Jason and the Argonauts arriving at Colchis. The poem
Argonautica was written specifically for Ptolemaic Alexandria,
[1] but it has long been a resource for other imperial dynasties seeking to illustrate their power and ambitions.
[2] This painting is located in the Château de Versailles.
The Argonautica (also Argonautika) (Greek: Ἀργοναυτικά) is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only surviving Hellenistic epic, the Argonautica tells the myth of the voyage of Jason and the Argonauts to retrieve the Golden Fleece from remote Colchis. Their heroic adventures and Jason's relationship with the Colchian princess/sorceress Medea were already well known to Hellenistic audiences, which enabled Apollonius to go beyond a simple narrative, giving it a scholarly emphasis suitable to the times. It was the age of the great Library of Alexandria and his epic incorporates his researches in geography, ethnography, comparative religion and Homeric literature. However, his main contribution to the epic tradition lies in his development of the love between hero and heroine – he seems to have been the first narrative poet to study "the pathology of love".[3] His Argonautica had a profound impact on Latin poetry. It was translated by Varro and imitated by Valerius Flaccus. It influenced Catullus and Ovid and it provided Virgil with a model for his Roman epic, The Aeneid.[4]
The Argonautica was something of a real adventure for the poet, one of the major scholars of the Alexandrian period – it was a bold experiment in re-writing Homeric epic in a way that would meet the demanding tastes of his contemporaries. According to some accounts, a hostile reception even led to his exile to Rhodes. The literary fashion was for small, meticulous poems, featuring displays of erudition and paradoxography (the account of marvels and oddities), as represented by the work of Callimachus. In adapting the epic genre to this audience, Apollodorus went a long way towards inventing the romance novel,[5] including narrative techniques like the "interior monologue", whereby the author identifies with a character's thoughts and feelings.[6] The 're-discovery' of his work in recent times has led to a mass of innovative studies, often jostling each other for attention, so that Argonautica has become a daunting adventure for many modern scholars too:
"Scholars that row against this current feel as if they are sailing through the Clashing Rocks; they have barely struggled halfway through one wave and there rolls the next one tossing them backwards twice as far as they had progressed...Even if the attempt to pass through the clashing mountain of books succeeds, there is no hope of a pause and scholars find themselves in the grip of a debilitating
ἀμηχανία." [helplessness] – Reinhold F. Glei.
[7]
Since scholarship is a key feature of this unique story, here is a preview of some of the main issues in the poet's treatment of the Argonaut myth, as addressed by modern scholars.[nb 1]
- A "Callimachian epic"? Callimachus set the standards for Hellenistic aesthetics in poetry and, according to ancient sources, he engaged in a bitter literary feud with Apollonius. Modern scholars generally dismiss these sources as unreliable and point to similarities in the poetry of the two men. Callimachus, for example, composed a book of verses dealing with aitia, the mythical origins of contemporary phenomena. According to one survey, there are eighty such aitia in Argonautica.[nb 2] Yet Argonautica is clearly intended to be fundamentally Homeric[8] and therefore seems at odds with the fashionable poetics of Callimachus.
- An "episodic epic?" In addition to aitia, Argonautica incorporates descriptions of wonders and marvels, and digressions associated with Hellenistic 'science', including geography, ethnography, anthropology and comparative religion.[9] So the question arises: is the poem a unified narrative, or is the epic plot merely a coathanger for erudite and colourful episodes?
- The epic hero? Addressing the issue of heroism in Argonautica, the German classicist H. Fränkel once noted some unheroic characteristics of Jason and his crew. In particular, their frequent moods of despair and depression, summed up in the word ἀμηχανία or helplessness. By contrast, the bullying Argonaut Idas seemed to Fränkel an ugly example of the archaic warrior. It looks as if Apollonius meant to underscore the obsolescence of traditional heroism in the Hellenistic period. These arguments have caused much discussion among scholars about the treatment and nature of heroism in Argonautica.[nb 3]
- Characters without character? Another fruitful discussion gained impetus from an article by D. A. Van Krevelen, who dismissed all the characters, apart from Medea, as flimsy extras without any interesting qualities.[nb 4]
Athena helps build the
Argo; Roman moulded terracotta plaque, first century AD
The poem begins with an invocation to Apollo and briefly recounts his prophetic warning to Pelias, king of Iolcus, that his downfall will be the work of a man with only one sandal. Jason has recently emerged as that very man, having lost a sandal while crossing a swollen stream. Consequently Pelias has entrusted him with a suicidal mission to Colchis to bring back The Golden Fleece. A ship, the Argo, has already been constructed by Argus, a shipwright working under Athena's instructions. Meanwhile a band of heroes has arrived to help in the venture; their names and attributes are listed (see The Argonauts below). The locals marvel at such a gathering – Jason has been given an impossible mission yet this band of heroes might actually help him pull it off. Young Jason's mother however fears the worst and he bids her to stay strong and calm.
Jason urges the heroes to elect a leader for the voyage. They all nominate Heracles (Hercules). Heracles insists that Jason is the man to lead them and the others approve his choice. Rejoicing in his election, Jason orders the crew to haul the ship down to the water. The Argo is then moored for the night so that they can enjoy a farewell feast. Two bulls are sacrificed to Apollo, wine flows and conversation becomes animated. Jason however becomes withdrawn and glum. One of the heroes, Idas, accuses him of cowardice; the prophet Idmon in turn accuses Idas of drunken vainglory. A fight almost breaks out but Orpheus soothes everyone with a song about the cosmos and how all things were created, including the gods themselves. At dawn, Tiphys, the ship's pilot, rouses the crew. The ship itself calls to them, since its keel includes a magical beam of Didonian oak. The shore cables are loosed. Jason sheds a tear as they pull away from his home, Iolcus. The oars churn up the sea, wielded by heroic hands in time to Orpheus's stirring music. Soon the eastern coast of Thessaly is left behind.
