on anointed with it invulnerable for the
space of one day against fire and steel, and invincible against any
adversary however powerful. With this salve she instructed him to anoint
his spear and shield on the day of his great undertaking. She further added
that when, after having ploughed the field and sown the teeth, armed men
should arise from the furrows, he must on no account lose heart, but
remember to throw among them a huge rock, over the possession of which they
would fight among themselves, and their attention being thus diverted he
would find it an easy task to destroy them. Overwhelmed with gratitude,
Jason thanked her, in the most earnest manner, for her wise counsel and
timely aid; at the same time he offered her his hand, and promised her he
would not return to Greece without taking her with him as his wife.

Next morning Aetes, in all the pomp of state, surrounded by his family and
the members of his court, {225} repaired to a spot whence a full view of
the approaching spectacle could be obtained. Soon Jason appeared in the
field of Ares, looking as noble and majestic as the god of war himself. In
a distant part of the field the brazen yokes and the massive plough met his
view, but as yet the dread animals themselves were nowhere to be seen. He
was about to go in quest of them, when they suddenly rushed out from a
subterranean cave, breathing flames of fire, and enveloped in a thick
smoke.

The friends of Jason trembled; but the undaunted hero, relying on the magic
powers with which he was imbued by Medea, seized the oxen, one after the
other, by the horns, and forced them to the yoke. Near the plough was a
helmet full of dragon's teeth, which he sowed as he ploughed the field,
whilst with sharp pricks from his lance he compelled the monstrous
creatures to draw the plough over the stony ground, which was thus speedily
tilled.

While Jason was engaged sowing the dragon's teeth in the deep furrows of
the field, he kept a cautious look-out lest the germinating giant brood
might grow too quickly for him, and as soon as the four acres of land had
been tilled he unyoked the oxen, and succeeded in frightening them so
effectually with his weapons, that they rushed back in terror to their
subterranean stables. Meanwhile armed men had sprung up out of the furrows,
and the whole field now bristled with lances; but Jason, remembering the
instructions of Medea, seized an immense rock and hurled it into the midst
of