Classical Wisdom Litterae - April 2019

They passed, with minor damage to the extreme stern of their ship. From that moment onwards, the clashing rocks stopped clashing. Finally Jason arrived in Colchis, which is on the modern day Black Sea coast of Georgia. The golden fleece was so close… and yet still far away. The precious item was owned by the King of Colchis, King Aeetes. He promised to give Jason his quest’s goal, but only if he could perform three, seemingly impossible tasks. Jason was in despair, as it involved fire, mythical warriors and of course, a dragon. But here the deities that be stepped in. Queen of the gods, Hera, convinced Aphrodite and her son, Eros, to ensure that Jason had help, in the form of King Aeetes’ daughter, Medea. With cupid’s arrow, she fell in love with our hero and so was able to aid him in each of the potentially insurmountable tasks. Jason’s first duty was to plow a field with the Khalkotauroi, or fire breathing oxen, which Jason himself had to yoke. Medea fulfilled her role nicely by providing Jason with an ointment that made him fireproof and so he was able to combat the oxen’s flames. His second assignment required that he sow the teeth of a dragon into a field. This might seem easy enough, except that the teeth sprouted into an army of warriors or spartoi . Fortunately Medea already had insider knowledge – these spartoi were not

The Persecution of the Harpies, Peter Paul Rubens, 1636

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