D'Aulaires Book of Greek Myths

When Jason journeyed toward Iolcus to recover his father’s kingdom, which his uncle Pelias took from him, he encounters and is tested by Hera. He passed this test by gamely carrying across a stream on his shoulders, even as “she grew heavier” with each step (214). His gallantry pleases the goddesses, and when they arrive back at the shore, she pledges her support of him, saying, “You are a mortal after my liking, I shall stand by you and help you win back your throne” (214). Hera remained by Jason’s side. When Jason’s ship, the Argo, was constructed, Hera instructed Athena to place in its prow a sacred oak with “the power to speak in time of danger and advise Jason what to do” (215). With his splendid ship and quest as incentive, Jason gathered together famous heroes from across Greece, and they sailed across to sea to Colchis, overcoming every obstacle along the way. Once they arrived, Hera conspired with Aphrodite to ensure the Colchian king’s lovely sorceress daughter, Medea, fell in love with Jason. With her help, he secured the Fleece, and they fled for Greece together.

On their return journey, Medea committed a terrible crime by murdering her brother, whom the king had sent to capture them. The sacred oak warned all on the Argo that Jason and Medea must be purified of the sin by visiting the “dangerous sorceress” Circe (223). They complied, were purified, and continued on their journey to Greece. However, when they arrived, she again violated a sacred law: She tricked Iolcus’s daughters into murdering their father. The gods and the people of Iolcus turned against her, and Jason turned with them, abandoning the sacred oath he made “to love her till his dying day” (227). Medea had committed her crimes to help him, and he abandoned her for another princess. In return, Hera abandoned Jason. Medea ultimately murdered Jason’s new wife and left him alone and forgotten.

Abandoned by all, Jason died when the sacred oak broke off the ship, then fell on and killed him. The oak symbolizes the favor of the gods, which can spur heroes on to great achievements but, when lost, can lead to the hero’s destruction.

Zeus’s thunderbolt reappears throughout the book. After Zeus freed the Cyclopes from Tartarus, they forged “mighty weapons for him and his brother” (18), including his thunderbolts. Wielding them made Zeus the mightiest of all the gods, and “nothing could stand against him” (19). When the Olympians ascended to the top of the pantheon, it was with Zeus at the lead.

When the wills of the gods clashed, violent conflicts would erupt, prompting Zeus to “reach for a thunderbolt” (26). This immediately caused the Olympians to “tremble and fall to order, for Zeus alone was stronger than all the other gods together” (26). Zeus also used his thunderbolt to blast Phaëthon out of the sky when he lost control of Helios’s chariot, to prevent Otis and Ephialtes from carrying off Artemis and Hera, and to destroy Asclepius after he used his gifts to raise mortals from the dead.

Zeus’s thunderbolt symbolizes both his role as arbiter of cosmic justice and his power to fulfill that role.