In the myth of tradition the cause of expedition seems to be the Golden Fleece. So far, different researchers have given different interpretations. One of them says that there was gold in the rivers in Colchis and the natives collected it using fleeces; hence the legend of the Golden Fleece. Therefore, we can conclude that the Argonauts sailed to Colchis searching for gold or maybe other precious metals having apparently being informed by other Hellenes seamen!

At this point mention should be made of the fact that at the time of the Argonautic Expedition (ca 1400 or earlier) Hellas had already become a prominent maritime nation. A proof of that is the finds at Franchthi Cave in Argolis (Peloponese) according to which Hellas seems to have had navigation since 7000 BC!! The appearance of large quantities of obsidian from Melos and quantities of large fish bones (probably tuna) show that the inhabitants of Franchthi Cave not only sailed to Melos (150 Km away) for obsidian but also fished in deep waters. (Jacobsen : 17000 Years of Hellenic Prehistory - Scientific American Journal 1976).


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Last updated: 21 March 1996 23:40:26