The Seba library treats Golden Fleece in 6 passages, across 3 authors (including Jung, Carl Gustav, Liz Greene, von Franz, Marie-Louise).
The Golden Fleece is the coveted goal of the argosy, the perilous quest that is one of the numerous synonyms for attaining the unattainable.
Jung identifies the Golden Fleece as an archetypal symbol for the perpetually sought-but-elusive object of psychic striving, equivalent to the philosopher’s stone and the ‘treasure hard to attain.’
, Psychology and Alchemy, 1944thesis
This golden fleece, and Jason’s quest for it, seem to portray the theme of the slaying of the Old Father, and the quest for individual spiritual identity, which I feel to be at the core of the drama of Aries the Ram.
Greene argues that the Golden Fleece symbolizes the hero’s own inner spirit and authentic paternal inheritance, making its pursuit an individuative confrontation with the father complex at the heart of the Arian archetype.
, The Astrology of Fate, 1984thesis
The golden ram whose fleece was nailed to a tree was compared to Christ sacrificed and nailed to the cross, which explains why the Golden Fleece was looked on as a symbol of Christ and why it came to play such a special role in the Maltese Order.
Von Franz traces the medieval Christological reading of the Golden Fleece, linking sacrificial death, sacred hanging, and the motif of totality restored through suffering.
, Puer Aeternus: A Psychological Study of the Adult Struggle with the Paradise of Childhood, 1970thesis
The golden ram whose fleece was nailed to a tree was compared to Christ sacrificed and nailed to the cross, which explains why the Golden Fleece was looked on as a symbol of Christ and why it came to play such a special role in the Maltese Order.
A parallel passage to von Franz’s Puer Aeternus text, reinforcing the reading of the Fleece as a sacrificial totality-symbol with Christological resonance operative within chivalric orders.
, The Problem of the Puer Aeternus, 1970thesis
He became guardian of the Golden Fleece, and held it until his daughter Medea fell in love with the hero Jason and ran away with her lover and the Fleece.
Greene’s mythological glossary contextualizes the Fleece within the family drama of Aeetes, Medea, and Jason, establishing the solar-divine lineage of its custodian and the erotic transgression through which it is seized.
, The Astrology of Fate, 1984supporting
Medea with her witchcraft and occult powers helped him to escape the wrath of King Aeetes, the guardian of the fleece.
Greene interprets Medea’s role in the quest as the anima-witch who enables the hero’s access to the Fleece, while Jason’s subsequent betrayal of her represents the Arien hubris that destroys the individuation achieved.
, The Astrology of Fate, 1984supporting