Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Golden Fleece Nathaniel Hawthorne

In this delightful re-telling for children of the story of Jason, Medea, the Argonauts and the Quest for the Golden Fleece, Hawthorne starts with the upbringing of Jason at the hands of the centaur Chiron. One day, Jason leaves the cave in which he has been instructed to play the harp, to use sword and shield, and cure diseases. He sets off to regain the throne that has wrongly been taken from his family. The queen of the gods tests Jason at the river. He succeeds by taking her across on his back, but in the process uses one of his sandals. He lands in the country of King Pelias amid a festival to Poseidon and excites comments because of his odd footwear. Little does Jason know that the Speaking Oak of Dodona has made a prophecy to King Pelias about the one-sandaled man that he would oust him from the throne. Pelias tricks Jason into sentencing himself to the most dangerous voyage in the world, the quest for the Golden Fleece. Jason agrees to go but on condition that Pelias give up his throne should he return successfully. The talking Oak advises Jason to construct the Argo, which he does and adds a figure head from the talking Oak. Jason gathers a crew of 49 brave young men and one woman and sets sail for Colchis and a series of adventures.