The quest of the golden fleece

Characters

Athamas A Greek king,

Athamas jails his wife Nephele when he becomes sick of her. He marries a young princess, who convinces him to offer his son, Phrixus, as a sacrifice to the gods.

Phrixus Son of Athamas and

Nephele, Phrixus almost dies as a sacrifice to the gods, but instead a ram with a golden fleece saves him and his sister.

Jason Jason overcomes

many obstacles, most notably winning the golden fleece, in order to win back the crown from his wicked uncle Pelias. He marries Medea but later marries another woman.

King Pelias Pelias steals the

crown from his brother and sends his nephew, Jason, on many adventures. Eventually, his own daughter kills him.

Nephele The wife of

Athamas. Once he gets sick of her, she lands in jail.

Medea Medea helps Jason

get the golden fleece and marries him. But when he later marries someone else, she kills the new wife as well as the two sons she bore to Jason

Band of heroes and Argonauts who went with Jason on his voyage

PLOT King Athamas imprisoned his wife

Nephele and taken a new wife named Io who happened to have a son

Io made a plan to kill Athamas’ children so that her son would inherit the throne

She managed to gather all the seeds so that the crops will not grow

King Athamas sent a messanger to the oracle but Io intercepted it and managed to convince them that the only way to end the famine is for Prixus to be sacrificed

Nephele prayed to the gods to spare her son and Hermes sent a ram with a golden fleece to save her children

Prixus arrived safely in the country of Colchis while his sister drowned in the sea

Phrixus killed the ram and sacrificed its fleece to the king Etes, the ruler of Colchis

In another part of Greece, a king named Pelias stole the crown from his brother

There was an oracle that king Pelias would die in the hands of his kinsman wearing one sandal

One day, a man wearing only one sandal arrived in his kingdom and this man was his nephew named Jason who was there to claim his rightful throne

Pelias tells Jason that he would give up the throne if Jason would go out and retrieve the golden fleece

Jason sets off and overcomes many obstacles and adventures on the way to Colchis.

Joson, with the help of Hera, he reaches King Etes.

Hera and Aphrodite arrange for Cupid to make King Etes's daughter, Medea, fall in love with Jason

Jason asks Etes for the fleece, but Etes 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

Medea gives Jason a magical potion that gives 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 treacherous king will not give him the fleece, however. 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

When they return to Greece, she arranges for King Pelias to be killed by his own daughters, which fulfills the oracle.

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

Settings King Athamas’ Kingdom Colchis King Pelias Kingdom Voyage through the sea

Theme

The story highlights the dangers of selfishness and jealousy. The story also reveals

complex family loyalties. Various family members are jealous of outsiders and other

insiders, and they are willing to kill to achieve their goals.