The Argonauts arrive at Colchis

After sailing for many days and surviving many more adventures, the Argonauts finally landed at Colchis, on the eastern shore of the Black Sea. Jason sought out King Aeetes and demanded the return of the fleece. Aeetes agreed, on condition that Jason carry out a seemingly impossible task: he was to yoke two fire-breathing bulls, plow a field, and sow dragon’s teeth from which would spring fearsome warriors whom he would have to kill.

At this point the goddesses Hera and Athena stepped in to help their favorite, Jason. They invoked the help of Aphrodite, goddess of love, to make Aeetes’ daughter,

King Phineus and the Harpies

King Phineus lived in Salmydessus in eastern Thrace.

He was a seer who had offended the gods by his all-too-accurate predictions. He had been punished with blindness and the constant torment of two Harpies, winged fiends who snatched away his meals and fouled the leftovers with an unappetizing stench. When the Argonauts arrived, Phineus ordered a banquet to be spread before them. However, the Harpies immediately swooped down and fouled the food. Zetes and Calais, the winged sons of Boreas, jumped up and, sword in hand, flew off in pursuit of the Harpies. They caught up with them on the Floating Islands, where, according to different accounts, either the monsters dropped dead from exhaustion, the gods called them off, or the Harpies themselves promised not to bother Phineus again. Because of this, the isles were renamed the Turning Islands.

In gratitude for being delivered from the Harpies, Phineus gave Jason valuable advice on how to navigate the Bosporus and warned him of some of the dangers the Argonauts would face on their voyage.

Medea, fall in love with Jason. Medea was a powerful sorceress. She gave Jason a magic potion to smear over his body, which protected him from fire. When the armed warriors sprang from the seeds he planted, Jason threw a stone among them so that they attacked each other. While they did so, he killed them one by one.

When Jason completed this task, Aeetes decided to kill the Argonauts. He unwisely confided his plans to Medea, who warned the Argonauts and took them by night to the sacred grove where the fleece hung. She drugged the dragon so that Jason was able to take the fleece. Medea fled with the Argonauts, taking her young half-brother Apsyrtus with her. When Aeetes sailed in pursuit, Medea and Jason distracted him by murdering Apsyrtus, dismembering his body, and tossing his limbs upon the waves. While Aeetes gathered his son’s remains, the Argonauts escaped.