The Adventures Of Jason And The Argonauts
After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople, heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. The Straits of Bosphorus are a narrow passageway of water between the Sea of Marmara, the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea. To the ancient Greeks, this was the edge of the known world. The Straits are extremely dangerous due to the currents created by the flow of water from the Black Sea. The ancient Greeks believed that clashing rocks guarded the straits and that the rocks would close together and smash any ship sailing through. Jason had been told by a blind prophet he assisted how to fool the rocks. He was to send a bird ahead of him. The rocks would crash in on it and then reopen, at which point he could successfully sail through.
The Adventures of Jason and the Argonauts
Jason and the Argonauts have tons of adventures on the way Colchis, like battling Harpies and giants and stuff like that. When they finally arrive in Colchis, King Aeëtes says that Jason can have the Fleece just as long he completes three nearly impossible tasks. With the help of Medea, the daughter of Aeëtes, Jason completes the tasks, grabs the Fleece and Medea, and sails back to Greece. A few adventures later, Jason and pals are marching into Iolcus with the Golden Fleece.
An epic poem is an extremely long poem that recounts the adventures of a person or group. These stories often contain gods, goddesses and superhuman deeds. Argonautica differed from previous classic epic poems in that in also featured a love story between Jason and Medea, which in turn influenced poets of later generations.
Jason and the Argonauts have several adventures on their way to Colchis. Their first stop is the port of Lemnos, where the women there have killed all the male citizens. The Queen of Lemnos tries persuading Jason to stay. All of the Argonauts except for Hercules are enthralled with the area, but Hercules convinces the crew to continue on their journey.
Jason and the Argonauts go through many adventures before reaching the kingdom of Colchis where the Golden Fleece is located. However, King Aetes has no intention of handing over the fleece and gives Jason a new task. He must harness a pair of fire-breathing bulls, plow the field of Ares, plant a field of dragon teeth, and then defeat the earth army that will spawn from the teeth. With the help of Aetes' daughter Medea, Jason is able to complete these tasks, but the King still does not want to surrender the Fleece. Jason and Medea steal the Fleece and escape on the Argo.
Jason and the Argonauts is the tale of a young Greek hero and his crew who go on a quest to find the legendary Golden Fleece. They have many adventures together before finally returning to Greece with the Fleece.
On their voyage to Kolchis the Argonauts had many adventures. One of the more notable was the rescue of Phineus from the Harpies at Salmydessos in Thrace. These terrible winged creatures had been sent by Zeus to torment the blind Phineus as punishment for blinding his own sons on the advice of their scheming step-mother. Zetes and Kalais, themselves winged, chased away or killed the Harpies thus earning the gratitude of Phineus who gave them favourable winds and advice on the best route to Kolchis. Other diversions occurred on the island of Lemnos where the female inhabitants sought to ensnare the heroes, on the island of the Doliones where they were attacked by savage giants, and on the island of the Mysians where Hercules was lost to the expedition as he searched for his lover Hylas, taken by the water nymphs.
The voyage back home to Iolkos was as protracted as the voyage out and the heroes once more had many adventures. A notable episode is the encounter with Talos, the bronze man given to King Minos by Hephaistos, and who ran around the island of Crete three times each day keeping guard. Talos tried to prevent the Argonauts from landing and so incurred the wrath of Medea who brought his downfall with one of her magic potions.
To continue the story. King Aietes organises a banquet, but confides to Medea that he will kill Jason and the Argonauts rather than surrender the Golden Fleece. Medea tells Jason, and helps him retrieve the Fleece. From here the Argonauts flee home, encountering further epic adventures. The ancient storytellers give several versions of the route Jason took back to Greece, reflecting changes in Greek ideas about the geography of the world.
With the success of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, it was clear to Ray Harryhausen that tackling legendary adventures not only opened up whole new worlds of creativity it was also quite lucrative and if a journey into the tales of the Arabian Nights worked so well it was only natural that Harryhausen would then turn to the legends of Greek mythology for inspiration.
Jason and the Argonauts, also called Argonautica, by Apollonius of Rhodes is an epic poem that tells the adventures of Jason and his companions as they sail to fetch the Golden Fleece from King Aeëtes of Colchis.
Greek mythology is replete with grand adventures and heroic journeys. From the Odyssey to the Labors of Heracles, heroes (usually of divine bloodlines) overcome one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after another to reach their fated goal.
