Editing Golden Fleece (section)

===Main theories===
[[File:Jason being saved by Athena from the dragon, Attic red-figured kylix, attributed to Douris, 480-470 BC, inv. 16545 - Museo Gregoriano Etrusco - Vatican Museums - DSC01046 (cropped).jpg|thumb|Athena stands by as Jason is regurgitated by the dragon protecting the fleece (Douris cup, 480-470 BC, from [[Cerveteri]])]]
The following are the chief among the various interpretations of the fleece, with notes on sources and major critical discussions:

# It represents royal power.<ref>[[Cato the Elder|Marcus Porcius Cato]] and [[Marcus Terentius Varro]], [http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12140/12140-8.txt ''Roman Farm Management, The Treatises of Cato and Varro, in English, with Notes of Modern Instances'']</ref><ref>{{harvp|Braund|1994|pp=21–23}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Popko |first1=M. |title=Kult Swietego runa w hetyckiej Anatolii |trans-title=The Cult of the Golden Fleece in Hittite Anatolia |journal=Preglad Orientalistyczuy |date=1974 |volume=91 |pages=225–30 |language=ru }}</ref><ref>Newman, John Kevin (2001) "The Golden Fleece. Imperial Dream" (Theodore Papanghelis and Antonios Rengakos (eds.). ''A Companion to Apollonius Rhodius''. Leiden: Brill (''[[Mnemosyne (journal)|Mnemosyne Supplement]]'' 217), 309–40)</ref><ref>{{harvp|Lordkipanidze|2001}}</ref>
# It represents the flayed skin of [[Crius|Krios]] ('Ram'), companion of [[Phrixus]].<ref>[[Diodorus Siculus]] 4. 47; cf. ''scholia on Apollonius Rhodius'' 2. 1144; 4. 119, citing Dionysus' ''Argonautica''</ref>
# It represents a book on [[alchemy]].<ref>[[Palaephatus]] (fourth century BC) 'On the Incredible' (Festa, N. (ed.) (1902) ''Mythographi Graeca'' III, 2, Lipsiae, p.&nbsp;89</ref><ref>[[John of Antioch (chronicler)|John of Antioch]] fr.15.3 FHG (5.548)</ref>
# It represents a technique of writing in gold on parchment.<ref>Haraxes of Pergamum (c. first to sixth century) (Jacoby, F. (1923) ''[[Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker]]'' I (Berlin), IIA, 490, fr. 37)</ref>
# It represents a form of [[placer mining]] practiced in Georgia, for example.<ref>[[Strabo]] (first century BC) ''Geography'' I, 2, 39 (Jones, H.L. (ed.) (1969) ''The Geography of Strabo (in eight volumes)'' London {{cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0239&loc=11.2.19 |title=Strabo, Geography, NOTICE |publisher=Perseus.tufts.edu |access-date=26 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tran|first1=T |title=The Hydrometallurgy of Gold Processing |journal=[[Interdisciplinary Science Reviews]] |date=1992 |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=356–65 |doi=10.1179/isr.1992.17.4.356 |bibcode=1992ISRv...17..356T }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.minelinks.com/alluvial/goldClassic.html |title=Gold – during the Classic Era |publisher=Minelinks.com |access-date=26 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403025125/http://www.minelinks.com/alluvial/goldClassic.html |archive-date=3 April 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Shuker, Karl P. N. (1997), ''From Flying Toads To Snakes With Wings'', Llewellyn</ref><ref>[[Mary Renault|Renault, Mary]] (2004), ''The Bull from the Sea'', Arrow (Rand)</ref><ref>refuted in {{harvp|Braund|1994|p=24}} and {{harvp|Lordkipanidze|2001}}</ref>
# It represents the forgiveness of the Gods.<ref>[[Karl Otfried Müller|Müller, Karl Otfried]] (1844), ''Orchomenos und die Minyer'', Breslau</ref><ref>refuted in {{harvp|Bacon|1925|pp=64 ff, 163 ff}}</ref>
# It represents a rain cloud.<ref>Forchhammer, P. W. (1857) ''Hellenica'' Berlin p.&nbsp;205 ff, 330 ff</ref><ref name="Bacon_refutes">refuted in {{harvp|Bacon|1925}}</ref>
# It represents a land of golden grain.