Being commanded to fetch the fleece, Jason sought advice from his pedagogue , Cheiron, -or he consulted the oracle- who advised him to assemble the nobles of Hellas and sail away. Orpheas mentions 49 men, Apollodorus 45, Apollonius 64 and Diodorus 54. Among those who assembled were the following: Jason who became their admiral; Tiphys who steered the ship-he could steer it by watching the stars at night and the sun during the day; Argos-the excellent shipbuilder-who would repair any damage that might be caused; Orpheas who was their religious leader-a wise and widely travelled man, the founder of Orphism and famous for his music as well; Castor and Polydefkis-the Dioskouri- who were strategical geniuses and sailed round the Aegean sea pursuing the pirates, thus clearing the sea; three seers: Amphiaraous, Mopsus and Idmon; Asclepius and Erivotis, experts in medicine; Lynceus - he was believed to be clear sighted - who would stand on the prow searching the sea carefully; Idas and Hercules as prow-officers; Peleus and Telamon as stern-officers; Zetes and Calais who were petty officers and Nauplius, Erginus and Ancaeus, experts in navigation. Anceus took over the Argo after Tiphy's death. He was also said to be an astronomer. The rest of the Argonauts rowed.

Judging from the above we cannot but admire the perfect organization of the Argonauts-all of them being well-educated and experts in their fields as well as good fighters- and therefore conclude that the Argonautic Expedition must have been a voyage of discovery as well.


Go back to the first page. Go to the Crew List

Last Updated: 21 March 1996 23:46:53