THE ORPHIC ARGONAUTICA: PART FOUR

Balladeer’s Blog continues examining this Orphic variation of the Quest for the Golden Fleece. PART ONE HERE. PART TWO HERE. PART THREE HERE.

As the Argo pulled into Colchis, King Aeetes and his family – including his daughter Medea – observed their arrival. The Royal Family was on hand because of a dream that the goddess Hera had sent to Aeetes regarding foreign forces that would take Medea across the seas. 

Orpheus and Jason approached King Aeetes and explained that they had come in search of the Golden Fleece and needed to acquire it so that Jason could claim his rightful throne. The wily Aeetes insisted that the fleece would be given up only to a man who could survive a series of challenges imposed on him by the king.

Jason volunteered to face the challenges himself. The love goddess Aphrodite filled Princess Medea with affection for Jason and she resolved to use her dark magic to help him survive those challenges.

The next day, King Aeetes challenged Jason do duplicate a task he himself had done when he was much younger. He must yoke a pair of bronze-hooved bulls created by the fire and smith god Hephaestus. The bulls breathed fire and were incredibly strong.

Medea covertly provided Jason with a mystic ointment which he was to apply all over his body, his shield and his sword. The ointment prevented the fiery breath of the bulls from harming Jason or melting his shield and sword. Jason used his massive strength to yoke the two bulls as required.

The next part of the challenge charged our hero with using the yoked bulls to sow four acres of the Field of Ares with dragon’s teeth. From those teeth grew fully formed and armed soldiers, but Jason’s body, shield and sword were impervious to their attacks because of the ointment.

Per Medea’s instructions, the captain of the Argonauts provoked the soldiers into fighting each other instead of him. By sunset they were all dead.

Next lay the Grove of the Golden Fleece. That grove was secured by an immense stone wall with three bronze gates. Beyond that wall was another one adorned with gold.

The fierce hunting dogs of the goddess Artemis protected the forest beyond, at the center of which stood the oak on which hung the Golden Fleece. Preventing approach to the oak was a dragon with golden scales.

Medea explained all the defenses surrounding the Golden Fleece to Jason, who sought the aid of Orpheus to convince Artemis to grant safe passage to the fleece.

Orpheus played his lyre and sang invocations to Artemis (the Orphic Hymn version of Artemis, NOT the Homeric Hymn version). He also musically summoned the Furies, Pandora and three-headed Hecate (one lion head, one horse head and one dog head).

The assembled figures persuaded Artemis to allow Jason and Orpheus to reach the oak tree on which hung the Golden Fleece, but even she had no power over the dragon created by Hades himself. Orpheus’ music lulled that dragon to sleep, enabling Jason to seize the Golden Fleece.   

NOTE: In the future I’ll delve more deeply into Orphism and spell out the details and meaning of the concert/ ritual overseen by Orpheus. It centers around the Lunar Trinity of Artemis, To save time I’m skipping that for right now.

Jason, Medea and Orpheus withdrew to the Argo, where the Argonauts readied themselves to escape from Colchis, taking Medea with them. 

I WILL CONTINUE WITH THIS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.