Argonauts, Greek (“sailing on the Argo”) - participants in the journey for the Golden Fleece to Colchis.

The organizer and leader of this expedition was the hero Jason from the Thessalian Iolk, who agreed to fulfill the order of his uncle, the Iolk king Pelias.

Jason was the son of King Aeson and the grandson of the founder of the Iolk state; Pelias was the stepson of Creteus. Although, by right of succession, the throne of Iolk should have passed to Aeson, Pelias took power away from him. When Jason grew up, he demanded that Pelius transfer power to him as the rightful heir. Pelias was afraid to refuse Jason and seemingly agreed, but on the condition that he prove his ability to reign by some heroic deed. Jason accepted this condition, and then Pelius instructed him to obtain the golden fleece, which was stored in Colchis, from the powerful king Eeta (see the article ""). By order of Eet, the golden fleece was hung on a tall tree in the sacred grove of the god of war, and a dragon guarded it, never closing its eyes.

According to general belief, it was almost impossible to take possession of the Golden Fleece. Already the path to Colchis (on the current Black Sea coast of the Caucasus) was replete with countless dangers. If anyone managed to go this way, he would have to deal with the mighty Eetian army, but even if he won, he would have no chance to defeat the terrible dragon. However, Pelius hoped that Jason would simply be afraid of all these dangers, otherwise inevitable death awaited him. But Jason was a hero, and heroes take on any assignments, and obstacles, in their opinion, exist in order to be overcome.

Preparation for the campaign of the Argonauts

However, Jason soon realized that he alone could not cope with this task. But what is beyond the power of one person, no matter how brave he may be, can be mastered together. That is why Jason traveled around the Greek lands and visited all the famous heroes of that time, asking them for help. Exactly fifty mighty heroes agreed to go with him to Colchis.

Among them were the son of Zeus, the pride of Athens - Theseus, the famous brothers from Sparta, the king of the Lapiths Pirithous, the king of Phthia Peleus, the winged sons of Boreas - Kalaid and Zet, the heroes Idas and Linkey, the Salami king Telamon, Meleager from Calidonia, the hero, the heroes Admet , Tydeus, Euphem, Oileus, Clytius, Typhius, friend of Hercules Polyphemus and many others.

Among them was the famous musician and singer Orpheus, Pug accompanied them as a soothsayer, and the future god of healing as a doctor.

When the son of Arestor Apr built a fast fifty-oared ship, named Argo (meaning "fast") after his name, the heroes gathered in Iolka and, having made sacrifices to the gods, set off.

The commander of the ship was, of course, Jason, his cybernet (as the helmsmen were called in those days) was the mighty Typhius, and the radar functions were carried out by the sharp-eyed hero Linkei, whose gaze penetrated not only through the water, but also through the tree and rocks. The rest of the heroes sat on the oars, and Orpheus set the beat for them with his singing and playing the lyre.

Argonauts in Lemnos

From the Pagasean Gulf, the Argonauts sailed into the open sea, which was not yet called the Aegean, and headed for the island of Lemnos, which was ruled by a queen. An enthusiastic reception awaited them there, since the Lemnian women, who had recently killed all their husbands (for treason), soon became convinced that although life with men is difficult, it is impossible without them. The Argonauts became the object of such attention, and the Lemnian women so preempted all their desires, that the Argonauts lost the desire to continue the journey. If not for Hercules, who shamed the heroes, they would probably have remained on the island forever. But after a two-year stay on Lemnos (according to another version - after the very first night), the Argonauts realized themselves and set off again, despite the tears and pleas of the hospitable Lemnians, whom the heroes made happy with numerous offspring.

Argonauts with dolions and six-armed giants

In Propontis (now the Sea of ​​Marmara), the Argonauts landed near the Cyzicus peninsula, where the descendants of Poseidon, the doliones, lived. The king who ruled the dolions cordially received the Argonauts, arranged a rich feast for them, and before sailing he warned about the six-armed giants who lived on the opposite shore. And indeed, the next day, the Argonauts stumbled upon them, but Hercules, who led a small landing force, killed all the giants, and the Argonauts were able to calmly continue their journey. However, the shifting night wind again washed their ship to the shores of Cyzicus. In the darkness, the dolions did not recognize them and mistook them for pirates. A ruthless battle broke out, during which Jason defeated the leader of the army defending the coast, not suspecting that this was King Cyzicus himself. Only the coming morning put an end to the bloodshed, and then the soldiers realized their mistake. For three days and three nights, the feast continued for the king and those who fell with him.

Loss of Heracles, Hylas and Polyphemus, battle with the Bebriki

Continuing their voyage, the Argonauts reached the shores of Mysia, which lay on the eastern edge of the Propontis, and there they suffered a heavy loss. The nymphs kidnapped Hylas, a young friend and favorite of Hercules, after which Hercules and Polyphemus decided not to return to the ship until they found him. They did not find Hylas and did not return to the ship. Jason had to go to sea without them. (Hercules was destined to return to Lydia, and Polyphemus to settle in the neighboring country of the Khalibs and lay the city of Chios.) By evening, the Argonauts reached the shores of Bithynia, in the extreme north of Propontis, beyond Bithynia, the Inhospitable (now Black) Sea was already waiting for them. The bebriks who lived there were also not distinguished by hospitality, taking an example from their own - bullies and braggarts. Since it is described in a separate article, we will not waste time or space on it here.

Meeting with Phineus and the battle with the harpies

Before the next, especially dangerous stage of the journey, Jason decided to give the Argonauts a break and ordered Tithius to send the ship to the west, to the shores of Thrace. Coming ashore, they met a blind old man, who could barely stand on his feet from weakness. To their surprise, they learned that before them was the Thracian king Phineus, a famous clairvoyant and soothsayer. The gods punished him with hunger because, at the instigation of his second wife, he imprisoned his sons from his first marriage in a dark dungeon. As soon as Phineus sat down at the table, importunate harpies, winged and deadly stinking women immediately flew in. They ate his food and even polluted the remains with sewage. The Argonauts took pity on Phineus and decided to help him. The winged heroes rescued the sons of Phineus from the dungeon (these were their nephews, since Phineus' first wife was their sister Cleopatra) and took off into the sky, preparing to meet the harpies. As soon as they appeared, the Boreads rushed at them and drove them to the Plotian Islands in the Ionian Sea. The winged brothers were ready to kill the harpies, but they were stopped by the messenger of the gods, who promised that the harpies would never torment Phineus again. As a reward for this, the blind soothsayer advised the Argonauts how to get through the dangerous strait connecting the Propontis (Sea of ​​Marmara) with the Inhospitable Sea.

Passage between the Symplegades (Bosphorus Strait)

This strait (now we call it the Bosphorus) was guarded by the Symplegades - two huge rocks that tirelessly collided, diverged and collided again, not allowing to pass through the strait. Remembering the advice of Phineus, the Argonauts released a dove to show them the way. When she flew safely (only a few tail feathers got stuck between the closed rocks), the Argonauts. believed that they, too, would be lucky. They leaned on the oars and, as soon as the rocks parted, rushed forward. With the help that held one of the rocks, the Argonauts managed to overcome this obstacle as well (only the stern was slightly damaged). And the Symplegades were forever frozen in place - just such a fate was promised to them by an old prophecy if they let even one ship pass by.

Encounter with Stymphalian birds

Having passed the strait and found themselves in the waters of the Black Sea, the Argonauts sailed for a long time without any special adventures along the northern coast of Asia Minor, until they anchored off the island of Aretiada, about which no one had heard anything before or since. As soon as they approached the island, as above them circled big bird and dropped a copper pen, which pierced the shoulder of the hero Oileus. Then the Argonauts realized that they were dealing with one of the Stymphalian birds, which Hercules had once expelled from Arcadia. Immediately, another bird appeared above the ship, but the hero Clitius, an excellent archer, shot it down. Covering themselves with shields, the Argonauts went ashore, preparing for a fight with these man-eating birds. But they did not have to fight, as the stimfalids were frightened of them and disappeared over the horizon.

Meeting of the sons of Phrixus

At Aretiada, another surprise awaited the Argonauts. They found on the island four exhausted and exhausted young men - the sons of Frix himself. They wanted to reach Orchomenus, the homeland of their ancestors, but were shipwrecked off Aretiada. Learning that the Argonauts were sailing to Colchis to take the Golden Fleece from Aeëtes, the sons of Phrixus gladly joined the expedition, although they knew of the dangers that awaited them. The Argo sailed to the northeast, and soon the blue peaks of the Caucasus appeared - Colchis lay before the Argonauts.

Argonauts in Colchis

Landing on the shore, the Argonauts made a sacrifice to the gods, and Jason went to Eet to ask him for the golden fleece. He hoped that the king would give him the fleece kindly and the Argonauts would not have to resort to force. But Eet reasoned in his own way: he did not want to believe that so many glorious heroes came only for the Golden Fleece, and believed that the Argonauts brought the children of Phrix with them in order to take possession of Colchis with their help. After a sharp skirmish - the hero Telamon already wanted to resolve the dispute with a sword - Jason assured the king that he would fulfill any of his tasks, just to get the golden fleece, and then leave Colchis in peace with his friends. Then Eet ordered him to harness fire-breathing bulls to an iron plow, plow the sacred field of the god of war Ares with this plow and sow it with dragon teeth; and when warriors grow out of these teeth, Jason must kill them. If Jason completes this task, he will receive the Golden Fleece.

Theft of the Golden Fleece and flight from Colchis

You can read about how Jason coped with this difficult task in the corresponding article. Here we only recall that Jason would have had a hard time if it were not for the help of Medea, the daughter of Eet, the great sorceress, who at first sight fell in love with the leader of the Argonauts. And yet Eet did not give up the fleece. Then Jason, with the help of Medea, who put the guard dragon to sleep, simply stole the golden fleece from the Ares grove, boarded the ship with Medea, his friends took up the oars - and after three days and nights of sailing with a fair wind, the Argo dropped anchor at the mouth the Ister River (now the Danube). There, an ugly story happened with Apsyrtus (see the article ""), which helped Jason break away from persecution and go far to the west.

Sorceress Kirk, Skilla and Charybdis, sirens

You and I know very well that none of the branches of the Danube leads to the Adriatic Sea; but the ancient Greeks did not know about this, and therefore the Argo reached the Illyrian Sea without any problems along the Danube, from there along the Eridanus River (today’s Po River) to Rodanus (today’s Rhone), and from there to the Tyrrhenian Sea and finally anchored off the island, where the sorceress Kirk, the daughter of the sun god Helios, lived. Being a relative of Medea, she cleansed Jason and Medea of ​​the filth of the murder and advised them on how to avoid the dangers that await the Argonauts on the way to Iolk. Travelers gratefully recalled her advice, especially when they sailed safely between Skilla and Charybdis and when Orpheus drowned out with his singing the enchanting voices of the sirens, beckoning travelers to certain death.

Island of Feacres, wedding of Jason and Medea

After a long voyage, having passed, among other dangers, the disastrous whirlpools between the Plankt rocks, the Argonauts landed on the island of the blessed people of the feacs. cordially received the Argonauts, but the next day a Colchian ship approached the shore, the leader of which demanded the extradition of Medea. Alkinoi reasoned that this demand was just, if Eet had rights to her; but if Medea is Jason's wife, then her father no longer has power over her. On the same night, Jason and Medea performed their wedding ceremonies, and the Colchians departed with a salty sip.

Storm, transfer of ships through the desert, gardens of the Hesperides, Lake Triton

After resting at the Phaeacians, the Argonauts headed for the coast of Greece. But, when their native places were already visible, a sudden storm carried them to the open sea. Linkey lost his bearings, and after a long wandering, the Argo became stranded on the sandy coast of Libya. Desperate to find the right path, the Argonauts decided, on the advice of the local sea nymphs, to move the ship through the desert in order to get back to the open sea. After terrible torment, exhausted from heat and thirst, the Argonauts reached the gardens of the Hesperides and saw a sparkling water surface in front of them. They hurried to launch the ship, but soon became convinced that they were not at sea, but on Tritonian Lake. Having gone ashore, the Argonauts made rich sacrifices to the owner of the lake - the god Triton. For this, Triton led them through a narrow gulf full of whirlpools to the sea, along which they swam to Crete.

Giant Talos and return to Iolk

Here the last obstacle awaited the Argonauts: the copper giant Talos, who, by order of Zeus, guarded the possessions of the Cretan king Minos, did not want to let them ashore. However, Medea ruined him with her charms. After resting and replenishing their water supplies, the Argonauts headed north. Passing by numerous islands in the azure sea, the Argonauts finally returned safely to the Thessalian Iolk.

Founding of the Olympic Games

Thus ended the glorious expedition of the Argonauts. Having made unprecedentedly rich sacrifices to the gods, the participants of the campaign went home, promising each other that they would gather every four years to test their strength and dexterity in mutual competitions - in case one of them needed their help again. The organization of these competitions was entrusted to Hercules, and he chose for them a place in Elis, in a beautiful valley between the rivers Alpheus and Kladei, and dedicated this place to Zeus the Olympian: this is why these competitions later became known as the Olympic Games.

You can read about the further fate of Jason, Medea and other Argonauts in the relevant articles. We only add that Jason did not become the ruler of Iolk. Another cruel act of the unbridled Medea forced him to go into exile, and he ended his days under the wreckage of the decayed ship Argo. The Golden Fleece disappeared without a trace, but many centuries later it was revived in Western Europe in the form of one of the highest orders, which was abolished only with the fall of the Habsburg monarchy. The Olympic Games, as you know, still exist, however, with a one and a half thousand-year break due to the fact that Emperor Theodosius temporarily canceled them in 394 AD. e.

The myth of the Argonauts is very old, even by ancient Greek standards. With some of its episodes, we meet already in Homer, who mentions them as something well known. It has survived in numerous variants; in the oldest of them, not Colchis appears, but only the city of Eeta, Eya (for example, the poet Mimnerm, late 7th century BC).

