Jason

You may also be looking for Jason, son of Atticus.

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Jason
Behind the scenes
Series	Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Young Hercules

King Jason was the legendary ruler of Corinth and Argos, hero to Hercules, as well as leader of the Argonauts. Even as a young prince, his fame reached far and wide, but he humbled himself by training at Cheiron's Academy.

History

Early life in the Corinthian Court

Jason was born into the royal family of Corinth, the son of famed King Aeson. From an early age, he was expected to succeed his father as King and know all the customs and bearing of a Corinthian monarch. He was at least a third-generation ruler.

As an eight year old, Jason learned the art of juggling from his court jester. His father was a strong influence on the boy. They often visited Delos, where Aeson taught his son wrestling, fishing, as well as even cliff diving. He was taught warrior skills, philosophy, reading, writing, as well as medicine, by the legendary centaur Ceridian.

The episode "The Wedding of Alcmene" stated that Jason served as a messenger in the Corinthian Army and had delivered the news of Amphitryon's death to Alcmene and she fell in love with him at that time. This conflicts directly with Young Hercules, where Jason is stated to be 20-years-old, only two years older than Hercules.

The Golden Fleece and Academy days

As the 20-year-old Prince of Corinth, Jason was sent by his father to train under another legendary centaur, Cheiron. He trained two months before Hercules (sent by his mother) and Iolaus (under probation) joined. Shortly after meeting the duo, Jason received word that his father had gone ill and he, Hercules and Iolaus traveled to Corinth to check on Aeson's condition. Ares, in the guise of Jason's uncle Pelias, banishes Jason and his friends from Corinth and Jason acts on Hercules' idea to seek out the Golden Fleece to heal his father. They return to the Academy and form the First Expedition of the Golden Fleece to seek out the legendary artifact. Using the boat of fellow cadet Yvenna's brother, the Argo, the newly christened "Argonauts" travel the Aegean Sea towards Porcinia. They battle many foes along the way, including the goddess Discord and the giant Talos, but Jason manages to secure the Fleece and return to Corinth. He loses four crewmen on the Expedition, which would haunt him years later. Upon returning to Corinth, Jason uses the Fleece on his father, only to have his father murdered by Ares and to be fatally stabbed. Hercules manages to incapacitate Ares long enough to return to Jason and heal him with the Fleece. With his father dead, Jason becomes Crown Prince of Corinth and plans for his coronation as King are begun.

As Crown Prince, Jason continued training at the Academy, as well as hanging out with his former advisors, Hercules and Iolaus, often at Kora's Inn. His next adventure was aiding Hercules in seeking out the Chalice of Zeus. He was briefly enslaved by Zaird alongside the Telaquire Amazons and commands the regiment that battled the Loax Gang when they took over the Academy. Jason's friendship with Hercules was briefly tested when a jealous Hercules accidentally cut Jason's father's sword in training. After rejecting a "new sword," Hercules was able to mend it for Jason and heal the damage.

With two months more experience, Jason was more of a senior cadet than most others in the Academy. When the war between the Amazons and Centaurs was raging, Jason remained at the Academy and was placed in charge of drill instruction. He was one of four cadets chosen for the Academy Team that went to the Corinthian Games. At the Games, Jason broke some of his ribs when a fellow competitor, Pollux lunged a boulder at him. He challenged Pollux to the illegal pancrateon and won against the demi-god despite his injuries.

Jason began taking royal etiquette courses under Ophistus, on top of his Academy duties. The courses took such a toll, that he briefly ran away from Corinth and heads to the northern lands, where he joined a group of villagers fighting the racketeer Daptes and he trained a small army. He decided to return to Corinth after defeating Daptes in battle. After he began accepting royal petitions, the deities Strife and Discord managed to smuggle a basilisk into his kingdom. The basilisk, Ruff, is befriended by Hercules and Iolaus, but Jason is forced to banish it from Corinth when it is deemed to dangerous. The coronation preparations took up much of Jason's time, so much so that he was away from the Academy during much of the Bacchae crisis.

After learning of the death of Eurydice and its effect on Hercules, Jason went to the Academy to console his friend. He then went with Hercules on an adventure into the Underworld, where he met his father in the Elysian Fields. Afterwards, he went back to Corinth where he discovered that a barker was using Ruff in a Corinthian sideshow. With Kora's help, he manages to send Ruff off to the Sacred Falls of Artemis. Lucius, a son of Zeus, infiltrated Jason's court as a man named "Theodore" and nearly killed Jason when his identity was discovered. Jason convinced Hercules not to kill Lucius, but to turn him over to authorities.

Jason was among Hercules' friends who was sucked into the Dreamscape by Morpheus, where he was forced to face his fear of fire. He hosted an archery contest where he offered the Golden Bow of Artemis as a reward. It was won by a mysterious stranger. One of his first major regal acts, was to host the peace talks in the Sparta-Thebes War. Despite godly interference, Jason, Hercules, Iolaus, as well as the ranchhand Timor manage to trick the two sides into ending their war.

Jason was turned into a half-pig creature by the Graeae when they lost their magical eye, before Hercules was able to retrieve the eye. During his last days at the Academy, Jason was targeted by the assassin Buterus, hired by Proaxx. Due to it coincidentally happening on "prank days," many of the failed assassination plots were overlooked. He manages to help nab the assassin, before being pranked by Hercules and leaving from the Academy.

