Black Sea geography behind the Argonauts' story

What real geography might lie behind Jason and the Argonauts' voyage?

A Black Sea setting is favored, based on named stops in the story. Possible Volga or Danube elements are speculative, and the proposed river connections are disputed.

Named stops at Lemnos, Samothrace, and Thrace point through the Aegean and into the Black Sea. References to steppe peoples are used to suggest that parts of the story could extend toward the Volga. The panel disputes whether a proposed ancient Black Sea-Caspian river connection fits the period, so that suggestion does not establish a continuous navigable route. A circuit of the Black Sea, with possible Volga or Danube journeys incorporated into it, remains an interpretation of the legend. Greek ideas about lands north of Macedonia as an unfamiliar, otherworldly frontier offer another way to understand its descriptions. The discussion also links the Amazons with Scythian peoples as an example of history and legend interacting.