than usual. You might forgive her loving him. She gazes; and keeps her
eyes fixed upon his countenance, as though but now seen for the first
time; and in her frenzy she thinks she does not behold the face of a
mortal; nor does she turn away from him. But when the stranger began to
speak, and seized her right hand, and begged her assistance with a
humble voice, and promised her marriage; she said, with tears running
down, "I see what I ought to do; and it will not be ignorance of the
truth, but love that beguiles me. By my agency thou shalt be saved; when
saved, grant what thou hast promised."

He swears by the rites of the Goddess of the triple form, and the Deity
which is in that grove, and by the sire[13] of his future father-in-law,
who beholds all things, and by his own adventures, and by dangers so
great. Being believed {by her}, he immediately received some enchanted
herbs, and thoroughly learned the use of them, and went away rejoicing
to his abode. The next morning had {now} dispersed the twinkling stars,
{when} the people repaired to the sacred field of Mavors, and ranged
themselves on the hills. In the midst of the assembly sat the king
himself, arrayed in purple, and distinguished by a sceptre of ivory.
Behold! the brazen-footed bulls breathe forth flames[14] from their
adamantine nostrils; and the grass touched by the vapors is on fire. And
as the forges filled {with fire} are wont to roar, or when flints[15]
dissolved in an earthen furnace receive intense heat by the sprinkling
of flowing water; so do their breasts rolling forth the flames enclosed
within, and their scorched throats, resound. Yet the son of AEson goes
forth to meet them. The fierce {bulls} turn their terrible features, and
their horns pointed with iron, towards his face as he advances, and with
cloven hoofs they spurn the dusty ground, and fill the place with
lowings, that send forth clouds of smoke. The Minyae are frozen with
horror. He comes up, and feels not the flames breathed forth by them, so
great is the power of the incantations. He even strokes their hanging
dewlaps with a bold right hand, and, subjected to the yoke, he obliges
them to draw the heavy weight of a plough, and to turn up with the share
the plain {till now} unused to it.[16]

The Colchians are astonished; the Minyae fill {the air} with their
shouts, and give him {fresh} courage. Then in a brazen helmet he takes
the dragon's teeth,[17] and strews them over the ploughe