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Parrish, Maxfield - Jason and his teacher
Identifier
029178
Type of Spiritual Experience
Background
Jason and His Teacher, Collier's magazine frontispiece and A Wonder Book and Tanglewood Tales, 1909
Jason was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was also the great-grandson of the messenger god Hermes, through his mother's side.
Pelias (Aeson's half-brother) was power-hungry and sought to gain dominion over all of Thessaly. In a bitter feud, he overthrew Aeson (the rightful king), killing all the descendants of Aeson that he could.
Aeson's wife Alcimede I had a newborn son named Jason whom she saved from Pelias by having female attendants cluster around the infant and cry as if he were still-born. Fearing that Pelias would eventually notice and kill her son, Alcimede sent him away to be reared by the centaur Chiron.