nk from a fight with the heroes, and he
thought that he might gain all he wanted from them without a struggle.

Theseus and Peleus went to him. Apsyrtus would have them give up the
Golden Fleece; he would have them give up Medea and the sons of Phrixus
also.

Theseus and Peleus appealed to the judgment of the kings who supported
Apsyrtus. AEetes, they said, had no more claim on the Golden Fleece. He
had promised it to Jason as a reward for tasks that he had imposed. The
tasks had been accomplished and the Fleece, no matter in what way it
was taken from the grove of Ares, was theirs. So Theseus and Peleus
said, and the kings who supported Apsyrtus gave judgment for the
Argonauts.

But Medea would have to be given to her brother. If that were done the
Argo would be let go on her course, Apsyrtus said, and the Golden
Fleece would be left with them. Apsyrtus said, too, that he would not
take Medea back to the wrath of her father; if the Argonauts gave her
up she would be let stay on the island of Artemis and under the
guardianship of the goddess.

The chiefs brought Apsyrtus's words back. There was a council of the
Argonauts, and they agreed that they should leave Medea on the island
of Artemis.

But grief and wrath took hold of Medea when she heard of this resolve.
Almost she would burn the Argo. She went to where Jason stood, and she
spoke again of all she had done to save his life and win the Golden
Fleece for the Argonauts. Jason made her look on the ships and the
soldiers that were around them; he showed her how these could overwhelm
the Argonauts and slay them all. With all the heroes slain, he said,
Medea would come into the hands of Apsyrtus, who then could leave her
on the island of Artemis or take her back to the wrath of her father.

But Medea would not consent to go nor could Jason's heart consent to
let her go. Then these two made a plot to deceive Apsyrtus.

"I have not been of the council that agreed to give you up to him,"
Jason said. "After you have been left there I will take you off the
island of Artemis secretly. The Colchians and the kings who support
them, not knowing that you have been taken off and hidden on the Argo,
will let us pass." This Medea and Jason planned to do, and it was an
ill thing, for it was breaking the covenant that the chiefs had entered
with Apsyrtus.

Medea then was left by the Argonauts on the island of Artemis. Now
Apsyrtus had been commanded by his father to bring he