JASON AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE! #BLOGCHATTERA2Z
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Jason, the son of Aeson, the king of Iolcos, had an
eventful babyhood. His power-hungry half-brother, Pelias, overthrew Aeson, the
rightful king, to attain dominion over Thessaly. He murdered all his surviving
relatives.
Luckily for Jason, who was a newborn, Alcimide, his
mother, saved him by pretending that he was still born. She sent the baby to
the centaur, Chiron, with whom she claimed a relationship, which rattled
Pelias. He consulted an oracle who warned him of a man wearing one sandal.
Years later, during the games organised in honour of Poseidon by Pelias, Jason walked in, a grown man wearing one sandal. Apparently, he had lost the other sandal while helping an old woman (the goddess Hera in disguise), cross the river Anauros and getting her blessing. Jason was here to claim the throne of Thessaly as the rightful king. Pelias told him that he would have to bring back the Golden Fleece if he wanted to be king, which Jason agreed to.
Jason’s ship was called the Argo and its crew the
Argonauts. They had many adventures on their voyage, after which they finally
reached Colchis, to claim the golden fleece, which was owned by King Aeetes,
which was presented to him by his son-in-law, Phrixus, married to Chalciope.
The fleece was hung on a tree in a holy grove, guarded by a dragon that never
slept.
Jason and the Argonauts - Greek Mythology
King Aeetes gave Jason three tasks to perform to claim
the golden fleece. The tasks were so dangerous that Jason was discouraged. However,
the daughter of Aeetes, Medea, was urged by Aphrodite to fall in love with Jason.
Medea promised Jason to help him complete the three tasks as she was endowed
with certain magic powers.
Jason and Medea - Wikipedia
Jason’s first task was to yoke a pair of fire-breathing
oxen and plough a field. Medea gave him a special ointment which he slathered
over his body to protect him from their fiery breath.
Next, he had to sow the teeth of a dragon into a field.
These teeth turned into an army of fierce warriors whom he had to vanquish. Medea
advised him to throw a rock in their midst, which would provoke them to attack
one another. The aftermath was that they all fought amidst themselves and
perished.
There was only one more task left. Jason had to overpower
the sleepless dragon which guarded the golden fleece. Medea helped him once
again with a magic potion prepared with herbs which Jason sprayed on the dragon,
which put it to sleep. Thus, Jason won the golden fleece, and he, along with Medea
and his crew, sailed away from Colchis. They were chased by King Aeetes and Medea’s
brother, Apsyrtus. Blinded by her love for Jason, Medea killed her brother and
scattered his body parts in the sea.
When they finally reached Thessaly after many more
thrilling exploits, Jason found that his father had grown too old to take care
of matters. He asked Medea to take some years from his own life and add them to
his father’s. Medea used her magic to do so.
Seeing this, the daughters of Pelias, Jason’s greedy
brother and the cause of all his initial troubles, requested her to add years
to their father’s life as well. Medea told them to cut him up into pieces and
throw them into a cauldron with water and herbs. They did so, but Medea did not
add the herbs and Pelias died as a result.
Pelias’ son, Acastus, exiled Jason and Medea to Corinth for
the murder of his father. Once there, Jason got engaged to Creusa, the daughter
of the Corinthian king, for political reasons. Medea was rightfully incensed as
Jason had sworn everlasting love to her. Jason taunted her by saying that it
was Aphrodite who had caused them to fall in love. Medea took revenge by
offering Creusa, Jason’s bride, a cursed dress as a wedding gift. When she wore
it, it stuck to her body and burned her to death. Medea then killed her two
sons because she did not want them tortured or enslaved by Jason, and fled to
Athens in a chariot led by dragons that belonged to Helios, the sun god and her
grandfather.
Jason killed Acastus and took over the throne of Iolcus.
However, due to his betrayal of Medea, the goddess Hera spurned him and he
died, a lonely and miserable man. It is believed that when he was sleeping
under the stem of the now rotting ship, the Argo, it broke off and fell on him,
crushing him on the spot.
Trivia:
The myth of the golden fleece could be real, referring to
a way of extracting gold with sheepskins. Colchis is now called Svaneti, a
region covered with mountains, apparently rich in gold. Svaneti is in
north-west Georgia near the Caucasus mountains. According to legend, the
villagers in Svaneti would throw sheepskins into the water to trap gold
particles in the rivers flowing from the mountains. The sheepskins would absorb
the gold particles, turning into golden fleeces. Maybe, the Argonauts could
have been on a voyage to discover the mystery behind this gold extraction process.
Books: Jason and the Golden Fleece by James Riordan and Jason Cockcroft:
The layers in Greek mythology are what keeps them still fascinating to read. Like our stories in the Puranas and itihasas, there too, characters are as grey as ever, even the gods,making life lessons they teach timeless. Amazing tale.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Ratna! That is what is fascinating about literature, isn't it? Thank you for your appreciation!
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