From Legend To Life
From Golden Fleece to greek goddesses to flying rams, Jason's quest for the fabled fleece has been told and remembered by lovers of Greek legend since ancient times. The tale, immortalized by Euripides' "The Medea", has always been taken as purely mythical epic. But now, excavations may uncover some fact behind the fiction.
Archaeologists digging in the foothills of Mount Pelion in central Greece have uncovered a Mycenaean city and palace complex they believe may have inspired one of the most enduring Greek legends: the adventures of Jason and his fellow heroes, the Argonauts.
The palace, archaeologists say, could be part of ancient Iolkos, where myth says King Pelias promised Jason his rightful kingdom if he could return with the fleece. The ruins fit the mythical description and historical period of Iolkos: a Mycenaean center near Mount Pelion that reached its glory in the Late Bronze Age, or about 1200 B.C.
"Since we know the whole myth refers to a Mycenaean king who lived in this area ... it is natural that our thinking goes there," said Vasso Adrimi, who has directed the excavation since it started in 1975. She announced her findings in May at a Greek archaeological conference.
However, Adrimi is quick to point out that there is no solid evidence linking the ruins with Jason "and we may never have it."
But there are tantalizing hints. The finds could bolster theories that the legend of Jason and his Argonauts came from a composite picture of common Mycenaean traders. Finds that could prove some truth behind the fable.
The excavations in Dimini, about 105 miles northwest of Athens, show evidence it was a major trading center for the Aegean and Black Sea regions. The gold used for jewelry, for example, was likely brought to Greece by seafaring traders.
The myth — retold in countless books and films — tells of Jason being challenged by King Pelias in a quest to find the Golden Fleece. He sets off in his ship, the Argos, towards ancient Colchis, located on the Black Sea in modern-day Georgia.
Greeks later set up trading centers in Colchis to trade for gold, precious metals and gems.
"Maybe this myth of the Argonaut campaign ... is a memory of these quests to bring back raw materials, to bring back metals," speculates Adrimi.
Even the obviously mythical Golden Fleece — the wooly hide from a magical ram — could have some grounding in reality, she added.
Some scholars have interpreted it as either a text on how to acquire gold or a description of natives in the Colchis region using sheepskins placed in streams to trap gold dust.
Other experts remain skeptical about drawing sweeping theories from the finds unearthed so far in Dimini.
"Unless you find a piece of paper, scrap or something which says `Jason lived here,' we won't know that for sure. But, at any rate, it helps flesh out the myth," said Peter Ian Kuniholm, an expert at tree-ring dating at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
Kunholm plans to visit the site this summer to collect pieces of charcoal preserved in the soil after one part of the palace was devastated by fire. The analysis could give a clearer picture of when the area thrived.
Adrimi, meanwhile, plans to expand the digs to ancient burial sites in hopes of strengthening the connections between the tale of Jason and the realities of the time.
"It is impossible to not correlate the two in our minds," Adrimi said.
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