Morris H. Lary, "Jason and the Argonauts: The Myth of the Golden Fleece", History Cooperative, August 25, 2022, -and-the-argonauts-golden-fleece-myth/. Accessed March 31, 20232. To link to this article in the text of an online publication, please use this URL: -and-the-argonauts-golden-fleece-myth/3. If your web page requires an HTML link, please insert this code:Jason and the Argonauts: The Myth of the Golden Fleece
The story revolves around the hero Jason (Todd Armstrong), rightful heir to the throne of Thessaly, whose throne was usurped from his father by Evil Uncle Pelias (Douglas Wilmer). Pelias offers to give Jason the throne if he sails to the end of the world to claim the Golden Fleece, something which many have tried but failed. Jason gathers a Badass Crew, including Hercules and other Greek heroes, and sets sail aboard the ship Argo. Together, the Argonauts encounter all sorts of adventures along the way. Jason's love interest is Medea (Nancy Kovack), a temple dancer, and the gods Zeus (Niall MacGinnis) and Hera (Honor Blackman) play roles in the story as well.
The myth of Jason and the Argonauts endured for centuries, mainly because its heroes' exploits exemplified resilience and took them on adventures to new lands. The Argonauts, named for the ship they sailed on, the Argo, were gathered by legendary hero Jason. According to PBS, Jason is the rightful heir to the throne of Iolkis, but after his father died, his uncle, Pelias, stole the crown. After a bunch of adventures on his own, Jason returned to Iolkis to reclaim his birthright. Pelias, however, wanted to make him suffer. So he ordered the young man to go on an impossible quest to prove his worth. He had to get the fabled Golden Fleece.
Throughout the quest, several original Argonauts either died or, in the case of Hercules, left to pursue their own heroic feats and star in their own stories. Eventually, they did reach Colchis, and after a couple of trials, and magic help from new Argonaut Medea, Jason finally got the Golden Fleece. Of course, this was not the end of Jason's adventures; just ask anyone who's read Medea.
Jason and the Golden Fleece is a story of heroism, treachery, love and tragedy. It features a classic triangle of hero, dark power and female helper, a form still very much alive in Hollywood films.The Argonauts are named after their ship, the Argo, designed by Athena. Jason, son of Aeson and Polymede, of Iolcus, was captain. Tiphys, son of Hagnias, was helmsman. The other argonauts, according to one list, were: 1) Orpheus, son of Oeagros (or Apollo); 2) Castor, son of Tyndareus, of Sparta; 3) Polydeuces [Pollux], son of Zeus, of Sparta; 4) Zetes, son of Boreas; 5) Calais, son of Boreas; 6) Telemon, son of Aeacus; 7) Peleus, son of Aeacus; 8) Heracles, son of Zeus [did not complete journey]; 9) Theseus , son of Aegeus, of Athens and Troezen; 10) Idas, son of Aphareus; 11) Lynceus, son of Aphareus; 12) Amphiareus, son of Oicles; 13) Coronus, son of Caeneus; 14) Palaemon, son of Hephaestus [or Aetolus]; 15) Cepheus, son of Aleus; 16) Laertes, son of Arceisius; 17) Autolycus, son of Hermes; 18) Atalante, daughter of Schoeneus; 19) Menoetius, son of Actor; 20) Actor, son of Hippasus; 21) Admetus, son of Pheres; 22) Acastus, son of Pelias; 23) Eurytus, son of Hermes; 24) Meleager, son of Oeneus; 25) Ancaeus, son Lycurgus; 26) Euphemus, son of Poseidon; 27) Poeas, son of Thaumacus; 28) Butes, son of Teleon; 29) Phanus, son of Dionysos; 30) Stalphylus, son of Dionysos; 31) Erginus, son of Poseidon; 32) Periclymenus, son of Neleus; 33) Augeas, son of Helios; 34) Iphiclus, son of Thestius; 35) Argus, son of Phrixus; 36) Euryalus, son of Mecisteus; 37) Peneleos, son of Hippalmus; 38) Leitus, son of Alector; 39) Iphitus, son of Naubolus; 40) Ascalaphus, son of Ares; 41) Ialmenus, son of Ares; 42) Asterius, son of Cometes; 43) Polyphemus, son of Elatus.
When the tyrant Peisistratos seized power in 546 B.C., as Aristotle noted, there already existed a shrine dedicated to Theseus, but the exponential increase in artistic representations during Peisistratos's reign through 527 B.C. displayed the growing importance of the hero to political agenda. Peisistratos took Theseus to be not only the national hero, but his own personal hero, and used the Cretan adventures to justify his links to the island sanctuary of Delos and his own reorganization of the festival of Apollo there. It was during this period that Theseus's relevance as national hero started to overwhelm Herakles's importance as Pan-Hellenic hero, further strengthening Athenian civic pride. \^/
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