Ethereal Chronicles

Early Years

In the city of Ioclus, there lived a King called Aeson. When his brother Pelias seized control of the throne and imprisoned him, Jason’s mother made the decision to protect her son and sent him away to the solitude of Mount Pelion. Jason lived a pleasant childhood there with centaur Chiron, who trained him in scholarly pursuits, medical knowledge and rigorous combat training.

Meanwhile, Pelias, fearing that his position was not yet stable, sought counsel from the Oracle of Delphi, who warned him of a man with only one shoe.

Once he had reached twenty, Jason felt it was time to reclaim his birthright in his father’s city. During this journey, he passed a river, encountering Hera, who had assumed the guise of a harmless old woman. She asked him to carry her across, and, being compassionate of heart, he obliged, earning her favour and the protection that came with it.

Having lost a sandal while helping Hera, Jason arrived to Ioclus with one bare foot. Pelias, recognising his nephew as the man he had been warned about, made Jason an offer. He declared that he would relinquish his throne to Jason only if he could accomplish the seemingly impossible task of retrieving the Golden Fleece from Colchis, assuming that Jason would fail and never return.

Where did the Golden Fleece come from

Phrixus and Helle, born to King Athamas and the goddess Nephele, faced a treacherous turn of fate when their father married Ino, the princess of Thebes. Ino disliked and resented her new stepchildren, so devised a cruel plan to remove them from her life. She roasted all the crop seeds so that they could not grow, inducing a famine that plagued the land, and then manipulated some men into convincing King Athamas that the oracle demanded the sacrifice of his children so that the soil would return to its former state of fertility. Athamas, deceived by Ino’s plan, agreed to the sacrifice.

However, Nephele would not see her children die, and so Phrixus and Helle were saved by a flying golden ram sent to them by their mother. Helle fell to her death in the sea, now known as the Hellspont, but her brother landed safely in Colchis. Here he married princess Chalciope, King Aeetes’ daughter. He expressed his gratitude to the King by sacrificing the ram, giving the golden coat to him in return for the kindness and hospitality that he had received.

The Argonauts

Jason accepted the daunting task given to him by his uncle, and set off for a voyage aboard the Argo, a magnificent ship crafted by the skilled shipwright Argus. Part of the vessel had been constructed from Zeus’ sacred oak tree at Dodona.

Jason assembled a crew of fifty Argonauts; the strongest of men that included well known figures in Greek mythology, such as Peleus, the father of Achilles, and the mighty Greek hero Hercules.

The Adventure Begins…

LEMNOS

The Argo’s first stop would be on the island of Lemnos, inhabited solely by women cursed by Aphrodite for neglecting her in worship. The curse left the women smelling repugnant, driving away their husbands. Fuelled by hurt and embarrassment, the women, led by Hypsipyle, murdered the remaining men on the island. During his stay there, Jason fathered two children with Hypsipyle, while the other men reproduced with the other women, all except for Heracles. After spending a few years on Lemnos, Jason and his crew left to resume their journey.

THE DOLIONES

Next, the Argonauts came to the home of the Doliones. King Cyzicus was a kind leader, and warmly welcomed Jason and his crew. However, he failed to mention the presence of the Gegeines, six armed monsters, who also lived nearby. The Gegeines attacked the Argo when Jason and his men were not there, but Heracles, who had been guarding the Argo, managed to cut most of the monsters down. Once Jason and the others had returned, they killed the remaining Gegeines and departed. Unfortunately, that night the Argonauts found themselves in the same place they had just come from, and King Cyzicus misinterpreting their return, assumed they were enemies seeking to attack. Jason and his men fought the Doliones, not recognising them, and killed King Cyzicus. Only in the light of day did Jason and his crew realise their error and hold a funeral to honour the fallen king.

MYSIA

In Mysia, Heracles’ lover, Hylas, was abducted by enamoured Naiads, who were captivated by his beauty. Heracles was devastated. Overwhelmed with grief, he refused to leave with the rest of the Argonauts, determined to stay behind and search for his lost love. Despite their reluctance, the men honoured his wish at the will of the sea god Glaucus, who revealed that it was Heracles’ destiny to stay.

THRACE

In Thrace, Jason came across a blind old man called Phineus, who was being tormented by two Harpies stealing the food at his table. This had been as a result of a curse inflicted on him by Zeus. Jason pitied the man, and helped him by either killing or chasing away the Harpies. Grateful for this kindness, Phineus told Jason where to find Colchis, and how to pass the perilous Symplegades (Clashing Rocks). If the men threw a dove between the rocks and it passed through safely, they too would be granted safe passage instead of meeting their doom. When the men left Thrace and reached Symplegades, they did as Phineus had advised them, and to their delight the dove made it through safely.

COLCHIS, MEDEA AND THE RETRIEVAL OF THE FLEECE

Upon reaching Colchis, Aeetes presented Jason with three challenges to prove his worthiness of the Golden Fleece; first, to harness the King’s fire breathing bulls and plough a field, sow into the field dragon’s teeth and kill the monsters that would sprout from them, and finally defeat the dragon which guarded the fleece.

To offer guidance and encouragement, Aphrodite intervened by convincing her son Eros to make Aeetes’ daughter, Medea, fall deeply in love with Jason. With Medea and her magic as an ally, Jason was able to successfully complete each task and secure the fleece.

However Aeetes had a crafty plan of his own and intended to kill the Argonauts. As they fled from the King, Medea murdered her brother Apsyrtus and dismembered his body. Casting his remains into the sea, she hoped that her father would halt in his pursuit, compelled to gather the pieces of his son.

THE SIRENS

On their way home, the Argonauts came across Sirens, ethereal women whose beguiling songs lured sailors into drowning. The men, captivated by their beauty, would have met their deaths were it not for Orpheus, who produced his lyre to play a beautiful melody of his own that drowned out the voices of the Sirens. Jason and his friends were able to break free of the enchantment and continue with their journey. Before reaching Crete, Jason and Medea were married.

CRETE

On Crete lived Talos, a formidable bronze giant. As the Argo approached the island, Talos hurled rocks at the ship, endangering the crew. The only way that Talos could be defeated was by destroying a plug in his ankle, where the one vein in his body could be found. Medea used her magic to charm Talos and removed the plug, causing Talos to bleed to death.

Jason’s return to Ioclus

Jason returned triumphant with Medea and his crew, and shifted his focus towards avenging his father by killing Pelias. In some accounts, Jason asked Medea to remove a few years from his life to give to Aeson, while in others Pelias had already executed Aeson before Jason’s return.

Medea cunningly made a plan to destroy Pelias, promising his daughters that she possessed the ability to rejuvenate their weak, old father and make him a youthful young man again. To do this, they would have to cut their father into pieces and cook him. The daughters complied, believing Medea’s words to be true, but her promises were a cruel trick.

Although Jason now had the right to the throne, the death of Pelias ignited resentment amongst the people, who did not want Medea as their Queen. This led to Jason and Medea’s exile from Ioclus.

Medea’s Madness

The couple went to live in Corinth and settled there peacefully for some time. However, Jason ultimately betrayed Medea when he accepted an invitation by King Creon to marry the princess of Corinth. Jason proposed a divorce, insisting that Medea should leave Corinth.

Jason’s change of heart towards Medea filled her heart with rage, and she sought revenge against her husband. Her first act was to send a cursed dress to Jason’s new bride, a garment that burned the girl to death upon contact with her skin. Medea then murdered her and Jason’s own children in a desperate attempt to cause him unbearable pain.

REFERENCES

Myth of Jason and the Argonauts | Greeka

World Mythology: The Illustrated Guide (Willis, 1993)