Greek mythology next generation of heroes, as well as Heracles, went with Jason in the ship "Argo" to fetch the Golden Fleece. This generation also included Theseus, who went to Crete to slay the Minotaur; Atalanta, the female heroine, and Meleager, who once had an epic cycle of his own to rival the "Iliad" and "Odyssey". Pindar, Apollonius and the "Bibliotheca" endeavor to give full lists of the Argonauts. Although Apollonius wrote his poem in the 3rd century BC, the composition of the story of the Argonauts is earlier than "Odyssey", which shows familiarity with the exploits of Jason (the wandering of
Golden Fleece the Golden Fleece signified the bringing of sheep husbandry to Greece from the east; in other readings, scholars theorized it referred to golden grain, or to the sun. A more widespread interpretation relates the myth of the fleece to a method of washing gold from streams, which was well attested (but only from c. 5th century BC) in the region of Georgia to the east of the Black Sea. Sheep fleeces, sometimes stretched over a wood frame, would be submerged in the stream, and gold flecks borne down from upstream placer deposits would collect in them. The fleeces would be