JASON: QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN FLEECE, A GREEK MYTH PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Jeff Limke,Tim Seeley,Barbara Schulz | 48 pages | 01 Apr 2008 | Lerner Publishing Group | 9780822565710 | English | Minneapolis, United States What is the Story of Jason and the Golden Fleece? -

In return for this favor, Phineas revealed to Jason the location of Colchis and how to pass the Symplegades , or The Clashing Rocks, and then they parted. The only way to reach Colchis was to sail through the Symplegades Clashing Rocks , huge rock cliffs that came together and crushed anything that traveled between them. Phineas told Jason to release a dove when they approached these islands, and if the dove made it through, to row with all their might. If the dove was crushed, he was doomed to fail. Jason released the dove as advised, which made it through, losing only a few tail feathers. Seeing this, they rowed strongly and made it through with minor damage at the extreme stern of the ship. From that time on, the clashing rocks were forever joined leaving free passage for others to pass. Jason arrived in Colchis modern Black Sea coast of Georgia to claim the fleece as his own. It was owned by King Aeetes of Colchis. The fleece was given to him by Phrixus. Aeetes promised to give it to Jason only if he could perform three certain tasks. Presented with the tasks, Jason became discouraged and fell into depression. However, Hera had persuaded Aphrodite to convince her son Eros to make Aeetes' daughter, Medea , fall in love with Jason. As a result, Medea aided Jason in his tasks. First, Jason had to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen, the Khalkotauroi , that he had to yoke himself. Medea provided an ointment that protected him from the oxen's flames. Then, Jason sowed the teeth of a dragon into a field. The teeth sprouted into an army of warriors spartoi. Medea had previously warned Jason of this and told him how to defeat this foe. Before they attacked him, he threw a rock into the crowd. Unable to discover where the rock had come from, the soldiers attacked and defeated one another. His last task was to overcome the sleepless dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece. Jason sprayed the dragon with a potion, given by Medea, distilled from herbs. The dragon fell asleep, and Jason was able to seize the Golden Fleece. Medea distracted her father, who chased them as they fled, by killing her brother Apsyrtus and throwing pieces of his body into the sea; Aeetes stopped to gather them. In another version, Medea lured Apsyrtus into a trap. Jason killed him, chopped off his fingers and toes, and buried the corpse. In any case, Jason and Medea escaped. On the way back to Iolcus, Medea prophesied to Euphemus , the Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Cyrene. This came true through Battus , a descendant of Euphemus. Zeus , as punishment for the slaughter of Medea's own brother, sent a series of storms at the Argo and blew it off course. The Argo then spoke and said that they should seek purification with Circe , a nymph living on the island of Aeaea. After being cleansed, they continued their journey home. Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus , the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens —the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer 's epic poem the Odyssey. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ship into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was more beautiful and louder, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs. The Argo then came to the island of Crete , guarded by the bronze man, Talos. As the ship approached, Talos hurled huge stones at the ship, keeping it at bay. Talos had one blood vessel which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail as in metal casting by the lost wax method. Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him; she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo was then able to sail on. Thomas Bulfinch has an antecedent to the interaction of Medea and the daughters of Pelias. Jason, celebrating his return with the Golden Fleece, noted that his father was too aged and infirm to participate in the celebrations. He had seen and been served by Medea's magical powers. He asked Medea to take some years from his life and add them to the life of his father. She did so, but at no such cost to Jason's life. Medea withdrew the blood from Aeson's body and infused it with certain herbs; putting it back into his veins, returning vigor to him. Medea, using her sorcery, claimed to Pelias' daughters that she could make their father smooth and vigorous as a child by chopping him up into pieces and boiling the pieces in a cauldron of water and magical herbs. She demonstrated this remarkable feat with the oldest ram in the flock, which leapt out of the cauldron as a lamb. The girls, rather naively, sliced and diced their father and put him in the cauldron. Medea did not add the magical herbs, and Pelias was dead. In Corinth, Jason became engaged to marry Creusa sometimes referred to as Glauce , a daughter of the King of Corinth, to strengthen his political ties. When Medea confronted Jason about the engagement and cited all the help she had given him, he retorted that it was not she that he should thank, but Aphrodite who made Medea fall in love with him. Infuriated with Jason for breaking his vow that he would be hers forever, Medea took her revenge by presenting to Creusa a cursed dress, as a wedding gift, that stuck to her body and burned her to death as soon as she put it on. Creusa's father, Creon , burned to death with his daughter as he tried to save her. Then Medea killed the two boys that she bore to Jason, fearing that they would be murdered or enslaved as a result of their mother's actions. When Jason came to know of this, Medea was already gone; she fled to Athens in a chariot of dragons sent by her grandfather, the sun-god Helios. Although Jason calls Medea most hateful to gods and men, the fact that the chariot is given to her by Helios indicates that she still has the gods on her side. As Bernard Knox points out, Medea's last scene with concluding appearances parallels that of a number of indisputably divine beings in other plays by Euripides. Later Jason and Peleus , father of the hero Achilles , attacked and defeated Acastus, reclaiming the throne of Iolcus for himself once more. Jason's son, Thessalus , then became king. As a result of breaking his vow to love Medea forever, Jason lost his favor with Hera and died lonely and unhappy. He was asleep under the stern of the rotting Argo when it fell on him, killing him instantly. Jason's father is invariably Aeson, but there is great variation as to his mother's name. According to various authors, she could be:. Jason was also said to have had a younger brother Promachus [16] [18]. Though some of the episodes of Jason's story draw on ancient material, the definitive telling, on which this account relies, is that of Apollonius of Rhodes in his epic poem Argonautica , written in Alexandria in the late 3rd century BC. The poem ends abruptly with the request of Medea to accompany Jason on his homeward voyage. It is unclear if part of the epic poem has been lost, or if it was never finished. A third version is the Argonautica Orphica , which emphasizes the role of Orpheus in the story. Jason is briefly mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy in the poem Inferno. In it, he is seen by Dante and his guide Virgil being punished in Hell's Eighth Circle Bolgia 1 by being driven to march through the circle for all eternity while being whipped by devils. He is included among the panderers and seducers possibly for his seduction and subsequent abandoning of Medea. The story of Medea 's revenge on Jason is told with devastating effect by Euripides in his tragedy Medea. The mythical geography of the voyage of the Argonauts has been connected to specific geographic locations by Livio Stecchini [24] but his theories have not been widely adopted. Jason was a character in Greek mythology who went on a quest with some of the mightiest heroes of his time, and it became one of the most famous stories in mythology. Their mission was to retrieve a golden fleece from the King Aeetes of Colchis. His father was Aeson, king of Iolcos in Thessaly. She could have been Alcimede, who was the daughter of Clymene, or Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus. Jason was stillborn as a baby, so Aeson sent him to Chiron, a centaur in Greek mythology who later became the constellation Sagittarius. Chiron raised Jason until he was an adult, at which time Jason tried returning to Iolcus, where he was born. The reason why Jason needed to find the Golden Fleece in the first place is because of the order given by Pelias. Pelias came up with the idea from Jason, who conversed with his uncle on what he would do to keep someone away. Jason did not realize at the time that Pelias wanted to rid himself of Jason forever. Pelias sent him on an impossible mission, to fetch the Golden Fleece from the King Aeetes of Colchis. Jason did not refuse the order forwarded by Pelias, but instead assembled a fleet of heroes and warriors to help him on his journey. This group was the Argonauts. The Argonauts were made up of at least fifty heroes, or more, depending on what source you are examining. Some Greek historians think that there were around eighty-five members. The ship of the Argonauts was named, Argo. Argo would have to carry Jason and the entire group of Argonauts to Colchis, which was at the eastern end of the Black Sea, south of the Caucasus, in the western part of modern Georgia the independent state in Transcaucasia, Russia, not the state in the United States of America. Aeetes did not readily give up the Fleece since it was a gift to him. However, he did agree to hand the Golden Fleece over to Jason upon him completing a set of tasks. There was no way Jason could have completed these tasks alone, but he had the help of the goddess, Hera, and Medea, whom Hera placed a love spell on for Jason. During the first task, Medea created an ointment for Jason to wear that made him invincible to the fire that the Khalkotauroi breathed at him. The salve worked since Medea was a trained sorceress and high priestess of Hecate. Jason and the Golden Fleece - Interpretation - Greek mythology

That is to say that even if the seeker has some knowledge about the journey which can prove useful to him — for Phineus is a soothsayer who does his work well — this should not prevent him from putting himself in the hands of what is at higher levels of consciousness, for it is not ego that must decide the way. But to begin with it can only be related to a breakthrough of consciousness since abandoning oneself to Reality or Truth occurs very gradually for most seekers. The latter can only gain certitudes ensuing from a vision of Truth at a very slow pace because for a long time, they must depend on higher forces to guide them in their ignorance. In another version Phineus, obliged to make a choice, had preferred to have a long life rather than retaining his sight: if the seeker had continued the movement toward externalisation of ego he would not have been able to retain his nascent intuitive abilities. After the initial purification the seeker has the ability to obtain precise visions or perceptions from the inner light he had received the gift of prophecy from Apollo. Phineus thus stands for a growing ability for non-mental inner perception. Since he turns inward he can begin to perceive the evolution of some parts of his being on the basis of his new perceptions for those parts for which he makes predictions. But he cannot benefit from them to improve his psychic vision the gifts offered because he is constantly disturbed by archaic and extremely quick mental movements, the Harpies. In the chapter dedicated to the study of The Genesis and Growth of Life we saw that the movements of the nascent mind are simultaneously related to the reversals of balance and the process of homeostasis movements to return to equilibrium. The reason for their existence is the necessity to maintain or reverse the repetitive or revolving processes on which animal life is built in order to provide the stability suitable for a gradual evolution. Therefore they oppose any profound change in the being or any hastening of his evolution. From the cellular level up the scale of the whole body are displayed such protection mechanisms, for example the mechanism of the cells of enveloping a foreign body with matter. In the animal world repetition is one of the fundamental processes, which is illustrated in man by his habits. The Harpies are therefore indispensable till a very advanced stage of yoga is attained at which physical transformation begins. In the initial stages we are concerned with here, doubt is the great troublemaker for the nascent psychic intuition. The seeker obviously wants to understand the changes in his inner state in order to limit their influence on his life and psychic visions. They are children of Boreas the north wind and so their orientation is toward aspiration for union in incarnation. The Boreads are winged beings and represent honed mental processes. They can pursue these archaic movements of the vital consciousness to the point where the smallest energy condensates at the origin of life have not yet found their point of application Floating Islands , that is, are not yet consolidated to create disorder and disharmony. Then the seeker can observe and understand how this condensate is transformed into repetitive or obsessive revolving movements Turning Islands leading to disharmony, disorder and disease. It is obvious that the pursuit will be long as the descent into these archaic levels of consciousness requires patience and perseverance. This pursuit could even last throughout the quest because the Harpies are active down to the cellular level. However the active element will no longer be the mind but a higher order of consciousness. That is why the Boreads died once they succeeded in preventing the occurrence of the winding movements the death of the Harpies. In the quest of the Argonauts, it is only about a preliminary task, that of fighting doubt. In another version the Harpies do not die. At first, it is in the mind that some degree of tranquility can be attained. Since the mind is a place where there is continuous unrest comparable to a mad monkey jumping from one branch to another , perseverance in continuous asceticism can bring at least some amount of calm, if not mental silence; in fact the Boreads obtain tranquility for Phineus from Iris, that is to say a certain ability to isolate a receptive intuitive state from these troublemakers of the archaic vital plane. When the seeker has succeeded in pacifying his mind and removing the doubt which disturbed psychic intuition he is in a position to intuitively perceive the great challenges to be met as well as necessary evolutions Within the permissible limits set by the gods Phineus reveals to the Argonauts the trials that they will face before their arrival in Colchis. However it is only by progressing in love that they will be able to proportionally progress on their journey as Phineus also warns them that the success of their endeavor will depend on Aphrodite. Doubt is a mental process. In response to it we either refrain from acting or most often make a choice depending on the preferences of the ego. When intellect is growing the mind proceeds through trials