The first major port they reach is Lemnos, where the women, led by their Queen Hypsipyle, have recently murdered all their menfolk, including husbands, sons, brothers and fathers.[nb 5] The all-female parliament decides that the heroes should be encouraged to stay. Jason, as leader, is summoned and he goes to town wrapped in a magnificent cloak made for him by Athena. Hypsipyle falls in love on the spot and he settles into the palace. His crew is taken home by the other women – all but Heracles and some comrades, who prefer to stay with the ship. Thus the voyage is postponed day after day. Finally Heracles assembles all the Argonauts for a strong talk. He tells them that they are not behaving like heroes and the Golden Fleece won't bring itself back to Greece. Thus chastised, they immediately prepare to leave. The Lemnian women are upset but their appeals are ignored and Jason tells the queen to send their son to his parents, if she bears him one. He is the first back on board when the Argo sets sail again.
Traveling through the Hellespont, they reach an island/peninsular that is home to savage Earth-born men (Γηγενέες) with six arms each. Their neighbours are the Doliones, a civilized people descended from Poseidon. The savages are hostile but the Argonauts receive a friendly welcome from Cyzicus, the newly wed king of the Doliones, about Jason's age. However, the Argonauts and Doliones end up fighting each other in the dark, mistaking one another for enemies. Cyzicus is killed by Jason. His widow Cleite hangs herself in despair. Shared grief and a magnificent funeral reconcile the two sides. Meanwhile the Argonauts are kept there by adverse winds. Finally the seer Mopsus learns from omens that they are meant to establish a cult of the mother of the gods (Rhea/Cybele).[nb 6] The cult is soon established, the weather changes for the better and the Argonauts set off again.
Their next landfall is by the river Cius, where Heracles’s handsome young squire Hylas is abducted by a water nymph while filling an urn at her spring. Heracles and his comrade Polyphemus are still searching for him when the rest of the Argonauts set sail again. When at last they notice the absences, Telamon accuses Jason of leaving Heracles behind on purpose. Just then the sea divinity Glaucus emerges from the depths, assuring them that the loss of their three crewmen is the work of the gods. He vanishes back into the water and they continue the voyage without their three comrades.
Map showing the route taken by the Argo. The direct route from Italy to Libya is wrong however since the Argo actually went from the toe of Italy to 'Drepane' (
Corfu) off the west coast of Greece before being blown south to Libya. Moreover 'Lake Triton', their departure point from Libya, is further east, near Cyrene. Even modern cartographers get lost sometimes!
[nb 7]
The Argonauts reach a gulf in the Propontis, home to the Bebrycians, whose king Amycus demands a boxing match with the champion of these "sea-wanderers" (ἁλίπλαγκτοι). He does this with all travellers and he doesn't even ask who they are. Angered by such disrespect, Polydeukes volunteers and the fight begins. Amycus is a man-mountain but the young Argonaut is skilled with his fists and eventually lands a lethal blow. The Bebrycians rush on the victor, weapons drawn, but they are intercepted and chased off by his rampant crewmates. Some sheep are herded on board and the Argo leaves the following day. Their next stop is on the opposite coast, near the home of Phineus, once a king of the Thynians. He too doesn't ask who these travellers are. He already knows. His powers of prophesy are so great that Zeus has punished him for giving away divine secrets, afflicting him with extreme old age, blindness and daily visits from the harpies. Jason and the Argonauts are destined to rescue him from the harpies and thus he welcomes them as his deliverers. Zetes and Calais, sons of the north wind, duly chase the pests away, and the blind old man gratefully reveals the safest route to Colchis and how best to sail past the Clashing Rocks.
Passing through the Clashing Rocks (thanks to the advice of Phineus, the pilot skills of Tiphys and the aid of Athena), they enter the Black Sea and arrive at a deserted island, Thynias, where they observe Apollo flying overhead on his way north to visit the Hyperboreans. The island shakes with his passing. There they build an altar and a shrine (lasting memorials of their voyage). Next stop is an outlet of the river Acheron, one of the entries to Hades, where they meet Lycus, king of the Mariandynians and an enemy to the now defunct king of the Bebrycians. He receives them very hospitably. Their departure is delayed when the prophet Idmon is killed by a wild boar and Tiphys dies of illness. Two tombs are built (some more lasting memorials of their voyage) and the Argonauts set off again.
Their next two landfalls bring them into contact with some old comrades of Heracles, left behind after his campaign against the Amazons. One is Sthenelus, whose ghost beckons to them from his tomb by the sea, and the others are three men stranded at Sinope. The Argonauts pour libations to the ghost of Sthenelus and the three survivors gain places aboard the Argo. They arrive next at the river Thermodon, where the Amazons have their harbour, and they leave the next day before the women can assemble for battle. The Amazon influence however reaches even to the deserted Island of Ares, where they have built a temple to the god of war. When the Argonauts arrive, it is only defended by birds. They fight off the birds and then chance upon four survivors of a shipwreck. These are the four sons of the exiled Greek hero, Phrixus, and they are also grandsons of Aetes, king of Colchis. Jason welcomes them as god-sent allies in his quest for the Golden Fleece.
Approaching Colchis, the Argonauts see the eagle of Zeus flying to and from the Caucasus mountains, where it feeds on the liver of Prometheus. It glides through the air as large as another ship, disturbing the Argo's sails as it passes overhead. Soon after, the heroes enter the Phasis, the main river of Colchis, and furtively anchor in a backwater.
A conflicted Medea mixing drugs.
The third book begins by invoking Erato, the Muse of love poetry. The Argo is still hidden in a Colchis backwater when the goddesses Hera and Athena retire to a private room on Olympus to consider in secret how best to help Jason. Hera thinks the daughter of the Colchian king might prove useful if she could be made to fall in love with him. She then suggests enlisting the help of Aphrodite. Athena likes the plan but, being a virgin conscious of appearances, asks Hera to do all the talking. They find the goddess of love indolently combing her hair in own apartment. She has been bickering with her young son Eros and doubts if the unruly child will fire any arrows at Medea just to please her. Hera, an experienced mother, advises her to avoid quarrels with the boy and Aphrodite subsequently buys his support with the gift of a fabulous ball, intricately fashioned so as to leave a trail like a falling star.
