Jason and the Golden Fleece
Jason’s Uncle Pelias kills Jason’s father, the Greek King of Iolkos, and takes his throne.
Jason’s mother brings him to Cheiron, a centaur (half man, half horse) who hides him away and raises him on the Mountain of Pelion.
When Jason turns 20, he journeys to see Pelias to reclaim his throne. At a nearby river, Hera the Queen of the Gods approaches him disguised as an old woman.
While carrying her across the river he loses a sandal and arrives at court wearing only one.
Pelias is nervous when he sees Jason missing a sandal, for an oracle has prophesied that a man wearing only one sandal shall usurp his throne.
Jason demands the return of his rightful throne.
Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis (modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia).
The story of the fleece is an interesting tale in itself. Zeus, the King of the Gods, had given a golden ram to Jason’s ancestor Phrixus. Phrixus later flew on the golden ram from Greece to Colchis, whose king was Aietes, the son of Helios the Sun God. Aietes sacrificed the ram and hung the fleece in a sacred grove guarded by a dragon, as an oracle had foretold that Aietes would lose his kingdom if he lost the fleece.
Determined to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece.
Jason assembles a team of great heroes for his crew and they sail aboard the Argo.
When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor.
Reluctant, the king suggests a series of challenges to Jason.
He must yoke fire-breathing bulls, plough and sow a field with dragons’ teeth and then overcome the warriors who will rise from the furrows. Aietes is confident the tasks are impossible but unbeknownst to the king, his daughter Medea has taken a liking to Jason. She offers to assist Jason if he will marry her. He agrees.
Medea is a powerful sorceress and Jason is successful.
Jason and Medea return to Greece where Jason claims his father’s throne, but their success is short-lived.
Uncomfortable with Medea’s magic, the locals drive Medea and Jason out of Iolkos.
They go into exile in Corinth where eventually the king offers Jason his daughter in marriage.
He agrees and so violates his vow to the gods to be true only to Medea. Furious, Medea kills the woman, kills Medea and Jason’s children and then, according to one myth, ascends to Mount Olympus.
Jason goes back to Iolkos where his boat the Argo is on display.
One day, while he sits next to the boat weeping, the decaying beam of his ship the Argo falls off and hits him on the head, killing him outright.
The Golden Fleece
18th.century
Giovanni Domenico Ferretti
Italian
1692-1768.
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