100 BOOK FOUR lines 575-607 101 May I become a serpent, with a body Of the same stock, still kept him out of Argos, Stretched full-length forward!" Even as he spoke Took anns against the god, would not admit him He stretched out full-length forward, felt his skin The son of Jove. Nor would he grant that Perseus Harden, and scales increase, and mottled markings Was also son of jove, the child begotten Sprinkle his blackening body. He fell forward, On Danae in the golden rain. But truth Crawled on his belly, with his legs behind him Is powerful: learned repentauce Drawn in, and tapering. He still had arms For his attack on the god, and his denial And tried to reach them forward; his cheeks were human, Of his own grandson. Bacchus was in Heaven, And tears ran down them, as he cried: "Come nearer, But Perseus, bringing back the wondrous trophy My poor dear wife, while there is something left Of the ~haired monster, through thin air was cleaving For you to come to; come and touch my hand His way on whirring wings. As he flew over Before I have no hand, am wholly serpent." The Libyan sands, drops from the 's head He wanted to say more, but found his tongue FeU bloody on the ground, and earth received them Suddenly forked; instead of words, a hissing Turning them into vipers. For this reason Spoke his lament: Nature had left him nothing Libya, today, is full of deadly serpents. Save this one power. She beat her breast. "0 , Unhappy man," she cried, "remain, put off From there he drove through space, the warring winds This horrible appearance! What is this? Bearing hlrn every way, as a squall is driven. Where are your feet, your shoulders, hands, complexion, From his great height he looked on lands outspread Your-all of you? Why not transform me also, Far, far below; he flew the whole world over, Gods of the Heaven, into another serpent?" Saw the cold Bears, three times, and saw the Crab He Jkked her face, glided between her breasts With curving claws, three times, whirled often eastward, As if he knew them, twined around her neck, Whirled often to the west. As the day ended, While all who stood there watching shook in horror. Fearful of night, he came down for a landing But ttte queen only stroked the serpent neck, On the West's edge, the realm of , seeking Crested but smooth, and suddenly there were only A little rest, till the Morning-star should waken Two serpents there, entwined about each other, The fires of dawn, and Dawn lead out d1e chariot And gliding, after a while, to hiding-places Of the new day. Atlas, ' offspring, In the dark woods. Now as before, they never Loomed over all men in his great bulk of body. Hurt men, nor fear them. for they both remember He ruled this land and the sea whose waters take What once they were; they are most gentle serpents. The Sun's tired horses and the weary wheels At the long day's end. He had a thousand herds, The Story of Perseus No neighbors, and he had a tree, all shining They had one comfort in their changed condition: With gold, whose golden leaves hid golden branches, India, conquered, worshipped Bacchus; Greece Whose golden branches hung with golden apples. Thronged to his temples. King Acrisius only, Perseus greeted Atlas: "If the glory 101 B 0 0 E I' 0 U R. PBJI.SEUS 103 Of lofty birth has any meaning for you, There the god Ammon, not without injustice, I am the son of jove; if you prefer Ordered a daughter, who had not deserved it, To wonder at great deeds, you will find that mine To pay the penalty for her mother's talking, Are very wonderful. I ask for rest, And Perseus saw her there, , For friendly shelter." But Atlas, doubtful, Bound by the arms to the rough rocks; her bait, . Thought of an ancient oracle of : Stirred in a gentle breeze, and her warm tears ftowmg Atlas, tbe time will come when your tree loses Proved her not marble, as he thought, but woman. Its gold, and the marauder is Jove's son. She was beautiful, so much so that he almost Fearful of this, Atlas had walled his orchard, Forgot to move his wings. He came down to her Given its keeping to a monstrous , Saying: "My dear, the chains that ought to bind you And kept all strangers off. He answered Perseus: Are love-knots rather than shackles. May I ask you "Get out of here, you liar! Neither jove Your name, your country, the reason for this bondage?" Nor glory gets you entrance here." He added At first she made no answer, too much the virgin A lusty shove, though Perseus resisted, To speak to any man; she would have hidden Argued, and tried appeasement. But at last, Her modest features with her hands, but could not Inferior in strength (for who could equal Since they were bound. Her eyes were free, and .filling The strength of Atlas?), he told the giant: With rising tears. And Perseus urged her, gently, "Well, anyway, since you will give me nothing, Not to seem too unwilling, but to tell him I have something here for you!" He mrned