ords:

"It is not lawful, O sons of Boreas, to strike with your swords the
Harpies, the hounds of mighty Zeus; but I myself will give you a pledge,
that hereafter they shall not draw near to Phineus."

With these words she took an oath by the waters of Styx, which to all
the gods is most dread and most awful, that the Harpies would never
thereafter again approach the home of Phineus, son of Agenor, for so it
was fated. And the heroes yielding to the oath, turned back their flight
to the ship. And on account of this men call them the Islands of Turning
though aforetime they called them the Floating Islands. And the Harpies
and Iris parted. They entered their den in Minoan Crete; but she sped up
to Olympus, soaring aloft on her swift wings.

Meanwhile the chiefs carefully cleansed the old man's squalid skin and
with due selection sacrificed sheep which they had borne away from the
spoil of Amycus. And when they had laid a huge supper in the hall, they
sat down and feasted, and with them feasted Phineus ravenously,
delighting his soul, as in a dream. And there, when they had taken their
fill of food and drink, they kept awake all night waiting for the sons
of Boreas. And the aged sire himself sat in the midst, near the hearth,
telling of the end of their voyage and the completion of their journey:

"Listen then. Not everything is it lawful for you to know clearly; but
whatever is heaven's will, I will not hide. I was infatuated aforetime,
when in my folly I declared the will of Zeus in order and to the end.
For he himself wishes to deliver to men the utterances of the prophetic
art incomplete, in order that they may still have some need to know the
will of heaven.

"First of all, after leaving me, ye will see the twin Cyanean rocks
where the two seas meet. No one, I ween, has won his escape between
them. For they are not firmly fixed with roots beneath, but constantly
clash against one another to one point, and above a huge mass of salt
water rises in a crest, boiling up, and loudly dashes upon the hard
beach. Wherefore now obey my counsel, if indeed with prudent mind and
reverencing the blessed gods ye pursue your way; and perish not
foolishly by a self-sought death, or rush on following the guidance of
youth. First entrust the attempt to a dove when ye have sent her forth
from the ship. And if she escapes safe with her wings between the rocks
to the open sea, then no more do ye refrain from the path, but grip your
o