Jason and Medea in Iolca. The death of Pelias.
Insidious Pelias didn't keep his word, he didn't return To Jason the power of his ancestors. Jason harbored a grudge and decided to take cruel revenge on Pelias. And here came to his aid Medea. Soon there was a chance for revenge. Jason's elderly father, Ason, having learned that Medea is a great sorceress, wanted her to return his youth to him. Jason himself asked Medea to make his father younger. Medea promised to fulfill this request, if only she would help her Hecate.
When the full moon came, at midnight Medea came out of the house in dark clothes, barefoot, with her hair down. Everything was immersed in a deep sleep, there was a mute silence everywhere. Medea walks silently, bathed in the light of the moon. Medea stopped where three roads converge, raised her hands and exclaimed loudly three times. She knelt down and began to whisper a spell. She conjured the night, the heavenly bodies, the moon, the earth, the winds, mountains and rivers. She called upon the gods of the forests and the night to appear to her. She prayed to the great Hecate to hear her and help her. Hecate heard her, and a chariot pulled by winged dragons appeared before Medea. For nine days and nine nights Medea collected magic herbs and roots on this chariot in the mountains, in the forests, along the banks of rivers and the sea. When she returned to Aeson's house, she erected two altars: one to Hecate, the other to the goddess of youth. She dug two pits in front of the altars and sacrificed black sheep over them to the gloomy goddess of darkness and witchcraft, Hecate, making libations of honey and milk to her. Medea invoked the underground gods, Aida and Persephone, and begged them not to take old Aeson's life. Then Oda told me to bring Ason. With her charms, she put him to sleep and put Ason on magic herbs. Medea brewed a magic potion in a copper cauldron. The potion boiled and became covered with white foam. Medea was stirring the potion with a dry branch from an ancient tree. And the branch turned green, covered with leaves, and green fruits appeared on it. Everywhere the foam of the potion dripped, flowers and herbs grew. Seeing that the potion was ripe, Medea cut old Ason's throat with a sword and released his old blood, Through a wide wound she poured a magic potion into Ason's veins. And-oh, a miracle! - the old man's hair, previously white as snow, darkened, wrinkles and senile thinness disappeared, a blush appeared on his cheeks again. Ason woke up and saw himself young, strong and cheerful again.After Medea managed to restore Aeson's youth, she decided, having made an insidious plan, to take revenge on old Pelias for deceiving Jason and not returning him power over Iolcus.
(Drawing on a vase.)
Medea persuaded the daughters of Pelias to return their father to youth, and to make them believe even more in her charms, she brought a ram, slaughtered it and threw it into a cauldron with a potion. As soon as the slaughtered ram plunged into the cauldron, a frisky lamb immediately jumped out of the cauldron. The daughters of Pelias marveled at this miracle and agreed to try to restore their father's youth.
Medea had prepared a potion, but not the one she had prepared to restore Jason's father's youth. There was no magic power in this potion. Medea put Pelias to sleep with her spells, brought her daughters to his bedroom and told them to cut their father's throat. But the daughters did not dare.
- Cowardly! Medea exclaimed, "draw your sword quickly, let out of your father's veins his old blood, and I will pour him a young one.
Pelias' daughters do not dare to inflict a fatal blow on their sleeping father. Finally, turning away, one by one they began to strike their daughter's father with a sword. Pelias awoke, mortally wounded, he raised himself on the bed and, stretching out his weakening hands to his daughters, exclaimed with a groan:
- Oh, daughters, what are you doing! What made you raise your hand against your father?
The hands of the daughters of Pelias dropped in horror. Pale they stand, consciousness leaves them. Medea ran up to Pelias' bed, plunged her knife into his throat, cut his body into pieces and threw them into a boiling cauldron. A chariot pulled by winged dragons appeared in Pelias' bedroom, and Medea disappeared on it from the eyes of Pelias' terrified daughters.
The son of Pelias, Adrast, arranged a magnificent funeral for his father, and after the funeral - games in honor of the deceased. The greatest heroes of Greece took part in them. The referee at the games was himself Hermes. Castor, Polydeuces and Euphemism competed in the chariot race, Admet and Pug - in a fist fight, Atalan with Peleem - in the fight. In the race, everyone was defeated by Ifikl.
But Jason failed to gain power over Yolk. Adrastus did not allow him to stay in Iolcus, he expelled him from Iolcus for the murder of his wife Medea Pelias. Jason left his homeland and retired with Medea to Corinth.