. At Venus’ incitement, Jason was loved by Medea; by her aid he was freed from all danger. For, when he had plowed with the bulls and the armed men sprang up, he threw a stone among them by Medea’s counsel; they fought among themselves and killed one another. Moreover, when the dragon was put to sleep with drugs, he took the Fleece from the sanctuary and departed for his homeland with Medea.
XXIII. ABSYRTUS
When Aeetes had learned that Medea had escaped with Jason, he prepared a ship and sent his son Absyrtus in pursuit of her with armed companions. When he had overtaken her in the Adriatic sea in Histria at the court of King Alcinous and wished to fight for her with arms, Alcinous intervened between them so they would not fight; they took him up as judge, and he postponed until the next day. When he seemed sad and he was asked by his wife Arete what was the cause of his sadness, he said that he had been made judge between two opposing communities, between the Colchians and the Argives. When Arete asked what judgment he would render, Alcinous responded, if Medea were a virgin, she would return to her father; but if a wife [i.e., deflowered], she would go to her husband. When Arete heard this from her husband, she sent a warning to Jason, and by night he deflowered Medea in a cave. Moreover, the next day when they came for the judgment and Medea was found to be a wife, she was handed over to her husband. Nevertheless, when they had departed, Absyrtus, fearing his father’s orders, pursued them to the island of Minerva; in that place when Jason was sacrificing to Minerva and Absyrtus found him, he was killed by Jason. Medea gave burial to his body, and thence they departed. The Colchians who had come with Absyrtus, fearing Aeetes, remained there, and they founded a town which from Absyrtus’ name they called Absoros. Moreover, this island is located in Histria, opposite Pola, adjoining the island of Canta. [This final phrase is corrupt.]
XXIV. JASON AND THE DAUGHTERS OF PELIAS
Since Jason had undertaken so many trials by order of his uncle Pelias, he began to think how he could kill him without suspicion. This Medea promised to do. And so when they were now far from Colchis, she ordered the ship to be hidden in a secret place and she came herself to the daughters of Pelias as a priestess of Diana; she promised to make their father Pelias from an old man to a young man, but the oldest daughter, Alcestis, denied this was possible to do. Medea, who easily bent her to her will, threw mist before them and from drugs made many marvels, which looked to be like reality: She threw an old ram into a brazen cauldron, from which a very beautiful lamb seemed to spring forth. And so, in the same way, the daughters of Pelias, that is, Alcestis, Pelopia, Medusa, Pisidice, and Hippothoe, by the incitement of Medea, slew their father and boiled him in the brazen cauldron. When they saw that they had been deceived, they fled their homeland. But Jason, by a sign from Medea, seized the palace and handed to Acastus, son of Pelias and brother of the daughters of Pelias, his father’s power, because he had gone with him to Colchis. He himself departed with Medea for Corinth.
XXV. MEDEA
When Medea, the daughter of Aeetes and Idyia, had already begotten two sons from Jason, Mermerus and Pheres, and they were living in the greatest harmony, it was thrown in his teeth that a man so brave and handsome and noble should have for a wife a foreigner and a sorceress. Creon, son of Menoecus, king of Corinth, gave him his younger daughter Glauce as a wife. When Medea saw that she who had done good by Jason was afflicted with indignity, she made a golden crown from poison and she ordered her sons to give it to their stepmother as a gift. Accepting the gift, Creusa [i.e. Glauce] burned to death with Jason and Creon. When Medea saw the palace burning, she killed her children from Jason, Mermerus and Pheres, and fled from Corinth.
[Note 1]. This passage is actually derived from Aratus, whose Phaenomena was a book of star lore. Cicero translated and adapted Arastus' work into Latin. In the Greek version of Aratus' Phaenomena, the constellation of Argo Navis is described thus:
Sternforward Argo by the Great Dog's tail
Is drawn: for hers is not a usual course.
But backward turned she comes, as vessels do
When sailors have transposed the crooked stern
On entering the harbor; all the ship reverse,
And gliding backward on the beach it grounds.