Naturally, individual versions largely contradict each other both in the description of events and in geographical data or in the fates of individual heroes; synchronization with other myths is also very difficult. Undoubtedly, there were also versions that were not recorded in writing: judging by the image on the vase of the 5th c. BC e., stored in the British Museum, Jason fought a dragon in Colchis, on another vase (5-4 centuries BC, Vatican Museums) Jason's head is already in the dragon's mouth, etc.

The first coherent and integral story about the campaign of the Argonauts belongs to Apollonius of Rhodes (poem in 4 songs "Argonautica", 2nd half of the 3rd century BC). His example was followed in the 1st century. n. e. Roman poet Valery Flaccus, but he did not finish his epic story under the same name.

Separate plots of the myth about the Argonauts are depicted on more than a hundred antique vases (mostly from the 5th century BC) and dozens of reliefs.

An exceptional position among them is occupied by the so-called “Orviet Crater” with Argonauts (Paris, Louvre) and a bronze box with engraved images of Argonauts (the so-called “Ficoroni Box”, 4th century BC, Rome, Villa Giulia Museum).

In the Renaissance and Baroque era, scenes from the myth of the Argonauts became a favorite theme of large canvases, frescoes and tapestries - for example, the cycle of frescoes by B. Bianco (1625-1630, Wallenstein Palace in Prague) and the cycle of tapestries based on the drawings of J. F. de Trois (end of the 18th century), which now adorns the large reception hall of the royal castle in Windsor.

The campaign of the Argonauts is of constant interest to poets and writers of modern times: 1660 - the drama "The Golden Fleece" by P. Corneille; 1821 - the drama "Argonauts" by F. Grillparzer (the second part of his trilogy "The Golden Fleece"); 1889 - play "The Argonauts on Lemnos" by D. Ilich; 1944 - novel "The Golden Fleece" by R. Graves. The novel "The Argonauts" by B. Ibanez is not dedicated to mythical heroes, but to the fate of Spanish emigrants in the United States, and the play of the same name by C. Assimakopoulos is dedicated to Greek emigrants.

The ancient Greek myth of Jason, who made his famous journey to Colchis for the Golden Fleece, long time was considered to be just a beautiful invention. After all, few people believed that the Greeks were really able to get to the eastern shores of the Black Sea in those distant times. But numerous excavations carried out on the territory of modern Georgia indicate the opposite - the myth may turn out to be a reality.

In Greek mythology, the golden fleece appears as the skin of a ram, which was sent to earth by the goddess of the clouds, Nephele, on the orders of Zeus himself. The ram was sacrificed to the Thunderer on the banks of Colchis, and the skin was presented as a gift to the local king. It became a symbol of prosperity and wealth of all the Colchians. He was guarded by a dragon in the grove of Ares. Jason, who overcame many obstacles in his path, was able to get it with the help of Medea. It is difficult to say where myth ends and reality begins. We can only operate with facts. And the facts are such that in the territory of the modern Caucasus in the Bronze Age there lived great peoples of blacksmiths and artisans who armed the entire ancient world and supplied it with gold. Archaeological excavations on the territory of Georgia indicate the fact that the country had close ties with the peoples of Western Asia already 4 thousand years ago. The Golden Fleece, which seemed to many people a beautiful mythical artifact, actually turned out to be quite real.

During the excavations of one of the tombs near Batumi, a chariot was found in which the body rested. This was the last refuge of a rich man, because, according to tradition, his things were committed to the earth along with the deceased. Among them were found gold plates, bronze weapons and numerous decorations. When the circle of excavations expanded, scientists were amazed at how many gold items were buried in the ground. Casalos, gold is everywhere.

Of course, local residents needed such a number of precious metal jewelry not only for their own needs. Gold has always had a high price. And many desperate adventurers were ready to follow him even to the ends of the world, bringing with them outlandish goods. Now it is clear why the Argonauts went here for the Golden Fleece. In addition, in later chronicles there are references to Colchis and wealth, which is concentrated in the hands of local residents: “The Soans also live nearby ... In their country (Colchis), as they say, mountain streams bring gold, and barbarians catch it with sieves and shaggy skins. Hence, they say, the myth of the Golden Fleece arose. This method of gold mining was quite traditional for the ancient inhabitants of Georgia. The fleece carried not only material value, but was a symbol of power, a symbol of prosperity and prosperity. The state of the Colchians appeared on the territory of the Black Sea coast in the 9th century. BC e. in the Rioni valley. It was a fertile region. People plowed the muddy banks of the river, established an irrigation system and created flowering gardens from the marshes. Over the years, a particular style of architecture has developed. People lived in tower-like houses that have survived to this day. For many years they established trade relations with the civilization of the Hellenes. The main obstacle stood in the way - the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, which were distinguished by treacherous currents and numerous underwater reefs.

Initially, it was believed that it became possible to swim on them only with the invention of penter ships, which were operated by fifty rowers capable of resisting any current.

Since the first such ships appeared only in the 8th century BC, the myth of the Argonauts was considered only a myth. Could the voyage take place at a time when the goal was unattainable? Modern Georgian scholars believe that Jason made a breakthrough by opening the sea route to Colchis. This was one of the greatest feats of antiquity. The Greeks were attracted by this region, where bronze was forged and gold was smelted. In order to prove the possibility this trip, the English naturalist Tim Severin built a unique model of the Mycenaean vessel, which was named "New Argo". The sixteen-meter galley accommodated twenty-five people and was equipped with ten pairs of oars and a straight sail. Soon the travelers left the port of Volos, in northern Greece, and set off towards the Bosphorus. Thanks to a fair wind and the titanic efforts of professional rowers, they were able to pass both straits and enter the Black Sea. They could travel up to 20 nautical miles per day. Three months later they entered the mouth of the Rioni River, thus proving that the ancient Greeks could also travel a thousand and a half miles. However, only the most desperate and courageous sailors decided on this. However, their efforts were rewarded. But soon the civilization of Mycenae fell into decay. For several centuries, Colchis traded with its closest neighbors, until Greek society experienced a new wave of growth in the 7th-6th centuries BC.

A group of German researchers conducting excavations in Troy came across an amazing fact confirming that the Trojans were actively trading with the peoples of the Black Sea region. Among the exhibits from the famous "gold of Troy" found by Schliemann were numerous handicrafts created by craftsmen from Colchis.

The ancient Colchians were noble gunsmiths. Presumably they invented the new kind weapons - a rapier, which was able to displace the sword from the arsenal of ancient warriors. From there, the weapons came to Mycenae. During the war that swept the Mediterranean in 1200 BC. they armed all the powers of the Aegean region, since the earth abounded in metals. Maybe it was they who helped the ancient Mycenae and Hittites "devour" themselves in this ancient world war. Some authors make a rather bold assumption that it was the Colchians who invented bronze - by spawning tin and copper. But there is no evidence for this hypothesis yet. Perhaps new excavations will allow us to learn new interesting details.

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In Greek mythology, the argonauts ("sailing on the "Argo") were called participants in the voyage for the Golden Fleece to the country of Eia (or Colchis). The myth of the Argonauts was one of the most popular in the ancient world. Therefore, of course, it was reflected in the fine arts.

Ivan Myasoedov
"Argonauts"

The most detailed about the journey of the Argonauts is described in the poem Apollonius of Rhodes "Argonautics".
The plot of the myth in general terms is as follows.

Travel map of the Argonauts

Pelias , brother Esona, king Iolkos in Thessaly, received two oracle predictions: according to one, he was destined to die at the hands of a member of his kind of Aeoliids, according to another, he should beware of a man shod on one foot.
Pelias dethroned his brother, who, wanting to save his son Jason from Pelius, declared him dead and hid him with a centaur Chiron.

William Russell Flint
"Jason with the Centaur Chiron"

Having reached the age of twenty, Jason went to Iolk. Crossing the river Anaurus, Jason lost his sandal and appeared at court, as the oracle had predicted to Pelias. Jason demanded from Pelias that he return the kingdom that belonged to him by right.
The frightened Pelias feignedly promised to fulfill Jason's demand, provided that he, having gone to the country of Eyu inhabited by the Colchians, to the son of Helios, the king Eetu will propitiate the soul of the one who fled there on a golden ram Frix and deliver the skin of this ram from there - The Golden Fleece .

Pelias sends Jason for the Golden Fleece

Jason agreed, and a ship was built to travel with the help of Athena. "Argo".

Lorenzo Costa
"Argo"

He gathered the most glorious heroes from all over Hellas to participate in the campaign. The Argonauts asked those who took part in the campaign Hercules take command, but he declined in favor of Jason.

"Gathering of the Argonauts"
(image on a red-figure crater of the 5th century BC,
kept in the Louvre)

William Russell
"Argonauts"

Having sailed from the Pagasean Gulf, the Argonauts arrive on the island Lemnos, whose inhabitants a year before their arrival exterminated all the men.

Gustave Courbet
"Sleepers"

While the Argonauts were visiting the island, its queen Hypsipyle , becoming Jason's lover, invites him to stay with his companions on Lemnos, marry her and become king. And as soon as I persuaded Hercules, they forced the Argonauts to move on.

"Argonauts on Lemnos"
(antique drawing)

On the advice of a hiker Orpheus The Argonauts were initiated into the mysteries of the Kabiri on the island of Samothrace.
Having sailed through the Hellespont to Propontis, the travelers were warmly received by the inhabitants of the city of Cyzicus in Phrygia by dolions, who arranged a feast for them. At this time, the ship was attacked six-armed monsters , so that the Argonauts, led by Hercules, had to endure a fight with them.

When the Argonauts sailed on, a contrary wind at night again drove them to Cyzicus. The Dolions mistook Jason and his companions for enemies - the Pelasgians, and in the battle that broke out, Jason killed the king of the Dolions. When it became clear in the morning that a mistake had occurred, the Argonauts took part in the solemn burial.

Having gone further, the Argonauts began to compete in rowing, and Hercules, who turned out to be the most indefatigable, broke the oar. At the site of the next camp in Mysia near the island of Keos, he went into the forest to make himself a new one, and his favorite young man Gilas went to fetch water for him. nymphs springs, captivated by the beauty of Hylas, carried him into the depths, and Hercules searched in vain for the young man.

John Waterhouse
Hylas and the Nymphs

Meanwhile, the Argonauts, using a fair wind, set sail and only at dawn noticed the absence of Hercules. A dispute began on what to do, but the sea god appeared from the depths Glaucus revealed to them that Hercules, by the will of Zeus, was not destined to participate in the further campaign.

Bartholomeus Spranger
"Glavk and Scylla"

In Bithynia, the king of the Bebriki Amik , who used to engage in fisticuffs with foreigners arriving in his country, challenged one of the Argonauts to a duel. Challenge accepted Polydeuces , which struck Amik to death.

Having entered the Bosporus, the Argonauts sailed to the dwelling of a blind old man, a soothsayer Phinea who was tormented by terrible stinking birds harpies who stole food from him. Boreads Z And Kalaid , winged sons Borea , drove away the harpies forever, and the grateful Phineus told about the path that the Argonauts had to go and gave them advice on how to avoid dangers.

"Jason and Phineas"

Harpies on a red-figure antique vase

Modern depiction of harpies

Sailed to those blocking the exit to Pontus Euxine converging and diverging floating rocks Symplegadam , the Argonauts, taught by Phineus, first released a dove. She managed to fly between the approaching rocks, damaging only the tail feathers, which was a favorable omen, and the helmsman Typhius directed the Argo between the rocks. Thanks to help Athens the ship managed to overcome the current, and the approaching Symplegades only slightly damaged the stern of the ship, after which they froze forever so that a narrow passage remained between them.

Terracotta relief "Construction" Argo ":
on the left - the goddess Athena, in the center - the helmsman Typhius, on the right - the carpenter Arg.

The Argonauts headed east along the southern coast of Pontus Euxinus. Having driven away flocks of monstrous birds like harpies with a cry, they moored to the island Aretia , where they met with the sons of Frix, sailing from Colchis to Hellas and shipwrecked, who joined them.

Approaching Caucasus , travelers saw an eagle flying to Prometheus and heard the groans of God - the benefactor of mankind. Later, Prometheus, chained to a rock by the will of Zeus, will be released Hercules.

Gustave Moreau
"Prometheus"

Peter Paul Rubens
"Prometheus Chained"

Christian Hypercurl
"Hercules Frees Prometheus"

When the Argo entered the mouth of the Phasis (Rioni) River, Athena and Hera, who were favorable to Jason, asked Aphrodite , to Eros ignited love for Jason in the heart of the daughter of the king of the Colchians Eeta - the sorceress Medea.

Henry Camille Danger
"Aphrodite and Eros"

As soon as Jason with six companions appeared in the palace of Eet, Medea immediately fell in love with him.

Anthony Frederick Augustus Sandys
"Medea"

Evelyn de Morgan
"Medea"

Upon learning that the Argonauts had come for the Golden Fleece, Eet was furious. Wanting to destroy Jason, he offered him to plow the field on the copper-footed fire-breathing bulls of the god of war Ares and sow it with the teeth of the Theban dragon, from which invincible warriors grow.
However, another daughter of Eeta is the widow of Phrixus Halkiopa , fearing for the fate of her sons, who arrived with the Argonauts, conspired with Medea, who was in love with Jason, to tell the hero magic potion, which made him invincible for one day.

John Waterhouse
"Jason and Medea"

In the presence of Eet and the Colchians, Jason harnessed the bulls and, following the plow, threw the teeth of the dragon into the furrow. Even before evening, mighty warriors began to grow from them. Jason threw a huge stone at them, and hid himself, and when the soldiers began to fight each other, he killed them.

Medea, driven by love for Jason and fear of her father, seized witchcraft potions, fled to the Argo, taking from Jason a promise to marry her. At dawn, Jason and Medea went to the grove of Ares, where a terrible serpent guarded the golden fleece. Medea put the serpent to sleep with a sweet chant and a magic potion, and Jason was able to remove the golden fleece that emitted radiance from the oak (in one version of the myth, Jason killed the serpent).

