Iolcus, which the poet calls "well-built" and "spacious", belonged to the territory of Eumelus and is listed in the Homeric Catalogue of Ships. There was also the residence of king Pelias (Il. 2.712, Od. 11.256).
Son of Cretheus and Tyro, father of Iason, king of Iolcus (Od. 11.259).
Aeson (Aison). The son of Cretheus and Tyro, and father of Iason. He was excluded from the throne by his half-brother Pelias. During the absence of Iason on the Argonautic expedition, Pelias attempted to murder Aeson, but the latter put an end to his own life. According to Ovid, Aeson survived the return of the Argonauts, and was made young again by Medea.
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Aeson (Aison), a son of Cretheus, the founder of Iolcus, and of Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus. He was excluded by his step-brother Pelias from his share in the kingdom of Thessaly. He was father of Jason and Promachus, but the name of his wife is differently stated, as Polymele, Alcimede, Amphinome, Polypheme, Polymele, Arne, and Scarphe (Apollod. i. 9.11,16; Hom. Od. xi. 258; Tzetz. ad Lycophr. 872; Diod. iv. 50; Schol. ad Apollod. i. 45; Schol. ad Hom. Od. xii. 70). Pelias endeavoured to secure the throne to himself by sending Jason away with the Argonauts, but when one day he was surprised and frightened by the news of the return of the Argonauts, he attempted to get rid of Aeson by force, but the latter put an end to his own life. (Ap)ollod. i. 9. § 27.) According to an account in Diodorus (iv. 50), Pelias compelled Aeson to kill himself by drinking ox's blood, for he had received intelligence that Jason and his companions had perished in their expedition. According to Ovid (Met. vii. 163, 250, &c.), Aeson survived the return of the Argonauts, and was made young again by Medeia. Jason as the son of Aeson is called Aesonides. (Orph. Arg. 55)
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Alcimede (Alkimede), a daughter of Phylacus and Clymene, the daughter of Minyas (Apollon. Rhod. i. 45; Schol. ad loc. and ad i. 230). She married Aeson, by whom she became the mother of Jason (Ov. Heroid. iv. 105; Hygin. Fab. 13 and 14), who, however, is called by others a son of Polymede, Arne, or Scarphe. (Apollod. i. 9.8)
Amphinome, the wife of Aeson and mother of Jason. When her husband and her son Promachus had been slain by Pelias, and she too was on the point of sharing their fate, she fled to the hearth of Pelias, that his crime might be aggravated by murdering her on that sacred spot. She then cursed the murderer of her relatives, and plunged a sword into her own breast. (Diod. iv. 50; Apollon. Rhod. i. 45.) Two other mythical personages of this name are mentioned in Diod. iv. 53, and in the Hiad, xviii. 44.
A son of Cretheus or of Poseidon by Tyro, king of Iolcus, father of the wife of Admetus Alcestis (Il. 2.715, Od. 11.254). He sent Jason to fetch the Golden Fleece.
According to Pausanias, Pelias held the Olympic games with his brother Neleus (Paus. 5,8,2).
Pelias. A son of Poseidon and Tyro, a daughter of Salmoneus. Poseidon once visited Tyro in the form of the river-god Enipeus, with whom she was in love, and she became by him the mother of Pelias and Neleus. To conceal her shame, their mother exposed the two boys, but they were found and reared by some countrymen. They subsequently learned their parentage; and after the death of Cretheus, king of Iolcus, who had married their mother, they seized the throne of Iolcus, to the exclusion of Aeson, the son of Cretheus and Tyro. Pelias soon afterwards expelled his own brother Neleus, and thus became sole ruler of Iolcus. After Pelias had long reigned over Iolcus, Iason, the son of Aeson, came to Iolcus and claimed the kingdom as his right. In order to get rid of him, Pelias sent him to Colchis to fetch the golden fleece. Hence arose the celebrated expedition of the Argonauts. After the return of Iason, Pelias was cut to pieces and boiled by his own daughters (the Peliades), who had been told by Medea that in this manner they might restore their father to vigour and youth. His son Acastus held funeral games in his honour at Iolcus, and expelled Iason and Medea from the country. The names of several of the daughters of Pelias are four, the best known of which is that of Alcestis.
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Anaxibia. A daughter of Bias and wife of Pelias, by whom she became the mother of Acastus, Peisidice, Pelopia, Hippothoe, and Alcestis. (Apollod. i. 9.10)
He was the son of Aeson by Polymede, leader of the Argonautic expedition (Od. 12.69 etc.), who, during his voyage to Colchis, went to Lemnos and became the father of Euneus by Hypsipyle (Il. 7.469).
Iason. Son of Aeson and Polymede or Alcimede. He was the celebrated leader of the Argonauts. His father, Aeson, who reigned at Iolcus in Thessaly, was deprived of the kingdom by his half-brother Pelias, who attempted to take the life of the infant Iason. He was saved by his friends, and intrusted to the care of the centaur Chiron. When he had grown up he came to Iolcus, and demanded the kingdom, which Pelias promised to surrender to him, provided he brought the golden fleece, which was in the possession of King Aeetes in Colchis, and was guarded by an ever-watchful dragon. Iason willingly undertook the enterprise, and set sail in the ship Argo, accompanied by the chief heroes of Greece. He obtained the fleece with the assistance of Medea, whom he made his wife, and along with whom he returned to Iolcus. The history of his exploits on this enterprise is related elsewhere. (See Argonautae.) In order to avenge the death of his father, who had been slain by Pelias during his absence, Medea, at the instigation of Iason, persuaded the daughters of Pelias to cut their father to pieces and boil him, in order to restore him to youth and vigour, as she had before changed a ram into a lamb, by boiling the ram in a caldron. Pelias thus perished miserably; and his son Acastus expelled Iason and Medea from Iolcus. They then went to Corinth, where they lived happily for several years, until Iason deserted Medea, in order to marry Glauce (or Creusa), daughter of Creon, the king of the country. Medea fearfully revenged this insult. She sent Glauce a poisoned garment, which burned her to death when she put it on. Creon likewise perished in the flames. Medea also killed her children by Iason, and then fled to Athens in a chariot drawn by winged dragons. (See Medea.) The death of Iason is related variously. According to some, he made away with himself from grief; according to others, he was crushed by the poop of the ship Argo, which fell upon him as he was lying under it.
