clear voice spoke to the Argonauts. "Surely some
spirit possesses Heracles," he said. "Despite all we do or say he will
make his way to where Prometheus is fettered to the rock. Do not
gainsay him in this! Remember what Nereus, the ancient one of the sea,
declared! Did Nereus not say that a great labor awaited Heracles, and
that in the doing of it he should work out the will of Zeus? Stay him
not! How just it would be if he who is the son of Zeus freed from his
torments the much-enduring Titan god!"

So Orpheus said in his clear, commanding voice. They drew near to the
Mountain Caucasus. Then Heracles, gripping the sword and shield that
were the gifts of the gods, sprang out on the landing place. The
Argonauts shouted farewell to him. But he, filled as he was with an
overmastering spirit, did not heed their words.

A strong breeze drove them onward; darkness came down, and the Argo
went on through the night. With the morning light those who were
sleeping were awakened by the cry of Nauplius--"Lo! The Phasis, and the
utmost bourne of the sea!" They sprang up, and looked with many strange
feelings upon the broad river they had come to.

Here was the Phasis emptying itself into the Sea of Pontus! Up that
river was Colchis and the city of King AEetes, the end of their voyage,
the place where was kept the Golden Fleece! Quickly they let down the
sail; they lowered the mast and they laid it along the deck; strongly
they grasped the oars; they swung the Argo around, and they entered the
broad stream of the Phasis.

Up the river they went with the Mountain Caucasus on their left hand,
and on their right the groves and gardens of Aea, King AEetes's city. As
they went up the stream, Jason poured from a golden cup an offering to
the gods. And to the dead heroes of that country the Argonauts prayed
for good fortune to their enterprise.

It was Jason's counsel that they should not at once appear before King
AEetes, but visit him after they had seen the strength of his city. They
drew their ship into a shaded backwater, and there they stayed while
day grew and faded around them.

Night came, and the heroes slept upon the deck of Argo. Many things
came back to them in their dreams or through their half-sleep: they
thought of the Lemnian maidens they had parted from; of the Clashing
Rocks they had passed between; of the look in the eyes of Heracles as
he raised his face to the high, black peak of Caucasus. They slept, and
they t