and errors and doubt is its assistant. On the spiritual path however we aspire for exactitude in thought, speech, and action which originates from the inner soul, the psychic light, rather than from the mind. For there is no knowledge in the mind which cannot be doubted, and true knowledge is only obtained by the soul or the psychic being that is one with the Truth. When we act from the mind, we are forced to make choices, but when the psychic governs the being we know the right way. The spiritual experience pertaining to the soul is thus certain and the key to it is the inner perception in touch with the body. I warn you that no one who has attempted to pass between the two rocks has ever been able to avoid them. For their base is not firmly fixed and they are constantly coming up crashing against each other while above them masses of sea water rise up gushing and boiling into the air. He advised them to release a dove: if it flew safely through then they could try to cross the passage. But if the bird perished they would have to turn back. Euphemus released the dove and only the extreme ends of her tail-feathers were cut by the rocks closing back towards each other. When they parted again the heroes rowed with all their might. Halfway through the channel an enormous wave rose and seized with terror, they thought they were about to die. But Athena who had descended from Olympus to watch over the advance of the heroes braced herself against a rock and with her free hand pushed the ship through the channel. Since then the rocks joined together and were rooted to the spot forever, for such was the destiny that the gods had wished for them. The journey is strewn with trials and tests which are all opportunities to make progress in specific domains. Three groups of examiners conduct these tests. Apparently they have nothing in common and their methods are so different, at times even so seemingly contradictory, that they do not appear to work towards the same goal, and yet they complete one another, they work together for a common aim and each is indispensable for the integral result. These three categories of tests are: those conducted by the forces of Nature, those conducted by the spiritual and divine forces, and those conducted by the hostile forces. This latter category is the most deceptive in its appearance, and a constant state of vigilance, sincerity and humility is required so as not to be caught by surprise or unprepared. The most commonplace circumstances, people, the everyday events of life, the most seemingly insignificant things, all belong to one or another of these three categories of examiners. In this considerably complex organization of tests, those events generally considered the most important in life are really the easiest of all examinations to pass, for they find you prepared and on your guard. One stumbles more easily over the little pebbles on the path, for they attract no attention. It marks the beginning of a long process and of numerous other trials that the seeker is warned against with quite some precision either internally or externally Phineus had forewarned the Argonauts. The trial in question is inevitable as it is the test for entry into the journey nobody had ever succeeded to pass between the rocks unharmed. These knots bring up great emotional upheaval when the seeker faces them by entering into the quest. It is the inner calm that he will demonstrate that will help him go through without much damage. Releasing the dove into the channel refers to the conscious examination of whether in a situation that generates fear we are ready to react in an unconventional way using inner calm rather than strength. The dove is in fact a symbol of peace. According to Apollonius, if the seeker is not ready for this he must temporarily give up the journey and turn back. At this stage, once one has agreed to first propose and brings peace, mobilizing the will and all the resources of the personality is more important than submitting to the image that one can form of the Absolute, for the image is still too marred with illusion. He can no longer ignore the fact that he receives assistance on his journey. Progressive confrontation with death appears to be one of the features of the journey, first in the form of sudden episodes such as accidents and then in increasingly conscious and lengthier ways. Fear must be gradually eliminated from the mind and then from the vital being before it is possible to fight the last battles against it in the body. The Argonauts then continued to work hard at the oars. Tiphys encouraged Jason who was letting discouragement take over, assuring him that he would reach his goal, but Jason replied that he was not afraid for himself but for his men. They thus travelled past the high Black Cape. The seeker realises that in the course of his journey he has to abandon some processes put in place for the yoga which were useful to him at the beginning of the journey Jason is afraid for his men. It also represent the last possibility of seduction by deceiving spiritual paths. The Argonauts disembarked on the port of the desert island Thynias. It was then that Apollo appeared before them with his silver bow in hand. He was on his way to the Hyperboreans. Under his feet the entire island trembled and the waves broke thunderously on the shore. At the sight of him an overwhelming awe seized the heroes; none of them dared to meet the beautiful eyes of the deity. Phineus had not only cautioned the heroes against the dangers of the Dark Rocks but had also given them precise indications about the route to follow all the way to Colchis where the Golden Fleece was to be found. The seeker then broadly senses what changes he must bring about in himself in order to refine his sensitivity and purify himself. Perhaps he is assisted in this way by the modern soothsayers, astrologers and mediums. It is accompanied by a feeling of certainty, completeness, quiet joy, wonder and above all, tranquil sense of evidence. Nonetheless the certainty of having found their right path is indestructible and unforgettable from that moment onward. This discovery will help the seeker finally gather and focus all his strength in a single direction. Till that moment various elements of his being had been continually pulling in their respective directions due to an invariably unsatisfied quest. Now although he knows that he is still at the beginning of the journey, if one or the other of his parts fail he knows that the others will overcome this deficiency. For example if the body is tired or falls sick, the mental and psychic will seize the reins to continue the yoga; if depression occurs, the body will resist it with all its might and the mind will endure it; and if the mind is in doubt or continues to experience a lack of understanding the vital being will maintain the drive and joy they took an oath to help each other forever. This turning point is marked by changes and realizations which Apollonius mentions without giving details: — The heroes cast anchor at a point beyond the Cape Acheron near the entrance of the Cave of Hades from which an icy breeze was emanating and forming shining white ice crystals all around. There the lord of the land Lycus and his people built up a friendship with the Argonauts. But at this point of the journey there is no descent possible into Hades: this is just a preliminary experience for descending into the depths. While supreme consciousness is associated with a fire endowed with of an intense power of movement the inconscient is the place of icy fixity hence the ice crystals coming from within the cave. Subsequently the heroes closely avoid a battle with the Amazons: at this stage the victory in such a battle, the adherence of the vital being to yoga which is a sign of a state of wisdom and sanctity, is not expected. Surrender of the lower vital being — anger, sexuality, etc. The myth depicts some other mistakes that the seeker must become aware of even though he does not have to correct them at this stage as the Argonauts sail off the coast. Some of these are the attraction for an arduous path that is expected to please the Divine, the trust in the predominant efficiency of the mind, the projections and the blocked energies. The Argonauts reached the land of the Chalybes whose inhabitants did not care to toil the land or graze their cattle or grow honey-sweet fruits but extracted iron ore without ever taking rest. Amidst the dark flames and smoke they wore themselves out in this laborious work. However the author does not indicate that we cannot expect any results from it as the Chalybes were extracting ore. They did not care to toil the land: the seeker does not work on his nature in the way he should for the purpose of purifying and perfecting it with the aim of union. Then they sailed past the coast of the country of the Tibareni. In this land, when women bore children to their husbands the latter were the ones to moan and whine complainingly, lying dejectedly on their beds with bandaged heads while their wives took good care to feed them and prepare childbirth baths for them. In this story an inversion of the goals and the labours of yoga are being highlighted: the seeker takes a means or his discipline of yoga to be his aim. For example he gives increasing importance to the framework of his meditation or to a discipline like Hatha Yoga, he refines it, makes it the highest priority in his life, and brings to it all kinds of justifications and attention to nurture it. He focuses on his practice endorsing it with his own vision of the goal. While a new dynamic of the being is coming forth the women who are giving birth the active part of the mind is ineffective the bandaged heads and the seeker complains, imagining that he has worked very hard and deserves care and reassurance. It is actually a sort of blackmail towards the Divine which continues for a long time in yoga as a sly way of satisfying the ego: if I am a good disciple in my chosen practice, I very well deserve this or that. All the attachments to the labours that should be practised with flexibility and given up as soon as the inner being feel it should come to an end can be included in this category. Undoubtedly the path of renunciation was necessary in ancient forms of spirituality the sole aim of which was to attain a paradise of the spirit. It can and should undoubtedly be a temporary stage; it should prepare for a return to life on the path of non-attachment which is far more difficult to achieve. One must always remember that yoga is constituted of reversals and what helps at one stage of the journey becomes an obstacle for the next. They did not even feel restraint at coupling in public and with no consideration for those present they would, like feeding swine, lay with the women upon the ground. Here again there is an inversion, no longer between the practice and the goal but between inner and the outer reality. It seems that what is narrated here refers to seekers who divulge their inner life and experiences in public including a demonstration of their powers their coupling , whereas the inner experience must be kept a secret for a long time so as to retain its power. On the other hand they carefully conceal the acts that do not conform to what they claim to have achieved. This story might also indicates seekers that pretend to be free through the satisfaction of all desires. The heroes then approach the island of Ares. It was populated by birds whose feathers fell from the sky like sharp arrows, causing serious injuries. The Argonauts were reminded of the strategy that Heracles used at the Stymphalian Lake: resorting to the clattering sound of bronze pieces striking together to drive away the birds. So they began striking on their shields while shouting out with wild cries. The frightened birds fled and the Argonauts were able to land without any further risk. The birds that Heracles fought at the Stymphalian Lake were more related to the process of purification which should be carried out deep into the layers of the vital being down till the physical mind. In the case of this great hero what is needed is the identification and segregation of the mental movements from the purely vital processes. An example of this is the layer of the self-defeating physical mind which keeps the body at the grasp of disease and prevents it from getting cured by its own forces. The work is carried out here on the island of Ares where the force acts on the level of mental forms and destroys what no longer has its place. This island is also the place of dual thoughts. It was at this moment that the heroes met the sons of Phrixus who had left the kingdom of Aeetes to reclaim the inheritance of their grandfather Athamas. Soon after their departure they had endured a fierce storm. They agreed to accompany the Argonauts till Colchis, but not without warning them of the great dangers they would be exposed to. Since Phrixus does not appear again in the rest of the myth the authors give him a long lived old age in Colchis. The meeting of the sons of Phrixus and the Argonauts indicates that the seeker revisits this very first experience and establishes the link with what he will be searching for henceforth. They are the ones who will guide the seeker till the point of recovery of a corresponding sensibility they would guide the Argonauts to Colchis. But these forces cannot join hands till the quest has not made adequate progress and thus the timely shipwreck compels them to be patient. In addition when the forces join hands the seeker receives specific signs which warn him that an important experience of the same nature as the first stirring awaits him. It must be recalled that he represents the abilities of concentration, harmonisation, mastery and purification which should be acquired before starting out on the journey. Chiron is the highest realisation of one who has not yet purified his lower nature. However it is an exceptional realisation since he is immortal, which is to say that he does not belong to the field of duality. This ability to harmonize must nonetheless be abandoned when it comes to the yoga of the body so that it does not interfere: Chiron, suffering terribly from an incurable wound at the knee, exchanged his immortality with Heracles according to some ad Prometheus according to others. The fact that the heroes only sail close to the place where Chiron was conceived indicates that the seeker temporarily comes close to the highest healing science, the source of methods with which he can be a simple channel for the powers arising from the worlds of Unity. Next they caught a glimpse of the Caucasian mountain peaks on the horizon and heard the tearing cries of Prometheus. Let us remember that these cycles also regulate mental functioning according to very long periods in which there is an alternating predominance of the forces of separation on the one hand and the forces of unity or fusion on the other. The more thought and reflection become important in humanity, the more strongly is mental consciousness formed and the more man lives under the alternating influence of these forces whether he wants it or not. This principle is demonstrated in the history of civilisations by the succession of humanist periods which place man at the centre and Middle-Ages periods in which it is the Sacred that occupies this central place. The mode of mental functioning is very different in each period, and one must understand that even independently from evolution, thought processes in the Middle-Ages were not at all as they are now. Day