Discover with us Jason, one of the most famous mythological heroes. We explain his origins, battles and most famous stories.
Who was Jason?
Jason, the hero of one of the most famous Greek myths known as “Jason and the Golden Fleece” or “Jason and the Argonauts”, was the son of Aeson, king of Lolco, in Thessaly Greece, and Queen Alcimede.
Jason, in Greek mythology was the leader of the Argonauts and son of Aeson, king of Lolcos in Thessaly. His father’s half-brother, Peleus, seized Lolcos, and so, for safety, Jason was sent to the Centaur Chiron. Returning as a young man, Jason was promised his inheritance if he could obtain the Golden Fleece for Peleus, a seemingly impossible task.
After many adventures, Jason extracted the fleece with the help of the sorceress Medea, whom he married. On his return Medea murdered Peleus, but she and Jason were expelled by Peleus’ son and had to take refuge with King Creon of Corinth. Jason later abandoned Medea for Creon’s daughter; this desertion and its consequences formed the theme of Euripides’ Medea.
History of Jason
There are many heroes, enemies and gods in Greek mythology. Some of the most recognizable names are Zeus and Hera. Of course, there is also Hades, the god in charge of the underworld. Perhaps one of the most famous figures in Greek mythology is Hercules (or Heracles as he was known to the Greeks), but there are more stories to tell like that of Jason.
Jason’s story is one with many twists and turns, and spans decades. You could say that his story begins at birth, but the truth is that Jason’s journey was actually part of Hera’s plan to seek revenge against his uncle.
Jason’s early life
The rightful prince, Jason was born in the midst of an inter-family war for the throne of Lolco. After being raised by the Centaur Chiron, Jason returned to his hometown to claim the throne, but was instead tasked with the chilling mission of collecting the Golden Fleece.
Myths of Jason
An unconventional hero, Jason was the leader of the Argonautic Expedition in the quest to recover the Golden Fleece. The son of Aeson and Alcimede, he was supposed to succeed his father on the throne of Lolco, but the position was usurped by his half-uncle Peleus. Fearing for his life because of an ancient prophecy, Peleus wanted Jason as far away from Lolco as possible, so he ordered him to do the seemingly impossible and collect the Golden Fleece from King Eetes of Colchis.
Jason had a ship built and assembled a fleet made up of the greatest heroes of his time; after a grueling expedition beset by giants and monsters, the Argonauts successfully retrieved the Golden Fleece and brought it back to Iolcus.
However, unusually for a hero of his stature, Jason received a lot of help along the way, not only from a goddess (Hera, who wanted to punish Peleus for not honoring her), but also from the members of his crew and, especially, from King Aetes’ daughter Medea, who fell in love with him and left everything behind to be with him.
Yet, a few years after the expedition, Jason abandoned her for the princess of Corinth, Creusa; unable to bear the betrayal, Medea murdered both Creusa and her two sons at the hands of Jason.
Jason returns to Iolcus
As an adult, Jason returned to Iolcus to attend some games organized by Peleus in honor of the god Poseidon; during his journey, he lost one of his sandals in the Anavros River while helping a disguised Hera cross. Hera who hated Peleus for not honoring her; secretly blessed Jason at that moment, instantly turning him into an instrument with which she planned to bring Peleus’ death in the future. Jason appeared in front of Peleus and presented himself as the rightful heir of Aeson.
Recognizing the danger, Peleus asked Jason what he would have done if he had met the man destined to bring about his death; perhaps inspired by Hera – who, like Zeus with Heracles, wanted to increase Jason’s glory – Jason replied that he would send the man to fetch the Golden Fleece. And so, Peleus did exactly that: he gave Jason the quest to bring the Golden Fleece to Lolco, promising him that, once Jason did that, he would relinquish the throne.
Jason and the Argonauts
Gladly accepting the mission to bring the Golden Fleece of Colchis to Iolcus, Jason had a ship built and assembled a group of heroes, collectively called the Argonauts, after the name of the ship, Argo. In the course of their journey, Jason and the Argonauts encountered many adventures and dangers and overcame them all.
