Jason (Greek: Ίασων, Etruscan: Easun) is a hero of Greek mythology. His father was Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus. Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... The ancient Greeks proposed many different ideas about the primordial gods in their mythology. ... In Greek mythology, the Titans (Greek Τιταν, plural Τιτανες) are among a series of gods, some of whom opposed Zeus and the Olympian gods in their ascent to power. ... Statue of Zeus Phidias created the 12-m (40-ft) tall statue of Zeus at Olympia about 435 BC. The statue was perhaps the most famous sculpture in ancient Greece, imagined here in a 16th-century engraving. ... The twelve gods of Olympus. ... Marble sculpture of Pan copulating with a goat, recovered from Herculaneum Pan (Greek Παν, genitive Πανος) is the Greek god who watches over shepherds and their flocks. ... Hylas and the Nymphs by John William Waterhouse In Greek mythology, a nymph is any member of a large class of female nature spirits, sometimes bound to a particular location or landform. ... Apollo (Greek: Απόλλων, Apóllōn; Απελλων) is a god in Greek and Roman mythology, the son of Zeus and Leto, and the twin of Artemis (goddess of the hunt), one of the most important and many-sided of the Olympian divinities. ... Bacchus by Caravaggio Dionysus or Dionysos (Ancient Greek: Διώνυσος or Διόνυσος; also known as Bacchus in both Greek and Roman mythology and associated with the Italic Liber), the Thracian god of wine, represents not only the intoxicating power of wine, but also its social and beneficent influences. ... The ancient Greeks had a large number of sea gods. ... In mythology chthonic (from Greek χθονιος-pertaining to the earth; earthy) designates, or pertains to, gods or spirits of the underworld, especially in Greek mythology. ... Statue of Heracles In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Heraklês (glory of Hera, Ηρακλης) was a divine hero, the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, and stepson of Alcmenes rightful husband and grandson of Perseus. ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... The Trojan War was a war waged, according to legend, against the city of Troy in Asia Minor by the armies of the Achaeans, following the kidnapping (or elopement) of Helen of Sparta by Paris of Troy. ... Odysseus and the Sirens. ... Odysseus and Nausicaä - by Charles Gleyre The Odyssey (Greek Ὀδυσσεία) is the second of the two great Greek epic poems ascribed to Homer, the first of which is the Iliad. ... In Greek mythology, the ram with the Golden Fleece (Okros Satsmisi in Georgian) was given to Nephele of Thessaly by Hermes for her to transport her children, Helle and Phrixus, away from Ino. ... Perseus with the Head of Medusa Perseus, Greek Περσεύς, was the son of Danae, and the only grandchild of Acrisius king of Argos. ... In Greek mythology, the Gorgons (terrible or, according to some, loud-roaring) were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. ... Oedipus and the Sphinx, from an 1879 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church Oedipus (Greek , Oidipous, swollen-foot; rarely ; Latin Oedipus) or Å’dipus was the mythical king of Thebes, son of Laius and Jocasta, who, unknowingly, killed his father and married his mother. ... The Oath of the Seven Chiefs, an 1897 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church Seven Against Thebes is a play by Aeschylus concerning the battle between Eteocles and the army of Thebes and Polynices and his supporters, traditional Theban enemies. ... Theseus (Greek Θησευς) was a legendary king of Athens, son of Aegeus (or of Poseidon) and of Aethra. ... For the American satellite launcher, see Minotaur (rocket). ... Triptolemus (also Buzyges), in Greek mythology, was the son of King Celeus of Eleusis in Attica. ... The Eleusinian Mysteries were annual initiation ceremonies for the cult of Demeter and Persephone based at Eleusis in ancient Greece. ... A mystery religion is any religion with an arcanum, or body of secret wisdom. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Guido Reni, Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 In Greek mythology, the centaurs (Greek: Κένταυροι) are a race part human and part horse, with a horses body and a human head and torso. ... Greek religion is the polytheistic religion practiced in ancient Greece in form of cult practices, thus the practical counterpart of Greek mythology. ... Etruscan was a language spoken and written in the ancient region of Etruria (current Tuscany) and in what is now Lombardy (where the Etruscans were displaced by Gauls), in Italy. ... Greek mythology comprises the collected narratives of Greek gods, goddesses, heroes, and heroines, originally created and spread within an oral-poetic tradition. ... In Greek mythology, Aeson (or Aison) was the son of Tyro and Cretheus, father of Jason and Promachus. ... Iolcos (also known as Iolkos or Iolcus, Greek: Ιώλκος) was an ancient city in Thessaly, central-eastern Greece (near the modern city of Volos). ...

