They’ll fall on it like famished wolves and kill one
another.
That’s your moment. Plunge in!
“ ‘And so you’ll be done, and can carry
the fleece to Hellas — a long, long way from Aia, I
believe.
But go, nonetheless. Go where you will, go where your
fancy
pleases, after you part from us.’ She fell silent, staring at the ground, and hot tears ran down her cheeks as
she saw him sailing
home. She looked at him and sorrowfully spoke. ‘If ever
you reach
your home, don’t forget what I have done for you.
As for myself, I’ll never forget you.’ Medeia paused, then timidly asked: Tell me about that girl you
mentioned—
the one who gave help to some hero and later grew
famous for it.’
Jason studied her, puzzled by her blush, and then,
suddenly,
he understood, and was touched by Medeia’s concern
for reputation,
her willingness to help him despite her fears. Gently
he said:
‘Ariadne, yes. Without her assistance, Theseus could
never
have overcome the minotaur and made his way back through the Labyrinth. He bore Ariadne away with him when he’d met his test, and no other man ever praised
the name
of a woman as he did hers. I can only hope that, as her father Minos was reconciled at last with Theseus for his daughter’s sake, your father will at last be
reconciled with us.’
“He had thought, poor Jason, that talking to the girl
in this gentle way
would soothe her. But instead his words filled Medeia
with gloomy forebodings,
and bitterness as well. White flecks appeared in her
blushing face
and she answered with passion: ‘No doubt in Hellas
men think it right
to honor commitments. My father is hardly the kind
of man
this Minos was, if your story’s true. And as for Ariadne, I cannot claim to be a match for her. Speak to me no
more
of kindness to strangers. But oh, do remember when
you’re back in Iolkos;
and I, despite my parents, will remember you. The day you forget me and speak of me no more, that day may
a whisper come
from afar to me, some parra to tell of it; may the wild
North Wind
snatch me and carry me across the dark sea to Iolkos,
and I
denounce you, force you to remember that I saved your
life. Expect me!
I’ll come that day if I can!’ Bright tears ran down her
cheeks.
“Jason spoke quickly, smiling. ‘Dear lady, you may
spare the wandering
winds that task, and spare the bird that arduous flight! Rest well assured, if you come to us you’ll be honored
and revered
by everyone there — men, women, children. They’ll treat
you like a goddess,
since thanks to you their sons and brothers and fathers
came home.
And I, I’ll build you a bridal bed, and a house we can
share
till death. Let that be settled between us.’
“As she heard his words
the girl’s heart leaped. And yet she shuddered at the
things she must do
to earn the stranger’s love. Her maids, who’d been
watching from afar,
grew restive now, though they dared not intervene. It
was
high time for flight; but Medeia had as yet no thought
of leaving,
entranced by Jason’s beauty and bewitching talk. As
for him,
whatever his passion, he’d by no means lost his wits.
He said:
‘We must part, Medeia, before we’re seen by some
passer-by.
We’ll meet again. Have faith.’ And touching her hand,
he retreated
and was gone. Her maids ran forward. She scarcely
noticed them.
Her mind benumbed, she got in the charriot to drive
the mules,
taking the reins in one hand, the whip in the other,
and blindly,
home she drove to the palace. As soon as her feet
touched earth
Khalkiope came, pale as marble, to ask what chance
for her sons.
Medeia said nothing, heard not a word she spoke. In
her room
she sank to the crimson hassock at the foot of her bed,
leaned over
and rested her cheek on her left hand, tearfully
pondering
the incredible thing she’d done. But whether she wept
for joy
or fear, she could not tell.
“That night, in a lonely place
under open sky, Lord Jason bathed in the sacred river, drew on his coal-black cape, his famous panther skin, and dug a pit one cubit deep, and piled up billets, and spread a slain ewe on the wood. He kindled the fire
from below,
poured out libations, called on Hekate, and withdrew.
The goddess
heard, from the abyss, and rose. Her form was
surrounded by snakes
that slid like spokes from a hub and coiled round
the silent oaks
until every twig seemed alive, their serpent eyes like the
gleam
of a thousand flickering torches. And the hounds of the
Underworld
leaped up, dark shapes all around her, and filled the
night with their howls
till the stones in the earth were afraid and the far hills
trembled. Then came
more fearsome things — a cry like a girl’s, Medeia’s,
grim joke
of Hades, eternally bored. Then the heart of the
Argonaut quaked,
for he knew the cry, and his whole dark body burst out
in a sweat
and he paused, but only for an instant, then stubbornly
Jason walked on,
and his eyes did not look back. He came to his friends
again.
“At dawn old black-eyed Aietes put over his breast the
cuirass
the god of war had given him. On his head he set his golden helmet with its four plates, gift of the sun. He took up his shield of many hides and his
unconquerable spear,
and mounted the well-built battle-car that he’d won
from Phaiton.
The Lord of the Bulls took the reins and drove to the
contest grounds,
a crowd of Kolchians behind him, hurrying on foot, in
silence,
no man daring to challenge Aietes’ eye. There soon came Jason, on his head a helmet of glittering bronze
full of teeth
like nails, on his shoulder a sword. His body was naked
and shone
like Apollo’s eyes. Aietes was troubled, but waited.
“Then Jason,
glancing around, saw the great bronze yoke for the
bulls, and beside it
the plough of indurated steel, built all of one piece. He
went up to them,
planted his sword in the ground by the hilt, and laid
down the helmet,
leaning it next to the sword. Then stirred to examine
the tracks
the bulls had made, and mused, half-smiled at Aietes.
And now
from the bowels of the earth, the fuliginous lair where
the huge bulls slept,
up they came, breathing fire. Their great necks rippled,
as thick
as cliffs, as poised as the arching necks of dragons.
They lowered
their heads, eyes rolling, swung up their muscular tails
like flags,
and gouged up divots of earth with their knife-sharp
brazen hooves.
First one, then the other, the monsters lolled their