The Island of Lemnos
After the Argonauts set sail, they arrived first at the island of Lemnos. Ruled by Hypsipyle, at the time of the Argonauts’ arrival, the island was inhabited only by women, as some time before they had killed all their husbands for despising them because of their stench (a curse of Aphrodite) and for taking in their Thracian concubines. The Argonauts stayed for a while on Lemnos, sleeping with the women of the island and creating a new race, called Minyans. Jason himself fathered at least one son with none other than Hypsipyle, Euneus.
The Gegeenes
After Lemnos, the Argonauts went to the land of the Doliones, where they were warmly welcomed by their king Cyzicus. While most of the Argonauts were searching for supplies beyond nearby Bear Mountain, their ship was attacked by the Gegeenes, “the Earthborn,” a race of six-armed giants who happened to inhabit the same island.
Heracles, a member of the Argonauts’ crew, managed to kill many of them before the rest of the Argonauts came and pushed the giants back. At night, the Argo set sail again, but, unfortunately, was driven back to the island, where the Doliones, thinking they had been attacked by pirates, assaulted the ship; in the ensuing battle, many Doliones were killed, including Cyzicus himself who was killed by Jason.
The next day, when the morning light revealed the tragic mistake, the repentant Argonauts held a funeral for the slain king; his wife, Cleite, however, could not bear the scene and hanged herself from grief.
Phineus and the Harpies
The Argonauts’ next stop was Salmydessus in Thrace, where they encountered the blind king Phineus, nearly starving, a victim of the harpies, ruthless monsters sent by Zeus to steal his food daily. Jason took pity on Phineus and ordered his crew to help the king; after luring the harpies with a lavish feast, the Borealis (Calais and Zetes) chased the harpies away for good. Fino, grateful for Jason’s help, revealed to the Argonauts the location of Colchis, as well as the method by which they can pass through the Symphalgades, the Shock Rocks.
The Simplexes
The Simplejades were huge rock cliffs that moved and crushed everything that passed between them. Phineus told Jason to release a pigeon to see if it would make it through, a harbinger of what would happen to the ship. The pigeon passed successfully, losing only a few tail feathers; therefore, when the Argo passed through the rocks, only minor damage was caused to the ship’s stern.
In Colchis: Tasks of Aeetes
Jason and the Argonauts finally arrived at Colchis, where they were greeted by King Aeetes. The Golden Fleece was in the king’s possession, given by Phrixus when he arrived there on a flying golden ram years before. Aeetes said he would give the fleece to Jason if he would perform some (seemingly impossible) tasks in the course of a single day. Upon learning of them, Jason was left in complete despair.
Fortunately for him, his guardian goddess Hera convinced Aphrodite to bribe Eros to shoot one of his arrows at Medea, the daughter of Aeetes, and to fall in love with Jason. And Medea was not just anyone: besides being a princess, she was also a priestess of Hecate well versed in the arts of magic and sorcery.
Tasks
Jason’s first task was to plow a field from end to end using the Khalkotauroi, two fire-breathing bronze bulls; prompted by his sister and Jason’s promise to marry her once the expedition was over, Medea gave Jason an ointment that protected him from the fire and made him virtually invulnerable. With the help of the salve, Jason successfully united the bulls and was able to plow the field in a short time.
Jason’s second task was to sow dragon’s teeth in the plowed field; although it was a seemingly easy task, its completion resulted in an army of stone warriors emerging from the earth. Prepared by Medea and following her advice, Jason threw a rock into the midst of the mighty warriors. Not knowing who had thrown it, the warriors turned on each other and, by sunset, Jason was the only one left alive in the camp.
Still, Aeetes did not want to give up the Golden Fleece just yet. Instead, he conspired with the leaders of Colchis to kill Jason and the Argonauts during the night. Fearing such a thing, Medea fled from her father and joined the Argonauts, leading Jason to a sacred oak tree where the Golden Fleece hung, guarded by a sleepless dragon. Using her drugs and spells, Medea caused the dragon to fall asleep, long enough for Jason to take the golden fleece and bring it back to the Argo.
Jason and Medea
Fully committed to this hero, Medea not only helped him extinguish Talos, the giant bronze man, but also personally killed her own brother. Yet Jason betrayed her and married another woman. Medea’s revenge was tragic and gruesome.