symbolises periods of remoteness, detachment and separation in which the connection with what is Real loosens and faith decreases while night encourages closeness and intimacy with the Absolute and restores faith. The eagle of Zeus symbolises the action of the forces at the level of the gods, the highest of mental consciousness, the overmind. It oversees the said alternation necessary for allowing individuation without letting humanity irreversibly distance itself from Unity. This is the symbolism of the labour of Heracles dedicated to the quest of the Apples of the Hesperides. Apollodorus mentions an exchange of immortality between Chiron and Prometheus, but this version is not agreed upon unanimously. Jason convinced the Argonauts to send just a small delegation to Aeetes. Only the sons of Phrixus along with Telamon and Augeias accompanied him. Aeetes was angry at first, accusing them of wanting to seize the throne but then agreeing to let them go in search of the fleece on the condition that Jason should pass a certain test. The hero had to yoke two dreadful bulls with feet of bronze and exhaling fire as the king was used to doing. From this sowing fierce armed warriors would spring up whom the hero would have to kill before they killed him. The dragon had been killed by Cadmus at the time of the founding of Thebes to free the access to the spring of Ares; Apollonius thus establishes a link with the purification-liberation process. The goddesses Hera and Athena who were closely watching over the expedition feared that the heroes would not be able to seize the fleece when confronted by the terrible Aeetes. She was the second daughter of Aeetes, the first one, Chalciope, being married to Phrixus. The help of this sorceress and priestess of Hecate seemed indispensable to the two goddesses in order to save the heroes from disaster. Therefore a carefully masked Eros shot an arrow at Medea who was immediately enamoured of Jason. On the suggestion of Argus, one of the sons of Phrixus, a meeting was secretly organised between Medea and Jason with the involvement of Chalciope who was worried about the inheritance of her children, for Aeetes in fact believed that the Argonauts had come to seize the throne. During the meeting Jason could not resist the love that Aphrodite had kindled in Medea. He promised to take her with him after his trial and marry her. Medea gave him an ointment that would make him invincible to the bronze weapons and to fire which he had to spread on his arms and body. Medea also assured him that the protection would last throughout the day without fail and recommended that he must never refuse to fight but when the warriors would spring up from the ground he must throw a heavy stone in their midst without being seen because then they would fight among themselves to seize it. Just before the test Telamon and Aethalides went to collect the teeth which had to be sown while Jason prepared himself and offered a sacrifice to Hecate. Jason stood firm and waited for the dreadful flame spitting bulls and overpowered them one after another. Once he had yoked the bulls he ploughed the land and sowed the teeth. The hero then hurried cutting down those who were still half-embedded and the latecomers who were entering the battle. Soon the ground was red with the blood of the warriors and not a single one remained alive. Dismayed Aeetes returned to his palace to consider a nefarious plan for dealing with the heroes. Let us make note that in the Balkans Colchis is a yellow flower which appears at the end of winter. The other manifestations of the supermind, Perses and Pasiphae, were added later on. The latter meaning is it seems often used by Homer and would associate Medea to the concept of a force of creation. Since at this level the manifestations of the forces are transformational powers of the supermind, the characters that represent them are magicians, notably Medea and Circe. The delegation led by Jason to meet Aeetes specifically includes heroes who represent the first luminous experience of the soul. We have come across Augeas in the fifth labour of Heracles, in which the hero had to clean his stables some authors consider him to be a son of Helios and thus a brother of Aeetes. The seeker is also already fairly advanced in his knowledge of the structure of consciousness Jason is carrying the caduceus of Hermes. He is an uncle of Achilles and in this respect he is concerned by the yoga dealing with the purification of the depths of the vital. Apollonius then again resumes the description, almost in full, of the trial of Cadmus, an ancestor of Oedipus, during the founding of Thebes. It must be recalled that the Theban wars describe the purification of the centers of consciousness materialised in the body as the chakras. Therefore the trial of Cadmus illustrates the principle of purification of memories inscribed in the subconscious and corporeal inconscient. Through the test wherein Jason had to yoke the bulls and then use them to plough the land and sow the teeth of the dragon, the seeker must demonstrate on the one hand that he is capable of holding the energy that originates from the higher planes in order to use them in the field of duality the spring of Ares. If the cow is a symbol of illumination then it follows that the bull is a symbol of the power of realisation of the luminous mind. Indirectly originating in the supermind and expressed through the overmind or coming directly from the overmind, this energy is so strong that a few drops of it are sufficient to raise vital storms in a seeker who is inadequately prepared. Such an uprising can be observed in the years when according to numerous seekers some drops of the power of the higher planes brought about both a phenomenal aspiration for innovation and very strong vital reactions due to which the essential was lost from sight. The bronze hoofs of the bulls indicate a power of incarnation that we can sometimes feel even at the physical level. On the other hand the seeker must demonstrate that he is now adequately armed to confront certain memories embedded in his being which will emerge on this occasion. This section of the myth not only refers to inner contradictions like those that the seeker encountered earlier in the episode of the Cyanean rocks but also to memories of evolution which can prove to be very destructive. In fact the first half of the teeth was sown by Cadmus after he attempted in vain to find his sister Europa. A son of Hermes, Aethalides was famous for his particularly faithful memory and his skills as an archer a will resolutely turned toward the goal. We can therefore understand him as a strong capacity for illumination and purification by the highest mind which allows the light to emerge. Without this capability combined with great endurance the seeker cannot hope to escape unharmed from confrontations with his deep knots. Their reemergence makes it necessary for them to be confronted once again, but with new assistance. Additionally there must be an alliance between the intention of the soul and an inflexible determination the two sisters, Medea and Chalciope, are in agreement about the strategy. But that too cannot be done without a renewed protection from the supermind comprised of an unwavering faith for the completion of the task. This protection is represented by the ointment provided by Medea. This is what is described as the Test of Freedom in Genesis. The only real protection for the seeker on the journey is an unwavering faith in the victory of Truth. This faith protects him from destruction, whether it is from men through reactivated memories or from the power of realisation of the luminous mind which can be destructive for the one who wields it. Internally as well as externally the knots nullify each other on the condition that the seeker is engaged in life and does not yield to a lack of commitment Medea advises him to never refuse to fight. When the moment came for the warriors the stone came to symbolise the opportunity to dissolve knots and associated sufferings. The latter provide greater protection as long as the knots are not called upon. In addition it must be noted that it is not the seeker who activates the knots but that he only prepares the ground for them to be dissolved. In this way this myth marks the moment when for the first time the seeker comes in contact with the spiritual energies that could help him in his task Medea. In a similar myth about the path of purification-liberation we will see that when Cadmus sowed the teeth five warriors survived and became the origin of the military castes of Thebes. Thus out of the memories that emerge there are some which would come up to the conscious level and serve as the basis for the process of the incarnated manifestation of the inner being. Since Medea had decided to flee with Jason, she made use of her powers to lull the monstrous dragon to sleep so that Jason could seize the Fleece. Then the Argonauts boarded their ship again and sailed in haste to escape the wrath of Aeetes and stopped at Paphlagonia to offer a sacrifice to Hecate. Phineus had advised them to take a different route on their return journey but nobody was familiar with this route. This land of Egypt was watered by the river Triton. It is said that a man from this land travelled across Europe and Asia and founded thousands of cities including Aia, the capital of Aeetes. The descendants of the men who populated these cities preserved the inscriptions engraved by their fathers which show all the routes and give instructions to those who want to travel around the Earth and the sea. They would have gone up the river Istros that is very deep and can be navigated over a long distance. This river is the only one to cover such a vast territory, as it originates from a roaring far-away source in the distant Rhipaean Mountains beyond the winds of Boreas. The yoga proceeds through successive ascents and integrations. Every time a new stage is reached one must go backward to haul the entire being up to the present level. The most famous is that of the Argonauts and of the soldiers returning from the Trojan War, including the return of Ulysses narrated in the Odyssey. Thus the poem 4 marks the beginning of a necessary integration since the seeker gained the highest awareness and sensitivity possible at this point on the journey when the forces employed in the quest and the intention of the soul converged. Thus with the Fleece the seeker acquires the possibility of True Knowledge. However bringing the Fleece back does not mark the time when the great experience of union takes place, which will have to wait till the marriage of Jason and Medea and the crossing of the desert. It only marks an opening of consciousness which helps in recognising the personal path. At this point Apollonius makes a digression to indicate that the Egyptians had already experienced, elucidated and formalised the next steps of the path. Through initiation and his own search the seeker can use the ancient descriptions of the journey. He had organised structures of consciousness which the seekers could rely on: he founded several cities, including Aia. Then the seeker receives a clear sign: a goddess sends a celestial ray indicating the direction that they must take. Filled with rage Aeetes demanded that his people the Colchians bring back his daughter Medea without further delay. A large army set out in pursuit of the Argonauts under the leadership of Apsyrtus the son of Aeetes. The heroes would have succumbed to the sheer number of their opponents if under the threat of death they had not agreed on a peace treaty with Apsyrtus. This treaty stipulated that they could keep the Fleece that Jason had acquired through his feat but that Medea would be entrusted to Artemis till a decision would be taken by the kings of justice. Learning of this pact Medea felt betrayed because Jason had promised her marriage. But assuring her that this was just a trick, Jason invited Medea to set up a trap for Apsyrtus in order to kill him. When in the darkness of the night Apsyrtus came to their rendezvous alone and confident, Jason pierced him with his sword. The rest of the army of Apsyrtus, not daring to present themselves before Aeetes without Medea, settled down permanently in the region. However Zeus was infuriated by the murder of Apsyrtus. The Argonauts subsequently reached the island of Electra and then again were brought back by opposing winds after a long journey. In this version the chase had barely begun when the couple killed the child and threw his remains into the river. However in his highest consciousness the seeker is not convinced that he is ready for the completion of his task Aeetes sent his people to bring Medea back. If he had sincerely agreed to purify his consciousness further, that is to say to release it from all disruption caused by pride and ignorance, it would have made way for a better evolution as per the agreement Medea was to be entrusted to Artemis till a decision would be taken by the kings of justice. But the seeker is extremely impatient to reify the intention of the soul with his receptivity as it is Medea is impatient to be united in marriage with Jason. Having entered the Eridanus the heroes sailed close to the place where the body of Phaethon was decaying. The latter had once asked to ride the chariot of his father Helios but was unable to control it and since the world faced the threat of being set ablaze Zeus was compelled to strike him down. He fell into the marsh that continued to emanate heavy steam rising from his wounds. No bird could fly over these waters without being plunged into the inferno. During the day the Argonauts were exhausted, weakened and overwhelmed by the fetid and unbearable odour of the burning body of Phaethon. During the night they could hear the endless lament of the Heliades, daughters of Helios crying for their brother. It flowed into the Ocean through different estuaries, pouring into the Ionian and Sardinian Seas. Advancing further into Celtic territory they would have faced a miserable destiny if Hera had not watched over them. The seeker here is warned in two ways. First of all there is a warning against the spiritual presumption of anybody who wants to conquer the sky when he is not ready. This leads to an experience which leaves indelible marks on the vital being, a terrifying fire that exhausts through the negative energies that it emits. The fetid odour that was emanating from the corpse contrasts with the scent of saintliness. Here in fact the seeker himself is not confronted with this spiritual fall but is only a witness of it the Argonauts are weakened, exhausted and overwhelmed by the fetid odour. He can witness and endure some consequences of a psychosis resulting from a former attempt to conquer the sky the Divine and the all-powerful feeling that goes with it. The grief of not being able to provide others with the high spiritual light that is kept hidden in the seeker is correlated with this the Heliades were mourning their brother. If he continued on this path the seeker would put himself in danger if he tried to proceed further. The divine grace that watches over and sets limits ensured that this does not happen and the seeker finds the correct route, helping himself with firmness and gentleness simultaneously the Dioscuri. The seeker should thus remain balanced on the middle path the middle opening. These two experiences can undoubtedly lead to insanity and maybe even death if one does not guard oneself against them. Setting sail again the heroes finally reached the harbour