Jason in popular culture

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Jason of the Argonauts, an ancient Greek mythological hero, appears often in popular culture.

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Film

Jason portrayed by Todd Armstrong in Jason and the Argonauts (1963). Jason and the Argonauts (1963) Todd Armstrong 2.png
Jason portrayed by Todd Armstrong in Jason and the Argonauts (1963).

Literature

Music

Stage

Television

Video games


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Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason</span> Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts

Jason was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He was also the great-grandson of the messenger god Hermes, through his mother's side.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peleus</span> Mythical character

In Greek mythology, Peleus was a hero, king of Phthia, husband of Thetis and the father of their son Achilles. This myth was already known to the hearers of Homer in the late 8th century BC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medea</span> Daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Medea is the daughter of King Aeëtes of Colchis, a niece of Circe and the granddaughter of the sun god Helios. Medea figures in the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, appearing in Hesiod's Theogony around 700 BCE, but best known from Euripides's tragedy Medea and Apollonius of Rhodes's epic Argonautica. Medea is known in most stories as a sorceress, but also as a witch, and is often depicted as a priestess of the goddess Hecate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argonauts</span> Band of heroes in Greek mythology

The Argonauts were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece. Their name comes from their ship, Argo, named after its builder, Argus. They were sometimes called Minyans, after a prehistoric tribe in the area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Fleece</span> Artefact in Greek mythology, part of the Argonauts tale

In Greek mythology, the Golden Fleece is the fleece of the golden-woolled, winged ram, Chrysomallos, that rescued Phrixus and brought him to Colchis, where Phrixus then sacrificed it to Zeus. Phrixus gave the fleece to King Aeëtes who kept it in a sacred grove, whence Jason and the Argonauts stole it with the help of Medea, Aeëtes' daughter. The fleece is a symbol of authority and kingship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aeson</span> King of Iolcus

In Greek mythology, Aeson was a king of Iolcus in Thessaly. He was the father of the hero Jason. According to one version of the story, he was imprisoned by his half-brother Pelias, and when Pelias intended to kill him he committed suicide. In another story, he was killed by Jason's wife Medea, who brought him back to life as a young man.

<i>Argo</i> Ship in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology the Argo was a ship built with the help of the gods that Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The ship has gone on to be used as a motif in a variety of sources beyond the original legend from books, films and more.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talos</span> Giant automaton in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Talos — also spelled Talus or Talon — was a giant automaton made of bronze to protect Europa in Crete from pirates and invaders. He circled the island's shores three times daily.

<i>Jason and the Argonauts</i> (1963 film) 1963 film by Don Chaffey

Jason and the Argonauts is a 1963 independent fantasy adventure film distributed by Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Don Chaffey, and stars Todd Armstrong, while co-starring Nancy Kovack, Honor Blackman, and Gary Raymond.

Apollonius of Rhodes was an ancient Greek author, best known for the Argonautica, an epic poem about Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. The poem is one of the few extant examples of the epic genre and it was both innovative and influential, providing Ptolemaic Egypt with a "cultural mnemonic" or national "archive of images", and offering the Latin poets Virgil and Gaius Valerius Flaccus a model for their own epics. His other poems, which survive only in small fragments, concerned the beginnings or foundations of cities, such as Alexandria and Cnidus places of interest to the Ptolemies, whom he served as a scholar and librarian at the Library of Alexandria. A literary dispute with Callimachus, another Alexandrian librarian/poet, is a topic much discussed by modern scholars since it is thought to give some insight into their poetry, although there is very little evidence that there ever was such a dispute between the two men. In fact almost nothing at all is known about Apollonius and even his connection with Rhodes is a matter for speculation. Once considered a mere imitator of Homer, and therefore a failure as a poet, his reputation has been enhanced by recent studies, with an emphasis on the special characteristics of Hellenistic poets as scholarly heirs of a long literary tradition writing at a unique time in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absyrtus</span> In Greek mythology, a Colchian prince

In Greek mythology, Absyrtus or Apsyrtus, was a Colchian prince and the younger brother of Medea. he was involved in Jason's escape with the golden fleece from Colchis

<i>Jason and the Argonauts</i> (miniseries) 2000 American television miniseries

Jason and the Argonauts, is a 2000 American two-part television miniseries directed by Nick Willing and produced by Hallmark Entertainment. It is based on the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts.

<i>Medea</i> (1969 film) 1969 Italian film

Medea is a 1969 Italian film directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, based on the ancient myth of Medea. Filmed in Göreme Open Air Museum's early Christian churches, Pisa, and the Citadel of Aleppo, it stars opera singer Maria Callas in her only film role. She does not sing in the movie.

<i>Argonautica</i> Greek epic poem dated to the 3rd century BC

The Argonautica is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from remote Colchis. Their heroic adventures and Jason's relationship with the dangerous Colchian princess/sorceress Medea were already well known to Hellenistic audiences, which enabled Apollonius to go beyond a simple narrative, giving it a scholarly emphasis suitable to the times. It was the age of the great Library of Alexandria, and his epic incorporates his research in geography, ethnography, comparative religion, and Homeric literature. However, his main contribution to the epic tradition lies in his development of the love between hero and heroine – he seems to have been the first narrative poet to study "the pathology of love". His Argonautica had a profound impact on Latin poetry: it was translated by Varro Atacinus and imitated by Valerius Flaccus, it influenced Catullus and Ovid, and it provided Virgil with a model for his Roman epic, the Aeneid.

<i>Rise of the Argonauts</i> 2008 video game

Rise of the Argonauts is a 2008 action role-playing game developed by Liquid Entertainment and published by Codemasters for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Although very much at variance with the story of Jason in the original Greek mythology, the game's plot surrounds the myth of Jason and the Argonauts searching for the Golden Fleece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalkotauroi</span> Creatures in Greek mythology

Khalkotauroi also known as the Colchis Bulls are mythical creatures that appear in the Greek myth of Jason and the Golden Fleece.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Argus (Argonaut)</span> Character from Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Argus was the builder and eponym of the ship Argo, and consequently one of the Argonauts; he was said to have constructed the ship under Athena's guidance. Argus was commissioned to build the Argo by King Pelias so that the crew that would come to be known as the Argonauts could find and bring the Golden Fleece back to Iolcus, which was in Thessaly.

<i>A Man Was Going Down the Road</i> 1973 book by Otar Tschiladse

A Man Was Going Down the Road is a novel written by Otar Chiladze in 1973. It was translated into English by Donald Rayfield in 2012.

Greek mythology has consistently served as a source for many filmmakers due to its artistic appeal. Antiquity has been reimagined in many ways and these recreations have been met with great public success regardless of their individual achievements. The plot lines of epic poetry are even more appealing with their enthralling battles, heroic characters, monsters, and gods. And now, with modern technology and computer-generated imagery (CGI), our ability as a society to recreate Greek mythology on screen has improved greatly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cultural depictions of Medea</span>

The dramatic episodes in which Greek mythology character Medea plays a role have ensured that she remains vividly represented in popular culture.

References

  1. "GCD :: Covers :: Jason and the Argonauts". www.comics.org.
  2. "GCD :: Series :: Jason and the Argonauts: Kingdom of Hades". www.comics.org.
  3. "Jason and the Argonauts Dan Whitehead". October 7, 2011.
  4. MacAdams, Torii. Hermit and the Recluse, Orpheus vs. the Sirens. Pitchfork. Original Article. Archive.