Jason and the Argonauts
Part I—How the fleece reached Colchis
Athamas, king of Boeotia, and his first wife, Nephele, had two children: Phrixus and Helle.
Athamas’ second wife, Ino, wanted to get rid of the two kids so she persuaded the Boeotian
women to parch the seed grain so that when it was sown nothing would grow. In the ensuing
famine Athamas sent to Delphi for advice. But Ino bribed the envoys to say that the Oracle’s
advice was for Athamas to sacrifice Phrixus if he wanted the famine to end. Before the sacrifice
Nephele caught up Phrixus and Helle and set them on a “golden-fleeced” ram that Hermes had
given her. As they flew over the present day Dardanelles, Helle fell off and the straits were
called the Hellespont in her honor. The ram journeyed on to Colchis, a city at the far end of the
Euxine sea, where Aeetes was the king. There Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Zeus Phyxius i.e.
Zeus as the god of escape, and married Chalciope, the daughter of Aeetes. The fleece was hung
up on an oak tree in a grove sacred to Ares, where it was guarded by a never sleeping serpent.
Part II---Jason’s early years and Pelias wickedness
Jason’s parents were Aeson and Polymede, (or Alcimede, or Amphinome). Pelias was
Jason’s wicked uncle who unjustly stole Aeson’s kingdom after the death of Cretheus, the king
of Iolcus. Jason was sent away by his mother to be raised and educated by the centaur Chiron.
When Jason returned to Iolcus as an adult, Pelias promised to return the throne to him if he
would undertake the mission to find the Golden Fleece, a valuable object which supposedly had
magical powers, and bring it back to Iolcus. For this adventure an unprecedented crew of
heroes was assembled and a special ship, the Argo, was constructed. The members of the crew
included:
Hercules, his attendant Hylas and another friend Polyphemus
Orpheus, the greatest mortal musician
Augeas, the king of Elis
Meleager, of the Calydonian Boar Hunt
Peleus, the father of Achilles
Telamon, the father of Ajax the Greater
Idmon and Mopsus, Seers
Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux), the twin sons of Jupiter, also called the Gemini,
Tyndaridae and Dioscuri
Lynceus, whose keen sight enabled him to see beneath the earth
Periclymenus, who could change shape in battle, a gift of Poseidon
Euphemus, whose speed enabled him to run across the sea without so much as
wetting his feet
Zetes and Calais, the twin sons of Boreas, the north wind
Argus, the builder of the ship
Tiphys, the helmsman
Acastus, the son of Pelias
Part III---The Journey to Colchis
The Argonauts encountered many adventures on their voyage to Colchis. These included:
1. The island of Lemnos, inhabited by the Amazons and their Queen Hypsipyle. The
Amazons had been punished by Aphrodite who had given them a foul smell. The Argonauts
spent one year here and Jason and Hypsipyle had two children, Euneus and Thoas (or
Nebrophonus).
2. Cyzicus, the home of the Doliones, ruled by king Cyzicus. After having been treated
hospitably here, the Argonauts left, only to be blown back to the kingdom by a nocturnal
storm and be mistaken for night raiders. A battle ensued and king Cyzicus was killed.
3. Cios, where Hercules and his companion Polyphemus left the crew to look for his
attendant Hylas.
4. The land of the Bebryces, where Pollux killed the king Amycus in a boxing contest.
5. The island of Salmydessus, whose king, Phineus was blind and punished by the Harpies,
two creatures which were part bird and part woman, who rendered Phineus’ food
inedible. Zetes and Calais drove away the Harpies and Phineus expressed his gratitude by
telling Jason how to safely pass through the ……….
6. Symplegades, clashing rocks or islands. The Argo made it through safely after Jason,
following Phineus’ advice, released a dove which flew through losing only its tail feathers.
The Symplegades were located at the entrance to the Black or Euxine Sea.
7. The land of the Mariandyni, ruled by Lycus. Here Idmon was killed by an errant arrow
and Tiphys died. Ancaeus became the new helmsman.
Part IV---The acquisition of the fleece from Aeetes and the love affair of Jason and Medea
Sailing up the Phasis River, the Argo reached Colchis, which was ruled by King Aeetes.
Aeetes said he would surrender the fleece to Jason (he was lying) after Jason proved his courage
by yoking two fire-breathing bulls, plowing a field and sowing the teeth of a dragon.
The daughter of Aeetes, Medea, fell in love with the stranger Jason and aided him in
performing the impossible tasks assigned him by her father. She gave him a magic ointment to
rub on his body and a magic rock which would cause the armed men which would grow from
the dragon’s teeth to kill each other.
The Golden Fleece was guarded by a sleepless dragon. When Medea learned that her father
planned to kill the Argonauts she prepared a magic potion to put the dragon to sleep and helped
Jason secure the fleece and escape.
Aeetes pursued the fleeing Argonauts but Medea had brought along her brother Absyrtus as a
hostage. To hinder her father, Medea chopped up her brother and threw his body parts into
the sea. Aeetes stopped to salvage his son’s limbs and the Argonauts escaped.
Part V The return voyage of the Argonauts
Several adventures were encountered by the crew on its return trip.
1.
2.
3.
4.
On the island of Aeaea they were purified by Circe for the murder of Absyrtus.
They passed the Planctae, or wandering rocks, often confused with the Symplegades
They passed through Scylla and Charybdis
They passed the Island of the Sirens where Orpheus’ singing drowned out the Sirens’
songs.
5. They landed on Crete which was guarded by the last survivor of the bronze giants,
Talus. Talus’ life depended on the safety of a nail which closed the entrance to his one
vein above his ankle. With Medea’s help, the ankle was unplugged.
Part VI Back in Iolcus
When the Argonauts returned Pelias refused to hand over the kingdom to Jason. Medea
continued to practice her sorcery. She tricked Pelias’ daughters into thinking their father could
be restored to youth. Medea boiled an old ram in a cauldron, adding certain herbs, and made a
lamb appear. When Pelias’ daughters chopped him up and put him in the cauldron, all they got
was soup du jour.
Because of this murder Jason and Medea were driven out of Iolcus. Acastus, Pelias’ son,
became king. Jason and Medea went to Corinth where Jason dumped Medea for the princess
Creusa (or Glauce), the daughter of the king, Creon. Medea got revenge, however, by
murdering the children of Jason and herself. She also killed Creusa and Creon with a magic
ointment which burned them to death. She escaped in a chariot drawn by winged dragons.
Jason was killed later in life when his ship, the Argo, which he had dedicated to Poseidon, fell
on him.
sources: Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica; Valerius Flaccus, Argonautica; Book 7 of
Ovid’s Metamorphoses; Euripedes, Medea; Pindar’s 4th Pythian Ode.