Ques. What was the Golden Fleece?
Ans. Phryxus, son of Athamas, king of Thebes, received from his mother a ram of a golden color, or, according to fable, with a fleece of pure gold. Some time after, Phryxus and his sister Helle, to escape from their step-mother Ino, attempted to cross the sea on this ram. Helle became terrified, and was drowned in the straits which are called from her, Hellespont. Phryxus arrived in safety at Colchis, where he sacrificed the ram to Jupiter, who placed it among the signs of the Zodiac. The fleece was hung in a grove sacred to Mars, where it was guarded by bulls who breathed flame from their nostrils, and also by a sleepless dragon. When Jason demanded his father’s throne, his uncle, who wished to continue in the government, persuaded him to undertake an expedition for the recovery of the Golden Fleece. Jason, with some brave companions, among whom were Hercules, Orpheus, Castor and Pollux, went on board a ship called the Argo, from which circumstance they were called Ar´gonauts. On arriving at Colchis, they demanded the fleece, which the king, Æetes, promised to Jason on condition that he would tame the wild bulls that guarded it, kill the dragon, sow his teeth in the ground, and afterwards destroy the soldiers who should spring from them. Jason accepted the conditions, but would inevitably have perished, had not Mede´a, the king’s daughter, saved him by her magical arts. Jason obtained the fleece, and fled by night from Colchis, carrying with him Mede´a, whom he married, in fulfilment of the engagement which he had made.
Ques. What else is related of Mede´a?
Ans. She lived for some time happily with Jason, upon whom she conferred an additional favor by restoring his aged and decrepit father to the vigor and beauty of youth. Jason was ungrateful for these benefits, and divorced Mede´a in order that he might marry Creusa, the daughter of the king of Corinth.
Ques. What was Mede´a’s revenge?
Ans. She murdered, in the sight of their father, the two children whom she had borne to Jason, and consumed his palace and bride in a conflagration raised by her art. As Jason was about to rush upon the sorceress, she rose in the air in a flying chariot, and escaped to Athens.
THESEUS.
Ques. Who was Theseus?
Ans. He was the son of Æ´geus, king of Athens. The Athenians were obliged to send every year, as tribute to Crete, seven of the noblest of their young men, and as many maidens. These were usually devoured by a horrible monster called Minotaur, whom Minos, the king of Crete, kept in the Labyrinth.
Ques. What was the Labyrinth?