XI – AEOLIAN MYTHS ABOUT THE ARGONAUT EXPEDITIONS

XI – AEOLIAN MYTHS ABOUT THE ARGONAUT EXPEDITIONS

Origin of the Golden Fleece

Thessalian legends about the Argonauts occupy an important place in mythology. After they captured the Golden Fleece, the Argonauts returned via the Danube and Sava Rivers through the land of the Scythians and the Hyperborean places, which today are visited by tourists who want to relive their experience.

The myths about the Argonaut expeditions are highlighted in Apolonei Rodoski’s epic stories “Argonautika”. The Pannonian onomastic, especially the hydrological system of the Danube River, is particularly important in the presentation of the Argonaut experience while navigating the rivers. The Argonaut expeditions date back to 1225 BC.

The Argonauts were heroes who, under Jason’s leadership, traveled from Pegasi, Thessaly to Kolhida, sailing through the Black Sea to retrieve the Golden Fleece. The Argonauts were named after their ship the “Argo”. In terms of place of origin, the Argonaut expedition consisted mainly of people from Hyperborea, Borea and Aeolia, descendants from the various Pannonian tribes such as the Minians (Minichevo), the Lapiti (Lapovo), the Tiroians (Sirakova), the Flegians (Pozharevchani) and others. Their ancestors were the bearers of the Dimini Culture in Thessaly, Boeotia (Orhomen, Iolk), Elida, Pil and other places. Also listed as participants in the Borean expedition were some Macedonians including Macedonian king Orpheus, the brothers Kalei and Zet, Meleagar from Caledonia and Hercules and his brother Ifikles were also included. In total there were 50 to 60 sailors.

The legend of the Argonauts began with the story of the old Minian Orhomen in Boeotia when king Atamant, son of Eol and Enareti, reigned. He, together with Nefela, goddess of the clouds, had a son named “Friks” and a daughter named “Hela”. Due to their unfortunate marriage, Atamant left Nefela and married “Ina”, Cadmus’s daughter, who gave birth to sons “Learh” and “Melikert”. Ina hated Ataman’s children from his first marriage and intended to kill them. Nefela, in order to take revenge on her husband for infidelity, deprived Boeotia of rain by bringing drought to Atamant’s kingdom. The people of Orhomen were threatened with famine so Atamant decided to send emissaries to the holy place in Delphi to ask Apollo's oracle why only their fields were barren. Ina however had bribed the emissaries who, upon their return, lied to Atamant about the prophecy

telling him that he would have to sacrifice his son Friks at the altar of the gods and then the gods would restore the fertility of the fields. To avoid great misfortune, which threatened the entire Orhomen community, Atamant decided to sacrifice his much loved son. Ina cried at the prospect but it was a cry of joy due to the successful implementation of her plan. But at the last moment before the sacrifice, Friks was rescued by his mother Nefela, who sent the winged ram with the Golden Fleece to take Friks and Hela to Kolhida.

But on the way to Kolhida, while the flying ram with the Golden Fleece was flying with the children on its back, it lost Hela. In her curiosity looking down, she lost her grip and fell off the ram into the sea. The sea where she fell was named “Hellespont” which today is called the “Dardanelles”. The ram, with Friks on its back, continued to fly further and further and eventually reached the distant Kolhida, located in the vicinity of Eia, under the Caucasus on the coast of the Black Sea where “Eiet”, son of the god Helios ruled. Eiet lived in a beautiful palace with fountains of flowing honey, milk, wine, oil and water. Eiet accepted the task of looking after Friks and when he grew up he allowed him to marry his daughter Halkiopa. Eiet sacrificed the ram with the Golden Fleece, which had rescued Friks, in honour of the great Zeus. And as was foretold, Fricks would rule with Eiet for as long as he possessed the Golden Fleece, which Eiet hung on the holy tree on Mount Areeva. There the Golden Fleece was guarded by a terrible dragon. Word about the Golden Fleece spread far and wide, all over the Balkans. Atamant’s descendents knew that their salvation and the welfare of their families depended on them possessing the fleece, so they decided to get it at any cost.

