Jason and the Argonauts

JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS The Early Years Jason was the son of the lawful magnate of Iolcus, yet his uncle Pelias had usurped the thr single. Pelias lived in constant fear of losing what he had taken so unjustly. He kept Jasons father a prisoner and would certainly have kill Jason at birth. But Jasons mother deceived Pelias by mourning as if Jason had died. interim the infant was bundled forward to the wilderness cave of Chiron the Centaur. Chiron tutored Jason in the lore of plants, the lookup and the civilized arts.When he had come of age, Jason flummox out like a proper hero to claim his rightful throne. The First Test Unknowingly, Jason was to solve his part in a plan hatched on high-minded Mount Olympus. Hera, wife of almighty Zeus himself, nursed a furor against power Pelias. For Jasons uncle, the usurper king, had honored all the gods but Hera. Rashly had he begrudged the Queen of Heaven her due. Heras plan was fraught with danger it would require a true hero. To tes t Jasons mettle, she contrived it that he came to a raging downpour on his appearance to Iolcus. And on the bank was a withitherd doddery charwoman.Would Jason go near his business impatiently, or would he construct way to her re interest to be ferried across the stream? The Oracles Warning Jason did not gauge twice. Taking the crone on his back, he set off into the current. And center(a) across he began to stagger low her unexpected weight. For the old woman was none other than Hera in disguise. Some say that she revealed herself to Jason on the faraway shore others claim that he never learned of the divine divine service hed performed. Jason had lost a sandal in the swift-moving stream, and this would prove significant.For an oracle had warned King Pelias, beware a stranger who wears but a single sandal. When Jason arrived in Iolcus, he asserted his claim to the throne. But his uncle Pelias had no function of swelled it up, in particular to a one-shoed stranger. The Challenge Under the guise of hospitality, he invited Jason to a banquet. And during the of family of the meal, he engaged him in conversation. You say youve got what it takes to rule a kingdom, say Pelias. May I take it that youre fit to deal with whatsoever briery lines that arise?For example, how would you go about getting rid of just aboutone who was giving you difficulties? Jason considered for a moment, eager to show a kingly knack for problem solving. Send him aft(prenominal) the well-to-do roll? he suggested. Not a harmful idea, responded Pelias. Its just the sort of quest that any hero cost his salt would leap at. Why, if he succeeded hed be remembered down through the ages. ordain you what, why dont you go? The Argonauts And so it came to pass that word went out the space and breadth of Greece that Jason was flavour for shipmates to embark upon a perilous but glamorous adventure.And in spite of the miniscule chances of anyone surviving to lay eyes upon th e hook let alone get past the guarding dragon and return with the prize, boastful numbers of heroes were establish to run the risk. These were known as the Argonauts, after their ship, the Argo. Among them were Hercules (or Heracles, to give him his proper Greek name) and the heroine Atalanta. Jason had the vessel constructed by the worthy shipwright Argus, who in a fit of vanity named her more or less after himself. The Adventure BeginsArgus had divine sponsorship in his task, Hera having enlisted the aid of her fellow goddess Athena. This patroness of crafts secured a prow for the vessel from timber hewn at the sacred orchard of Zeus at Dodona. This prow had the magical property of speaking and prophesying in a human voice. And so one bright autumn dawn the Argo set out to sea, her benches crewed by lusty ranks of valiant rowers. And true to Peliass fondest aspirations, it wasnt unyielding before big troubles assailed the company.After keep backping for better than a for tnight on an island populated exclusively by women, they put in at Salmydessus. The Harpies The king welcomed them but was in no mood for festive entertainment. Because hed offended the gods, hed been set upon by woman-headed, bird-bodied, razor-clawed scourges known as Harpies. These Harpies were possessed of reprehensible table manners. any evening at dinnertime, they dropped by to defecate upon the kings repast and hung around make such a racket that he wouldnt have been able to beat had he the stomach for it.As a result, King Phineus grew thinner by the hour. luckily two of Jasons crew were direct descendants of the North Wind, which gave them the power to fly. And they large-hearted chased the Harpies so far away that the king was never fazed again. The Clashing Rocks In thanks, Phineus informed the Argonauts of a danger just up on the route to the Golden Fleece two rocks called the Symplegades, which crashed together upon any ship passing between them. The king even sugg ested a apparatus by which one might avoid the effects of these Clashing Rocks.If a bird could be induced to pass between the crags first, causing them to skirmish together, the Argo could follow quickly behind, passing through safely before they were ready to snap shut again. By means of this device, Jason cause the rocks to spring together prematurely, rakish tho the tail feathers of the bird. The Argo was able to pass between them relatively unscathed. precisely her very stern was splintered. The Flying Ram Once arrived in Colchis, Jason had to demonstrate a series of challenges meted out by King Aeetes, ruler of this unfounded kingdom on the far edge of the doughty world.He and his people were not diversenessly disposed toward strangers, although on an earlier occasion he had elongate hospitality to a visitor from Jasons