This week, on the Myths and Legends podcast, we're starting the story of Jason and the Argonauts,

from Greek mythology. It's an Avenger-style team-up with heroes like Hercules and Theesius coming

along for the ride. You'll see that aimlessly following livestock into the wilderness is an

excellent way to make major life decisions. And that, if you're looking to go on an epic quest,

you should go around offering elderly women piggyback rides. The creature this week is the Pukwiji,

from Native American folklore. They're little tricksters that can take the form of magic glowing

arrows, or a giant porcupine with a terrible sense of humor.

This is the Myths and Legends podcast, episode 46a. Some assembly required.

This is a podcast where I tell stories from folklore. Some are incredibly popular stories you

think you know, but with surprising origins. Others are stories you might not have heard,

but really should. We're back in Greek mythology, with this epic story. Though we don't need to

have heard the previous Greek mythology episodes, so no worries if this is your first time hearing

the show. I'll give introductions for all the characters previously covered on the podcast,

and link all the other episodes where they've popped up in the discussion post on the site.

Some say that the quest for the Golden Fleece is the first quest ever, and it's definitely the

first meetup of some of the most prominent ancient Greek heroes that we've met so far.

In terms of history, we are at about 1300 BC. About a generation before the Trojan War,

I'll get on with the story, but we will not talk about Jason right away. We'll meet a giant

bronze robot, an unfortunate captive, and a dragon, all before Jason's quest even starts.

The sweet fragrance of the flowers wafed it up from the basket. Europa rocked it back and forth,

filling the spring air with the smells. It was a beautiful day in her father's kingdom.

She even went out to the fields more and more, as spring turned to summer, and the days grew

...