his back, What wrong she had done, if any; so, at last, Held up, with his left hand behind hls body, She gave her name, her country, adding further 's terrible head, and, big as he was, How her mother had bragged too much about her beauty. Atlas was all at once a mountain: beard She had not told it all, when the sea roared And hair were forests, and his arms and shoulders And over the sea a monster loomed and towered Were mountain-ridges; what had been his head Above the wave. She cried aloud. Her parents Was the peak of the mountain, and his bones were boulders. Were near at hand, both grieving, but the mother But still he grew, for so the gods had willed it, More justly so, and they brought no help with them. And his great bulk upheld the starry Heaven. Only the kind of tears and vain embraces Proper on such occasions. This struck Perseus And Aeolus by now had closed the winds As pretty futile. "There is time, and plenty, In their eternal prison; the bright star For weeping, later,'' he told them, "but the moment That wakes men to theit toil, had risen brightly For help is very short. If I were here as suitor, In the clear morning ait, and Perseus fastened I, Perseus, son of Jove and Danae, IDs winged sandals to his feet, took up Conqueror of the snaky-headed Gorgon, The scimitar, and soared aloft. Below him The daring flier through the winds of Heaven, Lay many lands, and finally he saw Yon would accept me, I think, before all others. The Ethiopians, King Cepheus' people. But to such great endowments I am trying 104 BOOK FOUR lines ?O.z-.'139 lineS13M13 PERSEUS lOS To add, with the gods' blessing, a greater service. The cause, and the reward, of all that labor. HI save her by my valor, do I have her?" Water is brought so that the victor may What could they say but Yes? They promised also Wash his hands clean of blood; before he washes, A kingdom as her dowry. Lest the hard sand injure the Gorgon's head, As a galley He makes it soft with leaves, and over them B~ do~ with all the sturdy sweating rowers Strews sea-weed for a cover, and puts down Dnvmg It hard, so came the monster, thrusting Medusa's head. And the twigs, all fresh and pliant, The water on both sides in a long billow. Absorb another force, harden and stiffen A slinger from the cliff could ahnost hit him In branch and leaves. The sea- test the wonder When Perseus rose cloudward, and his shadow With other boughs, and the same wonder happens Fell on the surface, and the monster, seeing To their delight, and they use the twigs as seedlings, That shadow, raged against it. As an eagle Strewing them over the water, and even now Sees, in open field, a serpent sunning Such is the nature of cora~ that it hardens, Its mottled back, comes swooping down upon it, Exposed to air, a vine below the surface. Grasps it behind its head, to miss the poison Sent through the deadly fangs, and buries talons Now Perseus built three altars to three gods, In scaly neck, so Perseus came plunging The left for Mercury, the right for , In his steep dive down air, attacked the monster The central one for Jove, and sacrificed That roared as the right shoulder took the sword-blade Heifer and bull and yearling steer. He wanted Up to the hilt. The wound hurt deep, the sea-beast No dowry save Andromeda in payment Reared, lashed, and dived, and thrashed, as a wild-boar does Of his reward. And Love and shook When the hounds bay around him. Perseus rose The marriage-torches, fires fed fat on incense, When the fangs struck, he poised, he sought for openings G lowing and fragrant, and the garlands hung Along the barnacled back, along the sides, Down from the timbers, and the lyre and flute At tapering fishy tail; the monster's vomit And song made music, proof of happy spirits. Was blood and salty water. The winged sandals Great doors swung open, and the golden haUs Grew heavy from that spew, and Perseus dared not Were set for splendid banqueting, and courtiers Depend upon them further. He found a rock Came thronging to the tables. Projecting out of the sea when the waves were still, So they feasted Hidden in storm. There he hung on, from there And took d1eir fill of wine, and all were happy, He struck, again, again, and the sword went deep And Perseus asked them questions about the region, Into the vitals, and the shores re-echoed People and customs and the native spirit. To Heaven with applause. Father and mother, They told him, and they asked in tum: ''Now tell us, Rejoicing, hail their son-in-law, the savior Heroic Perseus, how you slew the Gorgon." Of all the house. The chains are loosened He told them how there Jay, beneath cold Atlas, From the girl's arms, and she comes slowly forwar~ A place protected by the bulk of the mountain Jo6 BOOK FOUR lines 774-Bo3 Where dwelt twin sisters, daughters, both, of . They had one eye between them, and they shared it, Passing it from one sister to the other, And he contrived to