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Jason (Iason), i.e. the healer or atoner, a name which the hero was said to have received from Cheiron, his instructor, having before been called Diomedes (Pind. Pyth. iv. 221, with the Schol.). The chief exploits of this hero are related in the article Argonautae, and we therefore confine ourselves now to his personal history. According to the common tradition, he was a son of Aeson and Polymede, and belonged to the family of the Aeolidae at Iolcus. The name of his mother, however, is different in the different writers, either Polymele (Schol. ad Hom. Od. xii. 70), Amphinome (Diod. iv. 50), Alcimede (Apollon. Rhod. i. 232), Polypheme (Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 45), Arne or Scarphe (Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 872), or Rhoeo (Tzetz. Chil. vii. 980). After the death of Cretheus, the founder of Iolcus and father of Aeson, Pelias, the nephew, or, according to others, a brother of Jason, ruled at Iolcus. Pelias was told by an oracle that he should be killed by a descendant of Aeolus, and therefore put to death all the Aeolidae; but Jason, whose grandfather, Cretheus, had been the eldest son of Aeolus, and who was on that account likewise destined to die, was saved by his own relatives, who lamented over him as though he were dead, and entrusted him to Cheiron to be educated (Pind. Nem. iii. 94). Pelias was now advised by an oracle to be on his guard against a man with only one shoe. Once when Pelias offered up a sacrifice to Poseidon, he invited among others Jason. The latter arrived with only one sandal, having lost the other in crossing the river Anaurus, on the banks of which he lived as a peasant. Another tradition represents Jason as coming in Magnesian costume from Mount Pelion (Pind. Pyth. iv. 140 ; Apollod. i. 9.16). Instead of the river Anaurus, others mention the Evenus or Enipeus, and it is added that Hera, being in love with Jason, assumed the appearance of an old woman, and standing on the bank of the river, requested him to carry her across, and that Jason in so doing lost one of his sandals (Hygin. Fab. 13). Others again relate that Jason, uninvited by Pelias, came from Mount Pelion to Iolcus, found his aged father Aeson still alive, and demanded the throne of Pelias, who had usurped it, or had undertaken the government as the guardian of Jason (Schol. ad Hom. Od. xii. 70). Pelias consented to surrender the throne, but demanded of Jason to remove the curse which rested on the family of the Aeolidae, by fetching the golden fleece, and soothing the spirit of Phrixus (Pind. Pyth. iv. 109, &c.; Diod. iv. 40). The common story, however, goes on to say that on the arrival of Jason at Iolcus, Pelias remembered the oracle about the man with one shoe, and asked Jason what he would do if he were told by an oracle that he should be killed by one of his subjects? Jason, on the suggestion of Hera, who hated Pelias, answered, that he would send him out to fetch the golden fleece. Pelias accordingly ordered Jason to fetch the golden fleece, which was in the possession of king Aeetes in Colchis, and was guarded by an ever-watchful dragon. At the request of Jason, Argus, a son of Phrixus or Arestor, built the ship Argo, and the principal heroes of Greece being invited to join the expedition, Jason and his companions embarked at Iolcus. They first landed in Lemnos, which was governed by Hypsipyle, by whom Jason became the father of Euneus and Nebrophonus (or, as others call him, Deiphilus, or Thoas; Hygin. Fab. 15; Hom. Il. vii. 468). After many adventures, Jason and his companions arrived in Colchis, the kingdom of Aeetes. While Jason was meditating upon the manner in which he might fulfil the conditions under which Aeetes had promised to surrender the golden fleece, the sorceress Medeia, the daughter of Aeetes and Idyia, fell in love with him, and from fear lest he should be killed by the brazen-footed and fire-breathing bulls whom Jason was to yoke to a plough, she promised to assist him, and surrender the fleece to him, if he would take an oath that he would make her his wife, and take her to Greece. When Jason promised to do so, Medeia gave him an ointment, with which he was to anoint his body, shield and spear, and which was to make him for one day invulnerable by fire and iron. She further informed him, that from the teeth of the dragon which he was to sow in the field ploughed with the above-mentioned bull, armed men would rise against him, and she commanded him to throw stones among them, adding, that as they would light about those stones, they would destroy one another, or it would be easy for him to destroy them. Jason now succeeded in doing as he was bid by Aeetes, but the latter, nevertheless, refused giving up the golden fleece, for he had formed the secret plan of burning the ship Argo, and destroying the Argonauts. But Medeia prevented this, and in the night she conducted her beloved to the fleece, sent the dragon to sleep, and having taken possession of the fleece, she embarked with Jason in the ship Argo. Her brother Absyrtus accompanied them. According to some, Jason, previous to his departure, fought with Aeetes, and killed him, and Jason, who was wounded, was cured by Medeia (Diod. iv. 4, 8). But, according to the common story, Aeetes pursued the fugitives, and as he was near overtaking them, Medeia killed her brother Absyrtus, and scattered the parts of his body into the sea as she fled. The collecting of these scattered limbs detained Aeetes; Jason and Medeia thus escaped, and Aeetes buried the collected limbs of Absyrtus in a place which was hence called Tomi (pieces, from temno; Steph. Byz. s. v. Tomeus). The Argonauts were subsequently purified by Circe from the murder of Absyrtus. When they arrived in the island of the Phaeacians, the Colchians who had been sent out in their pursuit overtook them, and demanded the surrender of Medeia. Alcinous promised to give her up, in case of her not being actually married to Jason, and Arete, the wife of Alcinous, contrived to