The Argonautica

Do not clasp my knees as a suppliant here at my hearth, for I

will neither approve your plans nor your dishonorable flight.

So she spoke. Unendurable anguish seized the maiden; her mantle

she drew around both eyes and poured out lamentation, until

the hero clasped her hand and led her out from the palace,

trembling with fear; together they left the dwelling of Circe.

Nor did they pass unseen by the wife of Zeus, the son of Cronus;

Iris informed Hera once she perceived the two of them departing.

Hera herself had instructed the goddess to keep watch for them

when they went shipward; once again she urged her, saying:

Dearest Iris, if ever before you fulfilled my commandments,

come now, range swiftly away on the speed of your pinions,

and bid Thetis rise from the sea and come here before me.

Now urgent need for Thetis presses upon me. Next,

go where Hephaestus' anvils ring along the fiery shore,

all made of bronze, are struck by the force of his sturdy hammers.

Tell him to still his blazing bellows while Argo sails

past them; next speed onward to Aeolus' halls,

Aeolus rules winds born in cloudless air,

and tell him my full design: let every gust of wind

fall still beneath the sky; let no breeze

roughen the sea; but let Zephyr blow as their following wind

until at last they safely reach Alcinous' Phaeacian island.

So Hera spoke. At once Iris leapt from the heights of Olympus