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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 Minuan heroes, in Iolcos by the sea.
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