Salvator Rosa
"Jason defeats the dragon"

Boris Vallejo
"Jason"

Bertel Thorvardsen
"Jason and the Golden Fleece"

Quellinius
"Jason and the Golden Fleece"

The Argonauts hurried out to sea, but Eet sent ships in pursuit of them. Since the Argonauts were returning in a new way - along the Istra (Danube), the Colchians under the command of the son of Eet Apsyrta blocked their way from Istria to the Adriatic Sea. The Argonauts were inclined to reconciliation and agree to leave Medea in the temple of Artemis, just to be able to move on with the Golden Fleece. But Medea, showering Jason with reproaches, offered to lure brother Aspirtus into a trap. The plan succeeded: Jason killed Aspirtus, and the Argonauts unexpectedly attacked the Colchians accompanying him.

Zeus was angry with them for their treacherous murder, and a talking piece of wood made from Dodona oak inserted into the keel of the Argo told the Argonauts that they would not return home until they were cleansed of filth by the daughter of Helios, the sorceress Pick(Circe).
In the Mediterranean, the Argonauts reached the island where Kirk lived, clearing them of their crime.

From Sirens saved the Argonauts Orpheus who drowned out their singing with his song.

John Waterhouse
"Siren"

Thetis and her Nereid sisters, at the request of Hera, helped the Argonauts sail past Scylla and Charybdis and the wandering rocks of Plankt.

Alkinoi and Areta, who reigned over the Phaeacians, cordially received the Argonauts, but at that time they were overtaken by the second half of the Colchian fleet. By advice Aretas Jason and Medea were immediately married, so that Alkina received reason not to send Medea to her father.

Antonio Biageo
"Engagement of Jason and Medea"

When the "Argo" was already near the Peloponnese, a storm carried her to the shallows of Libya. Here, the Argonauts for a long time could not find a way out of Tritonian Lake, until they turned to the local deity for help. Triton who helped them out to sea.

Off the coast of Crete, a copper giant Talos began to throw pieces of rock at the Argonauts, preventing them from landing on the shore. Enchanted by Medea, he injured his heel - his weak spot, after which all the blood flowed out of him and he fell lifeless.

Soon the travelers returned to Iolk. According to the most common version of the myth, Jason gave the golden fleece to Pelius, who during his absence, being sure that Jason would not return, killed his father and brother.

Having dedicated "Argo" to Poseidon, Jason, with the help of Medea, took revenge on Pelias: Pelias' daughters, at the instigation of Medea, wanting to restore their father's youth, cut his body into pieces.

Thus ended the history of the Argonauts.

However, this myth has a continuation concerning the further fate of Jason and Medea. But that's another story, which I'll tell you some other time.

Thank you for attention.

Sergei Vorobyov.

The myths about the campaign of the Argonauts are mainly set out in the poem of Apollonius of Rhodes "Argonautica".

Frix and Gella

In the ancient Minian Orchomenus in Boeotia [ 151A region in central Greece with the main city of Thebes.] the son of the wind god Eol, king Afamant, ruled. He had two children from the goddess of the clouds Nephele - the son of Phrix and the daughter of Gella. Athamantes betrayed Nephele and married the daughter of Cadmus, Ino. Ino disliked the children from her husband's first marriage and plotted to destroy them. She persuaded the women of the orchid to dry up the seeds prepared for sowing. The Orchomen sowed the fields with dried seeds, but nothing sprouted on their always fertile fields. Famine threatened the Orchomen. Then Afamant decided to send an embassy to sacred Delphi to ask the oracle of the archer Apollo about the reason for the barrenness of the fields. The insidious Ino bribed the ambassadors, and they, returning from Delphi, brought a false answer from the oracle.

“This is the answer given by the soothsayer Pythia,” the bribed ambassadors told Athamas. “Sacrifice your son Frix to the gods, and the gods will return the fertility of the fields.”

Athamas, in order to avoid the great disaster that threatened Orchomenus, decided to sacrifice his beloved son. Ino triumphed: her plan to destroy Frix had succeeded.

Everything was ready for the sacrifice. The young Frix was supposed to fall under the knife of the priest, but suddenly a golden-fleeced ram appeared, a gift from the god Hermes. The mother of Phrixus, the goddess Nephele, sent a ram to save her children. Frix and his sister Hella sat on a golden-fleeced ram, and the ram carried them through the air far to the north.

The ram was running fast. Far below were fields and forests, and silver rivers meandered between them. A ram flies above the mountains. Here is the sea. A ram flies over the sea. Hella was frightened, from fear she cannot stay on the ram. Fell into the sea of ​​Hell, and was swallowed up by eternally noisy sea ​​waves. Couldn't save Frix's sister. She died. Since that time, the sea where Helle died became known as the Hellespont (sea of ​​\u200b\u200bGella; modern Dardanelles).

Farther and farther rushed the ram with Phrixus and finally descended on the banks of Phasis in distant Colchis [ 152The Phasis River is the modern Rion in the Caucasus. The Greeks called the Black Sea coast of Transcaucasia Colchis.], where the son of the god Helios, the wizard Eet, ruled. He brought up Eet Friks, and when he matured, he married him to his daughter Halkiope. The golden ram that saved Phrixus was sacrificed to the great cloudmaker Zeus. Eet hung the golden fleece of the ram in the sacred grove of the god of war Ares. The fleece was to be guarded by a terrible, flame-spewing dragon that never closed its eyes to sleep.

The rumor about this golden fleece spread throughout Greece. The descendants of Afamant, the father of Frix, knew that the salvation and prosperity of their family depended on the possession of the rune, and they wanted to get it at any cost.

The birth and upbringing of Jason

On the shore of the blue sea bay in Thessaly [ 154A region in eastern northern Greece.] the brother of King Athamas, Creteus, built the city of Iolk. The city of Iolk grew, the fertility of its fields, trade and navigation gave it wealth. When Creteus died, his son Eson began to rule in Iolk, but his maternal brother, the son of Poseidon, Pelius, took power away from him, and Eson had to live in the city as a simple citizen.

Soon Eson had a son, a beautiful boy. Eson was afraid that the arrogant and cruel Pelias would kill his son, who rightfully held power over Iolk, and decided to hide him. He announced that the baby died immediately after birth, and celebrated even for him a magnificent wake; he himself carried his son to the slopes of Mount Pelion to the wisest of the centaurs, Chiron. There, in the forest in a cave, a boy grew up, brought up by Chiron, his mother Filira and his wife Chariklo. The wise Chiron gave him the name Jason. Chiron taught Jason everything: to wield a sword and a spear, to shoot from a tight bow, music and everything that he himself knew. There was no equal to Jason in dexterity, strength and courage, and in beauty he was equal to the celestials.

Until the age of twenty, Jason lived with Chiron. Finally, he decided to leave the secluded slopes of Pelion, go to Iolk and demand from Pelias that he return to him power over Iolk.

Jason in Iolka

Based on the verses of Pindar (Pythian ode).

When Jason came to Iolk, he went straight to the square, where all the inhabitants had gathered. The inhabitants of Iolk looked with surprise at the beautiful young man. They thought it was either Apollo or Hermes - he was so beautiful. He was not dressed like all the inhabitants of Iolk; a motley panther skin was thrown over his shoulders, and only one right foot was shod in a sandal [ 155Why Jason had only his right foot shod, see below.]. Lush curls of Jason fell to his shoulders, he shone all over with the beauty and strength of the young god. He stood calmly among the crowd of citizens admiring him, leaning on two spears.

At this time, Pelius also arrived in the square in a rich chariot. He looked at the young man and shuddered, noticing that the young man had only one foot shod. Pelias was frightened: after all, the oracle had once revealed to him that he was in danger of death from a man who would come to Iolk from the mountains and be shod on one foot; this man, the son of Aeson, was to destroy Pelias by force or cunning, and death must be inevitable.

Pelias hid his fear and arrogantly asked the unknown young man:

“Where are you from, young man, what tribe do you belong to?” But only answer the truth, do not defile yourself with lies, I am the enemy of hateful lies.

Jason answered Pelius calmly:

– Wise Chiron only taught me the truth and honesty, and I am always faithful to his instructions. For twenty whole years I lived in the cave of Chiron and never violated the truth and was not guilty of anything. I returned home here, to my native Iolk, to my father Eson. I want to demand that my power over Yolk be returned to me. She, as I heard, was taken from my father by the treacherous Pelius. Citizens, take me to the home of my great ancestors. I am not a stranger to you, I was born here, in Iolka. I am Jason son of Aeson.

The inhabitants of Iolk pointed out to Jason the house of his father. When Jason entered, the father immediately recognized his son. Tears of joy welled up in the eyes of old Eson, he rejoiced, seeing that his son had become a mighty and beautiful young man.

The news of the return of Jason quickly reached the brothers of Eson: Feret, king of Fer, and Amphaon from Messenia. Soon they arrived at Aeson with their sons Admet and Melampod. Eson and his son Jason honored them with feasts for five days and nights. Jason revealed to them in a conversation his desire to regain power over Iolk. They approved Jason's desire and went with him to Pelius. Jason demanded that Pelius return power to him, and promised to leave him all the wealth that he had taken from Aeson. Pelias was afraid to refuse Jason.

- Well, I agree, - Pelias answered, - but I will put only one condition on you: you must appease the underground gods first. The shadow of Frix, who died in distant Colchis, prays that they go to Colchis and take possession of the golden fleece. The shadow of Friks revealed this to me in a dream. In Delphi, the archer Apollo himself ordered me to go to Colchis. I am old and cannot decide on such a great feat, but you are young and full of strength, accomplish this feat, and I will return power over Iolk to you.

So Pelias answered Jason, holding malice in his heart. He believed that Jason would die if he decided to go to Colchis for the Golden Fleece.

Jason gathers companions and prepares for a trip to Colchis

Immediately after talking with Pelius, Jason began to prepare for a campaign in Colchis. He traveled all over the countries of Greece and everywhere he called heroes glorious for their deeds on a campaign to Colchis for the Golden Fleece. All the great heroes answered his call. The greatest of the heroes himself, the son of Zeus Hercules, agreed to take part in the campaign. All the heroes gathered in Iolka. Whoever was not among them: here were the pride of Athens, the mighty Theseus, and the sons of Zeus and Leda, Castor and Polydeuces with their friends Idas and Linkey, and the winged heroes Calais and Zet, the sons of Boreas and Orithia, and Meleager from Calydon, and mighty Ankey, and Admet, and Telamon, and many others. Among the heroes was I, the singer Orpheus. Never before had Greece seen such an assembly of heroes. Mighty, beautiful, like gods, they attracted the enthusiastic gaze of all the inhabitants of Iolk. What obstacles could stop them, who could resist them, what could frighten them?

The ship for the heroes was also ready. This ship was built by the son of Arestor, Arg; the goddess Athena herself helped him. She made a piece of sacred oak from the grove of the oracle of Zeus in Dodona in the stern. This ten-oared ship, called the Argo, was beautiful. He was light and fast; like a seagull, he rushed through the waves of the sea. By the name of the Argo ship, the heroes who took part in the campaign were also called Argonauts (sailors from the Argo). Not only Athena patronized the Argonauts - Hera also took them under her protection. She burned with hatred for Pelius because he did not make sacrifices to her. Jason, on the other hand, enjoyed the special grace of Hera. So, one day, in order to test the young hero, she appeared to him under the guise of a decrepit old woman on the banks of a mountain river and with tears asked him to transfer her to the other side. The hero carefully lifted the old woman onto his shoulders and carried her across stormy river. Only Jason lost the sandal on his left foot while crossing the river. Since then, she loved Hera Jason and helped him in everything. Also, the archer Apollo patronized the Argonauts: after all, he encouraged the heroes to undertake a campaign, and he also predicted happiness and good luck for them.

Having gathered in Iolka, the heroes wanted to elect the great Hercules as their leader, but he refused and offered to elect Jason. Typhius was chosen as helmsman on the Argo, and Linkey stood on the bow of the ship, from whose gaze nothing could hide, not only on earth, but even underground.

Everything was ready to sail. The Argo, launched into the water, was already gently rocking on the waves; the stores of food and fresh water were already loaded; the last sacrifices were made to Apollo and all the gods. Happy omens were given by the sacrifice. It was celebrated in the evening and a merry feast. It was time for a long, dangerous voyage.

As soon as the edge of the sky lit up with the purple light of the morning dawn, the helmsman Typhius woke the Argonauts. The Argonauts boarded the ship and sat on the oars, two for each bench. Mighty rowers leaned on the oars together. The Argo proudly sailed out of the harbor into the open sea. The swimmers raised a snow-white sail. A fair wind blew the sail, and the light ship quickly rushed along the affably rustling waves. Here, on a chariot drawn by snow-white horses, the radiant sun god Helios ascended to heaven. The sail of the Argo was tinged with pink light, and the waves of the sea sparkled in the morning rays of the sun.

Orpheus struck the strings of the golden cithara, and his marvelous song resounded throughout the expanse of the sea. The heroes listened to the song. And from the depths of the sea fish and swift dolphins swam; enchanted by the singing of Orpheus, they sailed after the Argo, which quickly cut through the waves, like a herd, which, listening to the sweet sounds of a flute, follows the shepherd.

Argonauts on Lemnos

After a short happy voyage, the Argonauts arrived at the flowering island of Lemnos. The young queen Hypsipyla ruled there. Not a single man was on Lemnos. All their husbands were killed by the Lemnian women for their treason. Only one king Foant, the father of Gipsipyla, escaped death. His daughter saved him.

When the Argonauts landed on the shore of Lemnos and sent a messenger to the city, the Lemnians gathered for a council in the city square, and the young Hypsipyle advised them not to let the Argonauts into the city. She was afraid that the heroes would find out about the atrocity that the Lemnians had committed. But old Poluxo began to object to the queen.

She insisted that the Argonauts should be allowed into the city.

“Who will protect you,” said Poluxo, “if enemies attack Lemnos?” Who will take care of you when you are old, if you are left alone? No, let strangers into the city, let them stay here.

