Argo

In Greek mythology, Argo (/ˈɑːrɡoʊ/; in Greek: Ἀργώ) was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. In Greek mythology, Argo (/ˈɑːrɡoʊ/; in Greek: Ἀργώ) was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece. Most accounts name the ship after her builder, Argus. Cicero suggested that it was named after the 'Argives', a term for the Greek people commonly used by Homer. Diodorus Siculus reported that some thought the name was derived from an ancient Greek word for 'swift'. Argo was constructed by the shipwright Argus, and its crew were specially protected by the goddess Hera. The best source for the myth is the Argonautica by Apollonius Rhodius. According to a variety of sources of the legend, Argo was said to have been planned or constructed with the help of Athena. According to certain sources, Argo was the first ship to sail the seas. It was Athena who taught Tiphys to attach the sails to the mast, as he was the steersman and would need an absolute knowledge of the workings of the ship. According to other legends, she contained in her prow a magical piece of timber from the sacred forest of Dodona, which could speak and render prophecies. After her successful journey, Argo was consecrated to Poseidon in the Isthmus of Corinth. She was then translated into the sky and turned into the constellation Argo Navis. While sleeping on the ground next to Argo a beam fell from the top of the ship and landed on Jason's head, killing him. Several authors of antiquity (Apollonius Rhodius, Pliny, Philostephanus) discussed the hypothetical shape of the ship. Generally she was imagined like a Greek warship, a galley, and authors hypothesized that she was the first ship of this type that had gone out on a high-sea voyage.