Warriors in Bronze (17 page)

The king's
mouth opened; silently he counted. 'Fifteen sack-
loads. And
this is only half?'

'Exactly
half.
The rest,
after rewarding
my crew, I
deposited
at Corinth's
port.'

Atreus
scanned the sailors who busied about the ship, stack­
ing oars,
coiling ropes, lowering
the mast. 'These are not the
Heroes who
sailed with you
to
Colchis?'

'No. They left me at
Iolcos and later
landfalls
in
Achaea. I
recruited
ordinary seamen in their
place.'

'Where did you leave
Hercules?'

That blasted
nuisance!
He
behaved
like a
thundering
pest
from the start. Never,
to my knowledge, been
to
sea before.
Didn't stop
him trying to interfere. You'd think his strength
would
help
the
rowing.
Not
so. Clumsy lout
kept
breaking his
oar. After
clearing the Hellespont
we
beached one day in
Mysia. I told
the
crew
to
stay
by the ship
-
the natives can
be
hostile
on
these unknown foreign shores. Hercules defied my
orders,
wandered into the woods. When he hadn't shown in
the morning I re-embarked and left him.' Jason grinned. 'We all
felt
better afterwards.'

'You marooned him?' asked Atreus, startled.

'Just that. Mysia's not very far. The bastard will find a way
back. Unfortunately.'

Atreus, like his brother, had not failed to notice the woman
aboard. He nodded in her direction and said lightly, 'A slave
you bought on the way, or perhaps a captive taken from the
enemies you encountered ? She's extraordinarily lovely!'

Jason made a face. 'My wife Medea, daughter of the King of
Colchis. I meant to leave her in Iolcos, but a palace revolution
killed my brother Pelias and we had to sail in a hurry. She
won't let me out of her sight. Medea is not,' said Jason ruefully,
'a lady to be tampered with.'

(The mariner, I learned later, told less than half the truth.
Medea, hoping to put her husband on Iolcos' throne, had insti­gated Pelias' murder in a rather horrible way. His son, discover­ing the facts, chased her and Jason out. Undoubtedly a woman
worth avoiding!)

Slaves off-loaded the precious cargo and piled it into wagons
under Atreus' watchful eye. Thyestes detailed an escort; oxen
strained at the yokes and the convoy trundled away on the
Argos road. Eurystheus invited Medea and Jason to dine in
Tiryns' Hall. Thyestes swiftly ousted his Companion from the
chariot, mounted the lady instead and took the reins. Jason,
riding in my car - I had not yet found a Companion and drove
myself
-
missed none of this little ploy, and observed wryly, 'I
wish the Lord of Tiryns luck - but really he hasn't a chance.
Medea won't look at another man, and she's jealous as a lioness
in whelp.'

Jason described during dinner the hazards of his unique
voyage to Colchis: adventures since renowned, embroidered
and exaggerated, a favourite epic sung by the bards in every
palace Hall. Eurystheus listened entranced; Atreus showed
more interest in the mercantile side of the quest.

'I understand these Colchians are more or less barbarians?'

'Fairly savage, yes, but endowed with primitive cunning.'
Jason drained his cup, and appreciatively smacked his lips.
'Vintage Pramnian, if I'm not mistaken - a change from the
muck I've been drinking lately. They have little idea of their
gold dust's value but are keen as knives when it comes to
barter. Cleaned out all my trade goods, and demanded more.
An ugly crisis developed, but Medea calmed them down. She'd
fallen arse over tip in love, did anything I wanted. So I married
the girl and promised to return. Otherwise we mightn't have
escaped.'

The woman from Colchis sat stiffly erect in her chair, bale­ful viridian eyes like gems in an ivory face. Thyestes assidu­ously plied her with food and wine and conversation; he might
as well have talked to the wall. Her attention and regard stayed
immovably fixed on her husband.

Jason smiled sardonically. 'Medea's mastery of our tongue is
slight as a harlot's virtue. I fear my lord of Tiryns wastes his
breath.'

Atreus laughed. 'My brother's a vaunted seducer - boasts
that he never fails. Do him good to assault an impregnable fort.
Will you go back to Colchis ?'

'Not flaming likely! I've made my pile and crave a quiet life.
Settle in Corinth, perhaps - a pleasant town.'