The Lemnians listened to the old Poluxo. They immediately sent one of the Lemnian women with a messenger who had come from the Argo to ask the heroes to enter the city.

Jason put on a luxurious purple robe, woven for him by Pallas Athena herself, and went to the city. Gipsipyla received him with honor and invited him to live in her palace. The rest of the Argonauts also came to the city. Only a few people with Hercules remained on the Argo.

Fun and joy reigned on the island. Everywhere, sacrifices to the gods were burned at the stake, festivities were replaced by festivities, feasts by feasts. It seemed that the heroes forgot about the great feat that awaits them. They feasted carelessly on rich Lemnos. Finally, Hercules secretly summoned the Argonauts to the seashore, where the Argo was standing. The greatest of heroes angrily reproached them for the fact that for the sake of pleasure, for the sake of a cheerful and carefree life, they forgot about exploits. The heroes stood ashamed, listening to well-deserved reproaches. They decided to leave Lemnos immediately. The Argo was immediately equipped to go. The heroes were already ready to board the ship and sit at the oars, when the Lemnian women came ashore in a crowd. They begged the heroes not to leave them, to stay with them. But the heroes were relentless. The Lemnian women said goodbye to them with tears. The heroes ascended the Argo, leaned on the oars in unison; the waves frothed under the blow of the oars of the mighty oarsmen, and, like a bird, the Argo rushed into the expanse of the sea.

Argonauts on the Cyzicus Peninsula

When the Argonauts sailed on the Propontis [ 156Modern Marmara Sea.], then along the way they landed on the peninsula of Cyzicus. Dolions lived there, the descendants of Poseidon. They were ruled by King Cyzicus. Not far from Cyzicus was Bear Mountain, on which six-armed giants lived; only thanks to the protection of Poseidon could the dolions live safely next to such neighbors. King Cyzicus received the Argonauts with honor, and they spent the whole day with him at a merry feast. As soon as the morning dawned, the Argonauts gathered on their way. They had already ascended the Argo, when suddenly six-armed giants appeared on the opposite shore of the bay. They began to throw huge stones into the sea, tore off the whole rocks and piled them one on top of the other in order to block the Argonauts' exit from the bay into the open sea. Hercules grabbed his tight bow and, one after another, began to send his deadly arrows at the giants. Covering themselves with shields, with spears in their hands, the Argonauts rushed at the giants. The battle did not last long, one after another the giants fell to the ground and into the sea, they were all killed, not one of them escaped.

The Argonauts set off. A fair wind blew the sail, and the whole day calmly rushed along the waves of the Argo. Evening came, the sun god Helios descended from the sky, the night shrouded the sky and earth in darkness. The wind has changed and it is already carrying the Argo back to those shores that it left so recently. In the darkness of the night, the Argonauts landed on Cyzicus. The inhabitants of Cyzicus did not recognize them, they mistook them for sea robbers and attacked them, led by their young king. A terrible night battle broke out. In complete darkness, the heroes fight with their recent friends. With a sharp spear, the mighty Jason hit the chest of the young king Cyzicus, and with a groan he fell to the ground. But now the rays of the dawn goddess Eos painted the east with a scarlet light. Morning comes. The fighters recognize each other and are horrified. Friends fought with friends. For three days they performed feast [ 157Funeral feast and military competitions in honor of the deceased.] the Argonauts and the inhabitants of Cyzicus for the dead, they mourned for the murdered young king for three days. His wife, the beautiful Cleite, the daughter of Merop, could not bear the death of her husband, she herself pierced her chest with a sharp sword.

Argonauts in Mysia

After a short voyage, the Argonauts reached the shores of Mysia [ 158An area in the west of Asia Minor with the main city of Pergamon.]. There they landed on the shore to stock up on water and food. The mighty Hercules went to the forest, which grew near the coast, in order to make himself a new one instead of a broken oar. He found a tall fir, wrapped his mighty arms around it and uprooted it. The mighty hero put the fir on his shoulder and went to the shore. Suddenly, his friend Polyphemus runs towards him and tells that he had just heard the cry of the young Hylas, who called them. Hercules rushed to look for Hylas, but could not find him anywhere. Heracles was saddened. Together with Polyphemus, he searches everywhere for Hylas, but all in vain.

And the Argonauts, as soon as the radiant morning star ascended into the sky, foreshadowing the imminent onset of morning, set off on their journey, not noticing in the predawn twilight that neither Hercules nor Polyphemus was among them. The heroes were saddened when they saw, when morning came, that there were no two most glorious comrades between them. Lowering his head, Jason sat in grief; he did not seem to hear the lamentations of his companions, as if he did not notice the absence of Hercules and Polyphemus. Faithful friend of Hercules Telamon approached Jason and, showering him with reproaches, said:

- Alone you sit so calmly. You can now rejoice. There is no Hercules between us, and there is no one to overshadow your glory now. No, I will not go with you if you do not return and find Hercules and Polyphemus.

Telamon rushed to the helmsman Typhius and wanted to force him to turn the Argo back. In vain did the Boreads try to calm him down, the angry Telamon did not want to listen to anyone, he blamed everyone that they intentionally left Hercules and Polyphemus in Mysia. Suddenly, from the waves of the sea, the head of the prophetic sea god Glaucus, entwined with algae, appeared. He grabbed the Argo by the keel with his hand, stopped it and said:

- By the will of the great Thunderer Zeus, Hercules and Polyphemus remained in Mysia. Hercules must return to Greece and, in the service of Eurystheus, perform twelve great feats. Polyphemus is destined to found the glorious city of Kios in the country of the Khalibs. The heroes remained in Mysia because they are looking for the beautiful Hylas, stolen by the nymphs.

Having said this, Glaucus again plunged into the sea and disappeared from the eyes of the Argonauts.

The heroes calmed down. Telamon reconciled with Jason. The heroes sat on the oars, and the Argo quickly rushed across the sea, driven by the friendly strokes of the mighty rowers.

Argonauts in Bithynia [ 159A region in the northwest of Asia Minor.]

The next morning, the Argonauts landed on the coast of Bithynia. They were not met there as hospitably as in Cyzicus. In Bithynia, the Bebriki lived on the seashore, ruled by King Amik. He was proud of his gigantic strength and fame as an invincible fist fighter. The cruel king forced all strangers to fight with himself and mercilessly killed them with a mighty blow of his fist. Amik met the Argonauts with ridicule, he called the great heroes vagabonds and challenged the strongest of them to battle, if only one of them dared to measure his strength with him. The heroes are angry. From their midst came the young son of Zeus and Leda, Polydeuces. He calmly accepted the challenge of the king of the Bebriks. Like a formidable Typhon, stood Amik in his black cloak and with a huge club on his shoulders in front of Polydeuces. With a gloomy look he measured Pollux; and he stood before Amik, shining like a star with his beauty. Soldiers prepared for battle. Threw Amik on the ground fist belts [ 160During the fistfight, the Greeks wrapped their arms up to the elbow with belts, on which copper convex plaques were often attached. A blow as a result of this could be fatal.]. Without choosing, Polydeuces picked up the nearest straps and tied his arm around. The fight has begun. Like an angry bull, the king of the Bebriks rushed at Polideuk. Polideuces deftly repelled his blows, not retreating a single step under the onslaught of Amik. The battle was interrupted for a moment so that the fighters could catch their breath. Now they are fighting again, and blows are raining down one after another. Amik swung his hand and was about to inflict a terrible blow to Polideucus on the head, but the young hero dodged and struck Amik in the ear with such a blow that he crushed his cranial bone. In his death throes, Amik fell to the ground. With loud cries, the Argonauts greeted the winner of Polydeuces.

When the Bebriks saw that their king had been killed, they attacked Polideukos. The first two were thrown to the ground by Polydeuces himself with blows of his fist. The Argonauts grabbed their weapons and rushed into battle with the bebriks. Ankey's heavy ax whistled like a whirlwind in the ranks of the bebriks, one after another Kastor strikes them with a sparkling sword. Heroes fight like lions. Bebriks took to flight. The heroes pursued them for a long time. With rich booty, they returned to the seashore. The victors feasted all night on the shore, and the victorious song of Orpheus sounded loudly. To the sounds of his golden cithara, he praised the young conqueror of the king of the Bebriki Amik, the beautiful Polydeuces, the son of Zeus the Thunderer.

Argonauts at Phineus [ 161The myth of Phineus, in the version in which it is given by the historian Diodorus, is used as an example of a relic of matriarchy by F. Engels in his work The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Engels writes: “... the Argonauts, led by Hercules, land in Thrace and find there that Phineus, incited by his new wife, is torturing his two sons, born of his rejected wife, the Boread Cleopatra. But among the Argonauts there are also the Boreads, the brothers of Cleopatra, i.e. brothers of the mothers of the tortured. They immediately stand up for their nephews, free them and kill the guards” (F. Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State. Gospolitizdat, 1953, p. 141).]

On the morning of the next day, the Argonauts set out on their journey. Soon they arrived at the shores of Thrace [ 162Country in the northeastern part of the Balkan Peninsula.]. The heroes went ashore to replenish their supplies. On the seashore they saw a house and went to it. A blind old man came out of the house to meet the Argonauts; he could barely stand on his feet and was shaking all over from weakness. Having reached the threshold of his house, the old man sank to the ground in exhaustion. The Argonauts raised it, and a feeling of pity took possession of them. From the words of the elder, they learned that this was Phineus, the son of Agenor, who was formerly the king of Thrace. Phineus Apollo did not punish for the fact that he abused the gift of divination received from Apollo, and revealed to people the secrets of Zeus. Apollo struck Phineus with blindness, and the gods sent harpies, half-maidens, half birds, to Phineus, who, flying into his house, devoured all the food and spread a terrible stench around the house. The gods revealed to Phineus that he would get rid of this punishment of the gods only when the Argonauts arrived to him, among whom were two winged sons of Boreas, Zet and Kalaid. He began to pray to Phineus heroes to release him from disaster, he prayed to the Boreads to expel the harpies; after all, he was not a stranger to the Boreads - he was married to their sister Cleopatra.

The heroes agreed to help Phineus. They prepared a rich meal, but as soon as they lay down [ 163The Greeks usually did not sit at the table, but reclined, leaning with one hand on the pillow.] Phineus at the table to satisfy his hunger, as the harpies flew in and, not paying attention to the cries of the Argonauts, devoured all the food, spreading a terrible stench throughout the house; then the harpies rose up and rushed from the house of Phineus. The Boreads pursued them on their mighty wings. They pursued the harpies for a long time and finally overtook them at the Plotian Islands. The Boreads drew their swords and were about to slay the harpies, when suddenly the messenger of the gods, Irida, came on her rainbow wings from high Olympus. She stopped the Boreads and said that the gods had ordered the harpies not to return to Phineus again. The Boreads flew back to Thrace.

Since then, the Plotian rocks have been called Strofadas [ 164Strofadas - three small islands lying in the south of Greece, against the western coast of Messenia.], i.e., return islands.

As soon as the harpies, pursued by the Boreads, flew away, the Argonauts prepared a new meal for Phineus, and the old man could finally satisfy his terrible hunger. At the meal, Phineas revealed to the Argonauts what other dangers awaited them on the way to Colchis and gave them advice on how to overcome them. Phineus also advised the heroes, upon arrival in Colchis, to call on the golden Aphrodite for help, since only she can help Jason get the golden fleece. The Argonauts listened with attention to the prophetic old man, trying to remember everything he said to them.

Soon the Boreads also returned and told how they pursued the harpies. The aged Phineas rejoiced when he learned that he was forever freed from the appearance of harpies.

Symplegades [ 165Symplegades, or Symplegades rocks (translated into Russian means "colliding rocks"), were, according to the Greeks, at the entrance to the Black Sea.]

The Argonauts did not stay long at Phineus. They hurried on. The Argo rushed quickly along the waves of the sea. Suddenly there was a distant noise ahead. All clearer and louder this noise. It is like the roar of an approaching storm, sometimes muffled as if by thunder. Here the Symplegade rocks appeared. The heroes saw how they parted and again with a terrible roar the rocks hit each other. The sea churned around them, spray flying high at every clash of rocks. When the rocks parted again, the waves between them rushed and swirled in a violent whirlpool.

The heroes remembered the advice of Phineas to send the dove forward between the rocks; if a dove flies by, then the Argo will sail unscathed past the Symplegades. Argonauts leaned on the oars. Here they are at the very rocks. Rocks collided with thunder and again diverge. Then the hero Euphem released a dove. A dove flies like an arrow between the rocks. Here the rocks closed again with such thunder that it seemed that the sky trembled. Salt spray washed over the Argonauts, and the Argo swirled among the waves, as if caught in a whirlwind. A dove flew unharmed between the rocks, only the tip of its tail was torn from it by colliding rocks. The Argonauts shouted with joy and leaned on the oars in unison. The rocks have parted. A huge wave with a foamy crest picked up the Argo and threw it into the strait. Another wave rushes towards, she threw back the Argo. The waves are boiling and bubbling all around. The oars are bent. The Argo crackles, as if groaning from the pressure of the waves. Here another wave rose, high, like a mountain; it fell on the Argo, and it spun around like a fragile canoe. The rocks are already approaching. Now they collide. Death is inevitable. Then the beloved daughter of Zeus, Pallas Athena, came to the aid of the Argonauts. With her mighty hand she held one of the rocks, and with the other she pushed the Argo with such force that it shot out of the strait like an arrow. Only the end of the rudder was crushed by the closed rocks. The rocks parted again and stopped, forever immovable, on the sides of the strait. The decree of fate was fulfilled, that only then the Symplegades will be motionless, when a ship sails between them. The Argonauts rejoiced - they escaped the most terrible danger. Now they could be sure that they would end their campaign happily.

