The Golden Fleece and the Heroes Who Lived Before Achilles by Padraic Colum For generations, fans of fantasy and Greek mythology have been absorbed and charmed by Padraic Colum’s classic book on tales from the ancient world. For many children, Colum’s account of Jason and the Argonauts and their quest for the golden fleece, Hercules and his labors, the Minotaur, and other stories was their first introduction to a timeless world of heroes, villains, gods, and monsters. The enduring appeal of these myths loses none of their sparkle or dynamic through Colum’s telling. If anything, the Irish poet and playwright’s captivating prose adds a unique richness to stories that have layer upon layer of meaning. First published in 1921, the book was awarded a Newbery Honor in 1922. Colum was something of an expert on folklore and mythology. He was well-versed in Irish, Norse, and Hawaiian folklore and wrote books detailing tales from all three. Yet it’s his classic on Greek myths that continues to resound and has had a huge influence on the continuing popularity of these stories from another time and place. The tales within these pages shimmer with vibrancy and sparkle with vitality. They strike a chord with everyone who reads them because, at heart, they are the very essence of what it means to be human.