Via EPA/VASSILIS PSOMAS: The recreation of the ancient Greek ship Argo, the vessel used by Jason and his Argonauts on the quest for the ‘golden fleece’ sails in the canal of Corinth, some 83 km west of Athens on 2 July 2008. The 50-oar vesssel crewed from all 27 European Union member countries is going to sail to Venice.
The plans to recreate the voyage were recounted in Greek News last September:
According to the myth, when Jason is about to bring back the Golden Fleece, he asks for the company of the bravest men to join him in this amazing adventure. He then sends for his messengers to announce it to the world, and this is how the myth of the Argonaut expedition starts.
The boat was constructed with the help of Goddess Athena. The shipbuilder was Argus, and so the ship was named after him, Argus meaning swift. The wood came from the pine trees of Mountain Pelion, and from the talking oak trees of Dodone, and as such the boat was endowed with the gift of speech.
The Municipality of Volos, in conjunction with the local Municipal Tourist Bureau and the research team of ‘Navdomos’, reconstructed the myth and the ambitious project, which took years of painstaking enquiry and relevant studies, will be materialized, with the launching of Argo, on September 17, 2006, in the presence of Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis.
The building of the ship took place at the shipbuilding yard in Pefkakia, near Volos. The 28.5 meter long and 4 meter wide vessel will have on 50 oarsmen. The 50 rowers will be citizens from all the member-states of the European Union. Next Spring and after tested on water in case any modifications are needed, Argo will travel to the ancient Colchis, present-day Georgia, symbolically looking for the ‘Golden Fleece’ of our times.
The municipal authorities of Volos hope, once again, their city to become a focal point of culture and trade between Europe and the Near East.