Reign

After graduating, Jason focused his studies on etiquette training, in preparation for his coronation. King Cadmus of Aegea sent his daughter, Princess Dido to be his wife. Jason, not wishing to get married, was placed in an elaborate scheme where his fellow cadet Lilith pretending to be his bride. This was discovered by Cadmus, but he was convinced not to start a war over the incident. Jason and Lilith later began "going steady," secretly from their friends at the Academy. Jason also accompanied Hercules and Iolaus on a Golden Hind hunt.

On the day of his coronation, the festivities were nearly postponed when the giantess Galynthia began attacking Corinthians. Jason, Hercules and Iolaus decided against a full attack on Galynthia and sought her out to talk her out of her destruction. They failed, but the Corinthian Army arrived and managed to subdue her and prepare her for execution. She later broke out with the help of Hercules and was eventually convinced of her former life as a midwife and the execution was called off. Jason, not wanting to postpone his coronation any longer, immediately left the scene and was proclaimed King of Corinth from his palace. Although Jason's position left him little time to be with his friends, he did go on one last hunt with Hercules, Iolaus and Flatus shortly after his coronation, where they once more attempted to hunt the Golden Hind, Helene.

After Hercules graduated from the Academy, he and Jason competed over the love of a woman named Medea, who was actually a spy for Hera. Medea did manage to heal Jason from a grave injury, before being killed by Hera. He later commanded forces fighting in the Parthian War. With Hercules, he brought an end to that conflict, propelling his fame throughout Greece. King Jason was also with Hercules when he met the Sun God Apollo and his collection of nymphs. He was emotionally hurt when Hercules briefly became a full god.

Lilith and Jason called their relationship off around this time, shortly after Lilith discovered her pregnancy, which she did not tell to Jason. Jason later had a relationship with another Medea, before marrying a woman named Glauce. He fathered several children with Glauce, before she and his children were all murdered by a jealous Medea.

The Second Expedition and Wedding

Guilt-ridden and grief-stricken after Medea killed his family, Jason dove into alcoholism. He began to have waking visions and nightmares of demons and so drank more until finally, he was unable to rule Argos alone. A regent named Marcus was appointed to see to the day to day business of the kingdom. Though Jason was truly depressed, his visions were largely the fault of the Argonaut Castor who dressed as a horned demon to torment Jason in hopes of one day being able to rule Argos himself.

When Hercules and Iolaus arrived in Argos to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the quest for the Golden Fleece, members of the Blood-Eye Cult under the command of Castor stole the Fleece. A second expedition of the Argonauts was launched to retrieve it and Hercules and Jason revealed Castor as the "demon." Marcus and Castor were both killed in a battle with Hera's Skeleton Warriors and Jason returned to his full duties as king of Argos. Hercules told him, from experience, that he would never get over the loss of his family but keeping them in his memory would help.

After Jason delivered the news of Amphitryon's death to Alcmene they discovered that they had feelings for each other. They saw each other off and on for many years and eventually decided to be married. At first, Hercules wasn't thrilled at the idea of his friend marrying his mother but he came to appreciate that the couple was truly in love. A massive wedding was planned in Corinth but in order to marry a "commoner" Jason had to give up his throne and choose a successor. He first asked Hercules but the hero declined, realizing he could help more people traveling across Earth than settled as a king. Jason's second choice was Alcmene's older son, Iphicles.

The wedding and coronation ceremonies were interrupted by Hera's Blue Priest who took the opportunity to try to kill Hercules. Jason and Hercules were swallowed by the giant sea serpent, Perfidia and the wedding party was attacked by mercenaries. The Argonauts managed to defeat the mercenaries and Hercules killed Perfidia. The wedding then continued. Jason gave up his crown to Iphicles and married Alcmene.

Life in retirement

Jason was briefly reunited with Lilthh and discovered he had a daughter named Seska. He became the new headmaster of the Academy.

Gallery

A Troubled Jason in "Once a Hero"

Jason with Hercules and Iolaus in "Once a Hero"

A Clear-Headed Jason in "Once a Hero"

In "The Wedding of Alcmene"

Marrying Alcmene in "The Wedding of Alcmene"

With the Enforcer in "Not Fade Away"

With Alcmene in "Not Fade Away"

Jason in "Surprise"

Jason testifies in "Hercules on Trial"

Young Jason in "Medea Culpa"

Background Information

• In Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Jason was portrayed by Jeffrey Thomas (age 31-34). In the Young Hercules franchise and flashback episodes of Hercules, Chris Conrad played the younger Jason (age 20-21).
• Jason met the gods Ares, Strife, Discord, Artemis, Hephaestus, Charon, Hades, Nemesis, Stregna, the Graeae, and Apollo. He also encountered Dahak (in Iolaus's form) and Hera (through proxies).
• One version of the myth, Jason's mother was Polymede, the daughter of Autolycus. Through his father, he was also a descendent of Salmoneus and Tyro].
• Jason was Hera's mortal champion. Such was Jason's importance to her that Hera laid aside her vendetta with Heracles so that he could assist in the quest for the Golden Fleece. The series reverses this so that Hera is as antagonistic to Jason as she is to anyone associated with Hercules.

Appearances and mentions

mentions

• Hercules: The Legendary Journeys
  • "Protean Challenge"
  • "Centaur Mentor Journey"
  • "The Green-Eyed Monster"
• Young Hercules
  • "Lure of the Lyre"
  • "Fame"
  • "Dad Always Liked Me Best"