The Quest of the Golden Fleece Summary

Hamiltons account of the Golden Fleece comes

from Apollonius of Rhodes, a Greek poet from
about 300 b.c. Athamas, a king, gets tired of
his first wife, Nephele, and marries a second,
Ino. Ino wants Nepheles son, Phrixus, out of
the way so her own son can inherit the throne.
Hermes sends a flying golden ram to rescue
Phrixus and his sister, Helle, who falls off the
ram and dies. Phrixus safely reaches the land
of Colchis, where he sacrifices the ram to Zeus
and gives its skinthe Golden Fleeceto
Colchiss king, Aetes.
Meanwhile, a man named Pelias has usurped
the throne of Phrixuss uncle, a Greek king.
Jason, the deposed kings son, grows up and
returns to reclaim the throne. En route to
Peliass kingdom, Jason loses a sandal. Pelias is
afraid when he sees Jason approach, as an
oracle has told him that he will be overthrown
by a stranger wearing only one sandal. The
wicked Pelias pretends to acquiesce but says
that the gods have told him that the Golden
Fleece must be retrieved for the kingdom first.
This is a liePelias assumes that anyone sent
on that dangerous journey will never come
back. Jason, intrigued by the challenge,
assembles a remarkable group of heroes to
help him, including Hercules, Theseus, Peleus,
and Orpheus. Their ship is named the Argo, so
the group is called the Argonauts.
The Argonauts face many challenges on the
way to Colchis. They first meet the fierce
women of Lemnos, who have killed their men,
but find them atypically kind. Hercules leaves
the crew, and the Argonauts meet an oracle,
Phineus. The sons of Boreas, the North Wind,
help Phineus by driving off some terrible
Harpies who foul his food whenever he tries to
eat. Phineus gives the Argonauts information
that helps them pass safely through their next
challengethe Symplegades, gigantic rocks
that smash together when a ship sail through
them. After narrowly avoiding conflict with the
Amazons, bloody women warriors, and passing
by the chained Prometheus, the Argonauts
finally arrive at Colchis.

Though more trials await here, Hera and

Aphrodite help Jason. Like Pelias, Aetes
pretends to want to give Jason the Fleece but
first demands that he complete two tasks that
are designed to kill him. Aphrodite sends Cupid
to make Aetess daughter, a witch named
Medea, fall in love with Jason and help him
through the tasks. The first challenge is to yoke
two fierce magical bulls with hooves of bronze
and breath of fire, and Medea gives Jason an
ointment that makes him invincible. The
second task is to use the bulls to plow a field
and sow it with dragons teeth, which causes
armed men to spring up from the earth and
attack Jason. Medea tells him that if he throws
a rock in the middle of the armed men, they
will attack each other, not him. After Jasons
success, Aetes plots to kill the Argonauts at
night, but Medea again intercedes, warning
Jason and enabling him to steal the Fleece by
putting its guardian serpent to sleep. Medea
joins the Argonauts and flees back to Greece.
On the way home, she commits the ultimate
act of love for Jason: to help evade the ships
pursuers, she kills her own brother, Apsyrtus.
On the way home, the Argonauts pass more
challenges, including safely navigating Scylla,
the dreaded rock; Charybdis, the whirlpool; and
Talus, the giant bronze man. Upon returning,
Jason finds that Pelias has killed his father and
that his mother has died of sadness. Jason and
Medea plot revengeMedea convinces Peliass
daughters that they will restore Pelias to youth
if they kill him, chop him up, and put the pieces
into her magic pot. Out of love for their father,
they slice him to bits, but Medea leaves the
city, taking her magic pot with her after first
restoring Jasons father to life.
Medea and Jason have two children, but Jason
leaves out of personal ambition to marry the
daughter of the king of Corinth, who banishes
Medea and her children. Infuriated by the
unsympathetic Jason, Medea enacts a terrible
revenge, sending her two sons with a beautiful
magic robe as a gift for Jasons new bride.
When the girl dons the robe, it bursts into
flame, consuming her and the king as he
rushes to her. Medea then kills the two sons
she had with Jason and flies away on a magic

chariot. This tragic final chapter in the story of

Jason and Medea is the subject of Euripides
play,Medea.

let him marry one of King etes' daughters. It

was at this time that Phrixus sacrificed the ram
that had saved him to Zeus and he gave the
golden fleece to King etes, who was the
Colchian king.

