Jason

The city of Iólkos was founded by Krétheus (Jason's grandfather). Aisón (Jason's father) was to succeed to the throne, but his half-brother Pelias seized power. When Jason was born, he was declared dead so that he could survive. He was hidden and raised by the centaur Cheiron. He was watched over by the goddess Hera. In his 20s, he returned to Iolcus to reclaim the throne. Pelias feared his death, so he promised to hand over the reigns to Jason if he performed the heroic deed of bringing the golden fleece from Colchis. This fleece was guarded by a terrible dragon, and therefore the task seemed impossible.

Jason had the ship Argo built and set sail for Colchis with about fifty other Greek heroes. When he asked King Aeetes for a golden fleece upon landing, the king was frightened that he would be deprived of his rule and wanted to have Jason killed. But the fear of his comrades was stronger, so he decided to give Jason an impossible task. The task was: "To harness the fiery bulls to an iron plough, plough the field of the god of war, Ares, with them, and sow it with the dragon's teeth from the serpent of Ares. Moreover, when the teeth grow into warriors, he must slay them all."

Hera, Jason's protector, decided to help, so she bribed the god of love, Eros, to strike his arrow of love into the heart of Medea (daughter of King Aëtes), who was also a powerful sorceress. When the hero came to her asking for help, she fell in love with him and advised him to throw a stone between the dragon warriors, for which they would fight each other and he would be able to defeat them one by one. At the same time, she gave him a magical ointment that would make him invulnerable and invincible for a day.

When, thanks to this help, Jason accomplished his task, he again asked the king for the golden fleece, but it was not given to him. Once again, however, he was helped by Medea, who led him to the grove with the golden fleece and put the dragon to sleep. Then they fled together to Argo and sailed away. After three days, they were overtaken by the fleet of King Aeetes, under the command of Medea's brother Apsyrtus. Medea lured Apsyrtus to a deserted place, where Jason murdered him and threw his dismembered body into the river. The Colchians decided to fish out the body, and in the meantime Argo sailed out of their reach. A short time later, Jason married Medea.

On returning home, Jason disbanded his crew and went to Pelius to take over the government. But he refused to hand over the government to him, so Jason decided to kill him, again with the help of Medea. She restored his father, Aison, to youth, and when the daughters of Pelius asked for the same spell, she promised them that she would do so, with the proviso that they must cut their father's throat. As it was, Medea let him bleed to death. This angered Acastus, the son of Pelius, from whom the couple had to flee and give up thoughts of gaining the throne.

After years on the run, they found refuge with the Corinthian king Creonte, and here their two sons Mermeros and Pherethês were born. Jason, however, still wanted to win the royal crown, so he decided to marry Creonte's daughter Glaucia. She agreed, as did her father. He told Medea that he wanted to ensure his sons' future by doing this. However, this angered her so much that she killed Creontes, Glauca, and both of her sons, so that Jason would be tormented with grief until death. After this act, all cities and palaces were closed to both of them.

One day Jason found his ship Argo washed ashore and decided to rest in its shadow. Then its rotten stern crashed down on him, killing him.