David Bruce

Jason and the Argonauts: A Retelling in Prose of Apollonius of Rhodes' Argonautica David Bruce

I would like to see my retellings of classic literature used in schools, so I give permission to the country of Finland (and all other countries) to buy one copy of this eBook and give copies to all students forever. I also give permission to the state of Texas (and all other states) to buy one copy of this eBook and give copies to all students forever. I also give permission to all teachers to buy one copy of this eBook and give copies to all students forever.\Teachers need not actually teach my retellings. Teachers are welcome to give students copies of my eBook as background material. For example, if they are teaching Homer's "Iliad" and "Odyssey," teachers are welcome to give students copies of my "Virgil's 'Aeneid': A Retelling in Prose" and tell students, "Here's another ancient epic you may want to read in your spare time."Jason and the Argonauts tells the story of their quest to find the Golden Fleece. They sail from Greece into the Black Sea. With the help of the sorceress Medea, they succeed in getting the Golden Fleece but then have to sail back home. This myth is one of the most important myths of ancient Greece. Apollonius of Rhodes told the story of Jason in his Argonautica. This is a retelling of that story. Here is an excerpt: King Pelias of Thessaly sent Jason and the Argonauts on the quest to acquire the Golden Fleece. Through an oracle, he had learned that a man wearing one sandal would cause his death. Soon, a man arrived at his court wearing one sandal. That man was Jason, who had lost his sandal while helping an old woman cross a flooded river. Jason had arrived on a feast day - a day on which Pelias gave a feast in honor of his father, the sea-god Poseidon, and all other gods and goddesses, except for Hera, whom he would not worship. (Pelias' stepmother had mistreated his mother, so when he became an adult, he killed his stepmother, who had fled into a temple dedicated to Hera. This was a sacrilege, and Hera ever after hated him.) Pelias saw the man with one sandal and immediately decided to send him on a dangerous quest - a quest on which the man with one sandal would perish either on land or at sea. Quickly, the quest was arranged, and a shipwright named Argus built the Argo, the ship on which the heroes would journey to Colchis on the eastern shore of the Black Sea, the city where the Golden Fleece was located. In building the Argo, Argus had the help of the goddess Athena, who instructed him to use a beam from the palace as the prow of the ship. The beam came from a tree that had grown in Dodona, where a shrine was dedicated to Zeus, king of gods and men. Heroes heard of the quest, and they came to Iolcus to serve as the crew of the Argo and to gain glory and fame.