Jason advises his comrades that they should try persuasion before attempting to take the Golden Fleece by force and then he leads Phrixus' sons home to the palace of Aetes. Their unexpected arrival is greeted by Medea with a cry that brings everyone running, including her sister Chalciope (mother of the four castaways) and Aetes, the king. Meanwhile Eros invisibly joins the throng, squats at Jason's feet and fires off the fateful arrow, departing then with a laugh. Medea's heart floods with sweet pain. Aetes however is filled with rage when his grandsons ask him to hand the Golden Fleece to Jason for return to Iolcus. He accuses them of conspiring with foreigners to steal away his kingdom. Jason delivers a soothing speech and Aetes responds with a mock compromise – he can have what he came for if he first ploughs the Plain of Ares with fire-breathing oxen, next sows four acres with dragon's teeth and finally cuts down the crop of armed men before they can cut him down. It's a task that Aetes, son of the Sun, has often performed. Jason accepts the challenge reluctantly. He sets off for the ship to inform his crew and Medea's thoughts flutter at his departing heels (νόος...ἑρπύζων πεπότητο μετ' ἴχνια), torn between love and anguish.
That night, in a dream, she envisions herself performing Jason's task for him. She wakes fearing the wroth of Aetes and the danger to her reputation if she helps Jason without good cause. The safety of her sister's four sons depends on his success. She wonders if Chalciope can be enticed into asking her to help Jason for their sake. Even this seems too bold for a young virgin and finally she surrenders to sobs of dismay. Her sister comes in response to the noise. Medea tells her that she is worried about her nephews, since they are doomed if the stranger fails. Chalciope then asks her to help Jason and Medea gladly agrees. Alone in her room again, she continues to be torn between hope and fear. She contemplates suicide, opens her chest of drugs looking for poison but instead selects a drug that will help Jason in his trial of strength.
Arrangements for a secret meeting are made. The tryst is outside a temple of Hecate, where Medea is the priestess. At first they are as speechless as lofty pines rooted together on a mountain-side, until the force of love comes like a sudden gust of wind. He reminds her that he is utterly at her mercy and he promises to make her famous throughout Greece if she assists him. She draws the drug out from between her breasts and hands it to him. If he ever forgets her kindness, she warns him, she will fly to Greece on the wind and there rebuke him to his face. He urges her to forget the wind and sail back with him instead, as his future wife. She doesn't commit herself to anything and returns home as if in a dream. He returns to the crew, welcomed by all but Idas, who considers his reliance on a woman's help to be unheroic.
The day of trial arrives and so do the people of Colchis, gathering on the hillsides as spectators. Aetes rides about in his chariot, glorying in his own magnificence. The Argo comes upstream and moors by the river's edge. Jason steps forward. Secretly fortified by Medea's spells, he manhandles the monstrous oxen and sows the deadly field with teeth. He pauses briefly for a drink then, cheered on by his comrades, returns to the scene of action, where an army of men is springing from the broken soil, ready to attack him. These he routs single-handedly, relying on a trick taught him by Medea. Dumbfounded, Aetes returns to the palace, all the while wondering how best to cheat Jason of his promised reward.
The poet calls upon the Muse to describe Medea’s state of mind: is it shame, alarm or love that leads her to flee Colchis? Her treason is already known to her father and self-poisoning seems like an option again. She decides instead to flee Colchis with her nephews, the sons of Phrixus, camped with the Argonauts by the river. Doors open for her by magic as she hurries barefoot though the palace, and the moon laughs at her outdoors, recalling the many times that she was captured and brought to earth by Medea’s cruel love spells (a reference to the moon’s passion for Endymion). Arriving at the camp, Medea warns the others about her father’s treachery and offers to help steal the Golden Fleece from its guardian serpent. Jason solemnly pledges to marry her, she puts the snake to sleep with a spell and then the hero takes the Fleece back to the Argo, exulting in its sheen like a young girl who has caught moonbeams in the folds of her gown.
The fugitive Argo is pursued by two Colchian fleets, ships numerous as flocking birds. One of the fleets sails into the Propontis through the now-motionless Clashing Rocks. The second is led by Media's half-brother, Apsyrtus, and it takes the same route as the Argo, up the river Ister (Danube). A distant branch of the river eventually leads the Argonauts into the Sea of Cronos (Adriatic), where Apsyrtus finally corners them on the Brygean Islands. Peace talks result in a deal – Jason can keep the fleece, since he won it after all, but Medea’s fate must be decided by a mediator chosen from the neighbouring kings. Fearing the worst, Medea comes up with an alternative plan. She lures Apsyrtus into a trap with promises of rewards. Jason murders him and the body is dismembered to avoid retribution from the Erinyes. The leaderless Colchians are easily outwitted and, rather than return home empty-handed to a wrathful Aetes, they disperse and settle around the nearby coast.
Indignant at the brutal murder, Zeus condemns the Argonauts to wander homeless for a longer term. A gale blows them back north and they enter the river Eridanus (Po), whose different branches eventually bring them into The Sardinian Sea (Gulf of Lyons), on the western side of Ausonia (Italy). Here the enchantress Circe absolves the lovers of blood-guilt. Meanwhile Hera has a friendly chat with the sea nymph Thetis. The goddess advises the nymph that her infant son Achilles is destined to marry Medea in the Elysian fields and then she sends her on an errand to secure the Argo’s passage south. The Argonauts safely pass the Sirens, whose music however causes Butes to fall overboard, and the Wandering Rocks, from which Argo is saved by the Nereids, like girls on the beach passing a ball to and fro. Thus the Argonauts arrive at Drepane (Corfu) off the western coast of Greece. It is here they encounter the other Colchian fleet . Alcinous, the virtuous king of Drepane, offers to mediate between the two sides, later confiding in his virtous wife, Arete, that he means to surrender Medea to the Colchians, unless she happens to be married. The queen reveals this to the lovers and they are duly married in a sacred cave on the island, where the bridal bed is draped with the Golden Fleece. Disappointed, the Colchians follow the example of the first fleet and settle nearby rather than return home.
