Book 4 begins with Medea, full of paranoia that her servants and father know of her assistance to Jason. Certain of her destruction, she considers suicide, but Hera fills her heart with fear and Medea flees the palace into the night to seeking Jason. Arriving at the argonaut’s camp, she falls to her knees and pleads with the men to flee in haste to retrieve the golden fleece before her father, King Aites, can do them harm. Jason lifts her up and repeats his oath to make her his bride and take her back to Hellas, and the crew depart.
Sailing out to the grove of Ares, the crew let Jason and Medea off to pursue their quest. Moving through the forest they come upon the oak tree on which the Golden fleece hangs. But not alone: for a vast serpent; the Colchian Dragon, guards the prize. Spotting the heroes, the beast lifts its head poised to strike with a deafening hiss. But Medea uses her magic, calling upon the god of sleep, Hypnos, to bewitch the beast, as well as Hecate for her assistance. As the dragon drops its head with fatigue, Medea sprinkles a scented sleep potion upon the serpent’s eyes, causing it to to fall into slumber. Jason climbs and retrieves the Shimmering Fleece which “shone like Zeus lightning,” and the pair retreat to the Argo ship.
Back at Colchis, a raging King Aites gathers his navy and sets sail to capture his daughter and the fleece. Hera causes a favorable wind for the Argonauts, where three days later they came ashore at the mouth of the river Halys and make sacrifices to the goddess Hecate, the “night wanderer, the infernal, the kindly one.”
Argos tells the crew of an alternative route for their return: a remote river Istros (Danube) running west through vast northern territories. They set sail in eagerness, with full knowledge that the Colchian ships are in a savage and close pursuit.
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A scrumptious Italian Sausage Pasta loaded with browned sausage, onions, garlic, rigatoni, sundried tomatoes, and spinach all in an easy creamy parmesan sauce.