Jason and the Argonauts
Group of heroic characters assemble to obtain great treasure (the Golden Fleece)
Yet our best account an epic poem called the
Argonautica, written around 250
BCE (at least 400 years after Homer) by Apollonius of Rhodes
Aeson has a son
Jason who is hidden away and raised by Chiron the
Centaur.
Pelias learns from an oracle that
a man with one sandal will cause his
downfall
arrives with one sandal because he lost one while carrying an
old woman across a stream on the way to Iolcus.
Jason
The old woman is
Hera in disguise, who becomes Jason’s
champion
Pelias then commands Jason to go and get the
Golden Fleece
It seems Pelias is to what to Jason if Jason is successful
yield the throne
he ship is built by a man named
Argus (“Swift”) and named the Argo
for its builder
ships crew
the Argonauts = sailors of the Argo.
Argonauts take off w/o
Heracles
Phineus and the Harpies
The Harpies = hostile human-headed female birds who stink and leave stench behind.
• Associated with storm winds and angry spirits. Also with death, name = Snatchers
Phineus rewards them by telling them to send a dove through the
Symplegades; if the dove makes it, they will too.
• The “Clashing Rocks” seem to have been a timed smashing of a
great pair of rocks amidst great swirling currents.
The Argonauts finally arrive in
Colchis.
• Medea, daughter of King Aeëtes, is the first to see Jason.
• Aphrodite (prompted by Hera) sent Eros to make her fall madly in love with Jason (cf.
Ariadnê with Theseus, Scylla with Minos), and thus willing to help him (what might this tell us
about the future?).
• Aeëtes is expecting a “stranger” to be his downfall and sets a task for Jason if he wants the
Golden Fleece.
• He must yoke two fire-breathing bulls and use them to plow a huge field in which he must
plant the remaining teeth from the dragon that Cadmus killed.
• Athena had somehow given half of these teeth to Aeëtes.
• Then he must kill the men who will sprout from the field.
Jason throws a
rock into their midst
A huge dragon guards the Fleece,
but Medea gives the
dragon a potion and puts it to sleep.
Medea and the Golden Fleece
Aeëtes chases the Argo, but Medea again helps Jason.
• She cuts up her baby brother Apsyrtus into pieces and
throws the pieces one by one into the water (diff. version in
Argonautica).
• Aeëtes stops to pick them up and so the Argo has the time to
escape back to Greece.
• Hence Jason’s ultimate success is largely, if not entirely,
dependent on Medea’s help.
Jason as a Deflated Hero?
Apollonius’ portrayal of Jason emphasizes his emotional states and
indecision.
• Jason’s response to learning of his great labor: depression and
despair.
• Medea the more powerful and stronger member of the couple.