The Argonauts can't return home either: another gale drives them off course, this time south towards the Syrtes, an interminable sandbank off Libya. Here they can see no means of escape and they resign themselves to an inglorious end, parting from each other to die in private, while Medea and her maids lament their fate in a forlorn group. Jason's isolation however ends with a visit by three nymphs, the guardians of Libya, instructing him and his crew to carry the Argo across the desert. Twelve days later, their ship on their shoulders, they arrive at Lake Triton and the garden of the Hesperides. They receive some astonishing news from the Hesperides: Heracles raided the garden just the day before. He has already vanished into the distance and so they must depart without him yet again. Meanwhile they lose another two comrades, Mopsus and Canthus, one dying from snake bite, the other from a wound inflicted by a local shepherd belonging to the ancestral family of the native Garamantes and Nasamones. Shortly afterwards, Triton reveals a route from the lake to the open sea and he also entrusts Euphemus with a magical clod of earth that is destined to become the island of Thera, from which Libya would later be settled by Greek colonists. The story ends with a visit to the island of Aegina (not far from Jason's home), where the Argonauts establish a festival competition, fetching water and racing one another with full amphoras on their shoulders.
Argonautica is all that remains of the many narrative epics written in the Hellenistic period but Apollonius is too much of an individual for us to deduce from his work the nature of the genre.[10] It differs significantly from traditional or Homeric epic, though Apollonius used that as his principal model. It is much shorter than an Homeric epic, with four books totaling fewer than 6,000 lines, while the Iliad runs to more than 15,000. Apollonius may have been influenced here by Callimachus' advocacy of brevity, or by Aristotle’s demand for "poems on a smaller scale than the old epics, and answering in length to the group of tragedies presented at a single sitting" (Poetics1459b19-22, or xxiv here) – tragedies were traditionally performed in groups of four (three tragedies and a satyr play) and Argonautica's four books are about the same total length.[11]
Argonautica includes numerous references to Homer's two epics, in its language and its action. Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery but Apollonius often implies that he is updating and therefore improving on Homer. Symbolically this is represented by the abandonment of Heracles and the fixing of the Clashing Rocks – it is as if Jason and his crew are leaving behind the heroic world of traditional myth. The numerous aitia or foundation myths also ensure that the narrative points forward to the world of the third century audience rather than back to Homer (see Argonautica#Itinerary below).[12] Cultured Alexandrians considered themselves heirs of a long literary tradition and this is invoked when Apollonius crowds his poem with as much research material as he could borrow from mythical, historiographical and ethnographic sources.[13]
Apollonius’ epic also differs from the more traditional epic in its weaker, more human protagonist Jason[14] J.F. Carspecken noted his character traits, which are more characteristic of the genre of realism than epic, in that he was:
"chosen leader because his superior declines the honour, subordinate to his comrades, except once, in every trial of strength, skill or courage, a great warrior only with the help of magical charms, jealous of honour but incapable of asserting it, passive in the face of crisis, timid and confused before trouble, tearful at insult, easily despondent, gracefully treacherous in his dealings with the love-sick Medea..."[nb 8]
Interpretations of his character however may differ from one critic to another. According to a more sympathetic view, he resembles the ordinary man and his brand of heroism is relevant to the real world,[15]he is a democratic-minded hero with a weakness for women,[16] or he is just the chance result of the poet's literary experiments.[17] His world is unheroic, people being alienated from each other and from their environment, as symbolized by the Libyan desert, where the Argonauts scatter so as to die privately: "effort no longer has the power to transform, and weakness is as influential as strength."[18]
For many readers, the strangely unheroic quality of the poem is only redeemed by the romance between Jason and Medea in Book 3,[19]and even the history of scholarship on Apollonius has had its focus there.[20][21] Sensitive descriptions of heterosexual love first emerge in Western literature during the Hellenistic period[22] and Argonautica was innovative in making it an epic topic.[23] On the other hand, the pederastic relationship between Heracles and Hylas is covered only obliquely in the poem and even then in a comic manner, as if to set the stage for the more serious relationship between the hero and heroine.[24]
Though critics have concentrated on Homeric echoes in Argonautica, direct borrowings from tragedy, such as Euripides' Medea, can be found.[25]
Argonautica is often placed in a literary tradition that leads to the Ancient Greek novel.[nb 9] Apollonius chooses the less shocking versions of some myths, having Medea, for example, merely watch the murder of Absyrtus instead of murdering him herself. The gods are relatively distant and inactive throughout much of the epic, following the Hellenistic trend to allegorize and rationalize religion.
