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.

Thessaly

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, Aeson, Pelias’s half-brother to a

mortal father. He threw former King Aeson in

priosn.

When the Aeson'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.Pelias was warned,

“Beware of a stranger with

only one sandal.”

On Jason’s way to Iolcus• He helped a woman across a

stream• She turned out to be Hera in

disguise• He lost a sandal helping the

goddess.• Hera wanted the sorceress Medea

brought from the far-away land of Colchis to get revenge on King Pelias for not worshiping her

• She used her powers to help protect Jason on his journey for the fleece

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 adamant that Jason would never return to Iolcus alive. But

Jason knew that with perseverance, sagacity, 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.

All their obstacles• Phineus and the Harpies

• The Symplegades – Clashing Rocks

• The Women of Lemnos• Yoke fire-breathing bulls• Sew the dragon’s teeth

and fight the army of the dead• Defeat a seven-headed hydra• Talos the Giant

Phineas and the Harpies

• Gods made Phineas choose to live long blind, or short life with sight. Phineaus chose long life blind. This angered Helios who sent in the harpies.

Isle of Lemnos

• Controlled by woman who killed their husbands

• Jason landed and all of his men including him were almost sacrificed

• Hercules pressured the men into leaving

The Sympledges (clashing Rocks)

• Released a dove to see if it could make it through

• When the dove made it through he told the Argonauts to row with all their might

• The Argo made it through with minor damages.

• Sympledges never moved again

Having defeated the harpies, the clashing rocks, women of Lemnos,

Talus, they arrive at Colchis, land of the Golden Fleece.

King Aietes did not want to give up the fleece. And so he thought of two

impossible task for the Argonauts to perform: Yoke fire-breathing bulls and

sew the dragon’s teeth.

King Aeëtes of Colchis had a daughter named Medea.

Medea feel in love with Jason and gave him

secrets to yoke the bulls and defeat the army of the dead that spring from the

dragon’s teeth.

Actually Medea was struck by Ero’s arrow of love.

Eros was sent by Aphrodite, who was influenced by Hera.

With Medea’s help, Jason wins the ram. Her father discovers her

treachery and Medea sails off with Jason to become his wife.

The Getaway

• Jason and Medea have to flee to get away from King Aeetes with the Fleece– As a diversion

Medea kills her brother and throws pieces of him into the sea so her father has to pick them up

Jason returned to Iolcus to save his father – and to tell tales of a world

beyond Greece that few had dared to explore.

Jason’s Return• Pelias would not give up

the throne• Medea sagaciously

convinced Pelias’s daughters that her magic could make Pelias young again.

• They chopped him up and put him in a cauldron as instructed.

• Medea said, “Fooled you,” and walked away.

Their plan backfired

• Instead of being declared king, the people of Iolcus were angry at Medea for practicing sorcery on their king, even if they didn’t like him.

• They were chased off the land and floated to Corinth

Jason’s infidelity

• In Corinth Jason got engaged to marry the princess Creusa, daughter of King Kreon

• This made Medea angry…….

The End

Pictures downloaded from the following web sites:Greek Mythology Link

http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/index.htmlMIT

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/History/21H-301Fall-2004/CourseHome/

Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason

bama.eduhttp://bama.ua.edu/~ksummers/projects/jason/jason_and_the_argonauts.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