Jason’s childhood

On the shores of the Pagasit Bay, the blue sea in Thessaly, Kretei, brother to king Atamant, built the city Iolk and became its king. Kretei married his niece “Tira” who bore him three sons “Eson”, “Amitaon” and “Peret”. Kretei also adopted “Pelei” and “Nelei” Tira’s children with the god Poseidon. When Kretei died his son Eson and adopted son Pelei together assumed rule of Iolk, but his half brother Pelei managed to illegally seize the throne and power, so Eson had to live in the city as an ordinary citizen. Pelei also drove out his brother Nelei who then went to the Peloponnesus, built the town Pil and became a famous king.

After his beautiful son was born, Eson began to fear that his cruel and evil brother Pelei might murder him because of fear that he might challenge Pelei for the throne. So Eson took his newborn son to a secret place on Mount Pelion and left him in the care of the wise centaur Hiron. Then he told the people in Iolk that his son had died and had a solemn funeral for him.

The boy grew up in the forest, in a cave, with the centaurs and was raised by Hiron, his mother and his wife. The wise Hiron gave him the name Jason and taught him medical skills, how to handle a sword and spear, how to shoot from a taut bow and how to play music. There was no one who could equal Jason’s resourcefulness, strength and courage. He was as handsome as the gods.

Jason lived with Hiron until he was twenty years old and then decided to return to Iolk to ask Pelei to give him his throne back. As soon as Jason arrived in Iolk he went directly to the town square. Jason was wrapped in a panther’s pelt and was carrying two spears in his hands, but he was missing his left sandal because he had lost it when the goddess Hera, pretending to be an exhausted old woman, asked him to help her cross a swollen river. The inhabitants of Iolk began to gather in the town square wondering who this stranger was. When Pelei looked at the stranger he remembered an old prophecy which told him to watch out for a man who would come to Iolk on a boat, sporting only one sandal. Pelei hid his fear and boldly asked the stranger where he was born and to which tribe he belonged. Jason then boldly told Pelei that he had returned to his home in his native Iolk where he was born. He had returned to his father Eson and he wanted the throne of Iolk back, which the shrewd Pelei had stolen from him. Eson, who was in the square at the time, became tearful when he recognized his son and news of Jason’s return brought delight to the entire family, which celebrated the happy event for the next five days. Jason, in his reply to Pelei, revealed his true intentions; to regain power over Iolk. His relatives, approving of his intentions, went with him to Pelei when Jason officially asked him to relinquish the throne. The cunning Pelei, however, pretended that he was ready to meet with Jason and relinquish his throne. Hiding hatred in his heart, he asked the young relative to first go to Kolhida and bring back the Golden Fleece because that is what a shadow of Friks had asked him to do. He also added that he could do it himself but he was old and would rather not undertake such a feat. Pelei then took an oath to Zeus and to the other gods of Olympus that once the Golden Fleece arrived in Iolk he would step down from the throne. This promise was based on his belief that Jason would surely perish should he decide to go into Kolhida and perform this difficult task.

Argonaut expeditions

Immediately after he had his conversation with Pelei, Jason began preparations for the trip to Kolhida. With the help of Hiron and Hera and the protection of Athens, Jason, together with Arg, son of Friks, sculptor and builder of the Pelion in Pagas, built a 50 oar ship and named it “Argo”. Jason then selected the best sailors he could find. Most of the sailors were of Aeolian origin from Hyperborea who were happy to join him in his great adventure around the then known world. In total he drafted 50-60 sailors, all great heroes, among whom was Hercules, son of Zeus, who had experience in Evristei’s Adventures. The people of the region had never before seen such a gathering of heroes.

Everything was prepared for the expedition and the sailing ship “Argo” was lowered into the sea. All food and water supplies were loaded and sacrifices and offerings were made to Apollo and the other gods. All the rowers sat in their special rowing cubes and Jason took his place as leader of the expedition. The evening before leaving a joyful feast was hosted. The morning after, when the horizon started to turn purple, the sailors boarded the Argo and began their long trek towards the high seas. As soon as the ship pulled out of the harbour, the Argonauts raised the ship’s sails which gleamed bright like white snow in the morning sun. Eol, the master of the wind, must have been sympathetic to the expedition because he gave the Argo favourable winds which easily carried it through the choppy waves. Orpheus began to play his golden lyre and his songs flooded the open sea. After a brief and peaceful sailing trip the Argonauts arrived at Lemnos the island of flowers which then was ruled by women. At first the women were rude to them and treated our heroes like enemies but in the end their hatred turned into passionate love, which left a number of descendants behind.