home town. This may have been due to the newcomers unorthodox mode of transportation. For he arrived on the back of a golden-fleeced flight of steps r am. The strangers name was Phrixus, and he had been on the point of being sacrificed when the ram carried him off. Having arrived safely in Colchis, he sacrificed the ram to the gods and hung its fleece in a grove. Aeetes gave him the go along of one of his young womans in marriage.Medea King Aeetes had taken a disliking to Jason on sight. He had no particular fondness for handsome young strangers who came traipsing into his kingdom on glorious quests featuring the trampling of his sacred grove and the carrying off of his personal property. For King Aeetes considered the Golden Fleece to be his own, and he was in the midst of verbalise Jason just what he could do with his precious quest when he was reminded of the obligations of hospitality by another of his daughters named Medea. Medea was motivated by more than smashing manners.For Hera had been looking out for Jasons interests, and she had succeeded in persuading her fellow goddess Aphrodite to intervene on Jasons behalf. A F armyard business It was no problem at all for the Goddess of Love to arrange that Medea be stricken with passion for Jason the moment she first saw him. And it was a good thing for Jason that this was so. For not only was he spared a kingly objurgation and a quick trip to the frontier, but Medea quietly offered to help him in his latest predicament. For one time her father had calmed down, he had waxed suspiciously reasonable.Of course Jason could have the Fleece and anything else he necessitate in furtherance of his quest Aeetes couldnt imagine what had possessed him to be so uncooperative. All he required of Jason as a simple token of good faith was the merest of farmyard chores. The Fire-Breathing Bulls on that point were two bulls standing in the adjacent pasture. If Jason would be so kind as to harness them, plow the field, sow it and reap the harvest in a single day, King Aeetes would be a great deal obliged and only too happy to turn over the Golden Fleece. Oh, and th ere was one trifling detail of which Jason should be aware.These bulls were a bit unusual in that their feet were made of brass sharp enough to rip open a man from gullet to gizzard. And then of course there was the matter of their pestiferous breath. In point of fact, they breathed flames. Along about this juncture Jason panorama he heard his mommy, Queen Polymede, calling. But then, as noted, Medea took him gently away and suggested that she might be of aid. Plowing and Sowing Quite conveniently for Jason, Medea was a famous sorceress, magic potions being her stock in trade. She slipped Jason a salve which, when smeared on his body, made him proof against fire and brazen hooves.And so it was that Jason boldly approached the bulls and brooked no bullish insolence. Disregarding the flames that played merrily about his shoulders and steering ingest of the hooves, he forced the creatures into harness and set about plowing the field. Nor was the resultant sowing any great chore f or the now-heartened hero. Gaily strewing seed about like a nymph flinging flowers in springtime, he did not stop to note the unusual nature of the seed. The Dragons Teeth Aeetes, it turns out, had got his hands on some dragons teeth with unique agricultural properties.As soon as these hit the solid cast anchor they began to sprout, which was good from the point of view of Jason accomplishing his task by nightfall, but bad in terms of the harvest. For each seed germinated into a fully-armed warrior, who popped up from the ground and joined the throng now menacing poor Jason. Aeetes, meanwhile, was standing off to the side of the field chuckling quietly to himself. It irked the king somewhat to see his daughter slink across the furrows to Jasons side, but he didnt think too much of it at the time. Having proven herself polite to a fault, maybe Medea was just manifestation a brief and proper farewell.Conquest of the Seed Men In actuality, she was once more engaged in saving the you ng heros posterior. This time there was no traffic in magic embrocations. Medea merely gave Jason a spark advance in basic psychology. Jason, who it was quite clear by now lacked the heroic wherewithal to make the grade on his own, at least had the sense to recognise good advice. Employing the simple device suggested by Medea, he brought the harvest in on deadline with a minimum of personal effort. He simply threw a stone at one of the men. The man, in turn, thought his neighbor had through it.And in short order all the seed men had morose on one another with their swords until not one was left standing. The Golden Fleece Aeetes had no choice but to make as though hed give the Fleece to Jason, but he heretofore had no intention of doing so. He now committed the tactical error of divulging this fact to his daughter. And Medea, still entranced by the Goddess of Love, confided in turn in Jason. Furthermore, she offered to lead him under cover of darkness to the temple grove where t he Fleece was displayed, nailed to a tree and guarded by a dragon. And so at midnight they crept into the sacred precinct of Ares, god of war.Jason, ever the hothead, whipped out his sword, but Medea wisely restrained his impetuosity. The Aftermath Instead, she used a sleeping potion to subvert the monsters vigilance. Together they made off with the Fleece and escaped to the Argo. Setting sail at once, they eluded pursuit. Thus Jason succeeded in his heroic challenge. And once returned to Greece, he abandoned Medea for another princess. For though Jason had sworn to spot and honor Medea for the service she had done him, he proved as erratic in this regard as hed been unfit for single-handed questing