The Argonautica

The Argonautica (also Argonautika) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BCE. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from the mythical land of Colchis. Another, much less known Argonautica, using the same body of myth, was composed by Valerius Flaccus during the time of Vespasian. In the Argonautica, Jason is impelled on his quest by King Peleas, who receives a prophecy that a man with one sandal would be his nemesis. Jason, a hero in training, loses a sandal in a river, arrives at the court of Peleas, and the epic is set in motion. So Peleas sends Jason off on the ultimate scavenger hunt for 'The Golden Fleece.' Jason assembles a group of Greek heroes, including Odysseus, Orpheus, Heracles and dozens of others. They journey in a great ship, the Argo, to the eastern end of the Black Sea to the ends of the earth.