Jason and the Argonauts and the Quest for
the Golden Fleece
Origin of the Fleece
Athamas and Nephele
• Athamas was the king of Orchomenus
• His first wife was Nephele
• They had two children together – a boy, Phrixus, and a girl, Helle
Athamas decides to divorce Nephele and marry Ino,
daughter of Cadmus.
• Ino wants to get rid of Phrixus and Helle.
• She comes up with an intricate plan involving the parching of grain,
the fear of famine, and bribery of servants who claim to have
visited an oracle.
• The result: Phrixus and Helle are to be sacrificed.
Nephele is a cloud goddess with special powers.
• She saves Phrixus and Helle by sending a golden Ram to save
them.
• Oh. Also, the ram can fly.
• Helle falls off the Golden Ram and into the sea which is now called
the Hellespont.
Phrixus survives.
• He ends up in Aea in the land of Colchis.
• Colchis is ruled by King Aeetes.
Thank You, Golden Ram!!!
• Phrixus sacrifices the ram to the Gods upon arrival in Colchis in
order to thank them for his rescue.
• He skins the ram and gives the fleece to King Aeetes as a gesture
of good will.
King Aeetes comes from an ‘interesting’ family.
• Brother of
– Circe
– Pasiphae
• Father of
– Medea
– Chalciope
– Apsyrtus
Chalciope hears wedding bells.
• Aeetes marries Phrixus to his daughter, Calciope.
• Phrixus and Calciope have four sons.
• Then, worried by a prophecy about a Thracian stealing the fleece,
Aeetes kills Phrixus.
Jason’s Background (from the front)
Jason’s father, Aeson
• King of Iolcus
• Polymele was his wife
• They had several children, including a baby,
Jason
• He is overthrown by his brother, Pelias, as
Jason is born
Pelias
That Creepy Pelias
• Pelias, the half brother of Aeson, kills off Aeson’s
family but either lets Aeson live as a private citizen,
or puts him in prison.
Chiron
• Jason was smuggled out of Iolcus and sent to be raised by Chiron,
a centaur that also trained:
Asclepius, Ajax, Aeneas, Actaeon, Theseus, Achilles, Peleus,
Telamon, Heracles, Oileus, and Phoenix
Chiron teaches Jason the ways of heroes
Jason grows up and decides to return to Iolcus
to claim the throne which is rightfully his.
Hera
• Queen of the Gods
• Angry at Pelias for not honoring her
• Jason carries her, disguised as an old woman, across a river. He
loses a sandal in the crossing, but gains Hera’s support.
When Jason arrived, Pelias was sacrificing to
his father, Neptune.
Pelias tells Jason he will give him the throne if
he brings back the Golden Fleece. Jason
accepts.
Jason seeks out Argus, the greatest ship builder
in Greece, to build a ship for his adventure.
The Argonauts
(notice the branch from Zeus’ oak tree in Dodona, which could talk
and gave the Argonauts advice!)
Argus
• Jason assembles all the greatest heroes in Greece
to accompany him on his quest. Argus is the first to
volunteer.
Orpheus
• Orpheus could charm all of nature with his music. The
Argonauts rowed to his playing.
Zetes and Calais, the sons of Boreas, the North
Wind.
Peleus, father of Achilles.
Peleus shown carrying off Thetis
Telamon, father of Ajax
Castor and Polydeuces (Pollux), brothers of
Helen of Troy.
• Castor was a famous horseman, Polydeuces a boxer.
• Lynceus (superhuman eyesight) and his brother Idas
• Tiphys (the helmsman)
• Euphemus (son of Poseidon who could run across water without
even wetting his feet)
• Mopsus (prophetic powers)
• Idmon (prophetic powers – saw that he would die on the journey
but went anyway)
• Periclymenus – could change into various animals
Acastus, son of Pelias, joins the quest at the last
minute.
Heracles
Heracles is offered command of the expedition, but defers
to Jason.
Atalanta
• Atalanta would have gone, but Jason didn’t let her.
The Adventures on the Quest
1. The Argonauts depart from Iolcus.
2. Arrival in Lemnos
Lemnos
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Island nation
Women were not thankful to Aphrodite
She made them smell so bad their husbands cheated on them
The women then killed all the men
Jason and Argonauts repopulate Lemnos
Only Heracles does not participate in the repopulation efforts
Hypsipyle
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Queen of Lemnos
Has an affair with and sons by Jason
Jason vows to marry her
Leaves Lemnos for Colchis and forgets her
She gives birth to twins, Euneus and Thoas
She is later driven from Lemnos for having spared her father
3. The Argonauts land at Arctonessus (Bear Island) near the
home of King Cyzicus, who warmly welcomes them.
The six armed giants of Bear Mountain
Heracles slays the giants with his bow and club.
Cyzicus and the Doliones
• King Cyzicus sends them off with gifts.