of Aeaea where they found Circe, the daughter of Helios and sister of Aeetes. She was cleansing her head vigorously for she had been frightened by her dreams of the past night. And now she could see beings that were neither men nor beasts but having the limbs of both advancing in droves behind her. In the past when the earth had not yet become compact it had brought forth such hybrid creatures which time had then divided into species by merging them. Without knowing anything about the history of the heroes Circe understood from their behaviour that they had come to be purified and she proceeded with the necessary rites. At this point Hera who was still watching over the heroes closely sent Iris to summon Thetis. When the latter arrived from the depths of the sea Hera asked her to go to Aeolus here a son of Hippotes so that he would hold the winds except the favourable Zephyrus and then to Hephaestus so that he would restrict the blazing heat of his forge. She wanted to ensure that the Argonauts could cross over the sea without any danger and reach Alcinous king of the Phaeacians safe and sound and thereby avoid the monsters Charybdis and Scylla who were on their route. She therefore sees with precision what is hidden in the depths of the being. We will come across her again in the voyage of Ulysses. The fact that Circe agrees to purify the heroes without even knowing their crime indicates that the journey taken was inevitable. But her refusal of hospitality is a warning that this higher part of the being disapproves of the orientation of the seeker who has given priority to what he thought was the goal of his life to the detriment of his purification because of the murder of Apsyrtos. And we will see later on what drastic mistakes he will make due to this lack of purification. In addition Circe and Medea use a language unknown to Jason, the Colchian language: the seeker is thus unable to correctly interpret the exchange that takes place at the highest level of his being although he has a vague perception of some movement in its inner being. Thus the forces that create new forms Hephaestus or even those which facilitate evolution and can sometimes be violent the winds governed by Aeolus must maintain a period of calm. On the other hand forces that govern the depths of the vital being Thetis must do everything to keep him from the catastrophe that he is unknowingly moving toward Charybde and Scylla. From her den in the hollow of the rock Scylla thrust her frightening jaws on all ships which approached and devoured its sailors. Separated from the rock by a narrow channel was the abode of Charybdis who rested at the bottom of the sea. Sometimes a giant whirlpool formed in which ships were engulfed and sailors were devoured by the monster lurking at the bottom of the sea, and with furious roars she would vomit the debris of what she had just swallowed, the shredded elements bursting out in horrifying geysers into the raging sea. Therefore it was not without reason that Hera feared for the life of the heroes. It is said that once upon a time a blazing flame spurted out from that place and the sky was dark with smoke. Before reaching these baneful waters the heroes passed by the Island of Flowers inhabited by the Sirens whose spellbinding songs made all those who moored in proximity to the island perish. But Orpheus brought out his lyre and played so that they would not hear their songs while the heroes sailed past the coast. The Sirens had evolved since olden times: they had acquired wings and were now part bird and part young maiden. Thetis and her sisters, the daughters of Nereus, came from all sides to assist the heroes. Avoiding the cursed places they guided the ship toward the Planctae and playing with the ship as with a ball that they would pass back and forth amongst themselves they led it across the dangerous passage without running any risks. Then the heroes sailed by the fields of Thrinacia where grazed the cows of the sun with their immaculate white coats and golden horns. At this point of the journey all the elements are in place for the occurrence of a dreadful psychic ordeal of a schizo-paranoid or manic-depressive type Charybdis and Scylla but the seeker is protected from it and perceives only a hint of the danger which can pass almost unnoticed in the course of life. Muses are daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, the highest consciousness that brings back to memory the harmonious past of the infancy of humanity. Therefore in ancient times they represented the goals of evolution pursued in harmony, a sunlit path of the infancy of humanity. But they were transformed by mentalisation, becoming part bird part young maiden while continuing to celebrate the primitive harmony of evolution: they are represented as birds with the head of a woman. However this is no longer what is required from humanity that by the advent of the mind has to enter a period of individuation. The Sirens are thus an expression of a denial of incarnation, a refusal to consider Reality, and in this way they constitute a dangerous obstacle for the progress of yoga. For the battle must be fought against untruth rather than for some idealised harmony that would have existed in the past. We will come across the Sirens again at another level in the adventures of Ulysses. At this point of the journey all the aspects are in place for the occurrence of a dreadful mental ordeal of the schizoid or manic-depressive type Charybdis and Scylla , but the seeker is protected because the time has not yet come. These two processes at the root of life — engulfment and destruction due to fragmentation resulting from the fundamental forces of fusion and separation — are expressed in the vital being by what we call love and hate. In fact as explained by the Mother both are at their roots distortions of the same vibration. This distortion creates internal violence due to not being able to fully absorb what one loves the so-called love and external violence that wants to destroy what one loves so as not to be tied to it any longer hatred. This is in fact only an initial glimpse of the future trials that will mark the voyage of Ulysses. The journey is indeed a progression of spiraling ascent and of the unveiling of the archaic layers of consciousness. Therefore the seeker undergoes the same types of experiences but at higher and higher levels of difficulty. In fact the crew of the Argo had strictly nothing to do for crossing the Planctae because Thetis and the Nereids not only guided the ship but carried it literally across the obstacle. For the seeker it is a confrontation with the mental knots severe neurosis or psychosis which present themselves as impenetrable walls sometimes the rocks rose skyward like cliffs and sometimes stay buried in the subconscious while disrupting the surface personality sometimes they rested at the bottom of the sea covered with the mass of the wild flood tide. It is from these solidified but not physically manifested pathological conditions wandering rocks that in the past of the seeker and of humanity a mind-fire was generated which he or she had taken for a spiritual fire. But confusions and illusions generated by the manifestation of this mind-vital- fire was actually hiding the light of truth. Once upon a time a blazing flame spurted out from the summit of the reefs and the sky was dark with smoke so that the rays of the sun were hidden from view. That is the reason why Sri Aurobindo has always said that purifying the intelligence from separative ignorance and the confusion between planes of being was the first step in his yoga. The seeker is protected by his instinctual powers that are not disrupted by the mind Thetis and the Nereids , who not only guide the ship but literally carry it across the obstacle. Similarly only the swineherd Eumaeus stayed loyal to Ulysses in a more faraway stage of yoga. While not being certain, we can think that it involves a very brief and sudden burst of abilities of a higher order related to the four powers of intuition explained by Sri Aurobindo Then the heroes sailed along the fields in which grazed the cows of the sun with their immaculate white coats and golden horns. Then the heroes arrived to a vast and fertile island inhabited by the Phaeacians and ruled by King Alcinous where they were very warmly welcomed. Medea pleaded with Queen Arete, wife of King Alcinous. Not denying her mistake she justified her fleeing as having been caused by fear rather than desire for Jason, swearing that she was still a virgin. The Argonauts whom she had helped and brought back to their land safe and sound appeared indifferent to her fate and she urged them to keep their promise. After having heard the plea of his wife in favour of Medea the king delivered the following judgment: if Medea was a virgin she would be sent back to her father, otherwise she would stay with Jason. The Argonauts were secretly forewarned of this decision by the queen and they hurried to prepare the bridal couch that they covered with the Golden Fleece, and Jason and Medea then tasted the joys of love. But they feared the wrath of their king Aeetes and asked for permission to settle in the land of the Phaeacians, which was granted to them. They stayed there for several years till the Bacchiadae took their place. But that, Apollonius tells us, happened only much later over the course of centuries. This process is active all the way down to the yoga of the body. In the Agenda the. For Satprem the passage to the Supramental is a process as radical as the transition of a fish from a marine environment to dry land. But there are in all cases intermediary stages, amphibians in the case of the fish and the Superman to come in the case of man. According to Apollonius the Phaeacians were born from the froth that formed around the genitals of Uranus flung by Cronus into the sea when he castrated him. Coming from the same origin as Aphrodite they would in this way be a manifestation of the fertilisation of life by the creative power of the Spirit. It is therefore for him the beginning of his dedication to his task, the true goal of his life. Although they had reached the outskirts of their homeland the heroes still had to undergo other trials on the borders of Libya. While the land of Pelops was in sight they were roughly treated by a storm raised by Boreas which lasted nine days and as many nights. They were carried by the winds and the tides to the Gulf of Syrtis where the mud and the algae hold the ships back and were run aground. There were neither animals nor birds and the sand stretched as far as the sky. The heroes were losing hope, becoming pale and their hearts growing cold and even the helmsman Ancaeus cried. They bid each other farewell and every one of them was ready to die in this distant place. Only moans and lamentations could be heard. But Jason was unable to understand this vision. Sometime later a gigantic horse with a golden mane emerged from the sea and immediately disappeared from sight with a gallop as swift as the wind. They then put down the ship in the waters of Lake Triton. When the seeker has taken the irrevocable decision to accomplish the goal set by his soul he enters into an area of inner turbulence brought about by his asceticism a storm of Boreas. Away from worldly interests, free from many of his beliefs and supports but without any clarity of vision in regards to his path he finds himself during this time in an uncomfortable and miserable position as if abandoned both by the Divine and by his fellow men. He feels that he has both lost his life and strayed away in his quest. He has given up, or so he believes, his old dreams and is supported only by his inner flame. Having arrived at the shores of Lake Triton the heroes laid down their vessel. Parched with thirst they sought a spring and reached the place where on the previous day a dragon had been guarding the golden apples from the Garden of the Hesperides. But it had been slain by Heracles and lay lifeless against the trunk of the apple tree. The Hesperides told them where to find the spring which Heracles, also thirsty, had made to flow from the earth. Several heroes, amongst whom Calais and Zetes, Euphemos and Lynkeus, thought that they would be able to join Heracles and had gone looking for him in vain. The heroes then sought a way to leave Lake Triton. As they wandered the powerful Triton appeared and offered them a lump of earth while showing them the route to follow. Having followed his directions the heroes skirted Crete where the giant Talos attacked them with stones. Pelias is nervous when he sees Jason missing a sandal, for an oracle has prophesied that a man wearing only one sandal shall usurp his throne. Jason demands the return of his rightful throne. Pelias replies that Jason should first accomplish a difficult task to prove his worth. The task is for Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece, kept beyond the edge of the known world in a land called Colchis modern-day Georgia in Southwest Asia. The story of the fleece is an interesting tale in itself. Zeus, the King of the Gods, had given a golden ram to Jason's ancestor Phrixus. Aietes sacrificed the ram and hung the fleece in a sacred grove guarded by a dragon, as an oracle had foretold that Aietes would lose his kingdom if he lost the fleece. Determined to reclaim his throne, Jason agrees to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Jason assembles a team of great heroes for his crew and they sail aboard the Argo. The first stop of the Argonauts is the Greek Isle of Lemnos, populated only by women. Unknown to Jason and his crew, the women have murdered their husbands. The Argonauts fare much better though; in fact the women use the occasion as an opportunity to repopulate the island. After many more adventures, the Argo passes Constantinople, heading for the Straits of Bosphorus. 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. When Jason finally arrives in Colchis he asks King Aietes to return the golden fleece to him as it belonged to his ancestor. Reluctant, the king suggests yet another series of challenges to Jason. Golden Fleece - Wikipedia