During their travels the Argonauts landed on the island Samothrace, where they took part in orgies offered by the local mysteries of the goddess Kibela. At the Dardanelles passage they offered Hela, Friks’s sister, a sacrifice and later they landed on the Kizik Peninsula where the Doloniani lived and where they were received by king Kizik who prepared a day long joyous feast in their honour. But due to bad weather the Argonauts were forced to remain in Kizik for 12 days. While in Kizik, the Argonauts were attacked by six-armed giants with whom they fought a fierce battle and in the confusion Jason accidentally killed king Kizik. The error was discovered at dawn the next day and after an apology was made, the Argonauts held a magnificent funeral for him that included funeral games.

During their passage through Propondita the Argonauts reached Mysia and after that they passed through the land of the Berbiki where they organized boxing competitions.

The next day the Argonauts arrived at the eastern shores of Thrace in king Finei’s kingdom. King Finei married Borei’s daughter Cleopatra with whom he had two sons. Finei was a wise and prosperous king who lived a happy life until the god Apollo gifted him with the ability to predict fate. Unfortunately, instead of using his gift for good, Finei abused it by uncovering people’s fates. For his cruelty and abuse of his powers, Zeus blinded Finei and condemned him to live a long miserable life. Every day was made bitter for him by the half woman, half bird harpies who Zeus ordered to spoil his food before he had a chance to eat it.

In addition to being blinded and tortured, Finei had another mishap. When his children were grown up he married a second time. This time he married Edia, the daughter of the Scythian king Dardan from Kosovo. The new wife did not like Finei’s children from his former wife so she had them both blinded and thrown into a dungeon together with their mother Cleopatra. On top of that Edia had the children flogged on a daily basis.

According to stories told, Finei’s children were saved by the Boreans, Kalei and Zet and by Hercules who not only freed the captives but also took Edia back to her father in Scythia where Dardan ruled alone. The Boreans also chased the harpies away and asked the gods to order them to no longer return to Finei’s home. The Argonauts then prepared a feast for the old Finei who was able to satisfy his terrible hunger. Being grateful for what they had done for him, Finei advised the Argonauts of the dangers lurking ahead on their trek, especially through the Bosphorus and in Kolhida, and instructed them on how to overcome these dangers. The Argonauts listened carefully to the old man, trying to remember everything that he told them.

While sailing up the Bosphorus, Argo continued to easily charge through the wide waves of the open sea. Then, suddenly a loud swishing sound was heard coming from an approaching storm and as the storm got close the noise became louder until it turned to thunder. Then the Simplegadski rocks appeared before them. They were large rocks that opened and closed, colliding together. The Argonauts took note of the opening and closing times as the rocks separated and came back together again, thundering as they did and creating furious vortices in the sea. But the Argonauts remembered the advice king Finei had given them as to how to avoid being crushed as they sailed the Argo through them.

One of the sailors let a dove fly in front of the ship and when rocks closed the bird was smashed and only a few tail feathers remained. Then as the rocks began to separate again, the brave Argonauts pushed hard on the oars and crossed between the rocks without being crushed. The sailors were now happy because the worst was over and they had avoided their biggest hazard. After they passed, the rocks became rigid and took their place on the seashore. Now the Argonauts were facing the Black Sea which at first was called “Negostoliubivo” (Inhospitable) Sea. After their successful passing and because of its vast coastline they renamed it to “Gostoliubino” (hospitable) Sea.

Arriving in Kolhida

The Argonauts sailed along the shores of the Black Sea for a long time. They passed by many countries and saw many nations. They also visited the island Tinei where the Mariandini lived in Paphlagonia and the island Aretei where they went ashore to rest. In Aretei they met Friks’s four sons, who were stranded there by a storm on their way back to Thessaly. The four then joined the Argonauts and went to Kolhida with them. In the distance, looking like clouds on the horizon, the peaks of the Caucasus Mountains appeared. Kolhida was not too far away. Then they entered the River Faris and followed its flow to the land of king Eiet, son of Helei, where many dangers awaited them.

