The Argonautica

Two bulls in my keeping range over all of the Plain of Ares,

bronze-footed both, and breathing a flame from their open mouths;

I yoke and drive them through the rough, stubborn fallow of Ares,

four ploughlands broad, which I swiftly plough clear to its boundary;

not seed-corn of Demeter I cast in the wake of my furrows,

but a dreadful serpent's teeth, as they rise, transform themselves

into the shapes of warriors, fully armed; at once I cut them

down with my spear as they ring me around and confront me in battle.

At dawn I yoke up the bulls; at the hour when evening is falling

I cease from the harvest. You, if you bring these labors to fullness,

shall carry the Fleece on that day to the house of your king;

not sooner shall I give it; dismiss any hope. For indeed it is shameful

for one born brave to yield to a man who is worse than himself.

Thus he spoke. Jason fastened his eyes on the ground at his feet,

sat wordless and still, at a loss in the grip of affliction.

For long he turned the plan in mind and found no pathway

to take up the challenge boldly; the deed loomed immense.

Only at last did he answer, selecting his words for advantage:

Aeetes, justly you have hemmed me fast and fully round.

Therefore I dare undertake this hard, overmastering challenge,

though death be my fate; no other burden can lie

more chilling for mortal men than the weight of cruel necessity,

which, by a king's hard command, constrained my journey here.

So he spoke, struck down by helplessness. Aeetes, in answer,