5 Challenge at Colchis

Chapter 5 Challenge at Colchis The next day, Jason went to find Aeetes*, the king of Colchis. "I've come for the Golden Fleece," he explained. "You can have it if you do the tasks I set for you," said Aeetes.

Aeetes didn't want Jason to have the fleece at all. He had a cunning plan. "First, you must tame two bulls and use them to dig up a field," he said. Then, you must sow the field with dragons' teeth. Jason's heart sank. That sounded impossible! But he nodded bravely.

He had no idea how he would do it. He went back to his ship and talked to the Argonauts. None of them had any ideas, either.

But there was something that Jason didn't know. The king's daughter, Medea*, had seen him at the palace. She had fallen in love with him on the spot. Medea had heard her father set the impossible task. She was determined to help Jason.

At last, she had an idea. "Hecate*, the goddess of magic!" Medea thought. "She'll help me." In the dead of night, she drove her chariot through the woods to Hecate's temple. Quickly! There's no time to lose.

There, she knelt in front of the altar and pleaded with the goddess. Please tell me what to do, Hecate! Hecate told her to make a magic potion with herbs from the woods. "I'll do it now," said Medea.