Chapter 7 Tales of the Argonauts-7

At dawn, their feasting was over.The Argonauts continued their voyage.After several adventures, they anchored on the opposite bank of Bisnia, where Phineus, son of the hero Agenor, lived.Because he abused the ability of prophecy taught to him by Apollo, he suddenly lost his eyesight in his later years.Those ugly and obnoxious women birds with the head of a temptress would not let him eat in peace.They took as much food as possible from him and soiled the rest so that he could not eat it.But he was very relieved when he thought of an oracle from Zeus, that he could eat in peace when the son of Boreas and the Greek sailors came.Now he heard that a boat was coming, and he left the house in haste and came to the shore.He was so hungry that he looked like a shadow, his legs trembled, and he staggered when he walked.When he came before the Argonauts, he was exhausted and fell to the ground.They surrounded the poor old man, and were astonished to see how haggard he looked.The old man woke up and begged them: "Heroes, if you are my saviour, as the oracle suggested to me, then help me quickly. The Furies not only blinded me, but also sent terrible strange birds Robbery and waste of my food. You have aided not a stranger, but a Greek, Phineus son of Agenor, who was also a king. It is the son of Boreas who can save me from my misery, He is the younger brother of Cleopatra and also my brother-in-law. It turns out that Boreas, the god of the north wind, was angry at the rejection of the daughter of Erechtheus, king of Athens, and sent her from Brought by air to faraway Thrace, where he lived, he gave birth to two sons, Zetus and Kares, and two daughters, Cleopatra and Siona.

When Boreas' son Zetus heard this, he threw himself into his arms, and promised to ask his brothers to help him drive away the strange birds for the king.They set out a table of sumptuous food for him, and before he had time to eat, a group of strange birds swooped down from the air like a gust of wind, pecking greedily.The heroes shouted loudly, but they were indifferent, still devouring the table until everything was eaten, and then flew into the sky, leaving behind an unbearable stench.Zetus and Kares pursued them with drawn swords, and Zeus lent them wings and endowed them with infinite strength.They came nearer and nearer, and could almost catch them with their hands and cut their necks off.Suddenly, Iris, the messenger of Zeus, appeared and called to them: "Hey, sons of Borias, don't kill the great Zeus's hound - the woman bird. But I can point to Styx He swears that these strange birds will never torture Agenor's son again."

When Zetus and Carles heard this, they stopped the pursuit and returned to the ship. Meanwhile, the heroes of Greece were preparing a sacrament for the aged Phineus, who was dying of starvation.He devoured the clean and rich food greedily, as if all this happened in a dream.At night, when they were expecting the return of the son of Boreas, the aged king Phineus thanked them by giving them a prophecy. "In the narrow strait of Thanos you will first encounter the impact rocks, two sheer rocks. They did not grow from the bottom of the sea, but drifted from afar, and sometimes the currents brought them together and collided, sometimes And parted them again. The tide ran between the two mountains with a terrible roar. If you do not want to be crushed, you must paddle hard and fast as you pass between the two mountains, and let the boat fly like a dove. After passing there , you will come to the Mariantine beach, which is the gateway to hell. You will pass mountains, bays, Amazons, and places where the sweaty Calybertians dig iron ore from the ground. At last, You will reach the shore of Colchis, where the mighty waters of the broad Pharis flow into the sea. At last you will see the magnificent castle of King Aeetes, guarded there by a dragon that never sleeps. with the golden fleece hanging from the crown of the oak."

After hearing the old man's words, they shuddered.They were about to ask other questions when the two sons of Boreas descended from the air among them.They brought the king a message from Aerys, and the king was glad to hear it.