Argonauts

The **Argonauts** were a group of heroes in Greek Mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their names comes from their ship, the Argo, which was named after it's builder, Argus.

## History:

### Beginning:

After the death of King Cretheus, the Aeolian Pelias usurped the throne from his half-brother Aeson and became king of Iolcus in Thessaly (near the modern city of Volos). Because of this unlawful act, an oracle warned him that a descendant of Aeolus would seek revenge. Pelias put to death every prominent descendant of Aeolus he could, but spared Aeson because of the pleas of their mother Tyro. Instead, Pelias kept Aeson prisoner and forced him to renounce his inheritance. Aeson married Alcimede, who bore him a son named Jason. Pelias intended to kill the baby at once, but Alcimede summoned her kinswomen to weep over him as if he were stillborn. She faked a burial and smuggled the baby to Mount Pelion. He was raised by the centaur Chiron, the trainer of heroes.

When Jason was 20 years old, an oracle ordered him to dress as a Magnesian and head to the Iolcan court. While traveling Jason lost his sandal crossing the muddy Anavros river while helping an old woman (Hera in disguise). The goddess was angry with King Pelias for killing his stepgrandmother Sidero after she had sought refuge in Hera's temple.

Another oracle warned Pelias to be on his guard against a man with one shoe. Pelias was presiding over a sacrifice to Poseidon with several neighboring kings in attendance. Among the crowd stood a tall youth in leopard skin with only one sandal. Pelias recognized that Jason was his nephew. He could not kill him because prominent kings of the Aeolian family were present. Instead, he asked Jason: "What would you do if an oracle announced that one of your fellow-citizens were destined to kill you?" Jason replied that he would send him to go and fetch the Golden Fleece, not knowing that Hera had put those words in his mouth.

Jason learned later that Pelias was being haunted by the ghost of Phrixus. Phrixus had fled from Orchomenus riding on a divine ram to avoid being sacrificed and took refuge in Colchis where he was later denied proper burial. According to an oracle, Iolcus would never prosper unless his ghost was taken back in a ship, together with the golden ram's fleece. This fleece now hung from a tree in the grove of the Colchian Ares, guarded night and day by a dragon that never slept. Pelias swore before Zeus that he would give up the throne at Jason's return while expecting that Jason's attempt to steal the Golden Fleece would be a fatal enterprise. However, Hera acted in Jason's favour during the perilous journey.

### Women of Lemnos:

The Argonauts first stopped at Lemnos where they learned that all the males had been murdered. The reason of which was as follows: for several years, the women did not honor and make offerings to Aphrodite and because of her anger, she visited them with a noisome smell. Therefore, their spouses took captive women from the neighboring country of Thrace and bedded with them. Dishonored, all the Lemnian women, except Hypsipyle, were instigated by the same goddess in conspiring to kill their fathers and husbands. They then deposed King Thoas, who should have died along with the whole tribe of men, but was secretly spared by his daughter Hypsipyle. She put Thoas on board a ship which a storm carried to the island of Taurica.

In the meantime, the Argonauts sailing along, the guardian of the harbour Iphinoe saw them and announced their coming to Hypsipyle, the new queen. Polyxo who by virtue of her middle age, gave advice that she should put them under obligation to the gods of hospitality and invite them to a friendly reception. Hypsipyle fell in love with their captain Jason and bedded with him. She bore him sons, Euneus and Nebrophonus or Deipylus. The other Argonauts consorted with the Lemnian women, and their descendants were called Minyans, since some among them had previously emigrated from Minyan Orchomenus to Iolcus. (Later, these Minyans were driven out from the island and came to Lacedaemon). The Lemnian women gave the names of the Argonauts to the children they had conceived by them. Delayed many days there, they were chided by Hercules and Perdix.

### Island of Cyzicus

After Lemnos, the Argonauts made their second stop at Bear Mountain, an island of the Propontis shaped like a bear. The locals, called the Doliones, were all descended from Poseidon. Their king Cyzicus, son of Eusorus, who had just got married received the Argonauts with generous hospitality and decided to have a huge party with them. During that event, the king tried to tell Jason not to go to the eastern side of the island, but he got distracted by Heracles, and forgot to tell Jason.

When they had left the king and sailed a whole day, a storm that arose in the night brought them unaware to the same island. Cyzicus, thinking they were Pelasgican army (for they were constantly harassed by these enemies) attacked them on the shore at night in mutual ignorance of each other. The Argonauts slew many and among the rest Cyzicus who was killed by Jason himself. On the next day, when they came near the shore and knew what they had done, the Argonauts mourned and cut off their hair. Meanwhile, Jason gave Cyzicus a costly burial and handed over the kingdom to his sons.

## Known Argonauts:

#### Leaders:

* Jason; Legacy of Hermes, Hesperius, and Prometheus, son of Aeson and Polymede, he was the leader of the Argonauts
* Argus; Creation of the Goddess of Marriage Hera, Argus was the builder of the first Argo
* Hercules; Originally a demigod son of Zeus, King of the Gods, and his lover Alcmene

#### Companions:

* Hylas; Son of Theiodamas and Menodice, companion of Hercules
* Perdix; Legacy of the Goddess of Wisdom Athena and the God of Forges Hephaestus, he was nephew of Daedalus and cousin of Icarus

#### Children of Ares:

* Ascalaphus; Son of Ares, God of War, he was the king of the Minyans, and the twin brother of Ialmenos
* Ialmenos; Son of Ares, God of War, he was one of Helen of Troy's suitors, a former Argonaut, and the twin brother of Ascalaphus

#### Children of Apollo:

* Asclepius; Originally a demigod son of Apollo, Asclepius was turned into a god by his father many years after his voyage on the Argo
* Orpheus; Demigod son of the God of the Sun Apollo and the Muse of Poetry Calliope, he was the husband of Eurydice
* Idmon; Demigod son of Apollo, God of the Sun, he was known to be the seer of the Argonauts, Idmon was also the father of Thestor

#### Children of Boreas:

* Calais; Originally a demigod son of Boreas and Oreithyia, Calais was later turned into a god along with his brother Zethes
* Zethes; Originally a demigod son of Boreas and Oreithyia, Zethes was turned into a god along with his brother Calais

#### Children of Zeus:

* Castor;
* Pollux;
* Pirithous; Demigod son of Zeus, Pirithous was the King of Lapiths, he was also known to be a good friend of Theseus

#### Legacies:

* Acastus; Son of Pelias and Phylomache, his mother was a Minyan princess, he was the grandson of Poseidon, God of the Sea