Chapter Seven: The Quest of the Golden Fleece

(from Mythology for Today ­­­Hamilton’s Mythology)

1. Dangers include storms and shipwrecks, but also unfriendly monsters or magicians lurking near harbors where adventurers would dock their ships for the night. 2. The Golden Fleece is the fleece of a magical ram sent by Hermes to save Nephele’s son, Phrixus; the ram carries Phrixus and his sister, Helle, away before they can be slaughtered as a sacrifice to the gods. The king’s new wife, Ino, had concocted this plan so that her own son would be the heir. 3. Some of the most famous Argonauts include: Jason, Hylas, Hercules, Pollux, Castor, Peleus (Achille’s father), and Orpheus. 4. The Amazons are fierce female warriors who have killed all but one man in their community. The Harpies are flying creatures with hooked beaks and claws. They are savage and leave behind them a foul stench. 5. Hera and Aphrodite are both integral to Jason’s success. Hera inspires worthy warriors to join Jason on his adventure and inspires Medea to join Jason when he escapes with the fleece. Aphrodite convinces her son, Cupid, to make Medea fall in love with Jason, so that her magical powers will help and protect him. 6. Medea convinces Pelias’ daughters that if they cut their father into pieces and then boil him in a pot, he will emerge youthful; Medea shows them how the trick works with a ram, but when it comes time for Medea to say the magic words to make the spell work for Pelias, Medea is nowhere to be found. 7. Medea helps Jason first by giving him a charmed potion and special knowledge to protect him from her father’s dangerous trial; she allows him to steal the fleece by lulling its serpent guard to sleep; she kills her own brother in helping Jason to make an escape; she revenges Pelias’ cruelty to Jason’s family by planning his death. 8. Jason, who had promised Medea that they would be together forever, and who is the father of her two children, decides to marry the daughter of the King of Corinth. 9. Medea reasons that as a woman in exile, with no protection for herself or her children, she would be exposing her children to death or lives in slavery. She kills her own children with her own hands, to spare them crueler deaths by strangers. 10. Medea decides to revenge herself upon Jason because he is utterly remorseless about the suffering that he has caused Medea. He is also ungrateful for all the help she has given him and the sacrifices she has made for him.