The Golden Fleece And The Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles (1983) - Plot & Excerpts
I kinda unexpectedly LOVED this book!! The main storyline was how Jason and a few other heroes (like Castor and Pollux- the Gemini twins, Atalanta – a hunter of Artemis, Orpheus, Peleus, Telamon, Theseus, Nestor and Heracles amongst MANY others who I can’t remember) called the Argonauts travelled on a ship called the Argo (hence they were the Argonauts) to a place called Colchis where they were to retrieve the Golden Fleece and return it to Jason’s home in Iolcos. The adventures that the Argonauts were okay, but my favourite parts of the book were when the narrative slipped into a story about the Greek Gods, the Titans or even other heroes, for instance in this book there were stories about how Persephone was taken to the Underworld and how she ate 7 pomegranate seeds, meaning she always had to return, the story about Pandora’s jar was described in this book (which can I say, is SO SAD), the story about Perseus is in this book too, among many others. Overall though I think that the two complemented each other very well (the stories about the “past” and the main storyline about the Argonauts).Anyway, the book is divided into three parts. The first part describes why the heroes had to get the golden fleece in the first place and their adventures to Iolcos. The second part described the heroes getting the fleece and bringing it back to Greece. The third part explains the adventures of the Argonauts after the fleece was taken to Greece, and it details a few of the different heroes: Prince Meleagrus and Atalanta, Theseus and how much of a TWAT he was to Ariadne, Heracles and his 12 labours, Admetus WHO WAS GOING TO LET HIS WIFE ALCESTIS DIE INSTEAD OF HIM (because Apollo said that if he finds someone who will let Death take them away instead of Admetus, then he could carry on living), Orpheus who went to the underworld to get back his dead wife Eurydice and was told one thing- ONE THING- not to look back. Of course, he looked back and she was stuck in the Underworld. And finally, we were told what happened to Jason and his new wife, Medea, post-fleece. Basically the Argonauts decided not to take the fleece back to Colchis, and they took it to another place in Greece, and as Jason needed the fleece to usurp his uncle (who murdered his parents), he asked Medea to use her magic to help him. Medea did this, but as she was using her magic Jason was like “omg she’s a monster. Ah, but look, there’s a fair maiden called Glauce who’s not scary and doesn’t use magic” and so when Medea went came back Colchis after destroying Jason’s uncle, the king, FOR HIM, she got mad and basically made him choose between her (Medea) and his chance at becoming King of Cochis, or Glauce. STUPIDLY he chose Glauce, and then Glauce died.My only criticism for this entire book was during the 3rd part with Heracles- he was dealing with two robbers and they were telling him a story about the war between frogs and mice, and then Zeus got involved and summoned CRABS... Basically that part just weirded me out. Apart from that, I thought everything else was flawless.Personally, I think the moral of the story is that a lot of the male heroes are idiots.
I really enjoy Mythology of all types, but I do have a certain weakness for Greek mythology, I’m not sure what it was that originally attracted me to it as a child but the Minotaur, the Labyrinth, Zeus and his lightning bolts, all that was absolutely fascinating to me. This is the story of Jason who was supposed to be the king of Iolcus but his uncle Pelias had taken the thrown from Jason’s father Aeson. Aeson worried that his brother Pelias was going to do harm to his young son as he may view him as a threat to the throne, so Aeson sent his young son with a servant up into the mountains to be raised by Chiron who had trained many young heroes in the past. Pelias had been warned that a young man half shod coming to his Kingdom could be a danger to his thrown, so when Jason arrives as a grown man in Iolcus wearing only one sandal Pelias decides to send Jason on a quest to retrieve the golden fleece which is dangerous and near impossible, therefore removing the threat from himself. Jason has Pelias build him a ship and request the presence of any other young men who wish to join on the quest to make a name for themselves. They named the ship the Argo and that is how the Men became known as the Argonauts. :0)There are lots of other side stories to the original quest and we learn a lot about some of the other Argonauts on the many adventures they encounter. Some of the other characters who appear whose names you may recognize Artemis, Orpheus, Heracles, and Atalanta. I actually listened to this one as an audio book in the car back and forth to work; the reader was Fred Williams who has a very calm and soothing voice to the point where he almost put me to sleep at first when I started listening to it. I eventually got used to it but it took a while. I found some of the story jumped around a bit and there where so many characters that in some parts I couldn’t remember who was who anymore and who they were related too. I enjoyed it as I have some back ground knowledge of the stories already, but I think for anyone just starting out in Greek Mythology it could be confusing and a bit over whelming.
What do You think about The Golden Fleece And The Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles (1983)?
audio (on playaway). At first I thought this retelling of "Jason and the Argonauts" and related stories was pretty dry, but once you get used to it, it's grand. The narrator is less expressive than I was expecting for a children's audio production, putting one to mind of an uninspired reading of a textbook, but his clear, precise pronunciation actually grew on me and I love it now. That said, if you are looking for something to put on to quiet your brain so you can sleep, this totally works. If you are looking for something that might get your fidgety child interested in mythology, this might not be it.
—Tracey
This book was pretty interesting, while I did think that the author did a lot of jumping around (e.i. being in one story and having a character start to tell story. It got confusing) it still kept my interest, which was more then what I had hoped for. I wasn't sure how tough this book would be to get through, seeing how it had a couple factors that might hinder my liking it, including the fact that it was about mythology. But it was one of the first Newbery Honors and I felt like I had to read it. That said, I didn't think it was too bad, it definitely could have been better and I didn't think that it deserved the Newbery Honor, but if you like mythology then you'd probably enjoy this book.*Taken from my book reviews blog: http://reviewsatmse.blogspot.com/2008...
—Snorkle
The Golden Fleece is about a boy named jason who goes on a journey for the Golden Fleece. He gets a crew of hero's that build a boat called the Argo. They start on their journey to the island of Colchis is, on their way they take breaks on other islands and help the community that is on the island. On the islands, they Save King Phineus from harpies and tell stories to the women of Lemnos. They finally get to Colchis and get the Golden Fleece. And return home. I would recommend this book to any one that has read the Percy Jackson series. It is a very good book that is for all ages.
—Sam N