Summary of The Quest of the Golden Fleece

Phrixus had a cousin by the name of Pelias and

he was the one who killed his own father to
gain control of a kingdom in Greece. However,
the king had a young son who was the rightful
heir to the kingdom, and this man was Jason.
Jason had been sent away to a safe place
where he could grow into a bold man who
would take away the kingdom from his wicked
cousin, Pelias.

This is the title of a poem by Apollonius of

Rhodes who lived in the third-century AD. The
poem deals with a Greek king, Athamas and his
two wives. His first wife, Nephele was afraid of
her two children (especially Phrixus, one of the
two children) being killed by Ino, the soon-tobe second wife. Nephele, herself, was killed by
the king, and Athamas subsequently married
his second wife, Princess Ino. She came from a
great family; Ino was the daughter of King
Thebes. Ino had an urge to kill Phrixus, the boy,
so that her children (presumably from an
earlier marriage) would inherit the Athamas'
kingdom. Princess Ino had thought up an
elaborate plan to do away with Prince Phrixus.
To accomplish this plan, Princess Ino had to
gather all of the corn seed on Athamas' farm
and then parch the seeds so that the crop
would
not
grow,
a
task
which
she
accomplished. When the king became aware of
the crop not growing, he sent a messenger to
an oracle to ask what he should do. Princess
Ino intercepted the messenger and persuaded,
most likely through bribery, to say to the king
that the crop would not grow unless the king
offered up Prince Phrixus as a sacrifice.
The people of the region in Greece, who feared
starvation, convinced King Athamas to permit
the death of Phrixus. At the time of the death
of Phrixus and his sister, who was included in
this sacrifice, each were taken to the altar.
Then, a ram with a fleece of pure gold, took the
two and threw them into the air. Hermes had
sent him and his sister in answer to their
mother's prayers.
The ram, Prince Phrixus and his sister, Helle,
travelled across Europe and into Asia. When
they entered Asia, Helle fell into a body of
water and as a result, drowned. However,
Phrixus and the ram safely arrived in the
country of Colchis on the Black Sea. The
Colchians were kind to Phrixus and they even

Pelias was told by an oracle that he would be

killed by a kinsmen one day who would be
wearing only one sandal. Such a man did come
to the town in time and he did wear just one
sandal. Pelias became afraid. For it was Jason
who was the one who only shod one sandal.
Jason told Pelias that he came to recover the
kingdom that was rightfully his and that the
kingdom should be ruled rightly, without evil.
Pelias agreed to hand over the kingdom, but
under one condition: The condition was that
the dead Phrixus wanted the Golden Fleece
returned from King etes, which would bring
the spirit of Phrixus back to his home. Pelias
asked that Jason go on the journey as opposed
to himself, for he was old and Jason was young
and strong. So Pelias promised to give up the
kingdom on the return of Jason with the Golden
Fleece.
Jason
agreed
and
organized Hercules,Orpheus, Castor, Pollux, Ac
hilles' father, Peleus and many more. This
group of men were subsequently known as the
Argonauts. Hera was also with Jason, to remind
him not to leave behind a dying life.
Jason and the Argonauts (which was named
after their ship, the Argo) first sailed to
Lemnos, an island where only women lived.
Only one man, the king, was left on the island.
Although the women had risen up against the
men on the island by killing them, they gladly
helped the Argonauts with gifts of food and
wine.
The Argonauts travelled to where the Harpies
lived. The Harpies were flying creatures with

