The Golden FleeceGaby Jenkins, Haley Stone, Abbi Valiquette, Chloe Richardson,

Andrew Prevatte

• Jason & the Argonauts face danger without cowardice

Heroic Qualities Flaws

● Doesn’t take action to defeat trials - other people do it for them, mainly Medea

● Jason betrays Medea in the end, leaving her for the daughter of the king of Corinth

• Origin of the Golden Fleece○ King Athamas gets tired of Nephele, his first wife, and then marries his

second, Ino○ Ino wants her own son to gain the throne, and so she plots to kill Phrixus,

Nephele’s son○ Phrixus and his sister, Helle, are saved when Hermes sends a flying golden

ram to bring them to Colchis (Helle falls off and dies)○ Phrixus lands and sacrifices the ram to Zeus, giving the Golden Fleece to

Aetes, Colchis’ king• Phrixus’s uncle, a Greek king, is usurped by Pelias• Jason, the son of the uncle, has come to reclaim the throne, but Pelias tells him

that he must first retrieve the Golden Fleece (Pelias believes the quest is impossible - Jason will surely die)

Events

• First Adventure o Jason landed on the island of Lemnos where it was all women. o One of men was pulled underwater by a water nymph and Hercules went to

find himo Days passed and they ended up leaving Hercules behind

● Second Adventure○ Jason had reached another island, this time with winged animals called

Harpies. Whatever they touched they left a terrible smell behind.○ An old man, named Phineus, was cursed by Zeus so every time the man went

to eat something the Harpies came and made it smell bad. ○ Jason and his men felt bad for him and offered to help him. So the men

waited for him to eat and then trapped the birds as they flew down to take the food from Phineus.

Events

● Same Adventure○ The men killed the birds, Iris came and told the they must not kill the birds of

Zeus and the birds will no longer harm Phineus.• Side Adventure

o Jason had finally reached the country with the Golden Fleece. A god named Hera did not want to see him or his men fail this mission so she went to Aphrodite to help.

o Aphrodite said she will make her son shoot an arrow at the king’s daughter, Medea, so she will fall in love with Jason and help him whenever he needed help

Events

• Back to Jasono He finally reached the land of the Golden Fleece. o He and his men met the king, had dinner with him and asked to take the

fleece.o The king took offense at this and did not want Jason to have the fleece so he

made a plan.• Jason’s Task

o The king said to Jason, “You must yolk to bulls whose feet were made of bronze and breathed fire and use them to plow a field. Then you must plant dragon teeth like seeds and as the grow, men will grow and turn into an army. You must then stop that army before it attacks.”

o Jason left to go back to his ship and think about his mission ahead.

Events

• Side Adventureo That day at dinner Medea saw Jason.o At that very moment, Cupid shot her with an arrow.o She instantly fell in love with Jason and ran off to her bedroom to think about

her feelings. o Medea also has magic powers and ointments and loves Jason so much that

she is willing to find him and give him some.o So she sneaks out of the house to find him.

Side Events

• Back to Jasono Jason knew Medea had magical powers so he left his crew to find her.o They met on a beach where they talked and made merry with each other.o At the end of the night Medea gave Jason the magical things left.o The next day Jason used the ointments and things and completed his

challenge.o So now all Jason had to do was get the fleece, but it was guarded by a

serpent. Again, Medea came to her love’s rescue.o She went to the serpent for Jason and lulled it to sleep with her voice. o Once asleep, Jason snuck past it and took the fleece. o When the king heard of this, he sent his son to kill Jason.

Events

• Medea’s Adventureo She heard of her father’s evil plan and did want her love killed, so she made

a more evil plan.o She killed her brother with a trap. She told him to meet her at a beach and

she had Jason kill him. • Jason’s Revenge

o When they heros got back to Greece, Jason learned Pelias forced his father to kill himself and that his mother died of grief.

o He turned to Medea for help.

Events

• Medea’s Plano Medea, knowing magic, told Pelias and his daughters that she could make

their father young again. They did not believe her and asked her to prove it. o Medea took an old ram and cut it into pieces and placed it in a pot of boiling

water. She said a spell and out popped a lamb.o So she told his daughters to cut up Pelias and place him in the boiling water.

They did as she said and when they went to get Medea, they found out she skipped town.

o So she had gotten the daughters of Pelias to kill their dad.o The happy part is she brought Jason’s father back to life.

Oh Medea!

• Years later…o Jason and Medea had two sons and all was going well for them until Jason

found another woman and left Medea and their two kids to marry the other woman.

o Medea was furious and sat for awhile and pondered what to do about the situation she had been left in.

o She went and found Jason and begged him to come back and he said, “No woman, you have done nothing for me and I love my new wife now.”

o So Medea killed his new bride with a robe of fire, killed her own two sons, then left the town in a chariot drawn by dragons.

Last Events

• Forbidden Love- Medea goes against her father’s wishes to be with Jason

• The Wicked Stepmother (Glorified Motherhood)- Ino wants Phrixus out of the way so her real son can be next in line for the throne

• Deus ex Machina- Medea kills the children and flies away on a magic chariot

Motifs and Themes

• You Can’t Escape Fate- Pelias heard a prophecy that a man wearing one sandal will take over his kingdom. o Jason strolls into town wearing one sandal so Pelias sends

him on a quest meant to kill himo Guess who gets the throne in the end?

● What Goes around Comes Around- Pelias tries to kill Jason so when Jason and Medea find this out in the end, they trick Pelias’ own daughters into killing him and chopping him up

Motifs and Themes cont.

• Helpful Animal- The Golden Ram rescued Phrixus and Helle (who fell off and died) and gets sacrificed by Phrixus

• The Hero- Jason is larger than life, goes on a quest, and the story follows his journey (Protagonist)

• The Villain- Pelias strives to put an end to Jason and sends him on a quest meant to kill him (Antagonist)

• Supernatural Intervention- The god Hermes sends a ram with a golden fleece in order to answer King Athamus’s first wife’s prayers to have the gods save her two children (Phrixus and Helle) from the second wife.

Major Archetypes

● Earth Mother- Hera, the great queen of Olympus is always watching over Jason and his crew. Hera, with help, has Medea fall in love with Jason to protect him. Hera wraps Jason’s crew in a thick mist to protect them from danger on the way to ask the king for the Golden Fleece. Hera shines radiant grace upon Jason.

● Situational/The Quest- quest jason went on to get the golden fleece● The Task- Jason must complete some tasks from the King in order to

receive the fleece.

Major Archetypes

• Jason learned to always be loyal to his family. He wasn’t loyal to Medea and she ended up killing his second wife and their children.

• Jason also learned to never give up. Even though the challenges to get the fleece were difficult, he had to trust the gods and Medea that he would, in the end, win and fulfill the goal.

Story Summation

● People go out of their way to save their family members.○ Medea kills her brother to save Jason’s life○ Nephele prays to the gods in hoping that her children will be saved○ Jason has a loyalty to his family and is willing to die for them

● Don’t be selfish○ Jason only thought about himself and left Medea. In retaliation,

Medea killed his second wife and also killed her two sons that she had with Jason.

● Never give up○ Jason had to persevere and get through all of the challenges to get the

fleece.

Lessons in Story