Jason And Bellerophon In The Quest Of The Golden Fleece

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Jason and Bellerophon as Greek Heroes Jason from the “The Quest of the Golden Fleece” possesses a majority of the attributes of a hero in Greek mythology; this ultimately characterizes him as a hero. Although Jason was not a demi-god, he was the son of King Athamas and had been secretly carried away to a place of safety because his virulent stepmother “would try to kill him so that her own son could inherit the kingdom” (157). It is evident that Jason’s significant complications at birth caused him to be abandoned at an extremely young age, being carried away to a place of safety (158). Jason’s parents were mortal, but he was born into royalty (157). An oracle told Pelias, the truculent usurper of Jason’s rightful kingdom, that Jason would …show more content…
Bellerophon was held to be the son of King Glaucus, but he was most likely to son of Poseidon, the god of the sea (180). Jason clearly has the characteristic of being born into royalty. Having Poseidon as a father, he was invariably a demi-god who would later on face severe challenges. Bellerophon, longing to tame the marvelous Pegasus, sought the intercession of Aphrodite, who gave him a bridle of all gold to assist him in the quest he would undertake (181). Aphrodite’s altruistic actions are represented in her gift, and that signifies that Bellerophon has the favor of the gods. The quest he embarked on proved troublesome, but he did manage to marry King Proteus’s daughter, a princess (184). As is characteristic of a Greek hero, Bellerophon died an ignoble death. He became extremely ambitious and “wandered alone…avoiding the paths of men until he died” (184). Further on, Bellerophon was hated by the gods and would never again hear of Olympus (184). This, of course, ended in a miserable and bitter death. All of Bellerophon’s actions and characteristics point to the fact that he truly is a Greek hero in