Khalkotauroi
creatureThe fire-breathing bronze bulls of King Aeëtes that Jason was required to yoke as a condition for winning the Golden Fleece.
The Myth
The Khalkotauroi were a pair of bronze bulls forged by Hephaestus and given to Aeëtes, king of Colchis. They breathed fire from their nostrils and had bronze hooves. Aeëtes set Jason the task of yoking these automatons and ploughing the Field of Ares with them, then sowing the field with dragon teeth. Jason could not have survived the bulls' fire without the protective salve Medea gave him, brewed from the blood-red crocus that sprang from the blood of Prometheus on the Caucasus mountains. Anointed with the salve, Jason was invulnerable to fire and iron for a single day. He yoked the bulls, ploughed the field, and sowed the teeth, from which armed warriors — spartoi — sprang up. Following Medea's advice, Jason threw a stone among them, causing the warriors to attack each other until none survived. The feat proved Jason worthy, though Aeëtes still refused the Fleece.
Parents
Hephaestus (creator)
Symbols
Fun Fact
The Khalkotauroi are among the earliest robots in literature — bronze automatons built by Hephaestus, the divine engineer. Along with Talos the bronze giant and the golden maidens who served in Hephaestus's workshop, they form a tradition of artificial beings in Greek myth that directly inspired Karel Čapek's 1920 play R.U.R., which invented the word "robot." Greek mythology had robots 2,700 years before we named them.
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth:
Explore Further
Talos
creatureA giant bronze automaton built by Hephaestus to guard the island of Crete. Talos circled the island...
Talos (Bronze Giant)
creatureTalos was a giant man made of bronze who guarded Crete by running around the island three times...
Ares
godGod of the brutal, savage side of war. Unlike Athena's strategic warfare, Ares represented the raw...
Colchis
placeColchis was a kingdom at the eastern edge of the Greek world, on the shore of the Black Sea in...
Golden Fleece
conceptThe fleece of a golden-wooled ram, hung in a sacred grove in Colchis and guarded by a sleepless...
Hephaestus
godThe divine blacksmith of Olympus, god of fire and the forge. Despite being lame, Hephaestus created...
Hephaestus (Smith)
godHephaestus was the divine smith who forged Achilles' shield, Harmonia's necklace, Pandora herself,...
Hephaestus's Automatons
conceptThe self-moving mechanical servants created by Hephaestus, including golden handmaidens, bronze...
Jason
heroThe hero who assembled the Argonauts and sailed to Colchis in quest of the Golden Fleece. Jason's...
Medea
heroA powerful sorceress and princess of Colchis who betrayed her family to help Jason win the Golden...
Medea (Sorceress)
heroMedea was a granddaughter of Helios and priestess of Hecate whose sorcery saved Jason — and whose...
Prometheus
titanThe Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, earning eternal punishment....