hurry the marriage, in order to avoid the necessity of surrendering Medeia. At length Jason and Medeia arrived at Iolcus. According to Ovid (Met. vii. 162, &c.), Jason found his aged father Aeson still alive, and Medeia made him young again; but according to the common tradition, Pelias, not believing that the Argonauts would ever return, had in the mean time resolved to kill Aeson. But the latter begged to be permitted to put an end to his own life, drank the blood of a bull which he sacrificed, and thus died. Jason's mother cursed Pelias for this crime, and made away with herself (Diod. iv. 50); and Pelias killed her surviving young son Promachus. After the perpetration of these crimes Jason arrived, and delivered the fleece to Pelias. He then dedicated the ship Argo to Poseidon on the Isthmus, and called upon Medeia to take vengeance on Pelias. Medeia prevailed on the daughters of Pelias to cut their father to pieces and boil them, pretending that thereby they would restore him to youth and vigour, as she had before changed a ram into a lamb, by boiling the dissected parts of his body in a cauldron. But Pelias remained dead, and his son Acastus expelled Jason and Medeia from Iolcus. According to other traditions, Jason, after having taken vengeance on Pelias, spared the other members of the family, and even raised Acastus to the throne (Diod. iv. 52, &c.; Hygin. Fab. 24). The earliest legends do not mention Jason's expulsion from Iolcus, for Hesiod (Theog 982, &c.) simply relates that Jason returned to Iolcus, and became by Medeia the father of Medeius, who was educated by Cheiron on the neighbouring Pelion. But according to the common account, Jason and Medeia went from Iolcus to Corinth, where they lived happy for a period of ten years, until Creon, king of Thebes, betrothed his daughter Glauce or Creusa to Jason, and thus led him to desert Medeia. Medeia invoked the gods by whom Jason had sworn to be faithful to her, and sent to Glauce a poisoned garment and diadem. When the latter put on the garment, she, together with her father, was consumed by the poisonous fire that issued from the vestment. Medeia also killed her children by Jason, viz. Mermerus and Pheres, and then fled in a chariot drawn by winged dragons, the gift of Helios, to Athens. Her younger children she placed, previous to her flight, as suppliants on the altar of Hera Acraea, but the Corinthians took them away and put them to death (Apollod. i. 9.16; Ov. Met. vii.; Tzetz. ad Lycoph. 175; Eurip. Medeia ; Pind. Pyth. iv.; Apollon. Rhod. Argon.). According to Diodorus (iv. 54), Medeia set the royal palace at Corinth on fire, in which Creon and Glauce were burnt, but Jason escaped; further, she had three sons, Thessalus, Alcimenes, and Thersander, the two last of whom were killed, whereas Thessalus, who escaped, afterwards became the ruler of Iolcus. Medeia herself first escaped to Thebes, where she cured Heracles, and afterwards to Athens. The earliest accounts we have do not mention Medeia's murder of her children, but represent her as a priestess at Corinth, where she was killed by the Corinthians (Aelian, V. H. v. in fin.); and Pausanias (ii. 3, in fin.) relates, that after the death of Corinthus, Medeia was invited from Iolcus, and ruled over Corinth, as her lawful paternal inheritance, in conjunction with Jason. Medeia concealed her children in the temple of Hera, hoping thereby to make them immortal; but Jason, indignant at this conduct, deserted her, and returned to Iolcus, whereupon Medeia also quitted Corinth, leaving the government to Sisyphus. Jason is also mentioned among the Calydonian hunters (Apollod. i. 8.2); and it is further stated, that he and the Dioscuri joined Peleus, for the purpose of assisting him in taking vengeance on Astydameia, the wife of Acastus, and conquered and destroyed Iolcus (Schol. ad Pind. Nem. iii. 55; Apollod. iii. 13.7). Later writers represent Jason as having in the end become reconciled to Medeia, as having returned with her to Colchis, and as having there restored Aeetes to his kingdom, of which he had been deprived (Tacit. Ann. vi. 34; Justin, xlii. 2). The death of Jason is also related differently ; for, according to some, he made away with himself from grief (Diod. iv. 55), and, according to others, he was crushed by the poop of the ship Argo, under which he laid down on the advice of Medeia, and which fell upon him (Schol. on the Argument of Eurip. Med.). He was worshipped as a hero in several parts of the ancient world (Strab. xi. pp. 526, 531) : his marriage with Medeia was represented on the chest of Cypselus (Paus. v. 18.1).
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Cretheus; son of Aeolus, brings up Tyro, founds Iolcus, marries Tyro, father of Aeson, Amythaon, Pheres, and of Neleus. Tyro; daughter of Salmoneus and Alcidice, loves river Enipeus, mother of twins, Pelias and Neleus, by Poseidon, wife of Cretheus, mother of Aeson, Amythaon, and Pheres.
Cretheus, (Kretheus), a son of Aeolus and Enarete, was married to Tyro, the daughter of Salmoneus, by whom he became the father of Aeson, Pheres, Amythaon, and Hippolyte. He is called the founder of the town of Iolcus (Hom. Od. xi. 236, 258; Apollod. i. 9.11; comp. Paus. viii. 25.5). According to another tradition, Cretheus was married to Demodice or Biadice, who loved Phrixus, and as her love was rejected by the latter, she calumniously accused him to Cretheus of having been guilty of improper conduct. (Hygin. Poet. Ast. ii. 20)
Hetaeteius (Hetaireios), the protector of companies or associations of friends, a surname of Zeus, to whom Jason was believed to have offered the first sacrifices, when the Argonauts were assembled for their expedition. (Athen. xiii.)
Astydamia; falsely accuses Peleus, killed by Peleus. Acastus: Son of Pelias, in the Argo, buries his father, holds games in memory of his father, at funeral games of Pelias, expels Jason and Medea from Iolcus, purifies Peleus, takes Peleus to hunt, deserts him, and hides his sword, father of Sthenele, the sons of, expel Peleus from Phthia, painted by Micon.
