Jason And The Golden Fleece: A Comparative Analysis

In the stories Beowulf, Medea, and Jason and the Golden Fleece, the characters show the disparity between the culture by providing background and traits of the societies. The way these societies view culture varies, as seen when Jason manipulated others to get what he wants, but both Beowulf and Jason were heroes. They both had pride, but what drove that pride was different. It demonstrates how these two societies viewed morals and how a person should act within the community. Between the two stories, a common theme found is praise for battle. Both Beowulf and Jason embark on journeys where they must fight to survive. When they won, each gained popularity and a prize. But before they could do that, the stories each described how the fight

For Jason, he had the help of the gods. This shows that the Greek society had a stronger reliance on the gods. They needed a gods help, whereas Anglo-Saxon culture needed pure talent. In the story Medea, Medea only escaped because of the help from Helios, the sun god. Beowulf defeated Grendel and Grendel’s mother with only his pride leading the way. This provides the evidence that Greek culture and Anglo-Saxon culture have different ideas on pride. Another difference is the way they achieved these goals. Jason’s pride led him to want his kingdom back, and he went on the search for the Golden Fleece. “Do you go upon this quest and I swear with Zeus as witness that I will give up the Kingdom and Sovereign to you.” (Hamilton 164). Beowulf, on the other hand, went on his quest to save a kingdom that needed help to defeat the great monster Grendel. “Follower and the strongest of the Geats—greater /And stronger than anyone anywhere in this world— /Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror/And quickly commanded a boat fitted out, /Proclaiming that he’d go to that famous king,” (Raffel 110-114). The different character traits between these two characters suggest a difference in culture too. Beowulf goes on quests to earn pride and help others, while Jason does it to promote Greek lifestyle and get a reward, besides pride. Greek society can be flashy, arrogant, and greedy. Anglo-Saxon society seems to have