However, he did agree to hand the Golden Fleece over to Jason upon him completing a set of tasks. There was no way Jason could have completed these tasks alone, but he had the help of the goddess, Hera, and Medea, whom Hera placed a love spell on for Jason. During the first task, Medea created an ointment for Jason to wear that made him invincible to the fire that the Khalkotauroi breathed at him. The salve worked since Medea was a trained sorceress and high priestess of Hecate. During the second task, Jason sowed the dragon teeth, and the warriors came to attack him, but he threw a rock at the warriors that caused them to attack each other rather than him out of confusion. The stone warriors killed themselves off, and Jason completed the second task. The king still did not give Jason the fleece, and he planned to kill them before having a chance to find it. However, in her love, Medea leads Jason and the Argonauts to the Golden Fleece, which was hanging in a sacred oak tree. The Argonauts made a few stops on their way to retrieve the Golden Fleece in Colchis. They faced many adventures at the places they stopped, and Jason started a new race of people on the Isle of Lemnos, called the Minyans. Jason successfully retook the throne on Iolcus, which his uncle, Pelias, had taken from his father, Aeson. To do this, Jason had to go on a long expedition with his group of warriors, the Argonauts, to find a magical Golden Fleece. The mission was seemingly impossible to anyone who dared seek it, but the Argonauts had the help of the goddess, Hera. After accomplishing his task and claiming Medea as his wife, he still later became lonely and died due to being crushed by a wooden beam. Thank you. Going to put this out there, although it may generate more questions than answers. Jason and the Argonauts is a story based upon the constellations of the Malvern Zodiac. This is the zodiac that preceded the modern "mechanised" house version that we all know today. I would like to say that it's a single circuit of the Sun's journey around the ecliptic, but that wouldn't be an accurate description, for it includes the circumpolar constellations that are untouched by the Sun's annual journey. The design is used as a storytellers allegoric shadow-play, where the varying constellations or parts thereof can be utilised in their original form or something similar that they resemble. Trying to decypher the original author's direction of thought can be challenging, although thankfully often simple. Cutting to the chase, the famous golden fleece is the fleece-shaped flame emanating from the gaping jaw of the fire-breathing dragon. The normal question that this generates is "how can the design of a zodiac inscribed into the roads and footpaths of central England be in use by ancient Greeks" But that's only the beginning - the design also generated the Epic of Gilgamesh and so much more. And yeah, every story comes from some level of truth, of fact. Nothing is ever really completely made up, but drawn from! Ancient Origins has been quoted by:. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Skip to main content. Login or Register in order to comment. Nick D wrote on 27 August, - Permalink. Tyson33 wrote on 12 September, - Permalink. Related Articles on Ancient-Origins. Mermaids are everywhere. In the past month alone they have surfaced in New Brighton, caused controversy in Asda, reinvigorated toast, partied with the Kardashians , transformed maternity and wedding We all know Aphrodite, Greek goddess of love and beauty, made sure that she was worshipped by punishing those who ignored her altars. One brief appearance of this wrath in the tale of Jason and the Sirens are commonly described as beautiful but dangerous creatures. In Greek mythology, sirens are Anyone familiar with Greek legends has heard of the Colchis Kingdom. It was to here that the band of heroes known as the Argonauts ventured in order to obtain the Golden Fleece, a symbol of authority The mythical Golden Fleece is best known for featuring in the ancient legend of Greek hero Jason and his band of sailors, the Argonauts. Geologists have theorized from investigations that the Golden In the epic myths of Ancient Greece and Rome, it is common for heroes to abandon their heroines in order to reach the end of their quests, as it was considered virtuous in these cultures for a man to Top New Stories. Nevertheless, the horned helmet is still surrounded by much uncertainty. In ancient Greek mythology, Medusa is the most famous of three monstrous sisters known as the Gorgons. Human Origins. Over the past two centuries, Europe has become increasingly secular. One Hundred Thousand Adams and Eves? Ancient Technology. Dating back 11, years - with a coded message left by ancient man from the Mesolithic Age - the Shigir Idol is almost three times as old as the Egyptian pyramids. While most of the crew went into the forest to search for supplies, the Gegeines saw that few Argonauts were guarding the ship and raided it. Heracles was among those guarding the ship at the time and managed to kill most of them before Jason and the others returned. Once some of the other Gegeines were killed, Jason and the Argonauts set sail. The Argonauts departed, losing their bearings and landing again at the same spot that night. In the darkness, the Doliones took them for enemies and they started fighting each other. The Argonauts killed many of the Doliones, among them the king Cyzicus. Cyzicus' wife killed herself. The Argonauts realized their horrible mistake when dawn came and held a funeral for him. Soon Jason reached the court of Phineus of Salmydessus in Thrace. Zeus had sent the harpies to steal the food put out for Phineas each day. Jason took pity on the emaciated king and killed the Harpies when they returned; in other versions, Calais and Zetes chase the harpies away. In return for this favor, Phineas revealed to Jason the location of Colchis and how to pass the Symplegades , or The Clashing Rocks, and then they parted. The only way to reach Colchis was to sail through the Symplegades Clashing Rocks , huge rock cliffs that came together and crushed anything that traveled between them. Phineas told Jason to release a dove when they approached these islands, and if the dove made it through, to row with all their might. If the dove was crushed, he was doomed to fail. Jason released the dove as advised, which made it through, losing only a few tail feathers. Seeing this, they rowed strongly and made it through with minor damage at the extreme stern of the ship. From that time on, the clashing rocks were forever joined leaving free passage for others to pass. Jason arrived in Colchis modern Black Sea coast of Georgia to claim the fleece as his own. It was owned by King Aeetes of Colchis. The fleece was given to him by Phrixus. Aeetes promised to give it to Jason only if he could perform three certain tasks. Presented with the tasks, Jason became discouraged and fell into depression. However, Hera had persuaded Aphrodite to convince her son Eros to make Aeetes' daughter, Medea , fall in love with Jason. As a result, Medea aided Jason in his tasks. First, Jason had to plow a field with fire-breathing oxen, the Khalkotauroi , that he had to yoke himself. Medea provided an ointment that protected him from the oxen's flames. Then, Jason sowed the teeth of a dragon into a field. The teeth sprouted into an army of warriors spartoi. Medea had previously warned Jason of this and told him how to defeat this foe. Before they attacked him, he threw a rock into the crowd. Unable to discover where the rock had come from, the soldiers attacked and defeated one another. His last task was to overcome the sleepless dragon which guarded the Golden Fleece. Jason sprayed the dragon with a potion, given by Medea, distilled from herbs. The dragon fell asleep, and Jason was able to seize the Golden Fleece. Medea distracted her father, who chased them as they fled, by killing her brother Apsyrtus and throwing pieces of his body into the sea; Aeetes stopped to gather them. In another version, Medea lured Apsyrtus into a trap. Jason killed him, chopped off his fingers and toes, and buried the corpse. In any case, Jason and Medea escaped. On the way back to Iolcus, Medea prophesied to Euphemus , the Argo's helmsman, that one day he would rule Cyrene. This came true through Battus , a descendant of Euphemus. Zeus , as punishment for the slaughter of Medea's own brother, sent a series of storms at the Argo and blew it off course. The Argo then spoke and said that they should seek purification with Circe , a nymph living on the island of Aeaea. After being cleansed, they continued their journey home. Chiron had told Jason that without the aid of Orpheus , the Argonauts would never be able to pass the Sirens —the same Sirens encountered by Odysseus in Homer 's epic poem the Odyssey. The Sirens lived on three small, rocky islands called Sirenum scopuli and sang beautiful songs that enticed sailors to come to them, which resulted in the crashing of their ship into the islands. When Orpheus heard their voices, he drew his lyre and played music that was more beautiful and louder, drowning out the Sirens' bewitching songs. The Argo then came to the island of Crete , guarded by the bronze man, Talos. As the ship approached, Talos hurled huge stones at the ship, keeping it at bay. Talos had one blood vessel which went from his neck to his ankle, bound shut by only one bronze nail as in metal casting by the lost wax method.

Jason and the Legendary Golden Fleece | Ancient Origins

According to Pindar Jason was like several other heroes raised by the centaur Chiron. He belonged to the Centaurs, advanced seekers who gained control over their vital nature but only to a certain extent. He is not therefore a symbol of an illusory progression. He was above all a healer who could restore the right balance, put everything in its place, that is to say purify. He was the accredited tutor of the heroes in their childhood days for music and medicine, the art of war, and the art of hunting which are symbols respectively of the capacity to achieve harmony from the highest vital plane to the corporal plane, of the path of the spiritual warrior and of the necessary capacities for the purification. As the son of Cronus he represents the earliest capacities of harmonisation developed by the seeker during the stage that leads to the beginning of the quest. According to Pindar Jason arrived in Iolcus to reclaim the throne from his cousin King Pelias, as being the son of Aeson he was the legitimate heir and the eldest of the children of Cretheus. Pelias had in fact inherited the city from Aeson as a regent, or rather seized it by force. According to other sources his arrival was in response to an invitation extended by Pelias to all his subjects to attend a sacrifice in honour of Poseidon: his presence was thus in no way related to a claim over the throne. Nevertheless two oracles had warned Pelias that he would be brought to his death by a man from his line of descent a descendant of Aeolus wearing a single sandal. While different authors disagree on the reason why Jason did arrived in Iolcus wearing only a single sandal, Pelias asked him as a favour to bring back the Golden Fleece on the pretext that he was too old to go himself. He believed that Jason would never return alive from such an expedition. It is a will to do well which is actually also a resistance to change, progress or evolution. He is still indeed inadequately equipped for the quest: Jason is wearing only one sandal. The seeker is in fact not supposed to stop on his journey and surpass the stages as rapidly as possible. The ship itself is the symbol of a well-constructed and complete personality: it had fifty oars, fifty being the number for a complete totality in the world of forms 5 at a higher level. The ship is also a symbol of yoga and the discipline followed Cf. In addition it was equipped with a speaking beam which encouraged the crew when it boarded the ship for the first time. This beam is the symbol of a solid structure which contributed to the success of the quest by way of its existence and proved to be indispensable in its early stages. It came from Dodona, place of the oracles of Zeus, and thus stands for an inner intuition very well established a beam and coming from the highest plane of the mind, the overmind. It manifest itself as inner certitudes for actions. It seems obvious that no list can be unanimously accepted by the initiated because the individual journeys differ and the masters tend to guide their disciples towards the path that they have themselves trodden. For them each name could be a pretext for a specific teaching and each of them would thus have composed his own list. Several lists of Argonauts have been handed down to us. The most succinct ones by Pindar and Pherecydes include only around ten names, almost exclusively those of the sons of gods. They emphasize the essential qualities that the seeker must possess to a certain extent and some progressions that should have been embarked upon. In fact these great heroes are generally found in the genealogical lines of the advanced stages of the journey which mark both their apotheosis and their end. However the qualities that they represent must gradually be strengthened in the being and that is why we find them here among the Argonauts. Although it was the responsibility of the master to define aptitudes and assess their degree, they could obviously not guarantee the occurrence of an experience. The first three were handed down to us by mythologists and are clearly derived from the fourth by Apollonius of Rhodes who lived through the experience and gave the only complete surviving Greek account of this quest. All these accounts constitute around fifty names like the ship with fifty oars. The list given by the mythologist Apollodorus IIth century AD falls under the same category although it is constituted of around fifteen names which are very different from the ones in the other four lists. To give an exhaustive account it is important that we also mention the lists by the historian Diodorus and the Roman poet Statius. Jason is the leader of the Argonauts and thus represents the essential aspect of the beginning of the journey. He marks the moment when the future seeker often after having exhausted his desire to change the world begins turning towards his inner world. He learns to understand that what happens to him does not depend on the external world but is instead a true image of his internal state and the progress he needs to make to achieve greater freedom. He discovers that he can change his inner state depending on how much he identifies with events, his attachments and his involvement with psychological suffering and thus learns that for this state too he holds responsibility. Consequently he must admit that the conditions are always and at all times the best for him to evolve and that life never makes him face more than what he can deal with. See Family tree 6 Let us remember that there are four major winds or divine aids for yoga: Boreas, the Northern wind of ascetism, Notos, the Southern wind which brings confusion and conceals the path, Zephir, the purifying Western wind and Eurus, the Eastern wind which brings newness. These seers represent three stages of development of intuition from different perspectives: purely mental receptivity, the capacity to foretell by the interpretation of signs presages and direct intuitions from the psychic light. Two seers carry this name but they do not have the same ancestry according to the authors. It is this ancestry which has been retained. Apollo had taught Mopsus to interpret the prophetic significance of birds. He knows how to decipher mental perceptions the flight of birds as opposed to signs given by events in daily life. His presence indicates that nothing should be left out in the quest. The seeker must pay particular attention to dreams, premonitions, and intuitions which he receives through the medium of the mind. Clearly all superstition, excesses of imagination or naivety must be discarded and nothing should be accepted blindly. According to Apollonius the seer Mopsus died from the bite of a viper while crossing the Libyan Desert, a trial during which the seeker loses all points of reference. In fact mental intuition from higher planes of consciousness cannot disappear because it is the foundation for the upward progression in these planes. This is why Mopsus is usually considered to be the son of Apollo and not of Ampyx. Here we have a first example of the prudence with which we must approach the Argonautica of Apollonius of Rhodes, an author who I believe experienced an indisputably powerful experience of illumination though he does not figure among the several great initiated ones. He represents the presages and omens that the seeker can obtain through the interpretation of events on the basis of analogies induced by the subconscient. In fact, if we admit