King Eiet and his wife Idia had two daughters, Medeia and Halkia. Eiet also had a son named Asprit born from a Caucasian nymph. They lived happily and, as it had been foretold, they would be successful under Eiet’s rule as long as they possessed the Golden Fleece which Friks of Orhomen had given them.

After taking some time to rest, the Argonauts offered the gods of Olympus sacrifices and decided that Jason and Friks’s sons would pay king Eiet a visit and ask him to give them the Golden Fleece. They also decided that, should the proud king refuse to hand it over, they would take it by force. When they arrived, Jason approached the king and explained to him why they were there. Eiet, hedging his hopes that Jason would not be able to survive what he was about to ask him to do, promised to give him the Golden Fleece on condition that he successfully performed several tasks. The most difficult task was to put a yoke on two wild bulls that had iron hoofs and breathed flames and to use the bulls to plow the fields and plant them with the teeth of the Areva dragon. This dragon was killed by the Phoenician king Cadmus. The dragon was a gift given to king Eiet by the goddess Athena who had taken the dragon from Thebes and delivered it to Eiet in Kolhida. This most difficult task Jason performed with Medeia, Eiet’s daughter’s help. Medeia had fallen in love with Jason and promised to help him if he promised to marry her and take her to Orhomen. After Jason promised her eternal love, Medeia gave him “Prometheus’s fat”. The fat was a substance made from saffron juice, a plant that had sprouted from Prometheus’s blood. Whoever was smeared with this fat would become immune to fire and sword and would gain insurmountable strength.

Soon after the teeth of the dragon were planted, giant armed warriors sprang from the ground. Then unbeknownst to the warriors, Jason threw a stone at them. Unable to pinpoint who had thrown the stone, they began to blame each other and a battle broke out among them. Those who did not kill each other, Jason overpowered and they all lay dead in the field and thus he completed his tasks. But when Jason went to ask for the Golden Fleece, Eiet refused to honour his word and threatened to burn the Argo and kill its entire crew. Medeia, in the meantime, took Jason and the Argonauts to the secret place in the woods where the Golden Fleece was hung and guarded by the hideous immortal dragon, born from the blood of the monster Typhon. Medea, using magic, managed to put the dragon to sleep and Jason quietly plucked the Golden Fleece from the tree and together they all ran towards the sea where the Argo was waiting for them.

Pursuit of the Argonauts on their return

When Jason and Medeia came aboard the Argo, all the Argonauts gathered around to admire the Golden Fleece and delight in their success.

In the meantime, priests arrived at king Eiet’s palace with news that the Golden Fleece had been stolen and that Medeia had fled with the Argonauts. Upon hearing the news, the king became enraged and summoned all the people of Kolhida to the seashore. There he ordered his men to immediately prepare for an expedition to capture and bring back Medeia and the Golden Fleece. In fact the king threatened his own men with death if they came back without Medeia and the Golden Fleece. The people of Kolhida quickly prepared a warship with 50 oars and appointed prince Asprit, king Eiet’s son, in charge of the expedition.

By the time Asprit left harbour the Argo had already sailed far into the wide sea and there was no trace of it. Asprit and his crew drifted in the Black Sea for three days traveling west by following the sunset until they finally, in the distance, spotted the shores of Scythia in the Balkans. The Argonauts, however, had decided to sail up the Istra (Danube) River and then followed its tributaries down to the Adriatic Sea. This plan was proposed by Hercules, who was familiar with the flow of the Danube River, and backed by the Boreans and descendants of the Hyperboreans who wanted to go there and see their former fatherland. This part of Apolonius Rhodius’s (Apolonius, Rhodius, Argonautica, ex rec, IV, 212-502, R. Fr. Brunckii, I-II Lipsiae, 1810-1813) composition is important for

learning about the ancient history of our lands that are associated with the Argonaut expedition through the Danube and Sava Rivers.

When Asprit’s war ship caught up to the Argo near the mouth of the Danube River, Medeia came up with a cunning plan. Through a messenger she informed the pursuers that she had been to Artemis’s temple by force and asked Asprit to come and save her and get the Golden Fleece. When Asprit came to the temple in the dark of night, Jason quietly ambushed and killed him. He then cut off his hands and feet and licked his blood three times to prevent his ghost from haunting him. To delay their pursuers, the Argonauts cut up Asprit’s body into pieces and threw it into the sea. Then while the pursuers were looking for Asprit’s decomposing body parts, the Argo slipped into the Danube River and made its getaway. The place where Asprit was buried was named “Tomi”, which means “cut off piece”, is today called “Konstantsa” located in Romania.

