A complex myth of ancient Greece is the story of Jason and his crew of heroes, the Argonauts, and their quest for the Golden Fleece. The heroes were called Argonauts because they sailed on the ship Argos.
Jason was the prince of the city of Iolcus. His uncle, Pelias, murdered his father, and seized the throne. To protect him, his mother hid him with a wise centaur. After some time, when Jason returned home, his uncle wanted to kill him. However, it was a special feast day, when the laws of hospitality were required. Still determined to get rid of Jason, the uncle told him that Jason could have the throne if he brought back the Golden Fleece from the island of Colchis, where a dragon that never slept guarded it.
With his ship Argos, Jason gathered 50 heroes to sail with him on his quest. Along the way, they shared many adventures, all recounted in the myth. In Colchis, the king agreed to allow Jason to take the Golden Fleece, if he completed certain tasks. The daughter of the king, Medea, fell in love with Jason. She was a sorceress, who gave him magical ointments that helped him complete the tasks. After Jason succeeded in capturing the Golden Fleece, Medea sailed away with him in the Argos, which took them back to Iolcus.
In Iolcus, Pelias refused to keep his word to step down from the throne. Medea worked her sorcery so that the daughters of Pelias killed him. The people of Iolcus were so angry at the death of Pelias that they forced Jason and Medea to flee the city, which led to their own sad story.
English word: argonaut describes the gold hunters of the California gold rush of 1849, and the Alaska gold rush of the 1890s. Oddly enough, argosy, a large ship, or a large fleet of merchant vessels, is generally thought not to derive from Argos, but from Ragusa, an ancient port city.
Jason was the prince of the city of Iolcus. His uncle, Pelias, murdered his father, and seized the throne. To protect him, his mother hid him with a wise centaur. After some time, when Jason returned home, his uncle wanted to kill him. However, it was a special feast day, when the laws of hospitality were required. Still determined to get rid of Jason, the uncle told him that Jason could have the throne if he brought back the Golden Fleece from the island of Colchis, where a dragon that never slept guarded it.
With his ship Argos, Jason gathered 50 heroes to sail with him on his quest. Along the way, they shared many adventures, all recounted in the myth. In Colchis, the king agreed to allow Jason to take the Golden Fleece, if he completed certain tasks. The daughter of the king, Medea, fell in love with Jason. She was a sorceress, who gave him magical ointments that helped him complete the tasks. After Jason succeeded in capturing the Golden Fleece, Medea sailed away with him in the Argos, which took them back to Iolcus.
In Iolcus, Pelias refused to keep his word to step down from the throne. Medea worked her sorcery so that the daughters of Pelias killed him. The people of Iolcus were so angry at the death of Pelias that they forced Jason and Medea to flee the city, which led to their own sad story.
English word: argonaut describes the gold hunters of the California gold rush of 1849, and the Alaska gold rush of the 1890s. Oddly enough, argosy, a large ship, or a large fleet of merchant vessels, is generally thought not to derive from Argos, but from Ragusa, an ancient port city.
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