Golden Fleece hangs from an apple tree. Jason's helper in the Athenian vase-paintings is not Medea— who had a history in Athens as the opponent of Theseus— but Athena. The very early origin of the myth in preliterate times means that during the more than a millennium when it was to some degree part of the fabric of culture, its perceived significance likely passed through numerous developments. Several euhemeristic attempts to interpret the Golden Fleece "realistically" as reflecting some physical cultural object or alleged historical practice have been made. For example, in the 20th century, some scholars suggested that the story of
The Golden Bough (mythology) The Golden Bough (mythology) The Golden Bough is one of the episodic tales written in the epic "Aeneid", book VI, by the Roman poet Virgil (70–19 BC), which narrates the adventures of the Trojan hero Aeneas after the Trojan War. While Troy was being destroyed in its last battle against the Greeks, Aeneas left the city and led a quest to find a new and Hesperian home. In this mission, guided by the prophet Helenus, Aeneas arrived in Italy where he intended to found a city for his people. Once there, Deiphobe, the Sibyl of Cumae, then an old woman