Questions for Jason and The Golden Fleece PDF

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Questions for Jason and the Golden Fleece Probably based on a real journey; Jason isn’t your typical hero – his father is not a god; gets a lot of help from somebody (like Perseus) Tale from the bronze age (Mycenean civilization – 1100 BCE); Apollodorus of Rhodes was first to write the story down 1. Who had usurped Jason’s father’s throne? Why had Jason been brought up away from Iolcus? Jason’s father, the king of Iolcus had been imprisoned by the king’s brother Pelias who took the throne. Jason’s mother had fled with her baby and raised him far away from Iolcus, but told him that he was the true heir to his throne. Royal birth, fatherless. 2. Who had been Jason’s tutor? What did he teach Jason? What does Jason’s name mean? Tutor= Centaur Chiron. Taught Jason about healing herbs, which is what Jason means (“Healer”) 3. How had the golden ram ended up in a far-away place like Colchis? Where is Colchis? In the kingdom of Thessaly (Northern Greece), king Athamas and queen Nephele had 2 children: phrixus the son and Helle, the daughter. Queen on her deathbed knew husband would 2 kids got on its back, it flew them to safety, Helles fell off ram. 4. What were the Dardanelles called by the Greeks? Why? Hellespont – Helles fell off the ram and drowned in the river. The ram continues with Phrixus until it reached Colchis, whose king was Aeetes. When he arrived in Colchis, he sacrificed the ram to Zeus, giving its golden fleece to King Aeetes who put it under the care of a sleepless dragon. Colchis is in Georgia, near the black Sea, near Russia and Turkey. 5. Why did Hera hate Pelias? What was her test for Jason? Hera hated King Pelias because he had honored all the gods except her. Hera needed a true hero to carry out her plan of revenge. To test Jason, she arranged that he would come to a rushing stream on his way to Iolcus. She turns into an old woman and asks him to help across the stream. He puts the old woman on his back, but halfway through she turns into a goddess – heavier than a human. He loses his sandal 6. What was the oracle’s warning to Pelias?

Beware of the one-shoed stranger! When Jason arrived in Iolcus, he asserted his claim to the throne. His uncle Pelias had no intention of giving it up to a stranger. 7. Why could a host not kill his guest? What did Pelias tell Jason to do to get the throne back? To get rid of Jason without killing him, he told him he could have the throne but had to prove himself worthy by going on a dangerous quest, Pelias sent him to bring back the golden fleece from Colcus. 8. Why was Jason’s ship called the “Argo”? What special powers did it have? Named after its builder. The prow had the shape of Hera, and could speak and guide heroes along their journeys. Jason needed a crew to help him navigate a journey no Greek had ever made to an unknown country. 9. Name some of the heroes called the Argonauts. Hercules, Castor and Pollox, the sons of Boreas (wind) Orpheus, and Atalanta, who was a super-fast runner. Hercules just hitches a ride because he needs to do some stuff. 10.What did the women of Lemnos ask the Argonauts to do? Why did the women of Lemnos kill off all the men? The island of lemnos = populated by only women, here they were invited by the women to father as many children as they could. They killed their husbands because they refused to sleep with them because the women had a “bad odor”, So the Argonauts go on 11.What happened to Hylas at Mysia? They sent Hylas (also named Iolaus), Herakle’s servant. The nymphs of the stream were attracted by Hyla’s good looks and pulled him into the stream, Hylas was lost forever. Then they reached the court of Phineus of Salmydessus in Thrace. 12.Who were the Harpies? How were they defeated? Harpies= woman-bodied, bird-bodied, razor clawed monsters to prevent King Phineus from eating any more than what was necessary to live, and prevented him from sleeping. The sons of Boreas (descendants of the North Wind) chased the harpies so far away that king was never bothered again, so the king told them about the Clashing rocks

13.What were the Clashing Rocks? What does King Phineas advise the Argonauts about the clashing rocks? They were rocks that clashed together, crushing anything between them. Phineas told Jason to send a bird between the rocks first, and then the argo could follow. If the bird was crushed, Jason was doomed to fail. By this trick, the rocks nipped the tail feathers of the bird and the ship got through safely, and the rocks could never clash again King Aeetes of Colchis was a wizard and could foresee the future. He knew Jason would be coming for the fleece and was prepared to ambush the Argo 14. How does Hera help Jason at this point? Who was Medea? Hera persuaded Aphrodite to make the witch Medea, the daughter of Aeetes, fall in love with Jason so she could make him potions 15. What does Aeetes tell Jason he must do to get the Golden Fleece? He invited him to dinner and tells Jason he can have the fleece if he: harnesses 2 fire breathing bulls and to sow the earth with some dragon’s teeth. Jason decides to try – getting fleece by force was not an option 16.What does Medea offer to do? What does she want in return? She gives him a potion to rub on his arms to make him invulnerable to the fire. Also told him when he sowed the teeth, they would produce armed men, He was to throw a stone among them. She asks him to marry her and take her to Iolcus. Next morning, he put the potion on, harnessed the firebreathing bulls, 17. What happens with the dragon- seed men? Jason throws the magic stone and they began fighting each other until they were all dead. 18.What is Aeetes’ response to Jason’s completing the task? He says “Go and get the fleece if you want it”, but it’s guarded by a dragon 19. How does Medea help Jason finally get the fleece from the dragon? Medea gives the dragon a sleeping potion and sings it a lullaby. Stole the fleece, boarded the ship and sailed away. 20. How does Medea help the Argonauts get away from King Aeetes? King Aeetes followed the Argonauts and was catching up to them, but Medea had forseen this and had kidnapped her younger brother. She had chopped him up and threw his body parts into the sea. Aeetes stopped and picked up the pieces.

Chiron told Jason that w/o the help of Orpheus the Argonauts could not pass the sirens, but Orpheus played music that was louder and more beautiful 21. How did Medea defeat the Talos? Talos= bronze giant that threw large boulders onto the ships. Talos had one blood vessel that went from his neck to his ankle, held shut by one bronze nail. Medea cast a spell on Talos to calm him, she removed the bronze nail and Talos bled to death. The Argo was then able to sail on. 22. How does Pelias react when Jason returns and demands the throne? King Pelias refuses to give up the throne. Medea convinces Pelias’ daughters that she had a magic formula to make people young again. 23. How does Medea help Jason get rid of Pelias? She brews some water, takes an old goat, throws him into the water, then pretended to make the goat a young one by slight of hand. She says “See? Don’t you want your dad to be young again?” and the daughters threw the dad into the pot 24. What happens to the couple after they kill Pelias? Banished from Iolcus. Couple wandered around Greece looking for Sanctuary and settled in Corinth. By now they had 2 little children 25. Why does Medea get angry with Jason after they move to Corinth? What does she do in revenge to the bride? Jason decided to marry King Creon’s daughter Glauce. Medea, hearing of his betrayal, dipped a beautiful gold gown in poison and wrapped it in a package. She gave it to her sons to present to the bride, and King Creon tries to help his daughter take off the poisonous garment, was also burned/poisoned by robe. 26. What does Medea do to her children? She cuts their throats in front of Jason and then disappeared into the sky in a flying chariot 27. What happens to Jason in the end? What happens to Medea? Jason was sleeping under the Argo, and a rotting timber fell on him, killing him. Medea was given Sanctuary by King Aegus and after she fled from him, going to other cities to brew her mischief....