MYT: Jason and the Golden Fleece

What had Pelias been warned against?

A young man wearing only one sandal

Who warned Jason that Aeetes intended to kill him?

Aeetes's daughter Medea

Who was Jason's father

Aeson

What do you call a sailor who sailed on the Argus?

An Argonaut (naut obviously from the Latin word for sailor)

On his way to see Pelias, who did Jason come across?

An old woman

Who did Jason get to build him a ship for his journey?

Argus

What did they name the ship?

Argus, after the ship maker

Why did the gods blind him?

Because he had angered them, possibly by telling mankind how the future would come about.

How did Aphrodite help Jason

By causing King Aeetes's daughter to fall in love with Jason

How did the Symplegades destroy ships?

By crashing together every time something passed between them

Pelias recognised Jason. How did he plan to get rid of him?

By sending him on an impossible journey to retrieve the golden fleece

What had happened to Phineus?

He had been blinded by the gods

How did he help the old woman?

He helped her to cross a stream

How did Jason get through the Symplegades?

He released a dove which flew between the Symplegades - they crashed together to destroy the bird

Who is Hera?

Hera is both the wife and sister of the god Zeus

Who was the old woman really?

Hera, the goddess

What had happened to Aeson?

His half brother had taken the throne from him

Where was Aeson the king of?

Iolcos

Where was the golden fleece kept?

It was kept at Colchis by a fire breathing dragon

What happened to Jason and Medea?

Jason and Medea were forced to flee the country and fled to Corinth.

How did Jason and Medea escape?

Jason had the Argonauts get the Argo ready, then fled to the ship with Medea and her brother Apsyrtus

How did Jason lose his other shoe?

Jason lost his shoe in the river helping Hera

What did Jason promise her if she would help him?

Jason promised he would take her back to Greece and marry her

In the second task, how did Jason defeat the army which sprang from the dragon's teeth he'd sown in the field?

Jason threw a stone into the middle of the army, who turned on each other, and killed each other

Who was the king of Colchis?

King Aeetes

Who did Jason meet first on his journey?

King Phineus

What was King Aeetes's daughter called?

Medea

King Aeetes chased them on his own ship - how did they get him to stop following them?

Medea cut her brother Apsyrtus into several pieces and dropped him overboard. Aeetes had to stop to collect the pieces and they escaped

How did Jason complete the third task to steal the fleece?

Medea gave Jason a potion to spray onto the dragon, causing it to fall asleep. Jason then stole the fleece

How did Jason complete the task of ploughing the field with fire-breathing oxen?

Medea gave him an ointment to protect him from their breath

Jason intended to marry another woman, Creusa, daughter of the King of Corinth, for political reasons - what did Medea do?

Medea poisoned Creusa, the King of Corinth, and Medea poisoned her own children in the process

How did Medea help Jason?

Medea told Jason how to complete the first two tasks

How did Medea trick Pelias's daughters into murdering him?

Medea told them that if they cut Pelias into pieces and boiled him in a cauldron he would become a young man again. Medea showed them this by putting a sheep into the cauldron which jumped out as a young lamb.

Jason and the Argonauts had to endure lots of hardships on the way back to Iolchos. When they did return Pelias refused to give back the throne. How did they kill him?

Medea tricked Pelias's daughters into murdering him

Is this the same Phineus as in the Perseus myth?

No

When Jason arrived at Iolcos, how many shoes was he wearing?

One

What are the Symplegades

The Clashing Rocks (at sea)

What happened to the Symplegades once Jason and the Argonauts had sailed through them?

The Symplegades stayed open forever from that point onwards

Who helped Jason on the next stage of his quest?

The goddess Aphrodite

What was at Colchis?

The golden fleece

What do they look like?

They have the body of a woman, but the feet and wings of a vulture

As the Symplegades were slowly reopening, what did Jason and the Argonauts do?

They rowed as swiftly as possible between the rocks

Where did Jason go to next on his journey?

To Colchis

Zeus asked him if he would prefer to die or to to be blind - which did Phineus choose?

To be blind

What did the oracle tell Jason to do?

To demand back the throne from Pelias

What did Aeetes intend to do to Jason?

To kill him when he returned with the fleece

How did Jason and the Argonauts help Phineus?

Two of the Argonauts drove away the Harpies

What is a harpie?

A winged spirit

King Aeetes was amazed when Jason and the Argonauts arrived in Colchis demanding the fleece. To get rid of them which three tasks did he set them?

1. To yoke two fire breathing bulls and plough the Field of Ares 2. To sow the ploughed field with dragon's teeth and kill the army of warriors which grew from the teeth 3. To kill the fleece's dragon guardian which never slept and to steal the fleece

How many Argonauts sailed with Jason?

53

What was his father?

A king

Where was the golden fleece?

Hanging on a tree next to the dragon?

In what other way was he being punished by the gods?

Harpies would steal his food from him, so he could bever eat

What was King Aeson's brother called?

Pelias

How did Phineus thank them?

Phineus told Jason how to get around the Symplegades

How would Medea be able to help Jason?

She had magical powers

What happened to Medea?

When Jason found out what Medea had done he tried to find her, but she had already left on a chariot send by her grandfather, the sun god Helios

Jason died alone and unhappy. How did he die?

Whilst sleeping on the rotting Argus many years later, the beam fell onto Jason killing him instantly