Jason and the Golden Fleece

1506 Words7 Pages
Summer Reading Task on Medea Background Part 1 ( Jason and the Golden Fleece) Jason enters his hometown, Iolcus, and demands the throne back from his uncle, Pelias. Pelias responds, that he will give Jason the throne, if he is able to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the Island of Colchis. Jason accepts this challenge and prepares for the journey ahead by first of all getting a ship to sail the Black Sea. Argus, a shipwright, was hired by Jason to build his required ship which was, when finished, able to speak and give prophecies. The ship was immodestly named Argo after the creator himself, Argus. Jason´s next step was to recruit a crew of heroes of ancient Greece which was gathered by Jason and Argus. They called themselves the Argonauts and among them were Heracles and his squire as well as Orpheus, Peleus and many other famous Greek heroes. Their first journey was to the Island of Lemnos, which was inhabited by only women. When the Argonauts set sail to the island, they are told the reason why women only were populating the island. Under their ruler, Hypsipyle, they had murdered all the men. The women begged the men to help them repopulate the island, all the heroes took part except for Heracles who was in love with his squire. They left the island with many small Argonauts on the way and set sail for the second island named the Doilones. To arrive at the Doilones, the Argonauts had to go through the Hellespont ( a narrow strait which separated the Aegean Sea from the Marmara Sea). They passed this strait and landed on the island of the Doilones and were welcomed by the King of the islands, King Cyzicus. They are invited to feast with the King and they soon become quite close to the King. They leave the island to explore a mountain and to see what was beyond it. Most of the heroes climbed the mountain, but Heracles and some others stayed behind. Suddenly, a
Open Document