Golden Fleece

The Golden Fleece, in Greek mythology, is a magical artifact with powerful, healing abilities. In the original Greek myths, the original Jason collected the artifact on his journey. It currently resides at Camp Half-Blood on Thalia's Tree, to help strengthen the magical borders after the events of The Sea of Monsters. It is guarded by the dragon Peleus.

Chrysomallus
Chrysomallus was a fabulous, flying, golden-fleeced ram. Athamas the Minyan, a founder of Halos in Thessaly, but also king of the city of Orchomenus in Boeotia (a region in southeastern Greece), took as his first wife, the cloud nymph, Nephele, by whom he had two children, the boy Phrixus and the girl Helle. Later he became enamored of and married Ino, the daughter of Cadmus, bringing drought upon his land when Nephele removed herself. Ino was jealous of her stepchildren and plotted their deaths: in some versions, she persuaded Athamas that sacrificing Phrixus was the only way to end the drought. Nephele or her spirit, appeared to the children with a winged ram whose fleece was of gold. The ram had been sired by Poseidon in his primitive ram-form upon a nymph, Theophane, the granddaughter of Helios, the sun Titan. Poseidon carried her away to an island where he made her into an ewe, so that Theophane's other suitors could not distinguish the ram disguised as the god and his consort.



On the ram the children escaped over the sea, but Helle fell off and drowned in the strait, now named after her, the Hellespont. The ram spoke to Phrixus, giving him heart, and took Phrixus safely on to Colchis, on the easternmost shore of the Euxine (Black) Sea. Phrixus then sacrificed the ram to Poseidon and settled in the house of King Aeetes of Colchis and lived to a ripe old age. He hung the Golden Fleece reserved from the sacrifice on an oak in a grove sacred to Ares, where it was guarded by a dragon. There it remained until taken by Jason. The ram became the constellation Aries.

In the Series
An unknown time after Jason had obtained the Golden Fleece, it was taken and guarded by Polyphemus the Cyclops. He used it to make his island better (for himself) and to lure Satyrs there so he could eat them. The Satyrs were drawn towards it's powerful healing nature magic thinking it was the god of the wild, Pan. The Fleece was hung on a tree ferociously guarded by flesh-eating sheep.

The Sea of Monsters
While searching for the lost god Pan, Grover Underwood is drawn to Polyphemus' Island because of the smell of the Golden Fleece. When he finds it is a trap, Polyphemus chases Grover all the way to Florida. Grover hides in a dress shop, but when Polyphemus catches him, Grover tells him he is a female and will be his bride to stall for time.

Meanwhile, at Camp Half-Blood, Luke Castellan's spies manages to poison Thalia's Pine Tree and Chiron is fired as a result. While everyone tries to think of a way to heal the tree, Percy Jackson has a dream about Grover, who made an Empathy Link with Percy. Grover says that Polyphemus has it and has been using it to lure Satyrs to his island because of the strong nature magic. Percy doesn't understand what it is until he talks to Annabeth Chase about his dream and she thinks it is too coincidental to be true, as the Golden Fleece is the only thing that could heal the tree. However, she eventually comes to believe Percy.

Percy tries to get a quest from the new camp director, Tantalus, but he gives the quest instead to Clarisse La Rue to find the fleece in the Sea of Monsters. Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson end up following Clarisse on her quest and they all eventually make it to Polyphemus' Island. As Clarisse, Grover, Annabeth, and Percy defeat Polyphemus, Tyson goes for the fleece because the Flesh-eating sheep are hesitant to attack another Cyclops in hopes he has food. Tyson snags the fleece and brings it back to his friends. After escaping the cyclops an returning to Florida, Percy gives the Golden Fleece and money for a plane ticket to Clarisse, who goes on head.

Luke ambushes the remaining demigods, not realizing the Golden Fleece is already gone. He explains that will would have given them the fleece after he was done with it (using it to quicken Kronos' resurrection). He also admits that he poisoned Thalia's Tree in order to get them to go on the quest and he could just capture the prize without the hard work. Luke is forced to retreat by Chiron and the Party Ponies and they all return to Camp Half-Blood.

Back at camp, the fleece restores Thalia's Tree and makes it even healthier, strengthening the borders of the camp. Grover is also rewarded for helping find the Golden Fleece, as Searchers will no longer be distracted by the fleece's nature magic and they can now find Pan. Chiron all says he will put an add out for a dragon to guard the fleece. Later that night, the healing properties of the Golden Fleece not only heal the tree, but Thalia herself, and she is extracted from the tree. Finding the Golden Fleece and healing the tree was all part of Kronos' plan to control the Great Prophecy, by now having two possible children of the Big Three to control.

The Titan's Curse
Thalia looks at the Golden Fleece when thinking about how unfair life can be after Annabeth Chase gets kidnapped by the Manticore. Later, Percy Jackson watches Argus and Dionysus feeding the dragon, Peleus, who now guards the tree.

Later, after rescuing Annabeth and Artemis from Atlas, Percy walks up Half-Blood Hill expecting to see Thalia standing next to her pine tree and the Golden Fleece, but she had joined the Hunters of Artemis instead of returning to camp.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
When Percy was looking at how big Peleus had gotten, he looks at the Golden Fleece hanging from the lowest branch of Thalia's Pine Tree. After the Battle of the Labyrinth, Percy notices Pelus sleeping under the Golden Fleece as if nothing had happened.

The Last Olympian
Percy comments about how he could see the Golden Fleece hanging in the branches of the pine tree from the Dining Pavilion at camp. Later when talking about a possible spy at camp, Connor Stoll mentions how someone told Luke the location of the Golden Fleece a few years back.

The Lost Hero
The fleece is seen in the distance when Annabeth takes Piper on a tour around Camp Half-Blood. Piper, having realized she was a demigod the very same day, assumes it was a replica and doesn't think the fleece was the real thing until Annabeth tells her that it was the actual golden fleece.

The story of the Golden Fleece is later retold by Medea when explaining her hatred towards heroes named Jason. The original Jason had come to her for help to get the Golden Fleece from her father. Medea, who was placed under a love spell by Aphrodite, helped Jason to get the fleece. In exchange, she asked Jason to marry her, which he did. However, he later left her and married another woman.

Abilities

 * It can cure any living thing. It makes the grass, flowers, and all the plants healthier. The fleece can also heal humans/demigods.
 * It helped strengthen the borders of Camp Half-Blood.
 * It lures satyrs with its powerful aura that they mistake as Pan's aura.
 * When wearing it, demigods are healed much faster than normal.
 * It can cause the plant life in an area to grow faster than normal, and bear more produce.
 * When in the mortal world, it changes into a red-and-gold high school letterman jacket with the Greek letter Omega on it.