Heroes: Volume II of Mythos

H ARPIES The Argonauts anchored off the coast of Thracefn41 and made their way inland, searching for food with which to provision the ship. It was not long before their path was blocked by a blind and emaciated old man. ‘Who’s there?’ he cried, waving a stick in their general direction. For all his pitiable state, his manner was sharp and imperious. ‘Jason of Iolcos and his crew. Out of our way, if you please.’ ‘Ah!’ cried the old man eagerly. ‘I knew you would come! Are the sons of the North Wind of your company?’ Calais and Zetes stepped forward. ‘Who wants to know?’ ‘PHINEUS, the king.’fn42 ‘Of Thrace?’ ‘You are in Salmydessus, and I am its ruler.’ ‘I have heard of you,’ said Jason. ‘You put out your own sons’ eyes and you were blinded as a punishment.’ ‘Not true, not true! That is a lie put about by my first wife. Zeus, the father of us all, granted me the gift of prophecy and it was he who took away my sight.’ ‘Why?’ ‘He thought I was too generous in revealing the future to anyone who cared to know. But that was not all he had in store for me. Look, can you see that?’ With trembling hands Phineus pointed his stick towards a stone table. There were pieces of bread, fruit and smoked meats on it, but they were all spattered with something that looked like mud. ‘Pee-yew! It stinks!’ cried Calais and Zetes who had gone close. ‘Their droppings,’ said Phineus. ‘It is not enough that they seize everything they can before I can eat it, they shit on whatever is left.’ ‘They?’ said Jason. ‘Who are “they”?’ ‘The Harpies. Two monstrous flying womenfn43. Women? They have the faces of women I am told, but the wings and talons of birds. Human vultures. Food is put out for me, but whenever I try to eat they fly down shrieking and shitting. They snatch the food from my very mouth and fly off screeching with laughter. It is enough to send a man mad. But I stayed sane because I knew salvation was coming. I knew that the Boreads with their gift of flight would come and deliver me from their curse.’ Calais and Zetes shifted uneasily. ‘Whoa there, old man. Are you saying you want us to get rid of them?’ said Calais. ‘If Zeus sent them, he’s not going to thank us for interfering,’ said Zetes. ‘We’re sorry for you, really we are, but we’re not going to offend the Cloud-Gatherer and Lord of Storms. Not for anything.’ ‘No, no!’ said Phineus, thrusting out a quavering hand in his direction, as if the act of touching Zetes might change his mind. ‘You will not be punished for aiding me. I assure you. I have seen. It is ordained that you will release me from the Harpies and so you will. And when you have done this,’ he added with a smile of some cunning, ‘I will tell you the only way you can safely proceed on your journey. A terrible obstacle lies ahead of you. Unless you overcome it, you will never reach Colchis. No, you will all perish.’ ‘What obstacle?’ Jason demanded. ‘It is enough to say that, without my help, it will destroy your ship and cause the death of everyone on board.’ Jason turned to Calais and Zetes. ‘Well, boys? It’s up to you.’ The twins exchanged glances and nodded. ‘We’ll do it.’ While Tiphys and two of the Argo’s crewmen wiped down the stone table, two other sets of brothers, Telamon and Peleus, and the twins Castor and Polydeuces were sent to forage for food. They returned with basketfuls of figs, olives and apples, to which was added the remaining store of Argo’s bread and smoked fish. The food was heaped up in appetising piles on the stone table. Jason guided Phineus into his seat at the feast and all the Argonauts withdrew to a high vantage point, save Calais and Zetes who concealed themselves behind a tree close to the table. When all was still and the trap set, Calais gave a low whistle. Phineus stretched out his hand and picked up a fig. It was barely halfway to his mouth when with a demented scream, the two harpies dived down from the clouds. One snatched the fig from Phineus’s fingers and devoured it. The other seized a pile of the fruit in her enormous claws, defecating on the rest as she did. The first joined her in ransacking and fouling the food.fn44 Calais and Zetes, with their own blood-curdling cry, shot from their hiding place. Twisting their bodies round, they launched themselves spinning into the air to catch the fast-flowing gust sent from their father. The eyes of the harpies started from their unpardonably ugly human faces and they screamed in shock, scattering food and faeces everywhere. The other Argonauts ran out into the open and watched as the Harpies were pursued across the sky and out of sight. As the brothers told Jason afterwards, it had been a close run thing. The terrified Harpies flapped their wings as hard as they could, covering a huge distance as they flew westwards; but the twins, streaming after them on their swift current of air, eventually caught up with them near to the Floating Islandsfn45. They were on the verge of seizing the seizers when their way was barred by the sudden appearance of a brightly coloured arc in the sky, from whom the rainbow goddess IRIS herself spoke.fn46 ‘Leave them, Boreads, leave my sisters be. Zeus sent them and only he can choose their fate. Leave them and know that they will harass Phineus no more.’ So the twins turned back. In honour of this, the Floating Islands became known, as they still are today, as the Strophades, the Turning Islands. When their father Boreas dropped them gently back on the ground in Salmydessus, next to the table, the twins saw that the befouled food had been cleared away and Phineus was enthusiastically gorging on a fresh supply. ‘So,’ said Jason, when he had heard about Iris and her promise that Phineus would be left alone. ‘This “obstacle” you claim we must overcome to reach Colchis …’ ‘Yes, yes,’ Phineus nodded, fig juice dripping from his chin. ‘There is but one way from the Propontis into the Euxine Sea.fn47 You must sail through the narrow strait they call the Symplegades, the Clashing Rocks.’ ‘We know about those,’ said Jason, annoyed. ‘Nestor, tell him your plan.’ ‘Any ship that dares to try the channel between the rocks will be smashed to pieces,’ said Nestor. ‘They sense its passage and clash together, crushing anything in their path. So, my plan is that Argus, Tiphys and his men dismantle the Argo into portable sections which we take overland from the eastern shore of the Propontis to the western shore of the Euxine Sea, thus circumventing the Symplegades entirely.’ Phineus sprayed fruit and bread everywhere as he snorted with derisive laughter. ‘Circumventing, you say? Oh dear me, that’s a good one. Circumventing. The land between, your ‘circumventing land’ bristles with bandits, some of them only half human. They hide in the bushes, shoot arrows and wait for you to die of your wounds. You’ll never see them. For all your crew of musclebound heroes you’d be better turning for home than trying such a foolish thing. Suppose they only got ten of you – that would be ten pieces of your ship you vitally need. Circumvent that.’ Nestor rubbed his chin. ‘I fear there is much in what he says, Jason. My stratagem is weak, very weak.’ ‘Very well then,’ said Jason. ‘You say you know how we can get through. Tell us, all-seeing Phineus.’ They waited for the old man to finish his mouthful of bread. Finally, he swallowed, wiped his sleeve across his mouth and told them.