Golden Fleece

:For the chivalric order, see Order of the Golden Fleece.

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In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is best known as the treasure sought by Jason and the Argonauts.

Related Topics:
Greek mythology - Jason - Argonauts

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Hermes gave a magical golden ram to Nephele of Thessaly to transport her children, Helle and Phrixus, away from Ino. The ram flew eastward and transported Phrixus to Colchis in modern Georgia, but Helle fell into the sea. The place where she drowned was named Hellespont in her honor. Phrixus sacrificed the ram to Zeus and presented its fleece to the king of Colchis, Aeetes.

Related Topics:
Hermes - Nephele - Thessaly - Helle - Phrixus - Ino - Colchis - Georgia - Hellespont - Zeus - Aeetes

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The legend of the Argonauts relates that Aeetes was a rich and mighty king, and the son of Helios. The Argonauts had to retrieve the Fleece to fulfill their quest and allow Jason to claim his inheritence. The Argonauts overcame many hazards and won possession of the Fleece with the help of Aeetes' daughter Medea, who married Jason.

Related Topics:
Argonauts - Helios - Medea

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Ancient authors (Palephatus, Dionysius of Miletus, Strabo, Appian and others) give a different interpretation of the Golden Fleece. Evidently, by this notion we should mean a whole complex of cultural achievements of ancient tribes and mainly sheep-breeding which was widespread among the ancient west-Georgian tribe of Tibareni (Tibarens) and highly developed Metallurgy among the other ancient west-Georgian (Colchian) tribe of Halybes (or Khalib/Khaldi). Ancient Greeks considered Halybes to be "the inventors of iron". Materials of material culture discovered in Georgia dating back to the 3rd-2nd millennia BC speak of the high level of development of metal processing, gold in particular, thus corroborating the reality of the historic basis of the myth of the Golden Fleece.

Related Topics:
Palephatus - Dionysius of Miletus - Strabo - Appian - Metallurgy - Khalib - Khaldi - 3rd - 2nd millennia BC

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