By Mary Doris

The story of Pelias is a dastardly one. Although he was the son of a God, he started out in life as the bastard of a mortal, and consequently, was abandoned by his mother. His adulthood was filled with treachery and betrayal, some of which he caused as well as that which was wrought upon him by others. And in the end, his life was terminated in a dreadful way, much like the way in which his life had begun.

Pelias was born of Poseidon, the great sea-god, and Tyro, a mortal. One day while Tyro was admiring the river, Poseidon took it upon himself to rape Tyro, thus impregnating her with twins: Pelias and Neleus (Grant 412). But Tyro abandoned her sons and went on to marry her uncle, Cretheus the King of Iolcus. During this union, Tyro gave birth to additional children, in particular, a son called Aeson.

Tyro's evil and cruel step-mother was indirectly the cause of Tyro abandoning her sons, who were then found and raised by a horse-breeder (Grant 318). In fact, Pelias was named so because of an incident in which he was kicked by a horse, leaving a mark or pelios. When Pelias became of age he went on to avenge his mother by killing Tyro's step-mother Sidero. Although Sidero fled to the temple and altar of Hera for protection, "Pelias seized Sidero… … and put her to death." (Grant 319). Such an act of dishonor enraged Hera and she swore to never forgive Pelias for defiling her altar. Hera was infuriated further because Pelias refused to pay her homage as he did the other Gods: "…though he paid no honor to Pelasgian Hera." (Rhodius 3).

Pelias went on to assume the throne of Iolcus, displacing his half-brother King Aeson who was the rightful heir to the throne. However, and unknown to Pelias, Aeson had a son named Jason who was sent away to be raised by the Cintaur Chiron "who had reared many boys to greatness." (Schwab 86).

When Pelias became an older man, he was warned by an oracle "that a hateful doom awaited him -- to be slain at the prompting of the man whom he should see coming forth from the people with but one sandal." (Rhodius 3). Hence, Jason was to return to Iolcus to claim the throne and the title that was rightfully his. During Jason's journey back to Iolcus, he helped Hera, who was disguised as a feeble old woman, cross a river and in doing so, he lost one of his sandals (Schwab 87). Consequently, a new alliance was forged between Jason and Hera.

Upon Jason's return to Iolcus, he demanded from Pelias what was rightfully his. Yet his demands met with the trickster in King Pelias. Pelias, knowing that Jason was the man which the oracle had warned him about, tried to dispose of Jason in an interesting fashion. Knowing that the Golden Fleece was "regarded as a priceless treasure" (Schwab 88) and that glory would come to any hero that dared to obtain and possess it, Pelias was sending Jason to fetch the Golden Fleece. But such a journey was considered "an impossible mission" (Harris 291). In fact, in Apollonius' Argonautica, Pelias is said to have "devised for him the toil of a troublous voyage, in order that on the sea or among strangers he might lose his home-return." But Pelias requested this from Jason in an untruthful manner by telling Jason that the retrieval of the fleece was to bring peace to the soul of Phrixus, and added that Jason was much more adept at fulfilling such a task (Schwab 87). For reference, Phrixus was one of two children who were sent away to safety on the wings of a ram "whose fleece was of pure gold" (Schwab 88). And in hopes of gaining the glory that such a feat would provide, as well as claiming the throne of Iolcus, Jason accepts the challenge that Pelias has given him.

However, upon hatching his plan to exterminate Jason, Pelias did not count on his foe, Hera, intervening. Hera had devised a plan to help Jason succeed at obtaining the fleece and return home alive, while at the same time exacting revenge upon Pelias. For Hera was still offended by Pelias because he left her "unhonoured with sacrifice" (Rhodius 199). Yet she admired Jason for his goodness and said that "he is honoured by me unceasingly" (Rhodius 199). Hera conspired with Athena to have Eros shoot Medea with his arrow in order to make Medea fall madly in love with Jason. In doing so, Hera hoped that the magic that Medea was capable of would help Jason complete the task at hand. And she was right. With the aid of Medea, Jason succeeded at fetching the Golden Fleece, and was ready to return home safely.

Now Jason and Medea were ready to return to Iolcus to claim Jason's throne. And upon arriving in Iolcus, they conspire to kill Pelias. Medea has a trick of her own and persuades the daughters of Pelias to carryout the plan. Medea convinces the daughters that if they cut up their father, who was quite old by that time, into little pieces and boil him, Pelias would "achieve…magical rejuvenation." (Grant 319). Unfortunately for the naïve daughters, Pelias was not rejuvenated, but dead. Because of their murderous plot, which killed Pelias, Jason and Medea are now forced to flee Iolcus, leaving the throne behind. With the rightful heir gone, it is Pelias' son, Acastus who became the next King of Iolcus.

Works Cited

Grant, Michael, and John Hazel. Gods and Mortals in Classical Mythology.
Springfield, MA: Merriam 1973.
Harris, Stephen L., and Gloria Platzner. Classical Mythology. 3rd ed.
Mountainview, CA: Mayfield, 2001.
*Rhodius, Apollonius. Argonautica. Trans. R.C. Seaton. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1912.
Schwab, Gustav. Gods and Heroes of Ancient Greece. Trans. Olga Marx and Ernst Morwitz. New York: Random House, 1946.