2 The quest for the Golden Fleece

Jason assembled a great group of heroes and a huge ship called the Argo. Together, the heroes were known as the Argonauts. They included the BoreadsThe Boreads in Greek mythology, were Calais and Zetes . They were the sons of Boreas and Oreithyia, daughter of King Erechtheus of Athens. They were winged heroes. They were Argonauts and played a particularly vital role in the rescue of Phineas from the, HeraclesFor the son of Alexander the Great, see Heracles (Macedon). In Greek mythology, Heracles or Herakles ("glory of Hera") was the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, the grand-daughter of Perseus and the wife of Amphitryon. In Roman mythology he was called Herc, TelamonSon of Aeacus, King of Aegina and Endeis and brother of Peleus, Telamon accompanied Jason as one his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. He also participated in the Trojan War on the side of the Greeks, along with his son, Ajax, OrpheusFor other senses of the word Orpheus, see Orpheus (disambiguation). Gustave Moreau ( 1880) In Greek legend, Orpheus was the chief representative of the arts of song and the lyre, and of great importance in the religious history of Greece. He was a Greek o, Castor and PolydeucesCastor (or Kastor and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux , were in Greek mythology the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. They are called the Dioscuri dios kouroi , meaning the "Sons of Zeus," although the story of thei and Euphemus.

3 = The Isle of Lemnos

The isle of Lemnos is situated off the Western coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). The island was inhabited by a race of women, who had killed their husbands. The women had apparently neglected their worship of Aphrodite (goddess of love), and so as a punishment the goddess made the women so smelly that their husbands couldn't bare to be near them, so they took concubines from the Thracian mainland opposite. The women, naturally pissed off, killed every male inhabitant (the king, Thoas was saved by his daughter (Hypsipyle), who put him out to sea in a chest and was picked up by someone - that's another story in itself). They lived for a while without men, with Hypsipyle as their queen.

The Argonauts stopped off here on a pit stop, and the women, naturally, welcomed them with open arms. Jason fathered twins with the queen, and many other Argonauts fathered children with the other women, therefore reintroducing a male population to the island (the offspring were male). They only left because of more pressing matters, like - THE GOLDEN FLEECE! Oh, and Heracles pressurised them to go as he was disgusted by the antics of the Argonauts (he, himself didn't take part, which is unusual) - he is the moral voice throughout - he reminds the crew of their mission.

3.1 Phineas and the Harpies

The Argonauts landed on an island inhabited by Phineas and the harpies. Phineas had been a King of Thrace, son of Agenor, who had the gift of prophecy. Zeus, angry that Phineas had revealed too much of the plans of the gods, punished him by setting him on an island with a buffet of food. He could eat none of it, however, because the harpies, vicious, winged women, stole the food out of his hands before he could eat any. This continued until the arrival of Jason and the Argonauts. They sent the winged heroes, the Boreads, after the harpies. They succeeded in driving the monsters away but did not kill them, due to a request from the goddess of the rainbow, Iris, who promised that Phineas would not be bothered by the harpies again. As thanks, Phineas told the Argonauts how to pass the Symplegades.

3.2 Symplegades

The Symplegades, or Clashing Rocks, were a pair of rocks at the Hellespont that clashed together randomly. The Argonauts would have been lost and killed by the rocks but for Phineas' advice. Jason let a dove fly between the rocks; it lost only its tail feathers. The Argonauts rowed mightily to get through and lost only part of the ship's stern ornament. After that, the Symplegades stopped moving permanently, letting subsequent vessels travel through unharmed.

3.3 Planctae

The Planctae were a group of rocks, between which the sea was mercilessly violent. The Argo was the only ship to navigate them successfully (with divine help from Hera, Thetis and the Nereids). Jason chose to brave the Planctae instead of Scylla and Charybdis.

3.4 Assorted events

When the Argonauts stopped in Mysia, Prince Lycus treated them well.

The Argonauts were attacked by a flock of vicious birds. These may have been the Stymphalian Birds.