• They sail away, but are blown back at night by a storm
• The Doliones, thinking they are being invaded by pirates, attack
the Argonauts and Cyzicus is killed
4. The Loss of Hylas at Cios
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The Argonauts land in Bithynia so Heracles can make a new oar
Heracles’ young friend Hylas goes to fetch some water
He is abducted by water nymphs
Heracles leaves the quest to search for Hylas and does not rejoin it
5. King Amycus and the Bebryces
King Amycus
6. Phineus in Salmydessus
The Argonauts arrive in Salmydessus
Here they find that the blind prophet Phineus is plagued by
Harpies – part bird and part woman. The harpies were
punishment from Helios.
Phineus had angered Helios by choosing a long life,
though without sight (thus never being able to see Helios’
sun), over a short life with sight.
Phineus promises to help the Argonauts if they will rid
him of the curse of the Harpies.
The Harpies
Zetes and Calais, the sons of the North
wind, Boreas, drive away the Harpies.
The Symplegades
In exchange for their help, Phineus tells the
Argonauts how to pass the Symplegades
• Two rocks that crush ships
• Phineus tells Jason to send a dove in first, and if the dove makes it
through, so can the Argo
• Euphemus, Poseidon’s son who could walk on water, releases the
dove
The dove passes through with only its tail
feathers being clipped.
• Some say that Poseidon or Athena helped the Argo pass,
with only the stern (rear) getting clipped.
• The Symplegades remained fixed thereafter.
8. The Island of Ares, etc.
• The Argonauts visit a couple little places not worth mentioning, but
a few things happen:
• Tiphys the helmsman and Idmon the seer die. Idmon had seen
that he would die on the voyage.
• They avoid the Amazons at Themiscyra
• On the Island of Ares, they meet Phrixus’ sons, who tell them about
Colchis and drive off a flock of birds who could shoot their feathers
like arrows
Birds with arrow-like Feathers
The Argonauts arrive in Colchis
Kings Aeetes introduces Medea to Jason.
• Medea is a priestess of Hecate, Goddess of witchcraft.
She knows how to perform magic and whatnot.
Jason reveals to Aeetes his quest.
• Aeetes tell Jason he may claim the Fleece if he passes several
challenges:
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He must yoke fire-breathing oxen and plow a field
He must plant dragon teeth in the ground
He must defeat the soldiers which spring from the ground
Oh yeah, then defeat the serpent that guards it
Medea falls in love with Jason and resolves to
help him.
Jason, with the protection of an ointment
provided by Medea, yokes the fire-breathing
bulls and plows the field.
The Dragon-teeth Men (Spartoi)
Jason battles the Colchian Dragon
The Colchian Dragon
Defeating the Dragon
Medea and Orpheus Charm the Serpent
Jason and the Golden Fleece
Medea chops up her brother, Apsyrtus. The
Colchians must stop to gather the pieces, and the
Argo escapes.
10. Aeaea, the Island of Circe
Here Circe, Medea’s aunt, purifies Medea and
Jason for the slaughter of Apsyrtus
11. The Argonauts pass the sirens – Orpheus
plays music and drowns out their song.
The Sirens
12. The Argonauts pass Scylla and Charybdis
unscathed with the help of Thetis
Scylla
Charybdis
13. Scheria, land of the Phaeacians
• Jason, Medea and the Argonauts find a fleet of Colchians
waiting for them in Phaeacia
• Arete, the queen, persuades her husband, King Alcinous,
not to hand over Medea to the Colchians
• The Colchians settle in Corcyra rather than return to the
wrath of Aeetes in Colchis
14. Libya and Lake Tritonis
A huge wave flings the Argo into the middle of
Libya near lake Tritonis. The sea god Triton
returns them to sea via a river. The seer
Mopsus dies here, bitten by a snake which was
an offspring of Medusa.
15. Talos on the island of Crete
Talos, the last of the bronze giants
Talos
Jason returns to Iolcus and shows Pelias
the treasure.
When it is clear Pelias will not return the
kingdom to Jason, Medea hatches a plan.
Pelias and his daughters watch as Medea chops up an old
ram, puts it in her magic pot, and brings it forth young again.
Medea convinces Pelias’ daughters to make him
young.
• In the middle of the night the daughters, accompanied by
Medea, chop up Pelias. When they turn to put the pieces
in the pot, they find that Medea has vanished.
Jason and Medea are driven from Iolcus. They
go to Corinth.
• They have two children, but Jason later receives an offer
to marry Glauce, daughter of King Creon.
• He tells Medea to get lost.
• Medea, despondent and vengeful, plots a dreadful act.
Medea’s Revenge
Revenge (cont’d)
Medea then flees to Athens and marries
Aegeus. Medea and Aegeus have a son,
Medus.
In Corinth Jason dies alone, without family or friends, when
a piece of the rotting Argo falls on him.
The Argonautica