Myth & LegendGreek → English
Jason
/ˈdʒeɪsən/noun
A male given name, and the leader of the Argonauts in Greek myth.
The Greek roots
Ἰάσων
Iásōn
Jason, healer
ἰᾶσθαι
iâsthai
to heal
Literally: “healer”
The story of the word
The name is built on ἰᾶσθαι, to heal, which puts it beside ἴασις, a cure, and Iaso, the goddess of recovery and a daughter of Asclepius. Apollonius of Rhodes tells the voyage in full: Jason sails the Argo to Colchis for the Golden Fleece and comes home with Medea, which ends badly for everyone. Hellenized Jews also used Ἰάσων as a Greek stand-in for Joshua or Jesus, and it turns up that way in Maccabees and in Acts.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
panaceaiatrogenicpsychiatry
In a sentence
Jason was the third boy in his year with that name, so everyone used surnames.