Jason And The Golden Fleece

Once upon a time in Greece, there reigned a king whose name was Pelias. He was not the rightful king of his kingdom, for he had taken the throne from his step-brother and driven him and his small son away.

The boy’s name was Jason, and he spent his childhood among the mountains, living in a cave, for his father feared that King Pelias might try to kill him.

Jason grew up to be big and strong, and one day he decided that he was tired of living in a cave in the mountains. It was time to return to his father’s kingdom and take the throne from his uncle.

On his journey, he came to a river that was in full flood. All the bridges had been washed away, so using his spear as a staff, Jason felt his way through the swift-flowing water.

Jason made his way to the palace, and when his uncle saw him enter, he was very worried. A prophetess had told him that one day a stranger, wearing only one shoe, would come to claim the kingdom and take his throne away from him. The king had not recognized the man as his nephew, Jason. Because of the warning the prophetess had given him, he decided to be polite until he had found out more about this tall, handsome stranger. He offered him clean clothes, food to eat, and wine to drink. When he asked his name, Jason replied, “I am Jason, and I have come to claim back the kingdom which belonged to my father.”

Now the king was even more afraid, but he pretended to welcome Jason. He told him that he was weary of the problems and troubles of being a king. “There is a curse on this country,” he said to Jason. “It will never be lifted until the Fleece of the Golden Ram is brought back here from the world’s end.”

“I will go and fetch the Golden Fleece,” cried Jason, “and when I return with it, I shall claim the kingdom.”

This was just what Jason’s uncle wanted, for he was sure that Jason would never return from such a dangerous journey. He also knew that the Golden Fleece was guarded by a dragon that breathed fire, and no man could face it and return alive.

Jason set sail in his ship, the Argo, with a crew of the strongest and toughest men in the land, who were given the name of the Argonauts. He journeyed across the world, and when he reached the distant land where the fleece was kept, he went at once to the king and asked if he could take the Golden Fleece back to his own country once more.

“The man who wishes to win the Fleece must first tame two bulls which breathe fire,” said the king. “Then he must plough four acres of land with the bulls and sow the field with dragon’s teeth. The teeth will grow into armed men, and then he must kill them all.”

Jason would not be beaten, and he was determined to try, but Medea, the king’s daughter, had fallen in love with the handsome Jason, and she knew that without her help, he would be killed. She gave Jason, secretly, a small glass bottle containing the juice of a magic flower and told him that if he spread it over his body and his armour, no harm would come to him.

The next morning Jason awoke and dressed, spreading the juice of the magic flower on his body and armour. Then he went out of the palace to fight with the two fire-breathing bulls. The magic potion protected him from their fiery breath, and seizing their horns, he banged the bulls’ heads together and forced them to be yoked to the plough.

After Jason had ploughed the four-acre field, he sowed the dragons’ teeth, and as soon as he had finished, they grew into soldiers, who sprang up from the furrows in the earth and rushed to kill him. Quickly, Jason picked up a stone and hurled it amongst them. The stone hit a soldier on the head, and thinking that it was his neighbour who had struck him, the soldier turned, drew his sword, and killed him. Soon, all the soldiers were fighting among themselves, each one thinking that the other had started the fight. In the end, not one of the men remained alive.

Jason went to the king and said, “Give me the Golden Fleece, for I have done all the tasks that you set me.”

“Tomorrow you will have your chance to win the Fleece,” replied the king very angrily, for he suspected that his daughter, Medea, had helped Jason with the difficult tasks.

Medea had seen her father’s angry face, and she was afraid she would be punished. So that night, she crept down to the shore where Jason’s ship, the Argo, lay anchored. “Take me with you and save me from my father’s anger, and I will show you how to get the Fleece,” she told Jason.

The anchor was hauled up, and the Argonauts rowed the boat upriver until they came to a dark wood, where the Fleece hung on a sacred oak tree, guarded by the dragon that never slept. Medea led them through the wood, and the dragon hissed and belched smoke and fire when it saw them coming. Then Medea asked Orpheus, one of the Argonauts, who was the sweetest singer in all the land, to sing a song.

“It is the only way to defeat the fire-breathing dragon,” she said, and Jason commanded Orpheus to sing.

Orpheus began to sing, and soon the dragon had fallen asleep, lulled into sweet dreams by the beautiful music. Jason took his sword and cut off the dragon’s head, then lifted down the shining Golden Fleece from the tree.

They rowed away, and after many adventures, Jason and his Argonauts reached home, where Jason claimed his right to the throne by showing the Golden Fleece to his uncle, King Pelias.