Argonauts sailing on the Danube

After sailing the great Danube River for a long time the Argonauts eventually arrived at the Danube Falls and the Herculean pillars. Unable to overcome the “Ocean’s current” they took the Argo out of the water and carried it over land. Then they drifted to Eriteia, Gerion’s island, where they rested and picked up supplies and other necessities for continuing the trip. Here Hercules took the opportunity to tell the expedition about his experience with the theft of Gerion’s cattle. After a short rest the Argo continued its sailing trek against the current until it reached Tartarus (Gierdap).

According to folk tales the River “Iese-Inita”, a left tributary of the Danube, got its name from Jason’s stay in this part of the country. Its etymology comes from the word “iesis” or “iasis” which means “lying down” and is also associated with the name “Jason” (Iasen), leader of the Argonauts.

Further up the river, on the opposite side of Lipinski Vir, the Argonauts reached the left tributary of the Danube River called “Sirina”. In mythology the “Sirina” (sirens) were beautiful women who later turned into demonic creatures. With their songs the sirens were capable of stopping the winds and calming the waters and as the sail ships passed the rocky shore they would release the winds and waves would come down and crash the ships against the rocky shore killing the sailors. The sirens were Fork’s daughters. Due to their youthful pride the sirens refused to obey either gods or men, so the goddess Aphrodite turned them into birds. Then when they entered a singing contest and lost to the Muses they were stripped of their feathers and ability to fly. The sirens made wreaths with their own feathers and sat beside bodies of water and sang their songs among the piles of bones, remnants of the sailors who had lost their lives.

To successfully pass by the sirens one had to avoid hearing their enchanting songs, so Jason ordered the entire crew to plug their ears. As for himself, he ordered his sailors to tie him to the Argo’s mast and ordered his men not to untie him no matter how much he begged. When the Argo approached the sirens, the Danube waters calmed and Jason could hear their songs. Jason was captivated by their singing and wanted to go to them but the Argonauts refused to release him and sped up the pace of rowing against the river’s currents. The folk recollection of the legend of Jason and the Sirens is preserved in the hydronim of the “Sirina” (Siren) River.

Orpheus’s assistance during the Argonaut expedition was also very important. Orpheus was able to help the Argonauts overcome many difficulties with his songs and music as well as avoid the sirens. Orpheus was able to calm terrible storms in the sea and even put the dragon, which guarded the Golden Fleece, to sleep. And thus he was a valuable and highly respected crew member of the Argo. Orpheus’s biggest supporter was Jason himself.

Orpheus and the Stiga underground kingdom

When the "Argo" arrived at the River Stiga (Morava), a right tributary of the Danube River, Orpheus asked Jason and his friends to allow him to go to the underworld so that he could bring his beloved wife Eurydice back to the light of day. Eurydice had died soon after their wedding. When Eurydice and her friends, the Macedonian Pieridi muses, were picking spring flowers in the green valley at the foot of Mount Olympus in Pieria she was bitten on the leg by a poisonous snake. Her scream brought her friends to her aid but they were not able to save her, she simply passed out in their hands and closed her eyes and died. Orpheus, who was king of Macedonia and Thrace then, could not get over the death of the woman he loved and thus wanted to seize this opportunity to bring her back among the living.

Orpheus stood on the shore of the River Stiga for a long time waiting for Haron’s boat to arrive and carry the souls of the dead to the underworld. When Haron arrived at the coast, Orpheus asked him if he could ride along with the souls of the dead to Hades’s kingdom. But the cruel Haron said no. Orpheus then began to play the strings of his golden lyre, a gift from the god Apollo, and his sad song flooded the banks of the river. At the sound of the lyre Haron became enchanted and allowed Orpheus to ride his boat through the caves of the Homolian Mountains into the realm of god Hades where the souls of the dead, being attracted by the melodious sound of Orpheus’s lyre, gathered around.

