It begins when 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.
Watch the VideoJason 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. The first stop of the Argonauts is the Greek Isle of
Lemnos, populated only by women. Unknown to Jason and his crew, the women have
murdered their husbands. The Argonauts fare much better though; in fact the
women use the occasion as an opportunity to repopulate the island.
After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople,
heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow
passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black
Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits
are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from
the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the
straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing
through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the
rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and
then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.
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 yet another 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 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 ascends to Mount Olympus where
she eventually marries Achilles. 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.
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