Sternforward thus is Jason's Argo drawn.
And part moves dim and starless from the prow
Up to the mast, but all the rest is bright.
The slackened rudder has been placed beneath
The hind-feet of the Dog, who goes in front.
(Trans. Robert Brown, in The Phainomena or 'Heavenly Display' of Aratos [London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1885])
Translation copyright © 2011 Jason Colavito. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording and/or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Jason Colavito.
III. PHRIXUS
When Phrixus and Helle were wandering through a forest while possessed by madness sent by Liber, their mother Nebula is said to have come there with a Golden Ram, whose parents were Neptune and Theophanes, and to have ordered them to mount the ram and travel to Colchis and King Aeetes, son of Sol, and there sacrifice the ram to Mars. They were said to have done this, but when they had mounted and the ram had carried them over the open sea, Helle fell off the ram, and from this the sea is named Hellespont. But Phrixus was conveyed to Colchis; where, as his mother had ordered, he sacrificed the ram and set up in the temple of Mars its fleece, which it is said Jason, son of Aeson and Alcimede, came to take. But Aeetes freely took in Phrixus and gave his daughter Chalciope as a wife; and afterward she bore children unto him. But Aeetes feared they would expel him from his kingdom because he had received warnings from portents to beware of death from a foreigner, a son of Aeolus; and so he killed Phrixus. But his [Phrixus’] sons Argus, Phrontis, Melas,and Cylindrus embarked on a ship to go to their grandfather Athamas. While on his quest for the Fleece, Jason rescued the shipwrecked men from the island of Dia and carried them back to their mother Chalciope, by whose favor he was recommended to her sister Medea.
XII. PELIAS
It was told to Pelias, son of Cretheus and Tyro, that his death would approach if a monocrepis (that is, a man shod on only one foot) arrived while he was sacrificing to Neptune. While he made his annual sacrifice to Neptune, Jason, son of Aeson, brother of Pelias, desiring to make a sacrifice, lost his sandal while he crossed the river Evenus. He did nothing about this in order to make it to the sacrifice quickly. When Pelias, observing this, recalled the prophesy he had received, he ordered him to ask from his enemy King Aeetes for the golden fleece of the ram which Phrixus had consecrated to Mars at Colchis. Calling together the leaders of Greece, he [Jason] set out for Colchis.
XIII. JUNO
When Juno, near the river Eventus, had turned herself into an old woman and stood there to test men’s minds to see if they would carry her across the river, and no one was willing, Jason, son of Aeson and Alcimede, carried her across. She, angry at Pelias, who had omitted to make a sacrifice to her, caused Jason to leave behind one sandal in the mud.
XIV. ARGONAUTS ASSEMBLED
Jason, son of Aeson and Alcymede, daughter of Clymene, leader of the Thessalians.
Orpheus, son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope, a Thracian from the city of Pieria, which is on Mount Olympus on the River Enipeus, prophet and cithara player.
Asterion, the son of Pyremus, mother Antigone, daughter of Pheres, from the city of Pellene. Others call him the son of Hyperasius, from the city of Piresia, which is at the base of Mt. Phylleus, which is in Thessaly, from which place two rivers, Apidanus and Epineus, flowing separately, join into one.
Polyphemus, son of Elatus, mother Hippea, daughter of Antippus, a Thessalian from the city of Larissa, with a limp foot.
Iphiclus, son of Phylacus, mother Periclymene, daughter of Minyas, from Thessaly, Jason’s maternal uncle.
Admetus, son of Pheres, mother Periclymene, daughter of Minyas, from Thessaly, Mount Chalcodonius, from which both the town and river take their name. There Apollo pastured his flock.
Eurytus and Echion, sons of Mercury and Antianira, daughter of Menetus, from the city of Alope, which is now called Ephesus. Some authors think them Thessalians.
