Jason

He was a hero best remembered for his massive expedition to find the Golden Fleece.

Parents

He was the son of Alcimede and Aeson and was meant to be king of Iolcus after his father, but instead his half-uncle Pelias took over the throne and Jason was raised by the centaur Chiron. Pelias was terrified of an ancient prophecy and sent Jason away to prove his worth by doing the impossible task of fetch the Golden Fleece from the King of Aeetes of Colchis.

Jason had a boat called the Argo made and found a group of famed heroes to travel with him. He called them the Argonauts after the ship. On their journey to Colchis they faced many dangers together. They passed through an island full of only women and were attacked by a group of giants with six arms while collecting supplies. They also met a blind king called Phineus in Thrace who was starving to death as Zeus had sent Harpies (winged spirits) to steal his food everyday as a punishment. In return for chasing away the Harpies Phineus explained how to get to Colchis and that they would need to go through the Clashing Rocks. They sailed to the Clashing Rocks, which were cliffs that would move together and crush whatever was trying to pass through. Phineus told them that to pass through safely they would need to send a dove through the cliffs and if it could pass through, they would be able to as well. The ship sailed through with little damage and they finally reached Colchis.

Important Relationships

At Colchis, they were greeted by Aeetes, the king, who owned the Golden Fleece. The king told Jason that he could have the fleece if he did two impossible tasks. Hera wanted Jason to get the Fleece, so she asked Aphrodite to tell Eros to make Medea, Aeetes daughter fall in love with Jason. Medea was a princess, but also a high priestess of Hectate and a powerful sorceress.

The first task Jason had to do was plowing a field with Aeetes’s fire-breathing bulls. Medea gave Jason a potion that protected him from fire, and he managed to plow the field.

Next, he had to plant dragon’s teeth into the field but as soon as the teeth were planted, they would turn into warriors made of stone. Medea told Jason to throw a rock into the army of warriors. When he did, the dumb warriors didn’t know who had thrown the stone and killed each other.

Aeetes still didn’t give Jason the Golden Fleece and started making a plan to kill Jason and the Argonauts. Medea heard about the plan and helped Jason steal the fleece by making the dragon guarding it fall asleep so Jason could grab it and set sail on the ship with Medea.

He married Medea but later betrayed her and lived a lonely life. He died by a beam of the Argo falling on him and crushing him in his sleep.