Jason and the Argonauts by Apollonius of Rhodes Page B

commanded the Boeotians and Niseans
    to worship Idmon as a city founder
    and build a town around his barrow tree.
    Today, though, all the Mariandynians there
    venerate Agamestor rather than
    1100 god-fearing Idmon, Aeolus’ grandson.
    Who else died there? (The heroes surely raised
    a second barrow for a fallen comrade
    because two mounds are standing to this day.)
    Tiphys it was, the son of Hagnias—
    1105 so runs the story. It was not his fate
    to steer the
Argo
farther toward its goal.
    Once they had buried Idmon, a malignant
    disease afflicted Tiphys, left him prostrate
    and bedrid far, far, from his fatherland.
    1110 (858) Struck by these dreadful blows, the men gave way
    to absolute despair. Once they had buried
    this second fallen comrade,they collapsed
    beside the sea in utter helplessness,
    shrouded their bodies tightly in their cloaks,
    1115 and lost all love of food and drink. Grief-stricken,
    they threw their hearts away because returning
    to Greece was now outside their expectations.
    They would have stayed there, grieving, even longer
    had Hera not stepped in and filled Ancaeus
    1120 with special bravery. Astypylaia
    conceived him underneath the god Poseidon
    and birthed him next to the Imbrasus River,
    and he was wise in all the ways of seacraft.
    This fellow rushed to Peleus and said:
    1125 (869) “Son of Aeacus, how can it be noble
    to rest a long time in a foreign land,
    shirking our task? Surely the son of Aeson
    recruited me out of Parthenia
    to undertake this journey for the fleece
    1130 more for my expertise in steering ships
    than making war. Therefore, don’t have the slightest
    fear for the
Argo
. There are expert sailors
    among us, none of whom would wreck the voyage
    if we should set him at the helm. Go swiftly,
    1135 tell our comrades all these things, be firm,
    force them to think again about the quest.”
    So he explained, and Peleus’ spirit
    leapt with delight, and he was quick to shout:
    â€œWhy, comrades, are we clinging to a sorrow
    1140 (881) as profitless as this? These two have died,
    I think, the death they were allotted. Think, now,
    there are other steersmen in our crew,
    a number of them, so stop wasting time,
    cast off your woes and rouse yourselves for labor.”
    1145 Jason had nothing but despair to offer:
    â€œSon of Aeacus, where are all these helmsmen?
    Those we regarded as our guides and experts
    are lying there more dead to hope than I am.
    Thus I foresee an evil ending for us
    1150 beside our fallen friends if we can neither
    reach the city of extreme Aeëtes
    nor pass beyond the Rocks again and back
    to Greece. An evil fate, one without glory,
    will hide us here to age in idleness.”
    1155 (894) So he lamented, but Ancaeus promptly
    offered himself as helmsman of the
Argo
.
    A god’s encouragement had urged him on.
    Next, Nauplius, Erginus, and Euphemus
    stood up in eagerness to man the tiller,
    1160 but others held them back because Ancaeus
    was favored by the bulk of the assembly.
    Therefore at sunrise, after twelve days mourning,
    they boarded, since a stiff west wind was blowing.
    Quickly they rowed out through the Acheron,
    1165 then trusted in the wind, unfurled the canvas,
    and, with the sail spread taut, went coasting onward,
    cleaving their way in favorable weather.
    Soon they passed the mouth of Callichorus,
    â€œRiver of Gorgeous Dancing.”
    It was here,
    1170 (905) they say, thatthe Nysaean son of Zeus,
    after departing from the Indic tribes
    and settling at Thebes, initiated
    secret rites and set up choral dances
    before the cave where he had once spent mirthless,
    1175 unearthly nights. Ever since then the locals
    have called the nearby river “Gorgeous Dancing”
    and the cave “The Hostel.”
    Next they sighted
    the tomb of Sthenelus the son of Aktor.
    While he was marching homeward after waging
    1180 glorious war upon the Amazons
    (he had gone there with Heracles), an arrow
    struck him and laid him