FOREIGN SUN: EPISODES I-III

About the show

i. Prologue: The Golden Ram Every myth has at least one backstory. And another. And yet another. With this prologue, Roland Schimmelpfennig returns to the very first one, recounting the origin of the Golden Ram. The violent transformation of the star-drawer Theophane into a sheep by the sea god Poseidon gives rise to a hybrid being—part animal, part god, part human—whose fleece has gone down in mythic history as the "Golden Fleece." ii. Interlude: Centaur, Cave, Tree, and Beam Where does this supposed redeemer and savior of humanity actually come from? In this interlude, we look back at Jason’s childhood and the cave of Chiron—a centaur to whom the young boy had been entrusted for protection after his father, the ruler, was murdered. The centaur—a demigod, half-man and half-horse, with a drinking problem—dresses Jason in girls’ clothes as a disguise and torments him with harsh, punitive child-rearing methods. To Chiron, Jason embodies the "Self" generation—self-absorbed, narcissistic, and self-righteous—and yet, despite the boy’s mediocrity, he plants the idea of the Golden Fleece in his mind. Chiron’s arch-enemy is the truth-seeker Plato, precisely because the centaur serves as a living embodiment of Plato’s famous Allegory of the Cave. iii. The Argonauts: Mission, Departure, and Odyssey With a more than dubious crew, Jason finally sets sail for Colchis to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to Iolcos. Success would guarantee him the throne—or so claimed his uncle and current ruler, Pelias, in a deceitful promise. The band of seafarers comprises Orpheus (the singer in the tunnel), Tiphys (the blind helmsman), Amphion (the devout cook), Acastus (the son missing his fingers), and a questionable "leadership team" consisting of Jason, Heracles, and the boy with the wings. This bizarre crew is supported by a large number of vigorous rowers. And then there may well be a stowaway on board: Atalanta, the invisible woman.