Voyage Of Argo Essay Research Paper The

Voyage Of Argo Essay, Research Paper The Voyage of Argo Adventures of epic preportions have been written and told for thousands of years. The characteristics of these stories include, suspense, adventure, danger, and heroism. They mostly involve a task that needs to be completed. Whatever it may be, very few tales are able to take all characteristics of a good adventure and put it all into one story like The Voyage of Argo, by Apollonius. The Voyage of Argo is about a man named Jason who bands together a group of extraordinary warriors and goes on an adventure in search of a golden fleece. This group called the Argonauts, is made up of sons of gods and heroes. Traveling up to the Black Sea in their boat, the Argo, they encounter various obstacles that they must overcome in

order to secure the golden fleece for their own and return safely to their home. King Aeson, Jason’s father, was the rightful heir to a kingdom in Greece at the time. As Aeson got older his other son, Pelias, took advantage of his old father and stole his kingdom away from him. Fearing that Pelias would kill Jason after Jason was born, they fled him from the city where he was raised by a centaur. The centaur raised him and trained him in all kinds of skills like fighting, swordsmanship, and leadership. When it was time, the centaur told Jason his past and told him to go defeat his brother and get his kingdom back. When Jason returned, his brother wanted to kill him then and there, but thought of a way to get rid of him. When Jason demanded the kingdom back, Pelias told him that

he would gladly surrender the kingdom if Jason brings back the Golden Fleece from the land of Colchis. The Golden Fleece was from a magical flying ram delivered by Hermes, the messenger of god. The ram that originally wore the golden fleece was delivered for the sole purpose of carrying Phrixius, and Helle, the children of Nephele, to safety; away from their father’s mistress who threatened their lives. After it had completed its task, The ram was sacrificed, but the fleece remained in the far away land of Colchis, which was ruled by King Aeetes. Jason agreed to the terms and sent heralds all across Greece to seek out fearless volunteers who would join him in such an adventure. A ship builder, Argo, made him a huge boat and it was named “Argo” in respects to its builder.

Jason produced a crew of the greatest collection of heroes ever assembled and they came to be known as the Argonauts. Setting off on their voyage, the Argonauts, led by their leader Jason, embarked on a long and perilous journey. On their way to Colchis, they encounter numerous adventures. In one instance, they free a King named Phineus from Harpies. King Phineus was a seer and being grateful for Jason and his crew he instructed Jason on navigating the waters, especially some rocks that were hard to navigate. When they finally reach Colchis, the king is unwilling to give up the fleece, but gives Jason a task to try and win the golden fleece. He must subdue fire breathing bulls and plow a field with them. Then he has to plant serpent’s teeth in the earth from which human

creatures will rise from the ground and he must defeat them. With the help of the kings daughter, Medea, he is successful in his task. Fearing treason, Medea goes with Jason and the Argonauts back home. On the way back, she again assists them by killing the mighty monster Talos. Mythology plays big role in telling the story as a narrative and understanding it too as the famous epic that it is. An excursion like this is not something that happens every day and some of the things that they see and do are not things that are normally portrayed in this day in age. The procedures, gods, and rituals described represent the power that the gods had back then and their meaning to such a voyage as this one. One of the prime examples of this is the repetitious sacrifices to the gods. In the