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King Phineus
The next island they reached was called Salmydessus and was ruled by King Phineus. The king welcomed them but was not able to have food prepared for them- Jason noticed that the king was very thin and weak. He told Jason his sad story:
"When I was younger, I did not build any temples to celebrate the gods and did not offer them any food during the year. This made the gods angry and they decided to punish me. They sent three monsters to trouble me; they are called the Harpies and they have the heads of women and the bodies of birds. The Harpies visit me at every meal and quickly steal my food and go to the bathroom on my table. Because of this, I can never get enough food to eat and am always becoming thinner and thinner.”
Jason felt sorry for the king and promised to help him. He ordered his men, Zetes and Calais, to deal with the Harpies. Zetes and Calais were the sons of the North Wind, and they had the power to fly. When the king next ate, the two brothers hid under his table and waited for the Harpies, Soon, the harpies arrived and grabbed a chicken off of the king's table- Just then, Calais jumped out from under the table, pulled out his sword, and flew after the biggest of the Harpies. The two smaller Harpies went to help their leader and tried to attack Calais from behind. Before they could reach him however, Zetes flew up behind one and pushed his sword through her wing. When the other two Harpies saw their companion fall to the ground, they flew off as fast as they could. Calais chased them until he was sure that they would never come back. They never troubled the king again.
The king was so happy that he ordered the latest party and meal that the island had ever seen. The Argonauts ate and drank until the early hours of the morning. Jason spenl the evening telling the king about his quest to find the Golden Fleece. When the king heard Jason's story, be decided to give him a warning.
"You have scared away the Harpies and brought me much happiness.” the king said to Jason- “In thanks, I will tell you how to avoid the next danger you will face. In order to reach the land of Colchis . you will have to sail between two rocks called the Symplegades. These huge rocks wait for ships to pass between them and then quickly close shut — destroying any ship and killing the men inside. No ship is fast enough to pass through safely, but there is a way. Although the Symple- gades close very quickly, they open very slowly. Also, they cannot close again until they have first opened all the way back up. If you first send a bird through the Symplegades, they will come together to destroy it. Then, as soon as you see them slowly opening again, you must sail between the two rocks. If your ship is fast and your men are strong, you should be able to make it through before the Symplegades can close a second time."
Jason thanked the king for his wise advice. The next morning, after gathering more food and fresh water, he and the Argonauls set sail again. After traveling a few days they reached the Symplegades. The men stared up at the great rocks with fear in their hearts. Jason ordered his men to row as close to the rocks’ edge they could. He then released a bird that he had caught specifically for this purpose. The two rocks came together with a loud sound, but luckily only the tail feathers of the bird were hurt. The water under the Argo raised and fell from the movement of the great rocks and the men grasped the sides of the ship tightly. When the two rocks began to open again, Jason gave the order, " Row! Row as hard as you can!”
The Argonauts each used all of their strength to row their great ship. The Argo moved forward quickly through the water. The SympJegades opened faster than Jason had expected however, and he saw them preparing to close again. **There is not much time," he yelled. "We must move faster!
No sooner did he finish speaking, than the rocks began to close together again. " Crash! ‘‘ went the rocks and Jason heard the sound of breaking wood. He quickly turned around and saw that the rocks had destroyed only the tail of the boat. They had come through the Sympiegades alive!