Aethalides, son of Mercury and Eupolemia, daughter of Myrmidon. He was Larissaean.
Coronus, son of Caenus, from the city of Gyrton, which is in Thessaly. This Caenus, son of Elatus, a Magnesian, demonstrated that in no way could Centaurs wound him with steel but only with tree trunks sharpened into points. Some say that he had been a woman who, because she served Neptune as one would in marriage, received a wish and was changed into a young man who could not be killed by anything. This has never been done and is not possible for any mortal not to be able to be killed by steel, or changed from a woman to man.
Mopsus, son of Ampycus and Chloris, trained in augury by Apollo, came from Oechalia, or as some think was Titarensian.
Eurydamas, son of Irus and Demonassa. Others call him the son of Cteminus who lived in the city of Dolopeidem near Lake Xynius.
Theseus son of Aegeus and Aethra, daughter of Pittheus, from Troezen; others say he was from Athens.
Pirithous, son of Ixion, brother of the Centaurs, a Thessalian.
Menoetius, son of Actor, an Opuntian.
Eriboetes, the son of Teleon, from Eleon.
Eurytion, son of Irus and Demonassa.
[Corrupt text] ixition [possible a name or a place] from the town of Cerintho.
Oileus, son of Hodoedocus and Agrianome, daughter of Perseon, from the city of Narycea.
Clyteus and Iphitus, sons of Eurytus and Antiope, daughter of Pylo, kings of Oechalia. Others say they came from Euboea. This Eurytus, after receiving knowledge of archery from Apollo, is said to have contended with the granter of this gift. His son Clyteus was killed by Aeetes.
Peleus and Telamon, sons of Aeacus and Endeis, daughter of Chiron, from the island of Aegina. Because they murdered their brother Phocus, they left behind their residence and sought new homes in different places: Peleus in Phthia, and Telamon Salamis, which Apollonius of Rhodes calls Atthis.
Butes, son of Teleon and Zeuxippe, daughter of the river Eridanus, from Athens.
Phaleros, son of Alcon, from Athens.
Tiphys, son of Phorbas and Hyrmine, a Boeotian; he was the helmsman for the ship Argo.
Argus, son of Polybus and Argia; others call him the son of Danaus. He was an Argive, and he covered himself in the hide of a young black-haired bull. He was the builder of the ship Argo.
Phliasus, son of Father Liber and Ariadne, daughter of Minos, from the city Phlius, which is in the Peloponnesus. Others call him a Theban.
Hylas, son of Theodamas and the nymph Menodice, daughter of Orion, a youth from Oechalia, others say from Argos, a companion of Hercules.
Nauplius, son of Neptune and Amymone, daughter of Danaus, an Argive.
Idmon, son of Apollo and the nymph Cyrene, some say of Abas, an Argive. He was skilled in augury, and though he realized he would die beforehand from birds who foretold it, he did not abandon the fatal campaign.
Castor and Pollux, sons of Jove and Leda, daughter of Thestius, Lacedaemonians; others call them Spartans, both beardless. It is written that at the same time stars appeared on their heads as if they had seemingly fallen there.
Lynceus and Idas, sons of Aphareus and Arena, daughter of Oebalus, Messenians from the Peloponnesus. They say that of these, Lynceus could see what was hidden underground, nor was he prevented by darkness. Others say Lynceus could see nothing at night. He was said to see underground because he knew gold mining. When he descended and was pointing out the gold, suddenly rumors spread that he could see beneath the earth. Likewise, Idas was vigorous and fierce.
Periclymenus, son of Neleus and Chloris, daughter of Amphion and Niobe; he was from Pylos.
Amphidamas and Cepheus, sons of Aleus and Cleobule, from Arcadia.
Ancaeus, son of Lycurgus; others say grandson, from Tegea.
Augeas, son of the Sun and Nausidame, daughter of Amphidamas; he was an Elean.
Asterion and Amphion, sons of Hyperasius, others say of Hippasus, from Pellene.
