Jason and the Golden Fleece

Jason and the Golden Fleece is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius of Rhodes during the third century BCE. A scholar of the Library of Alexandria, Apollonius draws on and adapts Homeric themes, motifs, and techniques and incorporates a vast knowledge of geography, religion, and ancient and modern cultures. The epic has also been published under the titles Jason and the Argonauts, The Voyage of the Argo, and the Argonautica. It is the only surviving epic of the Hellenistic period.

This study guide refers to the 1993 Oxford World’s Classics edition translated in prose by Richard Hunter. The guide retains Hunter's method of transliteration, in which he uses "k" rather than the Latinized "c" (i.e., "Kastor" instead of "Castor" and "Herakles" instead of "Heracles"). Similarly, Hunter uses the term "Hellas," a transliteration of the umbrella term that refers to the Greek-speaking world, rather than the Latinized and geographically bounded "Greece." This study guide uses the phrase "Greek speakers" to refer to the historical peoples who used the Greek language across the ancient world.

Plot Summary

The poet begins with an invocation of Apollo, god of poetry and prophecy, to recall the famous deeds of men from long ago. King Pelias of Iolkus receives a prophecy from Apollo to beware a man wearing one sandal. When a young man named Jason arrives for a sacred feast at Pelias’ palace wearing one sandal (he lost the other crossing a stream), Pelias decides to remove him. He devises a seemingly impossible quest to bring the Golden Fleece back from King Aietes of Colchis.

Jason accepts the quest, and a group of heroes assembles to accompany him on his voyage. Over 50 gather, including the singer Orpheus, the heroes Herakles and Idas, the prophet Idmon, and the brothers Telamon and Peleus. They will sail on the Argo, constructed under Athena's orders. Jason asks the group to choose a leader, and they pick Herakles, but Herakles defers back to Jason. Before they embark, Jason is anxious, prompting Idas to mock him for cowardice. Idmon, in turn, admonishes Idas for his mockery. Before the conflict can escalate, Orpheus soothes all with his lyre.

The narrative follows the heroes as they journey east. They stop at Lemnos, which is populated by women who murdered all their menfolk. When they become reluctant to leave, Herakles rebukes them, and they resume their journey. They next stop on the island of the Doliones, who welcome them with hospitality. After they depart, a nighttime storm blows the Argonauts back to the island. Neither the Doliones nor the Argonauts recognize each other in the dark, and they battle. When they sun rises and reveals who they are, both sides mourn and grieve together. On Kios, they are again welcomed warmly, but they accidentally leave Herakles behind. Telamon accuses Jason of leaving Herakles on purpose, but the sea-god Glaukos rises out of the ocean to inform them that Herakles has another fate to fulfill. Telamon and Jason make amends.

Book 2 continues the Argonauts’ journey, and in the process describes the broad geography of Greek speakers’ myths, which spreads beyond the boundaries of Hellas. The Argonauts arrive on the island of the Bebrykians, whose king Amykos demands one of the Argonauts fight him in single combat. Polydeukes volunteers and kills Amykos, leading to a battle, which the Argonauts win. At their next stop, they encounter the seer Phineus, whose divine prophecies earned Zeus’ censure. The god punished Phineus by taking away his sight and setting Harpies to steal most of his food. After the Argonauts free him from the Harpies, he advises them on their journey ahead; with his advice, they survive the Dark Rocks. Stopping next on the island of Ares, the Argonauts use one of Herakles’ strategies to survive killer birds and meet the sons of Phrixos, including Argos. The sons are traveling in the opposite direction, from Colchis to Hellas, to recover their father’s wealth. They agree to accompany the Argonauts back to Colchis but warn them of Aietes’ danger.

Book 3 introduces the love story between Jason and Medea. It begins with the poem’s only scene on Mount Olympus, where Hera and Athena confer over how to ensure Jason’s success. Hera suggests entreating Aphrodite to order Eros to strike Medea with one of his arrows, which would make Medea fall in love with Jason. Medea is a sorceress, and if she loves Jason, she will help him succeed in capturing the Golden Fleece. Aphrodite agrees, and the plan is set in motion. When Jason arrives at Colchis, he attempts to peacefully persuade Aietes to give him the fleece, but the request enrages Aietes. Rather than killing Jason outright, Aietes decides, like Pelias, to set Jason an impossible quest. Jason must yoke Aietes’ fire-breathing bulls, use them to plow the Field of Ares, sow dragon’s teeth in the soil, and kill the warriors that sprout up where the teeth are planted. If Jason succeeds, Aietes claims, then he will allow him to take the fleece.

Eros strikes Medea, the daughter of Aietes, with his arrow, and she immediately falls in love with Jason. Medea knows that Jason cannot succeed in this quest on his own. Troubled over betraying her father and tormented by her love for Jason, Medea gives him a potion that renders him temporarily invincible. Using Medea's potion, Jason succeeds in Aietes' quest, but the king decides not to give him the fleece.

In Book 4, Medea helps Jason secure the fleece, and they run away together. Aietes understands that Jason could not have succeeded without Medea’s help, and she has betrayed him. Medea uses a potion on the dragon that guards the fleece, allowing Jason to take the fleece from the sacred tree, and the Argonauts escape in the night. Furious, Aietes sends Colchian forces, led by his son Apsyrtos, in pursuit. The Colchians block the Argonauts’ escape routes, but Medea tricks her brother into meeting with her, and Jason ambushes and kills him. The Argonauts defeat the Colchians, who scatter, afraid to return to Aietes. The Argonauts proceed to Kirke’s island so that Jason and Medea can be purified for the pollution caused by their acts of murder. Kirke performs the ritual but then sends them away, warning Medea that Aietes will send more Colchians after her.

Hera mobilizes Hephaestus, Zephyr, Thetis, and Nereids to help protect the Argonauts as they pass Scylla, Charybdis, and the Plankton Rocks. From there, they travel to the island of the Phaeaceans, whose queen, Arete, takes pity on Medea. When the Colchians turn up determined to battle and capture Medea, Arete appeals to her husband, King Alkinoos, for help. He decides that if Medea and Jason have consummated their relationship, he will not separate them, but if they have not, then he will return her to the Colchians. Jason and Medea hurriedly marry and consummate their relationship. Fearing Aietes’ rage, the Colchians decide not to return home.

Continuing their journey home, the Argonauts become stranded in Libya. They propitiate local deities, and the god Triton gives Euphemos a clump of Libyan soil. After carrying the Argo across the desert, the Argonauts discover a route to the open sea. In Crete, they dedicate a shrine to Athena and, at another stop, a shrine to Apollo. Euphemos has a prophetic dream that Jason interprets to mean Euphemos must throw the dirt into the sea. The island of Kalliste, where Euphemos’ descendants will live, sprouts where it lands. The poem ends with the Argonauts returning to Iolkos.