The early years

Pelias (Aeson's half-brother) was power-hungry and he wished to gain dominion over all of Thessaly. Pelias was the product of a union between their shared mother Tyro ("high born Tyro") daughter of Salmoneus, and the sea god Poseidon. In a bitter feud, he overthrew Aeson (the rightful king), killing him and hopefully his descendants, who might take revenge on him. Alcimede (wife of Aeson) already had an infant son by Aeson, Jason who she sent to the centaur (half man, half horse) Cheiron for education, for fear that Pelias would kill him - she claimed that he had been killed (circumstances unclear). Pelias, still paranoid that he would one day be overthrown, consulted an oracle which warned him to beware a man coming forth from the people with only one sandal. King Pelias was the father of Acastus, Pisidice, Alcestis in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, Aeson (or Aison) was the son of Tyro and Cretheus, father of Jason and Promachus. ... Thessaly (Θεσσαλια; modern Greek Thessalía; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is one of the 13 peripheries of Greece, and is further sub-divided into 4 prefectures. ... In Greek mythology, Alcimede (mighty cunning) was one of the matrilineal Minyan daughters, the daughter of Clymene, Minyas daughter. ... In astronomy, 2060 Chiron is an object discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal. ... An Oracle is a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic opinion; an infallible authority, usually spiritual in nature. ...

Many years later, Pelias was holding games in honour of the sea god and his alleged father, Poseidon, when Jason arrived in Iolcus and lost one of his sandals in the river Anauros ("wintry Anauros"), while helping an old woman (Goddess Hera in disguise) cross. She blessed him for she knew, as goddesses do, what Pelias had up his sleeve. When Jason entered Iolcus, he was announced as a man wearing one sandal. Paranoid, Pelias asked him what he (Jason) would do if confronted with the man who would be his downfall. Jason responded that he would send that man after the Golden Fleece. Pelias took that advice and sent Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece as he thought it an impossible mission for this young lad that stood before him (Jason was supposed to have been in his late teens or early twenties at the time). GAMES Magazine is a United States based magazine devoted to games published by GAMES Publications, a division of Kappa Publishing Group. ... Iolcos (also known as Iolkos or Iolcus, Greek: Ιώλκος) was an ancient city in Thessaly, central-eastern Greece (near the modern city of Volos). ... In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hêra (Greek or ) was the wife and sister of Zeus. ... Iolcos (also known as Iolkos or Iolcus, Greek: Ιώλκος) was an ancient city in Thessaly, central-eastern Greece (near the modern city of Volos). ... King Pelias was the father of Acastus, Pisidice, Alcestis in Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, the ram with the Golden Fleece (Okros Satsmisi in Georgian) was given to Nephele of Thessaly by Hermes for her to transport her children, Helle and Phrixus, away from Ino. ... In Greek mythology, the ram with the Golden Fleece (Okros Satsmisi in Georgian) was given to Nephele of Thessaly by Hermes for her to transport her children, Helle and Phrixus, away from Ino. ...

