Jason

:This article is about the Greek mythological hero Jason. For other Jasons, see Jason (disambiguation).

The early years

Pelias (Aeson's half-brother) was power-hungry and he wished to gain dominion over all of Thessaly. Pelias was the product of a union between their shared mother Tyro ("high born Tyro") daughter of Salmoneus, and the sea god Poseidon. In a bitter feud, he overthrew Aeson (the rightful king), killing him and hopefully his descendants, who might take revenge on him. Alcimede (wife of Aeson) already had an infant son by Aeson, Jason who she sent to the centaur (half man, half horse) Cheiron for education, for fear that Pelias would kill him - she claimed that he had been killed (circumstances unclear). Pelias, still paranoid that he would one day be overthrown, consulted an oracle which, warned him to beware a man coming forth from the people with only one sandal.

Related Topics:
Pelias - Aeson - Thessaly - Alcimede - Cheiron - Oracle

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many years later, Pelias was holding games in honour of the sea god and his alleged father, Poseidon, when Jason arrived in Iolcus and lost one of his sandals in the river Anauros ("wintry Anauros"), while helping an old woman (Goddess Hera in disguise) cross. She blessed him for she knew, as goddesses do, what Pelias had up his sleeve. When Jason entered Iolcus, he was announced as a man wearing one sandal. Paranoid, Pelias asked him what he (Jason) would do if confronted with the man who would be his downfall. Jason responded that he would send that man after the Golden Fleece. Pelias took that advice and sent Jason to retrieve the Golden Fleece as he thought it an impossible mission for this young lad that stood before him (Jason was supposed to have been in his late teens or early twenties at the time).

Related Topics:
Games - Iolcus - Hera - Pelias - Golden Fleece

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~