Aretiada Island and arrival in Colchis

The Argonauts sailed for a long time along the banks of the Euxine Pontus [ 166Euxine Pontus- that is, the hospitable sea; so the Greeks began to call the Black Sea, having become acquainted with its fertile, hospitable shores. Previously, they called the Black Sea Auxinus, that is, inhospitable, as they were frightened by the storms of this sea.]. They passed many countries, saw many peoples. Finally, an island appeared in the distance. The Argo was rapidly approaching the island, the shore was not far away. Suddenly, a large bird rose from the island, sparkling in the rays of the sun with its wings; she flew over the Argo and dropped her feather on one of the heroes - Oiley. Like an arrow, the feather pierced into Oiley's shoulder, blood poured from the wound, and the oar fell from the hands of the wounded hero. Oiley's comrades removed the feather from his wound. The Argonauts look at the pen with surprise and see that it is copper and sharp, like an arrow. Another bird soared over the island and flew to the Argo, but the hero Clitius was already waiting for her with a bow in his hands. As soon as the bird flew up to the Argo, Cletius shot an arrow at it, and the dead bird fell into the sea. Seeing this bird covered with copper feathers, the Argonauts realized that these were Stymphalidae birds, and the island where they live was Aretiada. Amphidamant advised the heroes to put on armor and cover themselves with shields. Before landing on the shore, the Argonauts began to shout, hit their shields with spears and swords. A huge flock of birds soared over the island, they flew high above the Argo, and a whole rain of feathers-arrows fell on the heroes. From these arrows, the heroes covered themselves with shields. The birds, having described a circle over the Argo, soon disappeared far beyond the horizon.

The Argonauts came to the shore of Aretiada and were about to settle down to rest, when four young men came out to meet them. The young men were terribly emaciated, their clothes hung in tatters, barely covering their bodies. These were the sons of Frix. They left Colchis to return to Orchomenus, but on the way they suffered a shipwreck on a stormy night, and only by a lucky chance the waves threw them onto Aretiada, where the Argonauts found them. The heroes rejoiced at this meeting; Jason was especially glad: after all, the young men were his relatives. The Argonauts fed the young men, gave them new clothes and told them that they were going to the kingdom of Eeta for the Golden Fleece. The eldest of the young men, Argos, promised to help the Argonauts, but warned them that King Eet, the son of Helios, is powerful and cruel and does not give mercy to anyone. But nothing could stop the Argonauts from doing just decision- Obtain the Golden Fleece.

The next morning, the Argonauts set out on their journey. They sailed for a long time. Finally, in the distance, like clouds gathered on the horizon, the peaks of the Caucasus turned blue. Now it was not far to Colchis.

The Argo, driven by the uniform strokes of the oars, rushes quickly. The sun is already hiding, sinking into the sea. Evening shadows ran across the waves. High above the Argo came the sound of flapping wings. It was a huge eagle flying towards the rock to which the titan Prometheus was chained. The wind rose on the sea from the flapping of the huge wings of an eagle. He disappeared into the distance, and the heavy groans of Prometheus sadly reached the Argonauts; they came from afar, muffled at times by the strokes of the oars.

The coast is far away. Here is the mouth of Phasis. The Argonauts rowed upstream and anchored in the bay of the river, overgrown with thick reeds. Jason made a libation of gratitude to the gods and called on the gods of Colchis and the souls of dead heroes to help him in his dangerous work. The heroes on the Argo fell asleep peacefully. Their goal was achieved, they are in Colchis, near the capital of King Eet, but many more dangers lay ahead of them.

Hera and Athena at Aphrodite

When the Argonauts arrived in Colchis, the great goddess Hera and the goddess Athena consulted on high Olympus how to help Jason get the golden fleece. Finally, the goddesses decided to go to the goddess of love Aphrodite and ask her to command her son Eros to pierce the heart of Medea, the daughter of Eet, with a golden arrow and inspire her with love for Jason. The goddesses knew that only the sorceress Medea could help Jason in his dangerous feat.

When both goddesses came to Aphrodite, she was at home alone. Aphrodite sat on a rich golden throne and combed her lush curls with a golden comb. Aphrodite saw the goddesses entering, stood up to meet them and greeted them affectionately. Having seated the goddesses on golden benches, forged by Hephaestus himself, the goddess of love asked them about the reason for their arrival. The goddesses told her how they wanted to help the hero Jason, and asked Aphrodite to order Eros to pierce the heart of Medea. Aphrodite agreed. The goddesses said goodbye to Aphrodite, and she went to look for her playful son. Eros was playing dice with Ganymede. The cunning Eros beat the simple-hearted Ganymede and laughed loudly at him. At this time, Aphrodite approached them. She hugged her son and said to him:

- Listen, rascal. I want to entrust you with one thing. Take your bow and arrows quickly and fly to the ground. There, in Colchis, pierce the heart of the daughter of King Eet, Medea, with an arrow, let her fall in love with the hero Jason. If you do this, I will give you the toy that Adrastea once made for little Zeus. Just fly now, it needs to be done soon.

Eros asked his mother to give him a toy right away, but the mother, knowing the cunning boy, did not agree to give him a toy before he fulfilled her order. Convinced that he would not receive anything from his mother before he completed the assignment, Eros grabbed his bow and arrows and quickly rushed from the high Olympus to the ground in Colchis, sparkling in the rays of the sun with his golden wings.

Jason at Aeet

Argonauts woke up early in the morning. At the council, they decided that Jason should go with the sons of Phrixus to King Eet and ask him to give the fleece to the Argonauts, but if the proud king refuses, then only resort to force.

With the staff of the world, Jason went to the palace to Eet. The goddess Hera covered Jason and his companions with a thick cloud so that the inhabitants of Colchis would not offend the heroes. When the heroes approached the palace of Eet, the cloud parted, and they saw the palace of Eet. This palace was majestic. High were its walls with many towers reaching into the sky. Wide gates, decorated with marble, led to the palace. Rows of white columns gleamed in the sun, forming a portico.

All that was in Eeta's palace, all the rich decoration was made for him by Hephaestus in gratitude for the fact that Eeta's father, the sun god Helios, drove off Hephaestus, who was exhausted in the battle with the giants, from the Phlegrean fields in his golden chariot. Many halls surrounded the yard. King Eet lived with his wife in the most luxurious one, his son Absyrtus lived in another; for its beauty, the Colchians called Absyrt Phaeton (shining). In the rest of the halls lived the daughter of Eeta Halkiopa, the wife of the deceased Frix, and the youngest daughter of Eeta Medea, the great sorceress, a servant of the goddess Hecate.

When Jason and his companions entered the courtyard near the palace of Eeta, Medea came out of her halls. She went to visit Halkiopa. Medea cried out in amazement when she saw the strangers. At her cry, Halkiope came out and saw her sons. Rejoicing at their return, Halkiope ran up to them. She hugs, kisses her sons, whom she did not think to see again. Eet came out to the noise. He calls strangers to his palace and orders to prepare a sumptuous feast for his servants. At the time when Jason exchanged greetings with Eet, Eros descended from the high Olympus on his golden wings. Hiding behind a pillar, he pulled the string of his bow and took out a golden arrow. Then, invisible to everyone, Eros stood behind Jason and shot his arrow right into the heart of Medea. An arrow pierced her heart, and she immediately felt love for Jason.

Jason went with his companions to the palace of Aeet. There the king of Colchis invited them to lie down at the banquet table. During the feast, Argos told Eeta about how he and his brothers suffered a shipwreck, how their stormy waves threw them onto the island of Aretiada, and how the Argonauts found them there, dying of hunger. Argos also said why Jason came with the heroes to Colchis. As soon as Zeth heard that Jason wanted to get the Golden Fleece, his eyes flashed with anger and he moved his eyebrows menacingly. Eet does not believe that heroes have sailed for the Golden Fleece, he thinks: is it possible that the sons of Phrixus planned to seize power over the whole of Colchis and for this purpose brought Greek heroes with them? Eet showers Jason with reproaches, he wants to drive him out of the palace and threatens him with execution. Angry speeches were already ready to fly from the lips of Telamon in response to the threats of the king, but Jason stopped him. He tries to calm Eet, assures him that they sailed to Colchis only for the rune, and promises the king to do any service, to fulfill any order, if the king gives him the golden fleece as a reward. Eet thought. Finally, deciding to destroy Jason, he said to him:

“Very well, you will receive the fleece, but first, fulfill my next assignment: plow the field dedicated to Ares with my iron plow, and harness copper-footed, fire-breathing bulls to the plow; sow this field with the teeth of the dragon, and when armored warriors grow out of the teeth of the dragon, fight with them and slay them. If you do this, you will receive the fleece.

Jason did not immediately answer Eetu, finally said:

- I agree, Eet, but you also fulfill this promise, because you know that I cannot refuse to fulfill my order, since I have already arrived here, in Colchis, by the will of fate.

Having said this, Jason left with his companions.

Argonauts turn to Medea for help

When Jason returned to the Argo, he told his comrades what happened in the palace of Eeta and what task the king had given him. The Argonauts thought. How to be him, how to fulfill Eet's order? Finally, Argos said:

- Friends, his daughter, Medea, lives in the palace of Eeta. She is a great sorceress and she alone can help us. I'll go and ask my mother to convince Medea to help us. If Medea helps, then we will not be afraid of any dangers.

As soon as Argos said this, a white dove flew over the Argo, pursued by a kite. The dove flew up to Jason and took cover in the folds of his cloak, and the kite fell on the Argo.

- This is a happy sign of the gods, - the soothsayer Pug exclaimed, - the gods themselves tell us to ask for help from Medea. Look, the bird dedicated to Aphrodite has escaped on Jason's chest! Remember what Phineas said. Didn't he advise us to pray to Aphrodite for help? Pray the goddess, she will help us. Let Argos quickly go to his mother, she will convince Medea to help us.

The Argonauts obeyed the prophetic Pug: they made a sacrifice to Aphrodite, and Argos quickly went to the palace of Eeta to his mother.

Meanwhile, Zeta gathered all the Colchians to the square. He told the people about the arrival of strangers and ordered to guard the Argo so that none of the Argonauts could escape. Eet decided to burn the Argo with all the heroes after Jason died on the field dedicated to Ares; he decided to subject the sons of Phrixus to a painful execution.

Night has come. The capital of Eeta fell into a dream. Peace reigned everywhere. Only he is not in the halls of Medea. A string of dreams fly over her head, one more disturbing than the other. Then Medea dreams that Jason fights bulls, and Medea herself should serve as a reward for the victory. Then she dreams that she herself enters into a fight with the bulls breathing fire and easily defeats them. He sees how her parents refuse to give her as a wife to Jason - after all, he did not defeat the bulls. A dispute flares up between Jason and Eet, Medea herself must resolve this dispute. When she decided the dispute in favor of Jason, she angered her father and he shouted menacingly at her. Medea woke up all in tears, wants to run to Halkiope, but is ashamed to go to her. Three times already she took hold of the handle of the door, but each time she turned back. She fell on Medea's bed and sobbed. One of Medea's slaves heard her sobs and told Halkiopes about it. Chalkiope hurries to her sister and sees how Medea lies, sobbing, on her bed.

“Oh, my sister,” says Halkiopa, “what are you crying about? Are you shedding tears about the fate of my sons? Have you not learned that our father wants to destroy them?

Medea did not utter a word in response to Halkiope, for she did not weep for her sons, but at last she said:

“I have had ominous dreams, sister. Death threatens your sons and the stranger with whom they returned. Oh, that the gods would give me the strength to help them!

Halciope shuddered with horror when she heard the words of Medea; hugging her, she pleads for help. He knows Halkiop that Medea can help Jason with her charms. And Medea said to Halkiopa:

“Listen, sister, I will help the stranger. Let him come in the morning to the temple of Hecate, I will give him a talisman that will help him accomplish the feat. Promise me only to keep everything a secret, otherwise the father will destroy us all.

Halkiope is gone. Medea was left alone. Contrasting feelings fought in her chest. Now she was afraid to go against the will of her father, then again she decided to help Jason, whom she loved so much. She even wanted to commit suicide by taking poison. Medea had already taken out a chest with poison, opened it, but the goddess Hera inspired her with an uncontrollable thirst for life. Medea pushed away the casket with poison, forgot all her doubts, she thought only about Jason and decided to help him.

As soon as dawn broke and the distant snowy peaks of the Caucasus began to turn pink, Argos came to the Argonauts and informed them that Medea had agreed to help Jason and asked Jason to come to the temple of Hecate. When the sun rose, Jason went with Argos and the soothsayer Pug to the temple of Hecate. The goddess Hera made Jason so beautiful that even the Argonauts admired looking at him.

Meanwhile, Medea, getting up early in the morning, took out a chest with magical ointments and took out an ointment from it, which was called "Prometheus's oil." It was prepared from the juice of the roots of a plant grown from the blood of Prometheus. Anyone who rubbed himself with this ointment became invulnerable to either iron, or copper, or fire; he acquired invincible strength and became invincible for a day. It was this ointment that Medea decided to give to Jason. Medea called the slaves and went to the temple of Hecate. Joyfully was in the heart of Medea, she forgot all her anxieties and thought only of a meeting with Jason.

Here is the temple of Hecate. Medea entered. Jason was not there yet. Jason soon arrived. Medea looked at him, and her heart beat violently in her chest. Can't utter Medea's words.

Jason and Medea stood silent for a long time; Finally, the hero broke the silence. He took Medea by the hand and said:

- Beautiful maiden, why did you lower your eyes to the ground? Why are you afraid of me? Do you think that I harbor malicious intent? No, I did not come here with evil intentions. I have come to pray for your protection. Only, I beg you, tell me the truth; remember that Hecate will not tolerate lies in her sanctuary, neither will Zeus, the protector of all those who pray for help. Tell me can you help me? If you help, they will glorify your name all over Greece great heroes who came with me here to Colchis. Remember how great is the glory of the daughter of Minos, Ariadne, who helped the great Theseus.

