Jason of the Argonauts, an ancient Greek mythological hero, appears often in popular culture.
Film
The 1958 Italian production of Hercules starring Steve Reeves, featured the characters of Jason (played by Fabrizio Mioni) and the Argonauts, as well as Ulysses (played by Gabriele Antonini). The 1960 Italian-French film, The Giants of Thessaly, is loosely based on the epic poem Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius. Jason is played by Roland Carey. Two movies titled Jason and the Argonauts have been produced: Jason and the Argonauts (1963), directed by Don Chaffey, and Jason and the Argonauts (2000), a Hallmark TV movie. Lars Von Trier's made for TV movie entitled Medea (1988) depicts Udo Kier as Jason after he has retrieved the Golden Fleece. "Jason and the Golden Fleece," episode 4 of the 2005 documentary, In Search of Myths and Heroes by Michael Wood, explores the Jason myth. Michael Eisner's 2008 web show, All-for-nots, is loosely based on the Argonautika, as it follows an indie rock band whose Argonaut-sounding name is The All-for-nots (itself a pun on "all for naught") who tour America on their way to the "golden fleece" of rock stardom. Episode 2 of the 2008 TV series Age of the Gods: Journeys Edition, titled "Jason", is based on the myth of Jason and relates the stories of King Pelias, the Argonauts, the Isles of Lemnos, Phineus and the Harpies, the Symplegades, Medea, the Iron Bulls and Sown Men, the Golden Fleece, the Betrayal of Medea, and the Death of Jason.
Literature
William Morris wrote an English epic poem, The Life and Death of Jason, published in 1867. Padraic Colum wrote an adaptation for children, The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles, illustrated by Willy Pogany and published in 1921. "Jason's Voyage" is the title of Book Five of Thomas Wolfe's autobiographical 1935 novel Of Time and the River. The Golden Fleece (1944 UK version; aka Hercules, My Shipmate, 1945 US version) written by Robert Graves, is a somewhat humorous account of Jason and the Argonauts. Graves sometimes gives "natural" explanations to some of the myths. At other times he includes new myths of his own. The novel Jason (1961) by Henry Treece is narrated by Jason himself. The supernatural elements are largely removed, but a major theme of the book is the clash between the older religion of the mother goddess, favoured by women (who are portrayed as dangerous and hostile to men in many ways) and the newer religion of Zeus and Poseidon favoured by men. The 2006 book The Sea of Monsters, by Rick Riordan, parallels Jason's story in many ways. Jason Grace, a main character in the 2010 Heroes of Olympus series (also by Rick Riordan), was named after Jason. The Heroes of Olympus features an Argo II made by Leo Valdez, appointed by Hera. In comics, outside of a comic book adaptation of the film Jason and the Argonauts published by Dell Comics in 1963 as part of their Movie Classics series, and a 1963 issue of Classics Illustrated published only in the U.K. by Thorpe & Porter, there were two series that featured Jason and The Argonauts. The first was a 5 issue series published by Caliber Press in 1991, while the other was a series called Jason and the Argonauts: Kingdom of Hades, a 5 issue mini-series, published by Bluewater Comics in 2007. In 2011, Campfire Books published a graphic novel called Jason and the Argonauts written by Dan Whitehead.
Music
Hip-hop duo Hermit and the Recluse (composed of rapper Ka and producer Animoss) released a 2018 album titled Orpheus vs. the Sirens, which utilizes mythical imagery from several episodes of the Argonauts' voyage. In 2001, a radio drama adaptation of Apollonius' Argonautica, was produced by the Radio Tales series for National Public Radio. "Birdhouse In Your Soul", a 1990 single from the They Might Be Giants album Flood, features references to Jason and the Argonauts. "Jason and the Argonauts" is the title of a track on XTC's 1982 album, English Settlement.