ts of the
meal. But straightway when he heard the voice and the tramp of the band
he knew that they were the men passing by, at whose coming Zeus' oracle
had declared to him that he should have joy of his food. And he rose
from his couch, like a lifeless dream, bowed over his staff, and crept
to the door on his withered feet, feeling the walls; and as he moved,
his limbs trembled for weakness and age; and his parched skin was caked
with dirt, and naught but the skill held his bones together. And he came
forth from the hall with wearied knees and sat on the threshold of the
courtyard; and a dark stupor covered him, and it seemed that the earth
reeled round beneath his feet, and he lay in a strengthless trance,
speechless. But when they saw him they gathered round and marvelled. And
he at last drew laboured breath from the depths of his chest and spoke
among them with prophetic utterance:

(ll. 209-239) "Listen, bravest of all the Hellenes, if it be truly ye,
whom by a king's ruthless command Jason is leading on the ship Argo in
quest of the fleece. It is ye truly. Even yet my soul by its divination
knows everything. Thanks I render to thee, O king, son of Leto, plunged
in bitter affliction though I be. I beseech you by Zeus the god of
suppliants, the sternest foe to sinful men, and for the sake of Phoebus
and Hera herself, under whose especial care ye have come hither, help
me, save an ill-fated man from misery, and depart not uncaring and
leaving me thus as ye see. For not only has the Fury set her foot on my
eyes and I drag on to the end a weary old age; but besides my other woes
a woe hangs over me the bitterest of all. The Harpies, swooping down
from some unseen den of destruction, ever snatch the food from my mouth.
And I have no device to aid me. But it were easier, when I long for
a meal, to escape my own thoughts than them, so swiftly do they fly
through the air. But if haply they do leave me a morsel of food it reeks
of decay and the stench is unendurable, nor could any mortal bear
to draw near even for a moment, no, not if his heart were wrought of
adamant. But necessity, bitter and insatiate, compels me to abide
and abiding to put food in my cursed belly. These pests, the oracle
declares, the sons of Boreas shall restrain. And no strangers are they
that shall ward them off if indeed I am Phineus who was once renowned
among men for wealth and the gift of prophecy, and if I am the son of my
father Agenor; and, w