Medea was silent and only looked at Jason with eyes full of love. She was beautiful in her embarrassment. With a trembling hand, she took out the prepared magic ointment from her belt and handed it to Jason. In a barely audible voice, Medea said to him:

- Listen, Jason, this is what my help will be: at night you bathe in the river; having put on black clothes, dig a deep hole on the shore and over it offer a black sheep as a sacrifice to Hekate, dousing it with honey. Then go to your ship, but look - do not turn around. You will hear voices and the furious barking of dogs, but you go straight and do not be afraid. When morning comes, smear your body, spear, shield and sword with this ointment. The ointment will give you irresistible strength, and you will fulfill the order of Eet. Just remember: when warriors grow out of the ground, throw a stone at them, and they start fighting with each other, then attack them. Take the ointment, with its help you will get the fleece. Take the fleece wherever you want.

Medea was silent. Her eyes clouded sadly at the mere thought of separation from Jason. Medea stood with her head down, full of sadness, and finally said:

- You will leave, Jason, to your homeland, but do not forget me, at least occasionally remember Medea - after all, I saved you.

Medea asked where Jason was from. Jason told her about Iolka, about the flowering valley where he stands. He called Medea to go with him to Greece. He promised her great honor, promised that they would honor her like a goddess in Iolka.

- Oh, if Eet agreed to conclude an alliance of friendship with me! - Jason exclaimed, - oh, if he would let you go with me to my homeland!

“No, this will not happen,” Medea said with a sigh full of sorrow, “my father is stern and implacable. Return alone to your homeland, but don't forget me. Oh, how glad I would be if the violent wind carried me on its wings to Iolk, so that I could remind you of myself when you forget me, when you forget that I saved you.

Tears welled up in Medea's eyes. Jason looks at her, and love for Medea takes possession of him. He begs her to secretly leave her father's house and run with him to Iolk.

Medea is ready to leave Colchis, separation from Jason frightens her, she is afraid that she cannot bear this separation. Medea cries at the mere thought of separation from Jason. Hera inspired her desire to follow Jason everywhere. The goddess wants Medea to go to Iolk; there, with her help, Hera decided to destroy the hated Pelias.

Medea said goodbye to Jason; he promised her to come back to the temple of Hecate to meet her again and decide what to do. Medea rode home merrily in her chariot - she knew that Jason loved her.

Jason does Aeet's errand

Night has come. Dressed in black clothes, Jason went to the shore of Phasis and there, in the dead of midnight, bathed in its fast waves. Then he dug a deep hole and brought over it, as Medea told him, a sacrifice to Hekate. As soon as the sacrifice was made, the earth trembled and the great Hekate appeared with smoking torches in her hands. Terrible monsters and fire-spewing dragons surrounded Hekate, terrible hell-hounds barked and howled around her. The surrounding nymphs fled with a loud cry when they saw Hekate. Horror gripped Jason, but, remembering Medea's words, he walked without turning around to the Argo, where his friends were waiting.

As soon as morning came, the Argonauts Telamon and Meleager were sent for the dragon's teeth to Aeeth. Eet gave them the teeth of the dragon killed by Cadmus and began to get ready to go to the field of Ares to see how Jason would fulfill his order. Eet put on his armor, covered his head with a helmet that shone like the sun, took in his hands a spear and a shield, which were only fit for Hercules in their weight, and mounted the chariot; it was ruled by his son Absyrt. The Argonauts also gathered to go to the field of Ares.

Jason rubbed his spear, sword and shield with magic ointment, and then rubbed himself with it. He then felt a terrible force in his whole body. as if steel steel his muscles, his body became as if it were forged from iron. When the Argonauts on their fast "Argo" sailed to the field of Ares, Eet was already waiting for them, and around the field, on the slopes of the mountains, the Colchians crowded. Jason stepped ashore, shining like a radiant star with his armor. Jason went across the field, found an iron plow and a copper yoke on the field, and, hiding behind a shield, went to look for bulls spewing fire. Suddenly, both bulls jumped out of the cave, and with a furious roar rushed at the hero. Clubs of fire flew out of their mouths. Hiding behind a shield, their hero is waiting. Here the bulls flew at him and with terrible force hit the hero's shield with their horns. Not a single person could withstand this blow, but Jason stood unshakable, like a rock. Again and again the bulls roar at him, raising clouds of dust. One by one, Jason seized the bulls by the horns with mighty hands and drew them to the plow. The bulls are torn, they scorch Jason with fire, but he is unharmed, and the furious bulls cannot escape from his hands. Harnessed them to Jason's plow with the help of Castor and Polydeuces. Chasing bulls with a spear, Jason plowed the entire field of Ares, sowed it with the teeth of a dragon. Having finished sowing, Jason unharnessed the bulls, shouted menacingly and hit them with his spear. Like mad, the bulls rushed and disappeared into a deep cave. The first half of the work was completed, now we need to wait for the soldiers to grow up on the field. Jason went to the shore of Phasis, scooped up water with a helmet and quenched his thirst.

But Jason's rest was not long. Here, on the field, the point of a spear appeared from the ground, followed by another, and another, and the whole field was covered, as it were, with copper bristles. It was as if the earth stirred, and helmets and heads of warriors appeared from it. Now the whole field was covered with warriors in shining armor. Remembering the words of Medea, Jason grabbed a huge stone; four strongest heroes would not have been able to move it, but Jason lifted it with one hand and threw it far into the crowd of warriors born from dragon teeth. Warriors grabbed their weapons and a bloody battle began between them. Jason rushed with a sword to the soldiers, one by one he struck them, and soon the whole field was covered with dead soldiers, not a single one of them survived, they all fell from the mighty hand of Jason.

They covered the whole field, like ears cut with a sharp sickle, covering a fruitful land. The feat was over. He looked in amazement at Jason Eet, marveling at his inhuman strength. Menacingly moved the king's eyebrows, anger sparkled in his eyes. Without saying a word, he rushed off in his chariot to the city, thinking only about one thing - how to destroy him a wondrous stranger. Jason, returning to the Argo, rested with his friends, who praised his great feat.

Medea helps Jason steal the Golden Fleece

Returning to the palace, Eet convened for a council the noblest inhabitants of Colchis. Long after midnight, the king consulted with them on how to destroy the Argonauts. Eet guessed that only with the help of Medea could Jason accomplish the feat. Medea felt that a great danger threatened both her and Jason. She could not find peace in her magnificent halls. Sleep fled from her eyes. She got up at night from her bed and quietly left the palace of Eet. By paths known only to her alone, she goes to the coast of Phasis, where a bright fire is burning, lit by the Argonauts. Going up to the fire, she called Jason and younger son Frix, Frontis. Medea told Jason what evil premonitions were troubling her, and persuaded him to immediately go with her for the rune. Jason put on his armor and went to the sacred grove of Ares. Everything around was shrouded in darkness, only in the grove the fleece that hung on the sacred tree sparkled with a golden sheen. When Medea and Jason entered the grove, a terrible dragon rose, spewing flames. Medea called on the mighty god of sleep, Hypnos. She whispers terrible spells and pours magic potions on the ground. The dragon fell to the ground, it still raises its weakened head, but Medea sprinkled it with a sleeping potion, its mouth closed, eyes sparkling with fire closed, and, engulfed in sleep, it stretched out by the tree on which the golden fleece hung. Jason took off his fleece, he was in a hurry to return to the Argo as soon as possible.

In surprise, the heroes crowded around Jason and Medea, examining the golden fleece. But there was no time to hesitate, it was necessary to leave Colchis before Eet learns about the kidnapping of the rune. Jason chopped off the ropes that tied the Argo to the shore, the heroes grabbed the oars, and, like an arrow, the Argo rushed down the Phasis to the sea. Here is the sea. Heroes lean on the oars, the bird rushes along the waves of the Argo, farther and farther away Colchis.

Early in the morning, Eet learned about the theft of the golden fleece and that Medea had fled with the Argonauts. Eet came into a violent rage. He called the Colchians to the seashore. But the Argo is already far away, it is not visible among the waves of the sea. Eet ordered the Colchians to gather in pursuit.

He threatens them with death if they do not overtake the Argonauts. The Colchians lowered the ships and, with the son of Eet Absyrtes at the head, set off in pursuit of the Argonauts.

Return of the Argonauts

When the Argo went out to sea, a fair wind blew. The heroes spread their sails and the Argo quickly rushed along the waves of the Euxine Pontus. Heroes sailed for three days. Finally, the shores of Scythia appeared in the distance. The Argonauts decided to sail up the Istra, in order to then go down one of its branches into the Adriatic Sea [ 167The Greeks, new to the geography of Europe, thought that the Ister (modern Danube) was connected by a special branch to the Adriatic Sea.]. When the Argonauts sailed to the mouth of the Istra, they saw that the entire mouth of it and all the islands were occupied by the army of Colchis, who sailed there on their ships by the shortest route. Seeing the large army of the Colchians, the heroes were convinced that they could not defeat him; there were too few of them to dare to fight with thousands of well-armed warlike Colchians. The Argonauts decided to resort to trickery. They entered into negotiations with the leader of the enemy army Absyrtus and promised him to imprison Medea in the temple and give her up if the king of the neighboring city decides that Medea should return to Colchis, while the golden fleece should have remained with the Argonauts, since Jason performed exactly the feat, for which Eet promised to give him a fleece. But all these negotiations were conducted only in order to gain time. Medea promised Jason to lure Absyrtus to one of the islands in the temple.

Jason sent rich gifts to Absyrtus, as if from Medea, and ordered him to ask him to come to a secluded temple to see Medea there. Absyrtus came to the temple, but as soon as he appeared at the door of the temple, Jason rushed at him with a drawn sword, and Absirtus fell to the ground, struck to death. A terrible crime was committed by Jason and Medea: they killed the unarmed Absyrtus in the temple. Chopping the body of Absyrtus into pieces, Jason threw it into the waves of Istra. The Colchians were horrified, they rushed to collect parts of the body of their leader, while the Argonauts quickly sailed up the Istra.

The Argonauts sailed for a long time, and finally they descended along the Istra branch into the Adriatic Sea to the shores of Illyria. There arose a terrible storm. Like mountains, foam-covered ramparts rise. The winds, as if broken from the chains, rush over the sea and tear the sail from the Argo. The Argo groans under the pressure of the waves, its sides bend, the oars break in the hands of the mighty rowers. Like a chip, the Argo waves are carried. Death threatens the Argonauts. Then came a voice from the stern. It came from a piece of sacred oak that grew in Dodona, inserted into the stern of the Argo. The voice ordered the Argonauts to go to the sorceress Kirk, so that she would cleanse Jason and Medea from Absyrtus, who had defiled their murder. As soon as the Argonauts "Argo" turned to the north, the storm subsided, and everyone understood that this was the will of the gods.

Through Eridanus and then along Rodanus, the Argonauts descended into the Tyrrhenian Sea and sailed along it for a long time, until they finally sailed to the magical island of Kirki, the sister of Eeta. Kirka cleansed Medea and Jason of the taint of murder. She sacrificed to Zeus, who cleansed the filth of murder, doused Jason's hands with sacrificial blood and conjured at the altar of Eriny not to pursue her killers with anger. Kirka did not refuse Medea to cleanse herself from a terrible atrocity, since the sorceress recognized by the sparkle of her eyes that Medea, like herself, comes from the family of the sun god Helios.

The Argonauts set out on their journey. They still had to overcome many dangers. They sailed between Scylla and Charybdis, where certain death would have awaited them if the great wife of Zeus, Hera, had not helped them. They also sailed past the island of the sirens and heard their alluring singing, which attracted them with invincible force to the sirens. But the singer Orpheus struck the strings of the golden cithara, and his song overcame the spell of the songs of the sirens. Finally, the Argonauts sailed to the Plankts, a narrow strait, over which huge rocks rose like a vault. The sea beat between the rocks, the waves swirled under the arch in a terrible whirlpool, at times rising to the very top of the arch. Even the doves that brought ambrosia to Zeus did not fly unharmed under this vault, and one of them died every day. But then Hera helped the Argonauts, she begged Amphitrite to subdue the waves at Plankt, and the Argonauts passed them unscathed.

After a long journey, the Argonauts arrived at the island of the Phaeacians. There they were cordially received by Tsar Alkinoi. The Argonauts could rest from the dangers of the journey, but they did not stay even a day with the Phaeacians, when a fleet of Colchians appeared near the island and demanded that they hand over Medea to them. A bloody battle would have begun if Alkinoy had not separated the enemies. Alkinoi decided that Medea should be handed over to the Colchians if she was not Jason's wife. At night, the wife of Alcinous, Arete, sent a messenger to Jason, so that the messenger would inform him of the decision of Alcinous. That same night, Jason and Medea performed wedding ceremonies, and the next day, Jason swore a solemn oath before the assembled Theakians and Colchians that Medea was his wife. Then Alkina decided that Medea should stay with her husband, and the Colchians had to return to Aeet without taking possession of Medea.

After resting with the hospitable Theacians, the Argonauts went on. They sailed safely for a long time. Now the shores of the Peloponnese have already appeared in the blue distance of the sea. Suddenly a terrible whirlwind arose and rushed the Argo into the sea. For a long time the whirlwind carried the Argo across the boundless sea and finally threw the Argo onto a deserted shore. The Argo was deeply stuck in the mud of the bay, completely covered with algae. Despair gripped the Argonauts. Pilot Linkey, head down, sat at the stern, having lost hope of returning to Greece. The sad Argonauts wandered along the shore, as if they had lost all their strength, all their courage. Everyone saw death in front of their faces. Nymphs came to the aid of Jason. They revealed to Jason that a whirlwind had brought the Argo to Libya [ 168The Greeks called Libya the coast of Africa to the west of Egypt.] and that the Argonauts should carry the Argo on their shoulders through the Libyan desert, raising it from the mud when Amphitrite unleashes the horses from her chariot. But when does Amphitrite unharness her horses from the chariot? The Argonauts did not know this. Suddenly they saw a snow-white horse run out of the sea and quickly rushed across the desert. The Argonauts understood that this was Amphitrite's horse. The Argonauts lifted the Argo on their shoulders and carried it through the desert for twelve days, exhausted from heat and thirst. Finally they reached the land of the Hesperides. There the Hesperides pointed out to them a source, knocked out of the rock by Hercules. The heroes quenched their thirst, stocked up on water and set off on their way to their homeland. But the Argonauts could not find a way out to sea. They were not in the sea, but in Lake Triton. But on the advice of Orpheus, they dedicated a tripod to the god of the lake. A beautiful young man appeared before the Argonauts. He gave the hero Euthemus a lump of earth as a sign of hospitality and showed the Argonauts an exit to the sea. The Argonauts sacrificed a ram. The god Triton himself appeared in front of the Argo and led the Argo past the white rocks, through the whirlpool into the open sea. From Lake Triton, the Argonauts sailed to the island of Crete and wanted to stock up on water there for further navigation. But the copper giant Talos, presented to Minos by the Thunderer Zeus himself, did not allow them to the coast of Crete. Talos guarded the possessions of Minos, running around the entire island. But Medea put Talos to sleep with her charms. Talos fell to the ground, and a copper nail fell from him, closing the only vein through which Talos' blood flowed. The blood of Talos gushed to the ground like molten lead, and the giant died. The Argonauts were now free to land on the shore and stock up on water.

