Jason and the Argonauts

CC 303 Intro to Classical Mythology - Fall 2009
Department of Classics, University of Texas at Austin, Prof. Lawrence Kim

Iolcus, Phrixus and Helle, Hellespont, Pelias, Chiron, Golden Fleece,
Argo, Castor and Pollux, Lemnian Women, Hypsipyle,
Hylas, Phineus and the Harpies, Colchis, Medea, Jason

1. The Origin of the Golden Fleece
   • Phrixus (boy) and Helle (girl), children of Athamas, king of Boeotia
   • Their stepmother Ino plots against the children
   • Athamas, tricked, intends to sacrifice them to avert a famine
   • A Golden Ram rescues Phrixus and Helle, and flies away to the east
   • Helle falls off into the body of water known thereafter as the Hellespont (Sea of Helle)
   • Ram goes to Colchis (in Aea) with Phrixus
2. The Early Life of Jason
   • Son of Aeson, whose half-brother Pelias rules Iolcus
   • Prophecy to Pelias: Beware of a man wearing only one sandal
   • Jason grows up in hiding, educated by Chiron, the wise centaur
   • On maturity Jason returns to Iolcos to claim throne
   • On his way, he loses a sandal crossing a river (Hera)
   • Pelias sends Jason to fetch the Golden Fleece
   
   
3. The Argonautic Expedition
1. The Argonauts (Sailors of the Argo), also called the Minyae
• Argus, who builds the ship, Argo, with the help of Athena
• Heracles, Orpheus, Meleager (sometimes Atalanta)
• Zetes and Calaïs, sons of Boreas (The North Wind)
• Castor and Pollux (the Dioscuri)
• Fathers of Trojan War heroes
• Peleus, father of Achilles
• Telamon, father of the Greater Ajax
2. Queen Hypsipyle and the Women of Lemnos
   • Women offended Aphrodite; men take new wives from Thrace
   • Angry, Lemnian women killed all the men, including young and old
   • They sleep with Argonauts to procreate
   • Queen Hypsipyle and Jason fall in love
   • Reluctantly Argonauts leave, shamed by Heracles
3. King Cyzicus
   • Friendly King of the Doliones entertains Jason and crew
   • After the Argo sails off, it gets blown back to shore
   • Not realizing it's the same place, Argonauts fight night-battle against the Doliones
   • Jason kills Cyzicus
   • At dawn, they realize their terrible mistake
4. The Death of Hylas and the Loss of Heracles
   • Argo stops on an island
   • Heracles gets off because he broke an oar and needs to find wood
   • Hylas, his boy lover, is grabbed by a river nymph and dragged under the water
   • Heracles stays on the island to look for him and is left behind
5. King Amycus the Boxer
   • Amycus forces everyone to box with him, usually killing them
   • Pollux, a boxing specialist, kills Amycus in a bout
6. Phineus the Prophet and the Harpies
   • Phineus, a blind prophet
   • Harpies steal away his food before he can eat and defecate on the rest
   • Punishment for revealing too much of the gods' will
   • Zetes and Calaïs chase them away
   • In return Phineus tells Argonauts how to get through the Clashing Rocks
7. Clashing Rocks 
   • Rocks that crash together, destroying ships
   • Argonauts, as told by Phineus, send a dove through to test the speed
   • They make it through and the rocks become stationary
8. King Aeëtes of Colchis and the Golden Fleece
   • Aeëtes demands that Jason perform impossible tasks
   • Yoke bronze-hooved, fire-breathing bulls
   • Sow dragon's teeth and fight the armed men who spring up from them
   • King's daughter Medea falls in love with Jason
   • Helps Jason accomplish the tasks by magic
   • Helps Jason defeat the dragon guarding the fleece
   • Jason and the Argonauts flee with Medea
   • Medea lures her brother Apsyrtus to ambush; Jason kills him
   • Alternate version: they cut him up and sprinkle his dismembered body to stall pursuit
   
   

1. Athena, Argus, and the building of the Argo. Bas-relief.
2. The Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux). Attic Red-Figure kylix by the Penthesilea Painter, c. 450 BCE.
3. Hylas and the Nymphs. J.W. Waterhouse, 1896. Manchester City Art Gallery, Manchester.
4. Phineus. Detail from South Italian clay vase, c. 360 BCE. Museo Jatta, Ruvo.
5. Map of the Voyage of the Argo.
6. Jason & Medea. J.W. Waterhouse, 1907. Location not known.
7. Jason Charming the Dragon. S. Salvator Rosa, c. 1663. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal.
8. Jason Regurgitated by the Colchian Dragon. Attic Red-figure kylix by Douris and Python, c. 480-470 BCE. Vatican Museums.
9. Jason and the Golden Fleece. Detail from an Athenian black-figure clay vase, c. 550 BCE. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu CA.
10. Jason and the Argonauts Comic Book.