Euphemus, son of Neptune and Europe, daughter of Tityus, a Taenarian. It is said he was able to run over water with dry feet.
Another Ancaeus, son of Neptune by Althaea, daughter of Thestius, from the island Imbrasus, which was called Parthenia but is now called Samos.
Erginus, son of Neptune, from Miletus; some say of Periclymenus, from Orchomenus.
Meleager, son of Oeneus and Althaea, daughter of Thestius; some think (a son) of Mars, a Calydonian.
Laocoön, son of Porthaon, brother of Oeneus, a Calydonian.
Another Iphiclus, son of Thestius, mother Leucippe, brother of Althaea by the same mother, a Lacedaemonian; a swift runner and thrower of the javelin.
Iphitus, son of Naubolus, from Phocis; others say that he was the son of Hippasus from the Peloponnesus.
Zetes and Calais, sons of the wind Aquilo and Orithyia, daughter of Erechtheus. They were said to have had wings on their heads and feet, and dark blue locks of hair, and travelled through the air. They drove away the three birds called Harpies Aëllopous, Celaeno, and Ocypete, daughters of Thaumas and Ozomene, from Phineus, son of Agenor, at the time when Jason’s comrades were on their way to Colchis. They used to live on the Strophades Islands in the Aegean Sea, which are called the Plotae. They were said to be feathered, have chickens’ heads, wings, and human arms. However, Zetes and Calais were slain by Hercules’ weapons. The stones set up over their tombs are moved by their father’s breath. Moreover, they are said to be from Thrace.
Phocus and Priasus, sons of Caeneus, from Magnesia.
Eurymedon, son of Father Liber and Ariadne, daughter of Minos, from Phlius.
Palaemonius, son of Lernus, a Calydonian.
Actor, son of Hippasus, from the Peloponnesus.
Thersanon, son of the Sun and Leucothoe, from Andros.
Hippalcimus, son of Pelops and Hippodamia, daughter of Oenomaus, from the Peloponnesus., from Pisa.
Asclepius, son of Apollo and Coronis, from Tricca.
[Amphiarus, son of Oicleus, mother Hypenestra], Thestius’ daughter, an Argive.
Neleus, son of Hippocoon, from Pylos.
Iolaus, son of Iphiclus, an Argive.
Deucalion, son of Minos and Pasiphaë, daughter of Sol, from Crete.
Philoctetes, son of Poeas, from Meliboea.
Another Caeneus, son of Coronus, from Gortyn.
Acastus, son of Pelias and Anaxibia, daughter of Bias, from Iolchus, covered in a two-layered cloak. He joined the Argonauts as a volunteer, a companion of Jason of his own will.
Moreover, all these are called Minyae, either because the daughters of Minyas gave birth to them, or because Jason’s mother was the daughter of Clymeste, the daughter of Minyas.
But neither did they all reach Colchis, nor all return to their homelands. For Hylas, in Moesia near Cios and the river Ascanius, was seized by Nymphs. When Hercules and Polyphemus were searching for him, they were left behind as a wind carried away the ship. Polyphemus was also left behind by Hercules, founded a city in Moesia, and died among the Chalybes. Moreover, Tiphys succumbed to illness among the Maryandini in Propontis at the house of King Lycus; in his place Ancaeus, son of Neptune, guided the ship to Colchis. Moreover, Idmon, son of Apollo, also died at the house of King Lycus; he was gored by a boar when he went out for straw [corrupt: perhaps "left the walls"]. The avenger of Idmon was Idas, son of Aphareus, who killed the boar. Butes, son of Teleon, although distracted by the singing and cithara-playing of Orpheus, nevertheless was overcome by the sweetness of the song of the Sirens, dove into the sea to swim to them. Venus saved him at Lilybaeum as the waves carried him. These are the ones who did not reach Colchis.
