Jason and the Argonauts
a Greek myth
Long ago, in ancient Greece, a young
man named Jason set out on an incredible
nautical expedition in the company of a
heroic band of explorers.
But his story begins in the Kingdom of
Iolcus …
Not long before Jason was born, a greedy
uncle named Pelias seized the throne
from Jason's father, throwing the good
king in jail.
When the king's wife gave birth to Jason –
the rightful heir to the throne – she worried
that Pelias might kill him and decided to
hide the baby.
Pretending that
Jason had died,
she sent him far
from Iolcus to live
with a loyal
centaur named
Chiron. Chiron
cared for and
tutored Jason.
Jason grew strong
and smart.
And when
Jason was full
grown, he
went back to
Iolcus to
confront his
uncle.
To Jason's surprise, Uncle Pelias agreed
to give up the kingdom if Jason would do
just one little thing: capture a golden
fleece – the skin of a magical ram – from
the Kingdom of Colchis, a land at the very
farthest reaches of the known world.
Impossible? Maybe. But buoyed by
youthful confidence and the spirit of
adventure, Jason accepted the challenge.
Pelias was sure that Jason would never
return to Iolcus alive. But Jason knew
that with perseverance, a team of talented
helpers, the best tools and equipment,
and a bit of good fortune (or help from
some friendly Greek gods), the impossible
might just be possible.
So Jason sent out a call to anyone game
for adventure, and the bravest and most
talented men and women in all of Greece
– including the strong man Hercules –
answered his call.
Together they
sailed off in a
mighty ship
called the
Argo, the
biggest and
best boat the
Greeks had
ever sailed.
The crew
members
were called
Argonauts, in
honor of the
boat.
They sailed to the ends of the known world
to reach the Kingdom of Colchis.
On their long
journey, Jason
and the
Argonauts
made many
discoveries
and faced
many dangers.
Jason and the
Argonauts had
to do battle with
the dreaded
Hydra in their
quest for the
magical Golden
Fleece..
They arrived at the kingdom where the
golden fleece was. The king did not want to
give up the fleece. And so he thought of an
impossible task for the Argonauts to
perform.
They had to fight an army of skeletons.
.
After many adventures and all-butimpossible feats, they did capture the
golden fleece.
Jason returned to Iolcus to save his father
– and to tell tales of a world beyond
Greece that few had dared to explore.
The End
Pictures downloaded from the following web sites:
Greek Mythology Link
http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/index.html
MIT
http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/History/21H-301Fall2004/CourseHome/
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason
bama.edu
http://bama.ua.edu/~ksummers/projects/jason/jason_and_the_argon
auts.htm
A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry
http://www.heraldsnet.org/saitou/parker/index.htm
and Symplegades: The Other World:
http://livingheritage.org/symplegades.htm
and Howard David Johnson’s Myths and Legends of the Ancient
World:
http://www.howarddavidjohnson.com/myth&.htm
Story adapted from the JASON Foundation web site:
http://www.jason.org/jason_about/myth/agroMore.htm