In Greek mythology, the Argonauts were a band of heroes who, in the years before the Trojan War, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest for the Golden Fleece. They sailed the ship the Argo – hence their name, which literally means "Sailors of the Argo". They were sometimes called Minyans, after a prehistoric tribe of the area.

The ship was named after its builder, Argus, son of Phrixus.

Pelias, king of Iolcus in Thessaly (near the modern city of Volos), had been warned to be on his guard against a man with one shoe and, one day, upon seeing his nephew Jason with only one sandal (the other having been lost in crossing a stream), bade him to go and fetch the Golden Fleece, hoping that he would be killed in the attempt.

Jason was accompanied by some of the principal heroes of ancient Greece. The number of Argonauts varies but usually totals between 40 and 55 – traditional versions of the story place their number at 50. The Argonauts were: (Jason and Medea are sometimes not counted)

1. Acastus
2. Aethalides
3. Amphion
4. Ascalaphus
5. Atalanta (others claim Jason forbade her because she was a woman)
6. Autolycus
7. Butes
8. Calais
9. Canthus
10. Castor
11. Echion
12. Euphemus
13. Euryalus
14. Heracles
15. Hylas
16. Idas
17. Idmon
18. Iolas
19. Jason
20. Laertes
21. Lynceus
22. Meleager
23. Oileus
24. Orpheus
25. Peleus
26. Philoctetes
27. Poeas
28. Polydeuces
29. Polyphemus
30. Poriclymenus
31. Telamon
32. Theseus (others claim he was still in the underworld at the time)
33. Tiphys
34. Zetes

See Jason for more details on the quest for the Golden Fleece.

See also Argo Navis.

Apollonius Rhodius, Argonautica I, 23-227; Apollodorus, Bibliotheke I, ix, 16.

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