The adventures of Jason and the Argonauts
Long, long ago, there lived in Iolcus, Greece, a king named Aeson. He had a stepbrother called Pelius who was very jealous of him. Pelius, with great cunning, put his brother in prison and took over his kingdom.
Aeson had a son named Jason. Even before Jason was born , his mother Alcimede realised that if Pelias came to hear of the baby's birth, he would have him killed at once. So Alcimede pretended that her child had died and mourned so loudly and long that Pelius did not suspect that the baby was actually alive and well. Alcimede took Jason away secretly and gave him to Chiron, the Centaur, asking him to bring up the child in the forest where he lived and to take charge of his education .
A Centaur is a supernatural creature who is almost a god, with the head of a man and the body of a horse. Chiron, the wisest of the centaurs, was a teacher to many of the princes of Greece.
Jason learnt all about forests, trees, birds and beasts from Chiron. Under his care, Jason grew up to be strong and fearless, able to wrestle and run and hunt with the use of different weapons and all the other arts that a prince should learn.
Although his brother was safely locked up in prison, pelius was still anxious about his own future. He consulted an Oracle and was told that he would meet his death at the hands of a relative - someone who would be wearing only one sandal on feet when Pelius first met him .
In the meantime, Jason, now a young man, decided it was time to return to his father's kingdom and claim his rights. He was, after all, the heir to the throne! So one morning he set off through the woods, with a panther - skin thrown across one shoulder and a hunting spear in his hand.
Hera, the wife of zeus, was angry with Pelius because he had once held a great feast to honour the gods but had deliberately left Hera out- the only God to be thus ignored. Hera wanted to punish him for having insulted her and realised that Jason could do it for her. But was he brave enough for such a deed? Hera decided to test him.
On his way to Iolcus, Jason had to cross a fast-flowing river which was in flood. On the bank sat a bent old woman looking despairingly at the rushing waters. "Will you carry me over the torrent ?" she asked. " I am weak and old, fair youth. Please take me across ," she begged .
"I will , unless we both drown midway ," Jason agreed, smiling. The old woman leaped onto his back, as nimble as a goat, and he waded into the angry stream, carrying her on his shoulders. With each step that he took, the old woman grew heavier and heavier and puffed and struggled to stop himself from being swept away.
At last, he managed to take the old woman safely across and put her down gently on the other side. She thanked him and blessed him for his help. Jason did not realise that it was the goddess Hera in disguise who had come to test him.
He walked on towards Iolus, not realising that one of his sandals had been carried away by the stream.
Jason strode up to his uncle's court and demanded to see him.
The king grew pale when he saw the handsome young man standing before him, with a sandal on only one foot. He was sure that this was the relative that the Oracle had warned him about.
"I am Jason, your brother's son," said the young man looking at him keenly, "I have come to claim my father's throne which rightfully belong to me."
"Very well, " replied pelius, "You shall have your kingdom. But before that, you have a task to perform. You must bring the Golden Fleece, which is our national treasure , back to Greece."
"It shall be done ," replied Jason at once , fired by the spirit of adventure.
"It's no easy task," Pelius warned. "The Golden Fleece hangs on a tree and is guarded night and day by a ferocious dragon. I am too old to undertake such a journey myself, but I am sure that a brave young man like you will succeed in bringing it back to Greece, where it belongs. You shall be crowned king as soon as you return with the Fleece."
Jason was greatly excited. He requested Pelius to find him a ship which carry him and fifty companions to Colchis. The wicked Pelius, who was sure that Jason would never return alive, readily agreed to the request. A master shipbuilder called Argos was ordered to build a great ship which would be rowed by fifty strong oarsmen. Jason then sent messengers to every corner of Greece, requesting other young men to join him in his adventure and help him bring the Golden Fleece back from Colchis. He knew that only brave and able men would volunteer to join his team.
The ship was built and named the Argo after its builder. The fifty young men who volunteered to join Jason were called the Aronauts. Each one of them was a famous hero who had already performed wonderful feats of courage and strength. They were all good friends of Jason, as they had studied together under the wise Chiron. The mighty Hercules, the strongest man in the world, came, as did Theseus, the bravest and cleverest of all the warriors in Greece. The wonderful musician, Castor and Pollux. Jason was the leader of the group. Before starting on his voyage, he prayed to Zeus to bless them and help them to complete their mission successfully.
The Argonauts took up their oars and sped along the mounting waves. Their voyage had begun!
Hercules suggested that they should organise a contest to decide who was the best oarsman among them. Gradually, all the others dropped out of the contest except for Jason and Hercules. Finally, even Jason fainted from exhaustion and Hercules's oar broke in two.
After a long and difficult voyage, the Argonauts reached the kingdom of king Phineus. He welcomed them warmly, but looked so thin and weak that Jason asked him if he was ill. Phineus told Jason that he was being punished by Zeus because of the special power that he possessed to predict the future. Whenever Phineus tried to have a meal, two horrible creatures, the Harpies, came flying and snatched the food away from him. Anything that remained smelt so bad that he could not eat it. Thus he was getting weaker day by day. The desperate king begged Jason for help.
"Only two of your Argonauts, the sons of Boreas, the North wind, can drive away these creatures,'' warned Phineas, ''because they alone have the power to do it.''
''Very well, sir, I shall command them to help you,'' Jason assured him.
The two sons of the North wind stepped out with their swords, ready to tackle the Harpies. They appeared as soon as a meal was served to Phineus and snatched the food away with their sharp claws. But the two brave Argonauts wounded them so badly with their swords that the Harpies flew away screaming, never to return.
