Link to In search of myths and heroes: 4- Jason and the golden fleece documentary
Documentary Description
The tale of Jason, the Argonauts and the Golden Fleece is one of the oldest
stories in all of Greek myth. In this episode, Michael Wood traces the
route of Jason and his famous boat, the Argo, along its route from
Greece to Turkey and Georgia. The story of Jason can be traced back to
the town of Volos in modern day Greece. The probable site of ancient
Iolkos, it was here that King Pelias feared Jason a contender to this
throne and so sent him on an impossible mission to finish him off. The
mission was to travel to the far away kingdom of Colchis — in the Black
Sea — to retrieve the magical Golden Fleece that had been taken there.
But Jason proved courageous and strong and set out on an epic route.
Wood similarly travels by boat from Greek island to Greek
island, stopping off to explore the history behind certain nodes in the
story. From Greece, he journeys on to Turkey and struggles up the
massive currents of Istanbul's River Bosphorous. Once out into Turkish
countryside, Wood discovers whole communities of Pontic Greek — still
living and speaking Greek in modern day Turkey. Are they the hangover
from hordes of ancient Greeks pushing east and exploring the Black Sea?
Is the whole Jason myth an explanation of that exploration? In Georgia,
Wood travels to Vani, an archaeological dig that has revealed an Iron
Age kingdom rich in gold. Finally in the remote north west region called
Svaneti, Wood finds the true source of the myth. Here tribesmen have
for centuries panned for gold in the river using sheep's fleece.
