Chapter XX: Melampus and Bias

In the city of Pylos there lived a man named Melampus, who was very rich, and had a great deal of land and many servants. One day, as the servants were coming home from their work in the fields, they found a nest of snakes in a hollow oak, and they drove out the snakes and began to beat them to death with their sticks and cudgels. Just then Melampus came by, and when he saw what the servants were doing, he let them kill the old snakes, but finding among them two young ones less than a foot long, he took them up and carried them home. The little snakes were now very well off, for Melampus made them a bed of leaves and gave them plenty of food to eat. They were not poisonous snakes, but nice harmless little creatures, and when they grew older they had a great wish to do Melampus some service, as a return to him for having saved their lives and taken such care of them. So one day, when he was asleep, the snakes crept up to him, one on each side, and licked his ears with their fine sharp little tongues, and when he awoke he found he could understand what the birds and insects said, and he was ever afterwards able to discover things that were hidden from other men, because the birds told him about them.

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At this time there reigned over the city of Pylos a king named Neleus, who had an only daughter called Pero. She was so beautiful that no one who had once seen her ever cared to look at any other woman, and many princes came to Pylos to ask for her hand in marriage, but King Neleus said that whoever wished to have her for his wife must first bring him the cattle of Iphiclus, and that he would not part with her on any other condition. These cattle were renowned for their strength and beauty, and they were always spoken of as the cattle of Iphiclus, although Iphiclus himself had been dead a long time, and his son Phylacus now owned them. They were guarded by a great fierce dog with a terrific voice, and if anyone came to try and steal them, he barked so loudly that all the servants of Phylacus came rushing out to seize the thief and carry him off to prison. Nor could Phylacus be induced to part with the cattle for any sum of money; so when the suitors heard that the king insisted upon having the cattle of Iphiclus, they thought it was a hopeless case and went away home again.

Now amongst those who came to sue for the hand of the beautiful Pero, there was a man named Bias, the brother of Melampus, who loved her so dearly and wished so much to have her for his wife, that he lost all his spirits and fell into deep despondency because he could not think of any means of obtaining the cattle. Melampus had a great affection for his brother and longed to help him in this difficulty, so he asked the birds if there was any way by which he could succeed in procuring the cattle for Bias. The birds answered that if he would be willing to be seized {70} by the servants and put into prison for a year, he would be able to obtain the cattle at the end of that time. Melarnpus was quite ready to do this for his brother, and he set out at once, promising Bias that at the end of the year he would return with the beautiful herd. When he came to the field where the cattle of Iphiclus were grazing, it happened to him just as the birds had foretold, and he was taken prisoner by the servants and thrust into a dark dungeon. He could never see the sun there, but he was able to count the days, for he could hear the birds singing, and when they began to chirp in the morning, he knew that a new day must have dawned upon the earth. At last, when there was only one day wanting to make up the full year, he heard some wood-worms talking together in one of the rafters of the house, and he listened to what they were saying. One asked, 'Have you nearly finished the work?' and the others answered, 'Before the sun goes down, the beam will be eaten through and the house must fall.' Then Melampus understood that the house was not safe, and he called the gaoler and told him that they ought both to leave it without delay, for that before the setting of the sun it would fall. The gaoler was not inclined to believe him, for the house appeared to be in perfect condition, but Melampus would not leave off warning and entreating him, and at last he took him to another prison. They had scarcely left the house when they heard a great noise, and as they looked back it fell in ruins. The gaoler was very much astonished that Melampus should have known of this beforehand, and he told King Phylacus about it.