that life always brings forth the most suitable events for evolution to take place we must also presume that every individual possesses somewhere within himself the necessary means to decipher their meaning. In the same way it is from the reservoir of the subconscious that numerous symbolic elements of dreams are extracted. It is Euphemus who released the dove in the dangerous passage before the Argonauts set sail through it: he is in the seeker both that which takes time to see and feel before letting himself be struck by the event as well as that which acts subconsciously to protect himself. Idmon was aware of his destiny through the movements of birds: generally at the beginning of the journey the seeker has a vague intuitive mental understanding of his life journey inferred from both his psychic being Apollo and his will of incarnation Abas. But this awareness disappears in the course of the journey under the effect of raw vital energies Idmon was killed by a boar just before arriving in Colchis. Tiphys the helmsman dies at the same time as him: it is necessary for the seeker to lose all points of reference and abandon all vague desires for finding his own way so that the descent of the spiritual forces can take place. They represent the effort of detachment induced by the highest knowledge Hermes striving to grow by way of concentration and expansion of consciousness and by instilling silence within. They symbolise the gradual work toward freedom from attachment to opinions, beliefs, ambitions, desire for power, material possessions, etc. Their sisters are Helen and Clytemnestra and their human father Tyndareus. He represents the force which strives for greater harmony, the firm desire to put everything in its proper place. These two aspects — gentleness and force, flexibility and rigour, the force which harmonises and the force which dominates — manifest themselves as much in the higher planes as in the external mental-vital-physical personality. They are the first instruments of mastery over the emotional being which must allow the psychic being to manifest itself and dominate. Tyndareus, the human father of Castor and Pollux, is a descendant of Taygete the Pleiad daughter of Atlas who symbolises the sixth plane in the ascending planes of consciousness, the intuitive mind that precedes the overmind. Leda also represents a very advanced realization being either a descendant of Aethlius, who is the son of Zeus and Protogeneia, or one of the children of Aeolus who would logically be placed between Perieres and Deion based on our analysis of the children of Aeolus. Thus when they complete their action in vital yoga as representatives of the intuitive mind dead sons of Tyndareus in the lineage of Taygete they still had to work in close association for the yoga of the cells from the overmind as sons of Zeus. In this way they form a bridge between the corporal conscient and inconscient, each in turn executing the task in the depths. At the highest point of their task Castor and Pollux introduce the seeker to the field of non-duality in the spirit and semi-immortality they are honored as gods. It must be noted that they had previously defeated and killed their cousins Idas and Lynceus, grandsons of Perieres, union of faith Idas and discernment Lynceus , both necessary for liberation and which must come to an end at the death of desire and ego. He is therefore a grandson of Poseidon from whom he received unlimited strength and the power to change form at will if in need during combat; this comes to mean an invulnerability and capacity to adapt when this is indispensable. He is the first helmsman on the expedition to be replaced in the course of the journey because the energy-consciousness necessary to enter the path is not the same as the one to pursue and orientate it. The meaning of his name remains unclear. Though mentioned by Pindar and Apollonius, Heracles did not participate in the expedition narrated in the oldest narratives. This is perfectly understandable as we have stressed the fact that the theoretical processes cannot correspond exactly to the experiences. However since the seeker must have embarked upon the quest before being able to live the first great spiritual experience several authors including Apollonius place Heracles among the heroes who go on board the Argo but soon make him abandon the expedition under some pretext or another sometimes for a most absurd reason such that he was too heavy for the boat! On the other hand this stage of the journey only involves a preparation for the work of purification essentially focusing on perfecting the mind and does not yet involve actual work on desire and ego. Since the myth of Orpheus is a complex one, spanning over several stages of yoga according to the different versions, and is closely related to that of Dionysus in one of them, we have deferred its analysis to a later chapter. We shall simply note here that he came originally from Thrace, the province where blows Boreas the wind of asceticism and incarnation. He was known for his talent as a singer and musician, in other words for his knowledge of the laws of harmony a purification which allows everything to be put in its proper place. That is why he acquainted the Argonauts with the mysteries of Samothrace. On board the ship Argo he beat time for the rowers and thus set the rhythm of progression and the right time for all things. Conforming to this rhythm which is neither the rhythm of the character nor of events is in fact the real mastery. Orpheus is therefore the most important character on the ship after Jason, playing the part of a priest or an initiated individual. It must be recalled that like the other Argonauts they indicate the forces which the seeker must mobilized right from the start of the quest and not its prerequisites. The author who cited these two Argonauts together probably wanted to make us understand that the seeker embarks on his journey together with his shadow and his light. Poem 3: karmic memories and the great experience. Poem 4: Integration. There is no indication of the duration of time because for each stage there are phases of maturation which could be carried out in some months, years or lifetimes. On the other hand significant events are experienced as absolute certainties even though the seeker rarely has appropriate words to communicate his experiences. It must be recalled that according to the seekers a wide variety of experiences can occur; this myth should then above all not be considered as a set description of the journey. Further, like in all great epics of mythology, the adventures of the hero within each major period should be considered as a list of confrontations, trials, and necessary progressions the chronology of which depends on the individual seeker. There will be several trials and errors and many impasses but when the disciple is ready the master will reveal himself. This is an occult law for which there are no exceptions. In the preparation of the quest appears of course the gathering of the Argonauts which we have just seen. Therefore man forgets himself in the midst of appearances and of satisfying the desires of the ego which are only derivatives of that need. And the need will grow like a fire. At the beginning this lack often drives the seeker toward revolt or rejection of society or to various actions which never quench his thirst. But this is how it had to be because Pandora was a gift of the gods: man must exhaust all illusions before being able to aspire for the Absolute. In other words nothing can be left behind in evolution. At a later stage on the journey this need is also the engine that drives the Trojan War through the descendants of Tantalus who opened the way for the lineage of the Atrides. On that day all the gods looked down from the heights upon the ship and these demi-gods born of their race. This is why Jason offered a sacrifice to Apollo, god of psychic light. All the other spiritual forces certainly gave their consent since the gods attended the departure. It reflects the required maturity of the personality and mental clarity. Argo as we have seen is the symbol of the seeker who turns his attention to his inner world instead of constantly being in a state of reaction. It is also the symbol of energies coming together for action. Concord prevailing Orpheus beat time, Ancaeus stood in the middle of the ship, Tiphys at the steering and Jason directed the navigation. Achilles at that time was still a very young child. While the fertile land of the Pelasgians faded into the distant mist, they sailed along the cliffs of the Pelion and cape Sepias faded into the horizon. Then they arrived at the coast of the land of Magnesia and the tomb of Dolops. They came ashore against the wind and offered a sacrifice in honour of the deceased. They came from the sea and are therefore symbolic of the beginning of the domination of the mind over the vital. The seeker aspires for more freedom and greater knowledge without being clearly aware of what it really involves and aspires to meet those who could give it to him or lead him to it. For Orpheus is the one who creates harmony by following the right rhythm. Many more symbolic years must pass before this perception is refined to the extent of becoming a part of the movements of daily life. The other movements were examined above with the heroes who accompanied Jason: a beginning of self-knowledge, a tendency to direct oneself toward what is true or luminous, deep sincerity, some intuitive capacities, an attentive awareness of signs, good endurance, and a consequent development of the mind. The first episode which the seeker is faced with is illustrated by the episode of the women of Lemnos. The Argonauts arrived at the abode of the Sintians on the island of Lemnos where the entire male population had been massacred. Since the women of this island had long neglected to honour Aphrodite the latter set their husbands against them and their husbands rejected them. According to Apollodorus, the women emitted a nauseating odour caused by the goddess. On the other hand, their husbands felt a violent love for the captive maids brought from their pillage of Thrace on the coast opposite to Lemnos, and they bore them children. Hypsipyle alone spared her father Thoas who was ruling over the country, placing him in a chest that she left to drift on the sea. Since they feared that the Thracians would come they were wary of the arrival of the Argonauts and streamed down toward them carrying arms, and according to Sophocles a battle did take place. The Argonauts remained on the island for an entire year and Jason resided at the palace of Hypsipyle who bore him his son Euenos. This story unfolds on the island of Lemnos where Hephaestus was flung down by Zeus from atop Mount Olympus during one of the quarrels between him and his wife Hera as he could not bear that Hephaestus had taken the side of his mother. According to another tradition Hera found him so ugly when he was born that she flung him down herself. Hephaestus is the creator god of forms, mainly spiritual forms, while his brother Ares is their destructor. But these forms are imperfect since in our times they stand on only one of the two pillars of the mind, the reasoning logical mind, in accordance with the cosmic cycle of the mind. But Hera, a symbol of the highest consciousness could accept only perfect forms despite being the one who had created Hephaestus and so she rejected him. Lemnos is thus a symbol of a necessary union of polarities. However the new spiritual forms and respective goals which the seeker discovers during his quest and unduly claims as his own the young maids who were brought from their pillage of Thrace charm him more than the forms and religions of his own culture. All new seekers in fact have a tendency to reject the spiritual forms of their own culture and raise foreign forms on a pedestal but they often retain from them only what suits their ego and its need for the new, mysterious and exotic. Only the impetuosity present at the beginning of the quest survives Thoas is aged and attempts to go through the highest doors Hypsipyle throughout all these experiences. But the spiritual forms of his own culture continue to have a strong influence on the seeker since they are rooted in the subconscient. Some masters also contend that they are influences from the invisible world who keep the believers under their laws. And so the women of Lemnos finally iron out all these cravings for the exotic before their union with the Argonauts, the old spiritual goals calling for enrichment and renewal by the new forces. Only a strong determination and the qualities represented by the Argonauts allow one to overcome these stages and enter a new one which is more about transforming oneself than about changing from one to another spiritual tradition. Despite their enjoyable stay at the island of Lemnos the Argonauts had to leave the island to pursue their journey on the foundation of old goals freshly renewed. According to Pindar celebratory games were played in honour of the men killed by the women or in honour of Thoas, which shows that the quests for other spiritual forms were not pointless as they helped to expand consciousness. Electra is one of the Pleiades, daughter of Atlas, who corresponds to the illumined mind plane. It is difficult to be conclusive on the nature of lessons imparted in ancient Greece to seekers of the mysteries but it can be assumed that they were closely related to the legacy of Ancient Egypt and covered all domains of the evolution of consciousness mentioned in this work as well as immense occult knowledge which has mostly disappeared. During the night the heroes finished crossing the Hellespont and advanced into the Propontis. The hills of this peninsula were inhabited by wild and ferocious beings, the Sons of the Earth, each of which had six arms. The Doliones occupied the plains and were protected from the giants by Poseidon because they were the descendants of this god. Their king invited them to advance with their ships to the second cove. The giants began hurling rocks to obstruct the channel through which the ships would exit but were slain by the arrows of the Argonauts. The latter set sail but overnight the adverse winds brought them back to the island without their knowledge. In the darkness the Doliones, believing that they were faced with hostile people attacked the Argonauts who slew a large number of them and realised their mistake only the next morning. The king of the Doliones Cyzicus perished in the battle. There were then twelve stormy days and twelve stormy nights which prevented them from setting sail again. The Argonauts then set sail again, travelling past the cape of Poseidon and heading toward new lands. The advance of the Argonauts across the Aegean, Hellespont, Propontis, the Bosphorus, and the Euxinus Pontus seas describes the progression of increasingly deeper purification of the vital being. Then comes the first strait Hellespont which gets its name from Helle. She was the sister of Phrixus and the two children when tortured by their stepmother fled on the back of a ram with the Golden Fleece sent by Zeus. It is the myth already studied which recounts the first experience of luminous sensitivity. This experience usually opens much later the doors to a deeper involvement in the quest. The Hellespont is also the final limit in the individuation process Helle. Hellespont is also known as the strait of the Dardanelles with reference to Dardanus, the son of the Pleiad Electra, who marks the first