, the skilful
steersman; and Butes, the fairest of all men; and Castor and Polydeuces
the twins, the sons of the magic swan; and Caineus, 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 Peleus,
the father of Achilles, whose bride was silver-footed Thetis the goddess
of the sea. And thither came Telamon and Oileus, the fathers of the two
Aiantes, 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 Ancaios, who could read
the stars, and knew all the circles of the heavens; and Argus, the famed
shipbuilder, and many a hero more, in helmets of brass and gold with
tall dyed horsehair 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 stave.

So they came down to Iolcos, 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 Hellenes
conquered the land." But the women sighed over them, and whispered,
"Alas! they are all going to the death."

Then they felled 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 Pelias 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 Rhodope, among the savage Cicon tribes. And he asked him: "Will
you leave your mountains, Orpheus, my fellow scholar in old times, and
cross Strymon once more with me, to sail with the heroes of the Minuai,
and bring home the golden fleece, and charm