Acastus, (Akastos). The son of Pelias, king of Iolcos, who joined the Argonautic expedition, though against his father's will, as a friend of Iason. At his father's death he celebrated funeral games which were the theme of ancient poets and artists, and in which Peleus was represented as participating. He took part in the Calydonian boar-hunt. But his wife Astydamia fell in love with Peleus (q.v.), and this brought ruin on the wedded pair. His daughter was Laodamia, renowned for her tender love of Protesilaus.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Acastus (Akastos), a son of Pelias, king of Iolcus, and of Anaxibia, or as others call her, Philomache. He was one of the Argonauts (Apollod. i. 9.10; Apollon. Rhod. i. 224, &c.), and also took part in the Calydonian hunt (Ov. Met. viii. 305,&c.). After the return of the Argonauts his sisters were seduced by Medeia to cut their father in pieces and boil them; and Acastus, when he heard this, buried his father, drove Iason and Medeia, and according to Pausanias (vii. 11) his sisters also, from lolcus, and instituted funeral games in honour of his father (Hygin. Fab. 24 and 273; Apollod. i. 9.27, &c.; Paus. iii. 18.9, vi. 20.9, v. 17.4; Ov. Met. xi. 409, &c.). During these games it happened that Astydamia, the wife of Acastus, who is also called Hippolyte, fell in love with Peleus, whom Acastus had purified from the murder of Eurytion. When Peleus refused to listen to her addresses, she accused him to her husband of having attempted to dishonour her (Apollod. iii. 13.2, &c.; Pind. Nem. iv. 90, &c.). Acastus, however, did not take immediate revenge for the alleged crime, but after he and Peleus had been chasing on mount Pelion, and the latter had fallen asleep, Acastus took his sword from him, and left him alone and exposed, so that Peleus was nearly destroyed by the Centaurs. But he was saved by Cheiron or Hermes, returned to Acastus, and killed him together with his wife (Apollod. l. c.; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. i. 224). The death of Acastus is not mentioned by Apollodorus, but according to him Peleus in conjunction with Iason and the Dioscuri merely conquer and destroy Iolcus (Apollod. iii. 13.7).
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Argonautae (Argonautai), the heroes and demigods who, according to the traditions
of the Greeks, undertook the first bold maritime expedition to Colchis, a far
distant country on the coast of the Euxine, for the purpose of fetching the golden
fleece. They derived their name from the ship Argo, in which the voyage was made,
and which was constructed by Argus at the command of Jason, the leader of the
Argonauts. The time which the Greek traditions assign to this enterprise is about
one generation before the Trojan war. The story of the expedition seems to have
been known to the author of the Odyssey (xii. 69, &c.), who states, that the ship
Argo was the only one that ever passed between the whirling rocks (penrai planktai).
Jason is mentioned several times in the Iliad (vii. 467, &c., xxi. 40, xxiii.
743, &c.), but not as the leader of the Argonauts. Hesiod (Theog. 992, &c.) relates
the story of Jason saying that he fetched Medeia at the command of his uncle Pelias,
and that she bore him a son, Medeius, who was educated by Cheiron. The first trace
of the common tradition that Jason was sent to fetch the golden fleece from Aea,
the city of Aeetes, in the eastern boundaries of the earth, occurs in Mimnermus
(ap. Strab. i. p. 46, &c.), a contemporary of Solon; but the most ancient detailed
account of the expedition of the Argonauts which is extant, is that of Pindar
(Pyth. iv.). Pelias, who had usurped the throne of Iolcus, and expelled Aeson,
the father of Jason, had received an oracle that he was to be on his guard against
the man who should come to him with only one sandal. When Jason had grown up,
he came to Iolcus to demand the succession to the throne of his father. On his
way thither, he had lost one of his sandals in crossing the river Anaurus. Pelias
recognised the man indicated by the oracle, but concealed his fear, hoping to
destroy him in some way; and when Jason claimed the throne of his ancestors, Pelias
declared himself ready to yield; but as Jason was blooming in youthful vigour,
Pelias entreated him to propitiate the manes of Phrixus by going to Colchis and
fetching the golden fleece. Jason accepted the proposal, and heralds were sent
to all parts of Greece to invite the heroes to join him in the expedition. When
all were assembled at Iolcus, they set out on their voyage, and a south wind carried
them to the mouth of the Axeinus Pontus (subsequently Euxinus Pontus), where they
built a temple to Poseidon, and implored his protection against the danger of
the whirling rocks. The ship then sailed to the eastern coast of the Euxine and
ran up the river Phasis, in the country of Aeetes, and the Argonauts had to fight
against the dark-eyed Colchians. Aphrodite inspired Medeia, the daughter of Aeetes,
with love for Jason, and made her forget the esteem and affection she owed to
her parent. She was in possession of magic powers, and taught Jason how to avert
the dangers which her father might prepare for him, and gave him remedies with
which he was to heal his wounds. Aeetes promised to give up the fleece to Jason
on condition of his ploughing a piece of land with his adamantine plough drawn
by firebreathing exen. Jason undertook the task, and, following the advice of
Medeia, he remained unhurt by the fire of the oxen, and accomplished what had
been demanded of him. The golden fleece, which Jason himself had to fetch, was
hung up in a thicket, and guarded by a fearful dragon, thicker and longer than
the ship of the Argonauts. Jason succeeded by a stratagem in slaying the dragon,
and on his return he secretly carried away Medeia with him. They sailed home by
the Erythraean sea, and arrived in Lemnos. In this account of Pindar, all the
Argonauts are thrown into the background, and Jason alone appears as the acting
hero. The brief description of their return through the Erythraean sea is difficult
to understand. Pindar, as the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (iv. 259) remarks,
like some other poets, makes the Argonauts return through the eastern current
of Oceanus, which it must be supposed that they entered through the river Phasis;
so that they sailed from the Euxine through the river Phasis into the eastern
ocean, and then round Asia to the southern coast of Libya. Here the Argonauts
landed, and carried their ship through Libya on their shoulders until they came
to the lake of Triton, through which they sailed northward into the Mediterranean,
and steered towards Lemnos and Iolcus. The Erythraean sea in this account is the
eastern ocean. There is scarcely any other adventure in the ancient stories of
Greece the detail of which has been so differently related by poets of all kinds.
