Golden Fleece origin of the myth of the golden fleece—unless they call them Iberians, by the same name as the western Iberians, from the gold mines in both countries." Another interpretation is based on the references in some versions to purple or purple-dyed cloth. The purple dye extracted from the purple dye murex snail and related species was highly prized in ancient times. Clothing made of cloth dyed with Tyrian purple was a mark of great wealth and high station (hence the phrase "royal purple"). The association of gold with purple is natural and occurs frequently in literature. Jason attempts to put
The Golden Fleece (painting) The Golden Fleece (painting) The Golden Fleece, originally known as Shearing at Newstead, is an 1894 painting by the Australian artist Tom Roberts. The painting depicts sheep shearers plying their trade in a timber shearing shed at "Newstead North", a sheep station near Inverell on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales. The same shed is depicted in another of Roberts' works, "Shearing Shed, Newstead" (1894). The painting was originally titled "Shearing at Newstead" but was renamed "The Golden Fleece" after the Golden Fleece of Greek mythology to honour the wool industry and the nobility of the shearers. This was