Jason And The Argonauts
- 1. Jason and the Argonauts
- 2. The Origin of the Golden Fleece Princess Theophane was swimming near her home in Thrace. Poseidon saw her, fell in love with her, and took her to an island to keep her safe. The men who wanted to marry her followed her to the island, so Poseidon changed her into a sheep. Soon, as a sheep, she gave birth to a lamb with pure golden wool. Zeus liked this lamb, so he sent Hermes to take the lamb to Mycenae .
- 3. Origin continued Atreus and Thyestes : two brothers fighting over kingdom of Mycenae To settle fight, went to Oracle at Delphi Oracle said that the king would be the one with the flock containing the lamb with the golden fleece Atreus and Thyestes knew of no such animal, but Atreus’ wife Aerope did. And since she was secretly in love with Thyestes, she put the lamb in his flock before the next day. Thyestes proclaimed king.
- 4. Origin continued Zeus not happy with Aerope, so he sends Hermes to tell Atreus that he has been wronged. Atreus confronts Thyestes with this news. Thyestes calls Atreus a poor loser and says that if that is really the case, the sun will rise in the west. Next day, sun rises in west. Atreus proclaimed king. Lamb becomes a fine fat flying ram.
- 5. How the Fleece got to Colchis King of Boeotia , Athamas , and his wife Nephele had two children: son, Phrixus , and daughter, Helle . Nephele dies. Athamas remarries, to a lady named Ino . Ino wants her son, Melicertes, to become king. To do this, she needs to get rid of older son. Ino burns the seed grain of the city so that it will not grow. Famine ensues.
- 6. Fleece to Colchis continued Ino convinces Athamas to sacrifice his elder children, saying it is the only way for the crops to start growing again. Athamas, after much anguish and thought, agrees. Gods not happy about evil sacrifice. Gods send a fine fat flying ram down from Olympus to save Phrixus and Helle. They grab hold of the golden wool of this ram. However, Helle did not hold on tightly enough, and fell to her death. The place where she died is now called the Hellespont (Helle’s bridge).
- 7. Fleece to Colchis continued Phrixus makes it to Colchis , where Aeetes is king. Aeetes is impressed by Phrixus and offers his own daughter in marriage. Phrixus sacrifices the golden ram to the gods as thanks; gods are pleased; Zeus puts ram in sky as the constellation Aries . Phrixus gives Aeetes the golden fleece, which he hangs on a tree in a grove sacred to Ares .
- 8. The journey to get the fleece Aeson and Pelias were brothers in the kingdom of Iolcus. Aeson was king; Pelias wanted the kingdom for himself, so he drove out Aeson. Pelias also plotted to kill Aeson’s son, Jason , to keep him from claiming the throne. Aeson’s friends hear about the plan to kill Jason and whisk him away to the cave of the centaur Chiron . They then go back to Pelias and report that Jason is dead. Pelias is satisfied.
- 9. Journey to fleece continued Pelias goes to Delphi to speak with the oracle. Oracle says to beware a stranger wearing only one shoe. Pelias immediately strengthens security. Chiron mentors Jason. Jason then goes to confront his uncle about his throne. On the way to Iolcus, Jason encounters an old woman at a river and helps her to cross. Woman reveals herself to be Hera, queen of gods. She says she will help him in future. Jason loses shoe in river.
- 10. Journey to the fleece continued Jason arrives in Colchis. Pelias scared. Pelias sends Jason to retrieve the golden fleece. Jason asks Argus to build him a ship. He names it the Argo . Athena contributes a piece of sacred oak for the ship. Jason gathers volunteers for the journey. They include Hercules, Orpheus, Castor, Pollux, Calais, and Zetes . They sail away.
- 11. Journey to the fleece continued A number of stops: Lemnos: island inhabited completely by women under the rule of Hypsipyle. They killed all the men on the island except her father, whom they stuffed in a box and set adrift. They welcomed the Argonauts, but Jason and his men got out before they could be killed. Cyzicus: kingdom terrorized by giants from nearby mountains. Jason and his men kill the giants, leave, get blown back into port by a bad storm, fight with the Cyzicans, and kill their king, King Cyzicus.
- 12. Journey to the fleece continued Cios: stop here to repair an oar broken in a rowing contest between Hercules and Jason. Hercules stays behind after his armor-bearer Hylas is lured away by a water nymph. Bebryces: King Amycus demanded a fight with anyone who dared to stop in his kingdom. Pollux defeats him. land of King Phineus: he is blind because of injustices he committed against his sons. Harpies (woman headed-bird monsters) attack and take his food. Zetes and Calais defeat the Harpies; Phineus tells the crew how to get through the Symplegades (crashing rocks). After getting through the Symplegades using a dove as a decoy, the Argonauts reach Colchis.
- 13. Journey to the fleece continued Here they meet King Aeetes , who has a daughter, Medea . Aeetes states that for Jason to have the fleece, he must perform a special task. The task is to subdue and yoke two fire-breathing bulls together, then plow a field and plant dragon’s teeth. Jason agrees. Medea helps by creating a lotion that keeps Jason from being burned by the bulls’ breath. Oh, did I mention she was a sorceress ? Jason promises to marry Medea to repay him for her help. After yoking the bulls, he plants the dragon’s teeth.
- 14. Getting the fleece One problem with sowing dragon’s teeth: skeletons spring out of ground and attack you!
- 15. Getting the fleece continued After defeating the skeletons, Jason has to get the fleece off the tree. It, however, is guarded by a never-sleeping dragon. Medea ( sorceress! ) casts a spell that puts dragon to sleep. Jason gets fleece and returns to palace. Aeetes refuses to let Jason take fleece. Medea and Jason run and sail away with fleece. Aeetes pursues. Z Z Z Z Z
- 16. Jason returns! To get away from Aeetes, Medea kills her brother and chops him into small pieces before throwing him overboard. Aeetes stops to pick up pieces and give proper burial. Jason and Medea get away. The sacred oak (enchanted by Athena) tells them to see Circe . Circe performs sacrifice; Zeus forgives Jason and Medea.
- 17. Jason returns continued When he gets back to Iolcus, Jason is informed that Pelias is going to kill him. So Medea kills Pelias. Jason loses throne, as people don’t like him because of Medea. Jason leaves Medea. Jason plans to marry Glauce, princess of Corinth. Medea gives Glauce poisoned scarf. Glauce dies.
- 18. Aftermath Jason still won’t stay with Medea. So Medea kills their children and flees in a dragon carriage. Jason dies when part of the Argo falls on him while he is sleeping.