On the way from Crete to Greece, the hero Euthemus dropped a lump of earth given to him by Triton into the sea, and an island was formed from this block, called Callista by the Argonauts. This island was subsequently settled by the descendants of Euthemus, and it became known as Thera [ 169The modern island of Santorini.].

After that, a storm overtook the Argonauts at sea. A storm blew up on a dark night. The Argonauts were afraid every minute to run into an underwater rock or break on the coastal rocks. Suddenly, a golden arrow flashed over the sea with a bright light and lit up everything around, another, a third flashed after it. It was the god Apollo who illuminated the path of the Argonauts with his arrows. They also landed on the island of Anathe [ 170The modern island of Anafi.] and weathered the storm. Finally, the storm subsided, the waves of the sea calmed down, and a fair wind blew. "Argo" calmly rushed through the azure sea. The Argonauts no longer encountered dangers on their way and soon arrived at the coveted harbor of Iolk.

When the Argonauts arrived at Iolk, they made a rich sacrifice to the gods who helped during the dangerous voyage. Everyone in Iolka rejoiced and celebrated the return of the Argonauts; everyone praised the great heroes and their leader Jason, who obtained the golden fleece.

Jason and Medea at Iolka.

Pelia's death

Based on the poem "Metamorphoses" by Ovid.

The insidious Pelius did not keep his word, he did not return the power of his ancestors to Jason. Jason harbored a grudge and decided to take cruel revenge on Pelias. And here Medea came to his aid. Soon an opportunity for revenge presented itself. Jason's aged father, Eson, having learned that Medea was a great sorceress, wanted her to restore his youth to him. Jason himself asked Medea to make his father younger. Medea promised to fulfill this request, if only Hekate would help her.

When the full moon came, at midnight Medea came out of the house in dark clothes, barefoot, with her hair loose. Everything around was plunged into a deep sleep, mute silence reigned everywhere. Medea walks in silence, bathed in the light of the moon. Medea stopped where three roads meet, raised her hands and exclaimed loudly three times. She knelt down and began to whisper a spell. She conjured the night, heavenly bodies, the moon, earth, winds, mountains and rivers. She called for the gods of the forests and the night to appear to her. She prayed to the great Hekate to hear her and help her. Hekate heard her, and a chariot drawn by winged dragons appeared before Medea. For nine days and nine nights, Medea collected magical herbs and roots on this chariot in the mountains, in forests, along the banks of rivers and the sea. When she returned to the house of Aeson, she set up two altars: one - to Hekate, the other - to the goddess of youth. She dug two pits in front of the altars and over them she sacrificed black sheep to the gloomy goddess of darkness and witchcraft Hekate, making libations of honey and milk to her. Medea called on the underground gods, Hades and Persephone, and begged them not to take away the life of old Aeson. Then the ode ordered to bring Eson. With her charms, she lulled him to sleep and put Eson on magical herbs. Medea brewed a magic potion in a copper cauldron. The potion boiled and covered with white foam. Medea's potion interfered with a dry branch from an ancient tree. And the branch turned green, covered with leaves, and green fruits appeared on it. Everywhere, wherever the foam of the potion dripped, flowers and herbs grew. Seeing that the potion had ripened, Medea cut the throat of old Eson with a sword and let out his old blood. Through a wide wound she poured a magic potion into Eson's veins. And - oh, a miracle! - the old man's hair, previously white as snow, darkened, wrinkles and senile thinness disappeared, a blush appeared on his cheeks again. Eson woke up and again saw himself young, strong and cheerful.

After Medea managed to restore youth to Aeson, she decided, having drawn up an insidious plan, to take revenge on the old Pelius for deceiving Jason and not returning his power over Iolk.

Medea persuaded the daughters of Pelius to restore their father's youth, and in order to make them even more confident in her charms, she brought a ram, slaughtered it and threw it into a cauldron with a potion. As soon as the slaughtered ram plunged into the cauldron, a frisky lamb immediately jumped out of the cauldron. The daughters of Pelias marveled at this miracle and agreed to try to restore their father's youth.

Medea prepared a potion, but not the one she prepared, to restore youth to Jason's father. There was no magical power in this potion. She lulled Medea with her spells of Pelias, brought her daughters to his bedroom and ordered them to cut their father's throat. But the daughters did not dare.

- Cowards! Medea exclaimed, “draw your sword quickly, let out his old blood from your father’s veins, and I will pour out the young blood for him.”

The daughters of Pelias do not dare to strike the sleeping father with a mortal blow. Finally, turning away, one after another, they began to strike the daughter with the father with the sword. Pelius woke up, mortally wounded, he rose on his bed and, stretching out his weakening arms to his daughters, exclaimed with a groan:

- Oh, daughters, what are you doing! What made you raise your hand against your father?

The hands of the daughters of Pelias dropped in horror. They stand pale, consciousness leaves them. Medea ran up to Pelias's bed, plunged her knife into his throat, cut his body into pieces and threw them into a boiling cauldron. A chariot drawn by winged dragons appeared in Pelias's bedroom, and on it Medea disappeared from the eyes of the daughters of Pelias, distraught with horror.

The son of Pelias, Adrastus, arranged a magnificent funeral for his father, and after the funeral - games in honor of the deceased. They were attended greatest heroes Greece. The referee at the games was Hermes himself. Castor, Polydeuces and Euphem competed in chariot races, Admetus and Pug in fistfight, Atalan and Peleus in wrestling. Iphicles defeated everyone in the run.

But Jason failed to gain power over Iolk. Adrastus did not allow him to stay in Iolk, he expelled him from Iolk for the murder of his wife Medea Pelias. Jason left his homeland and retired with Medea to Corinth.

Jason and Medea in Corinth.

Death of Jason

Based on the tragedy of Euripides "Medea".

After the murder of Pelius, Jason and Medea, expelled from Iolk, settled with King Creon in Corinth. Two sons were born to Medea. It seemed that Jason and Medea should have been happy even in a foreign land. But fate did not judge the happiness of either Jason or Medea. Jason, captivated by the beauty of Creon's daughter Glauca, betrayed the oaths given in Colchis to Medea even when he received a magic ointment from her; he betrayed the one with which he accomplished a great feat. He decided to marry Glaucus, and King Creon agreed to give his daughter as a wife to the famous hero.

When Medea found out about Jason's betrayal, despair took possession of her. She still loved Medea Jason. As if turned into a soulless stone, Medea sat, immersed in sadness. She did not eat, did not drink, did not listen to words of consolation. Little by little, violent anger took possession of Medea. The indomitable spirit of Medea cannot be reconciled. How can she, the daughter of the king of Colchis, the son of the radiant Helios, be demolished so that her enemies triumph over her, so that they mock her! No, Medea is terrible in anger, her revenge must be terrible in its cruelty. ABOUT! Medea will take revenge on Jason, Glaucus, and her father Creon!

Everyone curses Medea in violent anger. She curses her children, curses Jason. Medea suffers and prays to the gods that they immediately take away her life with a lightning strike. What, besides revenge, is left for her in life? Death calls Medea, this will be the end of her torment, death will free her from grief. Why did Jason treat her so cruelly, with her, who saved him, helped, by lulling the dragon, to get the golden fleece, who, for the sake of his salvation, ambushed her brother and killed for the sake of Jason Pelius? Calls Medea Zeus and the goddess of justice Themis to be witnesses of how Jason treated her unfairly. The decision of Medea to take revenge on Jason is getting stronger and stronger.

But here comes Creon. He announces to Medea that she must immediately leave Corinth. Creon is afraid of Medea, he knows how terrible Medea is in anger, knows how powerful her charms are; for she can destroy both his daughter and himself.

Medea, in order to gain time for revenge, pretends to obey Creon, which recognizes his right to expel her, but asks him for only one thing - to allow her to stay one more day in Corinth. Creon agreed, not suspecting that by doing so he condemned himself to death; but he threatens Medea that he will put to death both her and her sons if the rays of the rising sun catch Medea in Corinth. Medea knows that she has nothing to fear from execution. Rather, Creon will die for her, not without reason she swore by the pale-faced goddess Selena and her patroness Hekate to destroy her enemies. No, not she, but they will not escape execution. Will she, the granddaughter of the god Helios, become a laughingstock of the descendants of Sisyphus and the bride of Jason!

Jason tells Medea in vain that for her good and for the good of the children he will marry Glaucus, that his sons will find support in their future brothers if the gods send him children from a new marriage. Medea cannot believe the sincerity of Jason's words, she reproaches Jason for treason and threatens him with the wrath of the gods, she does not want to listen to him. Now she hates Jason, whom she once loved so much, for whom she forgot her father, mother, brother and homeland. Angered, Jason leaves, and Medea's mockery and threats follow him.

At this time he comes to Corinth, on the way from Delphi to Troisena [ 171A city in the Argolis in the Peloponnese.], Aegeus, king of Athens. He greets Medea in a friendly manner and asks her why she is saddened. Medea talks about her grief and prays to the king of Athens to give her, an exile forgotten by her husband, shelter in Athens. She promises Aegeus to help with her charms, promises that he will have numerous offspring, will not remain childless, as before, if only he would give her shelter. Aegeus swears to give shelter to Medea. He swears by the goddess of the earth Gaia, Helios, Medea's grandfather, all the gods of Olympus - not to extradite Medea to her enemies. He sets only one condition for Medea: she herself must come to Athens without his help, since Aegeus does not want to quarrel with the king of Corinth.

Having secured shelter for herself, Medea proceeds to carry out her planned revenge. She decides not only to destroy Creon and his daughter Glauca, but also to kill her children, the children of Jason. She sends her maid for Jason. Jason arrives. Medea pretends to be submissive, she pretends to have come to terms with her fate and with the decision of Jason, and asks him for only one thing, so that he convinces Creon to leave her sons in Corinth. Children also come. Seeing them, Medea cries, she hugs and kisses her sons, she loves them, but the thirst for revenge is stronger than love for children.

But how to destroy Glaucus and Creon? And so, under the pretext that she is trying to persuade Glauca to leave her children in Jason's new house, Medea sends precious clothes and a golden crown as a gift to Glauca. It is this gift that brings death with it. As soon as Glauca put on the clothes and the crown sent by Medea, the poison with which they were saturated entered her body; as a copper hoop compresses her head a crown. Clothes burn her body with fire. Glauca dies in terrible agony. Her father hurries to help her, he hugs the unfortunate daughter, but the clothes stick to him too. He tries to tear this garment from his body, but with it he also tears off pieces of his body. And Creon died from the gift of Medea.

With triumph, Medea hears, standing at her palace, about the death of Creon and Glauca, but their death did not quench Medea's thirst for revenge: after all, she decided to kill her children in order to make Jason suffer even more. Now it encourages Medea to decide on this murder and the fact that she knows what fate threatens her sons when the relatives of Creon will avenge them for the crimes of their mother. Medea hastily left for the palace, and immediately the cries and groans of her sons were heard there. Their own mother killed them. Jason, when Creon and his daughter Glauca died at the hands of his wife Medea, in fear that Creon's relatives would kill his sons out of revenge, hurries to his palace. The door to the palace is locked, Jason wants to break it open. Suddenly, in the air, on a chariot drawn by dragons, sent by the god Helios, Medea appears: at her feet lie the sons she killed. Jason is horrified. He begs Medea to leave him at least the bodies of his sons so that he himself can bury them. But even this consolation does not give him Medea, who is quickly carried away in a wonderful chariot.

Jason's entire later life was bleak. Nowhere did he find a place for himself for a long time. Once he passed through the Isthm, past the place where the Argo ship, which was pulled ashore and dedicated to the Argonauts and the god of the sea, Poseidon, stood. Tired Jason lay down in the shade of the Argo under her stern to rest and fell asleep. When Jason slept peacefully, the stern of the Argo, which had fallen into disrepair, collapsed and buried the sleeping Jason under its debris.

Myths and legends of the peoples of the world. T. 1. Ancient Greece Nemirovsky Alexander Iosifovich

The Golden Fleece

The Golden Fleece

The myth of the Argonauts and their voyages to Eeyu for the Golden Fleece, their return to their homeland and the disasters that befell them there is one of the most archaic in the legends of the Greeks. It was already known at the time of the creation of the Odyssey, as evidenced by the mention of converging rocks, between which the Argo ship passed. 8th century poet BC e. Eumel outlined the individual details of the voyage of the Argonauts. There were many other poems on this subject that have not come down to us. One of them was dedicated to the construction of the "Argo" and its sailing to Colchis, which in the later accounts of the myth was identified with Aea. The plot of the voyage of the Argonauts and their further destinies attracted lyric poets and authors of tragedies, as well as the first Greek historians, who were called "logographs".

