In the 1963 film, Jason and the Argonauts, the American peplum tells the adventures of Jason, son of the king of Iolcos, Eson. He left with his crew of Argonauts, named after the ship on which they boarded, the Argo, in search of the Golden Fleece.
According to legend, this famous Golden Fleece comes from an extraordinary winged ram with golden wool, Chrysomallos, sent to Phrixos and Helle by Zeus, following their supplication, to escape Ino, their mother-in-law. Only Phrixos managed to survive this expedition, and once he was out of reach in Colchis, he decided to sacrifice the beast to the supreme god of the Greek pantheon. This famous Golden Fleece was then Jason’s target. He wanted to recover the throne usurped by Pelleas, who promises to give it to him on condition that he brings back the golden ram’s skin.
Another famous Greek myth around gold is that of King Midas, ruler of Phrygia. After welcoming the god Dyonisos, the latter grants him a wish. Midas wants everything he touches to turn into gold. Because of his size, when he wants to eat, all his food immediately turns into an object made from the yellow and shiny metal.
Desperate, the king begged the god to cancel his wish. Dionysos then explained to him that he had to dive into the Pactole River while swimming to its source in order to clean himself. Thus Midas was able to get rid of his terrible power.
