Jason stands out in his epic as an unusual hero. He is called to retrieve the golden fleece: a mission he is asked to complete by King Pelias. Whereas heroes like Hercules and Achilles seem to be charged by the gods for a mission or war, or like Odysseus, enduring a long journey home, Jason seems to be set out on this mission purely for the gain of King Pelias who desires something so renowned and valuable. An interesting trait of Jason’s journey is the crew he takes with him. The Argonauts consist of the hero Hercules and the fathers and sons of many famous heroes such as Achilles, Odysseus, and Ajax. It appears to be a righteous mission full of men destined to become heroes in their own right. But Jason’s obstacles are made harder by his and his men’s own shortcomings. They fall prey to lust and irresponsibility and rely more on lies and manipulation than strength. Similar to many heroes, Jason has some of the gods, mainly female, on his side. And he does ultimately succeed in his conquest, finally bringing home the golden fleece for the king and a wife for himself. However, in examining the methods that Jason and his men employ, the traps they fall into, and the long-term outcomes of their mission, Jason can hardly be considered a true Homeric hero. Jason’s trials are often both impeded and expedited by deceit, theft, and manipulation. This is an interesting dichotomy because though these traits often land him and his men in pitfalls, they are almost always the same traits that help them get what they want. When the Argonauts land at Lemnos and meet the women of the island, Queen Hypsipyle convinces the men to mate with the women so that they can repopulate the island, omitting the fact that the men were all murdered by the women before Jason and his men got there. This can be considered one moment at which Jason allowed his lust and irresponsibility to put himself and his men in a position that may have very easily put themselves and their mission in danger. Had Jason been a shrewder hero, he would have put the facts together and recognized the island as a dangerous place for men. In comparison to Odysseus, whose men are nearly lured to their death as they pass the islands of the beautifully singing sirens, Odysseus uses his strength and will-power, and the shackles with which he asks his men to fasten him to the ship, to resist a temptation that surely could have prevented him from his end goal of reaching home. Jason, on the other hand, gives in to the appeal of the women in front of him, even though it posed not only a huge risk to himself and his men, but to the generations of men they spawned. Perhaps this is why Jason adds the last-minute request that any son he produces be sent to his parents to be raised. This shows insight and a desire to protect his descendants, which any good hero would do, but still does not explain the fact that Jason allowed his crew to get thusly sidetracked. Jason appears to be less of a heroic leader and more like a young man desperate for adventure. “Jason takes up the burden of his quest reluctantly and is given to bouts of despondency that stand in stark contrast to Odysseus’ resourcefulness: Whereas the Homeric hero bears the epithet polymechanos (‘of many resource