The Jason Voyage: The Quest for the Golden Fleece

Rating:
Summary: The Golden Fleece, legend or history?
Review: In this book Tim Severin recounts his search for the truth behind the legend of the Golden Fleece and the fabulous voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve it.

The reader is taken on two journeys, the ancient voyage of Jason, the Greek hero, and the modern recreation. We see the construction of an authentic greek galley of the period, and share in Severins trials as he and his crew learn the peculiarities of the craft.

Then we journey with him from the Aegean sea through the Bosphorous into the Black sea all the way to Georgia. There we learn about the tradition of laying sheep fleeces in the rivers to catch the gold deposited from sources upstream, the source of the legend of the "golden fleece".

A lovely travelogue of Greece, Modern Turkey and Georgia. A great book on ancient sailing, and a good read for the curious.