steal it, being so handed~ And slipped away, going by trackless country, Rough woods and jagged rocks, to the ' hoxm BOOK v On all sides, through the fields, along the highways, He saw the forms of men and beasts, made stone By one look at Medusa's face. He also Had seen that face, but only in reflection From the bronze shield his left hand bore; he struck While and Gorgon both lay sunk in slumber, Severed the head, and from that mother's bleeding Were born the swift-winged and his brother. i The Fighting of Perseus And he went on to tell them of his journeys, : His perils over land and sea, the stars ~ So Perseus told hio; story, and the halls He had brushed on flying pinions. And they wanted :( Buzzed loud, not with the cheery noise that ringt Still more, and someone asked him why Medusa, ~. From floor to rafter at a wedding-party. Alone of all the sisters, was snaky-haired. rI No; this meant trouble. It was like the riot Their guest replied: "That, too, is a tale worth telling. ~ • When sudden squalls lash peaceful waves to surges. She was very lovely once, the hope of many was the reckless one to start it, An envious suitor, and of all her beauties That warfare, brandishing his spear of ash Her hair most beautiful-at least I heard so With sharp bronze point. "Look at me! Here I am," From one who claimed he had seen her. One day Neptune He cried, "Avenger of my stolen bride! Found her and raped her, in Minerva's temple, No wings will save you from me, and no god And the goddess turned away, and hid her eyes Turned into lying gold." He poised the spear, Behind her shield, and, punishing the outrage As Cepheus shouted: "Are you crazy, brother? As it deserved, she changed her hair to serpents, What are you doing? Is this our gratitude, And even now, to frighten evil doers, This our repayment for a maiden saved? She carries on her breastplate metal vipers If truth is what you want, it was not Perseus To serve as awful warning of her vengeance." Who took her from you, but the Whose power is terrible, it was homed Ammon, It was that horrible monster from the ocean Who had to feed on my own flesh and blood, And that was when you really lost her, brother; 107 Io8 BOOK FIVE lines zo-47 lines .n-8o PERSEUS 109 She would have died-can your heart be so cruel There was a youngster there, Athis, from India, To wish it so, to heal its grief by causing Whose mother was a river-, Limnaee, Grief in my heart? It was not enough, I take it, And he was beautiful, with beauty doubled For you to see her bound and never help her, By the rich robes he wore, the purple mantle Never so much as lift a little finger, With fringe of gold, and a golden chain adorning And you her uncle and her promised husband! His throat, and a golden circlet holding in So now you grieve that someone else did save her, His hair, perfumed with myrrh. At sixteen years You covet his reward, a prize so precious, He threw the javelin well, and bent the bow It seems, you could not force yourself to take it With even greater skill, and would have bent it From the rocks where it was bound. Let him alone! Once more, but Perseus, snatching from the altar He took her from the rocks-! am not childless, A smoldering brand, used it for club and battered Now, nor in my old age. He has earned his prize, His face to splintered bones. I keep my word. You have this much of comfort, And this was seen The choice was not between two men, but rather By Lycabas, who loved him, very dearly, Between one mao and death." As one boy loves another, and who wept There was no answe~ For Athis, gasping out his life, his features As Pbineus looked in doubt from one to the other Fouled in his lifeblood, and he seized the bow Wondering which to let alone, and waited, Which Athis once had bent. "You have me to fight," And then, with all the strength that anger gave him, He cried, "It wm not be long, the cheap rejoicing Let fly the spear at Perseus, but the weapon In having killed this boy: all that you gain Missed, piercing through the bench's coverings, Is hate, not praise!" As the last words were spoken. AndPerseus, all warrior, leaped down The arrow was on its way, but missed, and fastened harmless And flung it back again, and would have killed him, In Perseus' robe, and Perseus turned, and swung But Phineus cringed and hid behind the altar The scimitar that once had slain the Gorgon And so found safety, but the spear-point found And now slew Lycabas, who, in the darkness Another victim; it drove through Rhoetus' forehead, That swam before his eyes, looked once around Somebody pulled it loose, and Rhoetus groveled, For Athis, and once more lay down beside him Spattering blood across the ground and tables. And took this comfort to the world of shadows Nothing could stop them now. They all hurled weapons, That in their death tbe two were not divided. And some said Cepheus ought to die, with Perseus, But Cepheus was gone, far