The Golden Fleece - Золотое руно
The story goes that Apharnans, king of Beotia, had
two children by his first wife Nephela, a cloud nymph;
then he deserted her and married Ino, a Theban princess. Nephela left Beotia never to return, and there was
drought in the country. Ino hated her stepchildren and
thought of a way to get rid of them. She made Aphamans believe, by ruse, that the curse of drought over
Beotia would be revoked if Phryxos, his son, were sacrificed upon the altar of great gods. But just when everything was ready for the sacrifice, Nephela sent a cloud
bearing a w-onderful ram with golden fleece, The ram
took the children upon his back and flew from Greece
to Colchis. Little girl Hella fell off into the sea (hence
the name of Hellespont, that is, Sea of Hella), but P hryxos came safely to Colchis. Here the ram was sacrificed
to Zeus, and its golden fleece was hung up in the grove
of the war-god, nailed to a sacred tree and guarded by
a dragon.
Some time later, the following events took place in
Greece: prince Jason, disinherited by his uncle, King
Pelias, came to Iolcus to claim his kingdom. The cunning Pelias promised to abdicate in his favour as soon
as the hero brought the Golden Fleece from overseas
to Iolcus. Jason ordered a vessel to be built, and started collecting the crew. The most celebrated heroes of
the age were anxious to participate in the expedition,
among them Hercules, Orpheus, Castor and Pollux, etc.
They were fifty all in all. The ship was called Argo,
and those sailing in it came to be known as Argonauts.
The journey was long and dangerous; in Colchis, the
enchantress Medea, the K ing’s daughter, helped Jason
to secure the Golden Fleece.
The myth of the Golden Fleece was first related by
Pindar, a Greek lyric poet. Many Greek poets appear
to have taken particular delight in making it the theme
of their songs. The words the Golden Fleece are used
to denote something precious or very highly prized that
one is eager to take possession of.
В древнегреческих мифах рассказывается, что герой Язон отправился на восточное побережье Черного моря, в Колхиду добывать золотое руно, которое висело на священном дереве в роще бога войны и охранялось драконом. Язон построил корабль Арго, по имени которого участники похода были названы аргонавтами. Язон преодолел все препятствия и завладел золотым руном. Этот миф был изложен древнегреческим поэтом Пиндаром и впоследствии послужил темой многих поэтических произведений. Золотым руном называют богатство или что-либо очень ценное, чем стремятся овладеть.