Jason and the Argonauts

By: Apollonios of Rhodes

Narrated by: David Timson

Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Under the order of King Pelias, Jason embarks on a perilous journey to steal the Golden Fleece from the Land of Colchis. Far from heroic, Jason is the typical everyman. He is given to intense bouts of nervousness and anxiety and is saved on more than one occasion by the sorceress Medea, Jason's love interest, and his band of heroes: Castor and Pollux, Heracles, the musician Orpheus, and the flying brothers Zetes and Calais.

They encounter clashing rocks at the Bosphorus; an all-female parliament at Lemnos, where the women have slaughtered the men; harpies who plague the prophet Phineas; King Amycus, a champion boxer; an army of men who spring from the ground; and, of course, the never-sleeping dragon who guards the Golden Fleece.

Often compared with Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Jason and the Argonauts is the only surviving poem from the Hellenistic period and was hugely influential on later literature, especially the Roman poetry of Virgil and Ovid.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

Public Domain (P)2019 Naxos Audiobooks

Don’t read Don Quijote before reading this

I have no idea how the story ever became a classic. The story has so much potential. It just seems like the writer was rushing to get from scenario to scenario. I read Don Quijote not too long ago. It seemed kind of tedious to me because the story veered into side stories that stretch 50 pages at a time. After a while I forgot where Don Quijote was at in his own story. Cervantes had Don Quixote say something like “…and then I heard a shepherd, singing a sad song, and I wondered why he was singing such a sad song, so I went down to ask him..” I found myself saying “no no! Please don’t go down, and ask him!” Because you headed off onto a side story that seemed to never end. Jason and the Argonauts sets the crew up in a scenario with some fantastical struggles with Greek mythological creatures that ends in one paragraph. I found myself saying, “are you kidding me? That’s it?” I’m doing my best to not say that this is just garbage storytelling. Maybe Don Quijote ruined me for storytelling, but this story just wasn’t that good.

A wonderful and captivating narration

This is perhaps the most captivating narration of classic Ancient Greek and Latin epic story telling I have ever enjoyed.

Good to know “WHY” the journey before beginning

Good Greek classic poem although there seem to be many variations on the story. The question of “why” the heroes sought the fleece haunted me for the whole saga but was never clearly elucidated. Apparently the Golden Fleece symbolizes kingship & authority. Other Greek myths explain that Jason was the stillborn son of a king so was raised by a Centaur. As an adult, Jason, “son of Aeson”, tried returning to where he was born to reclaim the the throne. However, King Pelias, who usurped Jason’s father, schemed to rid of him by ordering that he first perform the impossible task of bringing back the Golden Fleece from afar.

The treacherous adventure starts well into the book after a lengthy introduction of heroes embarking on the journey. Have patience. Those same characters are often discussed in action by their lineage, son of so & so, rather than their name so be prepared for dual identities. Thankfully, narration is dramatic & well done since the prose and verbiage can be challenging at times.

Not bad but not great either.

I remember this story as a kid being amazing. Now I found it boring unlike some of the other Greek stories. Still a good story for Greek mythology fans out there.

Great production.

the volume was very low but other but other that it was en enjoyable production.

Great Story,.. not the best narration

This is a classic, epic adventure story and I enjoyed listening to it. The only issue is sometimes the narrator speaks very softly so it’s hard to hear him. I found myself rewinding parts of the story in order to understand it. It worked best for me when I had my ear buds in. Still worth a listen.