youth upon its back. The ram folded its wings and then the youth
stood beside it. He spoke to the people, and then the king--
Aeetes was his name--spoke to him, asking him from what place he
had come, and what was the strange creature upon whose back he
had flown.

"To the king and to the people Phrixus told his story, weeping to
tell of Helle and her fall. Then King Aeetes brought him into the
city, and he gave him a place in the palace, and for the golden
ram he had a special fold made.

"Soon after the ram died, and then King Aeetes took its golden
fleece and hung it upon an oak tree that was in a place dedicated
to Ares, the god of war. Phrixus wed one of the daughters of the
king, and men say that afterward he went back to Thebes, his own
land.

"And as for the Golden Fleece it became the greatest of King
Aeetes's treasures. Well indeed does he guard it, and not with
armed men only, but with magic powers. Very strong and very
cunning is King Aeetes, and a terrible task awaits those who
would take away from him that Fleece of Gold."

So Alcimide spoke, sorrowfully telling to the women the story of
the Golden Fleece that her son Jason was going in quest of. So
she spoke, and the night waned, and the morning of the sailing of
the Argo came on.

And when the Argonauts beheld the dawn upon the high peaks of
Pelion they arose and poured out wine in offering to Zeus, the