Can "simultas" simply mean "task," or does it always connote hostility?

Question

In his tale of Æetes, Hyginus writes

Itaque Æeta Jasoni hanc simultatem constituit: Si vellet pellem auratam auferre, tauros æripedes … jungeret …

Lewis & Short gives this definition for simultas:

1. A hostile encounter, dissension, enmity, rivalry, jealousy, grudge, hatred, animosity
2. a strife, contest

At first I tried to translate the Hyginus passage

And so Ætes conceived this enmity for Jason: If he wanted, etc.

But that doesn't make any sense at all.

In The Myths of Hyginus, Mary Grant translates this passage

And so Aeetes appointed this task for Jason: If he wished, etc.

Is "task" a recognized meaning of simultas that Lewis & Short just leave out? And, if so, does it have a connotation of hostility, as the other definitions might suggest?

Answer 1

"Contest" from L&S's definition 2 works pretty well here: "he appointed this contest for Jason". "Issued this challenge" might be better yet. I think this is a slightly unusual use of simultas in that this "contest" is not between Jason and anyone else, so the word doesn't seem to convey a specific connotation of hostility as it otherwise would.