When the king of the country , whose name was Aetes , heard of their arrival , he instantly summoned Jason to court . The king was a stern and cruel looking potentate ; and though he put on as polite and hospitable an expression as he could , Jason did not like his face a whit better than that of the wicked King Pelias , who dethroned his father . `` You are welcome , brave Jason , '' said King Aetes . `` Pray , are you on a pleasure voyage ? -- Or do you meditate the discovery of unknown islands ? -- or what other cause has procured me the happiness of seeing you at my court ? '' `` Great sir , '' replied Jason , with an obeisance -- for Chiron had taught him how to behave with propriety , whether to kings or beggars -- `` I have come hither with a purpose which I now beg your majesty 's permission to execute . King Pelias , who sits on my father 's throne -LRB- to which he has no more right than to the one on which your excellent majesty is now seated -RRB- , has engaged to come down from it , and to give me his crown and sceptre , provided I bring him the Golden Fleece . This , as your majesty is aware , is now hanging on a tree here at Colchis ; and I humbly solicit your gracious leave to take it away . '' In spite of himself , the king 's face twisted itself into an angry frown ; for , above all things else in the world , he prized the Golden Fleece , and was even suspected of having done a very wicked act , in order to get it into his own possession . It put him into the worst possible humor , therefore , to hear that the gallant Prince Jason , and forty-nine of the bravest young warriors of Greece , had come to Colchis with the sole purpose of taking away his chief treasure . `` Do you know , '' asked King Aetes , eyeing Jason very sternly , `` what are the conditions which you must fulfill before getting possession of the Golden Fleece ? '' `` I have heard , '' rejoined the youth , `` that a dragon lies beneath the tree on which the prize hangs , and that whoever approaches him runs the risk of being devoured at a mouthful . '' `` True , '' said the king , with a smile that did not look particularly good-natured . `` Very true , young man . But there are other things as hard , or perhaps a little harder , to be done before you can even have the privilege of being devoured by the dragon . For example , you must first tame my two brazen-footed and brazen-lunged bulls , which Vulcan , the wonderful blacksmith , made for me . There is a furnace in each of their stomachs ; and they breathe such hot fire out of their mouths and nostrils , that nobody has hitherto gone nigh them without being instantly burned to a small , black cinder . What do you think of this , my brave Jason ? '' `` I must encounter the peril , '' answered Jason , composedly , `` since it stands in the way of my purpose . ''
`` After taming the fiery bulls , '' continued King Aetes , who was determined to scare XXXXX if possible , `` you must yoke them to a plow , and must plow the sacred earth in the Grove of Mars , and sow some of the same dragon 's teeth from which Cadmus raised a crop of armed men .
Aetes Chiron Fleece Greece Jason Pelias Vulcan first potentate sceptre