hooked beaks and claws who left an awful

odour whenever they go. The Argonauts met
an old man with the power of prophecy who
had a problem. Every time Phineus, the
prophet, came to eat, the Harpies would come
and take the food, leaving nothing left. He was
left withered and weak from the lack of food.
The Argonauts decided that they would help fix
this problem. Two men from the Argonauts who
were sons of Boreas (the great North Wind)
helped because the prophet knew that only two
men were needed to defeat the Harpies (this
was because Phineus was a prophet). The two
brothers took their position while the old man
started to eat. Sure enough, the Harpies
attempted to snatch the food away from the
prophet. However, the sons of Boreas followed
the Harpies, who had already taken the food
from Phineus. They took their swords and hit
the Harpies. However, they wanted to kill the
flying monsters. But they remembered that
these beasts were the act of Zeus and that
they should not kill them. The old man thanked
the Argonauts for their help and offered some
advice for navigating through the Clashing
Rocks, the next encounter on their journey. He
said that to navigate through them safely, one
should send a dove through first. If the dove
survived and wasn't crushed by the rocks, the
ship would survive. If the dove died, then the
ship would not survive.
The next morning the Argonaut sailed off with a
dove to the Clashing Rocks. They set the dove
free and the dove made it through with the
exception of the bird's tail feathers, which were
cut off by the rolling rocks. Next, the ship went
through, and, like what the prophet said, the
ship survived and passed through safely, but
part of the stern of the ship was cut off, like the
tail feathers of the bird.
The Argonauts quickly sailed on and they
passed by the country of the Amazons,
because they knew that the Amazons were not
gentle foes. They continued on, travelling all
day. Finally, at sunset, they arrived in Colchis,
home of the Golden Fleece.
On Mount
Olympus, Hera went
to
seek Aphrodite's help. Since Hera had been
overseeing the adventure, she knew that there

was danger involved and discussed the matter

with Aphrodite. To help the Argonauts,
Aphrodite told Hera that she would send Cupid,
Aphrodite's son, to the Colchis and would make
the daughter of the Colchian king fall in love
with Jason. Medea was the daughter of King
etes. But Medea was a powerful magician
and she could save the Argonauts if they ever
were in trouble.
While this was going on, the Argonauts made
their way to the city to ask the king for the
Golden Fleece. Hera wrapped the Argonauts in
a mist so they wouldn't be seen until they
arrived at the palace. King etes welcomed
them to Colchis and was hospitable to them.
Princess Medea also made her way into the
palace to see what these visitors, who had
entered the palace, were doing. As Princess
Medea lay eyes upon Jason, Cupid, who was
sent by Aphrodite to make the two fall in love,
drew his bow and shot an arrow into the heart
of Medea. Amazed by the sight of Jason, she
quickly returned to her chambers.
King etes gave the Argonauts something to
eat, making sure to take care of the needs of
the guest. It was only after this that King etes
decided to ask what the men were doing in
Colchis. They responded by saying that they
were seeking the Golden Fleece in hopes to
return it back to Greece. King etes was
angered now for he did not like foreigners and
he did not like the reason why they came to
Colchis. He did not like the idea of the Golden
Fleece leaving Colchis, but he said that if Jason
proved his courage, Jason must do what the
king himself has already done. He said that
Jason must harness two flame-breathing bulls
whose feet were made of bronze and to plow a
field with them. As well, he must take the teeth
of a dragon and grow them as if they were corn
seeds. A crop of armed men would grow and he
must fight this crop of armed men. The king
said that he must do this if he wants the
Golden Fleece returned. It was an impossible
task but Jason accepted the challenge.
Jason thought of Medea, who would be able to
help him complete this challenge. If she could
invoke a magic spell to help him, he could
defeat the bulls and the dragon-teethed men.

Both agreed to this plan and Medea gave Jason

a charm that when it was sprinkled over his
weapons, he and his weapons would become
invincible for a day. As well, he was given a
stone that if too many men attacked him, he
could throw the stone at the enemy. This would
make the enemy turn on one another and fight
each other.
Later on, Jason made his way to the field where
the king and the other Colchians were. Soon
enough, the bulls started to attack Jason, but
Jason had the charm with him and he resisted
the attack like a rock to the waves. After he
defeated the bulls, many men rushed to attack
him. Jason used the charm once again to make
the warriors turn on each other and fight. Like
Medea said, the warriors did so, and Jason's
challenge was fulfilled.
The king returned to the palace, now thinking
that he won't give the Golden Fleece.
Meanwhile, Medea met the Argonauts and
asked if she could join them on their journeys.
She also told them to quickly get the Golden
Fleece from a serpent which was guarding the
sacred wool. Again, Medea worked her magic
by lulling the serpent to sleep. The Argonauts
grabbed the fleece and quickly retreated from
where the serpent was lying.
By now, the king had found out what the
Argonauts had done. So, King etes sent in
son, Asyrtus, in pursuit of the Argonauts. He
led an army much larger than that of the
Argonauts. However, to even the odds, Medea
killed her brother, Asyrtus. There were many
stories as to how he died. The two that seem to
be the most sensible were either the incident
where Medea invited her brother to talk and
while doing so, Jason would kill him by striking
him down. The alternative was that Asyrtus
came aboard the Argo (for reasons unknown).
While on board, Medea killed him by cutting
him up into pieces. King etes, in this case,
would be commanding the ship that was
trailing the Argo. Medea would then dump the
mutilated body of her brother into the sea. The
king then stopped the pursuit to pick up the
pieces from the ocean. However, it is not
known what exactly happened to the death of

