WEBVTT 00:00:06.126 --> 00:00:10.906 Hercules, the strongest man alive with a mighty heart to match. 00:00:10.906 --> 00:00:14.646 Orpheus, charmer of nature and master of music. 00:00:14.646 --> 00:00:18.556 Castor and Pollux, the twin tricksters hatched from an egg. 00:00:18.556 --> 00:00:23.874 The Boreads, sons of the North Wind who could hurtle through the air. 00:00:23.874 --> 00:00:27.865 For untold times these heroes had roamed ancient Greece, 00:00:27.865 --> 00:00:30.415 creating new legends wherever they went. 00:00:30.425 --> 00:00:34.825 But none of their adventures was so great as when they joined forces 00:00:34.825 --> 00:00:38.055 for the sake of a young man named Jason. 00:00:38.055 --> 00:00:43.715 Years before, Jason’s uncle Pelias had ruthlessly usurped the throne of Thessaly 00:00:43.715 --> 00:00:45.465 from Jason’s grandfather. 00:00:45.465 --> 00:00:48.505 When Jason returned to his father’s stolen court, 00:00:48.505 --> 00:00:52.615 the cowardly king set him a seemingly impossible task: 00:00:52.615 --> 00:00:55.235 cross the teeming seas to Colchis, 00:00:55.235 --> 00:01:00.905 and steal the golden fleece of a flying ram from under King Aeetes’ nose. 00:01:00.905 --> 00:01:03.151 If Jason retrieved the Fleece, 00:01:03.151 --> 00:01:06.421 Pelias promised to relinquish the throne. 00:01:06.421 --> 00:01:08.201 Touched by his heroic mission, 00:01:08.201 --> 00:01:10.861 the Gods spread Jason’s call for help, 00:01:10.861 --> 00:01:14.501 and soon he had assembled a not-so-motley crew. 00:01:14.501 --> 00:01:19.871 These heroes, alongside countless sailors, soothsayers, and rebel demigods, 00:01:19.871 --> 00:01:23.861 named themselves the Argonauts after their sturdy ship. 00:01:23.861 --> 00:01:27.861 But the path ahead was marked with untold terrors– 00:01:27.861 --> 00:01:31.651 enough to test even the fiercest heroes. 00:01:31.651 --> 00:01:37.991 Their first stop was Lemnos, an isle of women who had killed all the island’s men. 00:01:37.991 --> 00:01:42.341 As punishment, Aphrodite had cursed them with a sickening stench– 00:01:42.341 --> 00:01:46.312 but that didn’t stop Jason fathering twins with the queen. 00:01:46.312 --> 00:01:50.734 The rest of the crew also found themselves embroiled in new romances; 00:01:50.734 --> 00:01:55.944 until Hercules chastised them for not behaving like heroes. 00:01:55.944 --> 00:01:59.068 Eventually, they sailed on to the Mount of Bears, 00:01:59.068 --> 00:02:02.708 an island where a group of ancient, six-armed monsters 00:02:02.708 --> 00:02:06.088 lived alongside the peaceful Doliones. 00:02:06.088 --> 00:02:09.158 While the clan welcomed the Argonauts with open arms, 00:02:09.158 --> 00:02:12.188 the monsters surged down from the mountains 00:02:12.188 --> 00:02:15.658 and hurled rocks at the docked ship. 00:02:15.658 --> 00:02:18.148 Hercules held them off single-handedly, 00:02:18.148 --> 00:02:20.568 before his comrades joined the fray. 00:02:20.568 --> 00:02:25.238 Bolstered by their victory, the triumphant heroes sailed onward– 00:02:25.238 --> 00:02:29.667 only to be blown back to the island several stormy nights later. 00:02:29.667 --> 00:02:34.429 In the tempest, the Doliones thought these new arrivals invaders. 00:02:34.429 --> 00:02:37.896 The Argonauts were similarly unaware of their surroundings, 00:02:37.896 --> 00:02:42.476 and fought blunderingly in the dark, slaying wave after wave of foe. 00:02:42.476 --> 00:02:45.607 But the morning light revealed a horrible truth: 00:02:45.607 --> 00:02:49.767 their victims were none other than their previous hosts. 00:02:49.767 --> 00:02:54.334 Yet again, Jason had allowed the crew to be distracted, 00:02:54.334 --> 00:02:56.184 this time at a terrible cost. 00:02:56.184 --> 00:03:01.145 Ashamed at his conduct, he resolved to focus only on the Fleece, 00:03:01.145 --> 00:03:04.216 but even this haste proved ruinous. 00:03:04.216 --> 00:03:07.616 When Hercules’ squire was abducted by a water nymph, 00:03:07.616 --> 00:03:13.956 Jason sailed on– oblivious to the absence of his most powerful crewmate. 00:03:13.956 --> 00:03:16.687 The remaining Argonauts continued their quest, 00:03:16.687 --> 00:03:22.907 until stopping at the sight of an old man surrounded by a swirl of harpies. 00:03:22.907 --> 00:03:29.188 This was Phineas, a seer cursed by Zeus to endure old age, blindness, 00:03:29.188 --> 00:03:33.500 and endless torture for giving away his prophecies. 00:03:33.500 --> 00:03:37.178 Moved by his plight, the wind brothers set upon the flock, 00:03:37.178 --> 00:03:40.408 providing Phineas with a brief respite from his punishment. 00:03:40.408 --> 00:03:41.958 In return, 00:03:41.958 --> 00:03:47.068 the seer told them how to overcome the terrifying trial that lay ahead: 00:03:47.068 --> 00:03:53.438 the Symplegades, a pair clashing rocks that reduced ships to splinters. 00:03:53.438 --> 00:03:58.112 But first, the Argonauts would have to maneuver past the mouth of hell, 00:03:58.112 --> 00:04:03.457 around the island of the bloodthirsty Amazons, and under psychedelic skies. 00:04:03.457 --> 00:04:07.847 These adventures cost the crew both in men and morale– 00:04:07.847 --> 00:04:11.007 and some feared they might be losing their minds. 00:04:11.007 --> 00:04:16.427 Upon, reaching the clashing rocks, the exhausted crew quaked with fear. 00:04:16.427 --> 00:04:19.508 But Phineas’ advice rang in their heads. 00:04:19.508 --> 00:04:21.948 The Argonauts released a single dove 00:04:21.948 --> 00:04:26.098 and sped through in its wake to emerge unscathed. 00:04:26.098 --> 00:04:31.505 With this narrow escape, the Argonauts finally had Colchis in their sights. 00:04:31.505 --> 00:04:34.943 Yet while Jason rested and celebrated with his crew, 00:04:34.943 --> 00:04:38.773 he could feel his time among them was drawing to a close. 00:04:38.773 --> 00:04:43.803 As the fleece gleamed in his mind, he knew he would have to retrieve it alone. 00:04:43.803 --> 00:04:45.446 But he could not guess 00:04:45.446 --> 00:04:50.216 that this final task would have the most horrible price of all.