Pelias sends forth Jason, in an 1879 illustration from Stories from the Greek Tragedians by Alfred Church

Pelias Sending Forth Jason - Project Gutenberg eText 14994 - http://www. ... Pelias Sending Forth Jason - Project Gutenberg eText 14994 - http://www. ... King Pelias was the father of Acastus, Pisidice, Alcestis in Greek mythology. ...

The quest for the Golden Fleece

Jason assembled a great group of heroes and a huge ship called the Argo. Together, the heroes were known as the Argonauts. They included the Boreads, Heracles, Peleus, Telamon, Orpheus, Castor and Polydeuces, Atalanta and Euphemus. In Greek mythology, Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcus to retrieve the Golden Fleece. ... The Black Sea near the shore of Colchis. ... The Boreads, in Greek mythology, were Calais and Zetes. ... Statue of Heracles In Greek mythology, Heracles, or Heraklês (glory of Hera, Ηρακλης) was a divine hero, the demigod son of Zeus and Alcmene, and stepson of Alcmenes rightful husband and grandson of Perseus. ... In Greek mythology, Pēleús (Greek: Πηλεύς) was the son of Aeacus, King of Aegina. ... Son of Aeacus, King of Aegina and Endeis and brother of Peleus, Telamon accompanied Jason as one his Argonauts, and was present at the hunt for the Calydonian Boar. ... The head of Orpheus, from an 1865 painting by Gustave Moreau. ... In Greek mythology, Castor (or Kastor) and Polydeuces (sometimes called Pollux) were the twin sons of Leda and the brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra. ... Atalanta (balanced) is a character from ancient Greek mythology. ... In Greek mythology, Euphemus was the son of Europa and Poseidon. ...

The Isle of Lemnos

The isle of Lemnos is situated off the Western coast of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). The island was inhabited by a race of women, who had killed their husbands. The women had neglected their worship of Aphrodite, and as a punishment the goddess made the women so foul in stench that their husbands couldn't bear to be near them. The men then took concubines from the Thracian mainland opposite, and the spurned women, naturally angry, killed every male inhabitant. The king, Thoas, was saved by Hypsipyle, his daughter, who put him out to sea sealed in a chest from which he was later rescued. The women of Lemnos lived for a while without men, with Hypsipyle as their queen. Lemnos (mod. ... Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty. ... In Greek mythology, Hypsipyle was the Queen of Lemnos. ...

The Argonauts stopped off on the isle, and the women welcomed them with open arms. Jason fathered twins with the queen, and many other Argonauts fathered children with the other women, thereby reintroducing a male population to the island (the offspring were male). Heracles pressured them to leave as he was disgusted by the antics of the Argonauts. He hadn't taken part, which is truly unusual considering the numerous affairs he had with other women. Heracles is the moral voice throughout their sojourn, and he reminds the crew of their mission. The Argonauts resumed their hunt for the Golden Fleece after spending a considerable amount of time on the island.

The arrival in Colchis

Jason, a highly personal, dreamlike reinterpretation by the Symbolist Gustave Moreau, 1865

