She brought about a famine in
the land by secretly heating the grains of wheat before they were sown
and thus preventing their growth; then, by a false oracle, she
persuaded the king that the gods were angry and would only be appeased
if he offered his eldest-born, Phrixus, as a sacrifice. For the sake
of his country, the king agreed.

All was in readiness, Phrixus was on the altar, the officiating priest
had the knife raised, when masses of cloud and fog rolled over the
scene and Nephele appeared, leading a ram with a fleece all threads of
gold. So thick was the fog, that, in an instant, it blotted out all
vision; the priest's hand stayed uplifted, for he could no longer see
his victim to deal the fatal blow. Then came a rift in the fog, and,
through the swirl of mist, Athamas and Ino saw Phrixus and his sister
leap upon the back of the gold-fleeced ram.

Down the mountain and across the plain the great ram sped, and plunged
into the waters of the strait that lies between Europe and Asia Minor,
breasting the waves with ease. Helle fell from the back of the ram and
was drowned, so that the strait (now known as the Dardanelles) was
known to the Greeks as the Hellespont.

Phrixus reached the other side in safety. Following the counsel of his
cloud-mother, he sacrificed the ram to the honor of the gods and took
the fleece to Aeetes, king of Colchis. Aeetes at first received him with
honor, but later proved false to his promises of friendship and made
Phrixus a prisoner. The Golden Fleece was hung up on a tree in the
grove of Ares (god of battle and grandfather of Ino), and there the
mystic treasure was guarded by a dragon which never slept.

Now Pelias, brother of Athamas, had usurped the throne of Thessaly.
When Jason, son of the true king, Aeson, had grown to man's estate, he
presented himself before Pelias and challenged him to surrender the
kingdom.

The wily Pelias, knowing well that the people of Thessaly would side
with Jason, did not refuse outright. He demanded, only, that Jason
should show his rightfulness to be deemed a king's son by some act of
heroic bravery. Such a test was not unusual in the Days of Fable, and
Jason agreed.

"This will I do," said Jason, "name the deed!"

Cunningly the king answered,

"Bring me the Golden Fleece!"

Jason, high-hearted, set out on the quest. Since he must cross the
sea, there must be built a ship. Through the advice of the
cloud-goddess, his mother, he appealed fo