The most striking differences are those relative to the countries or seas through
which the Argonauts returned home. As it was in most cases the object of the poets
to make them return through some unknown country, it was necessary, in later times,
to shift their road, accordingly as geographical knowledge became more and more
extended. While thus Pindar makes them return through the eastern ocean, others,
such as Apollonius Rhodius and Apollodorus, make them sail from the Euxine into
the rivers Ister and Eridanus into the western ocean, or the Adriatic; and others,
again, such as the Pseudo-Orpheus, Timaeus, and Scymnus of Chios, represent them
as sailing through the river Tanais into the northern ocean, and round the northern
countries of Europe. A fourth set of traditions, which was adopted by Herodotus,
Callimachus, and Diodorus Siculus, made them return by the same way as they had
sailed to Colchis.
All traditions, however, agree in stating, that the object of the
Argonauts was to fetch the golden fleece which was kept in the country of Aeetes.
This fleece was regarded as golden as early as the time of Hesiod and Pherecydes
(Eratosth. Catast. 19), but in the extant works of Hesiod there is no trace of
this tradition, and Mimnermus only calls it "a large fleece in the town of Aeetes,
where the rays of Helios rest in a golden chamber". Simonides and Acusilaus described
it as of purple colour (Schol. ad Eurip. Med. 5, ad Apollon. Rhod. iv. 1147).
If, therefore, the tradition in this form had any historical foundation at all,
it would seem to suggest, that a trade in furs with the countries north and east
of the Euxine was carried on by the Minyans in and about Iolcus at a very early
time, and that some bold mercantile enterprise to those countries gave rise to
the story about the Argonauts. In later traditions, the fleece is universally
called the golden fleece; and the wondrous ram who wore it is designated by the
name of Chrysomallus, and called a son of Poseidon and Theophane, the daughter
of Brisaltes in the island of Crumissa (Hygin. Fab.188). Strabo (xi.; comp. Appian,
de Bell. Mithrid. 103) endeavours to explain the story about the golden fleece
from the Colchians' collecting by means of skins the gold sand which was carried
down in their rivers from the mountains.
The ship Argo is described as a pentecontoros, that is, a ship with
fifty oars, and is said to have conveyed the same number of heroes. The Scholiast
on Lycophron (175) is the only writer who states the number of the heroes to have
been one hundred. But the names of the fifty heroes are not the same in all the
lists of the Argonauts, and it is a useless task to attempt to reconcile them
(Apollod. i. 9.16; Hygin. Fab. 14, with the commentators; compare the catalogue
of the Argonauts in Burmann's edition of Val. Flaccus). An account of the writers
who had made the expedition of the Argonauts the subject of poems or critical
investigations, and whose works were used by Apollonius Rhodius, is given by the
Scholiast on this poet. Besides the Argonautics of the Pseudo-Orpheus, we now
possess only those of Apollonius Rhodius, and his Roman imitator, Valerius Flaccus.
The account which is preserved in Apollodorus' Bibliotheca (i. 9.16-27) is derived
from the best sources that were extant in his time, and chiefly from Pherecydes.
We shall give his account here, partly because it is the plainest, and partly
because it may fill up those parts which Pindar in his description has touched
upon but slightly.
When Jason was commissioned by his uncle Pelias of Iolcus to fetch
the golden fleece, which was suspended on an oak-tree in the grove of Ares in
Colchis, and was guarded day and night by a dragon, he commanded Argus, the son
of Phrixus, to build a ship with fifty oars, in the prow of which Athena inserted
a piece of wood from the speaking oaks in the grove at Dodona, and he invited
all the heroes of his time to take part in the expedition. Their first landing-place
after leaving Iolcus was the island of Lemnos, where all the women had just before
murdered their fathers and husbands, in consequence of the anger of Aphrodite.
Thoas alone had been saved by his daughters and his wife Hypsipyle. The Argonauts
united themselves with the women of Lemnos, and Hypsipyle bore to Jason two sons,
Euneus and Nebrophonus. From Lemnos the Argonauts sailed to the country of the
Doliones, where king Cizycus received them hospitably. They left the country during
the night, and being thrown back on the coast by a contrary wind, they were taken
for Pelasgians, the enemies of the Doliones, and a struggle ensued, in which Cizycus
was slain; but being recognised by the Argonauts, they buried him and mourned
over his fate. They next landed in Mysia, where they left behind Heracles and
Polyphemus, who had gone into the 'country in search of Hylas, whom a nymph had
carried off while he was fetching water for his companions. In the country of
the Bebryces, king Amycus challenged the Argonauts to fight with him; and when
Polydeuces was killed by him, the Argonauts in revenge slew many of the Bebryces,
and sailed to Salmydessus in Thrace, where the seer Phineus was tormented by the
Harpyes. When the Argonauts consulted him about their voyage, he promised his
advice on condition of their delivering him from the Harpyes. This was done by
Zetes and Calais, two sons of Boreas; and Phineus now advised them, before sailing
through the Symplegades, to mark the flight of a dove, and to judge from its fate
of what they themselves would have to do. When they approached the Symplegades,
they sent out a dove, which in its rapid flight between the rocks lost only the
end of its tail. The Argonauts now, with the assistance of Hera, followed the
example of the dove, sailed quickly between the rocks, and succeeded in passing
through without injuring their ship, with the exception of some ornaments at the
stern. exceforth the Symplegades stood immoveable in the sea. On their arrival
in the country of the Mariandyni, the Argonauts were kindly received by their
king, Lycus. The seer Idmon and the helnsmuan Tiphys died here, and the place
of the latter was supplied by Ancacus. They now sailed along the Thermodon and
the Caucasus, until they arrived at the mouth of the river Phasis. The Colchian
king Aeetes promised to give up the golden fleece, if Jason alone would yoke to
a plough two firebreathing oxen with brazen feet, and sow the teeth of the dragon
which had not been used by Cadmus at Thebes, and which he had received from Athena.
