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ANCIENT HEROES AND PERILOUS JOURNEYS
IS HERA BEING NICE FOR ONCE ?
Jason : The Favored Hero
Unlike Odysseus and Aeneas , Jason was everybody ’ s favorite hero , even Hera ’ s ! ( Jason is Greek , so Hera would be the proper name ). The story starts with the death of Jason ’ s father , a very famous king . Although Jason is next in line , the throne is stolen by his half-uncle , named Pelias . Pelias tries to get Jason as far away from the kingdom as possible , so he sends Jason to steal the Golden Fleece from another king , King Aeetes . Since Pelias is definitely not the nicest guy , people easily ally with Jason , including the Argonauts , Jason ’ s crewmates who set sail with him on the Argo in pursuit of the fleece . Among Jason ’ s allies is Hera , but it should be noted , in classic Hera fashion , that she ’ s doing it for her own self-interest ( Pelias evidently forgot to worship her ). Nevertheless , it ’ s certainly not the most horrific quest ever if you have Hera on your side .
“ IT IS A FACT THAT WE TRIBES OF SUFFERING MEN NEVER PLANT OUR FEET FIRMLY UPON THE PATH OF JOY , BUT THERE IS EVER SOME BITTER PAIN TO KEEP COMPANY WITH OUR DELIGHT .”
-Apollonius of Rhodes , The Argonautica
OH , SHE ’ S DEFINITELY JEALOUS
Medea ’ s Revenge
Among Jason ’ s many allies was Medea , daughter of King Aeetes ( who just so happened to be the very king that Jason was trying to steal from ). Medea literally betrayed everybody else in her life just to help Jason , going so far as to kill her own brother . But , at the end of the day , Jason chose to marry another princess , Creusa ( also called Glauce ).
To put it bluntly , Medea was furious . She started off her revenge by giving Jason ’ s wife a crown and poisoned shirt which consumed her in flames . Jason ’ s father-in-law ran to his daughter ' s rescue but was also killed by the flames . Next , Medea killed her two sons ( who were also Jason ’ s sons ). And , to finish this murderous rampage , Medea flew on a chariot drawn by serpents all the way to Athens . If that wasn ’ t enough , one possible ending to the story is Jason ’ s suicide , brought about after seeing all of his family dead .