from the palace, Phorbas, Merion's son, and Amphimedon, Calling on Justice, Faith, and all the gods Eager to join the battle, slipped and stumbled Who care for host and guest alike, to witness In the red blood, and, rising, took the sword, That he had tried to stop it, all this madness. One in the ribs, one in the throat. Another, And then Minerva came, the warrior-goddess. Erytus, son of Actor, had an axe, To give her brother shield and reassurance. And Perseus used no scimitar against him, 110 BOOK P'IVB lines8r-1u lines 113-1J4 PERSEUS Ill But lifted a great mixing-bowl, and heaved it To grace the feast with song, and so be stood there Full in his face, and saw the red blood spouting, Holding the ivory quill, surely no fighter, The head beating the floor in death's convulsion. And Pettalus mocked him: "Sing that song in Hell, Then Perseus struck down others, Polydaemon, The rest of it, at least!" and pierced his temple, Lycetus, , Helices, Phlegyas, And as he fell, the dying fingers struggled, Oyrns, and stood on heaps of dying victims. To p lay once more, and made only a discord. Lycormas, mad at what he saw, took vengeance On Pettalus, broke his neck with a bar wrenched loose Pruneus dared not close, but fl.ung the javelin, From the iron door, as butcher kills a bullock. And missed, and by some error hit another, Pelates tried to rip another bar loose, One ldas, who, it seemed, had vainly striven And found his hand pierced by a spear and pinned To fight on neither side. Now he was angry, Fast to the wood, and ran him through, ChaUenging Phineus, "Since you force me to it, But could not make him fall, and so he hung there, Accept the enemy you have created Nailed by one hand. Melaneus was slain, And match me, blow for blow!" He drew the javelin (He was one of Pereus' men) and Dorylas, From his own body, and he would have flung it, Who was very rich, and the end of all his fortune Bot found his wound too deep, and went down lifeless. Was a spear jabbed through the groin; that spot is fatal. Oyrnenus killed Hodites; Prothoenor His killer, Halcyoneus, said something, Went down from Hypseus' sword, and Hypseus fen By way of taunt, about his new~found acres, Before Lyncides. There was one old man, And Perseus flung the spear, snatched from the wound, by name, who feared the gods Still warm, still red; it drove through nose, through neck, And cared for justice. Much too old for fighting, Hung balanced there. And, with good luck still on him, He tried to win by talking, and came forward Perseus slaughtered Oytius and Clan.is, Cursing the evil brawlers; his old hands Who had one mother at their birth, but, dying, Ouog to the altars, and struck rum there, Had different wounds. Celadon fell, and Astreos; Beheading him, and the head fell on the altar, Aethion, who, men said, foretold thefurure Still upright, and the tongue kept up its cursing, Did not foresee his own; down went Thoactes, Thickened, and stilled, and the breath failed over the fires. Cepelus' armor-bearer, and Agyrtes Ammon and Broteas, brothers, undefeated The parricide. In any boxing-boot, found Phineus' sword And Perseus, faint and weary, Too strong for them to parry, and the headdress, Found them all coming at him: honor, service, All white around the temples of Ampycus, Were nothing to them; only three were loyal, The minister of Ceres, was no helmet. Father-to-be, and bride-to-be, and mother, And poor Lampetides-he bad been summoned And all they did was fill the haJl with shrieking, To no such revels, only to play the lute, And that was hardly heard in the clash of arms, JU BOOK FIVE Jines 189-Zl6 PERSEUS 113 The groan of dying men, the while Bellona He wore as shield's device, called: "See, 0 Perseus, Pollutes the house with blood, renews the struggle. The fountain of my blood, and take this comfort And now he stands alone; a thousand follow, Down to the silent shades-a hero killed you!" With Phineos, against him, and spears flying The last words broke, half spoken; if you saw him Like slanting winter sleet. At his back he has So, open-mouthed, you might perhaps have wondered A great stone column, and he stands there, facing Why the lips made no sound, for all they tried to. All who come madly on. Ethemon, Molpeos, They were cowards both, thought , and he said so, Stalk him from right and left, and as a tiger, Said there was nothing in this Gorgon-magic, Half-starved, hears two herds lowing in two valleys, Urged them to join his charge, and he was charging, And knows not which to rush, but burns for rushing, Or would have charged, but the floor seemed to hold him~ So Perseus, hesitant between left and right, And there he stood, a flinty mao, unmoving, Gets Molpeus with a leg-wound, does not bother A monument in armor. When he goes limping off. Ethemon gives him They deserved it, No time to think, comes rushing on; the neck, All three, but there was one, a soldier fighting He