experience of the illumined mind. The Doliones are sons of Poseidon. The seeker does not identify them as such because they appear to be going in the direction of the quest: in fact the king provided wine for the Argonauts and sheep for their sacrifice to Apollo. This distances the seeker from his psychic perception of truth although he believes he is on the journey to the light of Truth or convinces himself that he is. When we persist in insincerities and are deaf to the inner voice, the latter falls silent, often for a long time until we return to the right path which sometimes happens only after harsh confrontations. There can be several reasons for this deafness: impatience, fascination with powers, desire to stand out from the crowd, automatic self-justification, or anything that benefits the ego pride. The seeker then sinks deeper into the illusory path without suspecting it and it threatens to imprison him in a kind of a trap The Argonauts push their ship into the second creek that the giants attempt to obstruct. The monstrous giants with six arms can be seen as hostile forces with an extended power of action that hides within the heights of aspiration the mountains. These powers of the subtle world can only act if we open the doors to them. Here the error stems from the fact that the seeker is not conscious of the forces opposing the journey, forces which are born in the inconscient he came from and which hide behind his spiritual aspiration: the giants, sons of Earth, rush from behind the mountain. Seeming welcoming and of easy access, that which leads to error has every appearance of the truth but arises from the subconscious Poseidon. This conceals what the highest consciousness nurtures as an obstacle or a test to evolution Hera feeds the giants : the obstacles appear on the journey to help the seeker in his purification. This is a law of evolution which the seeker must always keep in mind. In the first confrontation with the opposing forces the seeker is sufficiently purified to avoid total imprisonment, thus destroying the hostile forces without too much difficulty: the Argonauts slay the six-armed giants. Although he thinks that he can continue on his journey he is led back toward them by force. The seeker can assess what he has conquered only after his victory. This episode helps him understand that at this stage the journey is an alliance between personal will and divine action working behind a veil. Therefore what is described here is a trap laid by deceptive forms of spirituality and opening the way to destructive forces. Some examples of these weaknesses are given with the names of the Doliones who were killed: the search for power, the aspiration for glory, etc. The names of Dolions given by Apollonius seem to indicate that the seeker does not only remove in himself egoistic goals such as the desire for glory, but also partly gives up some enthusiasm that has made him begin on the journey. It is at the end of the first poem which we can finally consider as the preparatory period for the quest that Apollonius has Heracles disembark: in fact, as soon as there is a conscious entry into the quest there can no longer be any correlation between the theoretical myths in this case, the labours of Heracles and the experiences. After describing the risks of being misled Apollonius specifies in the second poem a few minor mistakes before turning to the essential event which marks a turning point in the quest: the meeting of the true master. The Argonauts arrived in the country of the Bebryces ruled by the arrogant King Amycus, son of the nymph Melia and Poseidon. He was the most insolent of men and imposed a disgraceful law on strangers: none must leave the country without challenging him in boxing. He had thus killed many voyagers. Pollux immediately volunteered to compete against him, and Castor and Talaus helped him prepare for the fight which was a long and very violent one. Pollux could not avoid injuring his shoulder but according to some, after his victory he made Amycus promise that he would not mistreat any more strangers. According to Apollonius, Amycus was killed during the confrontation and it was followed by a general battle in which many Bebrycians were killed including Mimas. At dawn the Argonauts took to the sea again and moved into the eddies of the Bosphorus. The heroes were under the impression that they could not escape death and were terrified, but the navigational knowledge of Tiphys led them away from danger. At this stage the seeker is up against a part of himself which attempts to cross the stages forcefully owing to his strong desire and using solely his personal will Amycus. Of course he must also prepare the way with inner strength and mastery and by opening the consciousness to righteousness and sincerity Castor as well as through endurance Talaus. In accounts where the king is spared, the meaning consists of preserving ardour for the quest while at the same time controlling the pressure put on oneself. For Apollonius selfishness and vital greed must irrevocably be kept away from the quest. It must be recalled that the vital being actually feeds as much on suffering as on pleasure and it is the vital subconscious which is articulated here with its desire for sensations and power Amycus is a son of Poseidon. The mother of Amycus, the nymph Melia Ashes , also indicates that it is a spirituality based on the vital. These deviations can involve scourges and mortifications as well as more subtle forms in which the willpower imposes excessive restrictions on the body, mind or emotions. This encompasses all kinds of deprivations of things which have not been mastered: excessively long fasts, sexual abstinence by principle, etc. The attitudes which are being disputed here stem from a strongly dissenting vital ego which is in no way concerned with spiritual discipline. The only thing that is of interest to it is drama, excitement and surges of energy of whichever kind. For the vital does not care in which action the energy is deployed, and the mind lends its support under the guise of virtue, goodness, courage or spiritual progress. At this stage of the journey the seeker is not expected to master the vital being but to simply avoid lures and erroneous and dishonest behaviour that only feed his self-centredness and self-satisfaction. This stage comes to an end with the threat of a major emotional disturbance which is more frightening than it is harmful and does not appear too difficult to avoid if the seeker is knowledgeable about his emotional reactions a wave high as a mountain and ready to break upon them, but which sinks back into itself thanks to the skill of the helmsman Tiphys. The following day the heroes disembark on the land of the Thynians. On the shore dwelled the blind Phineus who was married to Cleopatra daughter of Boreas, sister of the Boreads Calais and Zetes. He had received the gift of prophecy from Apollo. According to some the king of Olympus had taken his sight because he could not bear the slightest restraint in revealing the sacred will of Zeus to men. According to others he preferred to live a long life rather than to see. Not satisfied with depriving him of these delicious treats, they made the remnants reek. According to others an edict of fate Moirai wanted the Harpies to die at the hands of the Boreads while the latter in turn would perish if they failed to catch them. According to Apollodorus both parties died since the Boreads failed to catch up with the Harpies who collapsed in exhaustion. As a token of gratitude Phineus informed the Argonauts of a number of upcoming trials. This necessary turning over marks the entry into the journey and is symbolised by the blindness which strikes not only seers like the Theban prophet Tiresias but also Oedipus and a number of other characters in tales of initiation. From this point onward the seeker must have more concern for the movements of his inner world than his reaction to external events. That is to say that even if the seeker has some knowledge about the journey which can prove useful to him — for Phineus is a soothsayer who does his work well — this should not prevent him from putting himself in the hands of what is at higher levels of consciousness, for it is not ego that must decide the way. But to begin with it can only be related to a breakthrough of consciousness since abandoning oneself to Reality or Truth occurs very gradually for most seekers. The latter can only gain certitudes ensuing from a vision of Truth at a very slow pace because for a long time, they must depend on higher forces to guide them in their ignorance. In another version Phineus, obliged to make a choice, had preferred to have a long life rather than retaining his sight: if the seeker had continued the movement toward externalisation of ego he would not have been able to retain his nascent intuitive abilities. After the initial purification the seeker has the ability to obtain precise visions or perceptions from the inner light he had received the gift of prophecy from Apollo. Phineus thus stands for a growing ability for non-mental inner perception. Since he turns inward he can begin to perceive the evolution of some parts of his being on the basis of his new perceptions for those parts for which he makes predictions. But he cannot benefit from them to improve his psychic vision the gifts offered because he is constantly disturbed by archaic and extremely quick mental movements, the Harpies. In the chapter dedicated to the study of The Genesis and Growth of Life we saw that the movements of the nascent mind are simultaneously related to the reversals of balance and the process of homeostasis movements to return to equilibrium. The reason for their existence is the necessity to maintain or reverse the repetitive or revolving processes on which animal life is built in order to provide the stability suitable for a gradual evolution. Therefore they oppose any profound change in the being or any hastening of his evolution. From the cellular level up the scale of the whole body are displayed such protection mechanisms, for example the mechanism of the cells of enveloping a foreign body with matter. In the animal world repetition is one of the fundamental processes, which is illustrated in man by his habits. The Harpies are therefore indispensable till a very advanced stage of yoga is attained at which physical transformation begins. In the initial stages we are concerned with here, doubt is the great troublemaker for the nascent psychic intuition. The seeker obviously wants to understand the changes in his inner state in order to limit their influence on his life and psychic visions. They are children of Boreas the north wind and so their orientation is toward aspiration for union in incarnation. The Boreads are winged beings and represent honed mental processes. They can pursue these archaic movements of the vital consciousness to the point where the smallest energy condensates at the origin of life have not yet found their point of application Floating Islands , that is, are not yet consolidated to create disorder and disharmony. Then the seeker can observe and understand how this condensate is transformed into repetitive or obsessive revolving movements Turning Islands leading to disharmony, disorder and disease. It is obvious that the pursuit will be long as the descent into these archaic levels of consciousness requires patience and perseverance. This pursuit could even last throughout the quest because the Harpies are active down to the cellular level. However the active element will no longer be the mind but a higher order of consciousness. That is why the Boreads died once they succeeded in preventing the occurrence of the winding movements the death of the Harpies. In the quest of the Argonauts, it is only about a preliminary task, that of fighting doubt. In another version the Harpies do not die. At first, it is in the mind that some degree of tranquility can be attained. Since the mind is a place where there is continuous unrest comparable to a mad monkey jumping from one branch to another , perseverance in continuous asceticism can bring at least some amount of calm, if not mental silence; in fact the Boreads obtain tranquility for Phineus from Iris, that is to say a certain ability to isolate a receptive intuitive state from these troublemakers of the archaic vital plane. When the seeker has succeeded in pacifying his mind and removing the doubt which disturbed psychic intuition he is in a position to intuitively perceive the great challenges to be met as well as necessary evolutions Within the permissible limits set by the gods Phineus reveals to the Argonauts the trials that they will face before their arrival in Colchis. However it is only by progressing in love that they will be able to proportionally progress on their journey as Phineus also warns them that the success of their endeavor will depend on Aphrodite. Doubt is a mental process. In response to it we either refrain from acting or most often make a choice depending on the preferences of the ego. When intellect is growing the mind proceeds through trials and errors and doubt is its assistant. On the spiritual path however we aspire for exactitude in thought, speech, and action which originates from the inner soul, the psychic light, rather than from the mind. For there is no knowledge in the mind which cannot be doubted, and true knowledge is only obtained by the soul or the psychic being that is one with the Truth. When we act from the mind, we are forced to make choices, but when the psychic governs the being we know the right way. The spiritual experience pertaining to the soul is thus certain and the key to it is the inner perception in touch with the body. I warn you that no one who has attempted to pass between the two rocks has ever been able to avoid them. For their base is not firmly fixed and they are constantly coming up crashing against each other while above them masses of sea water rise up gushing and boiling into the air. He advised them to release a dove: if it flew safely through then they could try to cross the passage. But if the bird perished they would have to turn back. Euphemus released the dove and only the extreme ends of her tail-feathers were cut by the rocks closing back towards each other. When they parted again the heroes rowed with all their might. Halfway through the channel an enormous wave rose and seized with terror, they thought they were about to die. But Athena who had descended from Olympus to watch over the advance of the heroes braced herself against a rock and with her free hand pushed the ship through the channel. Since then the rocks joined together and were rooted to the spot forever, for such was the destiny that the gods had wished for them. The journey is strewn with trials and tests which are all opportunities to make progress in specific domains. Three groups of examiners conduct these tests. Apparently they have nothing in common and their methods are so different, at times even so seemingly contradictory, that they do not appear to work towards the same goal, and yet they complete one another, they work together for a common aim and each is indispensable for the integral result. These three categories of tests are: those conducted by the forces of Nature, those conducted by the spiritual and divine forces, and those conducted by the hostile forces. This latter category is the most deceptive in its appearance, and a constant state of vigilance, sincerity and humility is required so as not to be caught by surprise or