Orpheus’s melody pacified Cerberus, the ferocious dog which guarded the entrance to the underworld, and stopped the revolving burning wheel which held king Iksion’s crucified body. Iksion was king of the Lapiti (Lapovo). The sin for which he was crucified was his love for Herina. The wheel would stop revolving once he stopped loving her. Sisyphus, son of Eol, was punished by the gods and sent to Hades. His punishment was to push a large rock uphill, and when he arrived at the top, the rock rolled down again. Dripping sweat and covered in dust, Sisyphus sat on the stone. Tantalus, king of Lydia, was sent to Hades because he abused the favour of the gods. He was sentenced to suffer eternal hunger and thirst, forgetting his troubles. Orpheus’s melody pacified even the strict judges of the dead: Minoi, Radamant and Eak.

When Orpheus reached Hades’s throne, he kneeled before the dark lord and his wife Persephone and sang and played his lyre while yearning for his beloved dead Eurydice. His singing and playing also affected the cruel Erinei (Erin Brdo), who was seen shedding tears especially when the song became quiet and sad. Finally there was deep silence everywhere in the palace. The painful silence prompted Hades to ask Orpheus why he had come to his kingdom and what he wanted from him. Hades swore in the name of the water of the Stiga River that he would grant whatever Orpheus wanted.

Orpheus explained that he had not come here to see the horrors of the kingdom, or, as his friend Hercules did, to pacify the stubborn Cerberus. He explained that he had come here to pray to the lord of the underworld to return his beloved Eurydice back to the living, so that she could again feel the joys of life that had been taken from her at a very young age when she was taken from him from his world. Hearing him out, the lord of the underworld accepted his plea to return Eurydice to him but under the condition that he was forbidden to look at her until they reached the light of day. Orpheus agreed to the condition. While exiting the underworld Orpheus was followed by Hermes who brought along his wife. Eurydice’s shadow followed behind as Orpheus walked through the dark passages of the underworld.

Tortured by thoughts of doubt and desire to embrace and kiss his beloved Eurydice, Orpheus, for a moment forgot about Hades’s condition and turned and looked back. The same instant he looked back the shadow of his beloved Eurydice evaporated and he lost her again and this time forever. At the realization of what he had done, Orpheus remained as motionless as a marble statue having been gripped by a feeling of despair because he knew that he alone was to blame for his loss. He tried to return to the realm of the dead and pray to Hades again but this time the doors of the underworld would not open.

Sad, Orpheus sat on the shores of the Stiga River and cried for 7 days and 7 nights, all this time not eating or enjoying all the joys of this world. He continued to pray and complain to the gods of the dark kingdom and to the dead souls but nothing was happening. Since he had this experience, Orpheus began to despise his teacher, god Dionysus, whom he helped become famous and great and began to advise people to pay their respects to Apollo - Hellios, the Hypersborean sun god, and treat him as the highest deity. Orpheus then got an idea to create his own doctrine which later became known as Orpheus’s doctrine of the divine nature of the human soul and original sin. According to his way of thinking, the souls were wanderers because of the original sin, but by ecstasy, asceticism and initiation the soul is cleansed and then goes to heaven and not to the realm of Hades. On the 8th day of sitting on the banks of the Stiga River, Orpheus, after he thought about his new doctrine, decided to leave the river bank and go back to the Argo.

Jason and the Argonauts worried about Orpheus because of he had been gone for a long time but when he returned they all attentively listened to the stories he told them about his experience in the realm of Hades and the unfortunate outcome of his visit. After offering Zeus a sacrifice, the Argonauts had a feast and then continued sailing against the currents of the Danube River until they reached the “sacred island of Electra”, located in close proximity to the River Eridana. (Apolonius, Rhodius, Argonautica, ex rec, IV, 503-506, R. Fr. Brunckii, I-II Lipsiae, 1810-1813) Electra in mythology was Ocean and Tetiena’s daughter, wife to Taumant, and mother to the fast footed goddesses the Eridi. Because she was Taumant’s wife there is a place on the Danube between Belgrade and Panchevo called “Ada Forko-Tumats”. According to folklore this name is associated with the events that took place at that time and the poet who wrote about them mistakenly interpreted this Ada as “Elektra” instead of the Ada (Island) of Tumats.

The Argonauts were very thirsty after their water supply on the Argo had been exhausted. Since there were no fresh water sources in the Forko – Tumats Ada, Electra advised them to go to the garden of the Hesperidi. There, Orpheus pleaded with the Hesperidi to give the tired and thirsty

Argonauts water. The Hesperidi obliged by showing them the source of the water, which Hercules opened up with a single blow from his feet.

