Jason And The Golden Fleece Essay, Research Paper

Jason was the leader of the Argonauts and the husband of Medea. He was the son of Aeson. King Pelias of Iolcos sent Jason on a seemingly impossible quest to bring the Golden Fleece back from distant Colchis. Jason assembled a crew of heroes from all over Greece. Argos, the largest ship ever constructed, was built for the heroes. On their way to Colchis, Jason and his crew became the first humans to pass through the Symplegades. They also freed Phineus from the curse of the Harpies. When they arrived at Colchis, King Aeetes demanded that Jason accomplish series of tasks to get the Golden Fleece. He had to yoke a team of fierce, fire-breathing oxen and plows a field with them, then he had to sow the teeth of a dragon in the field, and finally he had to deal with the warlike armored men who sprouted from these seeds . Jason accomplished all these tasks with the help of Medea who had fallen in love with him. On their way back to Lolco, they encountered the perils of Scylla and Charbdis and the island of the Sirens as well as Talos the bronze guardian of Crete. In Lolcos, Medea contrived the murder of King Pelias, after which she and Jason fled to Corinth. In Corinth, after many years of marriage, Jason finally deserted Medea to marry King Creon s daughter; Medea wreaked a terrible vengeance, killing the bride and Creon, and ever murdering her own children. She then escaped, leaving Jason to mourn his losses. Jason was killed years later when he was struck on the head by a timber from the Argos.