thinks, is the right target, bot his sword On Perseus' side, Acooteus, whose bad luck Drives with more strength than aim, and the stone column It was to see the Gorgon, and what happened Splinters the point, and breaks the blade, and turns it Aftlicted friend, for once, and not a foeman. Into its master's throat, a wound not deep Astyages, mistaking rock for flesh, Enough for one to die of, bot another For living flesh, struck at him, and the sword Follows, from Perseus' scimitar, as Ethemon Rang with a sound not made on flesh or am1or, Stands reaching out his empty hands, in vain. And as it rang, Astyages, in wonder, Was wondering marble. It would take roo long To tell the names of all of those who perished; And Perseus knew his strength at last would fail Two hundred men survived; at least as many Before those endless numbers. "Since you ask it," Looked at the Gorgon and were turned to stone. He cried, "l call my enemy to help me. If any friend is here''-he raised it high, The Gorgon's head-"If any friends are here, And Phlneus, now, repents this evil warfare, Then tom away your f aces!" Thescelos answered: But what is there to do? He sees them all, "Seek some one else to frighten with your magic!., All images, posing, and he lcnows each one And raised his javelin, and became a statue By name, and ca Us each one by name, imploring Poised for a javelin-throw. The next was Ampyx, Each one for help: seeing is not believing, Who thrust a sword, and felt the right hand stiffen, He touches the nearest bodies, and he finds them The wrist grow rigid. Nileus, a liar, All marble, all. He turns his face away, Who said his father was the famous river Holds out his hands, cautiously, sidewise, pleading: Whose seven mouths, part silver and part gold, "You win, 0 Perseus! Take away that monster 114 BOOK FIVE lines 217-249 MINERVA AND THE MtJSES 115 That face that makes men stone, whoever she is, Medusa, or- no matter: take her away! Minerva Visits the No hate for you, no lust for power drove me Minerva, all this w hile, had been companion Into this fight; it was my bride I fought for. To her brother, of that golden shower begotten. Your claim was better in merit, mine in rime. But now, veiled in a hollow cloud she left I yield, and gladly, and now I ask for nothing The little island, passed by Gyaros, Except my life: let all the rest be yours!" By Cynthus, and went over the sea to Thebes, And all the rime he spoke, he dared not look To Helicon, where the Muses lived, and landing At the man he spoke to. Perseus made answer: On the sacred mountain, spoke to her learned sisters: "Dismiss your fear, great coward: I can give you "1 have heard of a new fount.'lin, sprung, they tell me A great memorial; not by the sword Under the hard hoof of the winged horse Are you to die; you shall endure for ages, Medusa used to own. I have come to see it, Be seen for ages, in your brother's household, This miracle; the binh of the horse I witnessed, A comfort for my wife, her promised husband, Dorn from his mother's blood.'' Urania answered: His very image.'' And he swung the head "For any cause, 0 goddess, you arc welcome, So Phineus had to see it; as he struggled And the tale is really true: Pegasus did, To tum his eyes, his neck grew hard, his tears Indeed, produce om· founrnin." She led rhe goddess Were changed to marble, and in marble still To the sacred water, and Minerva stood there, The suppliant look, the pleading hands, the pose, Admiring long, and looked at woods :md grottoes The cringe-all these were caught and fixed forever. And lawns, bejeweled with unnumbered flowers, And said that Memory's daughter.. must be happy So Perseus, victor, nod his bride, went home In both their home and camng. One of them answered: To his ancestral city, and Lhcrc made wnr "It is true, indeed, Minerva; we have often On Proecus, who had driven our his brother Wished you were one of us, though grcate.r tasks By force of :ums; but neither force of anns Call to yom· greater merit. We are happy, Nor fortress could resist the awful power Or would be, were we only safe. So far, Of the snalce-hcadcd monster. It seems, no o utrage ever is forbidden, Polydectes, O ur maiden souls are frightened; we remember, The king of little Scriphos, stood hard Too wei~ the look of that fierce king Pyreneus. In hate and unrelenting, unjust anger, His Thracian soldiery had captured Daulis, Agninsr the hero; neither manliness He ruled that land, unfairly won, and saw us, Nor trials had power to move him, and, he added, Once, on our w:ty to the temple on Parnassus. It was aU a lie, this fiction of Medusa. He knew us, and he gave us false obeisance: "So, we had better prove it! " Perseus cried, 'D:tughters of Memory, linger here, be welcome Warning his friends to look the other way, Under my roof, take shelter from the raja-clouds' And one more enemy was turned to stone. (And that was true, a heavy rain was famng)