For a discussion of poetic style and technique in Argonautica see Apollonius of Rhodes#Poetic style
Coming soon to a theatre near you!
The Argonauts are listed here in the order in which they are catalogued in lines 1-227 of Book 1.[nb 10]
Argonauts
| Name |
Characteristics |
Actions |
Mentions by name: [book] & line no. |
| Jason |
Father Aeson, mother Alcimede |
As indicated by the page numbers, he becomes a more influential hero in the second half of the poem (books 3 and 4). |
[1] 8, 206, 232, 349, 409, 534, 1330; [2] 122, 211, 491, 871, 1158, 1281; [3] 2, 28, 66, 143, 357, 439, 474, 566, 922, 1147, 1194, 1246, 1363; [4] 63, 79, 107, 165, 170, 352, 393, 454, 489, 1083, 1122, 1152, 1331, 1701
"son of Aeson": [1] 33, 46, 123, 228, 407, 436, 460, 463, 494, 854, 887, 1032, 1084, 1092, 1133, 1288, 1332; [2] 437, 444, 615, 762, 1178, 1271; [3] 58, 60, 86, 169, 194, 282, 288, 318, 385, 475, 491, 509, 542, 574, 752, 913, 941, 961, 973, 1017, 1142, 1163, 1214, 1221, 1262, 1278; [4] 73, 92, 114, 149, 187, 253, 355, 427, 464, 477, 530, 688, 785, 1012, 1087, 1116, 1162, 1313, 1528, 1593, 1664, 1747, 1755 |
| Orpheus |
Son of Oeagrus and Calliope, born at Pimpleia in Thessalian Pieria, home of the Muses, he is the ruler of Bistonian (Thracian) Pieria |
He encourages the crew with his music and he establishes musical rites for cults they establish along the way, as at Bear Mountain and Thynias Island |
[1] 23, 32, 494, 540, 915, 1134; [2] 161, 685, 928; [4] 905, 1159, 1409, 1547 |
| Asterion |
Son of Cometes, from Thessalian Peiresia, near the junction of rivers Apidanus and Enipeus |
|
[1] 35 |
| Polyphemus |
From Thessalian Larissa, son of Eilatus, he once fought for the Lapiths against the Centaurs and is now "heavy" with age but still warlike. |
He is left behind with Heracles at the river Cius (end of Book I), and he is destined to establish a city there (Cius), before dying in the land of the Chalybes. |
[1] 40, 1241, 1347; [4] 1470 |
| Iphiclus |
Jason's maternal uncle |
|
[1] 45, 121 |
| Admetus |
Ruler of Thessalian Pherae |
|
[1] 49 |
| Erytus |
Son of Hermes, from Thessalian Alope, skilled in trickery; his mother was Antianeira, the daughter of Menetes |
|
[1] 52 |
| Echion |
Brother of Erytus and skilled in trickery |
|
[1] 52 |
| Aethalides |
Thessalian half-brother of the above two, father Hermes, mother was Eupolemeia, daughter of Myrmidon. |
He acts as a herald thanks to his "imperishable memory', serving for example as a messenger between the Argonauts and the women of Lemnos. |
[1] 54, 641; [3] 1175 |
| Coronus |
Son of Caeneus, from Thessalian Gyrton, a brave man; his father was buried alive by the Centaurs, who were unable to kill him in battle. |
|
[1] 57 |
| Mopsus |
Apollo's son, skilled in the augury of birds, from Thessalian Titaresia. |
He is an advisor to Jason. He dies from snake bite in Libya |
[1] 65, 80, 1083, 1106; [2] 923; [3] 543, 916, 938; [4] 1502, 1518 |
| Eurydamas |
Son of Ctimenus, from Thessalian Ctimene near lake Xynias |
|
[1] 67 |
| Menoetius |
From Locrian Opus, son of Actor |
|
[1] 69 |
| Eurytion |
Son of Irus, his grandfather is Actor, from Opus |
|
[1] 71 |
| Eribotes |
Son of Teleon, from Opus |
|
[1] 71, 73; [2] 1039 |
| Oïleus |
Unrivalled for courage, skilled in battle, from Opus |
He is wounded by a feather when a bird swoops the Argo off the island of Ares, causing him to drop his oar. |
[1] 74; [2] 1037 |
| Canthus |
Son of Canethus, his grandfather is Abas, from Euboea |
He dies in Libya, killed by a shepherd while trying to steal his sheep (the shepherd, Caphaurus, is a grandson of Apollo). |
[1] 77; [4] 1467, 1485, 1497 |
| Clytius |
Son of the archer Eurytus, from Thessalian Oechalia |
In battle, he kills one of the Doliones and later one of the Bebrycians, then shoots down a bird at Ares Island. |
[1] 86, 1044; [2] 117, 1043 |
| Iphitus |
Brother of Clytius |
|
[1] 86; [2] 115 |
| Telamon |
Son of Aeacus, originally from Aegina, settled on Salamis |
He angrily accuses Jason of treachery at the end of Book 1 but Glaucus reconciles them, and he nearly threatens the Colchian king but Jason prevents it with a conciliatory speech. |
[1] 93, 1043, 1289, 1330; [3] 196, 363, 440, 515, 1174 |
| Peleus |
Brother of Telamon, from Phthia, he is father of the infant Achilles |
One of Jason's counselors. He rallies the Argonauts with brave advice when Tiphys dies and later when they are daunted by lurid descriptions of Colchis, and he receives instructions from the goddess Hera via his wife Thetis. |
[1] 94, 558, 1042; [2] 829, 868, 1217; [3] 504; [4] 494, 816, 853, 880, 1368 |
| Butes |
An Athenian, son of Teleon |
He is left behind when lured from the ship by the Sirens. Aphrodite saves him and settles him in Sicily. |
[1] 95; [4] 914 |
| Phalerus |
Another Athenian, his father is Alcoon, who sent him on the voyage though he had no other sons to care for him in old age |
|
[1] 96 |
| Tiphys |
Son of Hagnias, from Thespian Siphae (Boeotia), navigator skilled in reading the sea, weather and stars, sent on the voyage by Athena |
His skill, with Athena's assistance, gets the Argo through the clashing rocks. He dies of illness soon afterwards and he is buried beside Idmon. |
[1] 105, 381, 401, 522, 561, 956, 1274, 1296; [2] 175, 557, 574, 584, 610, 622, 854 |
| Phlias |
Son of Dionysus from Araethyraea, near the springs of Boeotian Asopus |
|
[1] 115 |
| Talaus |
Son of Bias and Pero, from Argos |
|
[1] 118; [2] 63, 111 |
| Areius |
Brother of Talaus |
|
[1] 118 |
| Leodocus |
Half-brother of the previous two, by their mother, Pero |
|
[1] 119 |
| Heracles |
Son of Zeus and Alcmene |
