Page:History of Greece Vol I.djvu/267

 PHINEUS AND THE HARPIES. 235 They next stopped in the country of the Bebrykians, where the boxing contest took place between the king Amykus and the Argonaut Pollux: 1 they then proceeded onward to Bithynia, the residence of the blind prophet Phineus. His blindness had been inflicted by Poseidon as a punishment for having communi- cated to Phryxus the way to Kolchis. The choice had been al- lowed to him between death and blindness, and he had preferred the latter. 2 He was also tormented by the harpies, winged mon- sters who came down from the clouds whenever his table was set, snatched the food from his lips and imparted to it a foul and unapproachable odor. In the midst of this misery, he hail- ed the Argonauts as his deliverers his prophetic powers having enabled him to foresee their coming. The meal being prepared for him, the harpies approached as usual, but Zetes and Kalais, the winged sons of Boreas, drove them away and pursued them. They put forth all their speed, and prayed to Zeus to be enabled to overtake the monsters ; when Hermes appeared and directed them to desist, the harpies being forbidden further to molest Phineus, 3 and retiring again to their native cavern in Krete. 4 Phineus, grateful for the relief afforded to him by the Argo- nauts, forewarned them of the dangers of their voyage and of the precautions necessary for their safety; and through his suggestions they were enabled to pass through the terrific rocks called Sym- plegades. These were two rocks which alternately opened and Kinsethon said that Ilerakles had placed the Kian hostages at Trachin, and that the Kians ever afterwards maintained a respectful correspondence with that place (Schol. Ap. Eh. i. 1357). This is the explanatory legend con- nected with some existing custom, which we are unable further to unravel 1 See above, chap. viii. p, 1 69. 2 Such was the old narrative of the Hesiodic Catalogue and Eoiai. See Schol. Apollon. Rhod. ii. 181-296. 3 This again was the old Hesiodic story (Schol. Apoll. Rhod. ii. 296), Apollodorus (i. 9, 21), Apollonius (178-300), and Valerius Flacc. v iv. 428- 530) agree in most of the circumstances. 4 Such was the fate of the harpies as given in the old Naupaktian Verses (See Fragm. Ep. Grace. Duntzer, Naupakt. Fr. 2. p. 61). The adventure of the Argonauts with Phineus is given by Diodorus in a manner totally different (Diodor. iv. 44) : he seems to follow Dionysius of Mitylene (see Schol. Apolion. Rhod. ii. 207).