The old king was at this time in great sorrow on {71} account of his son, who was named Iphiclus after his grandfather. He had been married for many years, but the gods gave him no children, and the old king feared that after his death the kingdom would fall into the hands of a stranger instead of being still governed by one of his own race. He did not know why the gods were angry with his son, and no one was able to tell him. When therefore he heard from the gaoler how Melampus had foretold the downfall of the prison, he thought that he must be a wise man, and he asked him whether he could find any means of freeing him from his anxiety. Melarnpus answered that he would try to do so if the king would promise him the beautiful cattle as his reward, and Phylacus did not think this too great a price, but swore to give them to him. Melampus then begged that the king's servants might kill a cow and cut it in pieces, and that they would take him to an open field, and leave him alone with the flesh beside him. They did as he wished, and when the servants had gone away, a number of birds of all sizes came flocking towards the pieces of flesh. Melampus, however, would not let them come too near, but kept them off with a stick, and said, 'Whichever of you can tell me why the gods are angry with Iphiclus the Younger, shall have the best piece of meat as a reward.' Then an old raven, nearly a hundred years old, began to croak and said, 'When Iphiclus was a little boy, his father placed a sacrifice under a sacred oak, but found himself obliged to return to the house for something he had forgotten. Meanwhile the little Iphiclus was left alone, and he took the sacrificial knife and thrust it into the oak because he was {72} frightened at the way it glittered. I was sitting on the tree looking on when he did this. In the course of time, however, the bark has quite grown over the knife, so that it cannot now be seen.' Melampus gave the raven a great piece of flesh, and he took it in his claws and flew away with it, and Melampus said, 'Whichever of you can tell me how this maybe expiated, shall have the next best piece.' Then a vulture came forward who was skilled in medicine, and a physician among the birds, and who knew how to give counsel, and he said, 'You must dig the knife out of the tree, and when you have found it, scrape off the rust and pour it into a bowl of wine. Let the king's son drink that, and then the gods will send him an heir.' The vulture received the second best piece, and Melampus went away, leaving the birds to feast upon the remainder of the flesh. He went back to the palace and asked for an axe, with which he struck the oak, and at the first stroke he discovered the knife. It was quite red with rust, and he drew it out and scraped off the rust into a bowl of wine and told the king that his son must drink some of this every morning for ten days, and then the gods would be gracious to him. Some time after this the wife of Iphiclus had a little son, which was a great joy to the old king.

He did not fail to give Melampus the reward he had promised, and Bias took the cattle to the palace of Neleus and again asked to be allowed to marry the beautiful Pero. The king made no further objection, and the wedding was celebrated that very same day.

The god Apollo loved Melampus because he was a {73} good man, and he gifted him with the art of knowing the future by means of various signs, and of understanding how to propitiate the wrath of the gods. Many people came to ask advice of him when they were in trouble or difficulty, and among others, Proetus the king of Argos, sent to beg for his help, for he was in great distress. This king had three daughters who were beautiful and virtuous, but they refused to offer sacrifices to the god Dionysus, and therefore Dionysus punished them by taking away their reason, so that they became mad. They ran about the city, dancing and screaming and tearing their clothes, and if anyone tried to restrain them they became wilder still, and foamed at the mouth, so that no one could see them without feeling deeply grieved. It was on account of this that Proetus sent to Melampus to beg him to make his daughters well again. Melampus agreed to do so if the king would promise him a third of his dominions as a reward; but when Proetus heard of the condition, avarice prevailed over his love for his daughters, and he refused to part with any of his land. But the evil became worse and worse, for all the women in the country were seized with the same disease as the princesses, and ran about the streets and fields, raging as if they were intoxicated. Many had taken their little children with them, thinking that they were young deer which they must sacrifice to Dionysus, and it was a ghastly sight to see them murder their own children, not knowing what they were doing. The whole land was in such great trouble that the king sent a messenger to tell Melampus that he would give him the third part of his dominions if he would put an end to the misery, but Melampus {74} now said that he must also give his brother Bias a third, or he would do nothing for him. The king was very loth to give away so much fertile territory, but he feared that he might at last be obliged to win over Melampus at any price, and perhaps lose his whole kingdom, so he promised to give him what he asked. Then Melarnpus went to Argos and placed himself at the head of all the young men in the city, whom he had told beforehand what they were to do. They marched out of the city in an orderly band, till they met the raving women who had formed themselves into a sort of wild army with the princesses at their head. As soon as they saw the army of youths they took flight, and the men pursued them, shouting as if they were at war, till they reached the sea and could go no farther. Then Melampus offered many sacrifices, until the gods were propitiated and the women had their reason restored. After this, they all returned to the city. The eldest princess, who was the most afflicted of all, had fallen down dead during the chase, but the other two came back to the palace and lived with their father as before, and from this time they honoured Dionysus and offered sacrifices to him.

Melampus and Bias now became princes, and they ruled over the land which King Proetus gave them according to his promise.

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