Phineus was very grateful. In return for Jason's help he told him how to avoid a grave danger which the Argonauts would face on the way to Colchis. Jason's ship would have to pass through the dangerous Bosphorus strait, where the black sea became so narrow that it was difficult for a ship to pass through it. At the entrance to this narrow channel, on either side of it, stood two huge, jagged rocks called the Clashing Islands. whenever a ship tried to sail through the channel they came together with a clash and smashed the ship into tiny pieces.
''There is only one way to get past the rocks safely,'' advised Phineas. ''Let a dove fly before you. The rocks will clash together and crush the dove. Wait until the rocks separate and then row with all your might before they come together again.''
Jason followed Phineas' instructions and the Argo was able to pass safely through the channel before the rocks clashed together again. Once the Argonauts had passed through the channel, the clashing Islands lost their magic and never clashed again, making the channel safe other sailors.
Jason and the Argonauts rowed through the black Sea for several days and at last they sighted the island of Colchis. They decided to rest before they ventured on the most dangerous adventure of all. The asleep under the stars after enjoying a hearty meal.
The next day, the Argonauts, led by Jason, went to meet the king of Colchis, king Aietes and his daughter, Medea, who greeted them cordially. But Aietes was suspicious about the reason for their visit. Jason admitted that he had come to reclaim the Golden Fleece which in truth belonged to Greece. He also added that, in return, he and the Argonauts were prepared to perform any task for the king.
king Aietes had no wish to hand over his precious Golden Fleece! So he thought of a series of impossible tasks. He knew that in trying to perform them, at least some of the Greeks were sure to be killed. For the first task, Jason would have to yoke together a pair of fire-breathing bulls and use them to plough a field. Then, the teeth of a dragon would have to be sown in the field. An armed man would spring up, by magic, from each tooth and Jason would have to fight them single- handed and kill them all. Aietes promised to hand over the Golden Fleece after Jason had completed these three tasks successfully.
"Very well,'' said Jason, ''I shall perform all these tasks tomorrow, as it is evening already.''
The Argonauts were soon sleep, but Medea, the king's daughter, could not sleep. She had fallen in love with Jason and was anxious to save his life. She sent a messenger to Jason. As soon as Jason arrived, Medea gave him a magic ointment and a magic stone and then she gave him instructions on their use. Jason listened to her carefully and promised to do exactly as she said.
The morning dawned bright and clear. Jason woke up and spread the magic ointment all over his body and on his weapons and hid the magic stone in the folds of his clothes just as Medea had told him to do. Then, he went to the field where king Aietes, his son Apsyrtus and other important people of Colchis were waiting. Everyone was sure that the fire- breathing bulls would kill Jason the moment he tried to catch them. The Argonauts were worried for their leader.
The bulls were let loose and they rushed out, bellowing, with eyes blazing and tongues of fire shooting out of their mouths. Everyone except Jason fled. He approached the bulls fearlessly and spoke to them in a gentle voice. The magic ointment on his body prevented the fire from doing him any harm. Jason caught hold of both the bulls easily and yoked them to the plough.
''How strange!'' cried king Aietes and his son together, ''How could Jason succeed in doing such a difficult task? why did the fire not burn his body?''
The Argonauts cheered.
Jason was now busy sowing the teeth of the dragon in the ploughed field.
''The warriors who spring up from these teeth are sure to kill him even if the bulls failed to do so,'' said Prince Apyrtus.
But, when the warriors arose from the teeth of the dragon, Jason threw the magic stone into their midst. Immediately, a madness came upon them and the warriors started fighting and killing one another until all of them were dead. king Aietes was both angry and puzzled, but he pretended to look very pleased as he congratulated Jason and told him that he would hand over the Golden fleece to him the next morning.
Jason's friends, proud and thankful, surrounded the prince as he returned to his ship. However, Aietes and his son had made plans to attack the Argonauts when they were resting at night and kill them all. But Medea got to know of their plan and went to warn Jason.
''Hurry Argonauts rowed silently until they reached the sacred grove. They pulled up their ship and waited quietly. Medea and Jason stepped onto the shore. The Golden fleece, hung from the bough of a tree, gleaming in the moonlight like a shower of gold. But at the foot of the tree was the huge fire-breathing dragon and started to sing a magic lullaby which put the animal to sleep. Jason grabbed the Golden fleece and ran back to the ship with Medea.
The Argonauts were delighted to finally see the Golden fleece for which they had faced so many dangers. Jason asked them to row the ship back to their homeland.
''What about Medea ?'' the Argonauts asked, surprised.
''She will come home with us,'' said Jason.
The sails were set and the crew bent to their oars. The Argo sped away to safety.
But not for long. More danger awaited them as they sailed past the island of the Sirens. The Sirens were creatures who sang the most beautiful songs and lured unsuspecting sailors to their island. But, as soon as they came close, the ships would crash into the rocks and the sailors would be made captives on the island. This time, it was Orpheus, the musician, who saved them. As soon as they came near the islands and heard the Sirens sing. Orpheus took out his Iyer and played so beautifully that it completely drowned the song of the Sirens. As the Argonauts could not hear the Sirens, they passed by the island safely.
After facing many perils at sea, Jason and his brave men finally reached home. Jason carried the Golden Fleece in triumph to Iolcus. Soon after Jason's return, his wicked uncle died a miserable death and Jason gave the kingdom back to his father.
Hello, my name is Jack Sparrow. I'm a 50 year old self-employed Pirate from the Caribbean.
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