Jason in popular culture

The following is a list of depictions of Jason of the Argonauts, an ancient Greek mythological hero, in popular culture.

Audio

Literature

  • William Morris wrote an English epic poem, The Life and Death of Jason, published in 1867.[4]
  • Padraic Colum wrote an adaptation for children, The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles, illustrated by Willy Pogany and published in 1921.[5]
  • "Jason's Voyage" is the title of Book Five of Thomas Wolfe's autobiographical 1935 novel Of Time and the River.[6]
  • The Golden Fleece (1944 UK version; aka Hercules, My Shipmate, 1945 US version) written by Robert Graves, is a somewhat humorous account of Jason and the Argonauts. Graves sometimes gives "natural" explanations to some of the myths. At other times he includes new myths of his own.[7]
  • The novel Jason (1961) by Henry Treece is narrated by Jason himself.[8] The supernatural elements are largely removed, but a major theme of the book is the clash between the older religion of the mother goddess, favoured by women (who are portrayed as dangerous and hostile to men in many ways) and the newer religion of Zeus and Poseidon favoured by men.
  • In comics, outside of a comic book adaptation of the film Jason and the Argonauts published by Dell Comics in 1963 as part of their Movie Classics series, and a 1963 issue of Classics Illustrated published only in the U.K. by Thorpe & Porter, there were two series that featured Jason and The Argonauts. The first was a 5 issue series published by Caliber Press in 1991,[9] while the other was a series called Jason and the Argonauts: Kingdom of Hades, a 5 issue mini-series, published by Bluewater Comics in 2007.[10] In 2011, Campfire Books published a graphic novel called Jason and the Argonauts written by Dan Whitehead.[11]

Stage

Television and film

Video games

  • In the Age of Empires (1997), Jason featured as a khopesh swordsman and an axeman.
  • Jason is a playable character in Herc's Adventures (1997).[26]
  • Jason is one of the heroes in the 2002 Age of Mythology.[27]
  • Jason is briefly featured in the 2007 video game God of War II. He has taken the Argonauts to the Isle of Creation, and has made it as far as Euryale's temple, where they were overcome by a cursed Cerberus. As Kratos walks into the monster's dungeon, Jason has been eaten alive and the Golden Fleece is hanging out of the creature's jaws. After Kratos kills the Cerberus, he takes the Golden Fleece, which is interpreted as a golden arm-long gauntlet, as his own, which becomes a permanent addition to his character throughout the rest of God of War II and all of God of War III.
  • Codemasters released Rise of the Argonauts, an action role-playing video game developed by Liquid Entertainment, in 2008. The game was loosely based on the mythology, telling a new version of Jason's search for the Golden Fleece with many changes to both characters and events.[28]
  • Jason is an antagonist of the Okeanos singularity in Fate/Grand Order. During the game's 4th Anniversary Event in 2019, he was added as a 1-star Saber Servant alongside other Bronze Servants.

References

  1. ^ "XTC – English Settlement – Classic Music Review". Alt Rock Chick. 2023-09-10. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  2. ^ Sandifer, Elizabeth; Reed, S. Alexander (2014-02-13). "Say I'm the Only Bee in Your Bonnet". Slate. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  3. ^ MacAdams, Torii. "Hermit and the Recluse, Orpheus vs. the Sirens". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on 2018-08-23.
  4. ^ Morris, William (November 1867). "The Life and Death of Jason". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  5. ^ "The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles". Morgen Stern Books. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  6. ^ Sexton, Mark S. (November 1986). ""Of Time and the River": A Wordsworthian Unity". South Atlantic Review. 51 (4): 79–80. doi:10.2307/3199758. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  7. ^ Laister, Kelly (2020). "The Golden Fleece: I appreciated it as an accomplishment". Fantasy Literature. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  8. ^ Vredenburgh, Fletcher (2023-05-08). "A Look at Henry Treece's Jason". Goodman Games. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  9. ^ "1 to 5 of 5 covers for Jason and the Argonauts (Caliber Press, 1991 series)". www.comics.org.
  10. ^ "Jason and the Argonauts: Kingdom of Hades (2007 series)". www.comics.org.
  11. ^ Eyre, Lorraine (2011-11-06). "English Novelist Dan Whitehead Shares the Inspiration Behind his Graphic Novel of 'Jason and the Argonauts'". Greek Reporter. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  12. ^ Ritchie, Ian (2014-04-07). "Giasone Review". Opera Go TO. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  13. ^ Vickers, Justin. "Medea and Jason: operatic fire and fury". Lyric Opera of Chicago. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  14. ^ Pearlman, Martin (2010). "Program notes". Boston Baroque. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  15. ^ "Argonautika". Concord Theatricals. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  16. ^ Mambrol, Nasrullah (2020-07-13). "Analysis of Euripides' Medea". Literarines. Retrieved 2026-01-24.
  17. ^ Brouwers, Josho (2014-08-22). "Steve Reeves's turn as Hercules". Ancient World Magazine. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  18. ^ "I giganti della Tessaglia (The Giants of Thessaly). 1960. Directed by Riccardo Freda". MoMA. 2025. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  19. ^ Harryhausen, Ray (2003-12-19). "Model heroes". The Guardian. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  20. ^ "Medea". Palm Springs International Film Festival. 2026. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  21. ^ Williams, Claire (2020-06-11). "What The Cast Of Hercules Looks Like Today". Looper. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  22. ^ "Chris Conrad". TV Guide. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  23. ^ Speier, Michael (2000-05-04). "Jason and the Argonauts". Variety. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  24. ^ "In Search Of Myths And Heroes: Jason And The Golden Fleece". KPBS. 2010-10-19. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  25. ^ "Jack Donnelly plays Jason". BBC Media Centre. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  26. ^ "Herc's Adventures". Moby Games. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  27. ^ MacDonald, Keza (2024-08-28). "By Odin's beard! 22 years on, Age of Mythology is still the god of strategy games". The Guardian. Retrieved 2026-01-26.
  28. ^ Onyett, Charles (2012-05-11). "Rise of the Argonauts Review". IGN. Retrieved 2026-01-26.