Chapter 9 Tales of the Argonauts-9

Early in the morning, when the Argonauts were conferring, Jason stood up and said: "I have a suggestion: everyone stay on board quietly, but take your arms and get ready. I want to take Phryxus's Four sons, choose two more from among you, and go up to the palace of King Aeetes. I will ask him politely, if he will give us the golden fleece. No doubt he will refuse our request. , but he must be responsible for all the consequences of doing so. Who knows, maybe our persuasion can make him change his mind. Wasn't he also persuaded last time to agree to take in innocent people who escaped from his stepmother? Phryxos?"

The young heroes agree with Jason's suggestion.So, holding the peace staff of Hermes, he took the sons of Phryxos and his companions Telamon and King Augeas of Elis out of the ship.They set foot on a field full of willow trees.They were horrified to see many chained corpses hanging from trees.But the deceased was not a criminal, nor was he a stranger who was killed.There is a custom in Colchis that the dead man is not allowed to be cremated or buried, but to be wrapped in rawhide and hung on a tree far from the city to let the body dry.Only women are buried in the earth after their death.

The Colchis are a large nation.In order to keep Jason and his companions from being discovered by the inhabitants, the protective goddess of the Argonauts lowered a thick fog to cover them.The fog did not dissipate until they entered the palace.Standing in the front yard of the palace, they were amazed at the thick palace walls, the towering gates and the majestic columns.The whole building is surrounded by a protruding stone wall.They quietly stepped through the gate of the front yard, and saw the pavilion covered with vines and the four constant flowing fountains. The strange thing is that one spurts out milk, one spurts out wine, one spurts out sesame oil, and the last spurts out water that is warm in winter and cool in summer.It was made by the skilled Hephaestus for the king.He also made a fire-breathing copper bull and a solid iron plow.Hephaestus dedicated all these handicrafts to the sun god, the father of Aeetes, and thanked the sun god for rescuing him in the battle with the giants, letting him hide in the sun chariot and escape.

They walked from the front yard into the middle yard.The colonnades on both sides, separated from the left and right, lead to many palaces and boulevards.As the Argonauts advanced, they saw several opposing palaces.In one palace lived the king Aeetes, in the other his son Abhymitos, and in the others the ladies of the court and the king's daughters Calchiope and Medea.The youngest daughter Medea seldom shows up, because she is a priestess of the temple of Hecate and often lives in the temple.But this morning Hera, the protector of the Greeks, kept her in her palace.Just as she was leaving her room to go to her sister's, she suddenly met these heroes on the way.She cried out, and Calciope, hearing the cry, opened the door hastily and came out, but suddenly burst into a cry of joy, for she saw her four sons standing before her.They immediately threw themselves into the arms of their mother.The reunion of the five mother and son is really a mixture of sadness and joy.