Separated from the other Argonauts at the end of Book I, even before they reach Colchis. This is by the will of the gods, so he can complete the Twelve Labours that will secure his immortality (1.1315-20) |
[1] 122, 197, 341, 349, 397, 426, 631, 855, 864, 993, 997, 1040, 1163, 1242, 1253, 1291, 1303, 1316; [2] 146, 767, 772, 793, 913, 957, 967, 1052; [3] 1233; [4] 538, 1400, 1459, 1469, 1477 |
| Hylas |
Squire to Heracles. |
Abducted by a water nymph to be her husband, causing Heracles to separate from the voyage. |
[1] 131, 1207, 1258, 1324, 1350, 1354 |
| Nauplius |
Son of Clytonaeus from Argos, descended from another Nauplius who was sired by Poseidon upon Danaus's daughter Amymone |
|
[1] 134; [2] 896 |
| Idmon |
Son of Apollo, fostered by Abas in Argos, skilled in omens from birds and burnt offerings; joined the voyage though he knew it would be his death |
He is killed by a wild boar at a mouth of the Acheron |
[1] 139, 436, 449, 475; [2] 816, 850 |
| Polydeuces |
son of Zeus and Leda, fostered by Tyndareus, from Sparta |
In battle, he kills one of the Doliones, and the bullying king of the Bebrycians in a boxing match, which wins the Argonauts friends among neighbouring people |
[1] 146; [2] 20, 100, 756; [4] 588 |
| Castor |
Half-brother of Polydeuces, son of Leda and Tyndareus |
In battle, he kills one of the Doliones and a Bebrycian |
[1] 147; [2] 62; [4] 589
He and Polydeukes are often mentioned as Tyndaridae: [1] 148, 1045; [2] 30, 41, 74, 798, 806; [3] 517, 1315; [4] 592 |
| Lynceus |
Son of Aphareus, from Arene, he has miraculous powers of eyesight |
He observes Heracles in the distance in the Libyan desert – too far away to be reached. |
[1] 151, 153; [4] 1466, 1478 |
| Idas |
Brother of Lynceus |
A critic of Jason even before they leave Iolcus. In battle, he kills one of the Doliones and he slays the wild boar that killed Idmon. |
[1] 151, 462, 470, 485, 1044; [2] 830; [3] 516, 556, 1170, 1252 |
| Periclymenus |
Son of Neleus from Pylos; he could assume any form he chose when in battle |
|
[1] 156 |
| Amphidamas |
Son of Aleus, from Arcadian Tegea |
He comes up with the strategy that defeats the birds at Ares Island |
[1] 161; [2] 1046 |
| Cepheus |
King of Tegea and brother of Amphidamas |
|
[1] 161 |
| Ancaeus |
Nephew of the previous two, sent on the voyage by his father Lycurgus, who stayed behind to look after the aged Aleus |
The Argonauts choose him to row alongside Heracles in the middle of the ship |
[1] 164, 398, 426, 429, 531; [2] 118 |
| Augeas |
From Elis, a son of Helius |
The Colchian king is his half-brother via the sun god, so Jason uses him there as an Argonaut ambassador |
[1] 172; [3] 197, 363, 440 |
| Asterius |
Son of Hyperasius, from Achaean Pellene |
|
[1] 176 |
| Amphion |
Brother of Asterius |
|
[1] 176 |
| Euphemus |
From Taenarus, sired by Poseidon on Europa; he is the fastest of all runners |
He manages the dove that signals to the Argonauts to charge the Clashing Rocks, and he urges them onwards with rallying calls. He accepts a clod of earth from Triton that is destined to become the island of Calliste (Thera), whence Libya would be settled by his descendents. |
[1] 179; [2] 536, 556, 562, 588, 896; [4] 1466, 1483, 1563, 1732, 1756, 1758, 1764 |
| Erginus |
Son of Poseidon from Miletus |
|
[1] 187; [2] 896 |
| Ancaeus 2 |
Son of Poseidon from Parthenia (Samos) |
He becomes the pilot when Tiphys dies. |
[1] 188; [2] 865, 898, 1276; [4] 210, 1260 |
| Meleager |
Son of Oeneus, from Calydon (Aetolia); |
|
[1] 191; sometimes called Oeneides: [1] 190, 192, 193 1046; [3] 518 |
| Laocoon |
Half-brother of Oeneus, mother a servant girl; sent by Oeneus as mentor to Meleager |
|
[1] 191, 192 |
| Iphiclus 2 |
Maternal uncle of Meleager, son of Thestius, expert in warfare |
|
[1] 201 |
| Palaimonius |
Son of Hephaestus and foster son of [Lernus], crippled in both feet like his father but strong and dauntless |
|
[1] 202 |
| Iphitus 2 |
Son of Naubolus, from Phocis; he once hosted Jason when he went to Pytho to ask the oracle about the voyage |
|
[1] 207 |
| Zetes |
Son of the wind god Boreas by Oreithyia, from Thrace; he has wings at his ankles and temples |
He chases away the Harpies |
[1] 211; [2] 243, 282, 430 |
| Calais |
Brother of Zetes, winged likewise |
He chases away the Harpies |
[1] 211; [2] 282 |
| Acastus |
Son of the wicked Thessalian king Pelias, Jason's taskmaster |
He kills one of the Doliones |
[1] 224, 321, 1041, 1082 |
| Argus |
Son of Arestor, he is Athena's helper in building the Argo; he is mentioned at the start of the crew list (19), in the middle (111) and at the end (226) |
He carves an image of the mother goddess for her cult at Cyzicus/Bear Mountain. Not mentioned in the second half of the poem, where 'Argus' signifies the eldest son of Phrixus (below) |
[1] 19, 111, 226, 321, 325, 367, 912, 1119; [2] 613, 1188 |
The Argonauts are joined by others during the voyage:
- Dascylus, son of the Mariandylian king Lycus (he leaves the ship again at Sinope on the return journey from Colchis).
- Argus, Cytissorus, Phrontis and Mela: the four sons of Phrixus, grandsons of the Colchian king.
- Deileon, Autolycus and Phlogius: three sons of the Thessalian, Deimachus, and formerly comrades of Hercules stranded at Sinope ever since their campaign against the Amazons.
- Medea
- Twelve female attendants for Medea, a gift from Arete, queen of Phaeacian Drepane
Note: time is here seen from the perspective of the poet – the time at which Apollonius wrote is governed by the present tense and by qualifiers like "now" and "to this day", the mythical action of the poem is governed by the past tense, whereas and our own time is denoted 'modern'.
