Jason and the Argonauts

A Murdered Father

Iolcus was the king of a great land, and he had only one son, Jason, who he hoped would rule the land after he died. But the story of Iolcus is an unhappy one, for he never saw his son grow to manhood and stand beside him. Instead, while Jason was still young, the king's brother, Pelias, killed Iolcus and made himself king of the land. But Pelias was afraid he would lose the land he had violently taken, so he planned to kill Jason as well. But Jason's mother tricked Pelias, pretending that Jason had died from sickness. Meanwhile, she gave her baby son to Chiron, the Centaur. Chiron was half man and half horse and was both strong and wise. He taught Jason skills with a sword and much knowledge from great books. When Jason turned sixteen years old and became a man, Chiron told him the story of his father's murder. Immediately Jason left to find Pelias and take back his father's land.

Jason was not Pelias' only enemy. In fact, Pelias had a terrible enemy in heaven among the gods. Jason's uncle, the murderer king, had prayed and given gifts to all the gods except Hera, the wife of Zeus. Because of this, Hera hated King Pelias and wanted to see him lose his power. She decided to test Jason to see if he was a good man who deserved to become king. Hera's test was a dangerous one; only a true hero would pass it.

As Jason walked, Hera caused a great storm to begin. She then turned herself into an old woman and stood beside a fast and terrible river. When Jason saw the old woman, he asked her what she was doing, not knowing that a goddess stood before him.

"There used to be a bridge here," said the old woman, "but now the storm has destroyed it. I need to get home, would you carry me across the water?"

Now, the storm had caused the river to fill with water and crossing it would be very dangerous. But Jason did not stop to think about his own safety and carefully picked up the old woman. As he carried her across the river, Hera decided to make the test even harder and made herself heavier and heavier. Jason was strong enough and succeeded in reaching the other side. Hera was impressed with Jason's deed and decided to help him become king.

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