Greek Pantheonother
Golden Fleece
- Healing
- Resurrection
- Prosperity Blessing
The legendary fleece of the golden-winged ram Chrysomallos, possessing the power to heal any wound and cure any illness. It was the prize sought by Jason and the Argonauts.
About Golden Fleece
Ram-hide in Ares' grove
Phrixus flees to Colchis on the golden ram Chrysomallos; the hide is hung in a grove of Ares and watched by a sleepless dragon (Apollodorus; Apollonius, Argonautica). Jason takes it with Medea's help. Pindar's Fourth Pythian already knows the Argo. Healing and resurrection attached to the fleece are later coloring; the epic prize is a kingship-and-rescue token after a sacrifice of the ram to Zeus. No Colchian shrine of the fleece is left for archaeology to test. The poem ends with a hide, not a relic on tour.
Origin
The fleece came from Chrysomallos, a flying ram sent by the gods to rescue Phrixus and Helle from their murderous stepmother.
Sources and further reading
Source notes
These references are recorded in the catalog. Their passage wording and translation have not been checked, so quotations are not displayed here.
- Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica 2–4 (with Apollodorus, Library 1.9)
About this entry
By Elizabeth Stein for Mythos Atlas. About the author. Editorial notes are grounded in the site's cited sources and can be challenged through the contact page.
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