Itinerary
| Places |
Comments |
Foundation myths |
| Iolcus |
Home of Jason, its harbour Pagasae was starting point for the voyage. |
|
| Magnesia |
Their first landfall, near the "tomb of Dolops" (a son of Hermes). They were kept there by adverse winds for two days.[26] |
The beach is named "Aphetae" (Launching), commemorating their departure on the third day (1.592) |
| Lemnos |
Their next landfall after two days without stop. |
The Lemian women once murdered all males on the island, except their king Thoas, who was cast adrift in a wooden chest. He came ashore at an island named after the nymph Oenoe but now (and also in modern times) it is called Sicinus after the son she bore Thoas (1.620-26) |
| Samothrace (Island of Electra) |
They arrived the same day they left Lemnos, on the advice of Orpheus, since there were secret rites here that could protect sailors. |
Apollonius piously refuses to describe the sacred rites (1.919-21) but in modern times Wikipedia tells all (or as much as it knows). |
| Cyzicus Peninsular (Bear Mountain) |
Next port of call after passing through the Hellespont at night. Apollonius refers to the Hellespont as "Athamas' daughter" (1.927), an allusion to its well-known mythical association with Helle and the Golden Fleece. |
Jason's long stay at Cyzicus accounts for multiple aetia. One of the Argo's anchor stones is at a temple of 'Athena, Jason's Helper' (1.955-60), and a shoreline stone that the ship was once tied to is now known as 'Sacred Rock' (1.1018-20) A path up the local mountain Dindymum is named 'Jason's Way' because he once passed that way (1.988). The local Doliones still commemorate their countrymen who died in the accidental fight with the Argonauts (1.1047-48) and the tomb of their slain king is still visible (1.1061-62). His bride's suicide caused the wood nymphs to shed tears that became the eponymous spring 'Cleite' (1.1065-69) and the locals still commemorate those sad events by grinding their grain at the public mill every anniversary, as if they are too grief-stricken to grind it themselves (1.1075-77). The cult of the Mother Goddess (Rhea/Cybele) was established there by Jason and thus a spring that miraculously appeared at that time is called 'Jason's Spring' (1.1146-48). A musical rite was initiated by Orpheus and it is still associated with the cult(1.1134-39). |
| Cius River |
They arrived the same day they left Bear Mountain. Heracles took child-hostages so that their relatives would help him search for Hylas and he later settled them at Trachis. |
Polyphemus founded a city now named after the river (1.1345-47). The inhabitants of Cius to this day "ask after Hylas" and they still maintain close relations with Trachis (1.1354-57). |
| Gulf of Olbia |
Their next stop brought them to the land of the Bebrycians, where Polydeuces killed the king in a boxing match |
|
| Thynian coast |
They arrived after a wave almost wiped them out near the Bosphorus. They rescued Phineus from the harpies and they were then detained here for some days by the Etesian winds. |
The sons of Boreas overtook the harpies far to the west at the Floating Islands but Iris turned them back, not permitting the harpies to be killed. Thus the islands are now called the Turning Islands or Στροφάδες (modern day Strofades).
In a digression, the poet also explains the origin of the Etesian winds, associated with the myth of Aristaeus and some sacrificial rites still practised on the island of Ceos |
| Thynias |
Their landfall after passing the Clashing Rocks. They saw Apollo passing northwards to visit the Hyperboreans and they honoured him with a paean.[nb 11] They then swore to help each other ever after. |
The Clashing Rocks stopped moving once the Argonauts passed through and they are still fixed in their place.
The island Thynias is now called "The Sacred Island of Apollo Heoïus" (Apollo of the Dawn) and a shrine of Concord can be found there to this very day.
In a digression, the poet tells us how the paean sung here originated with the Corycian nymphs. |
| Acherusian headland |
Argo moored in the harbour here after a day and night sailing from Thynias. Here Idmon was subsequently killed by a wild boar and Tiphys perished by illness. |
The king of the native Mariandynians, Lycus, received the Argonauts hospitably, happy in the death of the Bebrycian king at the hands of Polydeukes, and he said he would build a shrine on top of the headland, visible to sailors far away, in honour of Polydeukes and his brother.
The tombs of Idmon and Tiphys are visible today. Later settlers from Boetia and Megara were instructed by Apollo to honour Idmon as their city guardian but today instead they honour Agamestor[nb 12] |
| Tomb of Sthenelus |
The Argonauts come ashore here when Sthenelus (son of Actor) appeared to them on his tomb. |
They offered him libations and set up an altar to Apollo the Ship Preserver. Orpheus dedicated his lyre to the god and the place is now called Lyra. |
| Sinope |
Here they meet three companions of Heracles stranded after his expedition against the Amazons |
In a digression, the poet tells the story of Sinope, the nymph settled here by Zeus. |
| Thermodon River |
The harbour of the Amazons. Argonauts depart before the women can assemble for battle |
|
| Ares Island |
Island sacred to Amazons, infested with hostile birds |
Approaching the island, they pass the Mossynoeci, and the poet tells us in a digression that these people are named after their wooden towers ("mossynes") |
| Colchis |
Scene of the entire Book 3 |
In a digression, the poet links the field of Ares in Colchis with the foundation of Thebes by Cadmus: Athena shared the dragon's teeth between Cadmus and Aetes.
The main city, Aea, is said to be one of many cities that were founded in Europe and Asia by Egyptian forces. Modern scholars connect this account with one by Herodotus (Histories 2.102-106)), identifying the Egyptian leader as the legendary king Sesostris.[nb 13]
|
| Halys River |
The Argonauts arrived here on the third morning after fleeing Colchis. |
They built a sanctuary to Hecate, still visible, where Medea practised sacrificial rites that the poet dares not reveal. |
| Narex |
The northern end of a "three-cornered island" (Danube Delta), which allowed the Argonauts to sail up the Ister or Danube behind their pursuers, who had entered at the southern end. |
| Brygean Islands[nb 14] |
The Argonauts and Colchians reached the Adriatic Sea by a fabled branch of the Ister River. |
Jason and Medea murdered her brother Apsyrtus on one of the Brygean Islands. His Colchian followers later settled around the Adriatic and their descendents still remain there, including the 'Apsyrtians' on the Brygean Islands. Other Colchians settled in Illyria (near the tombs of Cadmus and Harmonia, modern day Pola)[27] and the Ceraunian Mountains. |
- ^ The issues are identified by R. Glei, Outlines of Apollonian Scholarship 1955-1999, 4-19
- ^ The survey was by S. Valverde (1989), El aition en las 'Argonáuticas' de Apolonio de Rodas: estudio literario, Diss. Murcia, cited by A. Köhnken, Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius Rhodius,, 79
- ^ Fränkel H. (1957), "Das Argonautenepos des Apollonios", MH 14, 1-19; and (1960), "Ein Don Quijote unter den Argonauten des Apollonios", MH" 17, 1-20). (The two articles are cited by R. Glei, Outline of Apollinian Scholarship 1955-1999, 6)
- ^ Van Krevelen D. A. (1956), "Bemerkungen zur Charakteristik der in den 'Argonautica' des Apollonios auftretenden Personen", RhM 99, 3-8 (the article is cited by R. Glei, Outline of Apollinian Scholarship 1955-1999)
- ^ Only Hypsipyl'e father was spared, cast adrift in a wooden chest
- ^ The mother of the gods, Rhea, is associated with Cybele, the rites being established on a Cyzicus mountain, Dindymum (not to be confused with Dindymon in central Phrygia) – W. Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, 91
- ^ The correct route is shown, for example, by W.H.Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, maps section.
