Jason and the Argonauts

a Greek myth

Long ago, in ancient Greece, a young man named Jason set out on an

incredible nautical expedition in the company of a heroic band of

explorers.

But his story begins in the Kingdom of Iolcus …

Not long before Jason was born, a greedy uncle named Pelias seized

the throne from Jason's father, throwing the good king in jail.

When the king's wife gave birth to Jason – the rightful heir to the throne – she worried that Pelias might kill him

and decided to hide the baby.

Pretending that Jason had died, she sent him far

from Iolcus to live with a loyal centaur named Chiron. Chiron cared for and tutored Jason.

Jason grew strong and

smart.

And when Jason was full grown, he went back to Iolcus to

confront his uncle.

To Jason's surprise, Uncle Pelias agreed to give up the kingdom if

Jason would do just one little thing: capture a golden fleece – the skin of a magical ram – from the Kingdom of

Colchis, a land at the very farthest reaches of the known world.

Impossible? Maybe. But buoyed by youthful confidence and the spirit of

adventure, Jason accepted the challenge.

Pelias was sure that Jason would never return to Iolcus alive. But

Jason knew that with perseverance, a team of talented helpers, the best

tools and equipment, and a bit of good fortune (or help from some

friendly Greek gods), the impossible might just be possible.

So Jason sent out a call to anyone game for adventure, and the bravest and most talented men and women

in all of Greece – including the strong man Hercules – answered his

call.

Together they sailed

off in a mighty ship called the Argo, the

biggest and best boat

the Greeks had ever sailed.

The crew members

were called Argonauts, in honor of the boat.

They sailed to the ends of the known world to reach the Kingdom of Colchis.

On their long journey,

Jason and the Argonauts

made many discoveries and faced

many dangers.

Jason and the Argonauts had to do battle with

the dreaded Hydra in their quest for the

magical Golden Fleece..

. They arrived at the kingdom where the golden fleece was. The king did

not want to give up the fleece. And so he thought of an impossible task for

the Argonauts to perform.They had to fight an army of

skeletons.

After many adventures and all-but-impossible feats, they did capture the

golden fleece.

Jason returned to Iolcus to save his father – and to tell tales of a world

beyond Greece that few had dared to explore.

The End

Pictures downloaded from the following web sites:Greek Mythology Link

http://homepage.mac.com/cparada/GML/index.htmlMIT

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/History/21H-301Fall-2004/CourseHome/

Wikipediahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason

bama.eduhttp://bama.ua.edu/~ksummers/projects/jason/jason_and_the_argonauts.htm

A Glossary of Terms Used in Heraldry http://www.heraldsnet.org/saitou/parker/index.htm

and Symplegades: The Other World:http://livingheritage.org/symplegades.htm

and Howard David Johnson’s Myths and Legends of the Ancient World:

http://www.howarddavidjohnson.com/myth&.htm

Story adapted from the JASON Foundation web site:http://www.jason.org/jason_about/myth/agroMore.htm