Asyrtus. In any case, the Argonauts had

escaped.
On the return trip, they had to pass through the
rock of Scylla and the whirlpool of Charybdis,
most
dangerous
natural
occurrences,
however, Hera guided the Argonauts to safety.
Another incident occurred when they sailed to
Crete. They landed there, by the request of
Medea, for she knew a man by the name of
Talus. He was the last man left of the ancient
bronze race. He was a creature made all of
bronze except for one ankle - this was the only
point where he was vulnerable. However, he
was not a kind man because he threatened to
crush the Argo if the Argonauts approached.
Medea sensed this and made Talus crape his
vulnerable ankle and he bled to death.
When the Argo reached Greece, the Argonauts
disbanded leaving Jason and Medea taking the
Golden Fleece to Pelias. When they arrived,
Jason and Medea found that Pelias had forced
Jason's father to kill himself and his mother had
died of grief. Jason asked Medea for ways to
punish Pelias. They accomplished this by
convincing Pelias that there was a way to make
the old young again. To prove this, they took an
old ram and sacrificed it. Medea used one of
her charms and turned the old ram, that was
now in boiling water, into a young lamb. So, to
make Pelias young again, Medea convinced
Pelias' daughters to cut Pelias up. However,
when this was complete, both Jason and Medea
had vanished, leaving Pelias killed by his own
daughters. If there was one benefit from this, it
was that Jason had his revenge now.
It has also been said that Medea offered Jason
to make Jason's father young again, and this
might have happened. By doing this, she gave
Jason the secret to perpetual youth.
Jason and Medea moved to Corinth where they
had two sons. Medea missed her family in
Colchis but her love for Jason seemed to be
more important. All this for a man who would
eventually betray her. The first example of this
occurred when Jason married the daughter of
the King of Corinth. As a result of the King of
Corinth fearing the powers of Medea, the King
ordered Medea and her two helpless children

out of the country. While alone one day, Medea

thought of Jason, and suddenly, Jason himself
appeared. She said nothing but Jason said that
if it wasn't for Medea's comments to the king
about her powers, she could have still lived in
Corinth. He had come to Medea now because
he was not a man to fail a friend, and he would
see that she had plenty of gold and everything
necessary for her journey. However, Medea was
very angry. Through her words, she explained
that it was she that was the one who obtained
the Golden Fleece by conquering the bulls, the
dragon-men and the serpent warder of the
Fleece. Jason retorted by saying that he had
not been save by her but by Aphrodite who had
made Medea fall in love with him. He also said
that she owed him a great deal for moving her
to Greece, a "civilized country". Medea, who
was an intelligent woman, knew that he was
being stubborn and said nothing more. Medea
wanted revenge. So, she decided that she
would kill Jason's bride. She decided that she
would take a robe and anointed it with deadly
drugs. She then placed it into a casket and told
her sons to deliver it to the new bride. To
ensure that she would die, she would have to
wear it at once. The princess received this gift
and wore it at once. No sooner had she put it
on when a fire devoured her, melting her flesh
away. She had died.
When Medea knew that the deed was done,
she turned her mind to one more dreadful task.
This task was far more dreadful, for she was
going to kill her own two sons. She did so, but
not without feeling sorrow for what she had
done. But when Jason realized Medea had killed
her bride, he was determined to kill Medea. But

when he arrived at Medea's house, she had

already left in a chariot that was drawn by
dragons. As this occurred, Jason cursed her,
but not himself, for what had happened.