Mnemosyne — Classical Greek Myth Library

Jason sent heralds through Greece summoning companions for a voyage to Colchis. Heroes answered from many cities: sons of gods and of kings, hunters, seers, and fighters. Among the most famous were Heracles son of Zeus; the Dioscuri Castor and Polydeuces; Orpheus the Thracian singer; the Boreads Zetes and Calais, winged sons of the North Wind; Peleus and Telamon; Meleager; Idas and Lynceus; Admetus; Theseus in some lists (not Apollonius’s); Tiphy as first helmsman; Argus son of Arestor as shipwright; Mopsus or Idmon as seers; Atalanta in some catalogues (Apollonius excludes her from the crew). Apollodorus gives a long roster; Apollonius’s opening catalogue is the classic poetic muster of the voyage tradition. Under Athena’s guidance Argus built a long ship at Pagasae from timber of Pelion. Athena herself fitted into the prow a speaking beam cut from Dodona’s oak, so that the ship could utter counsel and warning. The vessel was named Argo after its builder (or from *argos*, “swift”). When the crew gathered at Pagasae, they chose a leader. Some urged Heracles; Heracles deferred to Jason as the man for whose sake they sailed. Jason accepted command. They launched, sacrificed, and prepared to leave Thessaly for the Black Sea route to Colchis. The building and muster establish the expedition as a pan-Hellenic heroic enterprise: divine craftsmanship, a prophetic ship, and a company whose later separate myths (Heracles’s labors, Orpheus’s song, the Dioscuri’s boxing and horsemanship) converge for one voyage.