Moreover, on the voyage back, Eribotes, son of Teleon, and Canthus, son of [corrupt/missing text]cerion, were killed in Libya by the shepherd Cephalion, brother of Nasamon, son of the nymph Tritonis and Amphithemis, whose flock they were pillaging with clubs. Also, Mopsus, son of Amphicus, died of a serpent’s bite in Africa. He had joined the Argonauts during their voyage, after his father Ampycus had been murdered.
Likewise, the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope, Medea’s sister, Argus, Melas, Phrontides, and Cylindrus, joined them on the island of Dia. Others say they were called Phronius, Demoleon, Autolycus, and Phlogius. When Hercules took them as companions, when he sought the girdle of the Amazons, he left them struck with terror by Dascylus, son of the king of the Maryiandini [corrupt text].
Moreover, when they had sailed forth for Colchis, they wanted to make Hercules their leader. He declined, saying that Jason, in whose service they were all sailing forth, should give the orders. Therefore, Jason ruled. Argus, son of Danaus, was builder. Tiphys was helmsman, after whose death Ancaeus, son of Neptune, guided the ship. Lynceus, son of Aphareus, who was able to see many things, was the lookout while sailing. The toicharchoi (superintendents of rowers) were Zetes and Calais, sons of Aquilo, who had wings on their heads and feet. At the prow and oars sat Peleus and Telamon. At the center bench sat Hercules and Idas. The others kept their assigned seats. Oprheus, son of Oeagrus, gave the bosun’s calls. Later, when Hercules had left, in his place sat Peleus, son of Aeacus.
This is the ship Argo, which Minerva carried up into the circle of stars because it had been built by her. The ship when first launched into the open sea appeared among the stars from rudder to sails. Cicero, in the Phaenomena, described its beauty and appearance in the following verses:
Creeping by the tail of the Dog, the Argo glides
Carrying her stern first, with its light [i.e. a bright star]
Not as other ships which place their prows first upon the deep,
Cutting the meadows of Neptune with their bows
But backward she carries herself through the spaces of the revolving sky
As when sailors begin to reach safe harbors
They turn the ship with its great burden
And drag the stern backward to the welcome shore
Thus ancient Argo glides backward over the heavens
Thence her rudder, hanging from the soaring stern,
Touches the back feet of the gleaming Dog [i.e. the constellation Canis] [See Note 1 below]
This ship has four stars on her stern, on the right rudder five, on the left four, in total thirteen, themselves all very much alike [i.e., similar in magnitude].
XV. WOMEN OF LEMNOS
The women on the island of Lemnos for some years had not made a sacrifice to Venus, who in her anger made their men take Thracian wives and scorn their previous wives. But the Lemnian women, under the instigation of Venus, conspired to kill the whole clan of men there, except for Hypsipyle, who in secret placed her father Thoantes on a boat, which a storm carried to the island of Taurica. Meanwhile, the Argonauts, sailing along, came to Lemnos. When Iphinoe, the gatekeeper, saw them, she announced it to Queen Hypsipyle, to whom Polyxo, endowed with age, advised that she should bind them to the gods of hospitality and summon them to entertainment. Hypsipyle begot from Jason the sons Euneus and Deipylus. There they held back for many days; by Hercules’ chiding, they departed. Moreover, after the Lemnian women learned that Hypsipyle had saved her father, they attempted to kill her. She fled. Pirates captured her, brought her to Thebes, and sold her in slavery to King Lycus. Also, the Lemnian women made pregnant by the Argonauts imposed their names on their sons.
XVI. CYZICUS
Cyzicus, son of Eusorus, king of an island in the Propontis, received the Argonauts with generous hospitality. When they had left him and had sailed for a whole day, by a storm that arose by night, they were brought unaware to the same island. Cyzicus, believing them to be Pelasgican enemies, brought arms against them by night on the shore, and was killed by Jason. On the next day, when he [Jason] had come near the shore and saw that he had killed the king, he gave him burial and handed the kingdom to his [the king’s] sons.
