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At his approach, the serving women parted
    a pair of finely chiseled double doors.
    Iphinoa then led him through a courtyard
    and seated him upon a shining couch
    facing her mistress, who, with eyes downcast,
    1060 released a blush across her maiden cheeks.
    For all her modesty, she told him lies:
    â€œWhy, stranger, have you sat so long outside
    our circuit walls? As you can see, no males
    inhabit here. They up and emigrated
    1065 (796) and now are furrowing the harvest-bearing
    fields of the Thracian mainland. I shall tell you
    truthfully all about our whole misfortune
    so that you know the facts as well as I.
    Back when my father Thoas ruled this city
    1070 our men would sail abroad and from their ships
    pillage the dwellings of the Thracian tribes
    who hold the mainland opposite the island.
    And when they sailed back home to us, they brought
    countless spoils, including captive girls.
    1075 This was a plot, though, working toward fulfillment,
    a vicious plot of Cypris. Yes, she struck them
    with heart-corrupting madness. Husbands started
    spurning their wedded wives and went so far,
    once they had given way to the affliction,
    1080 (806) to drive us from our homes and sleep instead
    with women captured by their spears. The fiends!
    We let it go for quite some time indeed,
    thinking they would come to change their minds,
    but their diseased condition only worsened
    1085 and soon was twice as shameless as before.
    Legitimate descendants were compelled
    to yield pride of place in their own homes.
    A bastard populace was rising up.
    Maidens and widowed housewives were abandoned
    1090 to walk the streets just as they were, disowned.
    A father never showed the least concern
    for his own daughter, even if he saw her
    brutalized by a merciless stepmother
    before his very eyes, and sons no longer
    1095 (816) avenged disgraceful slander of their mothers,
    and brothers cut the sisters from their hearts.
    At home, at dances, feasts, and the assembly
    the captive girls held sway, and so it went—
    until a god inspired us to vengeance
    1100 and we barred the gates against our husbands
    when they returned from pillaging the Thracians.
    We told them they must change their ways or pack up
    their concubines and settle somewhere else.
    After demanding all the children—all
    1105 the boys, that is—within our walls, they left
    and settled on the snowy plains of Thrace,
    where they are living still. And that is why
    you and your men should settle down with us.
    If you are willing and would find it pleasant
    1110 (829) to stay with us, you could assume the kingship
    and honors of my father Thoas. You
    will not be disappointed in our soil,
    I think. Ours is the richest, the most fruitful
    of all the islands riding the Aegean.
    1115 Go now and tell your friends what I propose—
    and please do not remain outside the city.”
    So she proposed, with half-truths glossing over
    the massacre that had been perpetrated
    against the Lemnian males. Jason replied:
    1120 “Hypsipyle, we gratefully accept
    the heartfelt aid that you are offering
    to ease our desperate need. After reporting
    the details to my men, I will return here.
    But let the royal scepter and the island
    1125 (840) remain in your possession. I am not
    refusing them from scorn, no, but because
    pressing adventures speed me on my way.”
    With this he clasped her right hand and at once
    went back the way he came. Around him maidens
    1130 from all directions gathered in excitement,
    a swarm of them, until he passed the gate.
    Later, once Jason had reported all
    Hypsipyle had told him at the palace,
    another company of girls arrived
    1135 in smooth-wheeled wagons, bearing countless tokens
    of friendship to the heroes on the shore.
    Eagerly, then, the females led the males
    into their homes for entertainment. Cypris,
    you see, had roused them all with sweet desire—
    1140 (851) she did this as a favor for Hephaestus,
    so that the isle of Lemnos might again
    fill