Yet he must have had some good
qualities, for his daughters loved him, and when they saw what
Medea had done for Aeson, they wished her to do the same for their
father. Medea pretended to consent, and prepared her caldron as
before. At her request an old sheep was brought and plunged into
the caldron. Very soon a bleating was heard in the kettle, and
when the cover was removed, a lamb jumped forth and ran frisking
away into the meadow. The daughters of Pelias saw the experiment
with delight, and appointed a time for their father to undergo the
same operation. But Medea prepared her caldron for him in a very
different way. She put in only water and a few simple herbs. In
the night she with the sisters entered the bed chamber of the old
king, while he and his guards slept soundly under the influence of
a spell cast upon them by Medea. The daughters stood by the
bedside with their weapons drawn, but hesitated to strike, till
Medea chid their irresolution. Then turning away their faces, and
giving random blows, they smote him with their weapons. He,
starting from his sleep, cried out, "My daughters, what are you
doing? Will you kill your father?" Their hearts failed them and
their weapons fell from their hands, but Medea struck him a fatal
blow, and prevented his saying more.
Then they placed him in the caldron, and Medea hastened to depart
in her serpent-drawn chariot before they discovered her treachery,
or their vengeance would have been terrible.
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