The love of Medeia furnished Jason with means to resist fire and steel, on condition
of his taking her as his wife; and she taught him how he was to create feuds among
and kill the warriors that were to spring up from the teeth of the dragon. While
Jason was engaged upon his task, Aeetes formed plans for burning the ship Argo
and for killing all the Greek heroes. But Medeia's magic powers sent to sleep
the dragon who guarded the golden fleece; and after Jason had taken possession
of the treasure, he and his Argonauts, together with Medeia and her young brother
Absyrtus, embarked by night and sailed away. Aeetes pursued them, but before he
overtook them, Medeia murdered her brother, cut him into pieces, and threw his
limbs overboard, that her father might be detained in his pursuit by collecting
the limbs of his child. Aeetes at last returned home, but sent out a great number
of Colchians, threatening them with the punishment intended for Medeia, if they
returned without her. While the Colchians were dispersed in all directions, the
Argonauts had already reached the mouth of the river Eridanus. But Zeus, in his
anger at the murder of Absyrtus, raised a storm which cast the ship from its road.
When driven on the Absyrtian islands, the ship began to speak, and declared that
the anger of Zeus would not cease, unless they sailed towards Ausonia, and got
purified by Circe. They now sailed along the coasts of the Ligyans and Celts,
and through the sea of Sardinia, and continuing their course along the coast of
Tyrrhenia, they arrived in the island of Aeaea, where Circe purified them. When
they were passing by the Sirens, Orpheus sang to prevent the Argonauts being allured
by them. Bates, however, swam to them, but Aphrodite carried him to Lilybaeum.
Thetis and the Nereids conducted them through Scylla and Charybdis and between
the whirling rocks (petrai planktai); and sailing by the Trinacian island with
its oxen of Helios, they came to the Phaeacian island of Corcyra, where they were
received by Alcinous. In the meantime, some of the Colchians, not being able to
discover the Argonauts, had settled at the foot of the Ceraunian mountains; others
occupied the Absyrtian islands near the coast of Illyricum ; and a third band
overtook the Argonauts in the island of the Phaeacians. But as their hopes of
recovering Medeia were deceived by Arete, the queen of Alcinous, they settled
in the island, and the Argonauts continued their voyage. During the night, they
were overtaken by a storm; but Apollo sent brilliant flashes of lightning which
enabled them to discover a neighbouring island, which they called Anaphe. Here
they erected an altar to Apollo, and solemn rites were instituted, which continued
to be observed down to very late times. Their attempt to land in Crete was prevented
by Talus, who guarded the island, but was killed by the artifices of Medeia. From
Crete they sailed to Aegina, and front thence between Euboea and Locris to Iolcus.
Respecting the events subsequent to their arrival in lolcus, see Aeson, Medeia,
Jason, Pelias. The story of the Argonauts probably arose out of accounts of commercial
enterprises which the wealthy Minyans made to the coasts of the Euxine.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Argonautae, (Argonautai). A name given to those who sailed in the ship Argo under the
lead of Iason, son of Aeson, a generation before the Trojan War, to Aea, afterwards
identified with Colchis at the eastern end of the Euxine Sea. The expedition was
undertaken for the recovery of the golden fleece of the ram on which Phrixus,
son of Athamas, had fled from his father and Ino, his step-mother, to the court
of Aeetes, king of Aea, a mighty magician. Having been hospitably received by
him, and married to his daughter Chalciope, he had sacrificed the ram, and hung
its fleece up in the grove of Ares, where it was guarded by a sleepless dragon.
The task of bringing it back was laid upon Iason by his uncle Pelias, son of Poseidon
and Tyro, who had deprived his half-brother Aeson of the sovereignty of Iolcus
in Thessaly. Aeson, to protect his son from the plots of Pelias, had conveyed
him secretly to the centaur Chiron on Mount Pelion, who brought him up until he
was twenty years of age. Then Iason came home, and without a shoe on his left
foot, having lost it in wading through a mountain torrent, presented himself before
Pelias, demanding his father's restoration to his sovereignty. The crafty Pelias,
whom an oracle had warned against a one-shoed man, promised on his oath to do
what he asked, if Iason would go instead of himself to bring the golden fleece.
This task the oracle had imposed upon himself, but he was too old to perform it.
Another version of the story is, that Iason, after completing his education with
Chiron, preferred to live in the country; that he came, with one shoe on, to a
sacrifice that Pelias was offering to Poseidon on the sea-shore; that Pelias asked
him what he would do if he were king and had been forewarned of his death at the
hand of a subject; and that, upon Iason answering that he would make him bring
the golden fleece, Pelias gave him the commission. Here had put that answer into
Iason's mouth, because she regarded him with favour, and wished to punish Pelias
for having slain Sidero in her temple.
