Jason

**Jason** was the prince of Thessaly in Greek mythology. He was the son of Aeson and had two children with his ex-wife Medea.

## Overview

Jason was originally a noble guy, as seen when he helped Hera across a river. Hera's divine favor also led to much of his successes, including arranging for Medea to fall in love with him. Despite this, he became prideful and deceitful and acted like a dingus; he put his desire for royal power, as was his birthright, above Medea and her family, and he abandoned her in a desperate pursuit for power. Because of breaking his oath to Hera, the goddess of marriage and family, he lost all of his divine favor, eventually leading to his downfall.

## Miscellaneous Myths

### Medea

When he was a baby, his father's half-brother Pelias usurped the throne and had his family killed. Jason was saved by his mother, who gave him to Chiron, the immortal centaur, to protect him.

Once Jason grew up, he decided to go get his kingdom back, on his way there, he saw an old woman, trying to cross a river, he helped her across, losing a sandal in the process, and once they reached the other side of the river, the old woman revealed herself to be none other than Hera, queen of the gods, and Jason received her favor as a reward for his kindness.

Once he reached his uncle's palace, Pelias pulled the "Hey kid, you like proving yourself?" Card, and sent Jason on a quest for the Golden Fleece. Jason amassed a crew full of heroes and demigods called the Argonauts and set sail on the *Argo* for Cochlis, where the Golden Fleece is located.

The crew arrived in Cochlis, but the king Aeetes was also evil and pulled the same gambit as Pelias and told Jason to yoke a field of fire-breathing oxen, plough the field with them, sow the field with dragon's teeth, and then defeat an army of warriors. Not too optimistic about the situation, Jason and the Argonauts went off to discuss their options.

Shortly thereafter, Medea, the princess of Cochlis, set up a covert meeting with Jason as she had fallen madly in love with him after being shot by one of Eros's arrows on Hera's orders. Jason asked for her help, comparing her to Ariadne helping Theseus in the Minotaur's maze, and Medea was convinced and gave Jason an invulnerability potion called "The Charm of Prometheus."

The day of Jason's trials arrived, and he easily completed the first three tasks thanks to Medea's potion. After a snack break, he used Medea's advice and threw a rock at the large army that sprouted from the dragon's teeth, which caused them to become confused thinking one of them did it, and they all killed each other. During the night, Medea ran to the Argo and tells the Argonauts that they need to leave and asked them to take her with them. Jason then promised to marry her as soon as they got back to Greece. The two quickly grabbed the Golden Fleece by charming the dragon while it slept and then set sail for Greece.

The Cochlis gave chase, but Medea and Jason set a trap for Medea's brother Absyrtus, the leader of one of the fleets, and killed him. Not too keen about all the family murder, Zeus cursed the voyage so that it would get turned around a bunch until the crew ended up on Circe's island, at which point she cleansed Jason and Medea of the murders. After getting properly married on an island, Jason and Medea finally arrive back home to Thessaly. Pelias still didn't want to give up the throne, though, so Medea helped Jason out by murdering Pelias.

Unfortunately, Jason couldn't claim the throne of Thessaly due to the murders, so he and Medea went over to Corinth. A few year passed, and Jason had courted Glauce, the princess of Corinth, despite being married to Medea and having two children with her. After hearing that Medea was being exiled by King Creon of Corinth, Jason went over and scolded her for not being cool with him courting Glauce.

After Medea rebuked him for not caring for her despite all she had done for him, Jason told her that she should be grateful for living in Greece and that he couldn't pass up a real princess. He told her that he planned to keep her as his mistress, but now he couldn't since she was being exiled. Later, Medea called him again to tell him that she regretted their argument and asked him to convince Creon to allow her children to stay. Jason told her that he could possibly convince Glauce instead.

Later, Medea murdered Glauce, Creon, and her children. Jason returned to their home to find her rising up in Helios's chariot. She then taunted him about how she took everything from him, called him a liar and oath-breaker, and then prophesized that he will be killed by his only heroic achievement. She then left, and Jason pled to the gods for them to avenge him to no avail. Later, without any divine favor due to abandoning Medea and her children, Jason was killed in his sleep when he was crushed by the rotting prow of the *Argo*.