We pick up Jason's story when the Argonauts finally arrive at Colchis ~
The Argonauts find that they have landed on the shores of a strange country "that was the strangest of all countries, and amongst a people that were the strangest of all peoples." The people tell them that this is the land before the moon came into the sky.
"And it is true that when the great king of Egypt had come so far, finding in all other places men living on the high hills and eating the acorns that grew on the oaks there, he found in Colchis the city of Aea with a wall around it and with pillars on which writings were graven. That was when Egypt was called the Morning Land."
"And many of the magicians of Egypt who had come with King Sesostris stayed in that city of Aea, and they taught people spells that could stay the moon in her going and coming, in her rising and setting. Priests of the Moon ruled the city of Aea until King Ćetes came."
It was said that Ćetes had no need of magic. Helios was his father, and if that was not enough, his friend, Hephćstus, made many wonderful things to protect Ćetes. And there was Medea, Ćetes' daughter, who was a powerful sorceress and knew the secrets taught by those who could sway the moon.
However, Ćetes had a disturbing dream - a ship, sailing up the Phasis, riding on a mist, rams his palace until it fell, destroyed. The morning following the night of his dream, Ćetes called Medea and bade her go to the temple of Hecate and search out spells that might destroy those who come against his city.
Now, that same morning the Argonauts, who had passed the night in the backwater of the river, had two youths come to them in a broken ship with only one oar. After giving them food and fresh garments, Jason questioned them and found that these youths were of the city of Aea, and that they were the sons of Phrixus — Phrixus who had come there with the Golden Ram. Their mother was the daughter of Ćetes, Chalciope, whom the king had given in marriage to Phrixus.
"And the youths, Phrontis and Melas, were as amazed as was Jason when they found out whose ship they had come aboard. For Jason was the grandson of Cretheus, and Cretheus was the brother of Athamas, their grandfather. They had ventured from Aea, where they had been reared, thinking to reach the country of Athamas and lay claim to his possessions. But they had been wrecked at a place not far from the mouth of the Phasis, and with great pain and struggle they had made their way back."
Phrontis and Melas were fearful of their uncle, King Ćetes, and would gladly go back to Greece with the Argonauts. In this vein, they pledged to help Jason persuade Ćetes to release the Golden Fleece peaceably. Accompanied by the two youths, Jason seeks an audience with Ćetes, who is immediately suspicious when he sees the sons of Phrixus in Jason's company.
They tell Ćetes of their shipwreck and rescue by the Argonauts. Ćetes sees a conspiracy in this story, but bides his time. When Jason asks the King for the return of the golden fleece, citing that it belonged originally to his ancestor, Ćetes tells Jason he can take the fleece only if he passes a test of strength and courage. He must harness the bulls with bronze hooves, plow the Plain of Ares, and plant the teeth of a serpent that will give rise to an army of soldiers.
In the meantime, Hera and Athena, determined to help Jason in his quest to find the Golden Fleece, ask Eros to cause Ćetes’ daughter, Medea, to fall in love with Jason.
"Medea was passing from her father’s house. The mist lifted suddenly and she saw three strangers in the palace courtyard. One had a crimson mantle on; his shoulders were such as to make him seem a man that a whole world could not overthrow, and his eyes had all the sun’s light in them. Amazed, Medea stood looking upon Jason, wondering at his bright hair and gleaming eyes and at the lightness and strength of the hand that he had raised."
Medea sees the hopelessness of the tasks her father has given to Jason and prays to Hecate for guidance. Powerful and skilled with drugs and magic, Medea offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. Aware that Medea has fallen under a divine love spell, Jason returns her affection and agrees to marry and take her back to Greece. He knows that Medea will be a useful tool in his quest for the fleece.
After sacrificing to Hecate, Jason sprinkles the potion Medea gave him on his skin, clothing, spear and sword. Protected by this magical drug, Jason is able to withstand the charge of the bulls and to harness them to plow the Plain of Ares. Planting the dragon's teeth in the plowed field, the earth-born warriors, an army of skeletons, rise from the ground spoiling for battle. Jason places a great rock among them and they go to war over this rock. He joins in the fighting until all are slain. He has succeeded at his task, but Ćetes does not intend to release the Golden Fleece when all is said and done.
~ to be continued
About Ares:
In Greek mythology, Ares [pron. "áris"] is the son of Zeus and Hera. Though often referred to as the Olympian god of war, he is more accurately the god of savage war, or bloodlust, or slaughter personified.
Among the Hellenes, Ares was always distrusted. Though Ares' half-sister Athena was also considered to be a war deity, Athena's stance was that of strategic warfare while Ares' tended to be the unpredictable violence of war. His birthplace and true home was placed far off, among the barbarous and warlike Thracians (Iliad 13.301; Ovid, Ars Amatoria, II.10;), to whom he withdrew after he was discovered on a couch with Aphrodite.
According to The Argonautica, the birds of Ares (Ornithes Areioi) were a flock of feather-dart-dropping birds that guarded the Amazons' shrine of the god on a coastal island in the Black Sea. His quadriga was drawn by four gold-bridled fire-breathing immortal stallions (Iliad v.352). He was recognizable among the gods by his brazen armor; he brandished a spear in battle. Vultures and dogs, which both prey upon carrion in the battlefield, are sacred to him.
In The Golden Fleece, it was the Plain of Ares that Jason plowed and planted with the dragon teeth that grew into a skeleton army. Later, Medea lead Jason to a grove of trees sacred to Ares. Here, the Golden Fleece hung on a great oak tree guarded by a dragon.
Credits:
Story source/quotes: The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived before Achilles by Padraic Colum
Page and table backgrounds: Eso Development
Golden Fleece graphic: Xtreemli Curius
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