THE QUEST OF THE GOLDEN

FLEECE
The tale of the Golden
fleece begins with a Greek
King named: Athamas, who
gets tired of his wife
Nephele and put her in jail.
He then married Princess
Ino, the daughter of Cadmus
and Harmonia.
 Nephele prays that Ino will not
kill her two children especially
the boy, Phrixus.
In order to make Ino’s own children
inherit the kingdom. Ino does attempt
this murder, however. She secretly
gathers seed-corn and parches the
seed so that no crops will grow.
 Then, when Athamas asks for word from an
oracle about how to end the famine, Ino
bribes a messenger to say that the only way
to bring back the crops is to sacrifice his
son, Phrixus.

Athamas and Ino bring the boy to the

sacrificial altar, but before the
murder, a wondrous ram with a
golden fleece takes the boy and his
sister and runs away. The ram, sent
by Hermes, is an answer to
Nephele’s prayers.
The ram carries the children across the
water from Europe to Asia, and on the way,
the girl slips off and drowns. Phrixus arrives
safely in the country of Colchis, where he
sacrifices the ram and gives it to King
Aeetes.
Meanwhile, in another part of Greece, a king
named Pelias has stolen the crown from his
brother.

An oracle tells him that he

will die at the hands of a
kinsman and that he should
be wary of a man wearing
only one sandal.
One day, a man wearing one sandal comes to town. This
is Jason, the king's nephew, come to claim his rightful
place as king. Pelias tells Jason that he would give up the
throne if Jason would go out and retrieve the golden fleece.

Jason and the Argonauts

sets off and overcomes
many obstacles and
adventures on the way to
Colchis. Finally, with the
help of Hera, he reaches
King Aeetes.
Hera and Aphrodite arrange for Cupid to make King
Aeetes daughter, Medea, fall in love with Jason.

Jason asks Aeetes for the fleece, but Aeetes

says Jason must plow a field of dragon's
teeth, which will spring up into a crop of
armed men who must be cut down as they
advance and attack. Jason agrees, though he
believes the task will result in his death.
Thanks to Cupid's bow, Medea
gives Jason a magical potion
that gives give him
invincibility for one day. She
also tells him to throw a rock
into the middle of the army
because it will lead the armed
men to kill each other.
The next day, Jason
proved victory. But King
Aeetes will not give him
the fleece and he plans
to kill Jason. Medea
helps him again. She
leads him to the fleece,
charms the serpent
guarding it, and flees
with Jason back home.
On the journey home,
Medea kills her
brother in the idea
that she is protecting
Jason. This is the
first sign of her
madness.
When they return to Greece, she arranges
for King Pelias to be killed by his own
daughters, which fulfills the oracle.

Later, Jason marries

another woman, and
Medea becomes so
angry that she kills both
the bride and her own
two sons fathered by
Jason.