Jason arrived in Colchis to claim the fleece as his own. King Aeetes of Colchis promised to give it to him only if he could perform certain tasks. Presented with the tasks, Jason became discouraged and fell into depression. However, Hera had persuaded Aphrodite to strike Aeetes's daughter, Medea, with love for Jason. As a result, Medea aided Jason in his tasks. First, Jason had to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen that he had to yoke himself. Medea provided an ointment that protected him from the oxen's flames. Then, Jason sowed the teeth of a dragon into a field. The teeth sprouted into an army of warriors. Medea had previously warned Jason of this and told him how to defeat this foe. Before they attacked him, he threw a rock into the crowd. Unable to decipher where the rock had come from, the soldiers attacked each other and defeated each other. Finally, Jason had to fight and kill the sleepless dragon that guarded the fleece, but again Medea used her magic to put the dragon to sleep. Jason then took the fleece and sailed away with Medea, who had fallen in love with him and helped him win the fleece. Medea distracted her father as they fled by killing her brother, Apsyrtus. In the fight, Atalanta was seriously wounded but healed by Medea. Download high resolution version (500x900, 121 KB)Gustave Moreau (French, 1826-1898) Jason Painting Date: 1865 Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 204 x 115. ... Download high resolution version (500x900, 121 KB)Gustave Moreau (French, 1826-1898) Jason Painting Date: 1865 Medium: Oil on canvas Size: 204 x 115. ... This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Orpheus by Gustave Moreau (1865) Gustave Moreau (April 6, 1826 - April 18, 1898) was a French Symbolist painter. ... Colchis, or Aea-Colchis (Georgian form - Kolkheti), in ancient geography district of Asia Minor, at the eastern extremity of the Black Sea, bounded on the N. by the Caucasus. ... Aeetes (in Greek Αἰήτης, Georgian Ayeti) - King of Colchis (Georgian name Kolkheti, territory of modern West Georgia) in Greek mythology, Aeetes figured prominently in the story of Jason and the Argonauts. ... In the Olympian pantheon of classical Greek Mythology, Hêra (Greek or ) was the wife and sister of Zeus. ... Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty. ... Medea by Evelyn De Morgan In Greek mythology Medea was the daughter of King Aeetes (Georgian Ayeti) of Colchis (Georgian Kolkheti, now a territory of modern Georgia) and niece of Circe, and later wife to Jason. ... Dragons teeth (German: Höcker, humps) were square-pyramidal fortifications of concrete used during the Second World War to impede the movement of tanks. ... Absyrtus (also Apsyrtus) was the son of Aeëtes and a brother of Medea. ... Atalanta (balanced) is a character from ancient Greek mythology. ...

Alternate versions tell of how Jason led the herd of sheep that had the golden wool to make the fleece. He was advised by Medea to lead the herd through a patch of thorned plants. The wool would then be trapped in the thorns so Jason could collect it.

The return

On the way back to Thessaly, Medea prophesised to Euphemus, the Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Libya. This came true through Battus, a descendant of Euphemus. In Greek mythology, Euphemus was the son of Europa and Poseidon. ... Battus can refer to: In Greek mythology, Battus is the name of two different people: Son of Polymnestus, founded Cyrene, thus fulfilling a prophecy given to his ancestor, Euphemus. ...

Circe

When the Argonauts stopped on Aeaea, Circe purified them for the death of Apsyrtus. Circe, a painting by Edward Burne-Jones In Greek mythology, Circe or Kirkê (Greek Κίρκη)was a goddess living on the island of Aeaea. ... In Greek mythology, Aiaia, or Aeaea, was the home of the god Hermes. ... Circe, a painting by Edward Burne-Jones In Greek mythology, Circe or Kirkê (Greek Κίρκη)was a goddess living on the island of Aeaea. ...

Sirens

Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus, the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them. They then ate the sailors. When Orpheus heard their voices, he withdrew his lyre and played his music more beautifully than they, drowning out their music. A Greek amphora depicting Odysseus encounter with the sirens. ... The head of Orpheus, from an 1865 painting by Gustave Moreau. ... A Greek amphora depicting Odysseus encounter with the sirens. ... In Greek mythology, the Sirenum scopuli were three small rocky islands where the Sirens lived and lured sailors to their deaths. ... A lyre is a stringed musical instrument well known for its use in Classical Antiquity. ...

Talos

The Argo then came to the island of Crete, guarded by the bronze man, Talos. Talos had one blood vessel which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail. Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo landed. In Greek mythology, Talos (alt. ... Greece and Crete Crete, sometimes spelled Krete (Greek Κρήτη / Kriti; see also List of traditional Greek place names) is the largest of the Greek islands and the fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea. ... In Greek mythology, Talos (alt. ... Medea by Evelyn De Morgan In Greek mythology Medea was the daughter of King Aeetes (Georgian Ayeti) of Colchis (Georgian Kolkheti, now a territory of modern Georgia) and niece of Circe, and later wife to Jason. ...