Hylas was kidnapped by a nymph. Heracles, along with Polyphemus, searched for a long time. The ship set sail without them.

When the Argonauts stopped in Bithynia, Polydeuces killed King Amycus in a boxing match. Idmon also died in Bithnyia; he was the seer for the Argonauts and had known he would die before setting out.

They also stopped in Scheria and were treated well by King Alcinous.

During Jason's absence, Pelias thought the Argo (Jason's ship) had sunk, and this was what he told his mother, Alcimede, who was later to die of heartbreak for her only son.

Jason married Medea of Colchis (daughter of Aeetes, king of Colchis) who was also a witch, who helped Jason in his quest and was horrendously ambitious like Lady Macbeth - she dismembered her own brother to help the Argonauts escape (her pursing father stopped to pick up the pieces of his son).

4 The arrival In Colchis

Jason arrived in Colchis to claim the fleece as his own. King Aeetes of Colchic promised to give it to him only if he could perform certain tasks. First, Jason had to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen that he had to yoke himself. Then, Jason sowed the teeth of a dragon into a field. The teeth sprouted into an army of warriors. Jason was quick-thinking, however, and before they attacked him, he threw a rock into the crowd. Unable to decipher where the rock had come from, the soldiers attacked each other and defeated each other. Finally, Aeetes made Jason fight and kill the sleepless dragon that guarded the fleece. Jason then took the fleece and sailed away with Medea, who had fallen in love with him and helped him win the fleece. Medea distracted her father as they fled by killing her brother, Apsyrtus. In the flight, Atalanta was seriously wounded but healed by Medea.

5 The return

On the way back to Thessaly, Medea prophesied that Euphemus, the Argo's helmsman, would one day rule over all Libya. This came true through Battus, a descendant of Euphemus.

5.1 Circe

When the Argonauts stopped on Aeaea, Circe purified them for the death of Apsyrtus.

5.2 Sirens

Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them. They then ate the sailors. When Orpheus heard their voices, he withdrew his lyre and played his music more beautifully than they, drowning out their music.

5.3 Talos

The Argo then came to the island of Crete, guarded by the bronze man, Talos. Talos had one vein which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail. Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo landed.

6 Jason returns

While Jason searched for the Golden Fleece, Hera, who was still angry at Pelias, conspired to make him fall in love with Medea, whom she hoped would kill Pelias. When Jason and Medea returned, Pelias still refused to give up his throne. Medea conspired to have Pelias' own daughters kill him. She told them she could turn an old ram into a young ram by cutting up the old ram and boiling it. During the demonstration, a live, young ram jumped out of the pot. Excited, the girls cut their father into pieces and threw them into a pot. Pelias did not survive.

Jason and Medea then had to flee to Corinth.

Jason was later driven into exile by Acastus, and came to Corinth. There he abandoned Medea, and she killed their children and fled. Alternatively, he married Creusa in Corinth. Medea got even by giving Creusa a cursed dress that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on. She also killed Creusa's father, Creon, and her own sons with Jason. Later Jason and Peleus would attack and defeat Acastus, reclaiming Iolcus for his house. Jason's son, Thessalus, then became king.

Later Jason was killed when the timbers of the Argo rotted and the mast fell on him.

Though some of the episodes of Jason's story draw on ancient material, the definitive telling, on which this account relies, is that of Apollonius of Rhodes in his epic poem Argonautica, written in Alexandria in the late 3rd century BCE.

In the mid-20th century, Tim Severin led an expedition to retrace the search for the Golden Fleece. A boat was built at Piraeus duplicating as nearly as could be managed, Jason's vessel. The crew followed the 'sailing directions' in the myth as nearly as they could manage, and they found the Golden Fleece! The story is in Severin's book about the Argosy. Perhaps the myth had at its core an actual event?

7 External links

• Timeless Myths - Argonauts A summary of Jason and his Quest for the Golden Fleece.

Argonauts

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