JANICULUM.
 

JASON.
 

   Janioulum.  Vid. Roma.

   Janus and Jana, a pair of ancient Latin di-

 riMties, who were worsMpped as  the sun and

 moon.  The names Janus and Jana are  oMy

 other forms of Bianus and Biana, wMch words

 contain the same root as dies, day.   Janus was

 worsMpped both by the Etruscans  and Romans,

 and occupied an important place m the Roman

 religion.   He presided  over  the  beginning of

 every thing, and was  therefore always invoked

first  in every undertaking, even before Jupiter.

He opened the year and the seasons, and hence

the first month of  the year was called after  him.

He was the porter of heaven, and therefore bore

the surnames Patulcus or  Patulcius, the " open¬

er," and   Clusius   ov  Clusivius, the "shutter."

In tMs capacity he is represented with a  key in

his left hand, and a staff or sceptre in Ms right

On earth also  he was the  guardian  deity of

gates, and hence is commonly represented with

two heads, because every door looks two ways

(Janus bifrons).  He  is sometimes  represented

with four heads (Janus quadrifrons), because he

presided  over the  four  aeasons.  Most of the

attributes of tMs god,  which are very numerous,

are connected with his being the god who opens

 and shuts ; and this  latter  idea  probably has

reference  to  Ms original character  as  the  god

of the sun,  in connection  with the  alternations

of day  and  night.  At Rome, Numa is said to

have  dedicated to Janus  the covered  passage

bearing Ms name,  which was opened in times

of war,  aud closed  in  times of peace.    This

passage is commonly, but erroneously, ealled a

temple.  It stood  close by  the forum.   It ap¬

 pears to  lave been left open in war to indicate

Bymbol:cally that the god bad gone  out to assist

the Roman warriors,  and to have been shut in

iim- of peace, that the god, the safeguard of the

ei'.j, nJ   not escape.   A temple of Janus was

 built by 0 Duilius in the time of the first Punie

war:  it was restored by  Augustus, and dedi¬

cated by Tiberius.   On new year's day,  wMch

was  the  principal. festival of the god, people

 gave  presents  to  one  another,  consisting of

 sweetmeats and copper coins, showing  on one

 side the double head of Janus, and on the other

 a  ship.    The general  name for these presents

 was  strene.  The sacrifices offered to Janus con¬

 sisted of cakes (called janual), barley, incense,

 aud wine.

   Jason ('ldaav).  1. The celebrated leader of

 the Argonauts, was  a son of iEson and Poly-

 mede or  Aleimede, and belonged to the  family

 of the -rEolidaa, at  Iolcus  in  Thessaly.   Cre¬

 theus, who had  founded Iolcus, was succeeded

 by his son Mson; but  the latter was deprived

 of the kingdom by his  half-brother Pelias, who

 attempted to take the life of the  infant Jason.

 He  was  saved  by  his friends, who pretended

 that he was dead, and mtrusted Mm to the care

 of the centaur CMron.  Pelias was now warn¬

 ed by an oracle to be on his gnaid against the

 onc-sandaled man.   When Jason had grown up,

 he eame  to claim the ttoone.   As he entered

 the marketplace, Pelias, perceiving he had only

 one sandal, asked  him who  he was; whereupon

 Jason declared Ms  name, and demanded the

 kingdom.   Pelias consented  to surrender  it to

 him,  but persuaded  him to  remove the curse

 wMdi rested on the family of the yEolidae by

             406
 

fetching  the golden  fleece  aud  sjottrmg  tw

spirit of  Phrixus.   Another tradition related

that Pelias,  once  upon  a timo, Mvited all Ms

subjects  to  a sacrifice,  which he  intended to

offer to  Neptune (Poseidon).  Jason  came with

the rest,  but cn Ms journey to Iolcus he los4

one of his sandals in crossmg the  River Anao-

rus.  Pelias,  remembering the oracle about the

one-sandaled  man, asked Jason what he would

do if he were told by an oracle that  he should

be killed by one  of his subjects ?  Jason, on  the

suggestion  of Juno (Hera), who hated Pelias

answered, that he would send him to fetch  tht

golden fleece.  Pelias  accordingly ordered Jason

to fetch the golden fleece, wMch was in the pos¬

session of  King  iEetes, in  Colchis, and was

guarded  by  an  over-watchful dragon.   Jason

willingly undertook the enterprise, and  set sail

in the ship  Argo, accompanied by  the chief

heroes of Greece.  He obtamed the fleece with

the assistance of  Medea, whom he  made  his

wife, and along with whom he returned to Iol

cus.  The Mstory of his  exploits on this mem

orable enterprise, and his adventures  on his re¬

turn home,  are  related  elsewhere.   Vid. Ar-

gonaut-e.  On his  arrival at Iolcus, Jason,  ac¬

cording  to one  account, found his aged father

_<Eson still alive, and Medea made him young

again ; but,  according to the more  common tra¬

dition, M&on  had  been  slain  by Pelias during

the absence  of  Jason, who accordingly ealled

upon  Medea to lake vengeance on Pelias.  Me¬

dea thereupon persuaded the daughters of Pelias

to cut their father to pieces and boil  Mm, hi or¬

der to restore-Mm to youth and vigor, as she

had before changed a ram into a lamb  by boiling

the body  in  a cauldron.   But Pelias  was never

restored  to  life, and Ms son Acastus expelled

Jason and Medea from Iolcus.  They  then went

to Corinth, where they lived happily for several

years, until Jason  deserted Medea, m order  to

marry Glauce or Creusa,  daughter of Creon, the

king of the country.   Medea fearfully revenged

this insult.  She  sent Glauce a poisoned garment,

wMch burned her  to death when she put it  on.

Creon likewise perished in the flames.  Medea

also killed her children by Jason, viz,  Mermerus

and Pheres,  and then fled to Athens in a chariot

drawn by wmged dragons.  Later writers  rep¬

resent Jason  as becoming  in the end  reconciled

to Medea, returning  with her to Colchis, and

there restoring iEetes to his kingdom, of which

he had  been  deprived.   The death  of Jason

is related differently.   According to some,  hs

made away with Mmself from grief; according

to others, he was  crushed by the poop of the

ship Argo, which fell upon him as he was lying

under  it.—2. Tyrant of Pheraa  and  Tagus  of

Thessaly (vid Bid. of Antiq, art Tagus), was

probably the son of Lycophron, who established

a tyranny on the ruins of aristocracy at Pheraa.

He succeeded his father as tyrant of Pherae soon

after B.C. 895, and in a few years  extended Ms

power over almost the whole of Thessaly.  Phar-

salus was the only city m Thessaly whieh  main¬

tained its independence  under the government

of Polydamus; but even  this place submitted to

Mm in 375.   In the followmg year (874) he was

elected  Tagus  or generalissimo  of  Thessaly

His power was strengthened by  the weakness

of the other Greek states, and  by the exhaust