Jason
Jason was the son of the lawful king of Iolcus, but his
uncle Pelias had usurped the throne. He kept Jason's father a prisoner.
Meanwhile Jason was bundled off to the wilderness cave of Chiron the Centaur.
Chiron tutored Jason in the lore of plants, the hunt and the civilized arts.
When he had come of age, Jason set out like a proper hero to claim his rightful
throne. Hera, wife of Zeus, nursed a rage against King Pelias. For the usurper
king had honoured all the gods but Hera. Hera's plan was fraught with danger;
it would require a true hero. To test Jason's mettle, she contrived it that he
came to a raging torrent on his way to Iolcus and on the bank was a withered
old woman. Would Jason go about his business impatiently, or would he give way
to her request to be ferried across the stream?
Jason did not think twice. Taking the crone on his back, he
set off into the current and halfway across he began to stagger under her
unexpected weight. 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 intention of
giving it up. Under the guise of hospitality, he invited Jason to a banquet.
And during the course of the meal, he engaged him in conversation. "You
say you've got what it takes to rule a kingdom," said Pelias. "May I
take it that you're fit to deal with any thorny problems that arise? For
example, how would you go about getting rid of someone who was giving you
difficulties?" Jason considered for a moment, eager to show a kingly knack
for problem solving. "Send him after the Golden Fleece?" he
suggested. "Not a bad idea," responded Pelias. "It's just the
sort of quest that any hero worth his salt would leap at. Why, if he succeeded
he'd be remembered down through the ages. Tell you what, why don't you go?
Jason gathered a team of 50 people and started his voyage on
a ship called 'Agro'. Together they were known as the 'Argonauts'. Later on as
the voyage moved further the team increased to about 100 people. One of the
famous heroes on this ship was Hercules. It is said the Jason's journey was one
of the first longest voyages of its times. Jason's first stop was the island of
Lemnos, which was based in the Aegean Sea. Women, who cursed by Goddess
Aphrodite, because they had ignored her worship, inhabited the island. So she
cursed them and made their body smell so disgusting that their husbands ran
away. Angry with Aphrodite, they killed their husbands.
Next they moved with the Doliones, where their King Kyzicos
greeted them. After they left the Doliones, the 'Argonauts', lost their way and
landed at the same island. This time Kyzicos thought them to be enemies and
fought with them. The 'Argonauts' killed many Doliones along with the King. But
later on they realized their mistake. When the 'Argonauts' reached Thrace they
met Phineus of Salmydessus. Phineus was blind by choice because he wanted to live
a long life and if he wanted to predict the sayings of Gods. Jason saved
Phineus from Harpies who was sent by Helios to kill him. In return of his
favor, Phineus told him the site of Colchis. To reach Colchis, one had to
travel through the cliffs of Symplegades. But the cliffs trampled anyone and
anything that traveled between them. So Phineus suggested that Jason release a
dove between the cliffs. If the dove is able to reach pass the cliffs so will
he. Jason did this and the dove passed the cliffs. Jason also traveled through
the cliffs of Symplegades safely.
Finally Jason and his 'Argonauts' reached Colchis. Jason
meets up with the King Aietes and asks him to return the Golden Fleece. But
Aietes says yes only on the condition that he presents some extraordinary
tasks. Medea the daughter of Aietes helps Jason in completing the tasks, on the
condition that he marries her. But Aietes has other plans. He decides to kill
Jason and the 'Argonauts' and not return the Golden Fleece. But he makes the
mistake of confiding his plans with his daughter Medea. Medea helps Jason
recover the Golden Fleece and they along with the 'Argonauts' flee Colchis.
On the way back to Iolcus, Medea prophesied to Euphemus, the
Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Cyrene. This came true through
Battus, a descendant of Euphemus. Zeus, as punishment for the slaughter of
Medea's own brother, sent a series of storms at the Argo and blew it off
course. The Argo then spoke and said that they should seek purification with
Circe, a nymph living on the island of Aeaea. After being cleansed, they
continued their journey home.
On the way back Jason and his men faced the sirens. The
Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang
beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the
crashing of their ship into the islands. To stop him and his crew from being
enticed he got Orpheus to use his lyre and played music that was more beautiful
and louder, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs.
The Argonauts then came to the island of Crete, guarded by
the bronze man, Talos. As the ship approached, Talos hurled huge stones at the
ship, keeping it at bay. Talos had one blood vessel which went from his neck to
his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail (as in metal casting by the lost
wax method). Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze
nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo was then able to sail on.
Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted
that his father was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. He
had seen and been served by Medea's magical powers. He asked Medea to take some
years from his life and add them to the life of his father. She did so, but at
no such cost to Jason's life. Medea withdrew the blood from Aesons body and
infused it with certain herbs; putting it back into his veins, returning vigor
to him. Pelias' daughters saw this and wanted the same service for their
father.
Medea, using her sorcery, claimed to Pelias' daughters that
she could make their father smooth and vigorous as a child by chopping him up
into pieces and boiling the pieces in a cauldron of water and magical herbs.
She demonstrated this remarkable feat with the oldest ram in the flock, which
leapt out of the cauldron as a lamb. The girls, rather naively, sliced and
diced their father and put him in the cauldron. Medea did not add the magical
herbs, and Pelias was dead. Pelias' son, Acastus, drove Jason and Medea into
exile for the murder, and the couple settled in Corinth.
In Corinth, Jason became engaged to marry Creusa, a daughter
of the King of Corinth, to strengthen his political ties. By doing this he had
broken his promise to love Medea forever which led her to seek revenge. Medea
took her revenge by presenting to Creusa a cursed dress, as a wedding gift,
that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on.
Creusa's father, Creon, burned to death with his daughter as he tried to save
her. Then Medea killed the two boys that she bore to Jason, fearing that they
would be murdered or enslaved as a result of their mother's actions. When Jason
came to know of this, Medea was already gone; she fled to Athens in a chariot
of dragons sent by her grandfather, the sun-god Helios. As a result of breaking
his vow to love Medea forever,
Jason lost his favour with Hera and died lonely
and unhappy. He was asleep under the stern of the rotting Argo when it fell on
him, killing him instantly.
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