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DURING the voyage of the Argo in the Euxine (now the Black) Sea, Hercules' young friend Hylas wandered into woods looking for water. He found a well. He fell or was pulled by nymphs into the water. A legend tells that a current underground seized the helpless boy and dragged him to a whirlpool in the sea, perhaps (some say -- the more fanciful) beyond the Pillars to Hyperborea, or the Island of the Hesperides. Did Hylas remain there, or did he reach land again? Did he beget children, grow old and die? What did Hylas see in the well, anyway, and in the whirlpool on his horrible journey? The legend is unclear. Some say Hylas saw the future -- all our futures. Some say, the past . . . We can only assume his adventure accomplished . . . some great purpose. |