Puppis Cloth

The Puppis Cloth is one of Silver Cloths.

Constellation and Mythology
The Puppis Constellation was originally, with the Vela and Carina constellations, part of a large, discontinued constellation called the Argo Navis, the ship captained by the hero Jason. The Puppis image represents the main part of the sea vessel.

In mythology, the prince Pelias tricked and dethroned his half-brother Aeson for the kingdom of Iolcus. However, it was prophesied to the new king that troubles would come upon him in the form of a young man wearing only one shoe. This young man turned out to be his nephew, Aeson's son Jason, who'd lost a shoe in a river on the way to Pelias's palace. Jason demanded the throne at his birthright, but Pelias, to destroy the hero, agreed to give up rulership only if Jason could bring him back the Golden Fleece, owned by King Aeetes of Colchis.

Jason is helped in his quest by the goddess Hera, who once vowed revenge against Pelias for killing his stepmother inside Hera's temple. The goddess provides Jason with a special ship, the Argo, with a magical figurehead on the prow through which the goddess speaks to him. Manned by Jason and the Argonauts, a crew of many heroes including Orpheus, Heracles, Castor and Polydeuces, the Boreads, Autolycus, Atalanta, and Bellerophon, the ship sailed to Colchis where, with help from the sorceress-princess Medea, Jason recovered the Fleece and returned home.

However, for breaking a sacred vow to remain true to his new wife, Medea, he was abandoned by the gods and eventually was crushed to death years later under the rotting remains of the Argo.