The Golden Fleece | Page 8

for "The Golden Fleece, the Golden Fleece!" rang in his ears, and
before his eyes were the faces of those who were all eager for the sight
of the wonder that King Aetes kept guard over.
Then said Jason, "Thou hast spoken well, O King Pelias! Know, and
know all here assembled, that I have heard of the Golden Fleece and of

the dangers that await on any one who should strive to win it from King
Aetes's care. But know, too, that I would strive to win the Fleece and
bring it to Iolcus, winning fame both for myself and for the city."
When he had spoken he saw his father's stricken eyes; they were fixed
upon him. But he looked from them to the shining eyes of the young
men who were even then pressing around where he stood. "Jason,
Jason!" they shouted. "The Golden Fleece for Iolcus!"
"King Pelias knows that the winning of the Golden Fleece is a feat
most difficult," said Jason. "But if he will have built for me a ship that
can make the voyage to far Colchis, and if he will send throughout all
Greece the word of my adventuring so that all the heroes who would
win fame might come with me, and if ye, young heroes of Iolcus, will
come with me, I will peril my life to win the wonder that King Aetes
keeps guard over."
He spoke and those in the hall shouted again and made clamor around
him. But still his father sat gazing at him with stricken eyes.
King Pelias stood up in the hall and holding up his scepter he said, "O
my nephew Jason, and O friends assembled here, I promise that I will
have built for the voyage the best ship that ever sailed from a harbor in
Greece. And I promise that I will send throughout all Greece a word
telling of Jason's voyage so that all heroes desirous of winning fame
may come to help him and to help all of you who may go with him to
win from the keeping of King Aetes the famous Fleece of Gold."
So King Pelias said, but Jason, looking to the king from his father's
stricken eyes, saw that he had been led by the king into the acceptance
of the voyage so that he might fare far from Iolcus, and perhaps lose his
life in striving to gain the wonder that King Aetes kept guarded. By the
glitter in Pelias's eyes he knew the truth. Nevertheless Jason would not
take back one word that he had spoken; his heart was strong within him,
and he thought that with the help of the bright-eyed youths around and
with the help of those who would come to him at the word of the
voyage, he would bring the Golden Fleece to Iolcus and make famous
for all time his own name.

IV. THE ASSEMBLING OF THE HEROES AND THE BUILDING
OF THE SHIP
First there came the youths Castor and Polydeuces. They came riding
on white horses, two noble-looking brothers. From Sparta they came,
and their mother was Leda, who, after the twin brothers, had another
child born to her--Helen, for whose sake the sons of many of Jason's
friends were to wage war against the great city of Troy. These were the
first heroes who came to Iolcus after the word had gone forth through
Greece of Jason's adventuring in quest of the Golden Fleece.
And then there came one who had both welcome and reverence from
Jason; this one came without spear or bow, bearing in his hands a lyre
only. He was Orpheus, and he knew all the ways of the gods and all the
stories of the gods; when he sang to his lyre the trees would listen and
the beasts would follow him. It was Chiron who had counseled
Orpheus to go with Jason; Chiron the centaur had met him as he was
wandering through the forests on the Mountain Pelion and had sent him
down into Iolcus.
Then there came two men well skilled in the handling of ships-- Tiphys
and Nauplius. Tiphys knew all about the sun and winds and stars, and
all about the signs by which a ship might be steered, and Nauplius had
the love of Poseidon, the god of the sea.
Afterward there came, one after the other, two who were famous for
their hunting. No two could be more different than these two were. The
first was Arcas. He was dressed in the skin of a bear; he had red hair
and savage-looking eyes, and for arms he carried a mighty bow with
bronzetipped arrows. The folk were watching an eagle as he came into
the city, an eagle that was winging its way