XVII. AMYCUS
Amycus, son of Neptune and Melie, was king of Bebyricae. All who came to his kingdom he compelled to contend with him in boxing, and he would destroy the losers. When in this place he challenged the Argonauts to boxing, Pollux contended with him and killed him
XVIII. LYCUS
Lycus, king of an island in Propontis, received the Argonauts with hospitality and in honor because they had killed Amycus, who had often repudiated him. While the Argonauts were staying with Lycus, and had gone out for straw [corrupt: perhaps “left the walls”], Idmon died from being gored by a boar. Then, because he delayed a long time at the tomb, Tiphys, son of Phorbas, died. Then the Argonauts gave over control of the ship to Ancaeus, son of Neptune.
XIX. PHINEUS
Phineus, son of Agenor, a Thracian, had two sons by Cleopatra. They were blinded by their father due to their stepmother’s accusations. Now too, Apollo is said to have given this Phineus the power of prophecy. When he revealed the gods’ plans, he was blinded by Jove, and he had set over him the Harpies, which are said to be the dogs of Jove, to carry away the food from his mouth. When the Argonauts came there and they asked him to show them the way, he said he would show them if they freed him from his punishment. Then Zetes and Calais, sons of the wind Aquilo and Orythia, who are said to have had wings on their heads and feet, chased away the Harpies to the Strophada Islands and freed Phineus from his punishment. He revealed how to cross the Symplegades: they should send out a dove; when the rocks had clashed together, on their retreat [missing/corrupt text: they should row forth if the dove survived, but if the dove should die,] they should turn back. The Argonauts, through the kindness of Phineus, passed through the Symplegades.
XX. STYMPHALIDES
When the Argonauts came to the island of Dia, and the birds pierced them with arrows made from their feathers, when they were not able to withstand the great number of birds, by the advice of Phineus they took up their round shields and spears, and in the manner of the Curetes, chased them away with noise.
XXI. SONS OF PHRIXUS
When the Argonauts had gone through the Blue Rocks (Cyanae), which they call the Symplegades Rocks, into the sea which is called the Euxine and were wandering, by the will of Juno they were carried to the island of Dia. There they found shipwrecked, naked, and helpless the sons of Phrixus and Chalciope, Argus, Phrontides, Melas, and Cylindrus. When they explained their plight to Jason, that when they were hastening to go to their grandfather Athamas they had been shipwrecked and cast up there, Jason took them in and gave them help. They led Jason to Colchis by means of the Thermodon river, and now when they were not far from Colchis, they commanded him to place the ship in a hidden spot; and they went to their mother Chalciope, Medea’s sister, and revealed the kindness of Jason and why he had come. Then Chalciope indicated about Medea and brought her to Jason with her [Chalciope’s] sons. When she saw him, she recognized the one whom she had fallen in love with in a dream instigated by Juno, and she promised him everything; and they led him to the temple.
XXII. AEETES
Aeetes, son of the Sun, was told that he would keep his kingdom so long as the Fleece, which Phrixus has dedicated, stayed in the sanctuary of Mars. And so Aeetes gave Jason this task if he wished to take away the Golden Fleece: to yoke with an adamantine yoke the brazen-footed bulls who breathed flames from their nostrils, and plow, and sow from a helmet the teeth of the dragon from which would be rise up a tribe of armed men who would kill one another. However, Juno wished to save Jason from this because when she had come to a river to test the minds of men, she pretended to be an old woman and asked them to carry her across; when others who crossed over expressed contempt for her, he [Jason] carried her across. And so, because she knew that Jason would not be able accomplish the commands without the help of Medea, she asked Venus to instill Medea with love. At Venus’ incitement, Jason was loved by Medea; by her aid he was freed from all danger. For, when he had plowed with the bulls and the armed men sprang up, he threw a stone among them by Medea’s counsel; they fought among themselves and killed one another. Moreover, when the dragon was put to sleep with drugs, he took the Fleece from the sanctuary and departed for his homeland with Medea.
