Jason and the Quest of the Golden Fleece

Jason and the Quest of the Golden Fleece Sharnali G., Deeksha M., Julia S., Sophie S., Jaclyn R., and Lindsay L. Due: 2/17/14 Mrs. Garrison, Block 3 (Honors English II)

Heroic Qualities • Jason is very determined when he started on his quest (169). • Jason has “beauty” and “grace” (171). • Unlike Hercules, he didn’t let anything, including love, distract him from his end goal, getting the Fleece.

Heroic Flaws • Some of the heroes that Jason brought with him on his quest were distracted and naïve (165). • Jason is a selfish liar because he promised Medea they would get married and they didn’t (177). • Jason became very mean to Medea after they came back from the quest (177). • Jason became too ambitious when he leaves Medea for the Princess of Corinth (“He thought of ambition only, never of love or of gratitude” (177)). • Jason still doesn’t realize he was the one in the wrong when “he cursed her, never himself, for what had come to pass” (180).

Hero transformation • Jason began his quest very optimistic, determined, and valiant. • He was very confident about taking back his rightful throne. • Then after he got back from the quest with Medea, things turned sour. • He “showed the meanness that was in him, brilliant hero that he seemed to be” (177) by marrying someone else and putting Medea and her sons into exile.

The Story (160-180) • Phrixus was about to be sacrificed, and a golden ram came and saved him. • He made a golden fleece out of it and gave it to King Aetes in exchange for marrying his daughter. • Pelias usurped the throne from the king, and the King hid Jason away. • Jason came back to take back the throne that was rightfully his from Pelias, his cousin. • Pelias told Jason if he brought back the Golden Fleece, he would let Jason be king.

The Quest Begins (164) • Hercules, Orpheus, Castor, Pollux, Achilles’s father Peleus and many others accompanied Jason on his quest. • Hera and Aphrodite were helping him, and they sailed in the ship Argo. • First they went to Lemnos, island of women, and gave them food and gifts before they set sail again.

The Harpies (165) • They landed on a separate island. • The Harpies saw an old prophet, Phineas, who abused his powers of prophecy and was punished by Zeus so he could never eat again. • The Harpies are flying beasts who always left an “intolerable odor” and contaminated Phineas’ food. • The Argonauts decided to help Phineas so Boreas’ sons were about to kill the Harpies. • Iris came and stopped them from killing the Harpies and made sure they wouldn’t bother Phineas again.

The Clashing Rocks and the Amazons (168) • Phineas was grateful and told them how to get past the clashing rocks: if a dove could get through the rocks, then the Argo could pass the rocks too. • When the dove went through, only it’s tail feathers got caught, and similarly, the Argo passed through having the back crushed. • They passed the Amazons (daughters of Harmony and Ares) and didn’t have to battle them.

Colchis (169) • They reached Colchis, where the fleece was located. • Hera had Aphrodite and Cupid make Medea, daughter of the Colchian King, fall in love with Jason. • King Aetes fed them, but when they said they wanted the Fleece, he was angry and thought, “If these strangers had not eaten at my table I would kill them” (170). • In exchange for the fleece, Jason would have to embark on a task: he had to yoke two bronze, fire breathing bulls, make them plow soil then plant dragon teeth and defeat the armed men that would grow from them.

Focal Point: Medea • The only way for Jason to complete the task is to get help from Medea, the princess of Colchis. • Medea has already fallen in love with Jason (by Cupid) and is struggling between her loyalty to her father and her love for Jason. • She chooses to help Jason and gives him a special ointment to make him and his weapons invincible for a day and tells him to defeat the dragon teeth men by throwing a stone into the crowd of them to make them fight each other. • Jason follows her advice and completes the task.

Return home (174-175) • King Aetes plans not to give the Fleece to Jason, and Medea runs to Jason to tell him that they need to get the Fleece and leave the island. • Jason tells Medea to come with him and marry him when they get back to Greece, and she agrees. • Medea lulls the snake that guards the Fleece by singing to it, and Jason gets the Fleece, and they run back to the ship. • Aspyrtus, Medea’s brother, pursued them, but Medea killed him.

Return Home Cont. (176) • They had to go through the whirlpool of Charybdis but sea nymphs sent by Hera helped them get through. • They went to Crete and Medea told them how to defeat Talus, then they made it back to Greece. • Pelias made Jason’s parents die, so Medea told Jason how to kill Pelias. • Medea had two sons with Jason, but Jason eventually married the Princess of Corinth (N.B. Medea is from Colchis, not Corinth). Medea was really mad and she killed Jason’s new wife. • She saw her sons wouldn’t be safe in the world so she killed them too. Jason last saw her flying away in a chariot pulled by dragons.

Motifs and Themes • FEAR on page 171: “Her heart was tormented with fear for him.” and on page 177: “…Medea let fall words which made the King of Corinth fear she would do harm to his daughter…”. • LOVE on page 172: “...and the sun seemed sweeter than ever before.” “…she determined to use her power for the man she loved.”

Motifs and Themes (Cont.) • SACRIFICE on page 173: “She would have given her soul to him if he had asked her.” • WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND: Jason promised to marry Medea but he breaks that promise when “he engaged himself to marry the daughter of the King of Corinth” (177). Jason gets his due when Medea kills the Princess (180).

Supernatural Intervention • “Hera was helping Jason, and it was she who kindled in each one [of the heroes] the desire not to be left behind” (164). • “…they urged the prince to go back and try to win Medea over, not knowing that the God of Love had already done that” (171). • “They would assuredly have cut them [the Harpies] to pieces if Iris…had not checked them” (167). • Medea “knew how to work very powerful magic” (169) and is a witch. She uses that magic to help Jason complete King Aetes’ task and to help the Argonauts escape.

Archetypes • RED and WHITE on page 170: “It burned there like a flame and her soul melted with sweet pain, and her face went now white, now red.” • SUN on page 172: “…and the sun seemed sweeter than ever before.” • SEA on page 174: “The strongest were put at the oars and they rowed with all their might down the river to the sea.” • SERPENT on page 174: “A terrible serpent guarded the Fleece, but she would lull it to sleep so that it would do them no harm.” • ISLAND on page 164: “Lemnos, a strange island where only women lived.” • JOURNEY on page 178: “…and she would see that she had plenty of gold and everything necessary for her journey.” • FIRE on page 180: “But no sooner had she put it on than a fearful, devouring fire enveloped her. She dropped dead; her very flesh had melted away.” • TREE on page 172: “The two stood face to face without a word, as lofty pine trees when the wind is still.”

Jason and the Quest of the Golden Fleece