Canto XVIII-XX

"No tears for pain--how much the look of a king He still keeps! He is Jason, who took the ram Of Colchis by courage and canny reckoning. He passed the isle of Lemnos after the time when its bold, pitiless women killed every male; His deceitful gifts and fair words overcame The young Hypsipyle there, who'd had the skill To deceive the rest. He left her great with child, Forlorn; and such guilt brings him torment in Hell, Avenging Medea as well. With him are sealed All this who cheat such ways: let this suffice for the first valley, and knowledge of those held between its jaws."

This is an allusion to Jason and the Argonauts (we saw this movie in Latin 3). Jason was a womanizer, he was notorious for sleeping with other women while on his adventure to get the Golden Fleece so he could become the king of Iolcus. The first mention of Jason's sex life in the text is noted in "He passed the isle of Lemnos after the time when its bold, pitiless women killed every male; His deceitful gifts and fair words overcame The young Hypsipyle there, who'd had the skill To deceive the rest." This is an allusion to when Jason and his crew landed on Lemnos, an isle of only women, because Hypsipyle (the Queen), convinced every woman to kill their husbands in their sleep. During the visit of the Argonauts the women mingled with the men creating a new "race" called Minyae. Jason fathered twins with queen Hypspyle. This is why Dante writes, "His deceitful gifts and fair words overcame The young Hypsipyle there, who'd had the skill To deceive the rest," she overcame the rest of the men prior to Jason, by killing them. Jason then fled from Lemnos leaving Hypsipyle pregnant ( "He left her great with child, Forlorn"). The last affair Dante mentions is Medea, who helped Jason obtain the Fleece, by providing him with an ointment that protected him from the oxen's flames and a potion to make the Dragon fall asleep. But Jason soon after cheated on Medea, by forming an engagement with Creusa. Madea mad at this, killed their two children, and poisoned Creusa. Jason broke the vow to love Madea. Jason then died alone and unhappy. The manner of his death was due to the deities cursing him for breaking his promise to Medea. This is why he went to hell, "such guilt brings him torment in Hell, Avenging Medea as well. With him are sealed All this who cheat such ways: let this suffice for the first valley, and knowledge of those held between its jaws."