Gods, Demigods and Demons by Bernard Evslin

Author:Bernard Evslin [Evslin, Bernard]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
ISBN: 978-1-4532-6438-6
Publisher: Open Road
Published: 2012-10-03T20:11:00+00:00

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Jason (JAY sun): Leader of the Argonauts in their search for the Golden Fleece. Jason had a valid claim to the throne of Iolchus, a situation which the usurping king, his uncle, Pelias, found intolerable. The yellow-haired prince was very popular and Pelias did not dare to kill him but did the next best thing. He sent him on a mission which had always proved fatal — to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the savage king Aeetes, of Colchis, and his even more dangerous daughter, the witch-princess Medea. Jason, however, was attracted by danger and sent heralds to proclaim his quest throughout the lands of the Inner Sea. The table of their names is the most illustrious roll-call of heroes ever assembled in one spot. Peleus was there, greatest warrior of his time; the invincible twins, Castor and Polydeuces. Atalanta, fleet-footed huntress; and some forty other battle chiefs, the noblest and bravest of their day. Orpheus came to sing his songs and fill their hearts with hope. And Argos, the master shipwright, built them a ship called the Argo which gave its name to their quest. Before launching the ship they sacrificed to all the gods. Jason aimed an especially fervent prayer at Aphrodite who had always been his favorite among the Olympians. She resolved to help him by lighting torches of desire in his path, and this incendiary aid was to have very mixed consequences. It was a long hard voyage. They encountered storms, pirates, man-eating birds, wild women, rocks that pursued them trying to grind their hull to bits, and a tribe of six-handed giants. They were able to beat off their enemies with the formidable assistance of Heracles, who had joined them briefly. But he left the expedition in mid-voyage, to the unspoken relief of his shipmates, who knew that his smoldering temper and wild strength made him almost as dangerous a friend as a foe. When they reached Colchis, Jason with two companions tried a swift night raid on the shrine of the Fleece. But they were captured and condemned to the Ordeal of the Plow — which meant yoking up two bulls and ploughing a field. The bulls were not ordinary, but huge fire-breathing beasts with brass horns and brass hooves. No one had ever lived through the first minutes of this test. Now it was that Aphrodite took a hand. She dispatched her son, Eros, archer of love, to shoot his sweetly envenomed arrows into the heart of Medea, daughter of Aeetes and a high-priestess of Hecate, a powerful sorceress. Driven half mad by her newly aroused passion, she decided to betray her father and use all her demonish knowledge to save the handsome young prisoner. Visiting him secretly in his cell, she made him promise to love her and in return anointed him with a magical oil which would protect him against the flaming breath of the bulls. The next day, made invulnerable by Medea’s ointment and using some potent incantations she had taught him, Jason subdued the brass bulls and ploughed the field.

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