Differences From Classical Mythology
The film differs from the traditional telling in Greek mythology in several ways. In mythology, the Argonauts encountered Talos on their return journey after they had obtained the Golden Fleece. He was defeated not by Jason, but by Medea casting a spell on Talos, causing him to remove the bronze nail from his ankle which kept the ichor inside. The mythological Talos guarded Crete, not the Isle of Bronze, and was protecting not a treasure, but Queen Europa.
The harpies were not caught in a net or caged, but were chased away by the Boreads: Calaïs and Zetes (also Zethes) Upon doing so, the goddess Iris promised the Harpies would not bother Phineas anymore. Phineas told the Argonauts how to safely pass the clashing rocks by releasing a dove. If the bird makes it through, he tells them to row with all their might and Athena gave the Argo the extra push needed to clear them, "the Argo darted from the rocks like a flying arrow", whereas in the film he gives Jason an amulet. Yet in Homer's Odyssey, Circe tells Odysseus, "One ship alone, one deep-sea craft sailed clear, the Argo, sung by the world, when heading home from Aeetes' shores. And she would have crashed against those giant rocks and sunk at once if Hera, for her love of Jason, had not sped her through."
Jason was not betrayed by Acastus in the classical tale. Jason openly told King Aeëtes that he had come for the Fleece. The king promised Jason could have it if he performed three tasks, knowing full well they were impossible. However Jason was able to complete the tasks with the help of Medea. It was Jason himself who sowed the dragon's teeth in the ground, not Aeëtes. Jason defeated the skeleton army by making them fight amongst themselves, and destroy each other, rather than the Argonauts battling them.
Medea killing her own brother, Absyrtus, to help Jason and the Argonauts escape is omitted from the film, as are the episodes with Cyzicus and the Gegeines and the Argonauts' stay on the isle of Lemnos. Also not mentioned, ancient mythology suggests King Aristo and Pelias were half brothers; each sharing a common mother Tyro, where the former is a son of Cretheus and the latter, a son of the god Poseidon.
Read more about this topic: Jason And The Argonauts (1963 film)
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