THE VOYAGE OF THE ARGONAUTS. 25

been drowned in its waters). Thence they sailed
along the Propontis and the coast of Mysia, not, as
we may be sure, without adventures. In the country
of the Bebrycians the giant king Amycus challenged
any of them to box with him. Pollux accepted the
challenge, and killed the giant with a blow. Next
they reached Bithynia, where dwelt the blind prophet
Phineus, to whom their coming proved a blessing.

Phineus had been blinded by Neptune, as a pun-
ishment for having shown Phryxus the way to
Colchis. He was also tormented by the harpies,
frightful winged monsters, who flew down from the
clouds whenever he attempted to eat, snatched the
food from his lips, and left on it such a vile odor
that no man could come near it. He, being a prophet,
knew that the Argonauts would free him from this
curse. There were with them Zetes and Calias,
winged sons of Boreas, the god of the north winds;
and when the harpies descended again to spoil the
prophet’s meal, these winged warriors not only
drove them away, but pursued them through the
air. They could not overtake them, but the harpies
were forbidden by Jupiter to molest Phineus any
longer.

The blind prophet, grateful for this deliverance,
told the voyagers how they might escape a dreadful
danger which lay in their onward way. This came
from the Symplegades, two rocks between which
their ships must pass, and which continually opened
and closed, with a violent collision, and so swiftly
that even a bird could scarce fly through the open-
ing in safety.. When the Argo reached the danger-

B 38