Atreus, deep in thought, drummed fingers on the table, swal­lowed a honeyed fig and said, 'You've found an opening for
trade, and a perennial source of gold.' He addressed the king. 'I
believe, sire, we should emulate Jason's cruise, and equip an
annual expedition to bring the gold from Colchis. Not a single
ship, but several, all laden with the goods the Colchians
want.'

Eurystheus looked doubtful. 'Surely a risky venture? You
encountered many perils on the voyage ?'

'Nothing insurmountable. Quite straightforward for well-
found ships and capable seamen. Only one genuine obstacle.
The Hellespont.' Jason wetted a fingertip in wine, traced lines
on the cedarwood table. 'A narrow strait and a day's hard
rowing. The entrance is a problem: tortuous and full of reefs.
Northerly four-knot current and strong north-easterly winds
three-quarters of the year. A proper brute.'

Atreus looked disappointed. 'Is there no way round?'

'You don't know the geography, my lord.' Jason sucked wine
from his nails. 'No way round, but one across. You could dis­embark here' - a finger stabbed
-
'at a promontory abutting the
entrance, carry your cargoes over the projecting peninsula,
thus, and re-embark at a bay - about there - within the Helles­pont. ''Which means,' said Atreus, 'a squadron stationed perman­ently at the re-embarkation bay and a fleet of wagons ashore to
carry the goods.'

'Exactly. Worth it, I'd say.'

Eurystheus said uncertainly, The overland route crosses
Trojan territory. Should we not get leave from Laomedon of
Troy?'

The Marshal nodded. 'It might be wise. I can't see him raising
objections. Do you consider the project feasible, sire?'

'It sounds possible, certainly - and we want that gold. The
plan demands a lot of ships. We can hire galleys from Crete,
and perhaps —'

'No!' said Atreus strongly. 'Let's not depend on foreign fleets.
Far wiser to build our own in Nauplia's yards. It is time, and
more than time, Mycenae sailed a navy of her own! How
otherwise can we guarantee safe passage for our gold ships
against pirates roving the seas from Phoenicia and Caria?
Would Pylos threaten our shores if we had a fleet in being ?'

His Marshal's vehemence shook the king. An obstinate ex­pression crossed sere and wrinkled features. 'You urge an
ambitious programme, my lord - and a considerable change in
policy. This is not a matter for decision during gossip after
dinner. Tomorrow, at Mycenae, we'll discuss the scheme in
Council.'

Eurystheus rose from the throne. Everyone stood respect­fully. Attended by squires he left the Hall. Atreus lifted a
golden goblet, drank deep and winked at Jason. 'I'll sway him,
never fear. You'll see regular voyages to Colchis before three
years are out!'

(Atreus kept his word. A fleet navigated the Hellespont in the
second year of his reign; every spring thereafter a convoy
lifted anchor and sailed from Nauplia's harbour, transhipped at
the Hellespont's mouth and awaited return of the gold ships.
Every captain, in Jason's honour, named his galley 'Argo', and
many notable Heroes crewed the first and subsequent trips.
They all liked to pretend they had braved the original voyage
with Jason; and the tactful bards who enshrine our legends
never contradict Heroes.)

Thus was born the genesis of Mycenaean sea power - and
a

cardinal cause of the war we fought against Troy.

** *

At the King's command Scribes recorded Jason's instructions
for sailing a ship to Colchis, noting landfalls, tides and currents,
stellar observations, the friendliness - or otherwise - of in­habitants on the way. Jason and his formidable wife then de­parted for Corinth, where King Eurystheus granted him a
manor. (They lived in Corinth for several years and bred a
brace of children; until a harried and henpecked Jason skipped
to Thebes and married Creon's daughter. Medea's smouldering
savagery flared in a blaze of vengeance. She immediately killed
her children, followed her errant husband and contrived to
poison his bride. Escaping to Athens she bewitched old King
Aegeus, who installed her in his palace as a concubine. Nobody
seems to know what became of her thereafter; she may be
alive today - a frightening thought.)

Atreus devoted himself to building a powerful fleet. Wood­men roamed the forests, felled cypress and oak and pine;
waggoners in hundreds hauled the logs to Nauplia; shipwrights
adzed and sawed and planed; sail- and cable-makers laboured
from dawn until nightfall. The Marshal journeyed often to the
port, supervised construction and hurried on the work. Com­bined with his other duties - adviser-in-chief to the king, Leader
of the Host, ambassador-at-large - the task became a burden
heavier than even Atreus could bear.