A
sacred power was in the beam, and from it the prow of the ship
should be fashioned. Jason had them take the beam from the roof
of the palace; it was brought to where the timbers were, and that
day the building of the great ship was begun.
Then all along the waterside came the noise of hammering; in the
street where the metalworkers were came the noise of beating upon
metals as the smiths fashioned out of bronze armor for the heroes
and swords and spears. Every day, under the eyes of Argus the
master, the ship that had in it the beam from Zeus's grove was
built higher and wider. And those who were building the ship
often felt going through it tremors as of a living creature.
When the ship was built and made ready for the voyage a name was
given to it--the Argo it was called. And naming themselves from
the ship the heroes called themselves the Argonauts. All was
ready for the voyage, and now Jason went with his friends to view
the ship before she was brought into the water.
Argus the master was on the ship, seeing to it that the last
things were being done before Argo was launched. Very grave and
wise looked Argus--Argus the builder of the ship. And wonderful
to the heroes the ship looked now that Argus, for their viewing,
had set up the mast with the sails and had even put the oars in
their places. Wonderful to the heroes Argo looked with her long
oars and her high sails, with her timbers painted red and gold
and blue, and with a marvelous figure carved upon her prow.
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