The vessel for the voyage, the fifty-oared Argo, is said to
have been named after its builder Argos, a son of Phrixus after his return to
Orchomenus, the home of his fathers. The ship was built of the pines of Pelion
under the direction of Athene, like Here a protectress of Iason, who inserted
in the prow a piece of the speaking oak of Dodona. The heroes who, at Iason's
call, took part in the expedition (fifty all told, according to the number of
the oars), were originally, in the version to which the Minyan family gave currency,
Minyans of Iolcos, Orchomenus, Pylos, and other places. Among them were Acastus
the son of Pelias, a close friend of Iason; Admetus, Erginus, Euphemus, Periclymenus,
and Tiphys. But, as the story spread, all the Greek heroes that could have been
living at the time were included among the number of the Argonauts--e. g. Heracles,
Castor and Polydeuces, Idas and Lynceus, Calais and Zetes the sons of Boreas,
Peleus, Tydeus, Meleager, Amphiaraus, Orpheus, Mopsus and Idmon the prophets of
the expedition, and even the huntress Atalanta. Iason takes the command, and Tiphys
manages the helm. Setting sail from Pegasae, the port of Iolcos, the Argonauts
make the island of Lemnos, where only women dwell, and after some considerable
stay there (see Hypsipyle) go past Samothrace and through the Hellespont to the
island of Cyzicus, where they are hospitably received by Cyzicus, the king of
the Doliones; but, attempting to proceed, are beaten back by a storm at night,
and, being taken by their late friends for pirates, are attacked, and have the
ill-fortune to kill their young king. On the coast of Mysia they leave Heracles
behind to look for Hylas, who has been carried off by nymphs. On the Bithynian
shore, Polydeuces vanquishes the Bebrycian king Amycus in a boxing-match. At Salmydessus
in Thrace, the blind seer Phineus, whom Calais and Zetes had rid of the Harpies,
his tormentors, instructs them with regard to the rest of their journey, and especially
how to sail through the Symplegades, two floating rocks that clash together at
the entrance to the Black Sea. By his advice Iason sends a dove before him, and
as she has only her tail-feathers cut off by the colliding rocks, they venture
on the feat of rowing the Argo through. By Here's help, or, according to another
account, that of Athene, they do what no man has done before: they pass through,
the ship only losing her rudder. Skirting the southern shore of the Pontus, they
meet with a friendly reception from Lycus, king of the Maryandini, though here
the seer Idmon is killed by a wild boar in hunting, and the helmsman Tiphys dies
of a disease, whereupon Ancaeus takes his place. Past the land of the Amazons
they come to the island of Aretias, whence they scare away the Stymphalian birds,
and take on board the sons of Phrixus, who had been shipwrecked there on their
way to Greece. At length they reach the mouth of the Phasis in the land of the
Colchians. Upon Iason's demand, Aeetes promises to give up the golden fleece,
on condition that Iason catches two brazen-hoofed, firebreathing bulls, yokes
them to a brazen plough, and ploughs with them the field of Ares, sows the furrows
with dragons' teeth, and overcomes the mailclad men that are to spring out of
them. The hero has given up all hope of success, when Aphrodite kindles in the
breast of the king's daughter Medea an irresistible love for the stranger. Medea
gives him an ointment to protect him from the fiery breath of the bulls, as well
as the strength to harness them, and advises him to throw a stone in among the
earth-born giants, who will kill each other. But when all this is done Aeetes
does not give up the fleece. Then Iason, with the help of Medea, whom he promises
to take home with him as his wife, throws the dragon that guards it into a sleep,
takes it down, and escapes with Medea and his comrades. Aeetes sends his son Absyrtus
in pursuit, whom Iason kills by stratagem. Another story is that Medea takes her
little brother Absyrtus with her, cuts him to pieces, and throws the limbs one
by one into the sea, so that her father, while pursuing her, might be delayed
in picking them up and laying them out.
As to the return of the Argonauts, the legends differ considerably.
One of the oldest makes them sail up the Phasis into the river Oceanus, and over
that to Libya, where they drag the ship twelve days' journey overland to Lake
Tritonis, and get home across the Mediterranean. Other accounts agree with this
in substance, while others, again, mix up the older tradition with the adventures
of Odysseus. The heroes sail up the Danube into the Adriatic, and are within hail
of Corcyra (Corfu) when a storm breaks out, and the piece of oak from Dodona foretells
their ruin unless they have the murder of Absyrtus expiated by Circe. Hence they
sail up the Eridanus into the Rhone, and so into the Tyrrhenian Sea to the island
of Circe, who purifies them. They go past the island of the Sirens, against whose
magic the songs of Orpheus protect them. All but Butes pass in safety between
Scylla and Charybdis with the help of the gods, and reach the island of the Phaeacians,
where Iason marries Medea to evade the sentence of their host Alcinous, who, in
his capacity as umpire, has given judgment that the girl Medea be delivered up
to her Colchian pursuers. Already within sight of the Peloponnesus, a storm drives
them into the Libyan Syrtes, whence they carry their ship, saved by divine assistance,
to Lake Tritonis. Thence, guided by Triton into the Mediterranean, they return
by way of Crete to Iolcos.
During their absence Pelias has put to death Aeson and his
son Promachus, and Iason's mother has taken her own life. Medea sets to work to
avenge them. Before the eyes of Pelias's daughters she cuts up an old he-goat,
and by boiling it in a magic caldron restores it to life and youth. Promising
in like manner to renew the youth of the aged Pelias, she induces them to kill
their father and then leaves them in the lurch. Driven away by Acastus, the son
of the murdered king, Iason and Medea take refuge with Creon, king of Corinth.
But, after ten years of happy wedlock, Iason resolves to marry Creon's daughter
Creusa, or Glauce. On this, Medea kills the bride and her father by sending the
unsuspecting maiden a poisoned robe and a diadem as a bridal gift, murders her
own two sons, Mermerus and Pheres, in her faithless husband's sight, and, escaping
in a car drawn by serpents, sent by her grandfather Helios, makes her way to Aegeus,
king of Athens. Iason is said to have come by his death through the Argo, which
he had set up and consecrated on the Isthmus. One day, when he was lying down
to rest under the ship, the stern fell off and killed him.
