All Systems Argo 1 - Succession

Greeking Out from National Geographic Kids

This episode serves as a foundational prequel to the Jason and the Argonauts series, detailing the complex web of succession and betrayal in

Key takeaways

• Queen Eno sabotaged the kingdom's grain supply to create a famine that would justify disinheriting Phrixus.
• The god Hermes intervened to save Phrixus from sacrifice by providing a magical golden ram.

Main topics

• The Golden Fleece quest
• Succession struggles in Boeotia

Notable quotes

Why does Jason get sent on the ultimate go-get-that-for-me-and-please-die-trying errand?

Conclusion

A detailed backstory that establishes the high stakes and divine influ

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:00) The stories featured in Greeking Out are original adaptations of classic Greek myths. This week's story features the beginning of a hero, bogus claims to the throne, falling into the sea, old women stuck in mud, murder in a temple, twins, and succession, ancient Greek style. Speaker 2 (0:16) Ah, Speaker 1 (0:35) the ocean. It's one of my most favorite places in the world. The wind in your face, the smell of sea salt, the warm sun on your skin. Is there anything better? Speaker 5 (0:46) am not a fan of the ocean. It is imperative that I stay dry at all times in order to function correctly. Speaker 1 (0:55) Okay, well, that's fair. And luckily for you, we're not actually going to the ocean, but we are going to hit the high seas. Symbolically, that is. In the next couple of episodes, we are doing a whole series on the famous hero Jason and his quest to find the Golden Fleece. That's right. We talked about this in our very first episode, but this is our redemption arc where we tell the story in full this time. Just like the Iliad and the Odyssey, the story of Jason and the Argonauts is one of the most famous adventures in ancient Greek mythology, so we really want to take the time to sink our teeth into it properly. There Speaker 5 (1:34) is no food allowed. in the studio. Speaker 1 (1:38) No, no, I know that. It's just an expression. I just meant that there was a lot we didn't cover the last time we told this story. For example, we know that the story of Jason and the Argonauts is sometimes called Jason and the Golden Fleece because it's all about Jason's quest to find a magical golden ramskin. Speaker 5 (1:56) Golden fleece is another word for the woolly covering of a sheep or goat. Speaker 1 (2:02) Right, but we don't really tell you where the golden fleece came from. Speaker 5 (2:06) I just told you. It comes from a sheep or a goat. Speaker 1 (2:13) Okay, right, but what I meant was, why is it so valuable? Why does Jason get sent on the ultimate go-get-that-for-me-and-please-die-trying errand? Speaker 5 (2:21) This would be considered an impossible task. In folklore lingo, this device is featured in many stories and myths throughout various cultures. Speaker 1 (2:34) Exactly. And this impossible task began in the kingdom of Boeotia. Their king was named Athamas, and he was happily married to a beautiful nymph named Nephile. Speaker 5 (2:45) Nephile's name translates to cloud. In Greek. Speaker 1 (2:50) Right. And if you've listened to our earlier episode this season about centaurs, you will know that Nephile was created by Zeus out of clouds to be a replica of Hera. Mainly, it was to trick this guy named Ixion who... Anyway, just go listen to that episode for the full story. But Nephile continued to be alive even after this prank Zeus pulled was done. And can you imagine your whole existence being a prank? What are you supposed to do with your life after the punchline, you know? So Nephile learned to be a person and actually learned how to take care of herself. Nephile and Othimus had two children together, and things were going fairly well between the two until Othimus met another girl, Eno, the daughter of King Cadmus, who ruled the nearby city of Thebes. Speaker 5 (3:39) Why am I not surprised? Speaker 1 (3:41) Wait, you're not surprised? I mean, come on, he loved Nephilee. They had two kids together. She deserves happiness. And then he just, like, up and leaves her? Speaker 5 (3:50) While his behavior was certainly cruel, it was not uncommon for the time period. Athamas was an ambitious man. He was more interested in power and politics than love and loyalty. So, while he may have loved Nephilee, she... did not help him in his quest for power. I Speaker 1 (4:15) guess that makes sense, but it's still terrible. Speaker 5 (4:18) Because she was a princess of Thebes, Eno served as a way for Ephemus to advance politically. Speaker 1 (4:26) Right. Well, when Nephilim found out about this, she was understandably furious and decided that she deserved better. So she left the kingdom and didn't look back. And instead of begging his wife to return or trying to smooth things over, King Othamas took this opportunity to marry Eno and make her his new wife and queen. Eno, for her part, was thrilled. She was a woman with ambition, and she wanted nothing more than to sit on the throne and have her own children grow up to one day be heirs of this new kingdom. There was just one not-so-tiny problem. Othimus already had children. He and Nephile had twins, a boy and a girl named Phrixus and Heli. And because Phrixus was the firstborn son, he was already the heir to the throne. Obviously, this wasn't going to work for Eno. She was determined to disinherit Phrixus and Heli and help her own children's future security. She was so focused on this that she kind of went off the deep end. She decided to create a disaster to blame on the children of Nephile. Every night, when the kingdom was asleep, Eno would sneak into the granary where they kept all the seeds for the next planting and toast the seeds. This ensured that the seeds would be useless and nothing would grow from them. So in a few months' time, all of the fields and farms in Boeotia were empty and useless. No crops were growing, and King Athamas suddenly had a famine on his hands. His kingdom was starving. And all because Eno wanted her children to become the next heirs to the throne. Speaker 5 (6:07) loss of good sense is featured in several myths involving Eno. She has a reputation for engaging in wild behavior, but those are stories for another day. Speaker 1 (6:22) Yeah, let's put a pin in that. But anyway, desperate for a solution, the king sent a messenger to the Oracle of Delphi to ask for guidance. But after the messenger met with the oracle and received her advice, Queen Eno made certain that she was the one to meet the messenger upon his return. She took the original message from the oracle and quickly threw it away. Then she rewrote the message and delivered it to the king. Speaker 5 (6:48) You don't need an oracle to tell you that she changed the message to align with her. Yeah, Speaker 1 (6:56) Eno changed the message so that, according to the Oracle, the only way to end this famine was for Athamas to sacrifice the life of his firstborn son, Phrixus. Speaker 5 (7:07) This is mistreatment of Oracles, and it is despicable behavior. This is why I prefer to speak for myself. Thank you, Internet. Speaker 1 (7:21) Noted. But unfortunately, the plan worked. King Athamas