Khalkotauroi

The Khalkotauroi, the “bronze bulls”, were two fire-breathing bulls with bronze hooves that belonged to King Aeetes of Colchis. Jason had to yoke them and plough a field with them as the first trial for winning the Golden Fleece, and he succeeded only because of Medea’s help (Apollodorus, Library 1.9.23).

Origin and Appearance

Apollonius of Rhodes says that the craftsman god Hephaestus made the bulls for Aeetes in his Colchian palace, with bronze feet and bronze mouths from which a terrible blaze of fire came. He also forged for Aeetes a plough of solid adamant, in return for a kindness done to him by Helios, Aeetes’ father, who had taken Hephaestus into his chariot when he was worn out in the battle at Phlegra (Apollonius, Argonautica 3.228–234). Apollodorus likewise calls the bulls “a gift of Hephaestus” with brazen feet and fire in their mouths (Library 1.9.23). Pindar describes oxen that breathed flame of blazing fire from tawny jaws and struck the earth with bronze hooves (Pythian 4.224–226), and Ovid calls them the bronze-footed bulls (Metamorphoses 7.104–105).

Aeetes kept them on the plain of Ares near Colchis. In his own words, two bronze-footed bulls grazed the field of Ares, breathing flame from their mouths (Argonautica 3.409–411).

The Trial of Jason

Aeetes’ Condition

When Jason came to Colchis with the Argonauts and asked for the Golden Fleece, Aeetes promised it to him if he could do alone what Aeetes himself did: yoke the bulls, plough a four-acre field of Ares with them, and sow it with the teeth of a serpent instead of grain. The teeth would grow into armed men, whom Aeetes cut down with his spear. Aeetes claimed that he yoked the bulls at dawn and finished the harvest by evening (Argonautica 3.401–421). The teeth were those of the dragon that Cadmus had killed at Thebes; Athena had taken them from the dragon’s jaws and given them to Aeetes (Argonautica 3.1176–1184), and Apollodorus says Aeetes had half of them, the other half having been sown by Cadmus (Library 1.9.23).

Medea’s Help

Medea, daughter of Aeetes, fell in love with Jason, and in return for his oath to marry her she promised to help him. Apollodorus says she gave him a drug to anoint his shield, spear and body, so that for one day neither fire nor iron could harm him (Library 1.9.23). In Apollonius, she tells Jason to bathe in a river, make a night sacrifice to Hecate, and anoint himself with the drug in the morning; it would give him great strength, and his shield, spear and sword, smeared with it, would be proof against both the spears of the earth-born men and the flame of the bulls (Argonautica 3.1026–1050). She also tells him to throw a heavy stone among the armed men when they rise, so that they destroy one another (Argonautica 3.1051–1059). Pindar likewise says that the fire did not touch Jason because he followed the instructions of the stranger maiden, skilled in all drugs (Pythian 4.233).

Yoking the Bulls

In Apollonius, Jason went to the field with spear and shield, a bronze helmet full of the teeth, and a sword, and found the bronze yokes and the adamant plough lying on the ground. The bulls charged out together from a hidden underground stable, breathing fire. Jason stood against them like a sea rock against the waves, holding his shield before him, and their horns and the flames did not hurt him because of Medea’s drugs (Argonautica 3.1278–1305). He seized the right-hand bull by the tip of its horn, dragged it to the bronze yoke and forced it to its knees by kicking its bronze foot, then did the same with the other. The sons of Tyndareus, the Dioscuri, brought the yoke-beam close, and Jason fastened the bulls to it (Argonautica 3.1306–1319). He then drove them over the field with his spear, sowing the teeth behind him (Argonautica 3.1320–1337). Apollodorus gives the same outcome in one sentence: the bulls charged him with a flame of fire, and he yoked them (Library 1.9.23). In Pindar, Jason draws the plough, binds the bulls’ necks in the harness, goads their huge flanks and completes the measure of work set for him, while Aeetes cries out in wordless amazement at his strength (Pythian 4.234–238).

After the Trial

When the sown teeth sprang up as armed men, Jason picked up a huge round stone, the discus of Ares, which four men could hardly lift, and hurled it into their midst. The earth-born warriors turned on one another like dogs and killed each other, and Jason cut down the rest with his sword (Argonautica 3.1354–1398; Library 1.9.23).

The bulls themselves play no further part in the story. Aeetes, however, would not hand over the fleece even though the task was done; according to Apollodorus he planned to burn the Argo and kill her crew, but Medea led Jason by night to the fleece, put the guarding dragon to sleep with drugs and sailed away with him (Library 1.9.23).

Khalkotauroi Sources

Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 3.228–234, 3.401–421, 3.1026–1059, 3.1176–1184, 3.1278–1398; Pindar, Pythian 4.224–238; Apollodorus, Library 1.9.23; Ovid, Metamorphoses 7.104–105.

See Also: Jason, Argonauts, Hephaestus, Aeetes, Golden Fleece, Medea, Colchis