Then Hercules told his story of how, at the request of Evristei, Hera’s golden apples were taken. (Apolonius, Rhodius, Argonautica, ex rec, IV, 13-96, R. Fr. Brunckii, I-II Lipsiae, 1810-1813). Hercules told the Argonauts how he tricked Atlant to take his place and pick the golden apples from the tree of life which angered Zeus. Zeus then punished Atlant by turning him into stone and placing him on Mount Angur (Avala) entrusting him with the task of holding the sky above his head with his bare arms.

After their rest the Argonauts resumed sailing “… and after passing over Mount Angur and over the Kaulian rock which had split from Mount Angur, and where the River Istros divides the flow of water with the River Eridanum…” (Apolonius, Rhodius, Argonautica, ex rec, IV, 323-506, R. Fr. Brunckii, I-II Lipsiae, 1810-1813). Here our heroes recognize the rocks at the mouth of the Sava (Eridana) River at the Danube (Istrios) which today is the Belgrade Fortress, and from there they saw that the Danube waters “split up” around the great Ada of god Ares (Military island). The Argonauts did not stop at this island because Ares had twice collided with Hercules when Hercules fought against Ariei’s son, Kikno, in Macedonia and during the war with the Hyperborean Nelei, king of Pil in the Peloponnesus.

Following the Eridan (Sava) River to Enet in the Adriatic

The River Eridan caused great confusion in ancient literature. The first problem was the apostrophe that this word has on the letter “η”. The sharp Greek “hak” before the initial vowel is pronounced as “x” in the Latin version, i.e. as in Hera or Hestia (goddess of fire). In the original Ionian dialect, which comes from the Aeolians, originating from the Danube, the sharp “hak” was not pronounced at all and this rule also applies to the modern Greek language. The same goes for the letter η (ETA), which in the original Greek language is pronounced as “i” (ita). So the hydronym of Sava was not “Eridanos” but “Iridanos”, i.e. the personification of “Ira” (Hera) and Dan-os (from Dios - Danubios). Another problem is the fact that the river “Eridan” was thought to be many rivers in Europe, with “Pad” in Italy, “Ebra” in Spain, as well as “Rona” and Raina” in France. The aim of this approximation was to connect the return of the Argonauts with the Adriatic and the Western Mediterranean.

According to Hesiod (Hesiodus, Fragmenta & Theogonia, p. 338), the mythical river “Eridan” (Sava) was an offspring of Ocean and Tetia, i.e. the Panonnian Sea (Tetia) and the Danube (Ocean). On the shores of the River Eridan lived the nymphs, daughters of Zeus (Danube) and Temidini (Tamish). These nymphs showed Hercules where the god “Nerei” (River Nera) was located when he came to Hileia (Sumadia) to visit Ehidna, queen of the Scythians. In mythology, the river Eridan accepted Faeton (fire) when Zeus struck him with lightning. Faeton was the unfortunate son of god Helios (Sun). One day Faeton asked Helios if he could run the solar cart across the sky for one day. Helios gave him the reigns but because Faeton was inexperienced, he was unable to manage the horses in the usual way. As a result, he flew too close to the Earth and burned everything in sight. To save the planet from burning down and restore life on earth, Zeus bombarded Faeton with lightning bolts and he, like a shining star, flew over the sky and fell in the river Eridan.

The nymphs buried Faeton after he fell from the sky but because his sisters, the Heliadi, cried day and night, Zeus took pity on them and turned them into poplars and their tears into ambers. So the Eridan (Sava) river became the amber route. Having some compassion for the unhappy boy, Zeus transferred Faeton to the coachman constellation.

After passing over the Kaulian (Kalemegdanski) rocks, the Argonauts arrived at Ada “Tsiganlia” (etymology from wild and the word “many”, i.e. a gigantic ADA). In popular lore Tsiganlia was dedicated to the Titans, a Hyperborean tribe born of the Earth, i.e. indigenous to the region. In mythology Geia gave birth to the Titans while being fertilized by droplets of blood that fell from Uranus’s genitalia. Some of the Titans were immortal, such as Alkionei, but only while they resided in the country in which they were born. They were conceived as undefeatable giants, armed with long spears, had a formidable appearance, long hair and beards. In their battle with the gods, the Titans threw huge rocks and burning torches at the sky, particularly Alkionei. It was foretold that the gods would not be able to defeat the Titans without help from the mortals. That is why during the war with the Titans at Fleigarska (Pozharevachka) Plain, Zeus instructed his son Hercules to kill the Titan Alkionei and many others.