<ref name="Bacon_refutes"/><ref>Faust, Adolf (1898), ''Einige deutsche und griechische Sagen im Lichte ihrer ursprünglichen Bedeutung''. Mulhausen</ref>
# It represents the spring-hero.<ref name="Bacon_refutes"/><ref>Schroder, R. (1899), ''Argonautensage und Verwandtes'', Poznań</ref>
# It represents the sea reflecting the sun.<ref name="Bacon_refutes"/><ref>Vurthiem, V (1902), "De Argonautarum Vellere aureo", ''[[Mnemosyne (journal)|Mnemosyne]]'', New Series, XXX, pp.&nbsp;54–67; XXXI, p.&nbsp;116</ref><ref>[[Wilhelm Mannhardt]], in ''Zeitschrift für Ethnologie'', VII, p.&nbsp;241 ff, 281 ff</ref>
# It represents the gilded prow of Phrixus' ship.<ref name="Bacon_refutes"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Svoronos |first1=  M. |year= 1914 |journal= Journal International d'Archéologie Numismatique |volume=XVI |pages=81–152}}</ref>
# It represents a breed of sheep in ancient Georgia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ninck |first1=M. |title=Die Bedeutung des Wassers im Kult und Leben der Alten |journal=Philologus Suppl |date=1921 |volume=14 |issue=2 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ryder |first1=M.L. |title=The last word on the Golden Fleece legend? |journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology |date=1991 |volume=10 |pages=57–60 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0092.1991.tb00005.x }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith, G.J. |last2=Smith, A.J. |title=Jason's Golden Fleece |journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology |date=1992 |volume=11 |pages=119–20 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-0092.1992.tb00260.x }}</ref>
# It represents the riches imported from the East.<ref>{{harvp|Bacon|1925}}</ref>
# It represents the wealth or technology of Colchis.<ref>Akaki Urushadze (1984), ''The Country of the Enchantress Medea'', Tbilisi</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lazuri.com/kolheti/en_index.php |access-date=13 October 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051125172255/http://www.lazuri.com/kolheti/en_index.php |archive-date=25 November 2005|title=Untitled Document}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.great-adventures.com/destinations/rep_georgia/colchis.html |title=Colchis, The Land Of The Golden Fleece, Republic Of Georgia |publisher=Great-adventures.com |access-date=26 May 2012}}</ref>
# It was a covering for a cult image of Zeus in the form of a ram.<ref>[[Robert Graves]] (1944/1945), ''The Golden Fleece/Hercules, My Shipmate'', New York: Grosset & Dunlap</ref>
# It represents a fabric woven from [[sea silk]].<ref>Verrill, A. Hyatt (1950), ''Shell Collector's Handbook'', New York: Putnam, p.&nbsp;77</ref><ref>Abbott, R. Tucker (1972), ''Kingdom of the Seashell'', New York: Crown Publishers, p.&nbsp;184; {{cite web  |url         = http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/byssus_history.html  |title       = history of sea byssus cloth  |publisher   = Designboom.com  |access-date  = 26 May 2012  |url-status     = dead  |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20120324204105/http://www.designboom.com/eng/education/byssus_history.html  |archive-date = 24 March 2012  |df          = dmy }}</ref><ref>refuted in {{harvp|Barber|1991}} and {{harvp|McKinley|1999|pp=9–29}}</ref>
# It is about a voyage from Greece, through the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic to the Americas.<ref>[[James R. A. Bailey|Bailey, James R.]] (1973), ''The God Kings and the Titans; The New World Ascendancy in Ancient Times'', St. Martin's Press</ref>
# It represents trading fleece dyed murex-purple for Georgian gold.<ref>Silver, Morris (1992), ''Taking Ancient Mythology Economically'', Leiden: Brill {{cite web|url=http://members.tripod.com/~sondmor/index-4.html |title=Document Title |publisher=Members.tripod.com |access-date=26 May 2012}}</ref>