Myth101

“The Quest for the

Golden Fleece”

“The Quest for the

Golden Fleece”

The Beginning

The Quest For the Golden fleece

• a poem by Apollonius of Rhodes who lived in the third-century AD.

• Argonautica

Athamas Nephele

Boeotia

Athamas Nephele

Boeotia

Athamas Nephele

Prixes / Phrixus

Helle

Athamas Nephele

Prixes / Phrixus

Helle

Athamas Ino

Prixes / Phrixus

Helle

Athamas Ino

Prixes / Phrixus

Helle

Prixes / Phrixus

Helle

Golden Fleece

King Athamas got tired of his bride, Nephele, so he decided to take

himself another. And that girl was Ino, daughter of King Cadmus of

Thebes.

Athamas and ino• After few years, Ino bore two children. This posed the great problem to the King’s new heir.

• For Athamas who already had two children with Nephele (Helle and Phrixus) , and because Phrixus was the eldest son, he was considered to be next in line to inherit the throne.

Ino’s dark plan• Ino gathered all of the corn seeds on Athamas' farm and then burned the seeds so that the crop would not grow.

• Athamas sent a messenger to an oracle.

• Ino bribed the messenger, to say to the king that the crop would not grow unless the king offered up Prince Phrixus as a sacrifice.

• At first the sorrowful king resisted , but after much pressure from the townspeople, he decided he had no other choice but to obey the oracle. Reluctantly, Athamas led Phrixus to the altar of Zeus and prepared him for the ritual.

The ram with the golden fleece

• Then, a ram with a fleece of pure gold, took the two and threw them into the air. Hermes had sent him and his sister in answer to their mother's prayers.• The ram, Prince Phrixus and his sister, Helle, travelled across Europe and into Asia.

• When they entered Asia, Helle fell into a body of water (Hellespont) and as a result, drowned. However, Phrixus and the ram safely arrived in the country of Colchis on the Black Sea.

The ram with the golden fleece

The Colchians were kind to Phrixus. It was at this time that Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Zeus and he presented the golden fleece to King Æetes /Aeetes, who was the Colchian king, as a gift. To keep it safe, the fleece was hung in the branches of a great oak tree with a sleepless dragon placed at its base to act as a guardian.

The ram with the golden fleece

Origin of the ram• the offspring of sea god Poseidon and Theophane. •he carried her off to the island of Crumissa.•Poseidon quickly changed her into an ewe. •Poseidon changed himself into a ram, so that he could have a sexual union with Theophane. • a magical baby ram with the fleece of gold; he could talk and fly.