Jason returns

Medea, using her sorcery, claimed to Pelias' daughters that she could make their father younger by chopping him up into pieces and boiling the pieces in a cauldron of water and magical herbs. She demonstrated this remarkable feat with a sheep, 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. There he married Creusa, a daughter of the King of Corinth, to strengthen his political ties. Medea, angry at Jason for breaking his vow that he would be hers forever, got her revenge by presenting 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, burnt to death with his daughter as he tried to save her. Medea killed the children that she bore to Jason, fearing that they would be murdered, or enslaved as a result of their mother's actions. In Greek mythology, four people had the name Creusa. ... In Greek mythology, Creon, or Kreon (ruler), son of Menoeceus, was the father of Haemon and husband of Eurydice. ...

The story of Medea's revenge on Jason is told with devastating effect by Euripides in the tragedy of the same name.

Later Jason and Peleus (father of the hero Achilles) would attack and defeat Acastus, reclaiming the throne of Iolcus for himself once more. Jason's son, Thessalus, then became king (the parentage of Thessalus is uncertain - i.e. who was his mother, since Medea killed her children?). In Greek mythology, Pēleús (Greek: Πηλεύς) was the son of Aeacus, King of Aegina. ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... In Greek mythology, Thessalus was the son of Jason and Medea and the twin of Alcimenes. ...

Jason died a lonely and unhappy man with no friends. He was asleep under the stern of the Argo, which was rotten, and it fell on him, killing him instantly. It was said that the manner of his death was due to the gods cursing him for breaking his promise to Medea. In Greek mythology, Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcus to retrieve the Golden Fleece. ...

Though some of the episodes of Jason's story draw on ancient material, the definitive telling, on which this account relies, is that of Apollonius of Rhodes in his epic poem Argonautica, written in Alexandria in the late 3rd century BC. Apollonius of Rhodes (Apollonius Rhodius), librarian at Alexandria, was a Greek grammarian and epic poet, who flourished under the Ptolemies Philopator and Epiphanes (222-181 BC). ... This article or section should be merged with Jason. ... Antiquity and modernity stand cheek-by-jowl in Egypts chief Mediterranean seaport Located on the Mediterranean Sea coast, Alexandria (in Arabic, الإسكندرية, transliterated al-ʼIskandariyyah) is the chief seaport in Egypt, and that countrys second largest city, and the capital of the Al Iskandariyah governate. ... // Events The first two Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome over dominance in western Mediterranean Rome conquers Spain Gaulish migration to Macedonia, Thrace and Galatia 281 BCE Antiochus I Soter, on the assassination of his father Seleucus becomes emperor of the Seleucid empire. ...

The mythical geography of the voyage of the Argonauts has been speculatively explicated by the historian of science and the cartography of Antiquity, Livio Catullo Stecchini, in a suggestive essay "The Voyage of the Argo" that draws upon fragments of the mythic sources Apollonius employed in constructing his poem. Livio Catullo Stecchini was a historian of science, a teaching professor (Harvard PhD), a scholar of ancient weights and measures, (the science of metrology) and of the history of cartography in antiquity. ...

In the Divine Comedy Dante sees Jason in the eighth circle of Hell among the seducers. Dante shown holding a copy of The Divine Comedy, next to the entrance to Hell, the seven terraces of Mount Purgatory and the city of Florence, in Michelinos fresco. ...

See also

• Cape Jason

Cape Yasun, Ordu. ...

External links

• Timeless Myths - Argonauts, a summary of Jason and his Quest for the Golden Fleece
• Free eBook of Argonautica at Project Gutenberg

(mitological and geographical) Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

References

Powell, B. The Voyage of the Argo. In Classical Myth. Upper Saddle River, NJ. Prentice Hall. 2001. pp. 477-489.