The Argonautica () is a Greek epic poem written by Apollonius Rhodius in the 3rd century BC. The only entirely surviving Hellenistic epic (though Callimachus's Aetia is substantially extant through fragments), 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. His epic incorporates his research 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". His Argonautica had a profound impact on Latin poetry: it was translated by Varro Atacinus and imitated by Valerius Flaccus, it influenced Catullus and Ovid, and it provided Virgil with a model for his Roman epic, the Aeneid.
Background The Argonautica was an 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 Apollonius's 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, Apollonius went a long way towards inventing the romance novel,A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 588–89 including narrative techniques like the "interior monologue", whereby the author identifies with a character's thoughts and feelings.M. Fusillo, Apollonius Rhodius as "Inventor", 163 The re-evaluation 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:
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 recent scholarship.The issues are identified by R. Glei, Outlines of Apollonian Scholarship 1955–1999, 4–19
Some issues 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 aitia in Argonautica.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 Yet Argonautica is clearly intended to be fundamentally HomericA. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 589 and therefore seems at odds with the fashionable poetics of Callimachus. 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 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.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) 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.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) 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.A. W. Bulloch, Hellenistic Poetry, 588 So the question arises: is the poem a unified narrative, or is the epic plot merely a coathanger for erudite and colourful episodes?Dee Clayman, Timon of Phlius 2009 pp 187–200
Date of the poem There is some dispute about the date when the poem was originally published. It could have been during the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (283–246 BC),Based on the publication by B. P. Grenfell and A. S. Hunt, in 1914, of the 2nd century AD papyrus, P.Oxy.X.1241, known as "the list of Alexandrian Librarians" or a generation later.
According to the astronomical analysis of the poem by Jackie Murray, the poem commemorates the year 238 BC, implying that it was published at the time of Ptolemy III Euergetes (246–221 BC) as the majority of ancient sources claim.Jackie Murray, ANCHORED IN TIME: THE DATE IN APOLLONIUS' ARGONAUTICA, in M. A. Harder e.o. (eds.) Hellenistic Poetry in Context (Leuven, 2014)
Sources Apollonius's Argonautica was based on multiple ancient sources, including Homer and Pindar.
Plot
Book 1
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 the man in question, 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. The locals marvel at such a gatheringyoung Jason has been given an impossible mission yet this band of heroes just might help him pull it off. His mother fears the worst. He bids her to stay strong and calm.
Jason urges the heroes to elect a leader for the voyage. They all nominate Heracles. Heracles however insists on Jason as leader and the others submit to this 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 the gods and all things were created. At dawn, Tiphys, the ship's helmsman, rouses the crew. The ship itself calls to them, since its keel includes a magical beam of Dodonian 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.Only Hypsipyle's father was spared, cast adrift in a wooden chest 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 womenall 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. Jason tells the queen that, if she bears him a son, she should send him to his parents when he reaches maturity. He is the first back on board when the Argo sets sail again.
Traveling through the Hellespont, they reach an island/peninsula that is home to savage Earth-born men, the Gegenees (), 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 who is, like Jason, in his adolescence. The 6-armed giants hurl rocks at the Argonauts but Heracles destroys them all. 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).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 cult is soon established, the weather changes for the better and the Argonauts set off again.
Their next landfall is in Mysia, where Heracles's handsome young companion 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 the absences are noticed, 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.
Book 2
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" (). 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 prophecy 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.