Stymphalian Cranes

The Argonauts encountered them on the Isle of Ares in the Black Sea — a different flock from the Stymphalian birds Heracles had already dealt with in his sixth labour. These were Ares' own birds, sacred to the war-god, and they defended his island with the same bronze-feathered violence.

As the Argo approached, the birds rose in a dark cloud. They launched their feathers like javelins — bronze-tipped shafts that punched through shields and drew blood. Oileus was hit in the shoulder. The crew scrambled for cover beneath their shields, forming a makeshift tortoise formation on the open deck.

Amphidamas, who knew the local lore, ordered the Argonauts to make noise. Half the crew rowed while the other half banged swords against shields, shouting and clashing metal. The din worked. The birds — sensitive to sound or simply startled by the coordinated racket — broke formation and fled inland.

The method echoed Heracles's solution at Lake Stymphalus, where he used bronze castanets forged by Hephaestus to drive the birds from their marshland roost. The principle was consistent: these birds could be outfought only by noise, not weapons.

Apollonius of Rhodes placed this encounter as a way-station on the route to Colchis. The Isle of Ares was a test — not the most dangerous one the Argonauts would face, but a reminder that even the intermediate stops on a mythological voyage could be lethal. The island's birds were guards, and the noise-defence was the password.