In the Hellenistic era, interest in the voyage of the Argonauts increased, since its description made it possible to include refined knowledge about distant lands in the narrative. Thus arose the poem of Apollonius of Rhodes "Argonautics", containing the most thorough exposition of the myth that has come down to us. Strictly speaking, his heroes are not Hellenes, but the Minians, the most ancient inhabitants of Thessaly, which have already been discussed above. The main character of the story is Jason, a native of the fabulous city of Iolka, on the coast of the Pagasean Gulf. He is the son of King Aeson, deprived of power by his half-brother Pelius. Fearing for the life of Jason, who had the legal right to the throne in Iolka, his father gave him for training to the centaur Chiron, who gave the boy an upbringing that corresponded to the ideals of the tribal aristocracy. Jason is brave, honest, persistent, strong, divinely handsome and at the same time has the skills of a navigator and even a doctor. The very name "Jason" in Greek means "healer". The Golden Fleece for Jason is not an end in itself, not an opportunity to test one's strength in overcoming obstacles and show prowess, but a means to achieve royal power.

The study of everything written in antiquity about Jason allows us to understand the complex path of the formation of a myth, shows the futility of searching for one "key" to the secret of the Golden Fleece. The legend about the Argonauts, both in the form in which we offer it, and in a more extensive one, including a lot of versions and details omitted by us, absorbed many ancient legends, explanations of religious holidays and geographical names developed over several historical epochs.

The coincidence of the Thessalian Iolk, the birthplace of Jason, with the construction site of the Argo, the point of departure and return of the fabulous ship, suggests that the core of the myth about the Argonauts was the legends about the ancient past of Thessaly - the northern part of Greece, originally inhabited by the Minians and Pelasgians and only at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC e. mastered by the ancestors of the Greeks. Economically rich Thessaly in the 1st millennium BC. e. didn't play big political role, yielding not only to Attica, but also to neighboring Boeotia. However, in the world of myths, she occupied a leading position. So, Olympus was located on the territory of Thessaly, the fabulous Phthia, the birthplace of the greatest Hellenic hero Achilles, was identified with Thessaly, the very name "Hellenes" goes back to Thessaly. The name "Greeks", which belonged to the ancient inhabitants of Boeotia, began to be used to designate the Hellenes, first by the Etruscans, and then by the Romans.

The design of the search for the Golden Fleece in navigation began at the time when the first attempts were made to penetrate into Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea), where the entrance was closed by the mighty Troy and its Thracian allies, who occupied the banks of the Propontis and the straits. This is supported by the fact that the action of the myth is related to the time preceding the Trojan War, and the heroes had to fight with the Thracians. If this assumption is correct, then it would be quite logical to see the Bosporus, which is difficult for the Mycenaeans, to see in the colliding rocks of the Symplegades. The legend of the Argonauts takes its final form in the 7th century. BC e., during the period of the Milesian colonization of Pontus Euxinus. These are the initial moments in the development of the myth of the Argonauts, on which the rest of the traditions, which initially had nothing to do with the Thessalian legends, were layered. Navigators entering Pontus Euxinus could not avoid the lands of the Amazons, could not help but hear the noise of the wings of an eagle flying to peck the liver of Prometheus, could not help but visit the palace built in the east by Helios. The lack of real knowledge about Colchis was made up for by details from other myths. So, not only a winged golden ram was transferred to Colchis, but also a fire-breathing dragon and its "sown" teeth from the myth of the foundation of Thebes. Literary property rights did not exist in antiquity, and still less could there be ownership of oral legends. The Boeotian singer, meeting with the Thessalian, could not say to him: “Allow me, but the dragon guarding your fleece in Colchis is our own Theban dragon, killed by our Cadmus,” for he would immediately hear in response: “Yours? But after all, Cadmus is a foreigner, the son of the Phoenician king Agenor.

Afapt's wife, Ino, swings her ax at Phrixus, who has already grabbed the horn of the golden-fleeced ram, taking him away to distant Colchis

The scientific interpretation of the myth of the Argonauts became possible even before the excavations of Schliemann and Evans, which made Crete-Mycenaean Greece a reality. But what did archeology give for the myth of the Argonauts? Did she discover any visible remnants of Jason's expedition—copper plating or Argo oars, or gifts brought from Colchis? Of course not, because the myth and the monuments of material culture are mismatched relics and levels of human existence. And yet ... Iolk ceased to be a mythical city, the namesake of Iolk, the son of the Amir River, in which a young man in a leopard skin lost his sandal from his left foot. In Iolca, a city on the coast of the Pagasean Gulf, a Minoan palace was discovered, built at the beginning of the Bronze Age and existing throughout the 2nd millennium BC. e. Consequently, ships could be built in Iolka, and its relative proximity to the straits could make this city the starting point for the voyages of the Hellenes and their predecessors the Minians in a northerly direction. That's all we know about Jason's homeland. And if new archaeological or epigraphic data appears, then they can expand our information only about ancient Thessaly, but not about the Argo ship and its courageous crew. Equally excavations on the territory of Colchis increase our understanding of the ancient culture of the Colchians and Iberians, but Eet and Medea, as they were, and will remain characters of myth, and not real history.

Crossing

A young man in a motley leopard skin on his shoulders, brushing away drops of sweat from his forehead and throwing off his knapsack, sank heavily onto a stone scree. The sun was at its zenith, and he went out at dawn and had never rested.

A huge hairy bumblebee sat on a flower and plunged halfway into it. Mountains were visible above, whitening with snow. He walked from there. From there, stormy streams rushed down in order, having cut the whole country, to merge somewhere near Iolk with salty waves and find peace in them. “It’s easier for them than for me! thought the young man. “They flow in channels that have been laid for millennia and centuries. My path is dark, and no one knows what its meaning is. Chiron sends me to the king of Iolk. What for? What have I lost in this city? The power that my ancestors had? But isn't it better to rule over the sheep? From them, at least, do not expect a dirty trick.

Rising, the young man threw the knapsack behind his back and walked off, whistling a simple tune. The river, which previously roared in the abyss, parted the mountains, came out on a level place and from above shone with the golden curls of a newborn lamb. The current became calmer. Here you can cross, jumping from stone to stone, to the other side. In the distance one could see the road, trodden not by goats, but by wagons, the road to Iolk. It was about her that Chiron spoke, advising not to enter into conversations with anyone - neither with merchants, nor with muleteers. "Now that you're on target, it's better not to have witnesses!" These are his real words.

Running down to the river, the young man saw a smooth white stone, and on it a hunched figure in black, frozen. “What is this old woman doing here? he thought. - Collecting alms? At that moment, he heard a raspy voice.

- Valiant young man! Would you be so kind as to carry me across this turbulent river? Legs do not hold, but it is necessary to Iolk.

Jason silently lifted the flabby old body and, pressing it to himself, stepped into the water. He had previously had to drag sheep through the rapids, but they were heavier and tried to slip out. The old woman was as light as a shadow. He crossed the river in four leaps, but, going ashore, he stepped awkwardly and dropped his sandal from his left foot. If he was alone, she could easily be caught. But with the old woman it was inconvenient. When he lowered his burden to the ground, the sandal was already sucked in by the silt.

Waving his hand in annoyance, the young man rushed off, falling on one leg.

"What's your name, young man?" heard from behind. - How can I thank you?

My name is Jason. Good luck to you, grandma! The young man shouted without looking back.

If he looked back life path would no longer seem so dark to him. In the place where he left the old woman, there was a tall, stately woman with an imperious face - the goddess Hera, the wife of Zeus. And how different she is from that vindictive and jealous woman that poets paint her. She followed the young man with her eyes, and there was no usual severity in him. The beautiful lips of the goddess whispered:

Good luck to you, Jason!

Jason in Iolka

That evening, King Pelius of Iolka was informed that a young man dressed in a leopard skin was seeking a meeting with him.

- Let him come in! the king ordered.

The young man, who looked to be in his twenties, bowed respectfully. The leopard skin was frayed and torn in several places. Apparently, she served her owner not only as a cloak, but also as a bedding. Looking down, Pelias saw that the stranger was shod on one right leg.

A cold sweat broke out on Pelia's forehead. He remembered a long-standing prediction that no one would threaten his power and life, except for a stranger in one sandal. And then this stranger showed up!

Controlling himself, the king calmly said:

- What only quirks do not happen in distant countries! I heard that somewhere in the east, sons throw the bodies of dead parents to feed the dogs, and in the north, people turn into wolves. In what country are shoes on one foot?

“I am not a stranger,” said the young man. “I lost my sandal while crossing the Amir. Of course, I could buy a pair of shoes. But Chiron told me to come straight to you, without going anywhere.

- Who is this Chiron and what country does he rule? Pelius asked.

Chiron is not a king. And not even human. He is a centaur and lives in a cave. My father gave me to him as soon as I was born, fearing for my life. Chiron raised me in truth and gave me the name Jason. I have come to you, king, to take back the power that is rightfully mine.

Pelius didn't answer right away. He was struck by the innocence of this youth, who called himself Jason. Talking to a person who has nothing hidden behind his soul is sometimes harder than talking to a cunning one. The truth is disarming.

“The power really should belong to you,” Pelius began not immediately. “But it will be fair if you take on some of the duties that lie with our ancient family. The soul of our common ancestor Friks demands that one of us return his property - the golden skin of a ram, on which he got to Colchis. I am old. You are young and strong. As soon as the Golden Fleece is in Iolka, you will receive the crown.

While Pelias ranted, Jason recalled the story of Phrixus, which he had heard from Chiron. The mother of Phrixus and his sister Gella was the cloud goddess Nephele. When their father Athamant married a second time, Ino's stepmother decided to destroy the children. By cunning and deceit, she convinced her fellow citizens that the gods, who had brought down a terrible drought on the country, demanded the sacrifice of royal children. The unfortunate have already been brought to the altar, but Nephele, having descended to the ground in a light mist, brought a wonderful ram with a sparkling golden skin. And as soon as the brother and sister sat on his back, he, soaring into the sky above the birds, rushed north. On the way, Gella was dizzy from the height, and she fell into the sea, which has since received her name, and Frix reached Colchis, where he was raised by King Eet. Marrying the king's daughter, he sacrificed a ram to Zeus. Pelias wanted to get the skin of this ram.

- Agree! exclaimed the young man, with that joyful readiness which left no doubt that he would endeavor to return to Iolk as soon as possible.

A satisfied smirk crossed Pelia's lips. No, he was in no hurry to get the Golden Fleece. He did not believe in its existence. You never know what nonsense they tell! Pelias rejoiced at his own resourcefulness. It was not difficult for him to get rid of this fool in another way - to offer wine with poison, to send a murderer. But still, this is not a stranger, but a nephew. Let the gods take care of them.

"Argo" and Argonauts

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10.5. The "antique" Golden Fleece and the Golden Fleece in the 15th century We all know from childhood the romantic "antique" myth of the Golden Fleece - the goal of the Argonauts' campaign. Sung by Homer in his immortal poems. According to historians, the campaign took place in hoary antiquity - in the era of the Trojan War, in XIII

author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

2. Fleece of the golden ram and Christ-Aries 2.1. The "antique" Golden Fleece and the medieval Order of the Golden Fleece As we noted in the book "The King of the Slavs", Christ was often called RAM, the Lamb. Aries is one of the most common symbols of Christ (see, for example, Fig. 2.1). They called him

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2.1. The "antique" Golden Fleece and the medieval Order of the Golden Fleece As we noted in the book "The King of the Slavs", Christ was often called RAM, the Lamb. Aries is one of the most common symbols of Christ (see, for example, Fig. 2.1). He was also called the Sun and Golden. In Christian

From the book of the Rothschilds. History of a dynasty of powerful financiers author Morton Frederick

Golden Silence Nevertheless, it was precisely bourgeois pragmatism that underlay this imperial self-consciousness and imperial well-being. For example, a piece of clothing of a curious cut belonging to Baron Philip has been preserved, which, perhaps, was on him during

author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

2. Fleece of the Golden Aries and Christ-Aries 2.1. The "Antique" Golden Fleece and the Medieval Order of the Golden Fleece As we noted in the book "The King of the Slavs", Christ was often called RAM, the Lamb. Aries is one of the most common symbols of Christ, fig. 2.1. He was also called the Sun and

From the book The Foundation of Rome. Beginning of Horde Russia. After Christ. Trojan War author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

2.1. The "Antique" Golden Fleece and the Medieval Order of the Golden Fleece As we noted in the book "The King of the Slavs", Christ was often called RAM, the Lamb. Aries is one of the most common symbols of Christ, fig. 2.1. He was also called the Sun and Golden. In the Christian tradition with

From the book Cyrus the Great. First monarch author Lamb Harold

THE GOLDEN FLEECE OF VARTAN And so, after the spring thaw, Cyrus led his expeditionary forces to the west, wishing, on the one hand, to please Vartan, and on the other, in his own interests to explore the sources of this river. They ended up in a gigantic country. Army

From the book "The Brave Georgians Fled" [Unadorned History of Georgia] author Vershinin Lev Removich

Fleece with bald spots All of the above, however, refers to Eastern Georgia. Which, in fact, was then considered Georgia. In the west, in Colchis, things were different. The fact that after the collapse of the country in 1490 into separate kingdoms, perceived by contemporaries as something

From the book Book 1. Empire [Slavic conquest of the world. Europe. China. Japan. Russia as a medieval metropolis Great Empire] author Nosovsky Gleb Vladimirovich

10.5. The "antique" Golden Fleece and the Golden Fleece in the 15th century We all know from childhood the romantic "antique" myth of the Golden Fleece - the goal of the Argonauts' campaign. Sung by the "ancient classics" in their immortal poems. According to historians, the campaign took place in hoary antiquity - in the era

From the book Greek myths author Burn Lucilla

CHAPTER 5 JASON, MEDEIA AND THE GOLDEN FLEECE The golden wool (Golden Fleece) belonged to the ram that saved the lives of the children of Athamas - the son of Phrixus and the daughter of Helle - from being sacrificed to Zeus because of the hatred of their stepmother Ino. According to legend, a golden-haired ram took the children from their home in

From the book Royal Gold author Kurnosov Valery Viktorovich

Secrets of the operational-search case "Golden Fleece" The author wrote the previous chapters of the investigation based on materials from open sources. Basically - according to declassified archival documents. Some issues have been clarified thanks to the research of historians, whose names

From the book The Road Home author Zhikarentsev Vladimir Vasilievich

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