Jason and the Myths of Iolcus and Calydon Flashcards
Athamas
(one of the unluckiest man in Greek legend)
Took two wives, one schemed to have the other kids killed. Just before Athamas was about to sacrifice Phrixus (firstborn child) to the gods a golden ram showed up and took Phrixus and Helle (his sister) rod away on it
Phrixus and his sister, Helle. Helle falls off the ram and dies
Were she died = Hellespont, “sea of Helle”
Phrixus, golden ram
Ram at last lands in the distant town of Aea (“earth”), eastern end of the Black Sea.
Aea: Ruled be Aeetes, son of Helius, brother of Pasiphaë and Circe
Phrixus sacrifices the ram to Zeus, Gives the skin to Aeetes, hangs it from an oak tree.
Great dragon protects it “Typhoeus”
Phrixus, marries one of Aeetes (ruler of the land) daughters
Pelias and Aeson
sons of Tyro
Pelias, ambitious for power, imprisons Aeson.
Aeson’s wife has a son (Jason), fear for his life, she sends him to Chiron (centaur)
Jason
Chiron teaches him arts of civilized life
Once grown went to Lolcus to take the throne (Pelias learns that the man with one sandal would bring his downfall)
At a stream, meets old women (Hera in disguise), he helps her across but loses a sandal. Hera thinks he’s soooo cool and hates Pelias.
Pelias instructs him to recover the Golden Fleece
The Argo/Argonauts
hunt for the golden fleece
Argus constructs the largest ship ever made
Athena inserts a magic, speaking beam, cut from Zeus’ oracular oak
Know:
Heracles:
Castor and Polyduces: the Dioscori, sons of Zeus; brothers of Helen of Troy (participate in the boar hunt along with Jason and others).
Zetes and Calais: the Boreads, sons of Boreas, the North Wind
Idmon: The seer, reads entrails, sees that they’ll all return safely, except for himself.
Interactions with the people of Cyzicus
An oracle told the king to be kind to strangers
After days of rest & entertainment they head out to sea again but a strong headwind blows them backwards.
During the night People of Cyzicus attack them and Argonauts fight back and kill them. At dawn they learn they killed their hosts of the night. Jason killed the king Cyzicus.
They hold a funeral and move on.
Heracles and Hylas
Hylas, Heracles companion/servant/boyfriend?
After breaking his oar, Heracles request to stop and find another, Hylas goes to look for water, gets caught by lustful water nymph, Heraclies can’t find him and is left behind
**Zetes and Calais **(sons of Boreas) don’t want to go back. Herecles kill them later.
Phineus and the Harpies
Phineus, gifted with foresight (Apollo), cursed to have Harpies eat all his food every day.
Phineus and his wife is Cleopatra agree to give Jason Information if he saves them
The argonauts kill all the harpies
The Symplegades “Clashing Rocks”
blocked access to the Black Sea
Send a dove through and if it makes it you will make it too, Dove goes through, tailfeathers get clipped, their ships banner is snapped. They make it safe though
Golden Fleece
at the City of Aea, under King Aeetes
Medea (injected with refined love from Aphrodite), falls for Jason, will help him get the fleece from Aeetes.
Aeetes hates foreigners due to an oracle saying a foreigner would be his undoing.
Aeetes sets the tasks of, Plow fields with 2 fire breathing bulls, Sow Dragon’s teeth, and kill the warriors who sprung from the teeth (throws rock).
Medea makes magic potions that allow Jason to complete all the tasks just fine.
Request that Jason marries her in exchange
Jason completed the tasks but Aeetes refuses to give up the fleece and decides instead to destroy the Greeks.
Medea made a potion that would put the dragon to sleep and allow them to take the Fleece.
Medea leads Jason to the fleece -> they snatch the fleece and run to the Argo (ship).
Medea lures her brother (Apsyrtus) into a trap where Jason kills him)
Is Jason a hero?
Medea and the argonauts kinda do everything. He’s more along for the ride as a deflated hero who is amorous, indecisive, and incompetent. Media is brave and strong.
Death of Jason
Medea kills their kids, and leaves. Jason is very depressed, sits in front of the old ship and the prow falls off crushing and killing him.
Medea
Helps Jason to get rid of Pelias using his daughters
Tell Pelias’s daughter that she can make him young again if she chops him up and boils him in a pot (gives example with a lamb). Death of Pelias satisfied Hera.
Medea’s revenge
Jason grows tired of Medea and arranges to marry Glauce.
Media sends a dress covered in poison to Glaucê, and she dies… ( Glaucê’s father too)
Media kills Jason and her own sons, wont let Jason hold their dead bodies.
Calydonian Boar Hunt:
some argonauts did a thing
King of Calydon was Oeneus (“wine-man”) son = Meleager
Three Fates, one tells Meleager’s mother when a specific log is consumed he will die
Artemis sends a boar to the Claydon countryside as her revenge
- Atalanta (famous female athlete, sponsored by Artemis) and Meleager:
Her father had exposed her at birth, a she-bear found her and suckled her, and she was then raised by hunters. Sponsored by Artemis, cared only for hunting.
Atalanta, Permitted to join because Meleager wanted to get his dick wet, wounds the boar with an arrow to the eye, they kill it, meleager offers the pelt, Meleager’s maternal uncles are pissed and try to take it back, Meleager kills them.
His mother (Althaea) finds out that her brothers are dead and burns the log that she hid in a hidden trunk, Meleager dies… Althaea (his mother) hangs herself in remorse.