Due to the hostile mood of the Titans, the Argonauts did not visit Ada Tsiganlia and continued sailing against the flow of the river. Along the way they passed the site which, many centuries later, would become the building place of the city “Shabats” which was dedicated to Sebazei, the corrupt god of the fourth generation, and north of that they saw the place where the city Zagreb was later built and dedicated to Dionysus- Zagrei.

The Argonauts sail the Adriatic - death of Pelei and Jason

The Argonauts continued to sail towards the Adriatic (Sava) to Enet and then continued in the northwest direction to Istria. According to some legends they sailed through the “Adriatic mouth” of the Danube River, i.e. the “Rashk channel” and then carried the Argo on their shoulders (while other sources claim that they pushed the Argo) and thus sailed the “Kronon Sea” or the “Gulf of Reinei”, i.e. the Adriatic Sea. This way they avoided going through the Bosphorus in the Dardanelles.

There exists a Latin geographical name for “Kvarnersko Ostrovo” dating from the Roman era called “Absyrtides”. The Latin name of the river “Rechitsa”, located between “Rieka” and “Sushaka”, is the hydronym “Absyrtus fluuius”, which confirms the legend of the myth of the Argonauts. During the time Roman emperor Augustus (31 BC - 14 AD), geographer Pomponei Mela claimed that the western arm of the Danube “... flowed into the Adriatic, and is wavy and wild like the River Po...”

When the Argonauts arrived at Ei, Kirkin’s island, Kirkin cleansed Jason and Medeia from the sins of having killed Asprit, but refused to provide hospitality for them so the Argonauts continued on to the country of the Feaka at Drepan (Corfu or Kierkira) Island. Jason and Medeia, to avoid being handed to the expedition from Kolhida were married in king Alkino’s court.

The geographer Strabo (63 BC - 19 AD), who traveled through many countries and gave many accounts of mythological, historical and geographical details about the Argonaut expeditions, said the following: “Because the expedition from Kolhida was not allowed to return to Kolhida without Madeia and Asprit, as per king Eiet’s orders, some of the people from the Kolhida expedition decide to remain in Korkira, while others went north to Istria, where they built the city Pula – Pola meaning big, strong, powerful... (Strabo, Geographia, I, 2, 39, VII, 5, Meineke, Lipsiae, I, II, III, 1913)

The people from Kolhida who settled there named the peninsula “Istria” which was a personification of the river Istros (Danube) which the Argonauts sailed. The people of Istria then intermingled with a group of colonists who were moved there by Hil, son of Hercules and eponymous hero of the Illyrian Hilei. However the peninsula had two horonyms: “Histria” and “Hyllis”.

The Argonauts continued to sail until they reached Iolk which offered them great temptations. After Jason handed over the Golden Fleece to his uncle Pelei, he freed his father Eson from prison. Later Medeia murdered Pelei with sorcery. Because of that, Pelei’s son Akast, who was also an Argonaut, threw Jason and Medeia out of Iolk. They then went to Corinth and lived there happily for 10 years. Jason parked Argo on the coast of Corinth and devoted it to the god Poseidon.

For as long as the Corinthian king Kreont would not offer his daughter Glaucoma’s hand to him, Jason continued to have children with Medeia. But the moment he did, the abandoned and humiliated Medeia turned on her rival, her father, and above all on Jason. Thanks to Medeia’s magic Jason’s life became joyless and miserable. One day the tired Jason took rest in the shade under the helm of the Argo and fell asleep. While peacefully sleeping the helm broke and the boat fell over and crushed our sleeping hero.

Many epics have been written about Jason’s fate and the myth of the Argonauts is well represented in ancient art. Medeia surrendered the Corinthian throne to Sisyphus and she returned to Kolhida. According to a less known myth, Medeia went to Thebes and healed Hercules from his madness. Euripides’s “Medeia” of 531 BC was an example of the works of later poets and writers of tragedy.