- ^ Carspecken, "Apollonius Rhodius and the Homeric epic", ''Yale Classical Studies 13 (1952:101) finds the heroism instead in the group, the Argonauts.
- ^ Charles R. Beye, in emphasising the internal life of the protagonist observes, "We have reached, in effect, the beginnings of the novel." (Beye, Epic and Romance in the Argonautica of Apollonius [University of Southern Illinois Press] 1982:24).
- ^ Argonaut list and information adapted from W. Race's Apollonius Rhodius:Argonautica, lines 1.23-227 and index
- ^ The refrain of the paean is "Hail to the Healing God, hail to the Healing God Phoebus, for which see Homeric Hymn to Apollo 517 – cited by W.H. Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, 168
- ^ Boeotians and Megarians founded the city Heraclea (Pontica) in the sixth century. Agamestor was a local hero – see for example Pausanias 5.26.7
- ^ W. H. Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, 351, note 31
- ^ The 'Brygean Islands' are located in the Kvarner Gulf by W. H. Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, maps section
- ^ S. Stephens, Ptolemaic Epic, 96-8
- ^ J. K. Newman, The Golden Fleece: Imperial Dream, 413-44
- ^ A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 588, 591
- ^ W. H. Race, Apollonius Rhodius, xiv
- ^ A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 588-89
- ^ M. Fusillo, Apollonius Rhodius as "Inventor", 163
- ^ R. F. Glei, Outlines of Apollonian Scholarship 1955-1999, 1
- ^ A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 589
- ^ A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 588
- ^ A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 586
- ^ R. Hunter, The Poetics of Narrative in the "Argonautica", 133
- ^ M. Asper, Apollonius on Poetry, 184-8
- ^ M. Fusillo, Apollonius Rhodius as "Inventor", 162
- ^ R. L. Hunter, "'Short on heroics': Jason in the Argonautica", The Classical Quarterly New Series 38 (1988:436-53).
- ^ F. Vian, ΙΗΣΩΝ ΜΗΧΑΝΕΩΝ, 1025-41, cited by R. Glei, Outlines of Apollinian Scholarship 1955-1999, 8
- ^ S. A. Natzel, Frauen in den Argonautika des Apollonios Rhodios, cited by R. Glei, Outlines of Apollinian Scholarship 1955-1999, 10
- ^ R. Hunter, Short on Heroics: Jason in the "Argonautica"
- ^ A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 596-7
- ^ A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 598
- ^ R. F. Glei, Outlines of Apollonian Scholarship 1955-1999, 2
- ^ A recent examination of Argonautica is R. J. Clare, The Path of the Argo: Language, Imagery and Narrative in the Argonautica of Apollonius Rhodius.
- ^ B. Hughes Fowler, Hellenistic Poetry: An Anthology, xiv
- ^ M. Asper, Apollonius on Poetry, 177
- ^ C. R. Beye, Epic and Romance in the 'Argonautica' of Apollonius, 95-6
- ^ Virginia Knight, "Apollonius, Argonautica 4.167-70 and Euripides' Medea" The Classical Quarterly New Series, 41.1 (1991:248-250).
- ^ W. Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, page 51
- ^ W. H. Race, Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, 370-71, note 60
- Asper, Markus (2011), "Apollonius on Poetry", in T. Papanghelis and A. Rengakos, Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius: Second, Revised Edition, Brill
- Beye, Charles R. (1982), Epic and Romance in the 'Argonautica' of Apollonius, University of Southern Illinois Press
- Bulloch, A. W. (1985), "Hellenistic Poetry", in P. Easterling and B. Knox, The Cambridge History of Classical Literature: Greek Literature, Cambridge University Press
- Carspecken (1952), "Apollonius and the Homeric Epic", Yale Classical Studies, 13
- Fusillo, Massimo (2011), "Apollonius Rhodius as "Inventor"", in T. Papanghelis and A. Rengakos, Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius: Second, Revised Edition, Brill
- Glei, Reinhold F. (2011), "Outlines of Apollinian Scholarship 1955-1999", in T. Papanghelis and A. Rengakos, Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius: Second, Revised Edition, Brill
- Hughes Fowler, Barbara (1990), Hellenistic Poetry: An Anthology, University of Wisconsin Press
- Hunter, R. L., (1988), "'Short on heroics': Jason in the Argonautica", The Classical Quarterly New Series 38 (436-53).
- Hunter, Richard (2011), "The Poetics of Narrative in the 'Argonautica'", in T. Papanghelis and A. Rengakos, Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius: Second, Revised Edition, Brill
- Knight, Virginia (1991), "Apollonius, Argonautica 4.167-70 and Euripides' Medea" The Classical Quarterly New Series, 41.1 (248-250)
- Köhnken, Adolf (2011), "Theocritus, Callimachus, and Apollonius Rhodius", in T. Papanghelis and A. Rengakos, Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius: Second, Revised Edition, Brill
- Newman, John Kevin (2011), "The Golden Fleece: Imperial Dream", in T. Papanghelis and A. Rengakos, Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius: Second, Revised Edition, Brill
- Race, William H. (2008), Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica, Loeb Classical Library
- Stephens, Susan (2011), "Ptolemaic Epic", in T. Papanghelis and A. Rengakos, Brill's Companion to Apollonius Rhodius: Second, Revised Edition, Brill
- Vian, F. (1978), "ΙΗΣΩΝ ΜΗΧΑΝΕΩΝ", in E. Livrea and G. Privitera, Studi in onore di Anthos Ardizzoni, Rome
- Editio princeps (Florence, 1496).
- Merkel-Keil (with scholia, 1854).
- Longinus (On the Sublime, p. 54, 19)
- Quintilian, (Instit, x. 1, 54)
- Aristotle, Poetics
- Seaton (1900).
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
- Peter Green, Alexander to Actium: The Historical Evolution of the Hellenistic Age (1990), particularly Ch. 11 and 13.
- William G. Thalmann, Apollonius of Rhodes and the Spaces of Hellenism (Oxford University Press US, 2011: ISBN 0-19-973157-8).
English translations (verse):
English translations (prose):
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