Golden Fleece

The story of the Golden Fleece begins in Orchomenus, where King Athamas ruled with his wife Nephele (the goddess of the clouds) and had two children, Frix and Hellé. One day, however, the king decided to disown Nephele and marry Ínó (daughter of the Theban king Cadmus). Ínó, however, hated Athamas' children so much that she persuaded the king to have his children sacrificed so that the land would be spared from crop failure and famine. Just before the actual sacrifice, a golden ram suddenly appeared and placed the two children on its back and flew with them to Colchis. This ram was sent by their mother, Nephele. Unfortunately, on the way to Colchis, Hellé fell off the ram and drowned.

The surviving Frixos was warmly welcomed by King Aeetes at Colchis. As a token of his gratitude, Frixos sacrificed the ram to the gods and presented its golden skin (fleece) to the king. The king had this fleece nailed to a tall oak tree in the grove of Ares and had it guarded by a terrible dragon and a pair of bulls (they had metal horns and fiery nostrils). Further, a prophecy was made that Aiétés would live and reign as long as he possessed the golden fleece.

Frixos was given a royal daughter, Chalkiope, as his wife, with whom he fathered four sons. After Frixos' death, his descendants fell out of favor and decided to flee to Orchomenus.

Many years later, the golden fleece became the talk of Iolcus in Thessaly. Iason returned to this city and demanded that King Pelias return to power. Pelias did not refuse this request, but made it conditional on a heroic act. And that act was the winning of the golden fleece. Iason accepted the task, built the ship Argo and began to assemble its crew. There were fifty members in it, and they set out for Colchis. Along the way, all four sons of Phrixus joined them.

The Argonauts were graciously received by the king of Colchis, Aiétés, and Iásón made a demand for the fleece. Aiétés, however, would not give him up, so he set himself an impossible heroic task: "Iásón must plough the field with bulls with metal horns and flaming nostrils, sow the dragon's teeth, and when the teeth have grown into soldiers, he must slaughter them, all in one day. If he completes the task, he gets the golden fleece. If not, all the Greeks will perish." The hero accepts the task.

Hera and Athena, but especially the king's daughter, Medea, who was a powerful sorceress, helped Iason in his task. Her help was so significant because she was struck by the arrow of the god Eros and fell in love with Iason. She therefore gave Iason an ointment that made him invulnerable for a day, and moreover advised him how to defeat the dragon-tooth warriors. And so he accomplished this difficult task. Aiétés, however, suspected that one of his daughters must have helped Iáson, and therefore Medea and Iáson went hastily to fetch the fleece. In the grove, Médeia stunned the dragon, the hero took the fleece, and they ran to the ship. Aiétés pursued them, but in vain.

But when the Argonauts returned, King Pelias refused to hand over the government to Iason. Medea decided to trick him, so she offered him eternal youth. The king agreed, but instead his daughters opened his veins and he bled to death. For this murder, Iason and Medea were banished from Iolcus.