The murder of Aeetes
After recovering the Golden Fleece, Jason, Medea and the Argonauts left Colchis. Aeetes tried to follow them, but Medea killed her brother Apsyrtus and threw his pieces into the sea, causing Aeetes to stop and retrieve them. Zeus, angered by Medea’s terrible act of killing her brother, caused a series of storms on the Argonauts’ way home. To redeem themselves, this hero and Medea had to stop on the island of Aeaea, where the nymph Circe, sister of Aeetes, purified them of the sin, without knowing its gravity or type. And so the Argonauts sailed on.
The mermaids and the talos
On their return journey to Iolcus, the Argonauts faced and encountered many dangers, two of which especially stand out.
First, they encountered the sirens famous for causing ships to crash into reefs as a result of their captivating voices that tended to mesmerize sailors and crews. The Argo was different, however, as it had Orpheus on board. The mythical poet played the lyre so beautifully and loudly that he completely drowned out the voices of the sirens and helped the Argonauts pass by these strangely seductive monsters.
Near Crete, the Argonauts encountered an even greater danger: Talos, a giant bronze man, who guarded the island and threw stones at anyone who approached. Medea cast a spell on him and managed to remove the plug that held Talos’ ichor (the divine blood) in his one vein. Therefore, he quickly bled to death.
Aeson and Pelias
The Argonauts finally succeeded in returning home. Since many years had passed, Jason found his father Aeson at a very advanced age, and, disturbed by the sight, asked Medea to transfer part of his life to his father. Instead, Medea slit Aeson’s throat and drew all his old blood, subsequently filling his ancient veins with a rich elixir. Aeson awoke forty years younger “with all the vigor of bright youth, no longer thin and pale.”
Peleus’ daughters, moved by the as yet unavenged Hera, asked Medea to do the same for their father; Medea tricked them into repeating the ritual, but this time she made sure there would be no resurrection. Thus Peleus met his end at the hands of his daughters; his son, Actaeus, became king and, naturally, exiled Jason and Medea from the island.
Jason’s infidelity and Medea’s vengeance
The couple went to Corinth, where Jason fell in love with King Creon’s daughter, Creusa (sometimes called Glauce). Medea, enraged, confronted Jason, but he decided to ignore her. As revenge, Medea killed Creusa by giving her a crown and a poisoned dress whose effects are strongly reminiscent of the shirt of Nessus: “When Glauce put on the dress, she was consumed by the fierce fire along with her father, who came to her rescue.”
Medea then killed Mermerus and Pheres, the two sons she had with Jason, either out of fear that he would kill them in retaliation or because she wanted to inflict the greatest pain imaginable on him. After doing this heinous deed, Medea abandoned Jason, flying to Athens in a serpent-drawn chariot sent by her grandfather, the sun god Helios.
The death of Jason
Some say that Jason committed suicide in despair shortly thereafter. Others are more merciful and claim that, years later, with the help of his friend Peleus, the hero succeeded in reclaiming the throne of Lolco. However, even in the latter case having lost Hera’s favor after breaking his vows to Medea; Jason seems to have cut a lonely and forlorn figure, only a shadow of the influential captain he had once been. Moreover, though he became king, Jason died an unworthy hero: one night, as he slept beneath the stern of his once glorious ship Argo, a rotten beam fell to the ground and crushed him into oblivion.
Sources
The voyage of Jason and the Argonauts serves as the basis for the only surviving Hellenistic epic, “The Argonautica”. The same story with some variations is also covered at a respectable length in Ovid‘s seventh book “Metamorphoses” and in Diodorus Siculus’ “Library of History”. As always, there is a good summary in Apollodorus’ “Library”.
Facts about Jason
- Abandoned at birth
- Father was imprisoned by his brother, Peleus.
- Pelias dethroned Jason’s father
- Trained with Chiro the Centurion
- Favorite of Hera, Queen of Olympus
- He was part of the Argonauts, together with Heracles (Hercules)
- In charge of the recovery of the Golden Fleece
- Tamed fire-breathing onex called Khalkotauroi
- Tricked the stone warriors into killing each other.
- Recovered the golden fleece by putting a dragon to sleep.
