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You are here: Home / Mythology / What Was the Golden Fleece In Greek Mythology and Why Did King Aeetes Sacrifice the Bull To Zeus?

What Was the Golden Fleece In Greek Mythology and Why Did King Aeetes Sacrifice the Bull To Zeus?

March 11, 2020 by Karen Hill

The Golden Fleece was a coat of fur from a sacred bull that had been sent by Zeus to rescue a child about to be sacrificed by his father.

The bull swooped down to the altar, placed the boy on his back, and escaped.

The bull carried the boy to Colchis, a kingdom ruled by King Aeetes on the eastern coast of the Black Sea.

The king was stunned by the bull’s beautiful thick golden coat and recognized it as a gift from the gods.

He sacrificed the bull to Zeus and hung its golden coat in a sacred grove, where it was guarded by a dragon that never slept.

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Filed Under: Mythology

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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