XXIII. ABSYRTUS
When Aeetes had learned that Medea had escaped with Jason, he prepared a ship and sent his son Absyrtus in pursuit of her with armed companions. When he had overtaken her in the Adriatic sea in Histria at the court of King Alcinous and wished to fight for her with arms, Alcinous intervened between them so they would not fight; they took him up as judge, and he postponed until the next day. When he seemed sad and he was asked by his wife Arete what was the cause of his sadness, he said that he had been made judge between two opposing communities, between the Colchians and the Argives. When Arete asked what judgment he would render, Alcinous responded, if Medea were a virgin, she would return to her father; but if a wife [i.e., deflowered], she would go to her husband. When Arete heard this from her husband, she sent a warning to Jason, and by night he deflowered Medea in a cave. Moreover, the next day when they came for the judgment and Medea was found to be a wife, she was handed over to her husband. Nevertheless, when they had departed, Absyrtus, fearing his father’s orders, pursued them to the island of Minerva; in that place when Jason was sacrificing to Minerva and Absyrtus found him, he was killed by Jason. Medea gave burial to his body, and thence they departed. The Colchians who had come with Absyrtus, fearing Aeetes, remained there, and they founded a town which from Absyrtus’ name they called Absoros. Moreover, this island is located in Histria, opposite Pola, adjoining the island of Canta. [This final phrase is corrupt.]
XXIV. JASON AND THE DAUGHTERS OF PELIAS
Since Jason had undertaken so many trials by order of his uncle Pelias, he began to think how he could kill him without suspicion. This Medea promised to do. And so when they were now far from Colchis, she ordered the ship to be hidden in a secret place and she came herself to the daughters of Pelias as a priestess of Diana; she promised to make their father Pelias from an old man to a young man, but the oldest daughter, Alcestis, denied this was possible to do. Medea, who easily bent her to her will, threw mist before them and from drugs made many marvels, which looked to be like reality: She threw an old ram into a brazen cauldron, from which a very beautiful lamb seemed to spring forth. And so, in the same way, the daughters of Pelias, that is, Alcestis, Pelopia, Medusa, Pisidice, and Hippothoe, by the incitement of Medea, slew their father and boiled him in the brazen cauldron. When they saw that they had been deceived, they fled their homeland. But Jason, by a sign from Medea, seized the palace and handed to Acastus, son of Pelias and brother of the daughters of Pelias, his father’s power, because he had gone with him to Colchis. He himself departed with Medea for Corinth.
XXV. MEDEA
When Medea, the daughter of Aeetes and Idyia, had already begotten two sons from Jason, Mermerus and Pheres, and they were living in the greatest harmony, it was thrown in his teeth that a man so brave and handsome and noble should have for a wife a foreigner and a sorceress. Creon, son of Menoecus, king of Corinth, gave him his younger daughter Glauce as a wife. When Medea saw that she who had done good by Jason was afflicted with indignity, she made a golden crown from poison and she ordered her sons to give it to their stepmother as a gift. Accepting the gift, Creusa [i.e. Glauce] burned to death with Jason and Creon. When Medea saw the palace burning, she killed her children from Jason, Mermerus and Pheres, and fled from Corinth.
[Note 1]. This passage is actually derived from Aratus, whose Phaenomena was a book of star lore. Cicero translated and adapted Arastus' work into Latin. In the Greek version of Aratus' Phaenomena, the constellation of Argo Navis is described thus:
Sternforward Argo by the Great Dog's tail
Is drawn: for hers is not a usual course.
But backward turned she comes, as vessels do
When sailors have transposed the crooked stern
On entering the harbor; all the ship reverse,
And gliding backward on the beach it grounds.
Sternforward thus is Jason's Argo drawn.
And part moves dim and starless from the prow
Up to the mast, but all the rest is bright.
The slackened rudder has been placed beneath
The hind-feet of the Dog, who goes in front.
(Trans. Robert Brown, in The Phainomena or 'Heavenly Display' of Aratos [London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1885])
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