Long ago, King Aeson of Iolchus in Thessaly, surrendered his throne to his ambitious brother Pelias. Some say Pelias deposed of Aeson, and usurped his throne, others say that Aeson had grown tired of his responsibilities and had voluntarily relinquished his rule to Pelias, under the condition that he in turn surrender the throne to Aeson's son Jason once the boy came of age. Whatever the case, Pelias certainly did not intend to give up the throne once he had it. Jason's mother, not trusting Pelias sent Jason away to be raised in anonymity.
A harsh, suspicious ruler, Pelias had no fear that his own subjects would overthrow him. He only feared the prophecy that said a stranger wearing one shoe would cause his death. Once Jason came of age, he was told of his right to rule in Iolchus, and he set out to claim his throne. Along the way he encountered an old woman who begged him to help her get across a river. Jason politely took the old woman onto his back and began to swim. The current was so strong that it swept one of his sandals right off his foot. Meanwhile, the old woman, who had at first seemed as light as a bundle of twigs, grew heavier as he swam - a lot heavier.
By the time he reached the other side of the river, Jason was exhausted. Helping the old woman down from his back, he discovered that he had actually been carrying the goddess Hera. She had disguised herself as a helpless old woman to test Jason, to see if he was worthy of her patronage. Thus he had won his benefactress, the queen of the gods. Pelias was undoubtedly distressed when Jason arrived at his court and announced that as Aeson's son he had come to claim his throne.
It was bad enough that Jason wanted to take his place as king, but there was also the matter of the missing shoe. Pelias knew trouble when he saw it. Pretending to welcome his nephew, Pelias slyly suggested that before taking up the responsibilities of kingship, Jason should first do a little travelling, see the world - and maybe complete some sort of heroic quest, to make a name for himself and to show his new subjects how worthy he was to be their king. Naturally a suggestion like that appealed to the brave young man, so he asked Pelias what sort of deed he should perform. Pelias spun a tale about how king Aeetes of Colchis had stolen the Golden Fleece, which rightly belonged to Greece, and that Jason should redress that wrong by returning the prize to Greece. Pelias was lying, but Jason had no idea that the Golden Fleece belonged to king Aeetes, not to Greece.
Jason hired the master shipwright Argus to build a ship large enough to hold 50 men, and strong enough to withstand a voyage to unknown waters. The ship was named the Argo, and those who sailed on it were The Argonauts. Jason sent out a call to all the bravest most noble warriors of Greece, who flocked to Iolchus to join Jason. They knew the voyage would be long and dangerous, but such a glorious quest would bring them honour and fame.
Among these warriors was Hercules. When they reached Colchis, Jason told King Aeetes that he had come for the Golden Fleece. The king did not reveal his annoyance, but he told Jason he must earn the Fleece by proving his courage and strength. He must harness a pair of bulls, sow and then harvest a field before sundown.
Though Jason accepted the challenge, his heart sank when he saw the two huge fire breathing bulls with razor-sharp brazen hooves. Now Hera still favoured Jason, so she told Aphrodite to have her son Eros (Cupid) shoot an arrow into the heart of Medea, King Aeetes' daughter. Struck by Eros' arrow, Medea fell instantly in love with Jason. Nor was Medea just any beautiful princess, she was also a priestess and a powerful skilled sorceress - just like her aunt Circe (who had transformed Odysseus' men into swine).
That night Medea approached Jason and secretly slipped him a container of magic oil, which would protect him from the hooves and the fiery breath of the bulls. The next day, Jason fearlessly approached the bulls and harnessed them. With such powerful bulls, Jason made short work of sowing the bag of seed he had been given. Sowing the seeds as quickly as possible, Jason didn't realize that what he was sowing was actually not seed, but dragon's teeth. From each sprang an armed warrior, until the field was crowded with armed men.
The oil Medea had given Jason gave him some protection from the warriors, but he soon grew tired. Medea decided to help him again by tossing a rock into the crowd of soldiers and hitting one of them in the back of the head. Thinking it was another warrior that has struck him, the first one attacked his comrade. After a few more well placed rocks, the entire army fought each other until there was not one warrior left.
Medea knew that her father wasn't going to give up the Fleece, so that night she led Jason to the sacred grove where the sleepless dragon guarded the Golden Fleece. Near the dragon, she uncorked a vial containing a powerful potion. When the dragon smelled the fumes, it immediately fell asleep , and Jason was able to grab the Golden Fleece.
Accompanied by Medea, Jason and the Argonaughts sailed away on the Argo, pursued by Aeetes. Expecting pursuit, Medea had persuaded her younger brother to come with them. As Aeetes gained on the Argo, Medea killed and dismembered her brother and scattered his body parts all over the surface of the sea, so her father must then stop to gather his son's remains in order to give him a proper burial.
Once they arrived in Iolchus and married, Jason asked Medea to use her magic to take some years off from his own life and add them to his father's, for Aeson had grown quite old and frail. Medea told him that she would not shorten his life, but would gladly add years to his father's. After preparing a pot with a magical brew, she cut up an old ram and threw its pieces in the boiling potion. Out jumped a young frisky lamb.
Having seen this test, Aeson agreed to let Medea take a knife to him. She put his remains into the pot, said her magic words and out jumped Aeson, strong and youthful. Medea had let the daughters of Pelias to witness this act of magic, so they would approach her to do the same for their father. They knew he was suspicious, so Medea gave them a sleeping potion to use in order to get him to submit to the process.
Once the king was asleep, his daughters took him to Medea, who proceeded to cut him up and place him in the pot. But instead of saying the magic words, she simply left him to boil in front of his daughters.
We might not, in this modern world, be able to experience the adventures of Jason but we can nevertheless still enjoy the adventure of exploring our wonderful waterways.
The Sea Rover Argonaughts programme will do just that.