unprepared. The most commonplace circumstances, people, the everyday events of life, the most seemingly insignificant things, all belong to one or another of these three categories of examiners. In this considerably complex organization of tests, those events generally considered the most important in life are really the easiest of all examinations to pass, for they find you prepared and on your guard. One stumbles more easily over the little pebbles on the path, for they attract no attention. It marks the beginning of a long process and of numerous other trials that the seeker is warned against with quite some precision either internally or externally Phineus had forewarned the Argonauts. The trial in question is inevitable as it is the test for entry into the journey nobody had ever succeeded to pass between the rocks unharmed. These knots bring up great emotional upheaval when the seeker faces them by entering into the quest. It is the inner calm that he will demonstrate that will help him go through without much damage. Releasing the dove into the channel refers to the conscious examination of whether in a situation that generates fear we are ready to react in an unconventional way using inner calm rather than strength. The dove is in fact a symbol of peace. According to Apollonius, if the seeker is not ready for this he must temporarily give up the journey and turn back. At this stage, once one has agreed to first propose and brings peace, mobilizing the will and all the resources of the personality is more important than submitting to the image that one can form of the Absolute, for the image is still too marred with illusion. He can no longer ignore the fact that he receives assistance on his journey. Progressive confrontation with death appears to be one of the features of the journey, first in the form of sudden episodes such as accidents and then in increasingly conscious and lengthier ways. Fear must be gradually eliminated from the mind and then from the vital being before it is possible to fight the last battles against it in the body. The Argonauts then continued to work hard at the oars. Tiphys encouraged Jason who was letting discouragement take over, assuring him that he would reach his goal, but Jason replied that he was not afraid for himself but for his men. They thus travelled past the high Black Cape. The seeker realises that in the course of his journey he has to abandon some processes put in place for the yoga which were useful to him at the beginning of the journey Jason is afraid for his men. It also represent the last possibility of seduction by deceiving spiritual paths. The Argonauts disembarked on the port of the desert island Thynias. It was then that Apollo appeared before them with his silver bow in hand. He was on his way to the Hyperboreans. Under his feet the entire island trembled and the waves broke thunderously on the shore. At the sight of him an overwhelming awe seized the heroes; none of them dared to meet the beautiful eyes of the deity. Phineus had not only cautioned the heroes against the dangers of the Dark Rocks but had also given them precise indications about the route to follow all the way to Colchis where the Golden Fleece was to be found. The seeker then broadly senses what changes he must bring about in himself in order to refine his sensitivity and purify himself. Perhaps he is assisted in this way by the modern soothsayers, astrologers and mediums. It is accompanied by a feeling of certainty, completeness, quiet joy, wonder and above all, tranquil sense of evidence. Nonetheless the certainty of having found their right path is indestructible and unforgettable from that moment onward. This discovery will help the seeker finally gather and focus all his strength in a single direction. Till that moment various elements of his being had been continually pulling in their respective directions due to an invariably unsatisfied quest. Now although he knows that he is still at the beginning of the journey, if one or the other of his parts fail he knows that the others will overcome this deficiency. For example if the body is tired or falls sick, the mental and psychic will seize the reins to continue the yoga; if depression occurs, the body will resist it with all its might and the mind will endure it; and if the mind is in doubt or continues to experience a lack of understanding the vital being will maintain the drive and joy they took an oath to help each other forever. This turning point is marked by changes and realizations which Apollonius mentions without giving details: — The heroes cast anchor at a point beyond the Cape Acheron near the entrance of the Cave of Hades from which an icy breeze was emanating and forming shining white ice crystals all around. There the lord of the land Lycus and his people built up a friendship with the Argonauts. But at this point of the journey there is no descent possible into Hades: this is just a preliminary experience for descending into the depths. While supreme consciousness is associated with a fire endowed with of an intense power of movement the inconscient is the place of icy fixity hence the ice crystals coming from within the cave. Subsequently the heroes closely avoid a battle with the Amazons: at this stage the victory in such a battle, the adherence of the vital being to yoga which is a sign of a state of wisdom and sanctity, is not expected. Surrender of the lower vital being — anger, sexuality, etc. The myth depicts some other mistakes that the seeker must become aware of even though he does not have to correct them at this stage as the Argonauts sail off the coast. Some of these are the attraction for an arduous path that is expected to please the Divine, the trust in the predominant efficiency of the mind, the projections and the blocked energies. The Argonauts reached the land of the Chalybes whose inhabitants did not care to toil the land or graze their cattle or grow honey-sweet fruits but extracted iron ore without ever taking rest. Amidst the dark flames and smoke they wore themselves out in this laborious work. However the author does not indicate that we cannot expect any results from it as the Chalybes were extracting ore. They did not care to toil the land: the seeker does not work on his nature in the way he should for the purpose of purifying and perfecting it with the aim of union. Then they sailed past the coast of the country of the Tibareni. In this land, when women bore children to their husbands the latter were the ones to moan and whine complainingly, lying dejectedly on their beds with bandaged heads while their wives took good care to feed them and prepare childbirth baths for them. In this story an inversion of the goals and the labours of yoga are being highlighted: the seeker takes a means or his discipline of yoga to be his aim. For example he gives increasing importance to the framework of his meditation or to a discipline like Hatha Yoga, he refines it, makes it the highest priority in his life, and brings to it all kinds of justifications and attention to nurture it. He focuses on his practice endorsing it with his own vision of the goal. While a new dynamic of the being is coming forth the women who are giving birth the active part of the mind is ineffective the bandaged heads and the seeker complains, imagining that he has worked very hard and deserves care and reassurance. It is actually a sort of blackmail towards the Divine which continues for a long time in yoga as a sly way of satisfying the ego: if I am a good disciple in my chosen practice, I very well deserve this or that. All the attachments to the labours that should be practised with flexibility and given up as soon as the inner being feel it should come to an end can be included in this category. Undoubtedly the path of renunciation was necessary in ancient forms of spirituality the sole aim of which was to attain a paradise of the spirit. It can and should undoubtedly be a temporary stage; it should prepare for a return to life on the path of non- attachment which is far more difficult to achieve. One must always remember that yoga is constituted of reversals and what helps at one stage of the journey becomes an obstacle for the next. They did not even feel restraint at coupling in public and with no consideration for those present they would, like feeding swine, lay with the women upon the ground. Here again there is an inversion, no longer between the practice and the goal but between inner and the outer reality. It seems that what is narrated here refers to seekers who divulge their inner life and experiences in public including a demonstration of their powers their coupling , whereas the inner experience must be kept a secret for a long time so as to retain its power. On the other hand they carefully conceal the acts that do not conform to what they claim to have achieved. This story might also indicates seekers that pretend to be free through the satisfaction of all desires. The heroes then approach the island of Ares. It was populated by birds whose feathers fell from the sky like sharp arrows, causing serious injuries. The Argonauts were reminded of the strategy that Heracles used at the Stymphalian Lake: resorting to the clattering sound of bronze pieces striking together to drive away the birds. So they began striking on their shields while shouting out with wild cries. The frightened birds fled and the Argonauts were able to land without any further risk. The birds that Heracles fought at the Stymphalian Lake were more related to the process of purification which should be carried out deep into the layers of the vital being down till the physical mind. In the case of this great hero what is needed is the identification and segregation of the mental movements from the purely vital processes. An example of this is the layer of the self-defeating physical mind which keeps the body at the grasp of disease and prevents it from getting cured by its own forces. The work is carried out here on the island of Ares where the force acts on the level of mental forms and destroys what no longer has its place. This island is also the place of dual thoughts. It was at this moment that the heroes met the sons of Phrixus who had left the kingdom of Aeetes to reclaim the inheritance of their grandfather Athamas. Soon after their departure they had endured a fierce storm. They agreed to accompany the Argonauts till Colchis, but not without warning them of the great dangers they would be exposed to. Since Phrixus does not appear again in the rest of the myth the authors give him a long lived old age in Colchis. The meeting of the sons of Phrixus and the Argonauts indicates that the seeker revisits this very first experience and establishes the link with what he will be searching for henceforth. They are the ones who will guide the seeker till the point of recovery of a corresponding sensibility they would guide the Argonauts to Colchis. But these forces cannot join hands till the quest has not made adequate progress and thus the timely shipwreck compels them to be patient. In addition when the forces join hands the seeker receives specific signs which warn him that an important experience of the same nature as the first stirring awaits him. It must be recalled that he represents the abilities of concentration, harmonisation, mastery and purification which should be acquired before starting out on the journey. And was the golden fleece merely a symbol for real gold? Phrixus and Helle. The Golden Fleece. Jason, Medea and the Quest for the Golden Fleece. He is both a co-owner and co-founder of Ancient Origins. Read More. Thanks John, interesting article and comments. The myth is dated to around BCE. This could be important and may explain some of the mystery. It is generally accepted that the Minoans controlled the trading routes around this time, but their culture is in demise around this time after the Thera eruption. The journey is across their primary trade routes, in pursuit of gold. The myths may have an element of fact or impart useful preservation of knowledge. It is a tricky journey. The Greeks had limited understanding of the sea, but this may be opening up to them with the demise of the Minoans. There is no currency at the time, goods were exchanged for other commodities or services. Metals and in particular gold was a store of value readily exchangeable for whatever a city state needed, shortfall of food, raising an army etc. The mythical aspects of the story may have some basis. Its locates on Cretes and throws stones at ships, e. It was a creation of Daedalus, skilled in the mechanical arts. This actually makes sense, no-one knows how this culture maintained its domination over the seas and more importantly trade. Did the Minoans deny access to their own trading ports if ships were not of their own sail? However, large quantities are found at peak sanctuaries, highest elevation on an island not just Crete but other islands in the trading network with clear sight over coastal approaches. The double axe is an unusual design and consistent. Made of a substantially a flat face of copper, or gold, with excelllent reflection. Were the prestesses warning the fleet and ground 'artillary' teams of the approach of a non-minoan ship. From jewellery, metal work including weapons to skills such as architecture. It is a very Greek story, they took the goldern fleece: aqasition of wealth by conquest! What happened next is interesting, the Seas people raiding without a strong Navy to keep pirates in check. These fleeces were used to sieve gold from the mud where the Placer gold was found in Colchis. Then the fleece was hung to dry. When dry, shaken and the gold dust collected. Iason there was no "j" or Ya'son, had a crew of "God's Son. Some allege the crew had an historical basis: They placed the stone megaliths around the world while surveying it. I have been reading a lot about argot and I have hit a wall. I am not a mason. Maybe you could help me understand. Thank you. Going to put this out there, although it may generate more questions than answers. Jason and the Argonauts is a story based upon the constellations of the Malvern Zodiac. This is the zodiac that preceded the modern "mechanised" house version that we all know today. I would like to say that it's a single circuit of the Sun's journey around the ecliptic, but that wouldn't be an accurate description, for it includes the circumpolar constellations that are untouched by the Sun's annual journey. The design is used as a storytellers allegoric shadow-play, where the varying constellations or parts thereof can be utilised in their original form or something similar that they resemble. Trying to decypher the original author's direction of thought can be challenging, although thankfully often simple. Cutting to the chase, the famous golden fleece is the fleece-shaped flame emanating from the gaping jaw of the fire-breathing dragon. The normal question that this generates is "how can the design of a zodiac inscribed into the roads and footpaths of central England be in use by ancient Greeks" But that's only the beginning - the design also generated the Epic of Gilgamesh and so much more. And yeah, every story comes from some level of truth, of fact. Nothing is ever really completely made up, but drawn from! Ancient Origins has been quoted by:. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Skip to main content. Login or Register in order to comment. Nick D wrote on 27 August, - Permalink. Tyson33 wrote on 12 September, - Permalink. 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