Jason and the Golden Fleece

Book 4 opens with the poet requesting the Muse to describe Medea’s “suffering and thoughts” since he is not sure what motives compelled her to abandon her home and people.

Furious Aietes knows that Medea must have helped Jason. Terrified, Medea considers suicide, but Hera causes her to run away with the sons of Phrixos instead. At night, she packs up her drugs and runs to Jason, promising to get the fleece for him and warning that they will have to flee immediately after: She needs his protection. After Jason swears to make her his wife, they proceed to the sacred grove. Medea enchants the dragon that guards the fleece into sleep. While she rubs drugs on its head, Jason grabs the fleece. Returning to the Argo, they prepare for immediate departure. Jason dresses in battle gear as they row out.

Realizing they have gone, Aietes rages, warning the Colchians that they will suffer his wrath if they do not bring back his daughter so that he can punish her. They set off in their ships, but Hera causes a favorable wind to help the Argonauts. Medea sacrifices to Hekate while the Argonauts ponder how to escape. After Argos suggests a route, Hera sends a good omen.

After the Colchians cut off the Argonauts’ potential escape routes, the Argonauts land on an island, claiming their possession of the fleece is legitimate since Aietes promised it to them if they succeeded at the tasks he set. When the Argonauts allow the local king to decide whether Medea should be returned to her father, she berates Jason, wanting to burn everything down and throw herself in the flames. Jason tries to calm her, reminding her that they are outnumbered by Colchian forces and must find a way to avoid getting killed. She devises a ruse to trick Apsyrtos into meeting her, and Jason ambushes and kills him. Medea signals to the Argonauts, who wipe out the Colchian crew. Jason shows up at the end but is not needed.

After the battle, the surviving Colchians scatter, afraid to return to Colchis. The Argonauts set off again, but Zeus, angry about Apsyrtos’ death, decides Jason and Medea must be purified by Kirke. The Argo speaks the message from Zeus. The journey is long and dangerous, but Hera guards them with mist. In Aiaie, they find Kirke purifying herself from nightmares. Jason and Medea present themselves as suppliants, and she performs the purification rituals for them. After, when she asks for details, Medea discloses events at Colchis but omits Apsyrtos’ murder. Kirke is not fooled, however, and warns Medea that Aietes will come for her, then sends her away.

Iris reports to Hera, who mobilizes support for the Argonauts. She rallies Hephaestus, Zephyr, and Thetis to guard the heroes against Skylla and Charybdis. Thetis appears to Peleus to inform him of the plan. He is upset with her because she abandoned him when Achilles was a baby, but he relays her instructions to the Argonauts. Passing the sirens, the Argonauts almost succumb to their song, but Orpheus drowns it out with his lyre. To safely navigate Skylla, Charybdis, and the Plankton Rocks, Nereids pass the Argo from hand to hand, as when young girls “play with a round ball” (121). Hephaestus, Hera, and Athena all pause to watch.

Arriving at the Phaeacians, Medea supplicates queen Arete, wife of king Alkinoos. The Colchians appear in force, demanding the return of Medea and prepared for battle. Alkinoos ponders how to avoid violence. Medea begs the Argonauts not to send her back, reminding them of their oaths before the gods to protect her in her vulnerable circumstances, wandering without a country or parents.

Feeling pity for Medea, Arete asks Alkinoos to save her despite her mistake. Alkinoos wants to help but fears Aietes’ power. Finally, Alkinoos decides that if Jason and Medea have consummated their marriage, he will not separate husband and wife, but if they have not, he will return her. After Alkinoos falls asleep, Arete hurriedly summons a herald to carry the message to Jason that he should consummate his relationship with Medea. The heroes receive the news joyfully and quickly arrange a marriage ceremony. The following day, the Phaeacian women bring gifts for the bride, animals are prepared for sacrifice, and nymphs sing wedding songs with the Argonauts. After Alkinoos delivers his verdict, the Colchians ask to stay, fearing their return to Aietes. The Argonauts depart, but more suffering awaits them in Libya.

The North Wind blows the Argo into the gulf of Sirte, where the Argonauts become trapped. Believing they are doomed, they disperse along the shore to wander and mourn their fate. Local deities appear to Jason, offering encouragement and instructions that Peleus interprets: The Argonauts must carry their ship to a gulf. For 12 days and nights, they shoulder the Argo across the desert until they reach Atlas’ territory. The Hesperides lament and turn to dust when the heroes appear. Orpheus prays to them to reveal a water source. The Hesperides take pity on the heroes and reveal a stream found by a man wearing “a giant lion” skin who passed through the previous day, complaining that he killed Ladon, the dragon that guarded Atlas’ apples (132). The Argonauts realize the Hesperides refer to Herakles and rejoice, longing to find him.

Three Argonauts die of various causes and are mourned. The Argo wanders in search of a channel to the open sea. Orpheus suggests propitiating local gods, and Triton appears. He gives Euphemos a clod of Libyan earth and, after Jason prays and sacrifices to him, appears in his divine form and leads them to the sea. Arriving at Crete, a giant, Talos, tries to prevent them from making landfall, but Medea destroys him with evil glances and incantations that cause a fatal injury to his ankle, his one vulnerable spot. The heroes camp on Crete for the night, dedicating a shrine to Minoan Athena at dawn before departing again. As they race on, darkness engulfs them. Jason offers a prayer to Apollo, and he lights their way with his golden bow.

An island appears, and they land safely, establishing a sanctuary to Apollo where they offer prayers, sacrifices, and libations. As they prepare to depart the following day, Euphemos recalls his dream of the previous night: He was nursing the clod of earth that Triton gifted him, from which a maiden came forth. Euphemos made love to the maiden but lamented doing so since he considered her his daughter. She consoled him that she was not his daughter but the daughter of Triton and Libya and his children’s nurse. She asked him to “[e]ntrust me to the daughters of Nereus” so that later she could “go towards the sun’s rays” when “ready for your descendants” (139). Jason instructs Euphemos to throw the clod of earth into the sea so the gods can make it onto an island where Euphemos’ future children will dwell. Euphemos follows Jason’s instructions, and the island Kalliste arises, “the holy nurse of the sons of Euphemos,” who wander from Lemnos to Sparta, to Kalliste, which will become Thera, “long after Euphemos” (140).

The heroes next arrive in Aegina, then sail back to Iolkos uneventfully, and the poet closes with a plea for the heroes to “be gracious” (140).