Jason

Jason is the hero and main character in the quest for the Golden Fleece. In that story he is the captain of the ship Argo (March 223). He is the son of Aeson and Alcimede (aka Polymede). Aeson was supposed to become the King of Iolcus when his father died, but his half-brother, Pelias, took the throne. Fearing for Jason's safety Aeson told Pelias that Jason had been born dead, and then sent Jason to be raised by Charon, the wise Centaur, on Mount Pelion (March 223).

When Jason grew to manhood he went back to Iolcus to reclaim his throne. Pelias was scared of Jason, and sent him on what he thought would be a quest of sure death, to find the Golden Fleece. In Jason's quest to find the Golden Fleece he met the sorceress Medea. Medea helped Jason throughout his quest and he promised to marry her (Willis 152).

In Euripides' tragedy Medea, Jason is married to Medea, but as the play begins he has just betrayed her by getting remarried to King Kreon of Corinth's daughter. Jason tries to justify to Medea his reasons, saying that he did it to provide her and their two sons with security. Medea is enraged, and she sends a poisoned dress and crown to Jason's new bride. The poisoned items do kill the bride and inadvertently kill the king. Medea then kills her two sons in order to further hurt Jason. Jason returns to find his children dead, and he is not able to punish Medea because she has fled on a dragon-chariot provided by her grandfather Helios.

It has sometimes said that Jason killed himself out of grief over the loss of his children, but the more common story is that a beam from the rotting Argo crushed him during a visit (March 224).

Works Cited

• Willis, Roy. World Mythology The Illustrated Guide. London: Duncan Baird Publishers, 1993
• March, Jenny. Dictonary of Classical Mythology. London: Cassell, 1998