Jason

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Jason and Medea. Illumination in a manuscript of the Historia destructionis Troiae des Guido de Columnis in German translation. Vienna, Austrian National Library, Codex 2773, fol. 18r (15th century)
Gustave Moreau : Jason et Médée , 1865, Musée d'Orsay , Paris

Jason ( ancient Greek Ἰάσων "the healer"; German also Jason ) is a heroic figure from the Greek legend . He was the son of Aison , a king of Iolkos , and the Polymede or Alkimede . He is best known as the leader of the Argonauts .

myth

The demigod Pelias , son of Poseidon and the mortal Tyro , ousted his half-brother Aison from the throne of Iolcus and took control of all of Thessaly . At that time Jason was in the Pelion Mountains, where he was raised by Cheiron . Pelias was advised by an oracle to be careful of anyone wearing only one shoe. When Pelias invited sacrifice for Poseidon , Jason came to claim his rightful inheritance. On the way he met an old woman (the transformed Hera ) at a river . She asked the hero to help her across the river. While crossing the river, he lost a shoe in the mud. Pelias now asked Jason how he would act if he had received this oracle, and he replied that he would send the person concerned to get the Golden Fleece , which Pelias did.

Now Jason commissioned the construction of the Argo and invited many heroes to accompany him. Before starting, he made his way to Delphi . But when he circumnavigated the Peloponnese , he was blown to North Africa in a storm and got stuck in the shallows of the Triton Sea. The god Triton promised to help him out if he would sacrifice the tripod he had with him. Now, sitting on the tripod, he announced that Jason was coming out to sea again, and foretold the future.

Jason went out with 50 companions, the Argonauts , named after their ship, the Argo , to steal the Golden Fleece from Colchis on the east bank of the Black Sea . On the way there they also landed on Lemnos . This is where the women who killed all the male residents lived. Jason spent a night with Hypsipyle , Queen of Lemnos, and begat Euneos and Deipylos .

When he arrived in Colchis, he demanded the golden fleece from Aietes , the king. He promised him the fleece, if he would manage to harness the fire-breathing bulls with his brazen feet and sow dragon's teeth. Medea , the daughter of Aietes, fell in love with Jason and helped him cope with the task. She gave him a magic potion that would protect him for a day by deflecting all sword blows and arrows and rendering all flames harmless. She also told him that his teeth would grow into fighters whom he could confuse with stones and then crush. When Jason finished the task, Aietes refused to hand over the fleece. Therefore Medea put the waking dragon to sleep and got the golden fleece.

Jason's hope, as a reward for the golden fleece, to ascend the throne of King Pelias in Iolkos, for whose sake he had undertaken the dangerous journey, was not fulfilled. He learned that Pelias had driven his father Aison to suicide by telling him the Argo had perished. In addition, Pelias had murdered Promachos , Jason's younger brother. Jason fled to the Isthmus of Corinth . Because of these mistakes of Pelias Medea sought revenge and persuaded his daughters that they could rejuvenate their father. Alcestis refused to follow Medea's advice. The others, however, believed Medea, cut up and cooked her father Pelias. Akastos , the son of Pelias, banished Medea and Jason from the land. Creon , the king of Corinth , invited them to him. From here Jason, together with Peleus and the Dioscuri, undertook an expedition against Iolkos, destroyed the city and killed Astydameia , the wife of Akastus. Astydameia's body was then dismembered.

In Corinth Jason courted Glauke , the king's daughter. Out of jealousy, Medea killed Glauke and Creon as well as her own sons by Jason, Mermeros and Pheres. Jason became king of Corinth, but in his desperation he soon took his own life. Medea fled to Athens with her son Medeius . Jason was also a participant in the hunt for the Calydonian boar .

Medea and Jason are said to have had a daughter Eriopis and another son Polyxenus. According to another legend, old Jason lay under his ship, the Argo, which suddenly collapsed and buried him.

The Arcadian legends also mention a son of Jason named Apis , who was killed in a chariot race during the funeral games in honor of Azan .

reception

Jason with the golden fleece by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1803)

Art :

Films:

Miniseries:

  • Jason and the Heroes of Mount Olympus (F, USA, 2001) animation

The Mount Jason in Antarctica is named after him.

swell

literature

Web links

Commons : Jason  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Konrad Wernicke : Apis 6c. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 2, Stuttgart 1894, Col. 2809 f.
  2. ↑ ( online catalog of the Kunstmuseum Basel ); see. * Stefan Hess , Tomas Lochman (eds.): Classical beauty and patriotic heroism. The Basel sculptor Ferdinand Schlöth (1818–1891), catalog for the exhibition of the same name in the Basel Sculpture Hall. Basel 2004, ISBN 3-905057-20-4 , pp. 28, 93-95, 140, 222, 224, No. 8.
  3. ↑ Jason and the Argonauts movie information on IMDB.com
  4. ↑ Movie information about The Golden Thing on IMDB.com
  5. ↑ Jason and the Battle for the Golden Fleece movie information on IMDB.com
  6. ↑ Film information on Greek Gods and Goddesses: Jason and the Argonauts on IMDB.com
  7. ↑ Jason film information (USA, 2005) on IMDB.com
  8. ↑ Movie information about Medea 2 on IMDB.com
  9. Jump up ↑ Jason and the Heroes of Mount Olympus movie information on IMDB.com
predecessor Office successor
Creon King of Corinth
14th century BC BC
(mythical chronology) 		Sisyphus