Argo Navis "The Swift One" was the name the heroes chose for their ship, and they called themselves the Argonauts
Story behind the song
The Legend of Argo Navis "the Swift One"
Wonderful things are told of the bold mariner Jason, and deep wisdom hides and reveals itself in everything he saw and did..
Jason’s grandfather had founded the city and kingdom of Iolcos in the bay of Thessaly and bequeathed it to his son Aeson. But Pelias, Aeson’s younger brother, rebelled against the rightful heir, and took possession of the throne.
Aeson died, and Jason, his child, was taken to Mount Pelion, to be raised by the wise centaur Chiron.
Chiron, half horse and half man, had a strong sense of justice and had raised many heroes before they also set forth to seek their destiny.
Jason was also to become a hero, ambitious and bold in the face of new challenges, and a favorite of the gods.
The years passed, and Jason had grown to become a wise young man when he decided to step out of the familiar safety of the Pelion Mountains to reclaim the legacy of his father, Aeson.
After a long journey he arrived in Iolcos, stood before his uncle Pelias, revealed himself and demanded his birthright, Pelias reflected before replying
“To regain what you claim is rightfully yours, you must first take a courageous step and go on a quest across the Dark Sea, to Colchis and bring back the Golden Fleece.
If you succeed, you will have earned fame and the right to regal power."
Thus spoke the king, knowing full well that the quest was a certain death sentence.
But Jason did not hesitate, he quickly gathered together the 50 greatest heroes of the day,
among them where, Hercules, Theseus, Orpheus, Castor and his brother Pollux, and the Dioscuri.
Together they commissioned a magical ship to take them safely through the crests of the waves of the dark sea.
Argo Navis, "The Swift One" was the name the heroes chose for their ship, and they called themselves the Argonauts.
The Argo was built by the shipwright Argus, with the close help of the godess Athena,
and from the sacred Olympian forest of Dodona, Athena fashioned a mighty bow beam from Zeus' oracle tree, which could speak and render prophecies.
And all who sailed aboard the Argo were specially protected by the gods of Olympus.
Blessed by Olympus, Jason and his Argonauts could not fail
They experienced the spray of salt, and the billowing sail,
the rhythm of the sea, and the splash of ores,
the Argo carried them far far away to new shores...
After many adventures, and a successful journey, the Argo was consecrated to Poseidon in the Isthmus of Corinth.
It was then translated into the sky by the Goddess Athene, and turned into the constellation of Argo Navis.
The ancient astronomer Ptolemy described in his work, "the Almagest" the Argo Navis as being one of the 48 constellations then recognized by the ancient Greeks.
In the 1760s the constellation of Argo Navis was broken up into the four sections we recognize today, Carina - the keel, Puppis - the stern, Vela - the sails, and Pyxis - the mariner's compass.
Several authors of antiquity have discussed the shape of the ship, generally it was imagined like a Greek warship, a 50 oar trireme, it is hypothesized that it was probably the first ship of this type to ever go out on a high-sea voyage.