And after awhile Phrixus died, and was buried, but his spirit had
no rest; for he was buried far from his native land, and the
pleasant hills of Hellas. So he came in dreams to the heroes of
the Minuai, and called sadly by their beds, 'Come and set my spirit
free, that I may go home to my fathers and to my kinsfolk, and the
pleasant Minuan land.'

And they asked, 'How shall we set your spirit free?'

'You must sail over the sea to Colchis, and bring home the golden
fleece; and then my spirit will come back with it, and I shall
sleep with my fathers and have rest.'

He came thus, and called to them often; but when they woke they
looked at each other, and said, 'Who dare sail to Colchis, or bring
home the golden fleece?' And in all the country none was brave
enough to try it; for the man and the time were not come.

Phrixus had a cousin called AEson, who was king in Iolcos by the
sea. There he ruled over the rich Minuan heroes, as Athamas his
uncle ruled in Boeotia; and, like Athamas, he was an unhappy man.
For he had a step-brother named Pelias, of whom some said that he
was a nymph's son, and there were dark and sad tales about his
birth. When he was a babe he was cast out on the mountains, and a
wild mare came by and kicked him. But a shepherd passing found the
baby, with its face all blackened by the blow; and took him home,
and called him Pelias, because his face was bruised and black. And
he grew up fierce and lawless, and did many a fearful deed; and at
last he drove out AEson his step-brother, and then his own brother
Neleus, and took the kingdom to himself, and ruled over the rich