The Argonautica

they first must suffer at the farthest bounds of Libya.

Already far behind lay the gulf named Ambracian,

already the land of the Curetes with sails spread wide,

and all the narrow islands near the clustered Echinades

in order; just then the land of Pelops appeared before them.

And then a destructive storm of Boreas snatched them away

mid-course through raging Libyan seas for nine whole

nights and the same count of full days; at last they reached

deep inside the Syrtis, where no homeward passage

remains for ships once force compels them into that gulf.

For everywhere lay shoals, and everywhere lay tangled

masses of deep seaweed; noiseless foam washed over them,

and misty sandbanks stretched beside them; in that place nothing

that creeps or flies raised itself. There the flood tide drove them,

for often this very tide retreats backward from the mainland

then belches back, a wild, rushing torrent, on the beaches

roaring, then thrust the ship fast on the inmost shore,

and very little of Argo's keel remained within the water.

The heroes leapt down from the ship, and sorrow seized them, seeing

mist and the back of the enormous earth, as misty as air,

stretching continuously far beyond; they saw no place for water,

no beaten path, no herdsmen's enclosure shining far away,

but untroubled calm held everything in deep silence.

Then one hero in his distress began to question another: