Slide 2

 The tale of the Golden Fleece begins with a Greek king named Athamas, who got tired of his
wife, and married another, the Princess named Ino. Nephele, the first wife, was afraid for her
two children, especially the boy, Phrixus because she thought that the second wife would try to
kill him so that her own son could inherit the kingdom, and she was right.

(This second wife came from a great family. Her father was Cadmus, the excellent King of Thebes;

her mother and her three sisters were women of blameless lives.)

Slide 3

 Ino does attempt this murder. She secretly gathers seed-corn and parches (deprived
ofwater) the seed so that no crops will grow. Then, when Athamas asks for word from an
oracle about how to end the famine, Io bribes a messenger to say that the only way to bring
back the crops is to sacrifice his son, Phrixus.
 Athamus and Ino bring the boy to the sacrificial altar, but just before the murder, a wondrous
ram with a golden fleece takes the boy and his sister Helle and runs away. The ram, sent by
Hermes, is an answer to Nephele’s prayers.
 While they were crossing the strait which separates Europe and Asia, thegirl, whose name was
Helle, slipped and fell into the water. She was drowned; and the strait was named for her: the
Sea of Helle, the Hellespont
 The boy came safely to land, to the country of Colchis and the people living their was fierce
however they werekind to Phrixus. and he sacrifices the ram and gives it to King Etes.
 Phrixus had a cousin by the name of Pelias and he was the one who killed his own father to
gain control of a kingdom in Greece. However, the king had a young son who was the
rightful heir to the kingdom, and this man was Jason. Jason had been sent away to a safe
place where he could grow into a bold man who would take away the kingdom from his
wicked cousin, Pelias.

Slide 4

 Pelias was told by an oracle that he would be killed by a kinsmen one day who would be
wearing only one sandal. Such a man did come to the town in time and he did wear just one
sandal. Pelias became afraid. For it was Jason who was the one who only shod one sandal.
Jason told Pelias that he came to recover the kingdom that was rightfully his and that the
kingdom should be ruled rightly, without evil. Pelias agreed to hand over the kingdom, but
 under one condition: The condition was that the dead Phrixus wanted the Golden Fleece
returned from King Æetes, which would bring the spirit of Phrixus back to his home.
 Pelias asked that Jason go on the journey as opposed to himself, for he was old and Jason
was young and strong. So Pelias promised to give up the kingdom on the return of Jason
with the Golden Fleece. 
 Jason accepted the challenge that will be a long journey for them to win back the Golden
Fleece
 They came, all the best and noblest, to join the company. Hercules, the greatest of all heroes,
was there; Orpheus, the master musician; Castor with his brother Pollux; Achilles’ father, Peleus;
and many another.
They set sail in the ship Argo. SoThis group of men were known as the Argonauts. 

Slide 6

1. The Argonauts first sailed to Lemnos, an island where only women lived. Only one
man, the king, was left on the island. Although the women had risen up against the
men on the island by killing them, they gladly helped the Argonauts with gifts of food
and wine.
2. The Argonauts travelled to where the Harpies lived. The Harpies were flying
creatures with hooked beaks and claws who left an awful odour whenever they go.
The Argonauts met an old man with the power of prophecy who had a problem.
Every time Phineus, the prophet, came to eat, the Harpies would come and take the
food, leaving nothing left. He was left withered and weak from the lack of food. The
Argonauts decided that they would help fix this problem.
 The sons of Boreas who is theGreta North wind followed the Harpies, who had
already taken the food from Phineus. They took their swords and hit the Harpies.
The old man thanked the Argonauts for their help and offered some advice for
navigating through the Clashing Rocks, the next encounter on their journey. He
said that to navigate through them safely, one should send a dove through first. If
the dove survived and wasn't crushed by the rocks, the ship would survive. If the
dove died, then the ship would not survive.
3. The next morning the Argonaut sailed off with a dove to the Clashing Rocks. They
set the dove free and the dove made it through with the exception of the bird's tail
feathers, which were cut off by the rolling rocks. Next, the ship went through, and,
 like what the prophet said, the ship survived and passed through safely, but part of
the stern of the ship was cut off, like the tail feathers of the bird.
4. The Argonauts quickly sailed on and they passed by the country of the Amazons,
because they knew that the Amazons were not gentle foes. They continued on,
travelling all day. Finally, at sunset, they arrived in Colchis, home of the Golden
Fleece.

Slide 7

 On Mt. Olympus, Hera went to seek Aphrodite's help. Since Hera had been overseeing the
adventure, she knew that there was danger involved and discussed the matter with
Aphrodite. To help the Argonauts, Aphrodite told Hera that she would send Cupid,
Aphrodite's son, to the Colchis and would make the daughter of the Colchian king fall in love
with Jason. Medea was the daughter of King Æetes. But Medea was a powerful magician
and she could save the Argonauts if they ever were in trouble.
 While this was going on, the Argonauts made their way to the city to ask the king for the
Golden Fleece. Hera wrapped the Argonauts in a mist so they wouldn't be seen until they
arrived at the palace. King Æetes welcomed them to Colchis and was hospitable to them.
Princess Medea also made her way into the palace to see what these visitors, who had
entered the palace, were doing. As Medea lay eyes upon Jason, Cupid, who was sent by
Aphrodite to make the two fall in love, drew his bow and shot an arrow into the heart of
Medea. Amazed by the sight of Jason, she quickly returned to her big room.
 King Æetes gave the Argonauts something to eat, making sure to take care of the needs of
the guest. It was only after this that King Æetes decided to ask what the men were doing in
Colchis. They responded by saying that they were seeking the Golden Fleece in hopes to
return it back to Greece. King Æetes was angered now for he did not like foreigners and he
did not like the reason why they came to Colchis.

Slide 8

 He told Jason that he bore no grudge against brave men and that if they proved themselves
such he would give the Fleece to them. “And the trial of your courage,” he said, “shall be
only what I myself have done.” This was to yoke two bulls he had, whose feet were of bronze
and whose breath was flaming fire, and with them to plow a field. Then the teeth of a dragon
must be cast into the furrows, like seed-corn—which would spring up at once into a crop of
armed men.
 The king said that he must do this if he wants the Golden Fleece returned. It was an
impossible task but Jason accepted the challenge.
  Jason thought of Medea, who would be able to help him complete this challenge. If she
could invoke a magic spell to help him,. Both agreed to this plan and Medea gave Jason a
charm he and his weapons would become invincible for a day. As well, he was given a stone
that if too many men attacked him, he could throw the stone at the enemy. This would make
the enemy turn on one another and fight each other.
 So Jason’s contest was ended in victory, which lead to the bitterness of King Æetes.

Slide 9

 The King went back to the palace planning treachery (betrayal) against the heroes and
stating they should never have the Golden Fleece. But Hera was working for them. She
made Medea, all bewildered with love and misery, determine to fly with Jason.
 Medea met the Argonauts and asked if she could join them on their journeys. She also told
them to quickly get the Golden Fleece from a serpent which was guarding the sacred wool.
Again, Medea worked her magic by lulling the serpent to sleep. The Argonauts grabbed the
fleece and quickly retreated.
 By now, the king had found out what the Argonauts had done. So, King Æetes sent in son,
Asyrtus, in pursuit of the Argonauts. He led an army much larger than that of the Argonauts.
However, to even the odds, Medea killed her brother, Asyrtus. There were many stories as to
how he died. However, it is not known what exactly happened to the death of Asyrtus. In any
case, the Argonauts had escaped.

Slide 10

 When the Argo reached Greece, the Argonauts disbanded leaving Jason and Medea taking
the Golden Fleece to Pelias. When they arrived, Jason and Medea found that Pelias had
forced Jason's father to kill himself and his mother had died of grief. Jason asked Medea for
ways to punish Pelias. They accomplished this by convincing Pelias that there was a way to
make the old young again.
 Jason and Medea moved to Corinth where they had two sons. Medea missed her family in
Colchis but her love for Jason seemed to be more important. All this for a man who would
eventually betray her.
 The first example of this occurred when Jason married the daughter of the King of Corinth.
As a result of the King of Corinth fearing the powers of Medea, the King ordered Medea and
her two helpless children out of the country.
 Through her words, she explained that it was she that was the one who obtained the Golden
Fleece by conquering the bulls, the dragon-men and the serpent warder of the Fleece. Jason
 retorted by saying that he had not been save by her but by Aphrodite who had made Medea
fall in love with him. He also said that she owed him a great deal for moving her to Greece, a
"civilized country".
 Medea wanted revenge. So, she decided that she would kill Jason's bride. She decided that
she would take a robe and filled it with deadly drugs. To ensure that the bride would die, she
would have to wear it at once. The princess received this gift and wore it at once. No sooner
had she put it on she was eaten by the fire, melting her flesh away which leads to her death.
 When Medea knew that the plan was done, she turned her mind to one more dreadful task
and that is she will going to kill her own two sons and so She did so.
 when Jason realized Medea had killed her bride, he was determined to kill Medea. But when
he arrived at Medea's house, she had already left in a chariot that was drawn by dragons.
And so Jason cursed her, but not himself, for what had happened
