Among the many heroes who assembled for the expedition were Heracles, Castor and Polydeuces, Atalanta, Meleager, and Orpheus. The illustrious crew offered a sacrifice to Apollo before setting sail, and Jason himself was under the special protection of Hera.
The first stopover was at Lemnos, an island where the women had killed all but one of their males in a rage. But after a year without men the Lemnian women welcomed the Argonauts, slept with them, and gave them gifts of food, wine, and clothing. Soon thereafter the company lost Heracles when he went to search for his squire, Hylas, who had fallen into a fresh spring in his attraction to a nymph. Since Heracles did not return, the Argonauts had to sail without him.
The Argo slipped past Troy in darkness to avoid paying tribute to King Laomedon. A bit later Polydeuces had to kill King Amycus in a boxing match before the crew could continue on. Next the Argonauts came to a place where fierce birdlike females were plaguing a seer who had offended Zeus. These creatures, the Harpies, would swoop down at every meal to defile the seer's food, leaving it inedible. So two of Jason's comrades, both able to fly, pursued the Harpies. Moreover, they extracted a promise from Iris, the messenger of the gods, that the Harpies would never bother Phineus the seer again. In gratitude for ridding him of the Harpies Phineus foretold all that would happen to the Argonauts on the way to Colchis. And through his advice the heroes were able to pass between the Symplegades, or Clashing Rocks, without mishap.