The legend of the Argonauts is extremely ancient; even Homer
speaks of it as universally known. We first find it treated in detail in Pindar;
then the Alexandrian poet Apollonius of Rhodes tried to harmonize the various
versions, and was followed by the Latin poets Valerius Flaccus, Varro Atacinus,
and the late Greek PseudoOrpheus.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Apollodorus, Library and Epitome 1.9.16 & Pindar, Odes P.4.171
Τhe building of the, speaks with human voice, Amycus goes to the, Aeetes wishes to burn the, its voyage to Colchis, the Colchians search for the, find it in the land of the Phaeacians, pelted with stones by Talos, dedicated to Poseidon at the Isthmus of Corinth, Argonautica of Apollonius, voyage of the ship to Libya.
Son of Aeson, slain by Pelias.
Ampycus (Ampukos). A son of Pelias, husband of Chloris, and father of the famous seer Mopsus. (Hygin. Fab. 14, 128; Apollon. Rhod. i. 1083; Ov. Met. xii. 456.) Pausanias (v. 17.4, vii. 18.4) calls him Ampyx.
Aregonis, according to the Orphic Argonautica (127), the wife of Ampycus and mother of Mopsus. Hyginus (Fab. 14) calls her Chloris.
Demetrias, which is on the sea between Nelia and Pagasae, was founded by Demetrius Poliorcetes, who named it after himself, settling in it the inhabitants of the nearby towns, Nelia and Pagasae and Ormenium, and also Rhizus, Sepias, Olizon, Boebe, and Iolcus, which are now villages belonging to Demetrias.
Jason at, founded by Cretheus, Pelias, King of, return of the Argonauts to, Jason and Medea expelled from, Peleus purified by Acastus at, laid waste by Peleus, who enters the city between the severed limbs of Astydamia, Minyans of, offered by the Thessalians to the exiled Hippias.
Iolcos. City of southern Thessalia.
Iolcos was famous for being the birthplace of Jason, the leader of the Argonauts
in their quest for the Golden Fleece.
Iolcos was founded by Cretheus, a son of Aeolus. Cretheus married
his niece Tyro, whom he had raised in his house. Aeson is the son of Cretheus
who succeeded his father on the throne of Iolcos. He married Polymede, the daughter
of Autolycus and, from her, had a son named Jason. But Pelias and Neleus both
wanted Aeson's throne. In their fight for the throne, Pelias won and became king
of Iolcos. Pelias married Anaxibia, daughter of his nephew Bias, and had a son
named Acastus.
Meanwhile, Jason was being raised in Mount
Pelion (a mountain near Iolcos) by Chiron the wise Centaur until he was old
enough to go back to Iolcos claim the kingdom of his father. But when he did come,
dressed with a panther's hide, and with a bare left foot, Pelias, reminded of
an oracle that had told him to be wary of the man wearing one single shoe, sent
him in an expedition to bring him the Golden Fleece back from Colchis,
hoping that he would die along the way.
Bernard Suzanne (page last updated 1999), ed.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Plato and his dialogues URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks.
They say that some of the Minyae emigrated from there to Iolcus, and that from this fact the Argonauts were called Minyae.
Total results on 10/8/2001: 59 for Iolcus, 5 for Iolcos, 19 for Iolkos.
(Iolkos). An ancient town in Magnesia in Thessaly, at the top of the Pagasean Gulf, about a mile from the sea. It was celebrated in mythology as the residence of Pelias and Iason, and as the place from which the Argonauts sailed in quest of the golden fleece.
Iolkos, Ep. Iaolkos, Dor. Ialkos: Eth. Iolkios, fem. Iolkis, Iolkias.
An ancient city of Magnesia in Thessaly, situated at the head of the Pagasaean
gulf and at the foot of Mt. Pelion (Pind. Nem. iv. 88), and celebrated in the
heroic ages as the residence of Jason, and the place where the Argonauts assembled.
It is mentioned by Homer, who gives it the epithets of euktimene and euruchoros.
It is said to have been founded by Cretheus (Apollod. i. 9. § 11), and to have
been colonised by Minyans from Orchomenos. (Strab. ix.) lolcus is rarely mentioned
in historical times. It was given by the Thessalians to Hippias, upon his expulsion
from Athens. (Herod. v. 94.) The town afterwards suffered from the dissensions
of its inhabitants, but it was finally ruined by the foundation of Demetrias in
B.C. 290, when the inhabitants of Iolcos and of other adjoining towns were removed
to this place. It seems to have been no longer in existence in the time of Strabo,
since he speaks of the place where Iolcos stood (ho tes Iolkou topos).
The position of Iolcos is indicated by Strabo, who says that it was
on the road from Boebe to Demetrias, and at the distance of 7 stadia from the
latter. In another passage he says that lolcos is situated above the sea at the
distance of 7 stadia from Demetrias. Pindar also, as we have already seen, places
Iolcos at the foot of Mt. Pelion, consequently a little inland. From these descriptions
there is little doubt that Leake is right in placing Iolcos on the steep height
between the southernmost houses of Volo and Vlckho-makhala, upon which stands
a church called Episkopi. There are at present no ancient remains at this place;
but some large squared blocks of stone are said to have formerly existed at the
foot of the height, and to have been carried away for the construction of buildings
elsewhere. Moreover, it is the only spot in the neighbourhood which has any appearance
of being an ancient site. It might indeed appear, from Livy (xliv. 12, 13), that
lolcus was situated upon the coast; but in this passage, as well as in Strabo,
the name of lolcos seems to have been given to this part of the coast as well
as to the city itself.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Anaurus (Anauros), a small river in Magnesia, in Thessaly, flowing past Iolcos
into the Pagasaean gulf, in which Jason is said to have lost one of his sandals.
(Apoll. Rhod. i. 8; Simonid. ap. Athen. iv. p. 172, e; Apollod. i. 9. § 16; Strab.
ix. p. 436; Lucan vi.370; Leake, Northern Greece, vol. iv. p. 381.)
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