The Unheroic Hero who Impressed me Most in Greek Mythology – Jason

Zhang Sijing

【Abstract】 This paper centers on my own opinions about Jason – a famous hero in Greece mythology. With the help of Medea, who had become his wife afterwards, Jason had led the heroes of Argonauts to get the Golden Fleece successfully. However, the story of he and she was not a romance but end up with a big tragedy. To me, Jason was not a hero as typical as others in Greek mythologies, he was just a man with all his weaknesses which led to his death.
【Key Words】 Greek mythology; hero; Jason; Medea; Argonauts

1. Introduction Among numbers of Greek mythological stories I have read, the one of Jason’s impressed me most. Jason was famous for his role as the leader of the Argonauts which consisted of almost all the famous heroes in Greek at that time. These heroes included some familiar names such as Heracles, Perseus, Theseus and many other unfamiliar ones. They were all gathered together for Jason’s quest to find the Golden Fleece, which was in order to get his throne back from his uncle Pelias. During this long adventure he fell in love with Medea, the sorceress and the princess of Colchis. Only with her help could Jason have done his work. Nevertheless, Jason betrayed Medea in the end, which turned his story into a big tragedy. In his story we are more likely to see a real man instead of a perfect hero. So, this essay is trying to focus on the differences between Jason and other classical heroes in Greek mythologies, which made his story so particular.

2. An unheroic hero - differences between Jason and other heroes

2.1A hero without anything special
In Greek mythologies, there are many famous heroes like Heracles, Achilles, Perseus, Odysseus and so on. They all had powerful strength and were both courageous and intelligent enough to overcome dangers and difficulties, leaving many glorious deeds. However, there was a exception. Different from many other heroes in Greek mythologies, Jason was not the son of the gods and had no prominent abilities. For example, Heracles and Perseus were the sons of Zeus, Achilles was the son of Thetis. All of them were born with strong power or got strengthen with the help of parents, which made them much more superior than ordinary people. Such typical heroes battled and overcame foes from place to place, while Jason only finished his work with the help of many other heroes and the betrayer of his enemies. From this point of view, Jason was just like a man in the street rather than a hero. He had no preeminent origin, no special power, and the most important is that he had no truly great deeds by himself. His success of getting the Golden Fleece was not because of his own ability, but Medea's aids.

2.2A hero with weak morality
The heroes in our common views are the ones with a strong sense of justice, so as other good qualities such as loyalty, kindness and impavidity. Take Heracles as an example, he never broke his promise, even to Eurystheus who occupied his throne and wanted to kill him. Also, he was kind to his friend and always tried his best to help them. Although he had many other drawbacks, his spirit and deeds still moved me. On the contrary, Jason was not a frank and forthright role as a hero. His actions were often dishonored and insidious. In order to get the Golden Fleece, Jason promised to marry Medea and take her away, which turned Medea into a traitor. What’s more, he even asked Medea to help murder her own brother Apsyrtus and then threw the pieces of his body into sea, so as to get rid of the soldiers who chased them. After Medea had become no longer young and beautiful, Jason broke his vow that he would love Medea forever. For authority and wealth, he chose to betray Medea without hesitation or regret. These things showed us how selfish and heartless he was and how he differed from other typical heroes.

2.3A hero with a miserable ending
The most heroes in Greek mythologies received good endings or not very bad endings. Even if they died bleakly, they still regained their honor after their death. Heracles eventually became a god as soon as he died. The gods welcomed him, including Hera who compromised with him and even marry her daughter Hebe to the new god. After death, Theseus was found by his people and finally came back to his country, still remained the honor as the king of Athens. The one who also had tragic ending - Oedipus, lost his family and exiled himself, still had his daughter Antigone accompanied voluntarily. However, when it comes to Jason, he died miserably with loneliness as the result of breaking the promise of Medea. About his death, there are different versions of stories. The first one which I read in my childhood is that Jason killed himself right after Medea's slaughter because of desperation. The second one is that he was cursed to death by Medea. Another one is that he had not died soon after the tragedy happened, but died when he was asleep under the ship Argo (the ship of the Argonaut). Hera made the ship fall on Jason to kill him because she was angry about his betrayal of Medea. In all stories he died alone, losing his ex-wife and intended wife, his kids, his intended power and wealth.

3. Conclusion
With all these characteristics, Jason was more likely an ordinary man rather than a hero. In all the stories about the Greek mythological heroes, his story was closer to realism than epic. He was not an ideal hero and even a bad example to follow. Yet this is why his story impressed me most – it seems to be a man story. Instead of singing the praises of traditional and typical perfect heroes, Jason’s story described a certain role of man with bad qualities and weakness. As for me, it’s a particular and impressive story which reflects reality from mythology. The characteristics of Jason and Medea represented the weakness of human nature, which seemed to be bad and evil. However, that’s an indivisible and undeniable part of humanity.
Bibliography (References)
Jason - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason Argonauts - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argonauts Medea - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medea