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27
The Test
Not many days later, Jason and the Argonauts arrived in Colchis. King Aeetes did not like strangers and wished to have his men kill them all, but when he saw the strength and power of the many heroes, he decided that fighting was not the best way to handle them. Instead the king met with Jason to ask why he had come. When Jason told him about his journey to get the fleece the king grew very angry, but he did not want to start trouble with the Argonauts, so he pretended to be calm.
"You may have the fleece,” said the king, "as may any man who passes the test.”
"What is the test?" asked Jason.
"Oh, it is simple,” lied the king. "There is a large iron plow and two bulls in the field behind my castle. You only need to plow my field and plant my seeds to win the fleece. Oh, and you must plow it in one day."
Jason agreed to the king's request and went to rest for the next day's test. Of course, the king's test was much harder than Jason knew. The iron plow was too large for any man to lift, and the two bulls had iron feet and breathed fire. They would quickly kill any man that came near them. Also, the seeds that Jason had to plant were not vegetable or fruit seeds. They were seeds that caused huge men with sharp swords to grow out of the ground! The goddess Hera knew that Jason would not be able to complete these tasks alone, and she planned to help him in the night
King Aeetes had a beautiful daughter named Medea. Late in the evening, Hera persuaded Aphrodite, the goddess of love to go down to earth and make Medea fall in love with Jason. Aphrodite agreed and used her magic to fill Medea's heart with love for Jason, Once in love, Medea worried about Jason's safety. She knew that her father had tricked Jason into thinking that the test for the fleece was easy, and she wanted to protect him from any harm.
In the middle of the night, Medea went to see Jason in his room. She told Jason about the diffic ulties of his test and explained how to pass them. Just knowing how to pass the test was not enough, however- The bulls were so strong and violent that no ordinary man could use them for work- Fortunately, Medea was good with magic. She created a magic juice that made a man's skin as strong as metal for a day. She told Jason that she would give it to him if he would promise to marry her. Jason promised and thanked Medea for her help.
The next morning Jason and the Argonauts awoke and went to meet with King Aeetes. " Are you ready for your test?’ asked the king and handed Jason the bag of seeds that he needed to plant.
Jason had already drunk the magic juice and told the king he was ready. The king led him to his field where many men and women had already gathered to watch Jason try and pass the test. Jason stood in the middle of the field and waited for his enemies.
Soon the two bulls appeared. When they saw Jason, they immediately ran at him with their horns. They hit Jason many times, but each time the attack did not hurt him, thanks to Medea's magic juice. Then, Jason grabbed the first bull and tied the ropes of the plow over his neck. The bull became greatly angry and breathed fire at Jason, but the fire did not hurt him and Jason continued with his task. Soon he had tied the second bull to the plow as well. The people gathered were amazed at the strength of this handsome, young man, and they yelled out in excitement.
Soon Jason had plowed the whole field and began to plant the seeds that the king had given him. As soon as all the seeds were in the ground, each one quickly grew into a powerful soldier with a long sword in his hand. All together, the soldiers moved toward Jason. Now, Jason was not afraid of the soldiers for Medea's magic juice was still protecting him. Still, he knew that he could not defeat so many soldiers by himself. Again, Medea had helped Jason by telling him a way to defeat the army. Jason picked up dirt from the ground and threw it in the eyes of each soldier that came near him. Soon all of the soldiers could not see and they began swinging their swords wildly about them. Within a few hours, the soldiers had all killed one another, and Jason stood alone in the field.