FOR PART ONE, ITS TIES TO ORPHISM AND ITS DIFFERENCES TO THE MAINSTREAM MYTH OF THE ARGONAUTS CLICK HERE. FOR PART TWO CLICK HERE.
With the Titaness Rhea placated by the funerary rites, libations and games that the Argonauts dedicated to her slain son Kyzikos, our heroes resumed their Quest for the Golden Fleece.
Reaching the Rhyndacus River in what is now southwest Turkey Jason, Orpheus and the other Argonauts paused to gather fresh water and hunt to replenish their food supplies. Herakles went hunting with his male lover Hylas and the pair got separated.
Hylas, while trying to find Herakles, encountered the Rhyndacides, nymph daughters of the river god Rhyndacus and the mountain goddess Didymos. The Rhyndacides were so awestruck by Hylas’ physical perfection that they detained him indefinitely.
Herakles, disconsolate over the disappearance of Hylas, abandoned the Quest for the Golden Fleece and spent years searching for him throughout the forests of Turkey. The Argonauts were forced to go on without him.
Soon, the Argo pulled into port at Bithynia, a city in Asia Minor near the Sea of Marmara, the Bosporous and the Black Sea. The warlike race called the Bebryces lived there, and their King Amykos had passed a law stating that no hospitality would be shown to strangers until one of them had faced one of the Bebryces in battle and defeated them.
Polydeuces of the Argonauts challenged King Amykos himself to fight him in a boxing match. Polydeuces happened to kill the king during their clash, infuriating the other Bebryces.
The entire race attacked the Argonauts, intent on avenging their slain ruler. After a bloody, lengthy battle, our heroes killed all of the Bebryces and stood in possession of Bithynia.
The next menace encountered by the Argonauts were the Symplegades in the Bosporous. The Symplegades were the Clashing Rocks which sentiently separated and clashed together over and over again, crushing countless ships which tried passing them.
Orpheus performed a song for the Clashing Rocks, charming them to the point that they could no longer move. The Argo sailed safely between them.
Before too long, the Argonauts peacefully negotiated their way past the territory of the Amazons. At last, they entered the mouth of the Phasis River in what is now Georgia. There lay the city-state of Colchis (now called Kutaisi).
Colchis was ruled by King Aeetes, whose sisters were Circe, later to meet Odysseus and his men; and Pasiphae, the mother of the Minotaur. Long ago, King Aeetes welcomed the exiled Phryxus, who had reached Colchis on the back of the Ram of Nephele.
Phryxus sacrificed the ram to the gods in gratitude over his safe journey. (So that’s the thanks it got for carrying his sorry ass all the way to Colchis!) The gods transformed the fleece of the Ram of Nephele into gold, and that Golden Fleece served as a gift to King Aeetes.
Jason knew the real struggle lay ahead, since he would have to face many dangers to persuade Aeetes into parting with the Golden Fleece.
I WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
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